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Redskins 27 Texans 30.
That final score wasn't surprising to me at all. As I said during my blog post yesterday, the Vegas line had the Texans winning by 3 pts, and I agreed that line was close to accurate (I predicted a 4 point Texans victory in my blog). Even though I was close to right in that aspect of my overall prediction, I was wrong with more.
I predicted that the Texans would control most of the game with the offense, and though the Redskins will keep it close and may catch a few breaks, their offense will struggle overall. I was wrong. The Redskins controlled most of the game with their offense. They kept the chains moving by keeping the ball in the air. McNabb distributed the ball well to just about any receiver or the active roster. It was surely a difference compared to last week.
However, it was during the 4th quarter where it seemed to have fallen apart. I didn't see half of this quarter on the TV, but listened to most of it on my car radio, and on my Android smart phone. They didn't close this game when they had a chance. They had a chance to all but seal the game making it a two-possession lead midway in the 4th quarter. But they didn't. They had a chance a chance to make a crucial 4th down stop, but instead turned it into a game tying touchdown with Matt Schaub finding arguably the best WR in the league for a huge score. And, in overtime, they had a chance to seal the win by kicking a long field goal, but the kicker let himself get "iced" (though the kick was difficult, the kick should have been made, considering that it was good before the timeout was called). So, instead of closing the game late, the Redskins let a good team stick around. If you have a 10 point lead going into the 4th quarter, and if you're up by 3 possessions in the 3rd quarter, you win the game.
To add on, the running game still has some issues. Most of the rushing yards came in the drive in the 4th quarter where the Redskins failed to capitalize, and before that drive, the Redskins had only 3 rushing yards overall. This is one of the problems the Redskins need to seriously address if they want to eventually be considered as bonafide contenders.
However, with all that being said, there were a lot of positives that the Redskins can build on in this game. Although, admittedly the Texans' secondary was a significant weakness of Houston, McNabb started to find his passing game, and involved pretty much EVERYBODY. If he can replicate a significant fraction of that passing game, they should have their fair share of wins. Defense also held the running game that was so explosive last week, and had the overall advantage in 3 out of the 4 quarters against a very solid high powered offense. So those were definitely positives.
With that being said, this game should have been a Redskins win. However, since it took place in the beginning of the season, and it's not against a conference or division opponent, it's definitely a loss that's not too damag they can build on. So, all in all, I would say that the loss should not be a complete disappointment. As I said before, the AFC South is stacked, and this Houston team is a young team with some young talent that can surprise a lot of people when all is said and done. So, losing to them in a competitive game (that you probably should have won if you made key stops) should not cause panic. As long as they show they can correct the mistakes they made (like they have showed they can correct a lot of their offensive woes from last week during this game), then the Redskins should still do decent during the season.
Up next, they have the St. Louis Rams. This could serve as a great "bounce back" game, with their overpaid rookie quarterback with offensive line issues and practically no weapons (with the exception of Steven Jackson). So, if they handle business and win the game against this team handily, that could be a good indicator of character, as well as how well they can do this year. This time last year, when they faced this team, they barely eeked out a win, and that really set the tone for a disappointing year (which included a loss in the next week to a Detroit Lions team that lost it's previous 17 games). I shall blog more about my thoughts about this game later this week.
So, for those Redskins fans panicking because they blew a big lead in the 4th quarter and lost the game... I say calm down. The team they played will be solid for the whole year, and the loss wasn't against a division opponent, so it's not as damaging. And since it happened early in the year, there's plenty of time for mistakes to be corrected, and the team can build on this loss. However, I will say that if the team loses next week (or even wins unconvincingly), then fans should start to worry a bit.
But until then, all Redskins fans (and all people in general) should enjoy the week. NFL football is great and could be tolling due to the emotional investment, but there's a lot outside of that which probably matter more. So in case you're down after any loss, remember that.
So until next week keep your hopes high and read my other blogs. There are better days ahead...
HTTR,
-OBE
Showing posts with label Houston Texans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houston Texans. Show all posts
9/18/10
"DC" Skins Pregame - Week 2 - vs Houston
As I said in last week's blog, I'm going to try to make these pregame and postgame blogs a weekly weekend habit, because this NFL football is a topic people in the blogosphere can really get into, and it is also a topic I love to talk about. Gives this blog a little bit of balance. ;-)
However, like I said last week, I'm just gonna focus on Redskins games. If I talked about a lot of different teams every week and all of the games playing this week, I don't think I could get all my thoughts down. (I mean, I can, but it would just take forever) I'm not a sports journalist, nor do I work for the organization. I just want to offer my particular "out-of-the-box" authentic view as a genuine fan of the game. (I will say, that to make these entries easier to identify, I'll prefix these particular blogs will be prefixed with "DC" Skins (Pre/Post game...).
