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For Week 4, Marshall Faulk wants to know:
"Being professional grade, means being resilient for the long haul.
What areas of Houston's game are going to have to remain resilient in order to have a winning season, and to get past Buffalo this week?"
Wow--who had BOTH Houston & Buffalo @ 2-1? Hey @BattleRedBlog: can Houston be resilient all year? http://t.co/oE762PZvft #GMCPlaybook
— Marshall Faulk (@marshallfaulk) September 24, 2014
The Texans are still in the process of installing a new defense and offense, with several players still learning it in real-time this early in the season. The two key areas that need to be resilient for the Texans to win this week, and to have a winning season, are all about the running game on both sides of the ball. Run well on offense, and stop the run on defense.
With the limited talent at quarterback on this roster, this team will have to win the war in the trenches. If the running game is working, it grinds down the opponent and keeps their offense off the field. This also opens up the opportunity to take a shot downfield in an infrequent passing game. As O'Brien likes to say, "That's the formula! RUN-RUN-RUN-TAKE A SHOT!"
The run defense hasn't been looking good, and that has to be corrected quickly with improvement in managing two-gap assignments along the line, as well as more effective tackling from the linebackers and safeties. They'll have to figure out how to stop the run while in base defense, as well as in their nickel and dime schemes.
If the Texans are going to be "professional grade," they need to run effectively and stop the opponent from running the ball.
What say you, BRB? Vote and talk about it below.
Join the #GMCPlaybook discussion at sbnation.com/sponsored-gmc-playbook and on Twitter by following @thisisgmc & @marshallfaulk.
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