Critiquing after preseason games is tough. As fans, we really have no idea how closely the coaches played it to the vest. If you're truly trying to win a football game, you play your best players as much as possible; you don't sit them after a half or three (3) quarters. With that in mind, I think we all need to take a deep breath and not completely lose our collective mind just yet. Three (3) preseason games is, however, enough of a sample size for us to note one fairly troubling pattern:
Your Houston Texans defense has not stopped the opposition with anything approaching regularity.
No need to panic yet, but Richard Smith & Co. are not exactly engendering confidence amongst the battle red masses. Save the hysteria until we see how the squad does at Pittsburgh and at home hosting Baltimore. A few other observations:
1. Keep those good thoughts coming for Harry Williams. Surgery was apparently successful yesterday, and all of our best should go to Williams and his family.
2. Still no pass rush. At all. And yes, I know: Super Mario was working against double and triple teams most of the evening. But you know what? That should, in theory, mean that other players were free to get to Tony Romo, who had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted on Friday night. Dallas' OL is one of the best in the league, but to not disrupt the offense at all? Inexcusable, regardless of whether Richard Smith refused to unveil any of his plus packages or schemes.
3. If I was Rosevelt Colvin, I'd be rather worried that I was going to get Keenan McCardelled in a day or five. Colvin's done next to nothing in game action.
4. If Chris Brown makes this team, I'll be flabbergasted. The guy is a walking justification for the non-guaranteed contract system embraced by the NFL.
5. For reasons unknown to me, Kubes continues to insist that Ahman Green will be ready to play by Week One. If he in fact is deemed "healthy," he's going to start. And when Green inevitably pulls a hamstring during the national anthem, Steve Slaton will be your new No. 1 RB.
6. Good to see Andre Johnson back on the field, but it was pretty clear his timing was off. He was a complete non-factor.
7. The Schaub looked absolutely brutal for the first quarter of Friday night's game before transforming into the QB we saw dissect New Orleans a week ago. While the OL didn't surrender a sack, Schaub and Rosenfels were forced to deliver the ball earlier than they would've liked for the majority of the night.
8. Kevin Walter won't sneak up on opposing teams this year, but I think the guy's still going to improve on last year's numbers. He just has a knack for making the tough catch, and I think Schaub is very comfortable going to him in any situation.
9. Apostrophe Davis is what Jacoby Jones should be.
10. Nice to see Owen Daniels raising his game as the preseason has progressed. Honestly, can you give me another team's 3 WR/1 TE set that you'd rather have than 'Dre/Walter/Apostrophe/Daniels?
11. Aside from Super Mario's goal line strip (recovered by Frank Okam), the run defense was abysmal on Friday night. And the pass defense wasn't any better. I'm no expert, but you're going to have problems winning football games if you can't stop the other team on the ground or through the air. At this point in the analysis, I'm of the mind that we're going to see an awful lot of shootouts this season.
12. Jacques Reeves continues to implicitly encourage the NFL to replace the numbers on the back of his jersey with a bullseye.
13. DeMeco Ryans looked like DeMeco Ryans on Friday night.
14. Zac Diles is your starter at SLB. There should be no further debate, especially since that INT he snagged in the end zone almost made me spontaneously combust.
15. We're counting on Fred Bennett to be a No. 1, shutdown CB. It's only preseason, but he has not looked like one yet. Considering he's going to have The Human Torch or a rookie on the other side of the field from him, this terrifies me.
16. Kris Brown seems to get better every game. The guy is automatic.
I've rambled enough. What say you, BRB? Who's impressed you? Made you question the existence of a benevolent Creator? Share your takes in the Comments below.