Game Plan Thoughts for Houston?

The Gr8est said:

Love your avatar docbar, does it come in "Rat"?

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Thanks,lol. I'm sure it can be done!!

76Texan said:

True, but youhave more men in coverage that would lead to more INT's.

Some of our fans don't want Wade to bring the blitz too much; it left our CBs on an island more. Against a good QB like Brady, it could be very dangerous.

And even with all those blitzes many of our fans think that we don't have pressure up front except for Watt.

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That's one of my keys for the Texans. I think they need to fake the blitz and drop off into various coverages to try and make Brady hold the ball and then get there with just their front. On offense I think Kubiak would be wise to abandon trying to run the ball on first down and instead go play action with short passes. Set yourself up for 2nd and 2-5 and then run it or play action if the Pats pack the box too tightly. If they blitz Brady and run on first down the Pats will build and early and potentially big lead. If Houston gets one dimensional they're in trouble. Conversely if they keep the game in front of them on defense and move the ball on the Pats on first down they'll have some really sustained drives that will wear the Pats out and keep Brady off the field.

How your line blocks Wilfork is going to be another key. If he's dominant even getting double teamed, which he has been, running the ball is going to be a chore as long as the DEs set the edge which they have minus the second Buffalo game.

I think you'll see Spikes run blitzing a lot. I think you'll see an early reverse by the Pats on offense.

Go!
Fight!
Win!!!

everlong said:

A lot of that has been Chandler Jones who's been out but was at practice yesterday. There's been times where the pressure has been nonexistent. As much as everybody kills the secondary a lot of that has been lack of pressure. I forget the exact numbers but Seattle as an example had something like 8 pass completions for over 20 yards. On every single one Wilson held the ball for as long as 4 seconds and for as long as 6 seconds. Even Mark Sanchez can complete a pass now and then with that kind of time. Hopefully with the improvements in the secondary and Jones coming back the two will blend into a nice balanced pass rush.

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I only had the chance to time the QB in the Miami game. In afew instances the Dolphins QB did have 3 secs or a little more but overall, I don't see him with a lot of time.

Against teams that run the play action, the QB has more time but he also has to executive the play fake and/or roll out. The secondary has time to adjust unless they make too big of a mistake.

everlong said:

That's one of my keys for the Texans. I think they need to fake the blitz and drop off into various coverages to try and make Brady hold the ball and then get there with just their front. On offense I think Kubiak would be wise to abandon trying to run the ball on first down and instead go play action with short passes. Set yourself up for 2nd and 2-5 and then run it or play action if the Pats pack the box too tightly. If they blitz Brady and run on first down the Pats will build and early and potentially big lead. If Houston gets one dimensional they're in trouble. Conversely if they keep the game in front of them on defense and move the ball on the Pats on first down they'll have some really sustained drives that will wear the Pats out and keep Brady off the field.

How your line blocks Wilfork is going to be another key. If he's dominant even getting double teamed, which he has been, running the ball is going to be a chore as long as the DEs set the edge which they have minus the second Buffalo game.

I think you'll see Spikes run blitzing a lot. I think you'll see an early reverse by the Pats on offense.

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Like whatyou're saying. Can't wait to see how the chess match unfold.

Pats fans may think I'm crazy but I think the Texans win the trench war just enough to come away with one more point to win the game due to the scheme.

Have a good day, I'm out.

I thought y'all might enjoy this. I know I got an LOL out of it.

I haven't read this thread yet, but I thought this was interesting:

CBS.com's site has all of its 'experts' except Clark Judge picking the Patriots.

NFL Picks - Straight Up - Week 14 - CBSSports.com

The Pats usually do a good job of hyping up their opponents. But you get the sense that there's a real and very deep respect for Houston:

“They’re a very well-balanced team. They can run; they play action with the running game,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of Houston, which ranks fourth in total offense and second in points per game (29.3) behind New England (35.8). “If you’re stopping the run, you’re light on the play action. If you’re stopping the play action, you’re probably light on the run. They do a good job of tying those plays together, complementing each other and making you defend all of it.”

