HOUSTON TEXANS 2015 REGULAR SEASON

[eagle eye]

I don't know about you guys but I'm excited about this season for our Texans! We are going in healthy except for Arian Foster and Jadeveon Clowney and Clowney is back way earlier than many people felt he would be. The same goes for Foster. He will not suit up in Week 1 but all reports are that Foster is way ahead of schedule in his recovery from a torn groin muscle suffered early in training camp. He is looking at a possible return by the end of September or first part of October.

I really like our defense even without Clowney. Last year Houston had an excellent defense that was betrayed by a spotty (at best) offense. Additions to the defense will make it more formidable and Brian Cushing looks like vintage Cush as he is now two years removed from a torn ACL. Fully healthy, strong and fast, Cushing should be a force in the middle for the Texans. You look at the offense if you don't see the potential in our offense then I'd say you've been listening too much to "The Blitz" on ESPN radio too much. I believe Brian Hoyer is much better than Fred and AJ, and a lot of other people give him credit for. He has looked pretty good in limited work in the preseason and he definitely has weapons to work with. This WR corp is much better than last year with the addition of two very good rookies who will learn from 3 very good veterans. DeAndre Hopkins has become that #1 receiver for the Texans and the additions of Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington have increased the depth at the position tremendously. TE is another strength with Garrett Graham and CJ Fiedorowicz and the 3 headed monster at RB in Alfred Blue, Jonathan Grimes and Chris Polk have the potential to really help the Texans move the chains.

What do you guys think? Playoffs? Can they finally beat the Colts? Does Houston have a real shot at winning the division? I think they have the potential to answer yes to all 3 questions. Just 4 days until the 12 PM kickoff at NRG Stadium to begin the 2015 season and I can't wait!

[eagle eye]

Houston isn't getting any love out of the guys at Houston's ESPN radio station as usual. At least not from the guys on "The Blitz". Neither one has any faith at all in Brian Hoyer, they have no faith in the running backs and they don't believe the Texans will be all that good on defense. I wonder if it's painful being that negative towards your home town team? I like to think I'm a little better than just your every day homer because, while I want good things for the team I root for, I think I can display a little perspective as well. I think Brian Hoyer is better than Ryan Fitzpatrick. I think the receiving corps is light years better than last despite losing Andre Johnson. I think the TE position is deeper and should be better with C J Fiedorowicz having a full season under his belt. Houston went younger on the O-line and they said good-bye to mainstay center Chris Meyers but it doesn't mean Houston will not be improved with a 2nd year in the Bill O'Brien system. There is enough talent in the backfield to be successful until Arian Foster returns from groin surgery which looks more encouraging every day.
I don't see how Houston's defense can't be even better with the addition of Vince Wolfork at nose tackle and Christian Covington from Rice backing him up. I have a date to eat my hat because last year's 1st round draft pick Jadeveon Clowney is listed as probable for the Week 1 opener vs the Chiefs tomorrow. LB Brian Cushing is totally healthy and the defense should so much the better for it. The defensive backfield is talented and deep including the Texans 1st round pick Kevin Johnson. I like this team and as I've said before, I think that like last season, I believe Houston is going to surprise some people.

Here is the last injury report prior to the one released on Sunday morning. Houston will be missing some guys but by and large they will be pretty healthy going in. I have to admit, I'm still worried about Clowney's return so soon from microfracture surgery. Call me a worrywart but that is just such a hard thing to come back from. I have to trust in the doctors, the trainers and the coaching staff that they are not putting Clowney on the field before he's ready. I would be he gets around 25-30 snaps and he plays mostly in passing situations. That will be something I am paying attention to tomorrow.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Friday-Injury-Status-Report-Texans-vs-Chiefs/89fa31ac-f9e1-42f8-9b21-71168e68cfce

The Chiefs will get a big boost to their defense with the return of All Pro safety Eric Berry. Berry's season ended in December of last season when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma ending his season so he could undergo cancer treatment. In July of this year Berry was pronounced cured of the disease and cleared to play pro football again.
Not only will the Texans have to account for Berry but they will have to deal with what looks like a revitalized passing game. In the off season the Chiefs acquired former Andy Reid players from Philly Jeramy Maclin and Jason Avant to put a little life in the WR corps. If the preseason is any indication at all the Chiefs now have a passing game to go along with their running threat of Jamaal Charles. In 2014 Kansas City did not complete a TD pass to a WR. That is likely not to happen this year. Maclin alone is an upgrade over Duane Bowe. The acquisition of a guy like Maclin will do a lot to help QB Alex Smith be a better QB this season. Smith doesn't make many mistakes, he doesn't turn the ball over and he's pretty accurate. With some decent receivers he should be much more efficient.
All in all, the Chiefs are a good team. Last year they were suspect on offense but they should be much better all the way around. That said, I'm putting my money where my mouth is this week. Houston is at home and there's no place louder than NRG Stadium (except maybe for the Chiefs home stadium) and this team has something to prove. I like Houston to win this week but I think it will be a hard fought game. Final score?

Houston 27 Kansas City 23

[eagle eye]

All right now there is QB controversy in Houston. After looking good in training camp and winning the starting job as training camp was about to end Brian Hoyer not only didn't look good he might have lost his job. Unable to really move the football for 3+ quarters Ryan Mallett came in and he DID look good, well mostly. A missed pass to a wide open Garrett Graham on a 3rd down with a buck and change left in the game cost Houston a shot at another TD. Instead, the Texans kicked a field goal to narrow the KC lead to 27-20. Unfortunately, Randy Bullock executed, and I mean executed, the worst onside kick ever allowing the Chiefs to run out the clock and take the season opener for both teams. Hoyer did lead Houston to nine points (a TD and FG, Bullock miss the EP) so his job may be saved--for now. JJ Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and most of the defense played well. Watt had nine tackles, six for a loss, which tied his career high. He also had 2 sacks tying a franchise record for opening day. The way Hoyer looked bad was an INT he threw deep in their own territory in the first qtr and he lost a fumble on a KC sack in the 2nd. Even though the score didn't go Houston's way there really was more good than bad in the game. Giving KC a short field off turnovers was the difference. Houston held KC scoreless in the 2nd half, it was just the first 15 minutes that cost Houston the game.

Randy Bullock had a tough day. First he missed his first extra point of the season and he nearly missed his first extra point at the end of the 2nd qtr. It was a 34 yard attempt (roughly the same as an extra point now) that jerked to the left and it hit the left upright on the goal post but fell on the back side to get credit for the 3 points. He ended his day for one of the worst onside kick attempts ever tried.

It's on to Carolina next week when Houston takes on the Panther who edged out the Jacksonville Jags today 20-9. As a matter of fact the AFC South didn't have a great day today at all. The Colts had their asses handed to them by Buffalo by a score of 27-14. I wonder how often Andrew Luck will be outdueled by Tyrod Taylor? Not that often I'll bet but it happened today. Tennessee was the only team in the division to win today as they beat Tampa Bay 42-14 in an old fashioned smack down. I know one game isn't a big enough sample size but Marcus Mariota looked pretty damn good and the combination of Mariota to Kendall Wright looks like the next big thing.

[eagle eye]

I'm thinking that Brian Hoyer will be the starter this Sunday in Carolina. Just a feeling but I really think that Bill O'Brien will be going with him. He may be on a short leash because what O'Brien absolutely needs is for one of these guys to step up and take this starting job by the throat. I said that I have seen Hoyer play well and I have. We just need one or the other to do it consistently. Bill O'Brien is doing his best Bill Belichick by being coy about who will start this week as he refused to name a starter in his Monday presser. I still think it's Hoyer.

What O'Brien said was the most significant injury to come out of the Chiefs games last Sunday was the injury to TE Ryan Griffin and O'Brien said he will miss "significant time" whatever that means. The Texans now have just two tight ends on the 53, Garrett Graham and CJ Fiedorowicz and they have Eric Tomlinson on the practice squad. The Texans are likely to look for a 3rd TE in a trade or sign a free agent.

Well hush my mouth and call me Lucy. So much for what I know. I just got a flash on my cell. Bill O'Brien has announced that Ryan Mallett will be the starting QB in Carolina this week.

[eagle eye]

Think Bill O'Brien is pissed? On Monday he refused to name a starter and it was erroneously reported that O'Brien had named a starter when it was ESPN reporter Tania Ganguli who reported it citing inside sources. Yesterday in his press conference O'Brien again refused to name a starter saying he would do it on Sunday before the game. NFL coaches like to play things close to the vest and they have their own reasons for withholding information and these insider reports have to cause a lot of heartburn. I can say I have only heard of Ganguli from an article or two she's written, she certainly doesn't have the cred a Chris Mortensen or a Adam Schefter has. I could envision a scenario where O'Brien tells Hoyer and Mallett that Hoyer is starting just to discredit Ganguli. If O'Brien really has decided on Mallett he probably won't change his mind but I'll bet he's got a thing or two to say to the Texans team and staff about keeping their mouths shut.

Yesterday Houston completed a trade with the New England Patriots sending WR Keshawn Martin to the Pats for an undisclosed return whether it's cash or a draft pick or whatever. Martin was a 4th round draft pick in 2012 but he was never able to rise above being 3rd or 4th on the depth chart. No corresponding roster move has been made. One roster move has been made however with rookie UFA Chanlder Worthy was signed to the 53 from the Texans practice squad to replace injured Ryan Griffin as the #3 TE.

Jadeveon Clowney will be making a homecoming of sorts when Houston plays the Panthers in Carolina this week because the Panthers stadium to Jadeveon's childhood home is about the same as a trip from Port Arthur to Beaumont. Clowney is Rock Hill, S.C. and he went to college in Columbia, S.C. at University of South Carolina and he will be playing at the Panthers stadium in Charlotte, N.C.. Rock Hill is about half way between Columbia and Charlotte. Leave it to some reporter to bring up the fact that Clowney's father is in jail for attempted murder stemming from an incident that happened months ago. Clowney's homecoming aside, he played about 30 snaps in the season opening loss to the Chiefs last week mainly as a pass rusher on passing downs. At that he recorded 4 tackles and a sack in limited duty. To me, the successful return of Clowney to the lineup is along the same lines at the miracle return of Adrian Peterson a couple of years ago from ACL surgery about 7 months prior. Just a freak of nature to be able to come back from such a serious, career threatening surgery as Clowney underwent a mere 9 months ago. Hats off to Clowney because I, for one, would never believe it could be done. Bill O'Brien indicated that Clowney would see an increased work load this Sunday against the Panthers. You go, J.C.!

Houston claimed OL Oday Aboushi off waivers from the New York Jets after he was waived after serving a one game suspension for violation of the NFL substance abuse policy. Aboushi will rejoin his former OL coach from the Jets Mike Devlin who is the Texans line coach. Aboushi was a 5th round draft pick out of Virginia in 2013 and he's only 24 years old. Aboushi played in no regular season games in 2013 as a rookie but in 2014 he played left guard for the Jets in 10 games from Week 7 on for the Jets. The Texans have added depth, youth and experience to their O-line and Aboushi has familiarity playing for his position coach in the past. Win-win for the Texans. Now the question begs, can he play?

Texans LT Duane Brown is a game time decision on whether he is able to play or not against the Panthers due to a thumb injury suffered in training camp. Brown played last week against the Chiefs and, again, O'Brien may be playing coy about Brown's status in his best Belichick-ian way.

[eagle eye]

I'm not really surprised that O'Brien changed to Mallett and yet again I am a little bit. It doesn't matter now, what matters is Houston is in North Carolina preparing to play the Panthers tomorrow and that is the only controversy there is right now. Personally, I think Houston can win this game and there are two reasons why.
1. Houston's defense is pretty damn good. After surrending 17 points to turnovers to the Chiefs in the first quarter and into the second quarter Houston gave up but 10 points to the Chiefs afterwards including zero in the second half.
2. Ryan Mallett isn't a liability at QB. In the second half of the 4th quarter last week Mallett came in and led the Texans to 11 points to make the score respectable against a very tough Chiefs defense. Mallett only started two games in his career for Houston and that was last season. In his first start Mallett led the Texans to a convincing 27-6 win over Cleveland but in the course of the game he tore a chest muscle that hampered him in the following week's loss to Cincinnati 22-13. It shows that Mallett is one tough son of a gun but it was clear the injury prevented him from playing well. In Hard Knocks Bill O'Brien told both QBs, Mallett and Brian Hoyer, that they were on a short leash so it turns out that Hoyer's leash was 3-1/2 quarters long. I have a feeling Mallett won't be as disappointing as Hoyer was.

There is a 3rd reason I think Houston will win. Carolina's all everything LB Luke Kuechly will miss the game as he is still under the concussion protocol after being hit in the head late in last week's win over Jacksonville.

Houston could be without LT Duane Brown who has played so far with a hand injury. He is officially listed as questionable but if he played through it last week why not this week? I'm just saying. Arian Foster actually returned to practice this week about a month after having surgery to repair a torn groin muscle. Of course he's not playing but it is encouraging to see him back at practice.

A lot was made about Jadeveon Clowney having a homecoming playing in North Carolina this past week but he's not the only player on the Texans who is "going home" this week. WR DeAndre Hopkins was born in South Carolina, went to school at Clemson in South Carolina and all that wasn't all that far from the Panthers home stadium in North Carolina. It doesn't make any difference in the outcome but what the heck, it's semi interesting trivia.

This week the Texans GM Rick Smith told the media that Houston will convert the natural grass turf in NRG Stadium to artificial turf. Evidently the turf has not been up to Texans or NFL standards lately and Smith told reporters that it was important to consider the health of the players to change to an artificial surface. We should see Houston on their new turf in their next home game Sept 27 against Tampa Bay.

Now, as for the game tomorrow. As I said I think that Houston can and will win the game for the reasons outlined above. I am also probably going to put my money where my mouth is because I like the odds in this week's game. Carolina is 3.5 point favorites right now and the O/U is 40.5. There is a real possibility I'm going with a two teamer taking Houston and the points and the under. I just don't see Houston's defense giving up many points to Carolina and despite Kuechly's loss I don't see Houston scoring that much either. So, what's the final score?

Houston 24 Carolina 10

[eagle eye]

I have no issue with changing QB's after Brian Hoyer was so blah last week and Mallett gave the team a spark but when Mallett played yesterday he was not good at all. He was off target all day. The predominant mistake was he was throwing behind his receivers but he also managed to throw balls short and come right back and over throw receivers. There were a good bit of drops but I'll bet a lot of those were because Mallett was throwing the ball so hard I would bet there are a couple of receivers with broken fingers. The defense was on the field so much it's a wonder they didn't give up more points out of shear exhaustion. It was a hot, humid day in Carolina and you'd think Houston would be used to it but they looked like the tired team when it was all said and done. Duane Brown was a last minute scratch from the game and it sort of looked like the rest of the O-line checked out too. The Texans only managed a measly 61 yards rushing for the game. They did okay as far as pass blocking, well enough anyway if Mallett had thrown the ball better. As for my proposed bet? I was busy Sunday morning and I never got it in which was a good thing since Houston lost the game and didn't cover the spread and the O/U was 41 points in the game but on the betting sheet it was 40 1/2 which means I would have lost that too because I intended to take the under.
Folks are blaming the trio of Jonathan Grimes, Chris Polk and Alfred Blue for poor production but the O-line has not been doing a good job in the run game. That unit needs help and not just Duane Brown getting his hand right enough to play. The line needs to play better and Mallett needs to play better too including learning when to gun the ball and when just a little touch will go a long way. Young QBs think that a strong arm is the secret of success. If given a chance he may learn but you never know. Oh well, back home and prepare for Tampa Bay who actually won yesterday beating New Orleans who has been struggling.

[eagle eye]

The more I think about it I don't see Houston coming out of this 0-2 hole. I want them to but despite trying to deny it I have to accept the fact that the O-line is just bad and it's even worse when Duane Brown is out. I Houston's line was better they might generate some semblance of a running game which would take a lot of pressure off the passing game. A running game would allow the defense to get a little rest which, in turn, would allow them to be even more effective. And please, Bill O'Brien, give Jonathan Joseph help because he can't seem to cover anybody any more.
Ryan Mallett was pretty bad as I've said before but we know he's capable of better he just needs to show it. If the Texans don't solve the O-line problem and start playing somebody better at cornerback Houston will be lucky to end up the season 8-8.
How crazy is this, the preseason favorites to go 1-2 in the AFC South have started out the season 0-2. Indianapolis and Houston both looked mediocre at best in their two losses. On the flip side the Titans and Jags look decent on week and stink it up the next. Hopefully this division won't become the 2nd coming of the NFC South last year with the division winner going 8-7-1. Right now there seems to be way more upside to the Jacksonville and Tennessee teams than the ones in Indy and Houston because the Texans and Colts have serious O-line issues. I think if you took the best 5 linemen from both the Colts and Texans to make one squad they would still suck.

