Week 13: Pats @ Texans

[dannydyn]

Any thoughts about this? I'm a little apprehended to write off the Texans just yet. Despite their $hitty record, and despite their #1 receiver claiming they're the worst in the league.

Thoughts? Discuss....

 

[Big-T]

Hope the players are prepared for that truly awful field the Texans use, it's a joke that they (and Chicago, for that matter) are allowed such poor field conditions.

This is a game I'd be expecting the Pats to win by 21+ though, the Texans are awful, especially the secondary.

 

[Kontradiction]

The team needs to put last week behind them and come in with the attitude that they're playing a playoff contender. The Texans don't have much else going for them at this point outside of playing the role of spoiler, which I'm sure is a role they'd relish given the way 2012 ended for them. Watt is still capable of making Brady's life miserable. But, as long as the Pats come in focused, this should be a win.

 

[dales804]

Can't look past any team. The Patriots, and BB, should know this by now. Every team prepares for the Patriots like it's their Super Bowl and NE is going to have to come out quickly to lessen HOU belief they can win.

Hoping for a win and no more injuries!

 

[dannydyn]

The team needs to put last week behind them and come in with the attitude that they're playing a playoff contender. The Texans don't have much else going for them at this point outside of playing the role of spoiler, which I'm sure is a role they'd relish given the way 2012 ended for them. Watt is still capable of making Brady's life miserable. But, as long as the Pats come in focused, this should be a win.

^^ THIS!

I'm sure the Texans haven't forgotten how they got swept by the Pats twice last year. They'll be playing in revenge mode.

 

[Ozymandias]

This has trap game written all over it.

Coming off two very emotional games against big time contenders on primetime - to now having to get up for these bums is going to be difficult.

The Texans also have the revenge factor, since the Pats roasted them twice and ended their season last year.

I still expect the Patriots to win, but with a greater degree of difficulty than normal.

 

[jmt57]

It Is What It Is » Five things you have to know about the Texans

2. That being said, J.J. Watt is still one of the best defensive linemen in the game. Despite the Texans’ struggles, Watt remains a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate who is capable of dominating at the line of scrimmage. Pro Football Focus has him credited with 10 sacks (tied for the top spot among all 3-4 defensive ends), 24 quarterback hits (best at his position) and 26 quarterback hurries (fifth at his position). Watt remains a handful — a transformative presence up from who will make life difficult for the New England offensive line.

3. They’re really good at stopping the pass. The Texans are first in the league in pass defense, having yielded an average of 172 passing yards per game. (Seattle is No. 2 at 180 yards per game, while the Patriots are ninth in the league against the pass, having yielded an average of 220 yards per game.) Some of those numbers have to be taken in context, as the Texans have been playing from behind over the course of their nine-game losing skid, and teams have been more interested in running the ball and grinding out the clock than they have in throwing it all over the field. But at the same time, they do have some quality defensive backs, including cornerbacks Kareem Jackson (who has struggled with a rib injury as of late) and Jonathan Joseph. (Joseph has a team-leading 13 passes defensed and a pick.) Watt also allows them to play some pretty good team defense in that quarterbacks haven’t gotten too comfortable in the pocket.​

 

[patsinthesnow]

Unless the Texans are clueless, I expect they are in the tank anyway for the #1/#2 overal pick. I don't think we could lose this game if we tried.

Get up 10-0 early and this team will just give up.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Hope the players are prepared for that truly awful field the Texans use, it's a joke that they (and Chicago, for that matter) are allowed such poor field conditions.

This is a game I'd be expecting the Pats to win by 21+ though, the Texans are awful, especially the secondary.

Seriously. I'm honestly more worried about the field than the Texans. If the Pats can escape that garbage turf without any major injuries (still pissed about Welker in 09), I'll be happy.

The Texans couldn't establish the run against the Jaguars, who have possibly the only run defense in the NFL that's worse than ours. As long as the Pats cover Andre Johnson--and the rest of their offense is so bad that you can put Talib on him and give safety help over the top--they're then left with only Garrett Graham and DeAndre Hopkins to contend with.

