NFL and Houston Texans Superthread: Are we ready for some football?

boardman's Avatar
Blue took my advice to heart...LOL
No really, Someone told him to hit the hole faster. It helped. He was making those cuts behind the D Line not in front of them. Total rushing yards was 123 against a defense that was only giving up 88. Blue only ended up with a 2.8 avg but he had several carries at the end that were just to run clock.

The entire Jets' defense stiffened in that last quarter. Maybe because the game got a little more predictable. Runs on first and second downs by Blue were stuffed because they were expecting them. Then they were going after Yates on third trying to make him make a mistake.

Yates looked as good as anyone we've seen since the pre-injured Schaub except maybe for Mallett's first game last year. He didn't light the Jet's up but that's a really good secondary. What he did do was make some catchable throws when it mattered. Less than 50% completion rate and only averaging about 7YPA would indicate he didn't go downfield much but he wasn't afraid to throw it deep he just didn't connect. The average would have been better if Nuk had caught a few more. They were determined Hopkins wasn't going to beat them and it kept the safeties honest and opened up other areas. Yates took care of the ball except for that one blitz no one saw coming til it was there. He wasn't forcing anything and threw the ball away when he needed to. Hell he even found the TE a couple of times. Maybe cuz the TE was getting open. IDK.

The Wildcat was working nicely. We may not see it again all year but now opposing defenses have to prepare for it. Shorts ran, caught and threw the ball on one scoring drive. Sweet!

Nuk is playing like an All Pro. He goes after the ball with the same intensity that AJ used to show. This was a different offense than we've seen all year. It affected Yates' average too. There was more confidence and more guys trying to make plays. BoB said before the Bengals game that they closed a bunch of the playbook to try and simplify things. I think that may be helping them get better at doing a few things way better rather than try to remember too much.
The offense has a long way to go obviously. They won't get away with getting cute again like they did yesterday. They need to work on perfecting the things they did right and then expand the playbook only when they've done that.

Defensively the backfield continues to improve and play with more confidence. One thing teams earlier in the year have been successful with is getting the ball out early to negate the pass rush.. That means no extended routes or double moves. The DB's are getting used to that and seem to be able to jump the routes some. When they play tighter coverage it takes away the quick routes and forces the QB to make decisions on the fly. We all know that's not Fitz's strong suit. Knowing his tendencies helped in the preparation.

Cushing is still playing well but McKinney is improving every game. He's taking on some blocks and standing them up like a middle LB should. He's not the fastest but some of the instincts we heard about from his college days are starting to show.
There were a couple of plays where Mercilus stood up a blocking back or TE in the backfield on his way to the QB. Those guys felt that, I guarantee it.

Clowney is starting to get the hang of just playing ball. It looks like maybe they've simplified his role and put more on Mercilus making them both more productive.

The DL is becoming what we expected it to be at the beginning of the year. I think it's mainly because Watt seems to be playing the position rather than improvising and it's making things easier on the guys playing behind him. When Watt did get to pin his ears back he was busting the double team on damn near every play.
oilfieldscum's Avatar
BigLouie's Avatar
Texans winning but I think it is more the saints having no defense and no running game
kerwil62's Avatar
It's been a minute since I've seen the Saints play so bad. I know the Texans defense has gotten better but the Saints didn't give them anything to basically work for.

Nevertheless good win Texans. Four in a row. Enjoy it because you will be tested the next two weeks with the Bills and especially the Patriots.

Colts won today as well. Dammit!!
spear89's Avatar
we keep winning but we can't shake the colts, they still half a game ahead of us.
Fishpie's Avatar
I'm still trying to figure out how Hasselbeck is pulling these performances out his ass.
Wakeup's Avatar
All they're doing is dropping in the draft pick line...
TheDon's Avatar
Who cares, Rick Smith will fuck that up anyway, good to see them winning
Fishpie's Avatar
Holy shit, I can't believe that we will actually have a shot at beating the Patriots. That was a devastating knee injury for Gronk but that actually helped our meeting in two weeks look really good.
jstone420's Avatar
Worry about the colts
O'Mike's Avatar
Holy shit, I can't believe that we will actually have a shot at beating the Patriots. That was a devastating knee injury for Gronk but that actually helped our meeting in two weeks look really good. Originally Posted by Fishpie
I think he will play against the Texans in two week.

Question for the experts, can Osweiler get Peyton his second ring??
Osweiler is no Peyton, but dumb fuck Kubiak is going to run Peyton off.

I can't help but get a little excited about the Texans but I know these jackoffs are just getting our hopes up to crush them again later in the season when we fold like a cheap pup tent. Here's to hoping I am wrong.

Did you guys see good ol Dopey last night, pick 6 just like the good ol days. Gruden was ruthless ragging ol Dopey after the pick. I was laughing my ass off. BT was prolly rubbing one out watching Dopey do his thing!!
Fishpie's Avatar
I think he will play against the Texans in two week. Originally Posted by O'Mike
Yea I made that comment before seeing the reports coming in. They said he has a bruised knee which is more than likely a hyper extension. That's still painful though.

After watching last night I have faith that the Texans can't break my heart the way the Browns manage to do it to their fan base.
boardman's Avatar
Blue had a 4.4ypc avg on 16 carries.
Grimes and Polk couldn't get over 4.

Getting those yards on first down is what is making the offense a little better.
3rd and 4 or less opens up way more options than 3rd and 10.
Being able to hit Griffin on a couple of big plays is a sign that Hoyer is figuring out the offense. They double Nuk and the TE should have a favorable matchup. It's a combination that they will hopefully keep working on. Nuk only had 8 targets but he caught everything that was catchable as he usually does. Shorts and Washington played better than they have in a long time.

I think the time off helped Hoyer. He got to watch Yates do what Yates does and picked up some things. Fitz did the same thing last year when Mallet played and he came back and ran the offense the way it's supposed to be run then reverted back to being Fitz. Hopefully Hoyer won't do the same thing. He can't get comfortable.

Defense looks good. Not much to say other than Johnson should at least get a mention for Rookie of the year.
Did anyone watch the recent video of JFF partying in Austin?

Dopey Dude Daddio was prolly rubbin' one out while watching JFF do his thing!!

See an unedited quote from the Dopey Dude, about JFF (the love of Dopey Dudes life).

When does JFF run at the combine? Have they measured his cock yet? Originally Posted by Daddio
Meanwhile, who would have thunck that the Texans would be 6-5 after 11 games? Especially when considering how awful they looked earlier in the year. Boardman is correct, the offense, especially the run game, has been playing just well enough to win 4 games in a row. And the "D" is now playing very well! That certainly was not the case earlier in the season.

We all know that the Texans upcoming game against the Pats will be a very tough test. But if Gronk is unable to play, we might be able to find a way to keep the game close!

Stranger things have happened!!!!!