[eagle eye]

Despite being at home this week against a struggling Tampa Bay team Houston's chances of getting off their 0-2 start to the season this week look pretty shaky. On Sunday the Texans will be without LT Duane Brown for the 2nd week in a row with ain't good for an O-line struggling mightily to be even mediocre. The Texans are still waiting for Xavier Su'a-Filo to get healthy enough to play. The 1st pick in the 2nd round by the Texans in 2014 played in 13 games in 2014 but he missed the final 3 games of '14 with injury and so far he's missed everything this summer and the first two games of the 2015 season. The other two tackles on the injury list, Derek Newton and Chris Clark are listed as probable which is a little bit of good news for Ryan Mallett who was harassed by the Carolina pass rush last week. This seems to be a good news-bad news sort of vibe so let's go with that.
The good news - Arian Foster is feeling great as his rehab from a groin injury progresses. The bad news - there is no timetable for his return to the lineup.
The good news - Chris Polk has emerged as the best option for Houston's running game. The bad news - Jonathan Grimes is questionable this week with a knee injury.
The good news - WR DeAndre Hopkins is probable vs the Bucs on Sunday. The bad news - the O-line still sucks which mean Mallett may not have time to throw him the ball.

Tampa looks like they will get WR Mike Evans back after he missed the first two games of the season with a hamstring issue. Tampa will be without their starting TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins due to a shoulder injury. Seferian-Jenkins has begun the season as the Buc main offensive weapon. In roughly a game and a half this season ASJ has 7 catches for 139 yards and 2 TDs.

All in all I think I'd take the Bucs problems at their skill positions over the Texans woes on the O-line. You can't run or pass very well if there is no blocking up front. What I'm seeing from the wise guys who set the lines on the football games is that they are making the Texans 7 point favorites on Sunday. Like last week, the O/U is 40-1/2 points which is frustrating because I want to take the over but I don't trust the Texans to hold up their part of the bargain. Tampa Bay is hard to get a handle on. In Week 1 they get lambasted by Tennessee 42-14 but they came back and beat New Orleans last week 26-19 injuring Drew Brees shoulder in the process. This means that Tampa is averaging 20 PPG and Houston, after losses to Kansas City (27-20) and Carolina (24-17) is averaging 18.5 PPG. But, you look at who each has played and you'd have to say Houston has played the tougher schedule so far. Add to the fact that 17 points of the 27 Kansas City scored came off turnovers and at least 10 points were lost to Carolina by Houston turnovers and the scale definitely tips in the Texans favor. The weak point in the Houston defense is CB Jonathan Joseph and I would look for either Mike Evans or Vincent Jackson to have a big day picking on JJ. The one good thing for the Texans is Jameis Winston isn't all that mobile a QB. He should be more or less a sitting duck for JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney in the backfield. Not to mention the push up the middle by Vince Wolfork. Okay, dammit, I drink the Kool-Aid one more week. I'm hanging in with my Texans again this week and I think the final score will be.................

Houston 26 Tampa Bay 17

[eagle eye]

Houston finally did it, they got their first win of the season. They had to work their asses off to get it but a lot of pressure has be lifted, for now anyway. Two phases of the game were big for this win. 1) Houston got their running game going behind Alfred Blue's 31 carries for 139 yds and a TD. The final 19-10 was indicative of the slam bang nature of the game with neither team giving up much at all. The defense played well with 2) Jonathan Joseph coming up big in the game in coverage. He really did a nice job which he hadn't been doing in the first 2 games. Joseph and the secondary as a whole did a nice job containing Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. Both accounted for 141 combined yards in the game but neither found the end zone. In fact the lone Bucs TD came on a swing pass to RB Charles Sims that he turned into a 32 yard score in the 2nd quarter. The offense looked better behind Blue's running and improved play from Ryan Mallett. The big 3 WR's for Houston, DeAndre Hopkins, Nate Washington and Cecil Shorts combined for 18 catches, 201 yards and a TD led by Hopkins' 8 catches for 101 yds and a TD. Needless to say the O-line gets a lot of credit for the Texans success. It was a nice team win but the Texans won't have much time to enjoy it because they are facing a red hot Falcons team that flat dominated the 2nd half of their game against Dallas yesterday. The Texans will have to face the Falcons in Atlanta so they are not headed for a Sunday picnic and you can bet your bottom dollar that Houston is liable to be a double digit underdog. The 24 hour rule being in effect Houston can enjoy this win until about 3 o'clock this afternoon. Then, all eyes turn towards the Crescent City.

[eagle eye]

There isn't much to say about this past week's win. We were far from perfect but the team as a whole made enough plays to win the game. This week we have a bigger challenge ahead as we will face the 3-0 Atlanta Falcons. We all saw what Dallas did to Atlanta in the first half and what Atlanta did to Dallas in the 2nd half. The bottom line is Houston will have their work cut out for them. Getting to 2-2 won't be easy at all and it's made worse by being on the road. But, you know what? One of the reasons Dallas fell on it's face was because the Falcons personnel was just better overall because the Cowboys have had to deal with an ungodly amount of injuries to key people. Not to mention having two key pieces of their defense suspended for the first 4 games. Houston isn't in that predicament, not even close especially on defense. With Wilfork, Watt and Clowney all healthy and working at a high level as is the rest of the defense I don't think that the Texans will have the same trouble as Dallas did putting pressure on Ryan the way the Cowboys did. Houston needs to up their game on offense but at least they have something to build on going into this week's game. The O-line played much better and that helped the running game, especially Alfred Blue, and by proxy it helped the passing game. Also, I believe Ryan Mallett will be more likely to take some shots down the field that the Cowboys Brandon Weeden either couldn't or wouldn't. It will be tough but I think Houston will knock the Falcons out of the list of unbeatens this week.

According to Texans.com Arian Foster is "close" to being back in the lineup. Let's see why the close is in quotes.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Arian-Foster-“close”-to-returning/ef6177b7-68d8-45dc-b735-ab165f4eca84

As a follow up, today the Texans listed both Arian Foster and LT Duane Brown as day to day. Foster may be closer than Brown but it looks like both will return to action soon. Foster is actually way ahead of the original schedule for his return and that is not a bad thing at all.

Bill O'Brien has had to put up with K Randy Bullock's last of consistency for the last two years but after Bullock missed an extra point in last Sunday's game vs Tampa Bay that must have been the last straw. Yesterday the Texans released Bullock and they have signed Nick Novak who has been in pro football either in the NFL, the NFL Europe or the United Football League ever since. Officially, Novak is considered an 8 year veteran and the list of teams he's been on is long. His primary employer in the NFL was the San Diego Chargers whom he played for in 2010 and from 2011 to 2014. Bullock was drafted in 2012 and his time in Houston has been marked by inconsistency and record setting performances including scoring 19 points, 6 field goals (franchise records) and an extra point in a 25-13 win over Baltimore last December. That performance won Bullock AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. The NFL changed the rule for extra points moving the line of scrimmage back to the 15 yard line making the PAT a 33 yard kick and that was Bullock's undoing in Houston. Bullock has the distinction of being the first kicker to miss an extra point from the new distance.

In his Breakfast With The Bulls column on Texans.com Drew Dougherty lists the 8 things Ryan Mallett did better this past game.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-8-things-Ryan-Mallett-did-better/0818e509-a311-400e-a0d8-808af39166ad

[eagle eye]

The O-line got two starters back in practice today. Starting LT Duane Brown returned after missing the past two weeks with a thumb injury. OG Brandon Brooks was in practice after leaving last week's game against Tampa in the second quarter with an ankle injury. After the way Houston's line played last Sunday it is a good thing to think that this is a unit that now has improved its depth because of the fact the backups have gotten some playing time and the coaches know they can run their offense even if somebody goes down.

Today Arian Foster practiced with the team as he had done last week, although on a limited basis. Bill O'Brien said after practice that Foster would actually be a game time decision on whether or not he would play Sunday in Atlanta. Reports are that Foster has practiced well but O'Brien said they won't know for sure about Foster until the night before the games right up to 90 minutes before kickoff. That Bill Belichick taught O'Brien well about being coy with the media.

Texans.com analyst John Harris gives his 28 observations from last Sunday's win over Tampa Bay. This includes thoughts on LB Bernardrick McKinney's first NFL start opposite Brian Cushing, Houston had let S Quintin Demps get away after the 2012 season and after one year stops in Kansas City and NY Giants he was signed just prior to the season opener. Demps has not given the Texans any reason for being sorry about his signing. Just last Sunday Demps picked off Jameis Winston first pass of the game. Demps could have had 3 picks on the day but he has filled in nicely to this defense. Welcome home Quintin. These and 26 other items were discussed by Mr Harris.

[eagle eye]

The Texans have made Kourtni Brown a happy man. One of the featured players on HBO's Hard Knocks this summer Brown was cut when Houston had to get down to the final 53 man roster. Tampa Bay signed Brown to their practice squad the Monday after final cuts. Houston signed Brown off the Bucs PS and he will be on the 53 man roster going forward, at least until the Texans cut him again. Brown is really a high effort player who has made plays but he plays with poor fundamentals and is really more of a liability because of that. One thing Brown can do is rush the passer. It's hard to mess that up and Houston will need to generate a good pass rush if they hope to compete with the Falcons on Sunday. Brown is also helpful on special teams and that is one area Houston always needs help with.

In other roster moves yesterday Houston resigned QB Zac Dysert whom they released last week. Dysert was signed after 3rd string QB Tom Savage was placed on season ending IR after being injured against the Cowboys in the final preseason game this summer.
Houston placed LBs Carlos Thompson and Mike Mohamed on injured reserved and they signed LB Max Bullock off their own practice squad and they also signed LB Brian Peters off the Vikings practice squad.

Here is a profile of the newest guard Oday Aboushi who was signed 2 and half weeks ago from the Jets. Aboushi was reunited with his offensive line coach from the Jets who is now in the same job with Houston, Mike Devlin. Aboushi didn't just play last Sunday against Tampa Bay, his first start for the Texans, he played well helping Alfred Blue to rush for over 100 yards. Deepi Sidhu of Texans.com writes about the journey of Aboushi from New York to Texas.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Who-is-Oday-Aboushi/d1a039e5-e994-4bbf-91e3-0b93ed0699dd

Here is an unofficial depth chart for this week's game released by the Texans today.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-release-unofficial-depth-chart-versus-Atlanta/115a0302-0d7a-4524-9278-a69cbcdbdb7a

[eagle eye]

There isn't much to be said. We know the situation. The Texans off to a disappointing 1-2 start but they did get their first win last week against the Bucs. All the shoulda, coulda, woulda's are out the window. It's time to strap it up and play some freakin ball. Houston is going into the game at the Georgia Dome, or whatever they call their field now and it won't be easy. But, if Houston was paying attention, Dallas with backups playing all over the place on offense and defense game the Falcons all they could handle for a half. The Cowboys downfall was mainly due to so many 2nd and 3rd tier players starting. Atlanta out talented the Cowboys but that isn't the case with the Texans. The defense has been playing very well and the impact of Jadeveon Clowney is nothing short of remarkable considering where he came from injury-wise. Ryan Mallett is getting better with each game and he won't hesitate to take advantage of the single high safety defense that depends a lot on man-to-man corner play. The Texans receiving corp is in much better shape than the Cowboys corps was and is. The Cowboys have no Dez and Terrence Williams went on vacation last week. Cole Beasley was the only WR involved in the offense last week. That won't be the case with Houston. DeAndre Hopkins is healthy and embracing the #1 WR role while Nate Washington and Cecil Shorts are way better than the Cowboys 3rd or 4th receivers. I actually like the Texans chances except for the fact they are on the road. This will be a stern test but I've got to give my Texans some love. So, I believe the final------------oh wait, didn't I tell you? RB Arien Foster is playing this week! It remains to be seen how big of a role he will play but the threat of Foster should help open up some passing lanes for Mallet. Oh yeah, the final score.....

Houston 28 Atlanta 22

[eagle eye]

Doesn't it feel like Houston is just doomed to never win a game this season? At least not outside of the one they won last week? It was 35 zip before anybody new what the heck was going on. It was 42 to nothing when Bill O'Brien went to former starter-current backup-and probably new starter Brian Hoyer. Hoyer did come in and lead the Texans to 3 fourth quarter TDs and maybe a fourth if Cecil Shorts and not had the football stripped causing a fumble that the Falcons turned into a final nail in the Texans coffin. The things that looked like got fixed, or at least improved, last week against Tampa wasn't evident against the swarming Falcons. Swarming on both sides of the ball. I think we just didn't believe the Falcons were really all that good. Maybe they were doing all that winning with smoke and mirrors. But no, after all it said and done, this Falcons team is pretty darn good. Also, a lot of people didn't think Devonta Freeman was going to be all that good but he showed today that last week was no fluke as he gashed the Texans for 68 yds on 14 carries and 3 TDs. He added 5 catches for 81 yards to lead the Falcons on real life smack down of the Texans.
Arien Foster played today but he showed more rust than shine losing one fumble and dropping several passes he would normally have caught. The receivers had their own share of drops. Some their fault and some the result of Ryan Mallett's complete lack of touch on his passes. He just doesn't seem to know when to gun the ball and when to make the ball catchable. Everything is gunned and sometimes the receivers are too close to the line of scrimmage for that kind of velocity on the ball. Hoyer seems to have more of a clue to the concept of touch. Can he do better with a second chance to start? Who knows? That is the dilemma, the Texans are stuck with Mallett and Hoyer for the foreseeable future. Don't you think Bill O'Brien is missing Tom Savage right about now? The media is going to crucify O'Brien because he was so adamant about how good M and H were in Hard Knocks. Turns out, at the quarter pole of the season neither guy is dependable. The good thing is the Texans play an equally bad Colts team next week. They could get healthy in a hurry. The Jags have to be sick after missing 3 field goals in regulation and overtime before falling to the Colts today. Jacksonville wins and they are leading the division at 2-2 instead of the Colts.

[eagle eye]

Working on a short week Bill O'Brien said in today's presser that Ryan Mallett was still the starting QB for this Thursday's game against the Colts. On the other side it has been reported that Colts QB Andrew Luck would probably play. The Colts were lucky to escape the Jacksonville game with a win yesterday. If Jacksonville's kicker didn't suck and miss 3 different tries for a game winning field goal the Colts would actually be the team in last place with a 1-3 record instead of Jacksonville. And Houston of course.
Arian Foster got his first work of the season Sunday and he seems to have survived okay. He showed a lot of rust getting just 8 carries for 10 yds and he caught 3 balls for 25 yds. I would think he can do a lot more damage against a Colts defense that hasn't been very good so far this season. Houston had taken a hit injury-wise earlier in the game when Nate Washington pulled a hamstring. On the last play of the game Cecil Shorts was injured when he got a shoulder separation on what was a useless play he should never have been involved in.
There were a lot of questionable decisions in the game by the coaches. If Bill O'Brien can't get this team he may be the second coach fired. Oh yes, there is already a casualty in the coaching ranks as Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin was let go today by the Dolphins front office. The Dolphins were expected to be one of the teams challenging New England for their supremacy of the AFC East. Instead the Dolphins have looked more pathetic than potent and after the bullying scandal last year it seemed as though Philbin had been letting the inmates run the asylum in South Beach. Couple that with the 1-3 start to the Dolphins season and I guess he had to go.

