Game Plan Thoughts for Houston?

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.

Click to expand...

goheels22002 said:

"This is the biggest game in the history of the franchise" - Andre Johnson.

That works for the Patriots in several ways. Pressure on the coach, the QB, the street free agents that are filling in, etc. The Patriots play in these things all the time as far as the opposition is concerned. An 8:30 p.m. start on the road will wear the Texans out. They'll be bouncing off the walls at the Super 8 Hotel.

Record-wise, this one is bigger for the Pats as far as a bye goes, but I doubt that will rattle the Patriots.

Click to expand...

The Texans blitz 44 percent of the time, well above the league average of 31 percent. Despite their aggressiveness, they may want to rethink that strategy given quarterback Tom Brady's gaudy numbers against five or more rushers this season. When blitzed this season, Brady is 80-of-119 for 1,052 yards, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions with a PFF grade of plus-18.4.

Houston may decide to sit back and play coverage as it did against Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning back in Week 3. It was the Texans' least aggressive game of the season (blitzing only 28 percent of the time).

Click to expand...

• Quarterbacks: The Patriots clinched the AFC East and get possibly their toughest test of the season against the one-loss but-not-yet-clinched Texans on Monday. The Pats' pass defense has allowed a lot of yards to opposing quarterbacks, something that a locked-in Matt Schaub should be able to take advantage of by targeting Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels as usual. In the eight games in which Schaub has thrown at least 30 times, he has averaged 288.9 yards with 15 total touchdowns. In nine games in which opposing passers have launched 30 or more throws against New England, those quarterbacks have averaged 320.6 yards with 18 touchdowns. That sets up nicely for Schaub, letting you conserve some passer funds for other positions

Click to expand...

goheels22002 said:

"This is the biggest game in the history of the franchise" - Andre Johnson.

That works for the Patriots in several ways. Pressure on the coach, the QB, the street free agents that are filling in, etc. The Patriots play in these things all the time as far as the opposition is concerned. An 8:30 p.m. start on the road will wear the Texans out. They'll be bouncing off the walls at the Super 8 Hotel.

Record-wise, this one is bigger for the Pats as far as a bye goes, but I doubt that will rattle the Patriots.

Click to expand...

SVN said:

I think our passing offense has played beyond its potential with all the injuries. Tomorrow is the real test with a great front 7 and a lot of man to man coverage which BB alluded texans play exclusively. In the past man to man teams have given us a lot of trouble because we dont have WR's who can beat man coverage except WW and with gronk out this is a lot on brady. We saw how much trouble our oline had with miami's front and how our passing game suffered. This is a similar challenge.

Click to expand...

76Texan said:

It will be interesting to see what Wade will do.

He and Belichick are pretty familiar with each other.

Click to expand...

KontradictioN said:

My guess is that he'll employ bump and run on the outside, double bracket Welker, give Brady small windows to throw to, and have his three down lineman plus one extra rusher shoot the A and B gaps to try to get pressure directly in Brady's face.

Click to expand...

mayoclinic said:

That would be a shame. I was hoping more for something like soft zone coverage with a BBDB approach from Wade.

Click to expand...

PATSYLICIOUS said:

Important things to remember, don't get too up or too down after tonight. If we win, remember 2007 and 2010 where we ran through elite teams like HOU/DEN in the regular season and came back to lose to the same teams when it mattered. If we lose, remember 2001 and 2004 where we lost to elite teams and came back with a better approach to beat them in the AFCC/SB. Tonight's a big game but there will still be lots of football to be played.

Click to expand...