Rivers was good enough to have me back again, as we go over all the week’s burning questions concerning the Houston Texans. Check out the podcast as I worry about everything under the sun, as Rivers again berates his own commenters, and as BigFatDrunk joins the show during a pro wrestling match… or a carnival? Or a live auction? Or a really spirited bingo match?

Okay I don’t know what the HELL it was, but it was annoying annoying.

You can listen right here.

Houston Texans
Record: 1-0
Week 1: Defeated Dolphins 30-10
Next: at Jacksonville
The Texans are the (only) class of the division, and should post their first division win Sunday against Jacksonville. Houston had a troubling amount of difficulty with their running game against Miami, and it would not be a shock if they struggled against a big, physical, and able Jacksonville defense. The Texans made life miserable for QB Blaine Gabbert last season. If they can stop Maurice Jones-Drew fresh off his 19-carry debut and put the game on Gabbert’s shoulders, things could get out of hand quickly.

Tennessee Titans
Record: 0-1
Week 1: Lost to New England 34-13
Next: at San Diego
The Titans got their heads kicked in against the Patriots at home, and looked bad doing it. 2nd year QB Jake Locker separated his non-throwing shoulder and is expected to play in week two with the help of a brace. RB Chris Johnson aka “CJ4YPG” managed to quit for a grand total of four yards on 11 carries Sunday. That is an impressive amount of quit for Johnson, who was THE most dynamic and dangerous weapon in the NFL just a few years ago. Now all we can do is sit back, relax, and marvel at all the quit.

Indianapolis Colts
Record: 0-1
Week 1: Lost to Chicago 41-21
Next: Hosts Minnesota
Andrew Luck was a dud in his NFL debut, but he’ll (eventually) be fine. For now though, the Colts have problems. Big problems, as expected. Their defense is going to struggle all season long, and I’m not exactly sure what the Colts have in their offensive line right now. In some of the highlights I saw, Luck was really forcing the ball to the sideline, and that is a very dangerous game at the NFL level. Okay, there wasn’t a lot of derision there but hey – here comes my paragraph on the Jaguars!

Jacksonville Jaguars
Record: 0-1
Week 1: Lost to Minnesota 26-23 OT
Next: Hosts Houston
The Jaguars nearly pulled off a nice road win in Minnesota before Gabbert went Gabbert in overtime. Nearly 2,800 households in Jacksonville paid their electric bill, then looked on with astonishment as their sort-of-loved Jaguars managed to convert half of their third down opportunities – MANY OF THEM USING THE FORWARD PASS!! Next up, the Jaguars will pray Jones-Drew can get the running game going against Houston, else see a repeat of last year’s sackfest. Then again, the Jaguars DID use a third round draft pick on a punter, which you should absolutely do when you are just one punter away from a championship-caliber team.

(Followed closely by Matt Schaub himself.)

As soon as the Texans 30-10 win was official Sunday, word came down that the Texans had extended QB Matt Schaub for four years in addition to the current season.

The Texans were in a very difficult position with Schaub. Word came out during the offseason that the Texans would stay in “wait and see” mode with Schaub, ensuring that he stay healthy in 2012 before devoting a big chunk of money to him.

The danger in that, of course, is that if Schaub were to have an injury-free and well-played 2012, they would suddenly be on the hook for a very large sum of money to keep Schaub around. Sure, the Texans’ system helps Schaub, and of course Schaub knows the system in and out. It’s a mutually-beneficial relationship. But in the NFL, that sort of thing doesn’t matter so much when it comes to free agency. The quarterback position is priced at a premium, and you don’t have to be an elite quarterback to get paid money that seems like it should only go to elite players. It’s just the reality of the NFL.

In the end, the Texans gambled that Schaub would stay healthy, and pulled the trigger on a deal that would have been too low to keep Schaub at the end of a healthy 2012 played at a high level.