[eagle eye]

Houston is going into the Colts game tonight with problems. Their defense isn't playing all that well but part of the problem probably is the fact the offense has sucked. They have way too many 3 and outs keeping the defense on the field way too much. Now, the defense isn't helping themselves not getting off the field either allowing too many 3rd down conversions or giving up enough yards on 1st and 2nd downs they aren't getting many 3rd down opportunities to stop the other team's offense. Houston is ranked 4th in the NFL in 3rd down converstions allowed. That's 54 3rd down opportunities with 17 converted into 1st downs by the offense. Not bad considering the amount of 3rd down ops they have had but they are getting killed on 1st and 2nd downs. Let's not forget about the penalties that result in 1st downs as well. Houston should be better than this. The one liability they seemed to have was CB Jonathan Joseph but he has tightened his game up a lot. Matt Hasselbeck is expected to start tonight's game for the Colts so you've got a veteran guy who can throw and he doesn't make many mistakes, certainly not like Andrew Luck does when talking about throwing picks. But, Hasselbeck isn't as mobile as Luck so you have a more stationary target in the pocket for our pass rush. So far the Colts run game isn't much and surprisingly enough Andre Johnson has been a non-factor in the Colts passing game. TY Hilton, Donte and Coby Fleener have been the top targets so far. Johnson has been targeted a lot, the 3rd most on the team, he just hasn't caught many of the targets. You can be he will be fired up to play the Texans in Houston tonight so maybe he is a guy you may want to cover a little closer.
Houston has got to get some consistency running the ball. In their lone win of the season against Tampa Bay Alfred Blue led the way with over 100 yards rushing and the damage Blue did was the difference in the game. I'll say this right now, I'm not impressed at all with Ryan Mallett. In the 3 games he's played so far he has not shown anything to me that says he is the QB of the future. Everyone makes a big deal about his strong arm but if you don't have the wherewithal to not throw a 95 mph fastball to guy 8 yard away then what good are you? What I'm trying to say is the man has not displayed any sort of touch that I can discern. I wish Bill O'Brien has done after Week 1 for Brian Hoyer that he did for Mallett going into this game and that is give him another chance. Hoyer does have touch on his throws and I believe Hoyer is more accurate than Mallett as well.
What the biggest shame in all this is the injury to Tom Savage in the preseason finale against Dallas. Savage, drafted last year by Houston out of Central Florida, was a project guy and last year he looked like a rookie. This year in preseason Savage looked much better this preseason and he was looking pretty good against Dallas before he was injured. I believe that Savage has the potential to be their QB of the future. We'll have to wait until next year to see his progression. Sitting here right now in Week 5 I believe that either Hoyer or Mallett will be gone by next season. I could be wrong but if neither guy show any promise, especially Mallett, then why keep him?
The Texans are saying they intend to use Arien Foster more tonight and if he's good after his first action of the season last Sunday then by all means use him. The Colts defense hasn't been great and Houston can and should win this game but my faith in them is waning. They have about 4 winnable games in a row which would get them right back into the mix for the AFC South race and tonight, for a change when talking about the Colts, is one of those games. So, what will be the final score?

Houston 24 Indianapolis 20

[eagle eye]

The Colts took JJ Watt out of the game by double teaming him the whole game. Clowney made a couple of plays but he was doubled a lot too. Brian Hoyer looked good most of the night after coming into the game in the 2nd qtr after Ryan Mallett took a hit that caused him to have come out. Hoyer did well enough that even though Mallett could have come back in he had to watch the game from the sideline. Now, Mallett was doing okay in the game. He was even showing some touch on his passes which was different. However, Malletts efforts were not enough to earn the Texans a single point. Some of that wasn't his fault because a pass to Arian Foster around the Colts 5 bounced off his hands and right into the arms of a Colts defender.
The main reasons Houston lost was twofold. 1) Penalties. Every single time Houston made a stop on the Colts when game was on the line Houston was guilty of a penalty. When they did something good on offense they committed a penalty. Houston has a total 12 penalties for 110 yards. According to Bill Parcels every 10 yards of penalties is a first down for the other team and over 110 yards is worth 7 points to the other team. The final score was 27-20 and 2. Brian Hoyer, after doing well the whole night, making good decisions and making accurate throws for the most part on a 3rd and 4 in Colts territory, Hoyer under a little pressure after have 5-6 seconds to find an open receiver he chucked up a floater down the middle of the field that wasn't near a Houston receiver. It was right to the free safety of the Colts for the game clinching INT with around 1:45 remaining in the game. What Hoyer should have done is pull the ball down and run because the Colts coverage on the play was very good or just throw the darn thing away. He did neither and any chance Houston had to force overtime went with that ill advice pass that the TV camera's caught Bill O'Brien beside himself saying, "Why did you throw that?!". Houston can't seem to get out of their own way. The Texans should have beaten the Colts especially knowing that Matt Hasselbeck was sick as a dog all week prior to the game and he was taking IVs prior to the game to get hydrated. No pressure on the QB and the middle linebackers weren't stopping the run up the middle at all. Frank Gore rushed for a season high 98 yards on 22 carries and a TD easily his best output of the season.
Of course Andre Johnson had a big game making 6 catches for 77 yards and 2 TDs. Prior to last night Johnson had only 7 catches prior to this week on 20 targets. You know he was hoping for this type of game in his return to Houston.
Houston comes out of this game with more questions than answers and maybe even some job security uncertainty for Bill O'Brien.

[eagle eye]

Houston should be embarrassed because with the talent they have they appear to be a much better team than their 1-4 record would indicate. But, in the words of Bill Parcels you are what your record says you are. Why is Houston where they are? Looks pretty simple, it's the QB. I think the QB play has something to do with the state of affairs but if you look closer you see a team that is struggling on defense. They have a hard time with slowing teams down on 1st and 2nd downs but when they do get teams in 3rd down they are pretty good at stopping them. Houston needs to win on the early downs more often. They also have to stop committing stupid penalties. They had the Colts stopped 3 separate times on 3rd down on their game winning drive on Thursday but penalties gave the Colts first downs and kept their drive alive. The defense needs more production from their linebackers. You just don't hear the names called often enough unless the ball is 15 yards down field. On offense, the O-line is really struggling. They are supposed to be a run based offense but they can't run the ball consistently. Too many time Arian Foster has been caught behind the line of scrimmage or right at it and he is getting a running lanes. He earned every one of the 41 yards rushing he gained. It's not that he didn't get opportunities, he had 19 carries but just over 2 YPC isn't going to cut it. Just yesterday Bill O'Brien announced that Brian Hoyer will be the Texans QB when they play the Jaguars in Week 6. If Hoyer is able to do what he did against the Colts and get the ball out to DeAndre Hopkins, Jalen Strong (who finally did something in a game for Houston on Thursday) and Keith Mumphrey so teams can't load up the box to stop Foster then you may see a better run game. The thing is though, it won't matter what Hoyer and the skill position people do if the line can't block effectively. There is no coincidence that the one game Houston won was the one game the line blocked well for Alfred Blue. Houston now has 11 days to get over being beaten by a team they really should have walked all over and move. The other thing is O'Brien and his staff have to do a better job. They had no answer or adjustment for the double team of JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney and as a result they had no pressure on Matt Hasselbeck. These are veteran NFL coaches and they didn't do squat to make the Colts pay for using their players for double teams and the other guys on that defense have got to step up and do something to make teams pay for double teaming JJ and JC, they need to win their one on one matchups and so far they aren't. That old cliché about winning being done in the trenches has never had a more telling example of that philosophy than the failure to win in the trenches in Houston this first 5 weeks of 2015.

[eagle eye]

Is this a depressing time to be a Houston sports fan or what? The Astros can't seem to overcome their bullpen and the Texans can't seem to overcome ANYTHING. While I grouse and moan over the Astros woes at least they made it to the playoffs which is something nobody even expected would happen. Exceeding expectations, Hmmmm, now there's a concept. Maybe the Texans should take a look at the Astros, a team with obvious shortcomings, actually much better than they were last season and fans are disappointed because they haven't been able to close out the ALDS against the much stronger Royals. Wow, disappointed because we lost. Wow.
Across town the Texans are not only disappointed because they are losing but they are losing in such a lame and impotent fashion that many, including the eternal optimist me, have written off their chances of making the playoffs. That's right, I said it. Written the Texans playoff chances off. O-F-F. I don't care that their schedule appears to get easier over the next few weeks, it doesn't matter because this team has shown nothing that inspires hope that there is a snowball's chance in hell they can do anything positive to right this ship. They aren't just losing, they are losing ugly and instead of showing signs of improvement................well maybe it's not THAT bad. I was a Hoyer guy before the season started even though I was willing to give Ryan Mallett the benefit of the doubt. While Mallett showed some signs of improving it was Hoyer that gave the team a spark and the Texans have shown the ability to at least score points with Hoyer under center. Now that Bill O'Brien has named Hoyer the starter going forward maybe a little stability at the QB spot will help get one of the Texans problems out of the way. So, how about focusing on the O-line for a while. This group had one good game out of the first 5. At that rate Houston will have 3 wins by the end of the season. Not acceptable. The line needs to start doing a much better job and they need to do it beginning this week in Jacksonville. Now is the time to play the Jags with Blake Bortles shoulder hurting. The one team we beat this season, Tampa Bay, just beat the crap out of Jacksonville by running the ball down the Jags throat and that is exactly how Houston beat Tampa two weeks ago. Logic would dictate that Houston should be able to do it again to the Jags, doesn't it? Sure it does. It's time to put one foot in front of the other or, in this case, one win in front of another. I'm tired of the Texans looking like crap because I have the Cowboys for that. It's time to start building on that 9-7 2014 record in a positive way. I think we're better than we've shown but it's way past time to show it. Let's go Texans, dammit!

[eagle eye]

The Texans have made a roster move or two this week as they prepare for their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week.

On Tuesday the Texans waived WR Chandler Worthy from the active roster and they signed DT Brandon Dunn off the Chicago Bears practice squad. The Texans apparently want to inject a little life into the center of their 3-4 defense. He won't replace Vince Wilfork but he may get into a rotation that will help keep Wilfork from wearing out before the 4th quarter.
Also on Tuesday the Texans released DT Edawn Coughman from the practice squad and signed WR Josh Lenz.

Today the Texans resigned Chandler Worthy to the practice squad after he cleared waivers. To make room for Worthy the Texans released WR Alan Bonner.

Practice this week has been anything but pleasant after the Texans heartbreaking loss to Indianapolis last Thursday night. On Monday Bill O'Brien had the team in full pads. It was the first full pad practice since before the season began but the players seemed to respond well. How could they complain with the way they have played so far in the season? NFL teams are limited to only 15 padded practices once the season began and maybe this one was a little overdue. Houston has helped team kick their asses so far by committing dumb penalties and generally playing like crap. The defense is especially disappointing. In the link below an article from Texans.com takes a look at the defense going back to basics according to DC Romeo Crennel.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Back-to-basics-for-Texans-defense/d027c02c-8b32-4ccc-a1fb-0a842262ad7b

Houston will get a little help this week in the form of RB Jonathan Grimes and WR Cecil Shorts III. Grimes has been out the last 4 weeks with a hamstring injury while Shorts missed last week's game with a shoulder problem suffered on the last play of the Texans loss to the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago. Shorts has extra motivation in this game because the Jaguars are his old team so I'm sure he will be itching to play and play well.

Despite leaving the Colts game in walking boot Jadeveon Clowney, we are being assured, will be playing on Sunday. It will be all hands on deck because the Texans are on the verge of pissing away their season if the losses keep stacking up. Stability at QB will help assuming Brian Hoyer can find some consistency on the field. Except for the last pass of the game against the Colts Hoyer played a really good game putting up fantasy worth numbers. Jalen Strong seems to be finally getting it as an NFL player and it didn't help his first two receptions as a pro were for TDs. DeAndre Hopkins is turning into a Grade A pure D beast at WR and with Strong coming on now and the emergence of fellow rookie WR Keith Mumphrey as an emerging threat as a kick returner Houston should be able to help out the defense by moving the ball more consistently keeping the D off the field and fresher when they do go in. It all depends on the O-line. That group needs to play better and maybe now that Hoyer has shown he can lead the team maybe they will pick up their game too. Houston has too much talent to be 1-4 but fortunately it's not too late to turn things around and it all begins Sunday in Jacksonville.

[eagle eye]

Colts LB Sio Moore was the guy who ultimately cost Ryan Mallett his starting job. Why? He was the one who hit Mallett during the game that knocked him out of the contest and allowed Brian Hoyer to come in and he was able to move the team AND put points on the board. The shots of Mallett on the sideline fuming because the coaches or trainers would not let him back on the field by the television cameras was a telling sign of what Mallett is really about. When Hoyer lost his job to Mallett he was probably pissed off too but he was a good team mate and he encouraged the guys, including Mallett,, on the field. Mallett pouted like a little bitch. I genuinely hope that Hoyer does well going forward all the way through to the end of the season and next year the Texans can cut or trade Mallett and go with Tom Savage in a competition for the starting job. I have definitely seen enough of Ryan Mallett to know that I have problem with the Texans moving on.

The national fantasy pundits are saying this could be the week Arian Foster finally starts looking like Arian Foster. Many of the fantasy pundits are ranking Foster as high as 3rd in their top plays at RB this week. It is easy to see why since the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston's next opponent, are giving up rushing yardage like a sale at Walmart. Doug Martin had a season high 123 rushing yards and 2 TDs and he also had 3 catches for 35 yards and another TD giving him 3 total on the day. Houston will be getting Cecil Shorts III back but the emergence of Jaelen Strong and the development of Keith Mumphery Houston probably doesn't even need Shorts to attack the Jags defense. Foster has shown flashes of his old self and the last two games were kind of his preseason. Now, against a shaky run defense, Foster really could be making a breakout this Sunday.

The defense will need to play much better than they have because the Jags are becoming no slouches on offense. Blake Bortles is looking like a first round pick and he has some young guns to help him out in the persons of TJ Yeldon at RB, Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns at WR. Not to mention Marcedes Lewis at TE and the Jags have yet to get former Bronco TE Julius Thomas but he will add yet another dimension of worry to opposing defenses. Thomas may not play this week but he will be back very soon as he has started to work out with the team beginning last week. Houston has said in interviews that they need to clean up some things for them to start being more of a force. Things like eliminating stupid penalties, playing with poor technique and doing a better job in pass coverage. Jonathan Joseph struggled the first two weeks of the season making people wonder if he was in a state of decline after 10 years in the NFL but he has played pretty darn good the last 3 weeks. Kareem Jackson has been the one being picked on and Houston may decide that 1st round pick Kevin Johnson should start over Jackson. Quinten Demps and Rahim Moore have made some plays at safety and have been pretty solid otherwise. It's the linebackers that are the backbone of the 3-4 defense and this group has been lacking. Even though he's shown up at times Brian Cushing has missed plays and his partner at MLB Akeem Dent has not made enough plays at all. Against the Falcons and the Colts their RBs DeVanta Freeman and the ancient Frank Gore gashed the middle of the Texans defense. The guys in the middle need to play better. Another disappointment is SAM LB Whitney Mercilus. With JJ Watt getting double teamed, as well as WILL LB Jadeveon Clowney, Mercilus has been nowhere to be seen. It may be time to think about Bernardrick McKinney or John Simon to replace Mercilus. Despite being double teamed Clowney has made a real impact and his list of tackles, pressures, TFL and passes defensed is impressive. It's hard to fault the Texans for taking Clowney as the first round pick last year but with Blake Bortles and even Teddy Bridgewater doing well you have to wonder what if Houston had gone QB with their first pick last year. Now, the Texans got a highly regarded QB in a later round in Tom Savage and he was showing real promise before being lost for the season in the last preseason game. Maybe he can be that QB of the future and the Clowney pick will look even more like a shrewd move by Rick Smith. Shrewd moves and Rick Smith aren't said in the same sentence very often but if Savage turns out to be something special then you would have to give Smith some credit because he sure does get, and deserves to get, a lot of blame.

Now, the question becomes, can Houston beat Jacksonville? The answer is yes IF Houston can play mistake free football and not turn the ball over (hear that Brian Hoyer?). Jacksonville is fast becoming a no joke team. A team you have to really respect as they are really building a good roster. Play smart and get Arian Foster a lot of carries and have Hoyer use the high quality receivers he has and Houston can win this game. At 1-4 it is almost imperative the Texans win. It's a division game and it's a game they are fully capable of winning. That's the basically the same thing I said about the Colts game last Thursday and Houston played bad on defense, committed stupid penalties and Brian Hoyer threw up a totally stupid pass that got picked off as the Texans were driving to tie the game. It was a missed opportunity to beat a beatable team without their starting QB Andrew Luck who was out due to an injury. I'm shell shocked picking the Texans in these games they should win. There have been at least two IMO and Houston looked bad in both. If you believe the locker room chatter the Texans have gone back to work with the past 11 days off and they have tried to address the issues that have held them back. All I can say is, we'll see. I'm going to give the Texans the benefit of the doubt so I believe the final score will be....................................

