Asking The Enemy

by Rich Langford on Sep 28, 2010 5:16 PM CDT

It's Week Four of the NFL season and that can only mean one thing: Time for the annual Texans-Raiders battle and players will be wearing pink accessories. Last year's battle was a memorable one for Raiders fans as it was the point in the season where most fans felt confident in saying it was going to be another long and lost season.

I have a few questions for you guys. I am a little surprised and very impressed at the numbers the Texans run D is putting up. Have the Texans made a priority of stopping the run at the expense of pass D or are they just that solid in the front 7?

What is the biggest weakness in the Pass D?

How's Andre Johnson's ankle?

What is this teams Achilles heel?

Arian Foster's success: A bigger function of his greatness or the O-Lines?

All right BBRers. Feel free to answer any or all of the question and thrown in anything else about your team. Also, ask me anything you'd like about mine.

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I will be prob the least informed but shall answer accordingly

1. Our run d has been good except for against the draw and up the middle. (b glad cushing doesn’t come back for a week)
2.i will say our biggest weakness in our pass d is our entire secondary. Eugene wilson has been horrible. K-jax is showing his age quin has been ok_ mccain is a small guy.
3. From what I have heard they are planning on resting andre but his status is TBD
4. Achilles heel is our secondary by far.
5.arian success is mostly due to his own ability because most of our o-line are the same from last year and slaton/brown weren’t getting it done

I am tattooing a picture of Jacobi Jones to my Mannschaft, Because it loves to go deep and always does a dance in the end...zone!
Go Texans!

by Taco Joe on Sep 28, 2010 5:32 PM CDT reply actions

Thanks Taco!

My profile pic is a Todd Marinovich painting.

by Rich Langford on Sep 28, 2010 6:21 PM CDT up reply actions

Hey there, thanks for coming by.

Let me try to answer your questions.

- I don’t think there was more of an emphasis on stopping the run this year compared to last year. After Pollard’s signing last season, our run D made a huge turn around and started shutting down opponents. We have a very solid front seven but sometimes they don’t perform as well as we like them to. The best example to use would be Mario Williams. He’s developed into a great run stopper on top of his pass rushing skills, but when he doesn’t show up for a game; bad things happen like the ones we saw this past Sunday.

- In my opinion, the biggest weakness of our secondary besides their youth is our safety play. Pollard is a beast when it comes to stopping the run, but he’s definitely a liability in coverage. Our FS on the other hand is a different story. Can’t tackle, cant hold on to an interception, can’t cover his side of the field, can’t do anything right. A huge receiver with great speed can definitely burn our secondary. That’s why im scared that Chaz Schillens can take over the game for y’all.

- Im not too sure about Andre’s ankle. Haven’t heard news besides the scheduled MRI. His status is TBD at this point in the week. But I can see him playing anyways.

- Achilles heel is definitely our secondary. Their youth and inexperience were exposed this past Sunday. A tall receiver can take advantage of our smaller DB’s, and a smart reciever with great route running skills can do the same also.

- Some credit definitely goes to the O-line play, but it’s Foster’s ability that makes them both look good. Foster by far has the best BCV compared to every single running back we’ve trotted out there for the past eight years. He doesn’t have the speed to break free for 50+ yd TD run, but he can move the pile or run around it for huge gains.

I’ll be crafting a similar fanpost over at SBP so we can all look forward to this coming weekend instead of dwelling on the last one.

"Eff you mothereffer!"

-Bernard Pollard-

by Jordann on Sep 28, 2010 5:51 PM CDT reply actions

No need to worry about Chaz. He won't play. He's always hurt.

Louis Murphy and Heyward-Bey both have decent size though. And DHB is a vastly improved weapon. He in not elite, by any stretch of the imagination, and he is still learning how to use his size, but he is strong and can leap. Both WRs are good after the catch.

Thanks for the info. Your safeties sound like ours. Mario scares the hell out of me.

Has he been lining up on both sides? Our tackles are horrible.

We look forward to seeing you at SandBP.

My profile pic is a Todd Marinovich painting.

by Rich Langford on Sep 28, 2010 6:25 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah

Mario lines up on both sides. You’ll typically see him slide over the RT on obvious passing situations.

If he’s getting hot then he’ll stick to a side.

"Lord, beer me strength."

by TexansDC on Sep 28, 2010 6:28 PM CDT up reply actions

Then he'll probably spend most of his day lined up over the LT.

