On to the Texans....

[rayzor]

So basically, teams that finished 5-11 made the playoffs more the next years versus teams that went 2-14?? hmmmm

yes, but it's bigger than that.

more in depth article dealing with the question "is it better to lose out and get a better draft pick or try to win?" http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2011/11/27/nfl-analysis-improving-draft-position-versus-winning-late-season-games/

this was mainly talking about teams with a losing record after 10 games. some would throw in the towel and say that you should be trying to get better draft picks so your team is better. the article is saying that teams who lose at the end of the season don't end up bettering themselves like you would think.

[nctarheel0619]

Good article Mr. Rayzor

[Texan Pride]

He threw the ball 44 times and had 300 yards. You know what that tells me?

Yep. He missed a few passes and had several dropped by the receivers. Lol. I'm sure you're going to say he dinked and dunked instead of going down field which was not the case. That's why stats say one thing and watching the game can tell another story.

1st play of the game was a 50 yard pass to Jacoby Jones that was dropped. Think what you want but this kid did more than manage the game against the Bengals. He actually won it.

[therealmjl]

Well, we can't if you are using normal human math.

Well played.

[TackHammer]

Yes I have and am not overly impressed. Panthers give themselves a fair chance at winning by mounting a lot of early points and forcing Yates to beat them by throwing the ball. Difference between the Packers, Bears, Saints, Lions, and Falcons-all team the Panthers have gone up early on- is those teams have the ability to let their QB win the games. The Texans have done a solid job of protecting Yates from having to make big time throws or decisions. They've allowed their strong running attack and good defense to win their games and let Yates manage it for them. The Texans are a good team, very complete, but they don't have the comeback capability of the previous teams we've played without Schaub and especially if Andre Johnson isn't healthy in time.

Did you see what he did last week? I have to think you didnt......You say he doesnt have come back ability.....he drove the Texans 80 yards with about 2min. left and no time outs ....and scored. In fact he did that twice! With out the time constraint the first time obviously,but he brought us back from a 16 to 3 deficit in the second half. So how can you say they dont have come back ability?

Hell, thats sick come back ability!!!!

[Cat'sGrowl]

You misunderstand what I mean about comeback ability.

What I'm saying is that I don't believe the Texans offense would thrive in a pass first situation (being down

multiple scores) with Yates under center. Houstons approach to this game is make use of their great running attack and defense. The Panthers approach will likely be to put up many quick scores and overwhelm the Texans, as it has been in a variety of games this year. The difference in this scenario is that the Texans have a better defense than a handful of those teams, but also don't have the offensive firepower in the passing game those teams did (New Orleans, Green Bay, Detroit)

The victor in this game will likely be whoever comes out and sets the tone early. Texans fans hope it's their Texans, Panthers fans hope it's their Panthers.

[Cat'sGrowl]

If that does happen, we'll likely see Houston go to the same approach Detroit did and go to the screen game. Success or failure of that depends on if Mcdermott learned his lesson in that game.

[propagandamachine]

Nope - Lets get that damn high draft pick trade down and load up. Let Ron remake this defense to his liking.

I cant wait.

[weyco2000]

TJ vs Captain... OMFG! I look for the Texans to expose our lack of depth at LB by putting them in 1 on 1 coverage and using play action to look deep, hopefully we win but they have the better team.

[b0ng]

You misunderstand what I mean about comeback ability.

What I'm saying is that I don't believe the Texans offense would thrive in a pass first situation (being down

multiple scores) with Yates under center. Houstons approach to this game is make use of their great running attack and defense. The Panthers approach will likely be to put up many quick scores and overwhelm the Texans, as it has been in a variety of games this year. The difference in this scenario is that the Texans have a better defense than a handful of those teams, but also don't have the offensive firepower in the passing game those teams did (New Orleans, Green Bay, Detroit)

The victor in this game will likely be whoever comes out and sets the tone early. Texans fans hope it's their Texans, Panthers fans hope it's their Panthers.

The Texans were down 10 points (multiple scores) to the Bengals about halfway through the 4th quarter. The last 2 drives the Texans had (one for 65 and one for 80 yards respectively) both featured about 75% (first drive) and 90% (second drive) passing plays. He was also doing this without Andre Johnson, only using the likes of Jacoby Jones (not very good at catching balls) and Kevin Walters (posession guy) as his wideouts.

It's kind of not the biggest issue for you guys though, the combination of Arian Foster and Ben Tate along with our O-line should be much more concerning to you guys than TJ Yates.

[weyco2000]

Watching TJ play as a Tarheel he has a one major flaw, he doesn't read blitzes very well. He will however burn your ass if ya don't get there....

[Matthias]

I hope they play hard. I hope Cam throws for 500 yards and run for 100. I hope D-Will and J-Stew run for a hundred each. I hope Smitty has 200 yards, and I hope the defense play with fire. However, above all else, I hope we lose this game to better position ourselves in the draft.

[God]

arian foster might break the rushing record. and i have to play against the bastard in my fantasy league. im fuged.

[panthers55]

So supposedly Turner was going to go nuts against us last week and the week before it was Blount. This week it is Foster. Last week we gave up 82 yards to Snelling and Turner. More importantly we kept them to under 4 yards a carry. If Foster runs the ball 30 times he will get over 100 yards for sure but the goal is not let him break big runs. For the record I think that our running backs ar every bit as good as Houston's. They are averaging 11 yards more a game rushing the ball than we are.

Will we win? It will be tough as their defense is clearly better than we are by a long shot. But if we can hold them to under 20 points we will have a shot. Hopefully Chud has a gameplan to allow Newton to use more short and timing passes and Cam doesn't try to go down the field too often or sail the ball as he has done too often. The good news is that Yates could have a poor game given he is a rookie which could aqllow us to keep in the game.

Obviously Houston has more to play for and they will be heavy favorites but hopefully with our guys knowing their jobs are on the line, they might also play with lots of energy and determination.

Who knows with our team really. If it comes down to the fourth quarter though, I don't like our chances.