Houston 27 Jacksonville 21

[eagle eye]

Damned if we didn't do it. Houston 31 Jax 14. Nice win and Hoyer, for the most part, did a really good job. A little disappointed Arian Foster didn't do more running the ball but that's mostly because I have him in one of my fantasy leagues. DeAndre Hopkins is dispelling a lot of people's worries that he would step up and be that #1 WR with Andre Johnson gone but he's setting records. He's the first WR in NFL history recording at least nine catches and 145 receiving yards 3 games in a row. He has tied Andre Johnson's franchise record for consecutive games with 100+ receiving yards with 4 and it doesn't really look like he is going to slow down any time soon. Brian Hoyer is looking like an NFL QB and he's put up some nice stats the past two games. Now, the only thing left for Houston's offense to do is get Arian Foster on a nice 100 YPG rushing binge and the problems with the defense will start to ebb away.
I hate to say it but there were a couple of injuries that may have actually improved this defense. It was tough luck to long S Lonnie Balantine to a knee injury but Andre Hal came up big in his place. The Texans have to like Hal's size and speed and he made a couple of plays in the game as well including 2 INTs of Jax's Blake Bortles. Now, we'll see next week who is the team who is really improving and which team had a good week when Houston plays the Miami Dolphins who won convincingly today against Tennessee in interim head coach Dan Campbell's first game as the head man. For a week anyway all is well in Houston Texan-land.

[eagle eye]

How amazing is this? A Houston Texan won Player of the Week honors and he's not named JJ Watt! He doesn't even play defense! That's right, DeAndre Hopkins won AFC Offensive POTW honors after his 10 catch, 148 yard and 2 TD performance in the Texans 31-20 win over Jacksonville last Sunday. It is the first such award for Hopkins who took over as the Texans #1 receiver when Andre Johnson was released this past off season. Hopkins also became the first NFL WR in history to notch at least 9 catches and 145 yds in 3 consecutive games and he also equaled a franchise record 4 straight 100+ yard games. Hopkins' receiving yards and reception totals, 52/726 so far after six games is the second most in NFL history since 1960. Pretty impressive stuff I'd say. Hopkins is also the NFL leading in first down catches (42) and first down catches on 3rd down (15). I'd say he's filling in nicely for Andre Johnson. For much of the season Hopkins has been the lone bright spot in the Houston offense. With the emergence of Brian Hoyer at QB and the steady return of Arian Foster to his normal self are signals that brighter days are ahead for the Texans offense.

The Texans keep picking up former players who were stars of this past summer's HBO series Hard Knocks. First Kournti Brown, another featured player on Hard Knock was signed off the Ravens practice squad and now they have signed CB Charles James II. You remember him, he's the guy who had the unique socks he wore in practice. He also demonstrated some skills at CB but with limitations. James was claimed off waivers to help fill the void left by S Lonnie Balantine's loss to an injury that necessitated putting him on season ending IR.

Houston will have to prove themselves on the road again this week as Houston travels to Miami for a game against the recently rejuvenated Dolphins led by interim head coach Dan Campbell. When Campbell was still a player he sported his hair long in much the same vein as the Packers LB Clay Mathews. These days Campbell has a buzz cut. I just thought it was interesting to see the change in jobs affecting his change in appearance. Campbell is just a couple of years removed from those old playing days so it's not like he aged enough to abandon his old persona. I guess when you become management you have to clean up your act. Somebody really ought to tell that to Rob Ryan.

Is anyone getting tired of JJ Watt? Really, isn't he just a little too good to be true? Yeah, I thought so. I'm not tired of a guy who seems to be just a good person with an incredible work ethic. He is a great example of what players should be as adults, and men and players. I know he gets a lot of publicity but isn't his pub a greater source of pride for Texans fans than some schmuck who gets wasted and beats up his woman or wrecks his car or gets into a gunfight or a knife fight or a fistfight or any combination of these events? Darn tootin' it is. We have enough members of the NFL Knuckleheads Club, there needs to be a membership push for the NFL Good Guys Association. In reality, there are a lot members in this latter club but, except for Watt and few others, most don't get a lot of air time but they do a lot for their team, their community and their city. I think with all the so-called 'Bad Boys' roaming around there are a whole lot more 'Good Guys' who represent the NFL and sports in general in a good and positive way. Amid all this stuff about the Louisville basketball scandal, deflategate, etc we should remember these bad apples are not the true representation of pro sports in general. I'm just saying.

[eagle eye]

As the Texans practice for the game against Miami Sunday they have already ruled out 3 players from the contest. CB Kareem Jackson, WR Cecil Shorts III and LB Benardrick McKinney. All three players were injured in the Jacksonville game last Sunday. Shorts was coming back from a shoulder injury reinjured himself during the game in his return to Jacksonville since being signed by Houston this past off season. Jadeveon Clowney returned to practice today after dealing with a bad ankle since the Colts game. The ankle was bad enough he couldn't practice and he missed the Jaguars game last Sunday as well. Romeo Crennel said he was moving around so-so but the fact he was in practice is a good sign he will be back in the lineup very soon.

Ever wonder why Houston's defense had been so bad through the first 5 weeks of the season? Have a theory of your own? Bleacher Report's Brad Westin breaks it down for us, from his perspective. Check out the link below.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2015/10/21/9547135/the-film-room-heres-why-the-houston-texans-defense-has-been-so-bad-in

[eagle eye]

The Texans travel to Miami for Sunday's game and the Dolphins seem to be a rejuvenated team under interim head coach Dan Campbell. The Dolphins certainly steamrolled the Tennessee Titans last Sunday to the extent that the Titans never were really in the game. There were high expectations for the Dolphins going into the season and it was really surprising that the Fish under performed so badly under old head coach Joe Philbin. Campbell was the TE coach for the Dolphins and it has been reported that during the season he made notes on things he would make changes to help the team get better and it's been reported that in doing that it was something that a guy who had ambitions for a head coaching job would do. So, this is Campbell's big shot at an NFL coaching gig. Don't think he doesn't want to be in the running for the Dolphins job and that means he will want the team to string together enough wins to make him a viable candidate for the job. The Texans got some confidence beating the Jaguars last Sunday but I'm sure their psyche is still somewhat fragile. It doesn't mean the Dolphins won't be fragile too. I'm sure both teams will look to go up early and often and try to put their foot on the other team's throat for the win. I don't give a damn about the Dolphins, the Texans need a win. At 2-4 they have to get two more victories just to get back to .500 on the season. After the loss to the Falcons to begin October it was said that Houston had 4 winnable games. Well, they messed up and lost the first one to the Colts and considering the state of the Colts they really messed up. Add to that the fact they were at home and it made that loss hurt even worse. They beat the reeling Jaguar and now it's the Dolphins. Had Philbin still been in charge I would have a lot better feeling about the Texans chances. I do believe that Houston has more talent and with Jadeveon Clowney back practicing today that is an even better sign for the weekend.

Here's a link to an article from Texans.com by Drew Dougherty listing why Tackle Derek Newton can play guard. The reason why it's even being addressed is because someone in the media asked Bill O'Brien why Newton has done so well since moving from right tackle to guard. This article lists the nine reasons why according to O'Brien.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/9-reasons-Derek-Newton-can-play-guard/e73948eb-d4c3-4778-8257-8e16cc61a5a2

I called out several players in a post after the Colts loss for not playing up to expectations and LB Whitney Mercilus was one of them. Well, Mercilus has a really good game against the Jaguar last Sunday and I just figured my post must have gotten back to him and he straightened up and played better. It seems I have no influence at all in things like that and Texans.com's Deepi Sidhu wrote an article about the real why's and what-for's of Mercilus improved play.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Whitney-Mercilus-stepping-up/0ddf0338-eaa4-4377-bf1d-d693c2ea29d8

[eagle eye]

This week's game is going to be one that is hard to call. Both teams rallied to beat their opponents last week after looking pretty bad prior to last week. Both teams have a different rallying cry. The Dolphins are making a resurgence under a new coach and Houston is enjoying success under a different QB. The question begs to be asked, who is the pretender here the coach or the QB? I don't know the answer to that question and neither does anyone else. I think overall Houston has better talent especially on offense so you would think the Texans have a clear advantage but no, that isn't the case. Why? Because Houston has yet to put two games in a row together when they play well in all phases of the game. Consistency is the key here and it's what Houston has been severely lacking in 2015. Can Brian Hoyer be the same guy we saw in Jacksonville and against Indianapolis? That remains to be seen and it will continue to be a question asked until Hoyer can string together games when he plays smart football. He can't make a bonehead throw that cost his team a chance to tie the game against the Colts. Despite throwing for 300+ yards against Indy it was throw borne of poor judgement that cost the Texans the game. That was a tough loss to swallow for the Texans and their fans who have come to hate the Colts after so much futility against them. Hoyer can't be that dumbass guy going forward. If the guy who led the Texans to a win in Jacksonville shows up against Miami Houston stands a real good chance of winning. Arian Foster is getting better every week and has made a difference in the run game. DeAndre Hopkins is just a pure D beast and the defense has shown signs of getting better. The arrow seems to be pointing up for the Texans but it can very easily turn the opposite way if they don't play well against the Dolphins. So, who wins and what is the final score?

Houston 27 Miami 26

[eagle eye]

I was ready to sit down on a rainy day and watch some football. I had gumbo, I had cold drinks and I had the remote control in hand. Ten minutes into the game I had deja vu from the massacre Lamar had to endure the evening before. Just the Central Arkansans did to Lamar in the first half the Dolphins opened up a can of whuppass on the Texans. Both Lamar and Houston did not handle the rain that pervaded the game especially in the first half. Hell, Miami had a deluge in the first half but it didn't seem to bother the Dolphins at all. Houston, on the other hand had 6 3-and-outs, five of those in a row into the 2nd quarter with a pick six by Brian Hoyer and long drive that ended when Houston failed on a 4th and 3 at the Miami 9. It was 41 zip at the half. Houston woke up and started to play some football in the 2nd half but it was way too little and way too late as the Texans fell to the Dolphins 44-26. I appreciated Hoyer's stat line because I had him fantasy but where was the offense in the 1st half. It was actually a double case of deja vu as this game looked an awful lot like the Falcons game. Big, insurmountable lead in the first half, a rebound performance in the second half that was pitifully short of even scaring the opposing team. The Dolphins looked like the team ready to play. They were fired up and they swarmed the ball while Houston looked flat. In Jacksonville it looked like Houston had fixed their defensive woes up the middle but it must have just been a Jaguars thing because Lamar Miller ran right up the gut gashing the defense. Miller rushed for 175 yards in 10 carries, all in the first half. Tannehill went 18 for 19 for 282 yards, with a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Miami did not have a 50-yard play from scrimmage previously this season. Tannehill became the first quarterback to throw three touchdown passes of 50-plus yards in a first half since Randall Cunningham in 1998, according to STATS. Did you notice Ryan Tannehill was 18 of 19 passes? He didn't throw the incompletion until the 4th quarter for goodness sake. BTW, Houston scored its 26 points in the 2nd half against primarily backups as Miami began substituting after halftime.
Houston also likely lost Arian Foster for the rest of the season because first reports are he torn his Achilles tendon. Let the good news continue to flow. Houston is quickly pissing away their season and now Chris Polk and Jonathan Grimes and Alfred Blue will try to make up for Foster. Good luck with that.
Hoyer and the rest of the offense has to start playing ball before the 2nd half. If Houston continues to play like this Bill O'Brien won't be employed for long. Even Bob McNair has his limits.
Talk about ruin an afternoon. Then the Cowboys lose as well? That's a clean sweep of the teams I root for. A&M lost. Lamar lost. The Texans lost and the damn Cowboys lost. Not only that the Tampa Bay Bucs blew a 24-0 lead and let the stupid Redskins beat them scoring with :24 seconds left in the game to win 31-30. One stupid point! The only solace was the Eagles lost to Carolina last night. The Saints were kicking Indianapolis' ass but they let them come back in the 4th quarter and Andrew Luck ended up with a huge stat line that caused one of my fantasy league teams to lose. Thanks Rob Ryan. Needless to say I'm in a pretty fowl mood.
Losing Foster is a real blow and this offense is going to have to rally around each other and Brian Hoyer cannot allow such slow starts to plague their offense or this season is done before the half way point.

[eagle eye]

On Monday Ryan Mallett overslept and missed some meetings at the Texans practice facility. On Tuesday Mallett was unemployed. Apparently Bill O'Brien wanted to release Mallett after he "overslept" after Brian Hoyer was named the starter during the Hard Knocks program on HBO but he was overridden by, most likely Rick Smith the team GM. I also heard there was a lot of internal conflict over the release but this time O'Brien obviously won. I didn't think much of Mallett after seeing him play earlier in the season. I also thought that O'Brien pulled the plug on Hoyer a little quick naming Mallett the starter for Week 2 after he came into the Week 1 contest when Hoyer had been ineffective. Mallett lost his job in the Colts game and it was clear from his sideline demeanor he was angry and pouting about Hoyer being in the game. I think Mallett had a big arm with no touch. In the off season I think maybe Rick Smith may have been the one who was invested in Mallett and when O'Brien was trying to do his best Belichick by releasing Mallett after his first sleep infraction Smith blocked the effort to send a message to the team.

On the same day that Ryan Mallett was released Houston replaced him with former Texans backup TJ Yates. I like Yates and I think that former Texans coach Gary Kubiak sort kept the game plan with Yates pretty vanilla which, IMO, didn't allow Yates to really shine. Even so, Yates was at the helm for the Texans first ever playoff win in franchise history. I like Yates as a player and, from a fan's perspective, a team mate.

The Texans made it official on Monday after an MRI showed that Arian Foster did indeed tear his Achilles tendon and will be out for the rest of the season. It really hurts because since he came back from the DL he hadn't rushed for 100 yards but his value as a runner and receiver out of the backfield was noticeable compared to any of his team mates. So far, when Houston has had success it has been through the air except for the big day Alfred Blue had against Tampa Bay. The emergence of DeAndre Hopkins and rookies Jaelen Strong and Keith Mumphery as well as the veterans Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington have made the receiving corps probably the strongest unit on the team.

As for who replaces Foster? Well, I know Alfred Blue was the guy before but since Foster came back Chris Polk seemed to have more involvement in the offense than Blue. So much so that I wondered if Blue was hurt. I haven't been too lucky with my handcuff choices in fantasy this year but I think I'm going with Polk. I think Polk brings more to the table but it could very well be he is just a change of pace runner and Blue will be the 1st and 2nd down back with Polk coming in on 3rd downs. I guess we will just have to be watchful to see what the practice reports say about the RB work loads in practice.

The Texans brought up S Kurtis Drummond from the practice squad. Drummond is a rookie out of Michigan State and judging by the porous nature of the center of the Texans defense he certainly can't be any worse than Houston was last Sunday. Today the Texans signed RB Darryl Richardson. All you Southland Conference guys should remember Richardson from his days at Abilene Christian. This DR's 3rd season in the NFL and if any more of the Texans RB's bite the dust he will be learning the ropes to take his place in the Texans rotation.

Houston also waived from the practice squad TE Mike McFarland out of South Florida with an injury settlement.

Today's injury report included two of the mainstays of the Texans defense. JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney both missed practice today. Watt is dealing with a back issue while Clowney was sick. The Texans also were without Derek Newton (toe), Benardrick McKinney (concussion), Akeem Dent and Cecil Shorts with bad hammies, Brandon Brooks (toe) and Kareem Jackson (ankle) from practice. Jackson, according to Bill O'Brien, could miss some time with the ankle injury.

