Idle thoughts - The Houston Match up. (Texan fans welcome)

[patfanken]

In all fairness, Ball was out and IIRC Joseph was a gimpy gametime decision. Their secondary is in better shape this Sunday.

I really don't know how important ball is to their secondary, nor how gimpy Joseph was for that game. I'm still trying to figue up Shmess, how Philips is going to deploy all his pieces. Here are the questions. Does it make a big difference if Ball is back and Joseph is healthier

1. Would he be hurting, more than helping to ask his players to play a different style than they have all year?

2. Does he have it it in him to make a radial change of styles for one game?

3. Does he really think he can beat TB, at home, playing aggressive man coverage and blitzing 50% of the time, when historically Brady has eaten that up over and over again?

We saw last time that for stretches of time, his "aggressive" style worked. It worked fairly well for close to 2 quarters of that game. The other 2 quarters.....well, not so much

The other question I have that I still haven't had answered is.... In that stretch where the Texans held the Pats offense in check except for a single Hail Mary-like TD play to Stallworth, were they doing anything different from the first quarter? Was it an adjustment that allowed them to shut the Pats down for 4 straight drives, or were they just executing better?

I'd love to hear an answer to those questions from someone who broke down the all 22 or a Texan fan.....or you Schmess

 

[Get it shawtaay]

The thing is, the Bengals as a team are very finesse up front. Geno Atkins, Domata Peko, Michael Johnson - those are all guys who are much better pass rushers than run stoppers. Their only run stopper is Pat Sims and he didn't show up on Saturday, so the Texans just punched them in the mouth.

We can't let the same thing happen to us on defense if we want to win. We have to play disciplined up front. Ninkovich is actually huge in that regard - he's not a big guy but he sets a hard edge. Wilfork, Deaderick (who's been better vs. the run late in the season than Love), and the rest of the team need to lock down that run game. Otherwise it'll be a long day.

 

[SVN]

I really don't know how important ball is to their secondary, nor how gimpy Joseph was for that game. I'm still trying to figue up Shmess, how Philips is going to deploy all his pieces. Here are the questions. Does it make a big difference if Ball is back and Joseph is healthier

1. Would he be hurting, more than helping to ask his players to play a different style than they have all year?

2. Does he have it it in him to make a radial change of styles for one game?

3. Does he really think he can beat TB, at home, playing aggressive man coverage and blitzing 50% of the time, when historically Brady has eaten that up over and over again?

We saw last time that for stretches of time, his "aggressive" style worked. It worked fairly well for close to 2 quarters of that game. The other 2 quarters.....well, not so much

The other question I have that I still haven't had answered is.... In that stretch where the Texans held the Pats offense in check except for a single Hail Mary-like TD play to Stallworth, were they doing anything different from the first quarter? Was it an adjustment that allowed them to shut the Pats down for 4 straight drives, or were they just executing better?

I'd love to hear an answer to those questions from someone who broke down the all 22 or a Texan fan.....or you Schmess

I cant breakdown tape or anything but looked to me that they started getting more pressure and took the short passing game by congesting the middle of the field and dared brady to throw deep which is what they kept trying. My guess- they didnt and still dont respect our deep passing game and will try the same thing this game. They will double welker and crowd the middle of the field and come after brady. The oline played terrific and brady had great composure in that game.Even some throws,brady was surrounded by texans but was right on time with his throws. Margin for error is very low and brady handled that. If pats offense is over amped up to come out and try and dominate the team early on, they can make mistakes. We have seen that in the past from brady.

 

[longhornsk57]

I really don't know how important ball is to their secondary, nor how gimpy Joseph was for that game. I'm still trying to figue up Shmess, how Philips is going to deploy all his pieces. Here are the questions. Does it make a big difference if Ball is back and Joseph is healthier

1. Would he be hurting, more than helping to ask his players to play a different style than they have all year?

2. Does he have it it in him to make a radial change of styles for one game?

3. Does he really think he can beat TB, at home, playing aggressive man coverage and blitzing 50% of the time, when historically Brady has eaten that up over and over again?

We saw last time that for stretches of time, his "aggressive" style worked. It worked fairly well for close to 2 quarters of that game. The other 2 quarters.....well, not so much

The other question I have that I still haven't had answered is.... In that stretch where the Texans held the Pats offense in check except for a single Hail Mary-like TD play to Stallworth, were they doing anything different from the first quarter? Was it an adjustment that allowed them to shut the Pats down for 4 straight drives, or were they just executing better?

