They Are Who We Thought They Were

[HPF Bob]

Be honest. If you'd been told before the season began that we'd start 2-1 against Indy, Washington and Dallas, you'd have taken it, right?

As disappointing as Sunday's loss is, the Texans are now showing themselves for who we thought they were - a good but not great team that can move the ball against the poor defenses of the league but struggles against the good defenses. They're also a plus front seven with a young and vulnerable secondary that can be picked apart by the league's top quarterbacks.

Given the tough schedule, the Texans may not make the playoffs but, excepting an injury plague, they have the talent to stay with any team in the NFL.

A win on Sunday would have instilled some sky-high confidence but the loss may be better in the long term because they'll know they have to work hard all season to succeed.

Pay no attention to the hypesters who were predicting a Super Bowl. That was never going to happen. Making the playoffs is a good enough goal for this year and that can happen if they fix a few holes and don't give away the close ones.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Be honest. If you'd been told before the season began that we'd start 2-1 against Indy, Washington and Dallas, you'd have taken it, right?

Oh yeah, most definitely. But the way they lost this one was just some uninspired playing. That and it was the Cowboys.... I would have gladly swapped a win over Washington for a win over the Cowboys.

They don't go from world beaters to chumps in a week, IMO... The truth is, as you mention, somewhere in the middle. Just a bad performance today.... they didn't have anyone really step up....Not a playmaker in the bunch. No strips, INT"s or fumbles recovered, no kick or punt returns for points, bad hands in the passing game, players slipping at inopportune times (How come Dallas never slipped?) - Foster was solid in the run game but even he had a fumble. He's been carrying the ball JJ-like lately and it was just a matter of time before it happened.... I'm sure he'll hear about it. I could mention many more nit-picky things and the fact that we are developing a weekly "no-show" list (paging Shaun Cody) but I'll save that for now...

They may just be "very good" like you mention and they may still be a year away from being a solid, consistent team. But the idea is to improve over the course of the year. They can start next week with a win over Oakland. After that, Cushing's return will be a welcome sight...

[Mike]

What is this? A reasonable, rational post after a loss???

Seriously though, before the season I would have taken 2-1 and with one of the wins being a divisional/conference win over Indy.

With 2 of the next 3 at home, and all are games that are winnable, this is the time to go on another run. Lets get to the bye at 5-1 or very worst 4-2 and the team will be in good shape.

[kravix]

Every team loses. I just wish it had been done with a bit more inspiration from the players.

2-1 is not the end of the world. Luckily the schedule softens up a bit before the be week so 5-1 or 4-2 going down the strecth, where the team always plays better football, isnt looking so bad.

[TexanJedi]

The defense gave up what it always seems to give up, points wise. However, the offense did not do what it has been doing. This is an offensive team, if they don't score a lot the Texans don't win.

[Nconroe]

I'm not panicked and guess I would have taken 2-1 as well.

But I sure didn't like watching Texans get pushed around by Cowboys.

Seemed Foster was the onhly guy playing really hard.

Ol and DL both got beat fairly regularly. Although Butler did ok filling in.

Way too many sacks given up two weeks in a row, and this then shows up as Schaub doing poorly and throwing interceptions.

And we didn't get any sacks or much pressure on Romo which showed up as easy receptions whenever they wanted to throw.

I don't know , were the guys not playing hard, intense, injured, or were Cowboys just so much bigger and stronger?

Not sure if we need to try a different scheme or different guys in the DB's, but it isn't working right now. They are slipping, out of position, just plain getting beat, lot of young guys, and tough competition.

Hopefully this week , and rest of season we will see a turnaround. Need to get back to a defense we had like at end of last year.

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by Nconroe

I'm not panicked and guess I would have taken 2-1 as well.

But I sure didn't like watching Texans get pushed around by Cowboys.

Seemed Foster was the onhly guy playing really hard.

Ol and DL both got beat fairly regularly. Although Butler did ok filling in.

Way too many sacks given up two weeks in a row, and this then shows up as Schaub doing poorly and throwing interceptions.

And we didn't get any sacks or much pressure on Romo which showed up as easy receptions whenever they wanted to throw.

I don't know , were the guys not playing hard, intense, injured, or were Cowboys just so much bigger and stronger?

Not sure if we need to try a different scheme or different guys in the DB's, but it isn't working right now. They are slipping, out of position, just plain getting beat, lot of young guys, and tough competition.

Hopefully this week , and rest of season we will see a turnaround. Need to get back to a defense we had like at end of last year.

I think the D-line suffered due to a lack of a healthy rotation. Okoye is still hobbled and Antonio Smith was sick. Since Ogunleye and Denney aren't fully up to speed yet, we were not able to rotate guys and keep them fresh like we did in week one, particularly. Hopefully, we will see Ogunleye active next week and getting 10-15 snaps. If that happens and if A.Smith is not sick, the entire line will be fresher and play better, IMO.

By the way, I'll be writing about this later in our blog, but Rashod Butler was very good yesterday. Very good!

[edo783]

Pretty simple actually. We need to score 30+ because we give up ~27 most games. Either the offense needs to score more or the defense needs to hold up better. Ideally .... do both. Yesterday ....... neither happened.