Meow? Meow? CRUNCH.

The Texans delivered a merciless butt-kicking in their Monday Night Football debut. The poor Jaguars were stomped, skinned, and left for dead like roadkill on highway 290. What a night it was at Reliant.

Steve Slaton - steal of the 2008 draft
No doubt about it. I’ve seen a Titan blogger say the same thing about Chris Johnson… but he was a first round pick. I noted that Slaton was near the top of the NFL in YPC here recently, and tonight ESPN got on the bandwagon with the numbers as well. Nobody in the NFL has more 40+ yard rushes than Stevie Wonder. Gamebreaker, playmaker, tough as nails, and his mentality seems to be about the furthest thing that you’d expect from a rookie.

Tonight, 182 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. He had a 40-yard run, and a 46-yard catch-and-run reception. Oh, also? So far this season - one fumble (which the Texans recovered). Unbelievable.

“Mario is not a dominant player,” says Ron Jaworski
Baha, Jaws. I actually like Jaworski a lot as an analyst, but I was confused by his comments about Mario. Yeah, he’s not Reggie White (not yet), but that has more to do with the lack of pass rush elsewhere on the Houston defensive line. Mario Williams was again big time in prime time, notching three sacks and a forced fumble (which produced a Slaton TD). Mario’s up to 11 sacks now, and I can’t even imagine how many more he would have if anyone else could even get close to the QB.

Jacques Reeves keeps getting better
Gotta hand it to Frenchy. I wasn’t as appalled as so many others when the Texans signed him, but I have been KILLING him as bad as anyone else this year. It went kind of like this: “Hey let’s give this guy a chance before we–OH MY GOD HE IS THE WORST CORNER IN THE LEAGUE!” Yeah. He’s been bad, but let’s give him credit - he’s getting better and better. Dare I say his improvement has gone from slow and steady to significant. Am I giving him too much credit? Maybe, but he’s definitely improving. We can argue how much better, but for now let’s give him credit for a good game on MNF.

The Texans debut their version of the Wildcat
Jacoby Jones was one broken tackle away from his third punt return TD of the season, and he even took a snap in the Wildcat formation tonight! Yeah, it was a horrible play that resulted in a five-yard loss - but I like that we gave it a shot. Not sure if Jacoby is the best guy to try it with… and I’m not sure it was tried at the best spot in the game - but I like that they’ve added it to the offense. I’d like to see them try it with Slaton or maybe even Andre Davis.

This was a pretty easy win, and without our best QB
Clearly, Sage’s repeated turnovers have frightened Gary Kubiak to the point that he’s terrified to let Sage throw the ball close to the goal line. After Stevie Wonder ripped off a 46-yard catch-and-run reception and was pushed out near the endzone, Kubiak literally ran what was essentially the same exact running play with Slaton three straight times. He was stopped on all three attempts and the Texans settled for a field goal. No way it goes down like that with Matt Schaub at the helm. Put simply - with Schaub as the QB, this would have been an even bigger blowout than it was.

Texans continue to reverse the turnover trend
Going into the Cleveland game, Houston was dead last in turnover differential in the NFL (-13). In two weeks, that number has gone to -8. Impressive. They won the turnover battle last week 5-2, and against the Jags they took it 3-1. That’s just… so much better. Where has this been all season!? This is what happens when you run the ball. Of course - the run game was clicking, but the simple fact is - Texans running backs have turned the ball over exactly ZERO times this season. Zero. This is why we should never abandon the run game unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Beginning of another late-season surge?
In December games under Gary Kubiak, the Texans are 7-4, including a 6-1 home record. Of course, it also includes a 1-3 record on the road. Next week’s game in Green Bay certainly seems daunting. I mean - it’s a road game, so we’ve got that going against us - but like the Texans, the Packers are 5-7 this season. They have trouble stopping the run, and they’re only 3-3 at home.

Bottom line - it’s a winnable road game, even for the Texans. If it’s realistic to think the Texans can continue to reverse the turnover trend, it’s realistic to think they could pull one out against the Packers.

The spotlight is gone, but the intensity needs to remain
You could tell the Texans had a little bit of extra sauce on just about everything tonight. It was an overwhelmingly successful Monday Night Football debut… but they need to find a way to put that intensity and focus into a suitcase, and take it on the road. Equaling last year’s 8-8 record doesn’t seem as totally ridiculous as it did a couple of weeks ago, but let’s not get nuts. The Texans love doing this to us, so let’s get two road wins in a row before we start the crazy talk. Hell, if we can somehow steal one at Lambeau, I will entertain the notion that Houston can take down the Titans at the next home game.

Ugh, there I go again. This is what it’s like to be a Texans fan. You get ahead of yourself, you kick yourself for getting ahead of yourself, and then something tragic happens. With that, I’m just going to stop talking.

HUGE MONDAY NIGHT WIN by the Texans, for the whole world to see. Now let’s DO SOMETHING with this momentum!