I'd love to hear an answer to those questions from someone who broke down the all 22 or a Texan fan.....or you Schmess

1) Not hurting because they already move around so muchand asking them to play more zone is not really a cataclysmic change. Also, we had zero pass rush the first time, and if our guys EXECUTE better there's no need for a drastic change.

2) I don't think a radical change is necessary. Minor tweaks can go a long way. More zone, better executed pass rush, healthy Joseph, healthy Reed etc...

3) I think he does think that if we EXECUTE, I mean look at last year's Superbowl and historically when Brady is made uncomfortable he does make mistakes. Our offense is actually our best defense. Know how to beat Brady? Keep his ass on the bench! Eat clock. We failed miserably the first time, but had 38 minutes I think last week, and #1 in the league this season in TOP. Foster is the key to beating Tom Brady, NOT our defense.

On your last question, they just executed better. Watt was hitting Brady, coverage was good, the run was stopped. That is Texans football played well, then the gas ran out again.


I am not saying we are going to win or are even likely, but I do think you will see a more physical team that is not going to make some really stupid mistakes.

 

[Double TE]

TBs numbers vs. the Blitz this year = 20 TDs and ZERO Ints.

Its true.

 

[longhornsk57]

TBs numbers vs. the Blitz this year = 20 TDs and ZERO Ints.

Its true.

Yeah but "blitz" and "pressure" are not the same thing. If our front 3 can bring pressure without blitzing, then we have a chance.

 

[IllegalContact]

The Giants had lots though. It can be done.

True story though, Matt Birk probably had nightmares about Vince last offseason.

don't know which game you watched, but it wasn't the giants running game that killed the pats last SB

 

[Double TE]

Yeah but "blitz" and "pressure" are not the same thing. If our front 3 can bring pressure without blitzing, then we have a chance.

True

The Pats O Line is very good but not unbeatable. How will you face the double tight end sets where Brady can audible and call a run play when you only have three or four down linemen in the box and run Ridley or pass if you go run heavy D?

 

[IllegalContact]

Yeah but "blitz" and "pressure" are not the same thing. If our front 3 can bring pressure without blitzing, then we have a chance.

well.....the texans did not generate any pressure on brady until they started to blitz him

first, the pats OL is by far the best one the texans have faced this year....add to that the fact that pats short route options are endless....even more so with gronk back

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

The Texans blitz a lot, though more with linebackers than with safeties and corners.

Belichick answering questions about their D prior to the first game:


"Oh yeah, they do (like to blitz)," said Belichick. "They bring five a lot and they bring six some, but they bring five quite a bit.

Belichick expects Texans to blitz often


Blitzing linebackers leaves crossing routes open for TEs and RBs as hot reads

 

[longhornsk57]

well.....the texans did not generate any pressure on brady until they started to blitz him

first, the pats OL is by far the best one the texans have faced this year....add to that the fact that pats short route options are endless....even more so with gronk back

Well yeah, that's why I think the Pats will win, I'm just saying that's what they have to do to win.

You have to keep in mind that was a very bad Texans team that showed up last time, not that I am saying that an elite team will show up this Sunday, but the fact that they couldn't pressure Brady without blitzing last time is no indication that they can't do it this time.

 

[Double TE]

Well yeah, that's why I think the Pats will win, I'm just saying that's what they have to do to win.

You have to keep in mind that was a very bad Texans team that showed up last time, not that I am saying that an elite team will show up this Sunday, but the fact that they couldn't pressure Brady without blitzing last time is no indication that they can't do it this time.

There was also no Gronk last time. Anything can happen though. Any Given Sunday.

 

[TexasTradition]

Btw, Y'ALL are more than welcome to come say HOWDY over on our boards and clear up any misconceptions we have about your team.

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[IllegalContact]

I cant breakdown tape or anything but looked to me that they started getting more pressure and took the short passing game by congesting the middle of the field and dared brady to throw deep which is what they kept trying. My guess- they didnt and still dont respect our deep passing game and will try the same thing this game. They will double welker and crowd the middle of the field and come after brady. The oline played terrific and brady had great composure in that game.Even some throws,brady was surrounded by texans but was right on time with his throws. Margin for error is very low and brady handled that. If pats offense is over amped up to come out and try and dominate the team early on, they can make mistakes. We have seen that in the past from brady.

brady was 18-26 on short passes .... 2-7 to welker....... 16-19 to everyone else.....brady took his share of throws downfield, but not because the short stuff wasn't there.

 

[IllegalContact]

Well yeah, that's why I think the Pats will win, I'm just saying that's what they have to do to win.