The Raiders are doing the ol’ LT by committee. Which really isn’t old, because who the hell else does that. They have Mario Henderson, who Mario will abuse and rookie Jared Veldheer, who Mario will also likely abuse. Veldheer may end up being really good, but he is still adjusting as he spent last year in Div II.

My profile pic is a Todd Marinovich painting.

by Rich Langford on Sep 28, 2010 6:36 PM CDT up reply actions

He's always hurt. Why is that?

He’s like a unicorn man!

And yes, Mario lines up on both sides depending on the play call and the down.

"Eff you mothereffer!"

-Bernard Pollard-

by Jordann on Sep 28, 2010 6:47 PM CDT up reply actions

It has been one thing after another

last year he had a foot thing that never really went away. He played the last 5 games or so, but he was still hampered by it. Then he had offseason surgery. He was almost going full speed in camp and then he busted his knee and had it scoped.

Then not surprisingly, he is recovering slowly from that. He isn’t even practicing yet. He is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You here how great he can be and it seems like you are getting close but you just never get there.

My profile pic is a Todd Marinovich painting.

by Rich Langford on Sep 29, 2010 12:44 AM CDT up reply actions

We have a similar player in Antwaun Molden

But instead of a WR, he’s a CB. He’s got a great combination of size and speed, but he never makes it out of training camp unscathed. We call him “Unicorn Molden”

"Eff you mothereffer!"

-Bernard Pollard-

by Jordann on Sep 29, 2010 1:15 AM CDT up reply actions

And then there was

~~Benny Joppru~~ The Guy From M. Night Shamylan’s “Unbreakable”. I think he might’ve gotten to smell the grass a time or two in between multiple episodes involving complete breakdowns at the molecular level.

On second thought, I think the guy from unbreakable might’ve lasted longer.

"It's the sport of kings....better than diamond rings.....football."

"Don't get yourself a bunch of tricky plays.......get yourself a bunch of tricky players." `Paul "Bear" Bryant

by Christopher H on Sep 30, 2010 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions

Trust me when I say this, I'd rather have Huff or Branch playing FS for us over Wilson

At least those two have speed to close in on a receiver

I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but you appear to be unarmed.

by The Night Owl on Sep 29, 2010 2:23 PM CDT up reply actions

Posted a similar fan post over at SandBP

Feel free to ask any questions over there guys.

"Eff you mothereffer!"

-Bernard Pollard-

by Jordann on Sep 28, 2010 6:41 PM CDT reply actions

Link

Here.

"Eff you mothereffer!"

-Bernard Pollard-

by Jordann on Sep 28, 2010 6:42 PM CDT up reply actions

How has DHB's progression coming?

I’m interested to see how he has improved. Dude can be a legit deep ball threat, and if he fixes his route running, a capable starter.

"You got to believe in yourself. Hell, I believe I'm the best-looking guy in the world and I might be right."- Charles Barkley

by bone31crusher on Sep 28, 2010 11:56 PM CDT reply actions

It's hard to tell it's the same guy

I would say right now he is a decent 2 wr. He has still had a couple of drops, but he is showing the ability to catch with his hands instead of letting it get into his body. A couple of times he has shown the ability to go up and get the ball. If he can master this he will be a force. He has good size and hops to go with his speed.

He has also shown that he is not the easiest guy to tackle. He put on some weight and he looks strong. He is also turning into a good blocking wr.

It’s hard to tell about routes on tv broadcasts and it was hard to tell last year anyway since the QB didn’t know what routes he was throwing. From what I have seen, he is no Jerry Rice, but he is worlds ahead of where he was last year.

He still has a ways to go to be a pro bowler, but judging by the improvements from this year to last and the work he is willing to put in, I think he can be a legit #1.

My profile pic is a Todd Marinovich painting.

by Rich Langford on Sep 29, 2010 12:40 AM CDT up reply actions

What's been the biggest difference in Darren McFadden this season?

"Lord, beer me strength."

by TexansDC on Sep 29, 2010 12:51 AM CDT reply actions

He's healthy.

He also seems to be running lower, which has helped his balance and ability to get yards after contact. Also, Hue Jackson has brought in some pitch plays that weren’t there last year that help utilize his speed, but still the Raiders have seen their most success running between the Guards. He is also holding onto the ball. Fumbles had been a problem with him.

My profile pic is a Todd Marinovich painting.

by Rich Langford on Sep 29, 2010 1:59 AM CDT up reply actions