Here is my reaction to this decision – I think the the Texans had no choice. If Schaub has the kind of 2012 every Texan fan and employee wants him to have, keeping him at the end of the year would still be possible, but you can say goodbye to other important cogs. Of course, the Texans are going to have that problem anyway, but to a lesser degree now.

If the Texans did not have a guy named Wade Phillips as their defensive coordinator (or had not otherwise developed an elite NFL defense) I would be absolutely throwing a fit over this move. If we still had those horrible, dreadful defenses that we loathe to recollect so much, we would then have to rely on Schaub to win nearly every game with his arm. He is NOT that kind of quarterback.

With an elite NFL defense and what we hope continues to be an effective running game, Schaub is certainly way more than a game manager, but he doesn’t have to be relied upon to win every game.

That in and of itself is good enough for me, but if you need more convincing, you have to ask yourself – who is your new quarterback?

TJ Yates is not going to be the Texans quarterback of the future unless he becomes a completely different guy. Case Keenum? Please stop.

The Texans are going to be too successful to get a high enough draft pick and grab an immediate difference-making QB in the draft. Sure, they could package picks and trade up – but that’s not how the Texans roll, and I’m good with that.

Even IF the Texans were to draft a guy – you don’t just plug in and play a quarterback in this system (or any other with rare exceptions) and expect immediate success. Immediate success is what this team is after, and the best way to do that? Continuity. The coaching, the system, the quarterback, etc.

Free agency? When’s the last time a top-tier NFL QB hit free agency? Drew Brees (extenuating circumstances), and Peyton Manning (extenuating circumstances). Want to wait around for another situation like that – and when it does happen, do you want to pay even more for him than you would for Schaub AND allow for the time to adjust to the offense? Didn’t think so.

As long as Wade Phillips coaches the Texans’ defense, or they find a way to continue having a top tier defense – their window to win is open. You can win with Schaub at the helm, and this defense in play, no doubt.

Like it or not, Schaub is going to be here. I hold no delusions that he’s an elite, upper-tier quarterback, but how many of those are there? Four? He doesn’t need to be that. He’s simply the most important cog in the machine that is this offense for now, and the next several years.

This wasn’t the blowout we all wanted, but it’s the blowout we got.

The Texans allowed no touchdowns on defense, yet did manage to raise my ire by making Reggie Bush look like an NFL running back in the first half. That is just plain unacceptable!

More importantly, when this game looked like it might be close, the defense took things into their own hands. With the Texans running game struggling, JJ Watt pretty much decided he would put the whole team on his back. He logged 2 tackles and 1.5 sacks, but more importantly, once again Watt was swatting the ball all over the place. Two of those defensed passes resulted in two HUGE momentum-changing interceptions, first by Brian Cushing, then Kareem Jackson. On top that, Glover Quin leveled Dolphins’ running back Daniel Thomas, causing a fumble recovered by Danieal Manning.

The result of all these impact plays by the defense? With just under two minutes left in the first half, the Texans and Dolphins were tied 3-3. With seven seconds left in the first half, the Texans were up 24-3. That right there is what having an elite defense will do for you.

That said, there are some issues that need to be dealt with. Brian Cushing got banged up again on his interception, and ILB Tim Dobbins went to the hospital with a neck issue, for which he has now been released. The inside linebacker play after Cushing is NOT good, and if Dobbins misses any time with his neck, the Texans have gone from already thin depth at the position to alarmingly thin.

Up the middle, the Texans defense looked vulnerable in the first half. Reggie Bush (yes THAT Reggie Bush) was ripping off large chunks of yardage, which is ALWAYS a result of the defense doing something wrong. Depending on Dobbins’ health, I expect the Texans to make a move this week at ILB. Bobby Carpenter anyone? (Please, no.)

On the other side of the ball, as expected the Texans’ passing game looked sharp. I say it every year, but it never ceases to amaze me just how good Kubiak is at getting guys WIDE open.

