Rob0729

But the Texans have been fairly mediocre for a while. It just started to show up in the L column with the Pats' game. They took both Jacksonville and Detriot to overtime unable to stop either offense. They struggled to beat the Bears with Cutler inactive for the game. They couldn't put Buffalo away for 3 quarters. Those are some bad teams that they barely beat. And again, Schaub has gone nearly six games with one passing TD.

I also never said that it would be the same beat down, but barring the Pats making a lot of mistakes or coming out flat, I still think they win by 10 plus points. I think the Pats are significantly enough better to win by two scores.

KontradictioN

I'm not saying that they're going to go with all zone looks. What I'm saying is that I expect them to give us a lot more zone looks than they did and do a lot more disguising.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


CREDIT - Sicilian

BradyManny

No disagreements here. I also think they should win by 10 or more. Just want to caution the people around here who think that is a guarantee.

The remaining three AFC teams are all teams we should handle if we have our A game. It's simply going to be a question of execution.

Rob0729

In the playoffs, there is no guarantees. Just ask the Super Bowl favorites from last year, the Packers.

IllegalContact

for what its worth, welker had a bad game against the texans.....and no gronk.....plus, shiancoe is gone

just sayin'

__________________
“ I think good coaches will coach with the personnel they have, and if you only have one (good) linebacker, you’re not going to play a 3–4. ”
—Hank Bullough, who installed one of the first 3–4 defenses with the New England Patriots.

BradyManny

Exactly.

Patriots fans should be confident, not ****y. That's all.

IllegalContact

there are no laurels for this pats team to rest on.....I think the niners game and tha jags game was all they needed to wake up

__________________
“ I think good coaches will coach with the personnel they have, and if you only have one (good) linebacker, you’re not going to play a 3–4. ”
—Hank Bullough, who installed one of the first 3–4 defenses with the New England Patriots.

TexasTradition

That was my point on the Cushing loss. We took a risk trading Demeco Ryans this offseason for future cap purposes. We could not afford to lose Cushing after that, and we did. After Cushing, the drop off is already there. They are all the same. They all suck. Bradie James was always the #2. And for what its worth (and it aint much), James had a better game than Dobbins in our last matchup. But yes, losing Dobbins does make us even thinner at this position.

Our offseason will be heavily focused on the right side of Oline, and getting another stud ILB to play along side Cushing when he returns. Last year these were strengths of our team and despite the other teams knowing what was coming, we still could not be stopped. This year, teams know whats coming... And we can not force our hand like we used to.

Look, I have very little confidence in us pulling this off. We should have beaten the Bengals by alot more, we are STILL settling for FGs. That is NOT going to cut it against you guys. But if there is one take away from the bungals game, is that we were able to run at will vs Geno Atkins and that front 7 and we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball the entire game. I do think your LBs are a much stronger unit and much better at making the open field tackle than Cinci's LB unit so it may not mean a whole lot.

Minimal penalties (lol yea right), no turnovers, controlling the TOP, new wrinkles in our gameplans, and executing in the redzone will all have to be managed for us to even have a remote chance. But this is still a game, it has to be played, someone has to win, and anything can and does happen in this crazy game we love.

I do think this Texans team has a TON of heart, is a very close TEAM, and will be playing as if they have nothing to lose. I mean, it cant get any worse for us than in our last meeting right? RIGHT?! (this is me trying to be optimistic).

JackBauer

I'm pretty sure we can rest our starters and still win by 30+.

patfanken

Some comments on the comments and some things we'd better get used to.

1. We'd better get used to the fact that we are going to hear a LOT of talk about the Jets playoff loss from the media this week. Unfortunately, on the surface it is well deserved. However I would like to point out this. In 2010, BB was only into his 2nd year of what amounted to a complete rebuild of the Pats roster.

That team over achieved to a great extent, and was ripe to be upset. Shocking though it was back then, THIS team is a much better one that in 2010 on a lot of levels, both on the playing field and the coaching staff, but most importantly in their ability to absorb adversity, and adjust on the fly. Bottom line, the chances of a return to Jan, 2011 are a lot longer now.

2. We'd better get used to the fact that EVERYONE will be picking the Pats this week. Can't get around it. As good as the Texans really are, by every metric the mediots use to compare teams, the Pats will come out ahead.

For a guy like me who relishes the underdog role, this is almost an uncomfortable situation. I actually look forward to a possible AFCCG at Denver when we truly WILL be the underdogs again.

3. Where are the Texan fans? In the first game we saw a plethora of them here, and they were very active, knowledgeable and remarkably well behaved. Now despite being lauded by by us and welcomed back, only a few have chosen to return. I would have thought that Texas football fans would be tougher than that.

4. I can see from the banter our fan base is pretty much divided into 2 groups. On group who feels that a team with as much talent as the Texans do, has a reasonable chance to beat the Pats if they don't come out and play well. They will be the ones talking about the Jet game. They will be ones quoting "any given Sunday". They will be the ones telling us that the blowout in December would have been different if only a few plays turned out differently.

The other group are those that look at all the comparative metrics and say, simply, "no way that the Texans can beat the Pats in NE".....and all the worrywarts should stop wringing their hands and acknowledge that fact.

Depending on what day it is, I am a proud member of both groups.

5. Personally I look forward to seeing the defense with all its parts back together and what it can do. I want to see if it can continue its upward progress because every team we can possibly play on the way to a Lombardi win, will be a top 10 offense except the Ravens, who gained the most yds of any team in the first round, and the Packers, who when healthy has a top 5 offense. So the Defense BETTER be prepared to step up

I look forward to finally seeing this offense with BOTH Gronk and Hernandez in relative good health.

I look forward to seeing how really committed Josh is to the running game, or our we going to abandon it at the first sign of adversity.