2011 Texans Watch-Which Texans Team Will Show Up Today?

When the Texans take on the Baltimore Ravens at 3 PM CDT, we battle red, liberty white and deep steel blue wearing fans of this almost ten year old NFL franchise will be wondering which team shows up to play when the game kicks off at M&T Bank Stadium

Will it be the one that played smash mouth football with the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers and beat them or will it be the one that coughed up a fourth quarter lead to the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome or snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the Raiders at Reliant last week?

Well, I'm betting they still won't have their act together this week but then again, seems like when we get exasperated with the Texans around here like we are right now, they find their football playing cojones.

Hope they find them today, because they play the Tennessee Traitors in an important AFC South division game next week
 

2011 Texans Watch-What A Time For The Texans Offense To Suck

If I sound irritated about the Texans blowing a game they dominated yet still lost 25-20 to an emotional Oakland Raiders team, I am. 

I was even more pissed after I saw this photo of the final play in which the now 3-2 Texans had an opportunity to still pull the game out despite their sorry play on offense and Lawrence Vickers dropping a sure touchdown pass with no Raider near him that would have tied the score.

Count the number of Raider defenders in the photo at the top of this post. 

Nope, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  The Raiders had 10 men on the field and still intercepted Matt Schaub.

Granted the Texans are missing Andre Johnson and are banged up right now, but still Jacoby Jones getting one catch for 9 yards ain't gonna cut it.  The offensive line allowing the type of penetration the Raiders got so that seven passes were blocked or tipped at the line isn't going to cut it either especially after the way the offensive line manhandled the Steelers the week before.

And wasting a defensive performance like the one the Texans D executed on Sunday in holding the NFL's  top rushing team, the league's leading rusher and their offense to 278 total yards ain't gonna cut it either if they want to win the AFC South and make the playoffs.

And they're going to Baltimore Sunday.

2011 Texans Watch-What A Time To Play The Raiders

The Texans are coming off a 17-10 signature win against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Reliant Stadium last week, and will be playing an Oakland Raiders team who lost their owner and the iconic face of their franchise in Al Davis yesterday. 

So it's anybody's guess how the Raiders will play today at Reliant Stadium  They could either come out understandably flat or fired up to 'win one for Al'.

Whichever way the Raiders come out of the locker room, and I'm betting on the 'Win one for Al' mentality, the 3-1 Texans better be ready to match that silver and black intensity and exceed it with their own sense of urgency to win this game and stay atop the AFC South Division.

The Texans are banged up at running back and will be missing All-Pro wideout Andre Johnson for at least three weeks due to a hamstring injury.   After this game they hit the road for consecutive weekends to take on the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Traitors before returning on October 30 to face the Jacksonville Jaguars

And on that note, it's time for kickoff.  Gotta see how I did on my NFL picks this week and in case you're wondering, I took the Texans.

2011 Texans Watch-Texans Rebound Against Steelers

After the Texans coughed up a fourth quarter nine point lead in the Superdome last week against the Saints (and I had to hear it from the New Orleans contingent at OUT on the Hill because they did)  I along with 'errbody' else in Texans Nation was quite uneasy about the Pittsburgh Steelers coming to Reliant Stadium with memories of last season's 2-8 collapse after the bye week dancing in our heads after a torrid 4-2 start. 

But they set the tone in this game with a 19 play 115 yard opening drive that ate up 10 minutes of the first quarter, overcame two penalties and was capped off by an Owen Daniels one yard touchdown catch in which he was all alone in the end zone because the entire Pittsburgh defense bit on the play fake to Arian Foster.

Speaking of Arian Foster, he carried the ball 30 times for 155 yards including the eventual game winning 42 yard touchdown run that gave the Texans a 17-10 lead late in the fourth quarter.  

They needed it because we lost All World wide receiver Andre Johnson to a hamstring pull on a second quarter play in which nobody touched him and he went down.