The running game left something to be desired. Arian Foster was a little up and down, but the Texans have run-blocking problems. I’m gonna have to hit the NFL Rewind this week to get a better idea of how Derek Newton looked. But the Texans did have problems running left and right. There were also a lot more pitch outs to Foster than I recall. I guess the Texans figure they have a playmaker in Foster, and if the blocking isn’t necessarily going to be there, let Foster make a play.

Oh, and speaking of Foster – so much for my recent post where I hypothesize the Texans will put the ball in Ben Tate’s hands a lot more often this year. Clearly that is not the plan, through game one.

Matt Schaub looked pretty sharp out there, especially in the aforementioned wide open intermediate routes. We found out after the game that he and DE Tim Jamison both signed contract extensions. It’s four additional years for Schaub, plus the current season. We’ll save the contract talk for another entry, but the Texans clearly thought the deal they struck was good enough to bypass the need to be assured Schaub will stay healthy. Dangerous game, that. Again, I’ll save it for another entry.

Player of the Game is obviously Watt.
Play of the Game for me is the second Watt swat, which led to Kareem Jackson’s interception, which led to Foster’s second rushing touchdown to put the score at 17-3. The Texans would go on to add another TD on a pretty pass TD from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson after Quin caused a Daniel Thomas fumble.

More during the week, including a “spotlight” using my fancy new NFL Rewind package. I’ll take a look at a player or a play – haven’t decided yet. It’ll be a work in progress, but I think it will add something new and interesting to the site.

GAMEFACE!

There isn’t a lot of mystery about today’s season opener against the Dolphins. Put simply – if Miami can’t get their running game going and have to rely on rookie QB Ryan Tannehill to win the game, they are finished.

Overconfidence is fine when you’re just a writer covering your favorite team. If you’re the team, then not so much. Some of the articles I’ve read and soundbites I’ve heard from the Texans this week make it sound like they are taking the Dolphins just a little too lightly, but it’s not going to matter. I think it might just be that this team, especially on defense, didn’t know true confidence until Wade Phillips showed them the way.

I expect the Dolphins will have a plan for Tannehill to get rid of the ball quickly. Will he be able to make instantaneous decisions when his primary receiver is covered? One of the few criticisms I’ve heard about Tannehill in the preseason is that he tends to lock in on his primary receiver. If that’s the case today, then he may be in for a longer afternoon than I thought. The speed difference between college and the pros isn’t something a quarterback can get used to in limited preseason snaps – especially since every former player to a man will tell you that first team speed in preseason still pales in comparison to first team speed once the games count.

For the first time ever, I am picking the Texans to shut their opponent out. Those who have been around since this blog started in 2007 know that while I am a huge fan of the team, and certainly a homer – I’m also a realist. I don’t make silly predictions based on emotion, good or bad.

Texans 24
Dolphins 0

It’s finally here. It’s finally time. Let’s GO.

After both players left practice early on Thursday, Gary Kubiak predictably said he thought both players would be fine and should be ready to go Sunday (without seeing any MRI results, or getting any feedback from trainers after examination – typical coach speak).

Friday the news came down that Arian Foster did, in fact, have an MRI due to the pain in his knee which Foster himself later clarified to be the “knee area.” Okay, the knee area.

Needless to say, both Foster and Brooks Reed missed practice Friday, and have now been listed by Kubiak as the dreaded “game-time decision.” I don’t have the numbers to back this up, but it’s my recollection that during the Kubiak era, I would say roughly 80% of starters who are game-time decisions on Friday do not end up playing on Sunday.

I’m certainly not going to freak out about Reed or Foster, but it’s definitely worth having some concern over. In the case of either player, if Kubiak works them out Sunday before the game and they look fine, they should play. If Kubiak notices even the slightest issue at all, they should not. I’m sure nearly 100% of Texans fans think the team’s chances of winning don’t take a significant hit against Miami if Foster is replaced by Ben Tate, and Reed by rookie Whitney Mercilus.

