The key on defense has to be to slow down Foster. He's the main cog in the offensive machine. Get him going and he's one of the better runners in the game. But he's most dangerous in opening up play action. That's what they live on. Stop him first and foremost and double Andre Johnson. Disguising is going to be another huge factor. We can't just trot out a vanilla defense where we're making it obvious pre-snap what we're doing. This is not a Ryan Tannehill offense. If Schaub gets an idea of what we're doing, he'll pick the defense apart. Disguise, disguise, and disguise some more. It'll force confusion and turnovers.
Offensively, we have to stay balanced. The OL is banged up so if Brady drops back 40 times, he's going to absorb a lot of hits. Give them a nice dose of the run game and, in doing so, give Houston a dose of its own medicine: play action. If Ridley gets going, it's going to force the safeties to cheat up. When they do, they'll have even more trouble defending the seam than they already do. This is where Welker, Hernandez, and Lloyd could have huge days. In all, the offensive execution will, once again, hinge on protecting #12. Do that, and the offense will do enough to win the game.