[eagle eye]

Houston begins life without Ryan Mallett today. I don't think the Texans will notice much of a difference although there is a possibility that the locker room will be a more pleasant place. JJ Watt was giving everyone a scare about whether or not he'd play this week as he dealt with a back issue. It was announced this morning that Watt is definitely playing. Maybe he just got a bit of a veteran's week off.
The Tennessee Titans is the opponent this week and theoretically Houston could end up being in first place in the AFC South if all things fall j.ust right. Houston needs to beat division rival Tennessee, Jacksonville is on bye and at 2-5 they will have to wait a week to make a move in the standings. The main game is the Monday night game that pits Indianapolis traveling to Carolina. Anyone worth his salt is going to pick the 6-0 Panthers to beat the Colts. So if all this happens today the standings will be;
Indianapolis 3-5
Houston 3-5
Jacksonville 2-5
Tennessee 1-6
It's amazing isn't it that Houston has looked as bad as they have at times this season and they could actually be tied for the division lead. The NFL is a funny thing sometimes.
Now, as far as today goes, the Texans are playing a handicapped team because the Titans will be without their #1 QB because Marcus Mariota is out with a knee injury and Zack Mettenberger is under center. Last week Mettenberger made his first start of the season and he was only able to lead his team to 7 points in a 10-7 loss to Atlanta. That score tells me two things, 1) The Titans are offensively challenged and that is a good thing for Houston and 2) The Titans defense is pretty good which is a problem for a Houston offense that has troubles of it's own getting started. If the offense shows up before halftime then Houston should be okay although they will miss Arian Foster's presence in the backfield. The Texans defense has had trouble stopping the run up the middle and the Titans have a guy just waiting for his breakout game in Antonio Andrews. The Texans D will be without CB Kareem Jackson and LB Benardrick McKinney due to injury so it makes picking a winner very difficult especially considering both teams have not been very good so far this season. I'm giving the Texans the edge simply because they are at home. So the final score will be........................

Houston 21 Tennessee 13

[eagle eye]

Houston finally scored some points in the first half even though they waited until the 2nd quarter to do it. And, oh by the way, Houston won the game 20-6. The defense was on top of their game corralling the Titans run game and shutting down the passing game for all intents and purposes. Houston held the Titans to 97 yards rushing and just 171 yards passing for the game. The defense tallied a whopping 7 sacks and they just plain dominated the Titans O-line all day. JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus lived in the Titans backfield all day. Mercilus had 3.5 sacks and Watt 2.5 with Jared Crick getting the other sack for the Texans.
DeAndre Hopkins didn't bust 100 yards but he still logged 8 receptions for 94 yds and a TD. Nate Washington had a spectacular TD catch that I'm sure hurt when he landed on the ground in the end zone at the tail end of a 42 yard pitch and catch from Brian Hoyer. Washington had 4 grabs for 74 yds on the day. Alfred Blue and Chris Polk shared carries in the run game and that aspect of the Texans offense was not all that great but they made a play or two. Houston had just 57 yds on 22 totes on the game but Blue added another 5 catches for 33 yards while Polk had on catch. I'm surprised Blue was more involved in the passing game than Polk but we won so it doesn't matter unless you played Polk instead of Blue in your fantasy league (which I did). The fact I have considered either guy in my fantasy league shows how desperate I am. Injuries have decimated my roster.
Speaking of damage to a roster Jadeveon Clowney left the game yesterday with a back injury. He returned to the game a little bit later until he hurt it again making a tackle. Reports are the back injury isn't serious which is good news for the Texans.

[eagle eye]

Time to take a breath. Decompress a little bit. It is finally the Texans bye week. As things stand right now Houston is exactly half way through the season and with their 3-5 record they are tied for 1st place in the AFC South. It that some crazy stuff or what? First place after looking like warmed over doo-doo for most of those games. The Colts are tied with Houston and they have some serious problems, problems so dire they have fired their offensive coordinator today. Houston needs to get healthy over the next week and half and they need to figure out how this running back by committee is going produce without Arian Foster. Last week the committee consisted of 2, Alfred Blue and Chris Polk, and it was just good enough to beat a struggling Tennessee Titans team who fired their head coach yesterday. If Houston can just string together 5 or 6 wins in a row they will take control of the division despite the horrible start to the season. So, we can rest assured that Houston will not lose this week. If, by some chance Indy loses again this week against the Broncos, and I would bet money on the Broncos despite the game being played in Indy, and a loss by Jacksonville to the Jets Houston could actually "win" by having sole possession of 1st place in the division.
The Texans will have to earn their stripes going forward though because when they play again a week from Monday night it will be against the currently undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals will be rested too since they play on Thursday night this week. So there won't be much of an advantage most bye week teams have facing a foe who played the previous Sunday. No worries, you play your schedule no matter how it falls. The benefit of the bye week should help the Texans get healthy and that's the important thing. Healthy and rested as they head into the final 8 games of the season. Yep, the bye week comes at just the right time.

[eagle eye]

With a week off to heal up and get some much needed rest the writers on Texans.com are looking ahead to the second half of the season. First off is a link between the Texans second half success and the play of OLBs Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/OLB-production-a-topic-to-watch-in-2nd-half-of-15/801e805c-71ce-4f49-9985-f859d35bd9a9

Second, as improbable as it sounds the Texans are in a tie with Indianapolis for first place in the AFC South. The Texans know that with a sub .500 record they can't get cocky and facing the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. Get way to start the 2nd half right? Regardless Houston knows they have to keep winning no matter who is on the schedule. A win against the Bengals could define who the Texans are as a team and could launch them into a real nice roll through the 2nd half of the season.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/1st-place-Texans-seek-big-things-in-2nd-half/14769daa-ce0b-45d5-8262-13b65e13acdb

This past week following the Texans 20-6 defeat of the Titans a residual effect of the win was the nomination of Texans CB Kevin Johnson for Rookie of the Week for Week 8. It turns out that the Tampa Bay Bucs LB Kwon Alexander won the award after he posted a career-high 11 tackles. He is the first rookie linebacker to record an, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. It doesn't diminish Johnson's performance against Tennessee recording his first career interception and his first two tackles for loss of the season. He also recorded six tackles and a pass defensed in his fourth start of the year. Johnson is the second consecutive 1st round pick after Jadeveon Clowney to be hits for the Texans in the Bill O'Brien regime.

[eagle eye]

The Texans began practicing for the Bengals game this week yesterday and it was a good day in terms of players that were at practice. Jadeveon Clowney was in practice yesterday but he was classified by Bill O'Brien as day-to-day because of a back injury. He was limited in practice but at least he's on the field. I'm sure the week off last week did a world of good for Clowney and the rest of the team. Another guy back at practice was TE Ryan Griffin. Griffin has been out since he suffered a sprained MCL against the Chiefs in Week 1. Griffin will help the Texans offense in the passing game. They haven't have a lot of contributions by the TE since he went out. It would be nice if O'Brien embraced the TE as an offensive weapon but then again, since Owen Daniels left in free agency, there may not have been options at the position to take advantage of. Against Cincinnati this week Griffin could have a big game and the tight end is generally considered a QBs best friend. Houston will need all hands on deck in Ohio on Monday night including at tight end.

You would hope that the bye week was an opportunity for the O-line to get healthy and find a magic potion to make them a more effective unit. The run game is suffering and to some extent the passing game is hurting because the line is just not very good. At least up to this point. Regardless of the Bengals being their first game of the second half of the season I think Houston has a gambler's chance of winning the division. In the Colts win over the Broncos last week the Colts may have lost in the long run because Andrew Luck will be out for a while with a lacerated kidney. It will be anywhere between 2 and 6 weeks according to projections in which you would have to think the Colts could go .500. If Indy loses Luck for the whole 6 weeks and they go .500 their record would be 7-8. If Houston can manage to with 5 of the next 6 games their record would be 8-6. Indy has their bye this week but if they go 3-2 in the next 6 weeks their record will be 7-7. The problem with this projection is that Houston over the next 6 weeks are in order, Cincy, Jets, Saints, Bills, Patriots and end up playing the Colts. Pretty daunting schedule with 6 potential playoff teams including the unbeaten Pats and Bengals. Maybe I'm dreaming here but I am hoping against hope that Houston can salvage their season despite their strength of schedule. It would have been nice if Denver had taken care of business last week but it sure seems like Indianapolis is Peyton Manning's kryptonite, he just can't beat those guys even though his team is the better team.

[eagle eye]

Questionable was changed to out today as Bill O'Brien announced that Jadeveon Clowney would miss this Monday night's game against the Bengals. Clowney has been dealing with a low back issue that is apparently very painful. He is not out per se as O'Brien actually said it is unlikely he will play but if a coach says something like that it's a pretty good bet he ain't playing. Clowney and CB Kareem Jackson did not participate in today's practice. Everyone else, a total of 11 players were full participants today and are expected to be on the field. This includes starters, T Duane Brown, LB Benardrick McKinney, WRs Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington and RB Chris Polk.

For a preview of this week's game Texans.com's Drew Dougherty gives his "First Look" at the game.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/First-Glance-Texans-at-Bengals/d937eef3-d63d-4c13-bd88-07c574eaefdb

[eagle eye]

So, here's the scenario going into the game tonight. Indy is off on their bye week and they are standing a 4-5 leading the division. Tennessee got slapped around by Carolina yesterday losing 27-10 dropping them to a lowly 2-7. Jacksonville finally broke their losing streak by edging out the Ravens 22-20 and improving their record to 3-6. That leaves Houston coming off their bye week at 3-5. Now, what will either happen tonight is Houston will win putting them at 4-5 and tied with Indy for first place or they will lose and fall to 3-6 and be tied for 2nd place with Jacksonville. It seems that the AFC South and the NFC East are in pretty sad shape right now. The best record in the NFC East is the 5-5 record the New York Giants have posted thanks to their latest loss to the New England Patriots yesterday. Pretty sad state of affairs in both divisions. Houston had opportunities to win more games but they failed to capitalize on opportunities and that has put them square in the middle of a bad situation. All is not lost but you really can't blame anyone for thinking there isn't too much light at the end of the tunnel for the Texans. Playing unbeaten Cincy is the beginning of a streak of 5 games, 4 of which are against playoff teams, and you see Houston is in for a bit of an uphill climb. Okay, considering how badly Houston has looked at times, the hill is a steep one. But, if Houston can win 4 of the 5, who is to say what that will do to the Texans playoff chances. With Indy going without Andrew Luck for an undetermined amount of time because of a lacerated kidney How long can the Colts ride the 40 year of coattails of Matt Hasselbeck?
But I'm not on point at all. Houston is playing Cincinnati to end Week 10. The Texans haven't played in 2 weeks and they went off on a high note beating the Tennessee Titans 20-6 in Week 8. Cincy has been resting too after playing 11 days ago on Thursday night football to begin Week 9 as they beat the crap out of the Cleveland Browns. Cincy is undefeated and untied and are looking pretty awesome. Houston has a big job ahead of them tonight. Frankly, I want to be a homer but I just can't do it. I hope that Houston doesn't get slapped around like the Browns did. If Houston can keep it close and put up a respectable fight I will be a happy camper. If they should actually beat the Bengals? Well, slap me twice and call me Lucy! I will be a REAL happy camper! So, what do I think will be the final score?

Cincinnati 34 Houston 20

[eagle eye]

I have never been so happy to be wrong in my life! It was an unbelievable effort by the Texans especially on defense to hold a high powered offense like Cincy's to two field goals! The broadcasters were talking last night about how the Texans said a win in Cincy just be the thing that jump-starts their season and it's not too far fetched to believe it based on what I saw last night. Of course the offense needs to produce more than 10 points a game if the Texans hope to win games but last night it was enough and for that I'm happy.
T J Yates must be kryptonite to the Bengals. When he was with Houston the first time he came in in a December game and beat the Bengals to clinch the Texans first ever playoff win. Later that same season he led the team to a win over the Bengals for the Texans 1st ever playoff win. It is unknown how long Brian Hoyer will miss due to the concussion he suffered last night but I'm fine with Yates under center. Hopefully, Bill O'Brien will give Yates more leeway to run the offense than Gary Kubiak did in Yates first stint with the Texans.

I was just wondering, does anyone miss Case Keenum right about now? Hmmm.

Alfred Blue got the most carries, Jonathan Grimes ran for the most yards but the ground game didn't do much at all. Between Blue, Grimes, Polk, Hoyer and Yates they only gained a total of 82 yards. The Texans only passed for a total of 202 yards but it was five more yards than Andy Dalton threw for (197) and the Texans D did not allow a TD on the night. This will have to get better from Houston's standpoint if they hope to do any good over the next 4 games.

It's too bad that New Orleans fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan yesterday because it would have been nice to face the Saints with a defense that gave up 47 points to the Redskins. Houston plays the Saints in 2 weeks. This week's opponent will be the Jets who have what Houston has---a good defense and a shaky offense. The Jets offense is made even shakier because QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had surgery on his injured thumb last Friday after the Jets lost to the Bills on Thursday night. Fitzpatrick stands a good chance of missing this game giving way to Geno Smith. BTW that is a good thing for the Texans because Smith is not a good QB. The game against the Jets could conceivably end up another 10-6 affair unless Houston can find a way to generate some O against the Jets.

In his enthusiasm for the win last night JJ Watt said that it was Houston's goal to make the Red Rifle (referring to Andy Dalton) look like a Red Ryder BB gun. It was a little uncharacteristic of Watt to dog an opponent and he immediately tried to do damage control by saying that Dalton and the Bengals were great. The comment by Watt apparently made Dalton a little hot under the collar and you can understand why especially since Dalton has come under a lot of criticism for his lack of playoff success in Cincy. Oh well.

This is the first time this season Houston has won back-to-back games. Hopefully they will make it a trifecta this week at home vs the Jets.

[eagle eye]

The Dallas Cowboys released backup QB Brandon Weeden yesterday. I'll bet you're probably thinking, "EE, did you make a mistake? This is the Texans thread!" No, I didn't make a mistake because the Texans, with the availability of Brian Hoyer up in the air and no real backup with any experience on the roster the Texans let Weeden stay unemployed for long. Check that, with no other QB on the roster other than Hoyer and T J Yates the Texans had to make a move. According to NFL.com Brian Hoyer will be out this week as he undergoes the NFL concussion protocol. Hoyer was not cleared to practice today.

Other roster info as Houston began prep for the Jets at home this week.
> Kareem Jackson and Jadeveon Clowney both returned to practice today. Jackson has missed the last 3 games because of an ankle injury and Clowney has been out for 2 weeks because of a low back issue. Both players indicated that they were happy to be back. Jackson, Clowney and CB Jonathan Joseph were limited in today's practice. Joseph is dealing with a calf issue.
> Beside Brian Hoyer the following players did not participate in practice, Akeem Dent, DeAndre Hopkins and Chris Polk. Dent has been out with a bad hamstring and Polk is dealing with his own hamstring issue even though he played on Monday night against the Bengals. Hopkins played every offensive snap against Cincy too but he is nursing a sore knee. Odds are he was being allowed to rest his knee and by Thursday or Friday, at the latest, Hopkins will be back in practice.

One note about the Jets, Ryan Fitzpatrick had surgery on his injured thumb last Friday the day after the Jets lost a close game to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football. Despite that fact Fitz is planning to be in the lineup against the Texans on Sunday. We'll see but I would be happy to see Geno Smith in the lineup because IMO Smith is a terrible QB and it would be beneficial to Houston if he plays.

[eagle eye]

Brian Hoyer has been ruled out of this week's game because of concussion meaning T J Yates will start. This became official yesterday. Yates will be making his first start since being signed three weeks ago. This will also be Yate's first regular season start since Week 17 of 2011. Yates was signed after Ryan Mallett was released after missing yet another team meeting. Despite all the hype about Mallett's signing he turned out to be just another bust with a big arm.

Houston will be without just two players this week. Hoyer and Kareem Jackson who is still dealing with a bad ankle. Two other players, LB Akeem Dent and RB Chris Polk are listed as questionable. On the Jets side RB Dion Bailey is out with bad ankle and DB Buster Skrine and DL Sheldon Richardson are both questionable for tomorrow's game.

Texans beat writer Drew Dougharty gives us his 5 things to watch in this week's game vs the Jets in the article linked below.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/First-Glance-Texans-vs-Jets/11cb2d97-be52-41e5-b513-62f6526bebe3

I agree with Dougharty's list. The matchup between Hopkins and Reavis will be interesting especially since Yates has to be pretty rusty going into the game. There is a big difference in practice and game speed. Luckily Yates got his feet wet last Monday night against the Bengals but I'll wager the Texans will need more than 10 points to beat the Jets.

I am wondering if Houston will open the roof for tomorrow's game? Today sucks with all the rain, that I hope stops well before Lamar-McNeese starts, but it's supposed to be sunny and rather cool. Perfect football weather as it looks like according weather forecasts. The thing is, NRG Stadium is louder than crap with the roof closed. Either way, with Houston on a 2 game winning streak, it's first of the season, you can bet the crowd will be jacked up.