I’d venture a guess that even prior to Foster’s “knee area” issues, Ben Tate was going to see a pretty decent workload. One of my “working theories” based on what I saw in the preseason (why the hell have I not done an entry on those!?!?) is that Tate is no longer going to be a backup as much as he and Foster will be 1A and 1B. Last year he was much closer to backup than he was a guy who “split carries” with Foster. This year I think you’ll see a fair uptick in his workload. There won’t be a true split, but I expect you will see Tate in the game on more consecutive plays than in the past.

As far as Reed, I’m very excited about what he can accomplish in year two, but I’d be just as excited (against an inferior team like Miami) to see what Whitney Mercilus can do against some first-teamers in a game that counts. Kubiak seemed a little more concerned about Reed than Foster, but reality is that when you miss practice on Friday before a Sunday game – it may not be a MAJOR ISSUE OH MY GOD!!! – but it is certainly significant.

Dolphins DE Cameron Wake vs. Texans RT Derek Newton
If the Dolphins are smart (insert your own joke), they will line Wake up on Newton more often than not on Sunday. It would only take one clean shot on Matt Schaub to change the course of the game and give the Dolphins some semblance of a fighting chance. Newton is still quite raw, and in my opinion didn’t win the starting right tackle job as much as Rashad Butler lost it to him.

I expect the Texans will help Newton handle Wake with tight ends and the occasional chip block from the running back. If the Dolphins are silly enough to leave Wake on Duane Brown for all or most of the game, I’m more than confident that Wake will have a relatively quiet game.

Dolphins CB Sean Smith vs. Texans WR Andre Johnson
Smith is a guy that I highly coveted coming out of the 2009 draft and seems poised to join the upper-third of NFL corners, if he’s not there already. I heard a Miami beat writer the other day say he’s a better practice player than he is a Sunday player, but he’s obviously the best Miami has by far.

The Dolphins are a bit of a mess in the secondary. I expect the Texans to try and establish the run early, but Schaub could absolutely have a field day against the Miami defensive backs even if they aren’t able to run the ball. It will be interesting to see how much separation Andre can get against Smith, and how it affects the rest of the receiving weapons if Smith gets a lot of safety help.

Dolphins OL vs. Texans Front Seven
As far as I’m concerned, the Dolphins are trying to trick everyone with the assertion that Reggie Bush is their clear cut number one running back. Then again, they haven’t made much of an effort to put a lot of talent behind him. Bush shockingly averaged five yards per carry last season and has publicly set a goal to lead the NFL in rushing in 2012 (outburst of laughter).

There are questions about just how healthy Shaun Cody’s back is, and at his position he won’t last long if he has any additional back issues. Behind Cody is Earl Mitchell who simply has not held up against the run. Add to that, the flat-out bad play of ILB Bradie James and there are some causes for concern in the middle of the Texans’ up-front defense. All that said, we also have to take into account the fact that the complete front seven didn’t play one single snap together in the preseason due to various injuries to Cody, Brian Cushing, and JJ Watt.

Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill vs. Bulls On Parade
I do expect the Texans to contain Reggie Bush, and any other RB the Dolphins trot out on Sunday. What that means, of course, is that at some point Miami’s rookie QB is will be depended upon to make plays. The only thing Tannehill has going for him other than his natural talent, is… I don’t know. He basically has no weapons to throw to. Houston fans will be frothing at the mouth. The noise level will be off the charts. The Texans have good pass-rushers, and perhaps the BEST pass-rush scheming in the NFL with Wade Phillips at the helm… not to mention good safety play and one shutdown corner.

I don’t see Sunday going well for the Dolphins, and especially Tannehill.

