Not even Thanksgiving can keep "Three and Out" from spreading its unique brand of psychic asshattery. Without further ado, I give you three (3) things sure to happen when your Houston Texans take on the Jaguars of Jacksonville in Florida tomorrow afternoon.
1. The first offensive possession for your Houston Texans will feature at least one completion from Matt Leinart that will go for more than 25 yards. Furthermore, the Texans will come out throwing the ball on their first drive. It'll serve to do two things: (1) Surprise the Jags and (2) Show everyone the Texans have faith in what Leinart can do in this offense. The bread and butter of this team will still be Arian Foster/Ben Tate and Wade Phillips' amazing defense, but the Texans will make it clear that Owen Daniels, Joel Dreessen, Andre Johnson & Co. are not just window dressing. Matt Leinart finishes his first start as a Texan with a stat line of 11-18 for 173 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT.
2. Speaking of 'Dre...in his first game back, he's going to hit pay dirt. With Rashean Mathis and Derek Cox on IR, the Jacksonville secondary does not resemble the unit they trotted out in Houston a month ago. Pencil 'Dre in for 4 catches, 61 yards and a TD in his return.
3. In his first game against the Texans, Blaine Gabbert went 10-30 for 97 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. Tomorrow, he'll throw for more yards and a higher completion percentage, but with less TDs and the same amount of interceptions (one of which will be returned for a touchdown by Johnathan Joseph).
PUT YOUR NAME ON IT: You'd think the Texans starting someone other than Matt Schaub at QB would terrify me. And, to be completely honest, Matt Leinart has not shown us anything yet that should lead us to believe he's going to step in seamlessly. All of the optimism abounding about Leinart is almost entirely based upon us believing the remaining parts of the Houston offense and the continued excellence of the Houston defense is enough to keep this team on the right track. Time will tell if that's an accurate read on the situation, but the Jaguars aren't the team right now to show us whether Leinart can be a workable solution at QB for the 2011 Houston Texans. They just have too many holes. Texans 24, Jaguars 13.
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