The Texans should have had a much bigger lead in the first half.   They had a fumble recovery deep in Steeler territory on the Steelers first drive, a blocked kick return for a TD at the end of the half and an interception return for a TD all wiped out by penalties.  It allowed the Steelers to hang around trailing only 10-0 despite the pounding and five eventual sacks they put on Ben Roethlisberger>

And as we Texans fans feared, the Steelers flipped the ball control script in the third quarter and eventually tied the game at 10-10 in the third period as they dominated the time of possession and dictated play as the Texans had done in the first half.      

But unlike last week, the Texans defense stepped up to the plate and came up with big plays to secure the win and move to 3-1 on the season with the Oakland Raiders coming to Reliant this Sunday.

2011 Texans Watch-Beat Dem Saints Again

I'm still in Washington DC and the Redskins-Cowchips hatefest Round One is taking center stage today amongst inside the Beltway football fans.   I'm still laser focused on my hometown NFL gridiron heroes. 

The Houston Texans beat the New Orleans Saints 27-14 during the preseason in a game at Reliant the starters only played in the first half. 

Now fast forward a few weeks.  The Saints and Texans are playing this time in an NFL game that not only counts in the standings, it's at the Superdome in front of their fans.   The Texans also are playing for the first 3-0 start in franchise history.

Ben Tate, who did some damage in the preseason game against them, will be seeking to become the first rookie running back since Cadillac Anderson to have three consecutive 100 yard games in the opening weeks of his NFL career. 

Hmm, no pressure. 

Who Dat say we gonna beat Dem Saints?    The team 375 miles west of you on I-10, that's who.

2011 Texans Watch-Texans Stay Undefeated

The Houston Texans kept two things perfect after their business trip to Miami was successfully concluded with a 23-13 victory over the Dolphins.  

They not only kept their 2011 season record spotless at 2-0 and took sole possession of first place in the AFC South, they are now a perfect 6-0 as a franchise against the Dolphins, with three of those wins coming in Miami.

We Texans fans are just hoping they don't repeat what happened in 2010 when they went 6-10 the rest of the way after starting the season 2-0. 

Ben Tate rushed for 103 yards and Miami homeboy Andre Johnson caught seven passes for 93 yards and  a touchdown to keep the 170 people he bought tickets for happy.  Matt Schaub had a quietly efficient 21-29 for 230 yards and 2 TD's passing day with most importantly no interceptions.

No rest in the schedule for the Texans as they head to the Superdome nest Sunday to play the New Orleans Saints and try to go 3-0 for the first time in franchise history.

2011 Texans Watch-Meeting In Miami

As much as pundits and the Harris County Cowchip Fifth Column relentlessly point out the Houston Texans now 3-18 record against the Indianapolis Colts, there are three teams my hometown NFL squad has never lost to, and two of them are on this year's schedule.  

One of those teams is the Chicago Bears.  The others are the Carolina Panthers who the Texans will square off against at Reliant on December 18 and today's opponent, the Miami Dolphins.

The Texans have a 5-0 all time record against the Dolphins with four of those wins occurring on coach Gary Kubiak's watch.   Two of those five wins have occurred in Miami with the one being a 27-20 one in 2009 during that season in which they posted a 9-7 record and narrowly missed the NFL playoffs.   .

The Texans sprinted out to a 27-0 lead and then withstood a furious second half Dolphin comeback to escape with a victory 

Miami is Andre Johnson's hometown and he always wants to play well for the homefolks, especially since he'll usually have at least 100 to 200 people in the stands he purchased tickets for to watch him play.  There are also five Texans who played for 'The U' on the Texans roster in Eric Winston, Darryl Sharpton (nephew of Rev. Al), Rashad Butler, Chris Myers and Brandon Harris. .

Speaking of playing, Arian Foster will start in this game after missing the season opening 34-7 win against the Colts with a hamstring injury.  How much he will play is the question.