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How can New England Patriots stop Arian Foster, Houston Texans offense? 'Great question,' says defensive coordinator Matt Patricia | masslive.com

"They’ve been very impressive all the way around. Obviously they have a great record, playing well offensively, defensively, and in the kicking game. They’re a very consistent team but also a very explosive team. They can make a big play on any play – strip sacks, batted balls, long runs, long passes, returns. This is a game where everybody is really going to have to do a good job on every play. Nothing’s safe with these guys. They really make you earn everything. You have to tackle them, you have to block them, you have to get open; they don’t give much away. You have to really work hard for everything you get. That will be a big challenge for us this week.

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Bill Belichick talks Texans and other topics - Extra Points - Boston.com

Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork made it abundantly clear how he feels about the Houston Texans, the team's upcoming opponent, when he spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

"They're the best team in the NFL," he said. "They're the best team for a reason. They do a lot of things well," Wilfork added. "They've been in some blowouts, they've been in some tough games, they've been in some overtime [games]. This [is] a team that has played through it all. And they seem to rally around one another, and that's the sign of a great team. They definitely have what it takes to be a champion. You have to respect that.

"They cut, they don't cut, they man block, they double," he said. "They keep it moving. They definitely keep it moving. I think you really can't get a beat on when they are running the zone, when they are running the ball and when they are the passing the ball because they do a good job up front of showing you the same look on run and pass. We're just going to have to rely on technique, good fundamentals, [and] play what we see. Games like this always come back to playing good technique. I think that's what we have to do this week, is get back to playing good technique and good fundamentals, especially against this team. Hopefully that'll be good enough."

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Wilfork: Texans 'the best team in the NFL' - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

As a Pats fan and a fan of good fundamental football, it's easy to admire how the Texans have been put together. Very balanced team. Great run-pass balance and use of play action. Very little trash talk or excuses for all of the injuries they've had to endure, and a team that seems to be developing toughness and resilience which we can recognize and admire. Out of all the foes that we've had in the AFC over the past decade - Indy, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Diego, Denver, the Jets - this team seem the most similar to the kind a Patriots kind of team in terms of balance, depth, toughness and focus. Kudos to the Texans for the job they've done, and good luck to them - hoping of course, that we destroy them on Monday night, and in the playoffs if we meet.

I was just sitting here thinkig of the Bears game. Everyone kept talking about how great the Bears were at taking the ball away and we went out and beat them at their own game, on their field and in their kind of weather.

I'm hoping that bodes well for my Texans. Maybe they can out-Patriot the Patriots. I also like the fact that just about all the "experts" are picking you guys to win. That seems to light a fire under the Texans.

docbar said:

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I'm hoping that bodes well for my Texans. Maybe they can out-Patriot the Patriots. I also like the fact that just about all the "experts" are picking you guys to win. That seems to light a fire under the Texans.

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Given the Pats injury situation, especially on the OL, I am really surprised that the "experts" are picking the Pats in such numbers. The Pats could very easily be missing as many as 3 of their starting offensive linemen (Mankins, Connolly, Volmer. Plus one of the top reserves (McDonald)

Teams usually allocate 9 offensive linemen to their 53 man rosters, and its likely the Pats will be missing 4 of the them. And even if some of them play, they won't be close to 100%. That is NOT a good thing when your weakness (for the moment) is matched up against the other team's strength.

With the OL in shambles, and Gronk and Edelman lost, the Texans couldn't have picked a better time play the Pats. This truly is their opportunity to beat the Pats, because come January, when they meet a more healthy Patriot team, it isn't going to matter that the Game will be held in Huston.

everlong said:

That's one of my keys for the Texans. I think they need to fake the blitz and drop off into various coverages to try and make Brady hold the ball and then get there with just their front. On offense I think Kubiak would be wise to abandon trying to run the ball on first down and instead go play action with short passes. Set yourself up for 2nd and 2-5 and then run it or play action if the Pats pack the box too tightly. If they blitz Brady and run on first down the Pats will build and early and potentially big lead. If Houston gets one dimensional they're in trouble. Conversely if they keep the game in front of them on defense and move the ball on the Pats on first down they'll have some really sustained drives that will wear the Pats out and keep Brady off the field.

