Observations of the Houston Texans, our Week 2 opponent

[hepcat]

Had the Texans vs Chiefs game on in the background of watching the Panthers to get a look at our Week 2 opponent. Here are some thoughts and observations I had:

1) The Texans have a solid run defense. JJ Watt is a monster. I know this is obvious, but against the still-shaky Panthers offensive line, he will make a few beastly plays. Vince Wilfolk has still got it in the middle of the D. Nothing got by him. Jamaal Charles had 16 carries for 57 yards, no rushing TDs, one recieving TD. It will be tough to run on them.

2) The Texans secondary is weak. They missed a ton of tackles and looked timid to lay big hits. TE Travis Kelce had a monster game. Getting Greg Olsen involved in the passing game early and often will be a key to victory.

3) LT Duane Brown looked good on an otherwise shaky Texans O-Line. The Texans didn't do much in way of the running game. Part of it was from the Chiefs focusing on stopping the run because of poor QB play, and part of it was because they were losing. Arian Foster's absence was obvious. Look for the Panthers to key in on stopping the run and making whoever is starting at QB beat them through the air.

4) The Texans offense was anemic with Brian Hoyer in the game. Hoyer made a lot of mental errors and looked out of sync with his receivers. They moved the ball better with Mallet at QB, but granted he saw time after the game had pretty much been decided. Time will tell who starts. Both might see time against the Panthers.

5) Texans receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Nate Washington looked solid. Hopkins is a rising star and Washington looks like a solid #2. If they get some consistent QB play, these guys could put up big numbers. Josh Norman vs Hopkins will be a fun matchup to watch.

6) The Texans special teams is bad. They missed an XP, their punt coverage was non-existent, and got almost nothing in punt return yards. Ted Ginn could break off a few big returns.

 

Overall, the Texans are a mixed bag. They do some things well and struggle in other areas. The main questions are, can the Panthers do anything to exploit a weak Texans secondary, and who is playing QB for the Texans? If seeing what TE Travis Kelce could do to their defense, Greg Olsen has to be licking his chops. The Chiefs ran a lot of the same plays to get him open and it worked every time. Mallet looked noticeably better than Hoyer at QB for the Texans, but will it matter? They are struggling to find consistent play at the QB position. If the Panthers can get pressure on the Texans QB and force them into making mistakes early, the chances for a Panthers win are strong.

[motocross_cat]

Id like to see alittle more pressure on the qb early.  If we can rattle them some we should be able to contain them without an issue.

Some quicker developing plays on offence will be key.  Cam cant stand around too much or their front 7 will make us pay.  All in all im confident in our chances. I look for the defence to get another couple turnovers in this one as well.

[pepaw]

I wonder if this is going to be one of those games where we wonder which QB gets hurt first. 

[Darth Biscuit]

I just hope they don't come at us pissed bc they lost yesterday... they may be shaky in some areas, but their Dline is no joke.

[hepcat]

I just hope they don't come at us pissed bc they lost yesterday... they may be shaky in some areas, but their Dline is no joke.

Their D-Line is good, but they still struggled to sack Alex Smith all game.  Reid and KC's offense straight up outcoached the Texans defense, exploiting their weak secondary by using the TE in space and getting off some quick throws to avoid the rush.  The Texans LB's are slow and a mobile QB like Cam will be able to buy some time to throw.  I just hope his receivers can catch the fuging ball.

[Darth Biscuit]

Their D-Line is good, but they still struggled to sack Alex Smith all game.  Reid and KC's offense straight up outcoached the Texans defense, exploiting their weak secondary by using the TE in space and getting off some quick throws to avoid the rush.  The Texans LB's are slow and a mobile QB like Cam will be able to buy some time to throw.  I just hope his receivers can catch the fuging ball.

So you're saying the Chiefs outcoached them... hmmm...  quick throws work best you say?  hmmm...  

Let's have lots of long developing pass routes against them then...

 

[Nick_81]

I'm just afraid they'll keep Olsen back to block... a lot.  

[hepcat]

So you're saying the Chiefs outcoached them... hmmm...  quick throws work best you say?  hmmm...  

Let's have lots of long developing pass routes against them then...

 

yep, watch Shula call the dumbest plays.  KC wrote a beautiful blueprint to beat the Texans

[KSpan]

So you're saying the Chiefs outcoached them... hmmm...  quick throws work best you say?  hmmm...  

Let's have lots of long developing pass routes against them then...

 

The Chiefs got lucky that 21 points came from Hoyer giftwrapping two turnovers in his own red zone and that the defense forgot that Kelce existed for a play.

[Carolina Cajun]

yep, watch Shula call the dumbest plays.  KC wrote a beautiful blueprint to beat the Texans

So....you're saying the fake handoff, statue of liberty spin around dump off screen to Fozzy won't dominate the Texans?  You sir are a liar!

[Peppers90 NC]

The Chiefs got two early turnovers inside the 15 which skewed what we will see.

[Peppers90 NC]

Also, I think teams assume a screen when Fozzy comes in. Jags sniffed them out with no problem yesterday

[LUUUUUKE]

Hit their aggressive line with screen plays the whole freaking game and make them back up. 

If we do the Shula thing where we run 1st and 2nd down for negative yards and then run a draw on 3rd down, as if we're tricking them, we're gonna get crushed.

Their WRs scare me, Cam is gonna have to step up into the pocket to survive Watt/Clowney. Our interior line will have to ball out, and we have to hope that Wilfork gets dehydrated or somin. 

WRs have to catch the ball for us to win (I know, duh right) why don't they get it? I'm looking for our option game to open it up for the option PA pass. Lots to look at. Should be fun to watch

[CRA]

Biggest concern is against a weaker front we were forced to have Olsen in protecting....

So how are we gonna have him out running wild this week?

This game will be MUCH tougher than the Jags game....regardless of who plays QB b/c their team is much better than the Jags team.  Their QB sucked too and we had a tough time finally getting by them.