The Dolphins are coming off a 38-24 loss to the New England Patriots in which quarterback Tom Brady scorched their secondary for 517 passing yards that included a 99 yard TD pass to Wes Welker. 

The Dolphins will be highly motivated to atone for that performance against a potent Texans offense

The Texans not only want another win, but wish to continue showing people that the defense has improved under Wade Phillips' 3-4 and their domination of Indianapolis wasn't a mirage.

And yeah, in case you're wondering, I picked the Texans to win this one.
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2011 Texans Watch-Deja Vu Whipping Of The Colts

Last season the Houston Texans got their season off to an enjoyable start for us longsuffering NFl football fans in Harris County.   We got to watch Arian Foster run through around and over the Colts for 234 rushing yards and a 34-24 victory at Reliant Stadium.  The Texans raced out to a 4-2 start before they cratered and went 2-8 the rest of the season but Foster did win the NFL rushing title last season.

Yesterday the Texans once again opened the regular season with their AFC South division division rivals at home but this time neither Peyton Manning or Arian Foster were in the lineup.  Unlike the Colts who clearly missed their all world quarterback, we have a stable of running backs that can do serious damage and a big offensive line clearing the way for them.    

Ben Tate rushed 24 times for 116 yards and a touchdown and the Texans were in this game to win it from the opening whistle on offense defense and special teams. 

The Texans scored 34 points like they did last year, but did it in the first half as they rolled over the Indianapolis Colts 34-7 in an offensive onslaught capped off with a 79 yard punt return TD by Jacoby Jones.

Now that they've gotten this 2011 NFL season off to a flying start, time to keep the momentum going.  They head to Miami next Sunday to face the Dolphins

2011 Texans Watch-Opening With Indy Again

The 2011 NFL season gets cranked up with some interesting matchups today and Monday night.

The TransGriot started a new feature on Thursday night.   I will pick NFL games on a weekly basis and chose wisely in the Green Bay-New Orleans game as the Packers prevailed 42-34.

I'm also hoping my favorite NFL team finally makes the playoffs in their tenth year of existence..

The Texans 2011 season starts off like it did last year with an opening day clash in Reliant Stadium with their longtime AFC South nemesis the Indianapolis Colts.  The Texans have an abysmal  2-16 record against them, but one of those wins came on opening day last year as Arian Foster ran around, over and through the Colts defense to spark a 34-24 win. 

They jumped out to a 4-2 start but after the bye week collapsed and limped home with a 6-10 record due to dropping five games by a touchdown or less and a secondary that got toasted more than Quiznos subs.

Wade Phillips was hired as defensive coordinator in the offseason to rectify that problem.  The retooled Texans defense is now playing a 3-4 front that has talented rookie JJ Watt and showed signs during the preseason of getting serious pressure on quarterbacks and sacking them on a regular basis.

They've had the offense. If we can get the Texans defense to play at half the level the offense does it might be a very interesting and enjoyable football season here in H-town.

Peyton Manning, one of the people majorly responsible for that lopsided Colts margin against the Texans will not play in this game. Arian Foster is a game time decision in terms of whether he plays in this opener by Texans head coach Gary Kubiak due to the hamstring he injured during the preseason win against San Francisco.

Well, in case you're wondering who I selected for this game, I'm picking the Texans to win it.  

We'll see how that plays out.

Texans Shooting For Preseason Perfection

My fave NFL team is trying to go where no preseason Texans team has gone before  in terms of completing the preseason part of the schedule with a 4-0 record.   But they are going to have to do it against the Minnesota Vikings at the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome without their starters.  

The Texans are electing to play their second and third string players in this final preseason game to see who can step up and actually do the job if something happens to a starting player.