This isn't the Texans of years past, and the Pats murdered the Texans of years past anyway. No Foster, no Owen Daniels, the QB situation has gotten even worse, etc. If the Pats score 20 points, they win this game. Texas is 2-9 for a reason.

Also, I don't buy into their defensive rankings. They gave up 28 to the Raiders, 27 to the Cardinals, 27 to the Colts, 38 to the Rams, 34 to the 49ers, 30 to the Ravens, 24 to the Titans, and 28 to the Chargers. The only reason why their defensive YPG is so low is because they keep throwing pick sixes, which allowed teams to amass huge leads without ever gaining an offensive yard, at which point they went conservative on offense. When opposing offenses do have to step on the field to score, it's usually a short field. Again, this team is 2-9 for a reason. They suck.

A loss is possible, if only because a loss is always possible (remember Cleveland a couple years back?). But their shot to beat us pretty much begins and ends with that. Also, their coach is either a guy who just had a mini stroke or Wade Phillips.

 

[SVN]

Hope the players are prepared for that truly awful field the Texans use, it's a joke that they (and Chicago, for that matter) are allowed such poor field conditions.

This is a game I'd be expecting the Pats to win by 21+ though, the Texans are awful, especially the secondary.

Good pt about the field. we know what happened the last time we played there and bb was mad in the presser after the game about the field which is very unusual for him . With our luck with injuries this yr ,I pray we make it out in one piece from this field.

 

[BradyFTW!]

^^ THIS!

I'm sure the Texans haven't forgotten how they got swept by the Pats twice last year. They'll be playing in revenge mode.

And if they were a good, mentally strong, disruptive football team, they wouldn't have been swept in such humiliating fashion in the first place. Motivated or not, they collectively suck at football. They have a puncher's chance only because every NFL team has a puncher's chance every week, and nothing more than that.

 

[TonyTucker]

Belichick said the Texans are a good football team and do a lot of things well

 

[PatriotsInGA]

This is their "homecoming" game right? Smug pricks. I hope the Pats win by 50.

 

[unoriginal]

The book on Keenum is you blitz him. He can't find the hot read to save his life. However, he can scramble and do damage passing on the run. He seems to make his bones entirely off play-action bootlegs and throwing deep.

So deep shell coverage, pocket containment and mixing in the blitz seems to be the winning formula. If the Texans run for 200 yards so be it. The Texans will be allowed chunk yardage on the ground in exchange for occasional QB mistakes and loss-yardage plays.

Houston is also miserable in the red zone (bootleg + deep bomb doesn't work so well down there) so again, they'll probably given the opportunity to get some 20 and 30 yard runs in between the 20s. The run defense will continue its downward trend without real significance.

 

[dannydyn]

The book on Keenum *AKA Schaub* is you blitz him. He can't find the hot read to save his life. However, he can scramble and do damage passing on the run. He seems to make his bones entirely off play-action bootlegs and throwing deep.

So deep shell coverage, pocket containment and mixing in the blitz seems to be the winning formula. If the Texans run for 200 yards so be it. The Texans will be allowed chunk yardage on the ground in exchange for occasional QB mistakes and loss-yardage plays.

There... fixed that for ya...

 

[CelticPatriot]

The Texans don't seem to me to be a bad team who are trying not to lose, but a good team who are trying their best to lose

 

[unoriginal]

There... fixed that for ya...

Schaub actually does fairly well against the blitz. Especially when compared to Keenum.

But this year is most important. The Texans are 2-9. The way teams have been beating them is by playing coverage against Schaub and forcing him to become Captain Checkdown, and blitzing the hell out of Keenum and making him speed up his game. Making Keenum read a defense, change protection, and hit the hot read consistently down the field are skills he hasn't developed yet.

Regularly sending five while keeping him in the pocket seems to be the recipe called for here, especially if Talib is good to go against Andre Johnson.

 

[Tunescribe]

I think the Patriots should run the ball and keep running it. Give Ridley ample chance to redeem himself and get his confidence back, because he will be needed down the stretch.

 

[Kontradiction]

Belichick said the Texans are a good football team and do a lot of things well

Belichick would say that about St. Mary's School of the Blind if they had a football team.

 

[dannydyn]

I heard they have good BBQ down in Texas.