How your line blocks Wilfork is going to be another key. If he's dominant even getting double teamed, which he has been, running the ball is going to be a chore as long as the DEs set the edge which they have minus the second Buffalo game.

I think you'll see Spikes run blitzing a lot. I think you'll see an early reverse by the Pats on offense.

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It's very hard to fake blitz Brady. He will invariably get you to tip your hands early in the game on the hard count while you're still going off the game script Wade will write up, and figure out the schemes from there. Brady is the kind of person who will not just watch regular season tape, but preseason tape as well.

Wade's best bet is to hover Watts off either A gaps which historically has been the weakest point on our OL, and have him drive a wedge in there to cause disruption and open things up for his backers, and push Brady out of the pocket where he is pretty much half as effective. Wade will figure that Watts will draw a double-team every time, so he should have an extra man blitz drawn up for interior penetration for whatever lane is left exposed by the double-team.

patfanken said:

With the OL in shambles, and Gronk and Edelman lost, the Texans couldn't have picked a better time play the Pats. This truly is their opportunity to beat the Pats, because come January, when they meet a more healthy Patriot team, it isn't going to matter that the Game will be held in Huston.

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On the contrary, I think that if the Texans had played the Pats earlier in the season they would have a much better chance of beating us. We had Gronk but Hernandez was out. The OL was still beat up - Mankins has missed most of the season, and Vollmer has been beat up for most of it, so that's nothing new. And the Texans were much healthier and much hotter earlier in the season, especially before Cushing was injured.

mayoclinic said:

On the contrary, I think that if the Texans had played the Pats earlier in the season they would have a much better chance of beating us. We had Gronk but Hernandez was out. The OL was still beat up - Mankins has missed most of the season, and Vollmer has been beat up for most of it, so that's nothing new. And the Texans were much healthier and much hotter earlier in the season, especially before Cushing was injured.

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Also I may be wrong but this game is way more important to us than Houston. I know it shouldn't matter but it has to play in their heads that this game is somewhat losable to them. They have a 2 game lead on us and they hold tiebreakers over Denver/Bmore so the bye is all but sealed up. And they technically could lose this game and still get HFA by beating a couple wild card caliber teams to finish ahead of us. We really need this game as it looks like Denver should win out. If they still manage to come on our turf and beat us then they deserve a ton of credit.

PATSYLICIOUS said:

Also I may be wrong but this game is way more important to us than Houston. I know it shouldn't matter but it has to play in their heads that this game is somewhat losable to them. They have a 2 game lead on us and they hold tiebreakers over Denver/Bmore so the bye is all but sealed up. And they technically could lose this game and still get HFA by beating a couple wild card caliber teams to finish ahead of us. We really need this game as it looks like Denver should win out. If they still manage to come on our turf and beat us then they deserve a ton of credit.

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Houston is treating this like the most important game in the history of their franchise:

Ultimate Texans » Texans report: Biggest game yet, says Andre Johnson

Tedy says something similar in his Bruschi on tap- he talks about that for some teams, they don't feel like they're in the top echelon until they beat a quality team in primetime, and the MNF is a benchmark for the Texans.

PATSYLICIOUS said:

Also I may be wrong but this game is way more important to us than Houston. I know it shouldn't matter but it has to play in their heads that this game is somewhat losable to them. They have a 2 game lead on us and they hold tiebreakers over Denver/Bmore so the bye is all but sealed up. And they technically could lose this game and still get HFA by beating a couple wild card caliber teams to finish ahead of us. We really need this game as it looks like Denver should win out. If they still manage to come on our turf and beat us then they deserve a ton of credit.

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Going into week 13, with 4 games remaining Houston had a 2 game lead on Denver and Baltimore + the head-to-head. So even if those teams won out, in order for Houston to finish behind them they would have to lose 3 of their remaining 4 games in order to finish with 4 losses. Pretty unlikely, even though their remaining schedule isn't easy (@NE, Indy, Minnesota, @Indy). Even if they lost to NE and split with Indy and finished 13-3, they would still finish tied with Indy or Baltimore if those teams won out, and get a bye based on the head to head.

