Official Texans vs. Raiders Game Thread, 10/04/2009

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Roy P

What a difference a week makes. I don't know if it was because we were playing the lowly Raiders, but the team looked different today.

I want to give some props to several players this week:
Bernard Pollard played like an NFL SS which was nice.
Brian Cushing is very close to being a dirty player, but the bad attitude and nasty demeanor were needed on the D.
Glover Quinn should be the starting CB over Bennett.
Zach Diles played very well, so he's off my $hit list this week.
Antonio Smith was getting penetration and was attacking the offense along with Amobi Okoye and Mario Williams.
Shaun Cody was very effective at doing the dirty work today.
Ryans was his usual steady self.

There were other individual moments in the game like Connor Barwin picking up a fumble, but the above players worked hard during the whole game.

The defense won this game for us today. They attacked, they blitzed, they tackled. Now we will have to see if they can be an effective unit against a passing team like the Cards next week.

Roy, really good post. I agree 100% and would like to add a few comments.

Frank Bush was on the radio last night. Said they simplified things for Antonio this week. He was much, much more active. I would keep the same plan with him going forward.

Best game from Omobi that I can recall in awhile. Maybe they simplified things for him as well. They seemed fast yesterday that they reacted well. Not much room for the Raiders to run.

Next week, Reeves, Dunta and Quinn should be the three top CB's next week.

Pollard and Quinn both played well. They tackled and wrapped up. That is a start.

Cushing plays fast and physical. He is playing well and is impressing me.

Let's not forget Mario. Sack, FF and was disruptive in the pass and against the run.

I was worried that the Raiders could run it against us. Kudos to the defense for stepping it up.