Now that I got the housekeeping out of the way, let me get this started...
This week, I'm not going to get into the off-the-field drama with the women in the locker room remark by Clinton Portis about Inez Sainz and the New York Jets locker room, or whether or not Albert Haynesworth is injured or not. I will just be focusing on my thoughts primarily about the game itself (such as players to watch, other notables), what I think the keys to victory are, and my predictions (as I hope to do every week).
With that being said, as a Redskins fan, this game scares me. Even though the 'Skins should be familiar with the offense because Kyle Shanahan coordinated the Texans offense last year, it still doesn't look as good in the Redskins' point of view. The Texans put up 34 points against a formidable Colts team, whom many are picking to go to the Superbowl. They have arguably the best wide receiver in the game in Andre Johnson, and they have the top (non-passing) offensive player of Week 1 with the sudden emergence of their running back Arian Foster, who had 231 yards rushing last week (and undoubtedly got picked up by many Fantasy Football owners). Their offense is clicking, and they outgunned Peyton Manning and the Colts (which says a lot).
The Redskins offense has a lot to do before catching up to this offense. Although they are patterned similarly, Houston is way ahead. The 'Skins didn't put up an offensive TD last week, and was outgained by Dallas in about a 2.5/1 ratio. And, as I said last week, even though I appreciated the win, the Redskins were extremely fortunate to get the win, considering how much Dallas shot themselves in the foot.
Many are saying if the Redskins are gonna have a shot at winning, the defense has to step up big time. I agree. The Redskins defense played relatively well against Dallas by keeping points off the board and making some plays (that turnover to TD to end the half didn't just happen by itself... DeAngelo Hall was a big part of that), however Dallas' bad playcalling and mistakes had a lot to with them not scoring many points either. I'm sure Houston's offense would be a lot more disciplined, and the defense has to match them.
Arguably, as it looks right now, the Redskins defense is better than the Colts defense, and I don't think they're gonna let Arain Foster put up 231 yds in the ground against them. And since they showed that they can make plays and force mistakes, that can really help them out. But, they still have to stop the big play, and not let Houston march up and down the field willingly (like Dallas during the end of the game). If they do, the game will be a lot uglier than last week's Dallas game.
I will say though, that these teams do know each other pretty well, despite being in opposite conferences. Houston head coach Gary Kubiak is under the Mike Shanahan coaching tree since he was his coordinator in Denver, and Kyle Shanahan (Mike's son) coordinated under Kubiak last year in Houston, and practically built Houston's high powered offense. Based on that, it should be an interesting chess match, especially on offense.
But based on everything I've said so far, and from what was seen last week, the overall edge goes to Houston. The Skins haven't really gotten their running game going yet, and the only the tight ends have shown some glimmer of hope on the offensive side of the ball. And like I said, the Skins still haven't scored an offensive touchdown. And even though I think the Redskins may have the edge on defense, Houston's defense is still nothing to sneeze at. The gap between the 2 offenses, in my opinion, is larger than the gap against the two defenses. As far as special teams go, when all is said and done, I don't think we'll be talking about ST come the end of the game.
So I give the edge to Houston. The line for this game is Houston by 3. I think that sounds about right. As much as I would like the Redskins to win every game, and I would like to think that Redskins will perform better than they did last week, but even if they do perform better, the realist and prognosticator in me would think that it may not be enough.
Game prediction... Houston 28, Redskins 24.
Of course, I will be more than happy if I'm wrong and if the Redskins happen to pull out a win. It should be an interesting game nonetheless. Like I said, the coaching staff is familiar with each other, and from that, it should be an interesting match to watch.
HTTR,
-OBE
PS: I do regret, I probably won't be watching the whole game though. On an unrelated note, I do start my first day as a Youth Counselor in my church that evening, (which is another way to make an impact with "our future"). Therefore, I may miss a good chunk of the 2nd half. But, I will still post my postgame blog sometime after the game.