Last night I did an hour spot on Battle Red Radio (it’s not radio, but okay) with Matt Campbell and Rivers McCown. We covered a ton of topics, such as:

Concerns with the right side of the offensive line
The emergence of Houston’s young receivers
Matt’s blistering, murderous hatred for DeVier Posey
Rivers’ blistering, murderous hatred for Battle Red Blog commenters
Surprises on cutdown day
Whether or not the Texans can fairly be considered the AFC favorites
We laugh at Blaine Gabbert
We say terrible things about Blaine Gabbert
Matchups for Texans vs. Dolphins, game predictions

You can also listen as I PLEAD with Rivers to let me talk about newly acquired FB Tyler Clutts, for which I have prepared a multi-thousand word scouting report. He would not allow it, and now I’m never going to reveal it – ever ever.

You can listen to the podcast here. If you see Tim while over at BRB, please kick him in the shin.

Quick lunchtime entry, which I will try to make a semi-regular thing when I’m able to make time during my lunch break at work.

I’ve asked this question before, though it may have only been done via Twitter. Anyway, the concept is this – you can magically protect one and only one Houston Texan from injury in 2012. After what happened last year, I feel pretty confident in saying the overwhelming favorite would be Matt Schaub, so I’m going to go ahead and throw his name out the window. After that, I figure the top candidates are:

CB Johnathan Joseph
For me this question is a no-brainer, and Joseph is my easy answer. What the Texans think they have in Kareem Jackson and what Texans fans think they have in Kareem Jackson are two different things. A clear cut dependable number one corner is something that only Kareem’s mom thinks he is. Before you answer with any other name, ask yourself this – how will you feel about the Texans’ chances in 2012 with starting cornerbacks Kareem Jackson and Brice McCain, or Brandon Harris, a free agent guy, or… um… Alan Ball.

LB Brian Cushing
The Texans are SO thin at ILB and the others in the group have been so underwhelming that yes, Cushing is worth a mention here.

DE J.J. Watt
The Texans would suffer greatly up front without Watt and it would be a devastating blow, no doubt, but the blow would not be a fatal one.

WR Andre Johnson
This has already been an issue in the past and it will be an issue going forward. The Texans certainly aren’t in fantastic shape at the WR position should Andre go down, but as they showed last year there are other weapons that can pick up the slack (as long as Schaub is still in at QB).

RB Arian Foster
I doubt many will name Arian due to the excellent depth behind him, but Foster’s blitz pickup and pass-catching are still superior to Ben Tate’s.

LT Duane Brown
You may disagree but after Joseph, Brown is my number two on this list now that the Texans have issues with depth at tackle. Their swing tackle is Ryan Harris, a guy who has had multiple back surgeries. After that you have Andrew Gardner who “can” play tackle but is thought of much more as a guard.

So for the three of you still reading this blog, give me your thoughts.

The Texans made a couple of surprising moves this past offseason, though the reasons behind each were and remain completely defensible. Circumstances have conspired since Eric Winston and DeMeco Ryans were cut and traded, respectively, to merit a look back at the moves and how the positions look going forward.

Eric Winston, cap casualty
Winston’s cap number combined with the need to take care of other key players who would soon need new contracts forced the Texans into a difficult decision. Cut salary elsewhere and stick another year with a guy who was a plus run defender on the right side (in a run-right heavy offense), or cut him and take their chances with Rashad Butler. Winston’s pass protection had been deteriorating the last couple of seasons, and it was thought Butler’s pass pro would be on par with Winston’s, or likely a bit better. Every Texans analyst I read – and I read the good ones – agreed that his run-blocking would be a slight to significant step down.

Fast forward a few months. LT Duane Brown got his new contract, and Rashad Butler is the assumed starter going into the preseason. That’s when things got complicated. 2nd year tackle Derek Newton, a Kubiak favorite, had allegedly pulled even with Butler for the starting job. Throughout camp, Kubiak said over and over that the two were neck and neck for the starting job. I didn’t believe it. Then the preseason started, and Newton got a couple of starts over Butler. I still didn’t see why – they were both equally underwhelming.

Newton was eventually named the starter going forward, but it was all rendered moot in the final preseason game against Minnesota. Butler, who tore his left tricep muscle and was out for the season in 2011, tore his right tricep and is now out for 2012. He has likely played his last game in a Texans uniform.