You have to keep in mind that was a very bad Texans team that showed up last time, not that I am saying that an elite team will show up this Sunday, but the fact that they couldn't pressure Brady without blitzing last time is no indication that they can't do it this time.

yeah, and sometime there are teams that are simply poor matchups

other people brought up the point that blitzing brady is rarely met with success. it also helps that the pats have collectively a better running game than the texans do..........have to respect the run or you're equally screwed.

 

[Double TE]

Btw, Y'ALL are more than welcome to come say HOWDY over on our boards and clear up any misconceptions we have about your team.

Houston Texans Message Board & Forum - TexansTalk.com - Powered by vBulletin

Your boards are mean toward "Yankees"

 

[longhornsk57]

yeah, and sometime there are teams that are simply poor matchups

other people brought up the point that blitzing brady is rarely met with success. it also helps that the pats have collectively a better running game than the texans do..........have to respect the run or you're equally screwed.

True, but I don't think that can be determined until after Sunday. I know the 45 to 3 over Jets has been brought up, and it's a good thing to keep in mind. Different situation, different stakes. All of the pressure on is on NE to win this, everyone expects Houston to lose. We won't know what Wade is cooking till Sunday, but it had better be better than the crap he served last time.

 

[TexasTradition]

Well yeah, that's why I think the Pats will win, I'm just saying that's what they have to do to win.

You have to keep in mind that was a very bad Texans team that showed up last time, not that I am saying that an elite team will show up this Sunday, but the fact that they couldn't pressure Brady without blitzing last time is no indication that they can't do it this time.

Thats not entirely true imo. We actually did get pressure from our base, and even when we blitzed on occasion. But what was clear to me is that the Pats were well aware of our ability to pressure up the middle and I think I remember seeing a stat where Brady got rid of the ball on average of like 2.2 seconds per drop back or something ridiculous like that, often still having Texans defenders almost on top of him while throwing prescision passes all over the field.

 

[TexasTradition]

Your boards are mean toward "Yankees"

LOL, I almost put "Y'ALL Yankees" are more than welcome, but thought it might strike a nerve with the whole Red Sox-Yanks thing. See, we can be kind and considerate sometimes. Dont be skeered.

 

[goheels22002]

1) Not hurting because they already move around so muchand asking them to play more zone is not really a cataclysmic change. Also, we had zero pass rush the first time, and if our guys EXECUTE better there's no need for a drastic change.

2) I don't think a radical change is necessary. Minor tweaks can go a long way. More zone, better executed pass rush, healthy Joseph, healthy Reed etc...

3) I think he does think that if we EXECUTE, I mean look at last year's Superbowl and historically when Brady is made uncomfortable he does make mistakes. Our offense is actually our best defense. Know how to beat Brady? Keep his ass on the bench! Eat clock. We failed miserably the first time, but had 38 minutes I think last week, and #1 in the league this season in TOP. Foster is the key to beating Tom Brady, NOT our defense.

On your last question, they just executed better. Watt was hitting Brady, coverage was good, the run was stopped. That is Texans football played well, then the gas ran out again.


I am not saying we are going to win or are even likely, but I do think you will see a more physical team that is not going to make some really stupid mistakes.

The Texans front four does not resemble the NY Giants in scheme or talent. The Patriots offensive line can handle those guys in both the run and passing game. Gronk adds a dimension to the blocking schemes. The early lead plus the opportunities provided by the Patriots offensive line led to an almost perfectly balanced attack - 33 runs/35 passes by the Patriots.

The other thing about the Texans is that they couldn't keep track of Brandon Lloyd (7 catches) and Aaron Hernandez (8 catches) last time, even though they did a nice job on Welker. That was new for us as fans - it was the key game that told us that teams can focus on the slot and Lloyd will make them pay.

The problem for Philips is that it gets harder now with Gronkowski to account for in the passing game and on running plays - he's a good blocker if he doesn't break his friggin' arm. Gronk adds the dimension of drawing a linebacker in coverage on every play. If a team tries to drop a down lineman in coverage, Gronk just pushes him aside and runs away.

The idea that the Texans will get physical with the Patriots is not news nor a real concern. The Pats are one of the most physical teams in the NFL and get that every week.

The game comes down, in my mind, to whether Matt Schaub can throw accurately against the Patriots' secondary. He has to be precise and take what is provided, which will be a lot - it always is with these guys. Schaub just seems like a guy who locks onto a receiver early and who gets rattled when he gets knocked around.