One other note, Jacksonville, with their win on Thursday night is tied with Houston and Indy in the win column and one behind in the loss column. Could it be the recently improved Jags have made the AFC South a 3 team race? If Indy and Houston both lose it will be a 3 way tie for 1st place in a mediocre division race. With Indy without starting QB Andrew Luck and on the road in Atlanta, the Colts should lose. If Indy does go down and Houston can it 3 in a row they will have a full game lead in the division with a .500 record. Unreal. Then again, maybe not. Looking at the NFC East the Giants own the division lead with a 5-5 record and they are on their bye week. So maybe we shouldn't be feeling so bad after all. It does mean something that Houston is in the thick of things while the cross state rival Cowboys are hoping for a miraculous comeback from the 2-7 hole they're in right now.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are going into the game this week pretty healthy considering this is the 11th week of the season and the bumps and bruises and pulls and tears are beginning to take their toll on every roster in the NFL including Houston's. WR DeAndre Hopkins has been limited but he will play setting up a big matchup in the game with Jets DB Darrelle Revis. This really means that Nate Washington, Cecil Shorts and Jalen Strong will need to step up and have a big day. The Texans will also be counting on the RBs out of the backfield and the TE play to carry the team. I do not see Houston running the ball against the Jets with any great success. The Texans have only had one game where the run game was effective and that was Alfred Blue's 139 yards in 31 carries against Tampa in Week 3. That was darn near 2 months ago. The Texans will be counting on TJ Yates, making his first start since rejoining the Texans after Ryan Mallett's release. Yates went into the game last Monday in the 2nd half after Brian Hoyer suffered a concussion and led Houston to a very unexpected defeat of the previously unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals. Yates has had a full week of prep for this game and he isn't getting any breaks facing one of the top defenses in the NFL. One thing though, the Jets are not exactly tearing up their schedule as they have lost 3 of their last 4 games. The Jets have lost to the Patriots, the Raiders and the Bills. That game was 11 days ago on Thursday night. That is one advantage the Jets have on the Texans as they have had 4 extra days of rest while the Texans had only 6 days total since their big Monday night win. Houston is on a bit of a roll as the defense has found about 2 extra gears as they have not allowed a TD in the last 10 quarters. I noticed that while the Texans didn't go crazy with play calling, preferring to stay somewhat conservative with the new guy under center, they haven't handcuffed Yates the way Gary Kubiak did when he coached the Texans through 2013. It seems that Bill O'Brien seems more confident in Yates than Kubiak. I know Yates has had the last two seasons to mature but he was still not starting games. Yates continued as backup in Houston through that 2013 season but he became expendable in 2014 when the numbers didn't favor keeping him. The Texans had Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett and newly drafted Tom Savage. There just wasn't room enough at the inn for Yates who was traded to Atlanta for LB Akeem Dent. (A trade I think Houston got the better of.) As a matter of fact Yates wasn't even on anyone's practice squad last season as Atlanta cut Yates on the final cut down before Week 1. Yates was on the practice squad only probably running the scout team. Talk about your from the outhouse to the penthouse story this is it. However, if the story is to have a happy ending Yates needs to win when he gets his chances and this week is a biggie. Ryan Fitzpatrick is now the starting QB for the Jets and I'm sure he'd like nothing better than knock off his former team. Houston has an intimidating atmosphere at NRG Stadium but the Jets are used to that. The weather is a non-factor so it all come down to execution. No excuses. Can our guys beat your guys, sort of a situation. Good. I'll take that because I think our team can match up with the Jets. We need to keep winning to maintain our hold on 1st place in the AFC South. Wow, did you not see that coming. Doesn't it seem like we're in last place? We're not and we need to win games to stay on top. Between injuries and mediocre play in the division it's all right there for Houston to take advantage of. All we have to do is win. Sounds so simple but to win an NFL game isn't all that simple at all. If we can get the same defense we've seen the past two weeks and the offense makes 4 or 5 big plays I think we can win this game. So, what's the final score?

Houston 20 NY Jets 13

[eagle eye]

I was right about this being a defensive struggle and I even got the margin of victory correct. So, instead of 20-13 it was 24-17 either way it was a good win for the Texans. Even though the Jets have lost 4 out of the last 5 games the Jets are better than that. The biggest matchup of the day was always Hopkins vs Revis and I'd have to say Hopkins won the war. His 5 catches for 118 yards and 2 TDs was the story. Revis actually left the game in the 4th quarter with a concussion so I guess Hopkins really, really won the war.
The other big story was the way the Texans utilized the Wildcat offense. Cecil Shorts and Jonathan Grimes both took snaps in the wildcat and for the most part they did some damage mainly keeping the ball and peeling off nice runs off the formation. The whole time you had to wonder if Houston was setting the Jets up for something. Well, they were and they did. Cecil Shorts took a snap and he faked a handoff to and then hit Alfred Blue for an easy 21 yard TD pass. The defense played a pretty good game. They did break down and allowed a couple of TDs in the second half but you kind of had the feeling that Houston wasn't going to lose control of the game. The first TD allowed to start the 2nd half was the first one allowed in the previous 12 quarters. The Saints are next up and you can bet Houston needs to play well against Drew Brees because it will be to the Saints advantage to make the game a shootout. The Saints are coming off their bye week and they are also breaking in a new defensive coordinator since they fired Rob Ryan last week. I would expect the defense to play much better than they had been under Ryan. I can't imagine this game will be any sort of picnic for the Texans. It remains to be seen if TJ Yates will still be playing. It all depends on if Brian Hoyer can pass the concussion protocols or not. One thing is for certain Bill O'Brien didn't baby Yates by just handing the ball off. Yates threw the ball 34 times including the 61 yard bomb to Hopkins. Yates was a little off on some passes including overthrowing Hopkins on a go route in the first half when he had Revis beaten badly. The 16 completions he had was less than 50% completionrate (47% to be exact) wasn't great but all in all for a guy who hadn't started an NFL game since 2011 he didn't do bad. The most important stat was Yates did not throw and INT although he did lose a fumble but Houston won the turnover battle 2 to 1 with the Texans picking off Ryan Fitzpatrick twice. They forced Fitz to fumble once but the Jets were able to recover it. The Texans won the stat battles across the board including the most important stat, the final score. Nice win to hang their hats on and some momentum going into the Saints game next Sunday. It's nice to see Houston winning and yesterday would have been even more sweet if Atlanta hadn't choked like a bunch of dogs allowing Indianapolis to come back from a 21-7 deficit in the 2nd half to win 24-21. So, instead of picking up a game on Indy and owning sole possession of 1st place in the AFC South they are still in a tie with the confounded Colts. Not only that but the Jags are just a game behind them. We can now be unabashed Tampa Bay Bucs fans as they come off an old fashioned ass whoopin of the Philadelphia Eagles. Let's hope Jameis Winston and the Bucs can take their newly found awesomeness on the road to Indy.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are beating the Saints today. I have to believe that because I haven't got anyone left to believe in. Okay, so that was overly dramatic I apologize. I am still in shock about the 2 losses on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys and Tony Romo. There goes my hope for a Texas Super Bowl yet again. But, that doesn't mean I'm not looking for a Texans win today. Houston has got the Saints at home. We'll see if there is any improvement in the defense coming off a bye week after DC Rob Ryan was fired. I don't care. Houston needs a win and I am a homer so I'm saying it will be so. Brian Hoyer will be back in the lineup and that mean the Texans will be, for all intents and purposes, at full strength. We will have a loud and proud crowd in the friendly confines of NRG Stadium and we are riding the high of a 3 game winning streak. I am feeling it today. Houston beats the Saints and Tampa whips Indy even though Indy is at home. By 3:30 this afternoon Houston will be in sole possession of first place in the AFC South. In a perfect world Jacksonville will lose to San Diego. Okay, that may be a stretch considering how bad San Diego has been playing but a person can hope can't he?
Final score of the game?

Houston 27 New Orleans 22

[eagle eye]

I guess you can't always get what you want but if you try, sometimes, you get what you need. Okay, you caught me quoting the Rolling Stones but isn't it true more often than not? What I, and a lot of Texans fans, wanted was an Indianapolis loss but despite having a 40 year old backup the stupid Colts just won't go away. The "get what you need" part was simply the win yesterday to remain tied for 1st place in the AFC South with those pesky Colts. For the other part of "get what you need" was both Jacksonville and Tennessee lost yesterday which means the division standings are:
Houston 6-5
Indy 6-5
Jax 4-7
Tenn 2-9

It's incredible that there is actually a team with a worse record than Dallas, but danged if Tennessee didn't manage it!

Yesterday's 24-6 win was just a defensive slam dunk by the Texans with JJ Watt leading an onslaught of the New Orleans offense. They kept the Saints from scoring a TD for the first time since 2005 and it ended a 45 consecutive game streak of Drew Brees throwing a TD pass. Brees already holds the NFL record of most games in a row with a TD pass in 54 games so now he will have start a new streak. But, if the Saints don't learn to play some defense it won't matter how many TDs Brees throws because the Saints will still lose. Coming off a bye and two weeks removed from firing defensive coordinator Rob Ryan the defense showed zero improvement. This Saints team is just plain bad right now. The Texans did what good teams do to bad teams, they beat them soundly. Brian Hoyer was efficient and despite the Saints taking DeAndre Hopkins out of the game they showed enough offense to score 24 points. In fact the Texans opened up a quick 14 point lead as Houston scored on their first two possessions of the game. At one time in the recent past a 14 point lead on the Saints didn't mean squat because of the offensive numbers the Saints could put up but right now there is a severe dearth of talent on the Saints offense. Bad line, shaky receiving corp, TE that is no Jimmy Graham and I'm convinced Drew Brees shoulder is still giving him trouble. So Houston has won 4 in a row and that's a good thing especially for a team that began the season 2-5. The Cowboys dreamt of this type of rebound to their season but it just isn't going to happen because Dallas doesn't have this defense. Since a disastrous first half against Miami in Week 7 Houston has turned themselves around. They have become the defense we, and they, expected to be coming out of training camp. The offense is gaining confidence as they have pieced together a running game that is surprisingly effective. Even special teams is playing well. Now, the challenge is to keep it going. The next three games will be no picnic. First the Bills in Buffalo, next the Patriots at home and Indy on the road. In my estimation Houston will need to win 2 out of the 3 to be where they want to be as they head into the season ending games with Jax and Tennessee. For sure one of the games they win will need to be over Indy. The best odds of Houston winning that 2nd game will probably be this coming weekend in Buffalo.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are in the midst of a 4 game winning streak that has totally turned their season around. They have gone from the outhouse to a much nicer apartment. They aren't in the penthouse just yet but a few more wins then their address will markedly improve. A byproduct of success is an accolade or two follows and that is what has happened because DE JJ Watt has won AFC Defensive Player of the Month of November. It's incredible what Watt has done as 3-4 defensive end. He is the defending Defensive Player of the Year for 2014 and he currently leads the NFL in sacks. The whole freaking NFL. For those who say Watt is overrated or he's all hype are people who are just jealous of him and his immense talent. You go, JJ, you go.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/JJ-Watt-wins-AFC-Defensive-Player-of-Month/a8a61034-1770-4e17-a1f8-fe9de82f7e57

One thing that is starting to come to light is how well the O-line has been playing. It's taken a while as the line has had to deal with a lot injuries beginning from Week 1 but now there has been some continuity to the line and they are playing at a high level. What has sort of flown under the radar is the presence of 2014 2nd round draft choice Xavier Su'a-Filo. The X-man did play in 13 games in 2014 but because of injury or inexperience or ineffectiveness he didn't show up like you would hope the first pick in the 2nd round of a draft would do. He didn't participate much in OTA's or training camp because of injury and he didn't play a game in 2015 until the Atlanta game in Week 4. The like Su'a-Filo the line has gotten better as they played together more and they are showing real improvement. It's not how you start, it's how you finish and the Texans have been the living proof of that old saying. At least up to now.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/O-line-has-shined-due-to-continuity/98e2d246-18b5-4f04-96c7-c40720e53abf

This week's game against Buffalo will be an important matchup for both teams as they continue to jockey for a playoff spot but it will be the first time two former team mates from Clemson and two former 1st round draft picks will be meet each other in the regular season since coming to the NFL. Of course I'm talking about the Texans DeAndre Hopkins and Buffalo's Sammy Watkins. You would thing both players would like to outdo the other one in this game so it should be a big matchup to watch as the defenses from the two teams try to stop, or at least slow down, the other team's stud WR.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/DeAndre-Hopkins-on-Watkins-“That’s-my-bro”/da9abfa6-e52d-4e28-9596-c28b4b46f02a

Another reunion of note in the game will be for LT Duane Brown of the Texans and Buffalo QB Tyrod Taylor. The two were team mates at Virginia Tech. Here's an article from Texans.com's feature "Breakfast With the Bulls".

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Brown-knew-Taylor-would-turn-heads/5fd598e1-23a1-4e1f-97b1-eb8bec053ecc

[eagle eye]

Injury update:
Houston - Only DE JJ Watt and RB Alfred Blue were limited in Friday's practice. Both win play today although the bigger scare was the potential loss of Watt. He had missed Wednesday and Thursday practices because of a tender groin but even then the Texans said he would play today. Even though there were 11 other Texans on the injury list all were listed as full participants in practice and will play.
Buffalo - A little different story for the Bills who will have 3 players out for today's game and one listed as doubtful. The 3 who will miss are LB Nigel Badham, G John Miller and RB Karlos Williams. The doubtful player is T Seantrel Henderson (illness). There are 5 listed as probable with the most notable being QB Tyron Taylor who has been dealing with a shoulder injury for about 4 weeks.

Shoulder injuries are a tricky lot. You never know just how bad they are. Even if the player is playing, you can't be sure just how much pain the player is dealing with. Then there is the ability, or lack thereof, to fully use that arm and in Tyrod Taylor's case that becomes a pretty significant question to ask because his shoulder injury is one his passing arm. This could be just the Bills listing him on their report but to what end I can't guess what the strategy would be. Houston will undoubtedly assume that if Taylor is playing he will be 100%. The assume anything less would be stupid and I don't believe the Texans are stupid. Taylor probably doesn't want to get him on that shoulder though because I'll bet it's not completely healthy and the one thing for sure is, Houston will want to test it for him. Taylor is a mobile QB and as such poses a double threat. The only two other mobile QB's the Texans have faced this season are Cam Newton and Ryan Tannehill. I would say Taylor falls pretty much in between. Trouble is both the Dolphins and Panther beat Houston. The unbeaten Panthers won by 7 points which isn't too bad all things considered and the beat down by the Dolphins was just a bad day at the office. In fact the Dolphins scored most of their points and all of their TDs in the first half. Beginning with the second half of the Dolphins game Houston didn't up a TD for 12 quarters. The second half of the Jets game was the first TD's allowed since the Miami game. Houston came back a week later against the Saints and began a new streak of TD-less quarters as they shut the Saints out in TD's allowing two field goals for the whole game.
The Texans have now won 4 games in a row looking to add Buffalo to that list. Houston really needs to win today because the road gets tougher next week as they face the Patriots. I'm sure nobody thought Houston would win out but they need to win most of them and it begins with Buffalo, in Buffalo today. The issue with the Bills is they have been having a hard time stopping the run and that is just what the Texans have been doing well the past two weeks gaining 150+ yards on the ground in both games. Brian Hoyer has been solid and effective which just what you want from your QB especially in December. There are five games left in the 2015 season and being tied for the division lead with Indy at this point of the season is not something the Texans would have thought would be the case after starting 2-5 but that's what winning four in a row does for you.
The last factor is in December the weather can get to be a bit of a challenge with lake effect snows coming off Lake Erie and it's cold and windy much of the time to boot. So, I decided to check in with weather.com and see what the forecast holds for the game today. It's going to be a great day for football in Buffalo! Cloudy skies, light winds (5-10 mph) and high of 49 degrees with the temperature at kickoff at 42 degrees.
This kind of game scares me because it's on the road and Houston seems to hold a clear advantage but I have to believe the Texans will keep their winning streak going this week unless they are peeking ahead at the Patriots game. I don't think Bill O'Brien will let that happen. He is always preaching that the game your playing if the only one that matters and this could be a big win with Houston getting a leg up on a team who is also trying to position themselves for the playoffs. It's too big a game to take for granted and I don't think the Texans will. I will worry about Indianapolis after Houston plays. The Colts don't play until tonight against the Steelers. It sure would be sweet if the Steelers could take care of business at home against the Colts but it will be all the more sweet if Houston takes care of business in Buffalo at 12 o'clock today. So, what's the final score?