However, like I said last week, I'm just gonna focus on Redskins games. If I talked about a lot of different teams every week and all of the games playing this week, I don't think I could get all my thoughts down. (I mean, I can, but it would just take forever) I'm not a sports journalist, nor do I work for the organization. I just want to offer my particular "out-of-the-box" authentic view as a genuine fan of the game. (I will say, that to make these entries easier to identify, I'll prefix these particular blogs will be prefixed with "DC" Skins (Pre/Post game...).
Now that I got the housekeeping out of the way, let me get this started...
This week, I'm not going to get into the off-the-field drama with the women in the locker room remark by Clinton Portis about Inez Sainz and the New York Jets locker room, or whether or not Albert Haynesworth is injured or not. I will just be focusing on my thoughts primarily about the game itself (such as players to watch, other notables), what I think the keys to victory are, and my predictions (as I hope to do every week).
With that being said, as a Redskins fan, this game scares me. Even though the 'Skins should be familiar with the offense because Kyle Shanahan coordinated the Texans offense last year, it still doesn't look as good in the Redskins' point of view. The Texans put up 34 points against a formidable Colts team, whom many are picking to go to the Superbowl. They have arguably the best wide receiver in the game in Andre Johnson, and they have the top (non-passing) offensive player of Week 1 with the sudden emergence of their running back Arian Foster, who had 231 yards rushing last week (and undoubtedly got picked up by many Fantasy Football owners). Their offense is clicking, and they outgunned Peyton Manning and the Colts (which says a lot).
The Redskins offense has a lot to do before catching up to this offense. Although they are patterned similarly, Houston is way ahead. The 'Skins didn't put up an offensive TD last week, and was outgained by Dallas in about a 2.5/1 ratio. And, as I said last week, even though I appreciated the win, the Redskins were extremely fortunate to get the win, considering how much Dallas shot themselves in the foot.
Many are saying if the Redskins are gonna have a shot at winning, the defense has to step up big time. I agree. The Redskins defense played relatively well against Dallas by keeping points off the board and making some plays (that turnover to TD to end the half didn't just happen by itself... DeAngelo Hall was a big part of that), however Dallas' bad playcalling and mistakes had a lot to with them not scoring many points either. I'm sure Houston's offense would be a lot more disciplined, and the defense has to match them.
Arguably, as it looks right now, the Redskins defense is better than the Colts defense, and I don't think they're gonna let Arain Foster put up 231 yds in the ground against them. And since they showed that they can make plays and force mistakes, that can really help them out. But, they still have to stop the big play, and not let Houston march up and down the field willingly (like Dallas during the end of the game). If they do, the game will be a lot uglier than last week's Dallas game.
I will say though, that these teams do know each other pretty well, despite being in opposite conferences. Houston head coach Gary Kubiak is under the Mike Shanahan coaching tree since he was his coordinator in Denver, and Kyle Shanahan (Mike's son) coordinated under Kubiak last year in Houston, and practically built Houston's high powered offense. Based on that, it should be an interesting chess match, especially on offense.
But based on everything I've said so far, and from what was seen last week, the overall edge goes to Houston. The Skins haven't really gotten their running game going yet, and the only the tight ends have shown some glimmer of hope on the offensive side of the ball. And like I said, the Skins still haven't scored an offensive touchdown. And even though I think the Redskins may have the edge on defense, Houston's defense is still nothing to sneeze at. The gap between the 2 offenses, in my opinion, is larger than the gap against the two defenses. As far as special teams go, when all is said and done, I don't think we'll be talking about ST come the end of the game.
So I give the edge to Houston. The line for this game is Houston by 3. I think that sounds about right. As much as I would like the Redskins to win every game, and I would like to think that Redskins will perform better than they did last week, but even if they do perform better, the realist and prognosticator in me would think that it may not be enough.
Game prediction... Houston 28, Redskins 24.
Of course, I will be more than happy if I'm wrong and if the Redskins happen to pull out a win. It should be an interesting game nonetheless. Like I said, the coaching staff is familiar with each other, and from that, it should be an interesting match to watch.
HTTR,
-OBE
PS: I do regret, I probably won't be watching the whole game though. On an unrelated note, I do start my first day as a Youth Counselor in my church that evening, (which is another way to make an impact with "our future"). Therefore, I may miss a good chunk of the 2nd half. But, I will still post my postgame blog sometime after the game.
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