Why I'm glad to see Houston

[lurker1965]

Either the physical "tough guys" of Baltimore or the "Team of Destiny that says 'NO' to cancer" of Indy can face Denver.

No, neither can win against either Denver or the Patriots, but I don't want to face a team that may hurt you or be pro-cancer.

 

[wizwor]

meh -- just want to see Indy - Manning.

 

[Rob0729]

I think the Texans' offense is fairly easy to exploit if you can slow down the run and are disciplined enough to not bite on the play-action. That is why the Pats shut them down last time they met.

That is why the Texans exploited a dumb, undisciplined team like the Bengals. Virtually every big passing play by the Texans, at least one Bengals' defender bought badly on the play-action.

This is also why I am fairly confident the Pats should win next week without much of a scare.

 

[DefenseRules]

I have more confidence in our defense now than I did when the Pats played them the first time. That is why I have confidence that they will beat Houston again. :rocker:

 

[brdmaverick]

All good points for optimism, but on the flip side the Pats were struggling towards the end of the second quarter and for most of the third. It took a high difficulty catch by Donte Stallworth to get them out of the funk.

Also, there were some things in that first game that went our way that were lucky and could easily go in the other team's favor next time around.

Penalties, the Pats jumped out to an early onslaught that destroyed the Texans will. If you watch the game again, you'll see at least two of those drives were aided by third down questionable penalties.

Bounces, Texans force a fumble....and the Pats recover for a touchdown. You can't expect that kind of luck again.

I do not think it will be another blowout. The Texans are angry, motivated and will come in to give us a contest. Ultimately, though, they are less talented and do not have Tom Brady so will fall short.

 

[Observer]

It's the bull vs. the matador. I would bet on the matador.

 

[Warren1985]

I agree we had some luck in the first game but we were moving the ball on them without much problems at times!

Put it this way, Texans are the ones that have to step up big in order to get a win...AND we have Gronk in this game! we will hit them with everything offensively.

 

[maryk]

I would be lying if I said I was not concerned about this game. Houston is out for redemption. We are both different teams than we were when we first met. Gronk did not look 100% last week (of course he could have been holding back as not to show our hand for the playoffs.) Watts concerns me and our O-Line really needs to be on top of their game.

 

[micronin127]

Houston probably can't beat us. They can probably keep it closer and we can't count on jumping out to a big lead or having no turnovers.

If we jump out to a 2 TD lead, they are toast, as they can't really play their style any longer.

If they jump out to a 2 TD lead, they will get ultra-conservative, and sit on the lead in the futile hope that it might hatch. And we can probably crawl back into the game.

As much as Manning playing Indy seems like a made for TV movie... Indy might be the worst playoff team in the last ten years. They would lose 40-3 and provide no test at all for the Broncos. I want the Ravens to get healthy on defense and for Flacco to stop being Flacco for just a few hours and go into Denver and give them a game. Worst case the Ravens can soften the Broncos up a little by playing their physical brand of football.

 

[102 Pat]

Apparently, the Bears have received permission to interview the Texans OC. If that happens this week, that could be a distraction for them, maybe...

 

[slash83]

I would be lying if I said I was not concerned about this game. Houston is out for redemption. We are both different teams than we were when we first met. Gronk did not look 100% last week (of course he could have been holding back as not to show our hand for the playoffs.) Watts concerns me and our O-Line really needs to be on top of their game.

Your right both teams are different from the last time they played, Houston got worse.

 

[Dutchmaster617]

Your right both teams are different from the last time they played, Houston got worse.

As did NE....

 

[Chopblock CB]

As did NE....

How so? The only thing New England is guilty of is playing the last month with pretty much a vanilla gameplan...

 

[slash83]

As did NE....

Why don't you tell us all how NE is now worse. Even though their the healthiest they've been all season, and peaking at the most important time.

 

[Fencer]

Let's see how many hits Watt gets on Brady before we celebrate too hard about how little of a beating the Pats will take.

But yeah -- I didn't want to see Baltimore again.

 

[Dutchmaster617]

Why don't you tell us all how NE is now worse. Even though their the healthiest they've been all season, and peaking at the most important time.

They went from the top to a little bit lower. I didn't say as bad as HOU but they did drop off after that game.

 

[RobertWeathers]

How so? The only thing New England is guilty of is playing the last month with pretty much a vanilla gameplan...

This is an interesting point but should not be overstated too much. The came out guns blazing vs HOU. Had a bit of a letdown vs SF. Were disinterested vs JAX. However they played very hard vs MIA with as you point out a pretty light gameplan.

Two weeks to rest. In playoff mode. Still starving for the ultimate...

The pedal is to the metal now with nothing to be left on the field.

 

[maryk]

However they played very hard vs MIA with as you point out a pretty light gameplan.
.

IMO the Miami game holds no weight. Yes, we played well, but it was against a team that was only thinking of getting on with their off season.

 

[MossWelkowski]

how are they going to stop hernandez, welker, gronk, lloyd, and ridley?

nevermind Brady at QB???

If the patriots don't turn the ball over 3 times.. They kill them.

 

[naF staP]

Schaub doesn't worry me one bit. He didn't look good the first time the Pats played them and he didn't look good yesterday. Stop Foster, which the Pats will be able to, and the game should be fairly simple. Just protect Brady and stay clear of injuries for the remaining playoff and SB run.