Houston 27 Buffalo 13

[eagle eye]

Boy, did the Texans ever blow an opportunity yesterday. The Bills were ripe for the taking but Houston didn't have the stuff to take it. It's hard to say your QB was part of the problem when he throws for 297 yards and 3 TDs but Hoyer was also as inaccurate as hell at critical times. One example was he had DeAndre Hopkins wide open behind the defense on a go route and over threw him--badly. If it's a good throw it's an easy six as it was it was bupkis. I don't know if it's me but when a WR demonstrates he just doesn't have it on a particular day, I stop throwing to him and that's what Hoyer should have done. Instead he kept throwing at Nate Washington and he kept dropping the damn ball. On the final drive Cecil Shorts dropped a ball, or rather failed to hold on to the ball after a hit by a DB. Shorts made a body catch and had the ball with both hands against his body and he still dropped the ball. An NFL receiver is supposed to make that catch. The thought process being, if I'm going to take a hit I might as well catch the ball. The Jets weren't better than Houston in any particular phase except the run game. Houston some minor success running the ball but the Bills were better. Houston gained 120 yards on the ground on 26 carries but the Bills gained 187 yards on 36 carries mainly on the legs of LeSean McCoy who picked up 112 yards on 21 carries. Houston made some critical mistakes that helped the Bills get the ball on a short field. The most critical mistakes were actually the inability of the Texans defense to stop the run but there were mistakes made from an unexpected source. In the first half blown coverages by rookie 1st round draft pick CB Kevin Johnson resulted in 21 first half points for Buffalo. Johnson was actually benched in the latter stages of the 2nd quarter. He returned to action in the second half but the damage had been done. The way the defense played yesterday it was a nightmarish flashback to the lousy defense the Texas played in the first month of the season. Couldn't stop the run and breakdowns in the pass defense cost them dearly. I suppose winning 4 in a row is hard enough but generally teams don't do so much to beat themselves as Houston and the Patriots did yesterday. The Pats lost at home, which almost never happens to a lousy Eagles team because of a 100 yard pick six and two special teams TDs. Brady had the same problem as Brian Hoyer did. He had trouble with his accuracy and when he did deliver the ball the receivers dropped it. It was uncharacteristic mistakes that cost the Patriots a win over hapless Philadelphia and the same type of mistakes plagued Houston yesterday too. It was a weird day in the NFL but it seems like in 2015 they are all weird. What makes this loss to Buffalo even harder to swallow was the fact that Pittsburgh opened a big ole can of whoop ass on Indy last night. Houston could have had been alone in first place with a full game lead on Indy. A glass half full guy could say at least they are still tied for 1st place in the division but with Houston facing the harder schedule in their last 4 games than Indy, including next Sunday night's game against a pissed off Patriots team, this game with the Bills needed to be won. C'est le vie. We are still tied for the lead in the AFC South so that is something to hang your hat on going forward. All I've got to say is c'mon Tennessee and c'mon Jacksonville at least when they play the Colts. After the Titans and Jags combined to score 81 points in their game yesterday it seems like both could give Indy a run for their money. Let's hope so.

[eagle eye]

The Texans have had 2 bad news items as they prepare for a Sunday night game against the New England Patriots. First, JJ Watt broke his hand in practice yesterday. There is a good ending behind that though as the Watt and the Texans have said he will play Sunday. Okay, nice. The second bit of bad news was that the Pats got Gronk back at practice after missing a week with a bone bruise in his leg suffered in the Denver game. The Patriots suffered quite a bit at receiver with a lot of drops. The only real reliable guy against the Eagles was backup, backup to the backup RB James White who had a breakout game getting a bunch of receptions for over 100 yards. With that performance White may have earned the trust of Brady and Belichick and he will be the next Dion Lewis. With the emergence of White and with Danny Amendola, despite a very inconsistent game last week and the return of Gronk it's really bad news for Houston. Fortunately, no game was ever won on paper so they will play and Houston has a shot at winning if the defense rebounds from a poor performance last week in Buffalo.

Since Hard Knocks this past summer the QB competition in Houston was a major storyline. To some it was a non-issue because neither Ryan Mallett or Brian Hoyer caused any pulses to quicken when people talked about them. They were a coin with heads on both sides. The more cynical people would probably have said it was a coin with two tails. Either way it wasn't a subject that gave people who love the Texans much hope. Both were career backups who had done nothing of note in the NFL. Hoyer had more starting experience than Mallett having been the man in Cleveland for a short time before getting hurt. But, it was just Cleveland. You know how bad those guys sucked. But, Hoyer won the job coming out of training camp and Mallett was pissed. Mallett got his chance when Hoyer laid a big fat egg in Week 1. In Week 3 Mallett may or may not have gotten a concussion but he was replaced by Hoyer and it's been Hoyer's job ever since. Mallett also showed what an ass he is on a couple of different occasions with the last incident costing him his job. Controversy over. In this article by Texans.com's Drew Dougherty he talks about Hoyer's growth as a QB as he has had time to grow in the job.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Growth-has-been-key-for-Brian-Hoyer/7f67c4af-6668-4f29-bd9c-a02f51063d7f

[eagle eye]

Patriots vs Texans on Sunday Night Football. Nice. A little prime time love for the Texans was a good thing earlier this year when Houston went on a winning streak beginning on Monday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals who were undefeated at the time. Now the 10-2 Patriots, who are hurting something awful as all their skill players keep falling by the wayside, are ripe for a Houston victory. Maybe Gronk plays for them, maybe not. The fact is the Bengals, who were at home when they played the Texans, were at full strength but this Texans team took it to the Bengals and beat them without allowing a single TD in the game against one of the best offenses in the league. Pretty heady stuff. I know that I'd have a lot more confidence in Houston if the defense hadn't laid such a big egg in Buffalo but this Patriots O-line is not healthy. They have been piecemealed together and they have not been all that great this year. It is a testament to Tom Brady's greatness that the Patriots, for the most part, keep winning.
The Texans Chris Polk has been more and more important to the offense of late lapping Alfred Blue and Jonathan Grimes in touches. Not sure if this is just an aberration or Polk just being the guy to step up and take control of the RB position.
JJ Watt broke his hand in practice this week and it can't help but hurt his effectiveness some but in the end Watt should smack the Patriots line around like a bunch of abused prisoners. I think that despite his broken hand Watt will have a big game against Brady and company. One thing is for sure, there is nobody like the Bills Sammy Watkins on the Patriots so any possible breakdowns rookie ace CB Kevin Johnson had last week against the Bills isn't going to happen. I think Watt will have a huge game tonight broken hand and all.
The Patriots are not healthy on defense either. Houston will not be seeing the smoothing defense they had to deal with in Buffalo so the offense should be able to find some holes in the running and passing games. As long as Hoyer is solid Houston will be fine.
One last thing. Houston is at home and they are on a prime time game which mean the whole league will be watching them battle the Patriots. There aren't many places louder than NRG stadium and they could challenge the decibel level record if Houston gets going against the Patriots. It will be loud as hell in NRG tonight and that is a very intimidating thing even for a 3 time Super Bowl legend like Tom Brady. Especially when Brady is without most of his best weapons. So, what is the final score?

Houston 29 New England 22

[eagle eye]

It's interesting the parallel between the Cowboys and the Texans in terms of their QB play. Now, Houston has had a bit more success than Dallas but yesterday you saw when how a QB can drag the rest of the team down with them. The Texans and Cowboys are following a QB that used to be a backup to Tom Brady in New England. Both guys used to start for other teams without much success and both guys are hit or miss from week to week. Shoot, sometimes play to play. Again, Brian Hoyer has shown more than Matt Cassel but it's clear neither is bringing much to the table. Finally, it is not just the QB that is a problem in both cities. Breakdowns in the offensive line and sporadic incompetence on defense have cost the Cowboys and Texans dearly. Both teams play hard but they just don't seem to have what it takes find a consistent level of play. It's too bad for Dallas because yesterday's loss to the Packers all but eliminated them from any possibility of a post season berth. Houston, on the other hand, is still tied with Indianapolis for first place in the AFC South. With Jacksonville coming on strong and just one game behind the Colts and Texans they look like the best team in the division right now. Jax totally destroyed the Colts yesterday 51-16 and with games left against Atlanta, who is just a dumpster fire right now, New Orleans, who is showing signs of life, and the Texans who are not looking real good the past two weeks. If Jax wins out and finishes 8-8 they could be the division winner. Between the AFC South and the NFC East it is hard to really say which is worse. This has been a very unusual year in the NFL to say the very least and fans of the Cowboys and Texans haven't had much to crow about. It's a shame that a team like New England who is so banged up and missing players left and right can go out and just dominate the Texans the way they did. It's a crying shame. I look forward to the fall every year and for the first time in years the Cowboys finally rewarded my long suffering last season going 12-4 and missing out on the NFC Championship game by one bad call and having high hopes for 2015. For the first time in years I had high expectations for the Cowboys going into this season only to have everything come crashing down when Tony Romo was lost due to a broken collar bone. As things turned out the season ended for Dallas in Philadelphia in Week 2. After shocking everyone in 2014 by going 9-7 you figured Houston would be able to challenge Indianapolis for the division. Now, Houston is challenging Indy for the division but with both at 6-7 and major injuries taking their toll on them both there is no guarantee that Houston or Indy will even win the division at this point. Both divisions and both teams are a joke right now and it's a shame for this whole season of high hopes and expectations to be ruined before Christmas. Heck, in Dallas case it was ruined on Thanksgiving when Carolina beat the crap out of Dallas and reinjured the collar bone of Tony Romo. The parallels between Dallas and Houston are unmistakable and yet another yet of my dream of a Texas Super Bowl are swirling down the toilet. I am no longer pissed but I am EXTREMELY disappointed in a what has become an empty fall.

[eagle eye]

The season is on the line this week in Indianapolis. No pulling punches, no BS, the Texans win and they will be in first place in the AFC South and a full game up on Indianapolis with 2 games to play. If they lose they will be 2 games under .500 and one game back of Indy in the division. If Houston ends up on the wrong side of the scoreboard this week that 6-8 record will likely kick them out of any wild card chance. The Wild Card is not going to be something a team in the AFC South will not have to worry about. It's going to be division or bust and the Texans need to reboot their offense and start scoring points. That and the defense needs to start stopping opposing offenses as they have regressed to become the defense who couldn't stop anyone in the first month of the season. They gave up 30 to Buffalo two weeks ago and they gave up 27 to the Patriots last week. The offense who looked during their 4 game winning streak to get back into the playoff hunt that they had found something they could build upon. The O-line was solid and opening holes for the run game and Brian Hoyer was efficient, not great mind you, but efficient. How much did breaking his hand effect JJ Watt last week and going forward. The guys in the trenches use their hands -- a lot-- and without the ability to grab an offensive lineman and move him where you need to in order to get him out of the way in the process of making a play it can't help but reduce Watt's effectiveness. Who will be the Colts QB this week is still up in the air. Matt Hasselbeck left the game against the Jaguars Sunday with a back issue and Charlie Whitehurst took his place so, if Hasselbeck can't go then it will be Whitehurst under center for the Colts. Andrew Luck is still not ready to play but he has begun to throw and he hopes to practice this week. The Colts defense had been playing quite well in recent weeks, that is until they ran into a Jacksonville buzz-saw last week losing to the Jags 51-16. Hopefully the Colts will still be hung over from that ass whoopin and Houston can take advantage of the opportunity to take the lead in the division.
Houston can't rest on their laurels if they do win because this Jacksonville team is getting to be a difficult out and if the recent past is any indication they ought to beat the crap out of a woeful Atlanta Falcons team. This Christmas season isn't going to jolly, it's going to be nerve wracking as these 3 teams vie for a playoff prize. These teams won't likely celebrate Christmas until January!

[eagle eye]

It's official, this week's game vs Indy will be the backup quarterback's duel. Andrew Luck will not be in the lineup this week and he is still rehabbing a bad shoulder and there is still no guarantee Matt Hasselbeck will be playing either so it could end up being Charlie Whitehurst's job this week. Yesterday Bill O'Brien officially announced that Brian Hoyer will miss due to the NFL concussion protocols so the start will fall on TJ Yates. Yates has a pretty good record coming in off the bench making starts for Houston so if it's Yates vs Whitehurst I think Houston has the advantage. If Hasselbeck plays it's advantage Indy but not by all that much.

Houston has had issues with dropped passes according to stats and the last two weeks Houston has definitely had dropped passes that ended drives and help cost them wins in the past two games. Overall Houston has an NFL worst 28 dropped passes out of 328 catchable passes. This is one stat you do not want to lead the pack in. So, in practice this week OC George Godsey is going back to basics and placing a huge emphasis on catching the football. This also includes the QBs throwing the ball more accurately too.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-aim-to-fix-problem-with-dropped-passes/575fb607-79d0-4e5c-9971-83ed778940ca

[eagle eye]

Despite not practicing this week DE JJ Watt (broken hand), LB Brian Cushing (hip) and LB Jadeveon Clowney (hip) will play this week in Indianapolis according to Bill O'Brien. The only other guy on the injured list is Brian Hoyer and he has already been declared out of this week's game because of a concussion suffered against the Pats last week. On the flip side the Colts still don't know if QB Matt Hasselbeck (ribs) will play. It seems like it will be the dreaded game time decision that all fantasy owners love. Of course, if your fantasy team is in the playoffs with Hasselbeck at QB I want to see the rest of your roster! I don't care what the records are. I don't care what the circumstances are going into the game. I just want one stinking thing on Sunday. Beat Indianapolis and end this gawd-awful winless streak in Indianapolis. Since 2002 the Texans have played the Colts in Indy 13 times and 13 times they have returned to Houston losers. Hell, since the AFC South was created the Colts are 23-4 against the Texans! That, my friends, is some serious misery the Texans and their fans have had to endure. It's high time the Texans change all that and there is no time like the present to do it. The Colts are hurting with a whopping 13 players who either didn't participate or were limited in practice this week. The Colts are coming off a thorough thrashing by Jacksonville last week and if Houston is going to beat the hated Colts now would seem to be the time. Houston's defense has been struggling lately especially against the run and that will need to get cleaned up. The O-line has been pretty leaky too and if TJ Yates is going to get anything done the line is going to have to protect better than they have been in the current 2 game losing streak. I hate to call out specific players but LT Duane Brown and RT Derek Newton need to get their heads out of their arses and start playing better. That doesn't mean that Misters Su'a-Filo, Jones and Brooks don't need to tighten it up too. The Patriots double and triple teamed JJ Watt and for all intents and purposes took him out of the game last Sunday night. The defense will have to do a better job of pressuring the opposite side from Watt if Indy tries the same thing. That and they need to do a better job of stopping the run. A problem from early in the season that seemed to get fixed when Houston went on their 4 game winning streak has reared its ugly head again in the last two games. If all these problems can't be worked out and TJ Yates is better than the average bear Houston can and will exercise a lot of demons they have battled against the Colts. 13 times---isn't 13 and unlucky number? Let's hope it's unlucky for the Colts for a change. So, what's the final score?

Houston 23 Indianapolis 18

Normally I don't make a prediction until the Saturday before or on game day but it's Christmas and I've got a lot going on sooooo.....................

[eagle eye]

I can not believe it! The Texans actually did it, they beat Indianapolis to take a one game lead in the AFC South and they did it in THEIR house! By doing so they ended the 13 game losing streak in Indie where they had never won as a franchise! They beat Colts 2nd stringer Matt Hasselbeck with their 4th QB to start for the Texans this year, Brandon Weeden. The same Brandon Weeden who could not do squat for Dallas earlier this season. Now it looks like he will lead them against the Titans in Tennessee with a chance to clinch the division with a win against the Titans and a Colts loss to Miami in Miami. It's funny how things work out. Brian Hoyer is listed as questionable because of the concussion he suffered 2 weeks ago. He has been limited in practice. Weeden came in last week when 1st backup TJ Yates went down with what we've come to find out is a torn ACL. This will be Weeden's first start as a Texan. Cowboys fans can tell you Weeden is good coming in cold off the bench but when has a week to prepare as the starter he hasn't been good at all. I think we are all rooting for Weeden to buck that trend as well.