The Vikings also have a lot of questions to answer in coach Leslie Frazier's first full season at the helm including whether this will be the last year they play in Minnesota.   This t the last season of the Vikings lease in the Metrodome and they are wanting a new stadium.    San Antonio's trying to get an NFL team and the Alamodome is just waiting for occupancy along with Los Angeles who hasn't had one since the Rams and Raiders departed to Oakland and St. Louis.

With the cutdown deadline to the 53 man roster looming, this it the last chance for on the bubble players to do what they need to do to impress Gary Kubiak's coaching staff and make this Texan squad that has the potential to have a very interesting season.   

30-7 Texans Win A Costly One

I got to watch a little Texans history as my fave NFL team rolled over the San Francisco 49ers in a Saturday preseason romp at Candlestick Park.  It was the first time ever in their ten years of NFL life they have started 3-0 in the preseason.  

Yeah, yeah I know preseason games don't mean squat, and the Texans were supposed to make the playoffs last year.   Bit I'm cautiously optimistic because this is the most depth I've seen on both sides of the ball in a while and we could be in for a very special season here.

The game got off to a rough start.  The opening play of the game was a screen pass from Matt Schaub to Arian Foster that was picked off by linebacker by Ahmad Brooks.   He said thank you very much for the 13 yard early Christmas gift pick six that put the Texans in a 7-0 hole a mere nine seconds into the game.

After that Schaub and the Texans offense went to work as the improving defense pitched a shutout.  Troy Nolan picked off two passes, one of which he returned 73 yards for a TD.   The Texans defense held San Francisco to 105 total yards as the Texans rolled to a 30-7 victory that could have been worse had the offense not turned the ball over three times.

One major concern is NFL rushing champion Arian Foster tweaking his hamstring in the first quarter which makes him doubtful for the September 11 NFL opener at Reliant against the Colts.  Fortunately for the Texans they are deep at that position.

Their last preseson game is Thursday against the Minnesota Vikings, and it'll be the last chance for the bubble rookies to imprss the coaches before they cut the rosters down to 53 players.    

Texans Playing The San Francisco 49ers Tonight

I've got my Blue Bell Homemade in the Shade ice cream and I'm parked in front of the television right now watching my favorite NFL squad take on the San Francisco 49ers.

The trash talking between me and my Bay Area friends started earlier in the week but alas, they will witness the awesome power of the Matt Schaub led Texans offense combined with Wade Phillips' fast improving 3-4 defense at Candlestick Park.   

The starters will be playing three quarters tonight before giving way to the rookies on the bubble that have one last chance to impress the coaches before they cut the training camp rosters down to 75 players..

On that note, back to watching the game.

27-14 Texans! Shoot, Save Some Of These Wins For The Regular Season

We know the preseason doesn't mean diddly in terms of won-loss record, but this 2011 Texans squad is starting to look very interesting after beating the New Orleans Saints 27-14.

Both teams played their starters for the majority of the first half and for a few minutes it looked like the Texans defense was regressing into old habits.

New Orleans ate up clock while driving the ball to a first and goal on the Texans 4 yard line.  The next play the Texans blitz Drew Brees and Antonio Smith broke through to sack Brees and force a fumble that they recover to stop the Saints drive.   The offense takes the field and cashes the turnover in for a touchdown and a early 7-0 lead they never relinquished.

All-Pro running back Arian Foster saw his first action of the preseason and rushed the ball five times on that initial drive for 47 yards and two TD's in the first quarter before he was pulled to let Ben Tate handle things in the second quarter. 

And handle things he did.   The 2010 second round pick from Auburn exploded for 95 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries.

The offense as usual is looking good so far, but what about the defense you Texans fans are asking?.

Wade Phillips' new 3-4 defense is starting to look better as well.   Despite being in basic coverage all night because we have to go to the Superdome to play them when the games count in Week 3, they forced three turnovers and two fumbles.

They had one play where a safety got toasted in the second quarter on a 58 yard strike that narrowed the Texans lead to 17-14, but overall they played a good game. .

The 2-0 Texans travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers next Saturday
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