Yes, I’m purposely avoiding the use of the phrase “quarter pole.”
After what seemed like an eternity from the final game of 2009 leading up to the opening tail-kicking the Texans laid on the Colts, the first quarter of the 2010 season has breezed by in the blink of an eye.
Let’s take a look at some interesting (or not) numbers through the first four games:
688 team rushing yards
In 2009 through four games, the Texans had 332 yards rushing (only 101 through the first two games). For 2010, Arian Foster (537 of those yards) has made all the difference in the world, and of course the offensive line has been absolutely dominant in two of the first four games. Steve Slaton’s phenomenal rookie performance in 2008 is sadly a distant memory now, and after Derrick Ward somehow plodded his way to 80 yards against Oakland, Gary Kubiak has already said we will be seeing a lot more of Ward.
415.5 offensive yards per game
This number is good for 2nd in the league behind only the San Diego Chargers who are averaging 450.8 (wow). The Texans have shown their offensive prowess on the ground (Indianapolis and Oakland) and in the air (Washington). In truth, the Texans were running the ball pretty well against the Redskins as well, but were playing from behind almost from the start. The Dallas game never happened. Don’t look it up – it just never happened.
9 sacks
The Texans’ nine sacks have them in the top ten in the league (9th place), despite the loss of Connor Barwin who most thought would cruise to being number two in sacks on the team behind Mario Williams. Still, the pass rush needs to be more consistent. Through four games, it’s been consistently disruptive twice (Indianapolis and Oakland), inconsistent once (Washington), and completely non-existent once (Dallas – if that game had actually happened. Which it didn’t!). Going forward, I can think of two big bright spots for the Texans’ pass rush. 1) Brian Cushing is back, and that will absolutely be a boost. 2) It’s not just the Mario Williams (5 sacks) show so far. Antonio Smith has been better than expected in the pass-rushing department (2.5 sacks) to this point. When the pass rush has clicked, he’s been getting consistent pressure. Having 7.5 sacks between your starting defensive ends through four games – I’ll take it.
41 4th quarter points
The Texans are finishing strong in 2010. They’ve scored 41 of their 108 points in the 4th quarter, and 71 of their 108 points in the second half plus overtime combined. This is due to many reasons, some of them I’m sure are random and of no significance – but it could also be because the Texans are wearing teams down with the run game in the second half. Gary Kubiak gave strength and conditioning coach Cedric Smith a game ball after the overtime win over Washington. Maybe it’s because the Texans are making great 2nd half adjustments, something you couldn’t often say about them in the past.
4 turnovers on defense
Ugh. Every year, Gary Kubiak beats the living hell out of the same drum. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Protecting against them on offense, and getting after them on defense. While the pass rush seems to be on the rise, the defense is doing next to nothing in the way of turnovers. The Texans have two fumble recoveries and two interceptions – both of which were hauled in by Troy Nolan against the Raiders. The Texans also got their second fumble recovery of the year against Oakland, meaning three of their four turnovers in 2010 have come in one game. Thinking about the season so far, I can’t think of a case where the Texans have even come CLOSE to making interceptions other than the two that Eugene Wilson blew in consecutive weeks against Washington and Dallas.
36 catches, 410 yards, 3 touchdowns given up to the TE position
I don’t think any of us are surprised that the Texans are having a hard time covering tight ends – it’s been a weakness on this team for a while, but those numbers are beyond ridiculous. Lots of talk on the radio this week about how the return of Brian Cushing will help turn this trend around… did I miss that Cushing is good at covering tight ends? Was it only Dallas Clark who turned him inside-out last year? Sure, his pass-rushing can help the problem, but his coverage skills? Not sure about that one. One thing’s for sure – they can’t get any worse in that regard.
7-3 record in their last 10 road games
After turning a 2-6 road record in 2008 into a 5-3 road record in 2009, it’s extremely encouraging to see that the team has thus far been able to continue their winning ways on the road. Two major things that true playoff contenders need to do well if they’re going to do some real damage in the playoffs are winning division games, and winning on the road. So far, the Texans are perfect in both areas. Their next test in both departments will come in a huge rematch against the Colts on Monday night, November 1.
56
Perhaps my favorite number of all, right now. Brian Cushing is back, and there’s going to be hell to pay for some poor sap on the Giants roster – and probably for poor Chris Ogbonnaya, an innocent RB on the Texans’ practice squad. Lace’em up tight this week, Oggy.
What has pleasantly surprised or disappointed you to this point in the season?
Oct 5, 2010 at 23:43:24
Happy to see that we are playing for 4 qtrs of football!!! Glad to have Cush back!!! Duante who??
Oct 6, 2010 at 06:18:38
RE: Turnovers: Don’t forget the Glover Quin should’ve been interception against Indy that Garcon knocked out.
Oct 6, 2010 at 09:26:49
While it is very easy to heap praises on young Arian, and alot of it deservedly so, I believe that the bulk of the credit should go to the Offensive Line and Vonta. This was made apparent in the Oakland game. Even without MR Foster carrying the ‘skin, the other backs seemingly slipped right in the same holes that were opened up for them. This is NOT a hit on them, but a BIG shout out to the BIG BOYS up front. Go TEXANS …REFUSE TO LOSE !!! and my latest mantra this week (for #56) RELEASE THE KRAAKEN !!!