It will be interesting to see if Denver wins out. They haven't beaten anyone really good, and they are feasting on poor teams: 2 wins against 3-10 Oakland, 2 wins against 4-8 San Diego, a win with a game to go against 2-10 Kansas City, a win against 3-9 Carolina, a game to go against 4-8 Cleveland. That's 8 games against teams with a winning percentage of .333 or worse. The only "difficult" game left on their schedule is against the Ravens, who are reeling, but at least it's in Baltimore. The Broncos haven't been that impressive in spite of their winning streak, but neither have the Ravens. That will be an interesting game to watch.

The best case scenario for the Pats would be for the Ravens to lose to Washington and the Giants but beat Denver. That would give the Ravens at least 5 losses, and Denver at least 4 with a loss to the Pats, allowing the Pats to lose 1 more game and still get the #2 seed.

mayoclinic said:

The best case scenario for the Pats would be for the Ravens to lose to Washington and the Giants but beat Denver. That would give the Ravens at least 5 losses, and Denver at least 4 with a loss to the Pats, allowing the Pats to lose 1 more game and still get the #2 seed.

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That's the ticket. Plus, Baltimore could very easily lose to the Bengals on the road in the finale also.

In his time with the Pats, Gronk has been a serious issue for opposing defenses, not only because of his receiving game, but also because of his ability to block 1v1 vs whomever the d sends his way. Gronk blocked 1v1 on Ngata in the AFCCG and kept Matthews under wraps in 2010. Fortunately, Fells is a solid blocker and should be able to give help on Watt's side with reasonable success. I don't see us winning in the playoffs against Houston. Our only shot there is some lesser side sneaking past them whom we gladly push aside.

My question for the Texans fan, if you've watched our defense play, is does our front seven worry you at all? I only know my own homeristic vantage point and love what the heart of this defense has.

Since 2004, we have done well against teams that do one thing right on offense but can't seem to stop either facet of a diverse offense. Our only saving grace has been that the only team in that time to do both very well was the Chargers of the 2005-2008 seasons and they were epic choke artists, whom we were glad to take advantage of.

1. The Pats offense must be BALANCED. Run the ball so JJ Watt and Company can't pin their ears back and go after the QB on every down. This also opens up the play action.

2. Take advantage of mismatches through guys like Aaron Hernandez. Line him up all over and get him against a linebacker and it's over.

3. Take a few deep shots to keep the defense honest, Stallworth has the speed to stretch the field, make the safeties respect that, and our running game will remain effective throughout. Don't let them stack 8 against Ridley.

4. Double team strategy. Defensive side - Always be aware of Watt and double him on defense. Offensive side double/bracket Andre Johnson whenever possible, make someone else beat you.

5. Contain Arian Foster. If he runs wild, the Texans offense gets better, and Schaub gets more effective play actions.

6. Get pressure on Schaub. This guy can make mistakes, rush his throws, make him hit the ground hard a few times, sacks are nice, but INTs and forced fumbles are better.

7. Generate turnovers. This defense is good at it and needs to continue the trend. It also needs to continue playing well against one of the better offenses in the league. The Texans offense is not as explosive as ours but it is solid and well capable of putting up 30 if our defense is not playing well.

PP2 said:

Houston is treating this like the most important game in the history of their franchise:

Ultimate Texans » Texans report: Biggest game yet, says Andre Johnson

Tedy says something similar in his Bruschi on tap- he talks about that for some teams, they don't feel like they're in the top echelon until they beat a quality team in primetime, and the MNF is a benchmark for the Texans.

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As soon as I saw the byline all I could think of was the night game (Monday?) that the Saints had their 'coming out" party into relevance by beating the Pats.

It gets real tiring being everyone's Superbowl, but I guess it beats being the Rats.

The Gr8est said:

As soon as I saw the byline all I could think of was the night game (Monday?) that the Saints had their 'coming out" party into relevance by beating the Pats.

It gets real tiring being everyone's Superbowl, but I guess it beats being the Rats.

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On the other hand, it's quite something when the rest of the NFL views beating you as a benchmark. It establishes that they treat you like you're the best of the best.