In Winston, the Texans knew what they had. They had a guy who could get it done in the run game, but was starting to become a bit of a liability in pass protection. Publicly, the Texans will tell you how impressed they were with Newton, but let’s be honest here. Derek Newton didn’t win the starting RT job as much as Rashad Butler lost it. It’s not like Newton played out of his mind.

What does this mean for 2012? It means the still raw and unknown commodity Newton will start, and the team has no safety net if he gets hurt or falls on his face. All they have is newly-acquired, and presumptive swing tackle Ryan Harris, who knows the system from his time under Rick Dennison when Dennison was in Denver. If not Harris, then it’s Andrew Gardner, who “can” play tackle but prior to the Butler injury was considered a guard.

The pressure is squarely on Newton. Hopefully we will start to see in Newton whatever it is Kubiak saw that pushed him to the top of the depth chart.

DeMeco Ryans, beloved team leader – traded to Philadelphia
As much as I love DeMeco, I’m still 100% in agreement with this move, and I do think the compensation was fair (4th rounder and move up in 3rd). Now, as far as how the Texans have handled the position since the trade… that I can’t really get behind, though I don’t know what else they could have done.

Ryans played much better in the latter part of last season once he started rounding back into shape after his torn Achilles injury. Prior to that, Darryl Sharpton was taking snaps away from him, and there was legitimate debate as to whether or not Ryans was a fit for Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense.

Clearly Ryans could play in the system, but his role was minimized due both to the style of the defense, and the emergence of Brian Cushing. All those factors combined with his cap number and the continuing uncertainty about a guy who had a ruptured Achilles, and you can understand why the Texans looked to make a move.

The Texans felt good about Sharpton, though he landed on Injured Reserve last year with a quadricep injury. While in rehab for the injury, he suffered a setback said to be a hip injury. Sharpton was placed on the preseason Physically Unable to Perform list, and has now landed on the regular season PUP list, meaning he cannot play in the first six games of the season. It would not be a shock at all if he simply landed on IR once again.

Enter former Cowboys ILB Bradie James, who played under Phillips. Wade famously said (paraphrasing) “we feel like we have in Bradie what we had in DeMeco, and then some.” Heh. Funny guy. James has been underwhelming, and at times just plain lost out there. It’s more than a little concerning to me because he already knows the system and terminology of the defense. Granted, with injuries to Cushing the two haven’t had a chance to play side by side very much. JJ Watt has such a profound effect on the defense, you also have to allow for his absence. It’s not that anyone expected James to come in and be excellent, but I certainly expected him to at least look, you know, kind of average.

Behind James presently is Tim Dobbins. Frankly, Dobbins has outplayed him in the preseason but like Newton and Butler, neither has been outstanding. Neither jumped off the screen. I can’t say I’m in favor of starting Dobbins ahead of James, but I certainly wouldn’t protest if he did. The problem, again, is depth. No offense to Mister Alexander, but I did not expect him to make the team at ILB. I figured the Texans would search the waiver wire or the veteran cuts for another ILB to come in and shore up what might be the weakest position group on the team. They still may do that, but as it stands now – the Texans have nothing, nothing at all at ILB after Cushing. It goes without saying that you want your best players healthy, but Cushing better stay HEALTHY. Not Mario healthy, but HEALTHY. (Mario healthy is of course when you are able to still play in the game but aren’t nearly as effective as you would be if you were anywhere close to 100%.)

It’s a scary issue because though Cushing certainly hasn’t been injury prone, he has suffered from those nagging recurring small nicks that keep him out of practice, and you wonder how long it will be before those nicks start costing him games.

Compared to most if not ALL other NFL teams going in to 2012, the Texans have few issues. Depending on your perspective, none of them are glaring. Still, these are areas that could become a problem if the guys propped up to replace Winston and Ryans don’t work out.