Oct 6, 2010 at 10:42:08
Chris,
I’m glad you mentioned that Kubiak gave the game ball to the new strength and conditioning coach. I remember reading that we’d fired our S&C coach for the second year in a row, and I wondered about that. Then I read an article that stated we had been emphasizing machine weights and doing little to no power lifting during the season. I thought then that may have something to do with our line getting pushed around all over the field. We’ve all wondered if we needed bigger/stronger linement, or if our need for “quick” linement prevented us from having ones that can move their man backward so we can punch it into the endzone or convert a 3rd and 1. I’m hoping that these holes we’re seeing are the result of a more powerful line, but I also believe Foster sees the hole better than most and has some speed to gobble up yards fast. The running game has been a joy to watch, and I’m looking forward to seeing Cushing destroy some folks over the rest of the season.
Oct 6, 2010 at 12:13:06
Pleasantly surprised – our 3-1 record. I have always been a proud supporter of my Texans and wore jerseys, sported laniards on my keys, but now that they are doing well it feels even better to be a Texans fan. (if only we could have won the game that we do not speak of)
Dissapointed – our inability to demolish teams. I understand that it is the NFL and the level of play is exponentially greater than college, but I would love to see the Texans be feared by any team that they play (e.g. Mike Tyson effect).
Oct 6, 2010 at 14:16:07
One thing that’s disappointed me is that either Schaub has been holding onto the ball longer or our WR’s are incapable of seperating themselves from the DB’s. I sure hope Andre Johnson gets healthy quickly. I’d like to see more 5-10 yard quick slants to get our WR’s the ball. Haven’t seen many of those this year.
I love our newly found running game. I get a lot of enjoyment from watching our team have a 6 ypg average. That’s incredible!!
I would say Im disappointed in our secondary but I would have needed to have positive expectations for them to qualify them as a disappointment. They’re playing about as good as I expected.
Overall, there’s no team that’s perfect. I’ll take what we have now and be happy with it.
Oct 6, 2010 at 19:12:47
Pleasantly Surprised
Arian Foster + Offensive Line. They way both are playing, I think Foster could have 250 yards no matter what O-line blocked for him, and I think any RB could have 250 behind this O-line. But, combined, you have a DOMINANT running game thus far. By the way, Foster averages over 100 yards a game even when you take the Colts game away.
2-0 on the road – Washington and Oakland are underrated teams that some said have shots at winning their divisions in preseason. FedEx and The Black Hole are both tough crowds to play against as well. Like you said, Chris, playoff teams win on the road, and this is promising.
Disappointed
Red Zone Coverage – What I mean is that NO ONE is talking about how the Texans are still struggling in the red zone. Sure, they handled their business against the Colts, who don’t have any DTs on their roster to my knowledge, but they have still given Neil Rackers way too much short work for my liking, and no one seems to notice. Playoff teams score in the red zone.
By the way, there’s a stat I’d like the NFL to start tracking. Everyone talks about red zone percentage, but does that mean TD’s or FG’s, too, and the answer is: it depends.
What if instead, we take every time an offense (or defense) finds itself in the red zone, and divide that number into the number of points scored or given up and call THAT the stat. For example: if you ALWAYS give up a TD, that’s 6 PPA (points per attempt; extra point doesn’t count). If you go into the red zone 10 times and score 4 TDs and 5 FG’s, then you have 3.9 PPA. I think that’d be a better that. That’s just me.
Anyway, back to the Texans
Praise for Glover Quin
I’m disappointed that not enough people are giving GQ props for his Nnamdi impression. In four games against the Texans, opposing #1 wideouts have 20 catches for 213 yards and 1 TD. If those games could be combined into one player, that player would be the #36 WR in the NFL right now, between Buffalo’s Steve Johnson and Cleveland’s Josh Cribbs.
To compound the awesomeness, Miles Austin was limited to 2 and 20 in Week 3 and Louis Murphy went for 1 and 5, and GQ’s only TD allowed was against Reggie Wayne in a game where Peyton was forced to take over and throw constantly AND WAYNE STILL DID NOT GET 100 YARDS!!!
Why is Kareem Jackson getting burnt so often? Because GQ is shutting down the other half of the field.
There’s not much else about which to be disappointed. If the Playoffs started today, Houston would have a first-round bye (Kansas City would be the #1 seed). That means that, no matter how it happened, in a world where the only thing that matters is who you beat and who you didn’t, Houston is the 2nd best team in the AFC. All that without arguably our most important defensive player, half of that without our underrated starting left tackle, and most of it without a 100% AJ.
By the way, that’s the other things playoff teams do. They play at a high level even when their best players are off the field.
Oct 6, 2010 at 20:52:27
I bet the matchup you are referring to is bradshaw vs cushing this week. bradshaw is coming in with a banged up ankle and has had a very hard time holding on to the ball ala tiki, u couple that with the fact that a raging bull will be coming at him with that thunder pumping fist thing he does …. = turnover!
And Jacobs will just go down.
Oct 6, 2010 at 23:02:28
First 4 games out of the way and the “My Role” MVP is a toss up between Vonta L. and Joel D. These guys are doing a great job and nobody sees what they are doing EXCEPT TEXANS FANS!
Oct 6, 2010 at 23:37:42
Hahaha I love the release the Kraaken comment by gene!