The Texans have a real leg up going into this game. Titans starting QB Marcus Mariota is done for the season with a torn MCL leaving Tennessee with Zack Mettenberger to lead the team. A guy who never could generate more than 6 points in any of his starts this year. Couple that with a Texans defense that has come back to life the past two games. This all seems to be pointing to a Texans win later today. So, what's the final score?

Houston 23. Tennessee 9

[eagle eye]

So, while I'm on vacation the Texans took the lead in the AFC South beating the Colts behind their 4th QB Brandon Weeden. The former starter/backup QB Ryan Mallett actually won a big game for his new team, the Baltimore Ravens, beating the Steelers who are still trying to secure a playoff spot this week.

I have to tell you, I am nervous about this week's season finale with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Why? Because this week Brandon Weeden was asked if his success is pretty sweet considering his being cut by Dallas after going 0-3 for the Cowboys. His reply was yes, of course, since Jerry Jones will be watching the playoffs sitting on his couch instead of his private box at a stadium. What Weeden failed to realize is that Houston isn't guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. They could, with a Texans loss and a Colts win be watching the playoffs on TV too. BTW, Weeden won't be the QB this week, Brian Hoyer has cleared his concussion protocol and he will start this week.

It looks like Houston will be without Jadeveon Clowney for the season finale because of a foot injury. The good thing here is that earlier in the season Clowney missed a couple of games and Whitney Mercilus came on and did a really nice job playing in one of the most dominant stretches of defense the Texans have played this season. It will be nice to get him back but there is comfort in knowing that there won't be a huge drop off with him out.

JJ Watt has played with what amounts to a club on his broken hand for 2 games now. It has obviously hampered him but he's still creating havoc on opposing offenses. Despite his handicap Watt is second in the NFL in sacks with 14.5 just a 1/2 sack behind league leader Luke Kuechly.

Blake Bortles is becoming what Jacksonville had hope when they made him the 3rd pick in the 2014 draft. The Jags have a nice set of skill players to go along with him too. WRs Alan Hurns and Allen Robinson have proven to be really nice set of receivers. My point is Houston will have to earn the division championship because the Jaguars will not be some bunch of pushovers.

[eagle eye]

Oh what a difference a year makes. In 2014 Houston battled to a 9-7 record and was left on the outside looking in at the teams who made the playoffs. This week, if Houston beats Jacksonville, that same 9-7 record will not only get them into the playoffs but it will win them the division and earn them a home game in the wild card round of the playoffs. It all comes down to today and the 3 and a half hours it will take to make it all official. Jacksonville comes in with a 5-10 record but I really think they are better than that. They have a franchise caliber QB in Blake Bortles and they have receivers who any team would love to have in Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson. They have quality TE's in Julius Thomas and Marcedes Lewis. They will be without RB sensation TJ Yeldon but they still have Denard Robinson and Toby Gerhart to tote the rock. They have a serviceable defense led by Telvin Smith and Chris Clemons. Nope, no pushover here. If Houston is going to win the AFC South they will have to earn it. The Jags have lost 3 in a row but in Week 14 they did Houston a huge favor by pummeling Indianapolia 51-16. Now the Jags can do Houston another favor by rolling over and playing dead. I wouldn't count on it though. If there is anything that teams out of playoff contention love to do it play spoiler to the teams that are. You can bet Jacksonville will be trying as hard as they can to knock Houston out of the playoffs.
Houston has reignited that spark that made their defense all but unstoppable during the 5 game winning streak that got them back in the playoff hunt after starting out the season 2-5. They sort of slumped once they got to 7-5 for a couple of games but they quickly rebounded and beat Cincinnati on the road in a Monday night game and in their last 7 games they are 5-2. Houston has their starting QB back after being without Brian Hoyer since a Week 14 ass whoopin' by New England. TJ Yates and Brian Weeden filled in nicely but the biggest game since a 2012 win over Cincinnati to make the playoffs Houston will need to play their best to win the game. For what it's worth, I believe they will. JJ Watt got the club off his broken left hand and tried to go with a brace on the hand in Friday's practice. It was just a look-see and there is no guarantee Watt can go without the club but it bode well if, and I stress IF, Houston beats Jacksonville today. Keep and eye on Chris Polk. He has seemed to take control of the RB spot but Jonathan Grimes and Alfred Blue have stepped it up as well giving Houston a nice RB by committee rotation. The receivers are doing so well with DeAndre Hopkins and a suddenly emerging Jalen Strong to go along with the ageless Nate Washington give Houston some nice outside weapons. The return of TE Ryan Griffin a few weeks ago has been a significant upgrade to the TE position as it relates to being a receiver. Houston has a pretty nice team. One that a lot of teams probably don't want to face in the playoffs despite their potential 9-7 record. Their one weak spot is at QB. I hate to say it but there isn't a QB on the roster anyone in their right mind would consider a franchise QB. I hope Houston can put that thought behind them and win today. Hoyer is their guy and he has shown, given time, he can get the job done.
BTW, don't think Houston is without prospects. Remember Tom Savage? Yeah, you forgot about him didn't you. He's the Big Ben clone who hurt his shoulder in the preseason finale against Dallas. You could see a huge improvement from his rookie season in 2014 this past summer. He's being groomed for this job and after another year perhaps he will step in and Houston fans won't be disappointed. Houston is able to go old school in grooming a QB for a few years before he is ready to take over the reins of the team for a decade or so. I have a lot of hope for Mr Savage going forward. But, I digress. This is today and we have a playoff spot to secure.
So, what is the final score? I believe Houston being at home will be the difference and Houston will win by 17 when the final gun sounds.

Houston 27 Jacksonville 10

[eagle eye]

Damned if Houston didn't get it done. This is pretty sweet. JJ Watt played without a club and ended up with 3 sacks giving him 17.5 on the season. This allowed Watt to leap frog Oakland's Kahlil Mack who ended up with 15 sacks on the season. Mack did not record a sack in the Raiders loss to Kansas City yesterday. In fact Watt and Whitney Mercilus combined for 6 sacks on Blake Bortles yesterday as the Texans defense dominated the Jaguars 30-6 to win the AFC South outright and finish with a 9-7 record.

The run game came to play yesterday with Alfred Blue showing up big time gaining 102 yards on 21 carries for a 4.86 YPC average. And who is this Akeem Hunt dude? Just a rookie who seems to come in and good things seem to happen when he does. This kid is showing signs of possibly stepping for Arian Foster in the near future. Brian Hoyer did an adequate job. He did throw for 249 yards with a TD and a pick but it was on 25 completions on 40 attempts. That's just a 57% completion percentage. Not even close to the NFL average. Hoyer missed some throws that could have gone for first downs or more and he had one play where he could have run for 10-15 yards when he stepped up into the pocket and the defensive backs were playing prevent way off the line. I guess you can chalk it up to a little rust but he's going to have to play better in the wild card game next week against Kansas City.

BTW, Kansas City is undoubtedly the hottest team in the NFL even though they are flying way under the radar. Did you know KC has not lost a game since Week 6 on October 18th to the Vikings? Their current winning streak is now 10 in a row. Since Carolina was beaten last week by Atlanta KC has the current longest winning streak in the NFL. I'll bet you didn't know that and that is because that is how far under the radar the Chiefs have been flying. Do you realize that if Denver had not beaten San Diego last night the Chiefs would have won the AFC West? I'm serious! Look it up! After beginning the season 1-5 the Chiefs totally turned their season around to get where they are now. Actually, it mirrors the turnaround of these Houston Texans. They began the season 2-5 before going on a 5 game winning streak. Obviously, KC doubled that but you can see the parallel and both teams have made the playoffs after really terrible starts to their seasons. The Texans and Chiefs played each other in the first game of the season and it was a Chiefs victory, their only win in the first six weeks of the season. It was a tight game with the Chiefs winning by a mere 7 points, 27-20.
This game on Saturday will be you classic defensive struggle because both teams have superior defenses. The advantage in the game for Houston will be their home field advantage. Admittedly, it didn't help them in September but this the playoffs baby. The advantage the Chiefs have is KC has a better QB. I'm sorry to have to tell you this but Alex Smith is pretty darn good and he doesn't turn the ball over. He has some receivers now too with Jeremy Maclin emerging as the star Andy Reid hoped he'd be when he signed him as a free agent this year. Reid knew Maclin from their days together in Philly and it's taken most of the season but Maclin and Smith have become a potent duo.

It's nice to be back in the playoffs and it's nice to win the division for the first time since back to back first place finishes in the AFC South in 2011 and 2012.

[eagle eye]

Houston and Kansas City are both preparing for the wild card round of the playoffs set to begin this Saturday afternoon. They are both preparing on a short week so no advantage there for either team. The big advantage will be that KC is going to have to travel to Houston so they actually get one less day of prep. Now, Houston will not have a real practice, it will be a walk through but not having to travel is the clear advantage. That, and not having to face a loud crowd in NRG Stadium. That may not be as big an advantage as you might think because Kansas City's home field is as loud as it gets in the NFL. My point is that the Chiefs know about noisy stadiums.

JJ Watt is working on another batch of post season hardware. Today Watt was awarded the 2015 Deacon Jones Award given to the NFL sack leader for a given season. Watt ended the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars with 3 sacks giving him 17.5 sacks on the season successfully lapping Oakland's Kahlil Mack who began Sunday as the sack leader with 15 did not record a sack in their season finale. Watt looks like he's on track to win yet another Defensive Player of the Year award. The only challenger to that award seems to be CB Josh Norman although chatter about him cooled off considerably after his run in with the Giants Odell Beckham Jr in a Week 15 game in which trash talk escalated in confrontation. Beckham was the main offender when he targeted Norman spearing him in the jaw with his helmet. Beckham was suspended a game for the incident but most accounts hold Norman equally responsible because he crossed the line in trash talk before the game ever started. It really looks like Watt is a shoe in for DPOTY.

Houston could have made the deal of year for themselves today as they signed former Bengals DE Devon Still to a reserve/futures contract. Still was a 2nd round pick out of Penn State in 2012 but his biggest notoriety came not on the football field but at home. He played two seasons, 2012 and 2013 but his daughter Leah was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in June of 2014. Still was cut by the Bengals but he was signed to the practice squad by Cincy so he could pay his daughter's doctor bills. The story went viral and players and coaches around the NFL helped out Still with charitable donations mainly from sales of Still's jersey which the Bengals allowed to happen as a help to the Still family. In March of '15 Leah had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor and by July of '15 Devon and Leah Still received the Jimmy V Award for their perseverance in deal with Leah's cancer. In November Leah was declared in total remission from her cancer and was also declared cancer free. In the past two years as the Stills family dealt with Devon's NFL career was completely on hold. Now that his daughter is well he can dedicate himself to football and resume his career. The talent that made him a 2nd round pick will be a nice addition to the defense if he makes a successful return to form.

As LT Duane Brown left the field last Sunday on a cart you could see he knew his season was over. As it turns out he tore a tendon in his quad which meant that, in fact, his season is really over. Brown had successful surgery to repair the tear today and he should be back for the 2016 season. The Texans will turn to 7 year vet Chris Clark to step in for Brown going into the game Saturday. Clark has already played when Brown went out in Weeks 2 and 3 and he stepped in at right tackle in Weeks when Derek Newton was injured. Clark was acquired just before the season in a trade with Denver and he has been the swing tackle for Houston this season.

[eagle eye]

I know the regular season is over but I wish I had titled this thread 2015 Season, instead of Regular Season. Oh well, live and learn.

I mentioned prior to the game last week that Whitney Mercilus has been playing really well. I knew he had really come on lately but I didn't know just how much he had "come on". Yesterday Mercilus was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month of December. Not bad, Whit!

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Mercilus-Named-AFC-Defensive-Player-of-the-Month/49f27be9-908b-454a-9b24-24c0d6326e97

It's nice to be so talent rich and Houston just added a piece that's been missing for a couple of weeks with a foot injury. Jadeveon Clowney was back at practice yesterday but was limited. Bill O'Brien said that he would classify Clowney as day-to-day for now and there is no guarantee he will play against KC this week.

Just a note: Is it really a stretch for the media to say that the Chiefs-Texans game will be a defensive game? Maybe I'm just getting jaded but this was not a hard call since both teams feature above average defenses. But, this is the NFL. Just when you think you have something pegged they throw a monkey in the wrench. This could just as easily be a blowout or a shootout. You just don't know. You hope that it will be a defensive battle because it seems to be the only way Houston will be able to pull out a win. That's what we have been told but I just hope it's a good game with the Texans on top when the final gun goes off. Each and every Sunday it's a different story, a novel of it's own with a different plot and unexpected outcomes. Isn't that why we love football? Despite everything we know aren't we constantly surprised by something? You bet we are. The bottom line is, enjoy the game because it will likely not transpire the way we think going in but it will still be a good game. It will be even better if the Texans are on top of the heap when it's over.

[eagle eye]

This is what we've all been waiting for, our Texans in the playoffs! Everyone is as healthy as can be expected at this time of the year with exception of Jadeveon Clowney who has been ruled out of the game and LT Duane Brown who lost in last week's game due to a torn tendon in his quad. No excuses. We got home field with every advantage that goes with that and we are on a 3 game win streak. Admittedly, our streak doesn't compare to KC's 11 game streak. Shoot, the Chiefs haven't lost since the middle of October! That just makes me think of what a wise man once said, "the longer the streak the closer you are to losing." Just stands to reason. Neither the Chiefs or the Texans are the same teams who played way back in Week 1. KC won that day 27-20 and I think it's high time to return the favor! So, what's the final score?

Houston 27 Kansas City 24

Enjoy the game and if you're lucky enough to have tickets have a great time and be safe! GO TEXANS!!!!!

[eagle eye]

If ever a 30-0 shellacking could be better than it seemed it was yesterday's Texans-Chiefs game. Seriously, I have a straight face and everything. You saw it, it was ugly. But, it was only a 13-0 deficit at halftime. The game was within reach and it looked like Houston was about to get back into the game mid way through the 2nd qtr. Alfred Blue made an exciting 49 yard run to the Chiefs 13 and Houston worked that into a 1st and goal at the two yard line. On first down JJ Watt and Vince Wilfork came into the game but instead of lining up with Hoyer at QB they lined Watt up as the QB in the wildcat formation. The Chiefs had to know it couldn't be anything but a run and they were ready easily tackling Watt for a 1 yard loss on the play. On the next play Hoyer threw his 3rd INT of the half ending the scoring threat and for all intents and purposes ending the game. Hoyer was just awful committing 5 turnovers, 4 INTs and a fumble. Bill O'Brien has said he regretted pulling Hoyer in Week 1 when KC beat Houston 27-20 but IMO he did the right thing then and he should have pulled Hoyer mid way through the 3rd qtr when Houston was unable to do anything with their first possession of the 2nd half and the Chiefs extended their lead to 20-0 on the ensuing possession. To his credit, Hoyer didn't want to come out of the game. He wanted a chance to turn things around. Hindsight is always 20-20 and looking back on the game it's easy to say O'Brien should have benched Hoyer for Brandon Weeden. The thing is, there's no guarantee Weeden would've been better. Houston did a nice job of turning their season around from that 2-5 start to ending up 9-7 and winners of the AFC South. The thing is, Kansas City did an even better job of turning their bad, 1-5, start around to a 11-5 record. The difference was KC was in the same division as the 12-4 Broncos but they did earn the top wild card in the AFC. They also broke an 11 game losing streak in the playoffs that goes all the way back to 1994 when they beat---wait for it----the Houston Oilers. Another graphic case of what goes around comes around. The other bad thing to come out of the game was that rookie CB, 1st round pick Kevin Johnson broke his wrist late in the game. Talk about adding insult to injury--sheesh.

It was a good season and Houston did a good job of getting themselves into the playoffs despite the glaring weakness of the team, quarterback. Something will have to be done to upgrade the position for next season. Again, I have to remind everyone that Houston just may have their QB of the future on the team already. Tom Savage was a highly touted prospect going into the 2014 draft and he showed a lot of improvement after only one year on the team as evidenced by his play in the preseason. He should be healthy heading into the OTAs and training camp and we'll see what happens. To be honest, I really think Houston likes Savage and it wouldn't surprise me to see the Texans use their draft picks to improve other positions on the team.

That's it for this thread for me. The season is over and it's time to move on. It's incredible how easy it is to leave 2015 in the rearview mirror and begin looking forward to the 2016 season. Thanks to all who took a look at my rants and I just want to say I appreciate it. My hope is that some of you may feel like tossing in your 2 cents in the future. I know I'm not right ALL the time. LOL.