| Anthony Holds. 12th October, 2008 - 11:16 am
 With about five minutes left in their game against the Indianapolis Colts at Reliant Stadium last Sunday, it appeared the long awaited turning point was coming for the Houston Texans. With a 17-point lead on the five-time defending AFC South champion Colts, they were making a statement. They were making good on the promise that caused several pundits to pick them in August as a sleeper team for 2008. And, they were about to be tied with Indianapolis at 1-3, only a half-game back from Jacksonville and second place in the division.
Considering the tribulations of the Titans' first three weeks of the season, this was not a terrible position for them. Having survived a literal hurricane in Hurricane Ike and figurative ones in the form of demoralizing poundings at the hands of Pittsburgh and Tennessee, it seemed that the sun might finally be coming out from behind the dark clouds.
Then it promptly went back behind those clouds as the Colts scored 21 unanswered points, and the Texans and their fans were left reeling – staring in shock at a 31-27 outcome that dropped them to 0-4, sitting two games back in last place in the division.
While their current position in said standings renders hopes of a dark horse division title invalid, and while there is now remarkably little margin for error, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Houston could still make a frenzied run at a wild card playoff spot.
For now, though, that’s a long way off. As a first possible step down that road, the Texans face a resurgent Miami Dolphins' team this Sunday. Under new Coach Tony Sparano, Miami is brimming with fresh confidence after exciting and improbable wins over New England and San Diego the past two weeks. Last year’s league whipping boy Dolphins have secured their two electrifying victories largely by employing a formation they call “Wildcat”, which is just a newfangled term for the single wing offense. Somehow they have confounded the league by lining up, snapping the ball directly to their gifted tailback Ronnie Brown, and letting him do the running (or throwing) from there. So what once looked like a good shot at a W on the schedule for the Texans is now in doubt.
That said, there is reason for hope in Houston. The team has looked vastly improved the last two weeks, and the middle 45 minutes of football the team played from the start of the second quarter against Indy to the five minute mark of the fourth was phenomenal. The defense, which has been, in general, a disappointment this year played solidly, and backup QB extraordinaire Sage Rosenfels performed masterfully for three quarters.
In the bigger picture, the Texans are moments away from being 2-2, and all their statistics paint the picture of a not-yet-there-team… but certainly not of a winless organization. Their offense started slowly but has picked up some steam. Both Matt Schaub and Sage Rosenfels, his key mistakes this past week notwithstanding, appear capable of running a winning football team. Andre Johnson, who went for 131 against the Colts, remains an All-Pro waiting for his chance to truly shine. Steve Slaton, their outstanding rookie running back, has generated 5 yards per carry and is headed for a 1,000+ yard season. The offensive line has not been fantastic, allowing ten sacks, but they also have improved with each week.
Disappointment is focused more on the defensive side of the ball, where there are significant issues – the first being a weak run defense. Houston is ranked 26th against the run, and even though they contained Joseph Addai in terms of total yards in last week’s game, his per carry average was decent. Late in the game they allowed a devastating 15-yard run by Addai that led to Manning’s game-winning touchdown pass. Against the pass the Texans have been better statistically, ranking 12th in the NFL, but much of that is the fact that teams have successfully run the ball in high volume.
The pass rush has not been what one would hope with a team boasting Mario Williams and a generally strong group of defensive linemen. Williams has done his part, with 4 sacks and 13 pressures, but he needs more help. One aspect that should help the fortunes of the Texan D is the return of cornerback Dunta Robinson, who has been on the PUP list all season. While he is not likely to play the role of savior, he is the team’s best cover corner, and his replacement Jacques Reeves has been struggling mightily as teams have repeatedly picked on him.
Even with the problems spelled out above, this, again, seems the profile of a flawed but decent team. By no means are the Texans an inept squad like the 2007 Miami Dolphins or the 2008 Detroit Lions (or even the 2005 Houston Texans). It seems that the injection of confidence that would come from a rousing win over a team like Miami this weekend might be all the team needs to get over the hump they’ve been so close to clearing for two weeks. If the Texans can’t do it this week, they’ll be 0-5 and in danger of going into a tailspin that will have them back in the Top 5 of next year’s draft. But if they can tame Miami’s “Wildcat”, perhaps this is the week they begin setting the stage to make the last two and a half months of their 2008 season very interesting. |
