FoxPerez
11-10-2011, 02:10 PM
Originally posted at PlaymakerOnline.com (http://bit.ly/vCrej7):
The Houston Texans are 6-3. That’s probably the quietest and least talked about 6-3 record in the NFL. And they’re probably fine with that. If anything they should be talked about more because they were in the games for each one of their losses and those setbacks could be attributed to their injuries. Arian Foster didn’t play in New Orleans and Andre Johnson missed the losses against Oakland and Baltimore.
But it appears that Houston has found their stride. With the exception of a “mere” 10-point win over Jacksonville, each one of those games was dominated on the field and the scoreboard the way good teams should handle inferior teams. They’re playing so well to the point that it’s assumed that Houston is going to make the playoffs by easily walking away with the division. You’d think that would be a bigger deal in the city and the NFL, but it’s not because it looks like it’s not going to be much of a race with each of the other three division teams having such bad years.
But one thing that separates Houston from the other teams that have been in their position in the past is swagger. The Texans don’t have it… which is a good thing. Here’s why: They’re tough (to the point where other teams are accusing them of dirty play), they’re focused (as evidenced by the fact that most of the team doesn’t care about being three games over .500 for the first time in franchise history), they’ve never been here before, and they’re playing hurt.
You can’t have swagger if you’ve never done something before. If you try to, you just look like a jackass, like a defensive lineman celebrating a sack against a backup quarterback when his team is down by 20 points. Instead, the Texans are hitting the opposition with grit. Even in a dominating performance against the Cleveland Browns, watching them on the sidelines I didn’t see a whole lot of smiling. What I saw was a lot guys with looks of intensity. Brian Cushing and Brooks Reed both play like wild animals. The rest spent time with each other working to improve on their next drive or right up on the sidelines supporting their teammates.
Among the other reasons I didn’t see any smiling was that the team has to concentrate so hard on every play because they know they’re playing without a lot of key players. Danieal Manning and Mario Williams each haven’t played in weeks. Williams is going to miss the rest of the season and Manning may get to see action in the playoffs if he’s lucky. All this is happening while implementing a completely new defensive scheme. And yet the Texans have the #1 overall defense in the NFL.
On offense, the attitude is similar. James Casey and Andre Johnson were each having huge games at the beginning of the season and then both went down with injuries. Johnson probably won’t be back until the bye week and the same is likely for Casey. So every time Houston gets into the red zone, they buckle down because they’ve had trouble in the red zone earlier this season and they’re playing without two great offensive options.
Everything isn’t going perfect for the Texans. Usually there are one or two teams every season who have everything breaking their way. There are only two discussions anybody has about them: how awesome they are and which of their players are best for fantasy football production. That’s the way the Green Bay Packers are being talked about. That’s obviously not the case for Houston.
They’ve suffered two heartbreaking losses this season and have had to deal with injuries everywhere on the field. They’ve stepped it up in impressive fashion, but it hasn’t gotten to their heads. It’s not just their inexperience working for them, it’s the adversity they’ve had to face. As I said before, they can’t afford to relax on the sidelines because whenever they’ve taken a seat to watch the game after a drive, they’ve had to stand next to guys like Foster, Johnson, Casey, and Williams all wearing street clothes. It’s a quick reminder that puts things in perspective. And it’s why you won’t see Houston let up this season.
The Houston Texans are 6-3. That’s probably the quietest and least talked about 6-3 record in the NFL. And they’re probably fine with that. If anything they should be talked about more because they were in the games for each one of their losses and those setbacks could be attributed to their injuries. Arian Foster didn’t play in New Orleans and Andre Johnson missed the losses against Oakland and Baltimore.
But it appears that Houston has found their stride. With the exception of a “mere” 10-point win over Jacksonville, each one of those games was dominated on the field and the scoreboard the way good teams should handle inferior teams. They’re playing so well to the point that it’s assumed that Houston is going to make the playoffs by easily walking away with the division. You’d think that would be a bigger deal in the city and the NFL, but it’s not because it looks like it’s not going to be much of a race with each of the other three division teams having such bad years.
But one thing that separates Houston from the other teams that have been in their position in the past is swagger. The Texans don’t have it… which is a good thing. Here’s why: They’re tough (to the point where other teams are accusing them of dirty play), they’re focused (as evidenced by the fact that most of the team doesn’t care about being three games over .500 for the first time in franchise history), they’ve never been here before, and they’re playing hurt.
You can’t have swagger if you’ve never done something before. If you try to, you just look like a jackass, like a defensive lineman celebrating a sack against a backup quarterback when his team is down by 20 points. Instead, the Texans are hitting the opposition with grit. Even in a dominating performance against the Cleveland Browns, watching them on the sidelines I didn’t see a whole lot of smiling. What I saw was a lot guys with looks of intensity. Brian Cushing and Brooks Reed both play like wild animals. The rest spent time with each other working to improve on their next drive or right up on the sidelines supporting their teammates.
Among the other reasons I didn’t see any smiling was that the team has to concentrate so hard on every play because they know they’re playing without a lot of key players. Danieal Manning and Mario Williams each haven’t played in weeks. Williams is going to miss the rest of the season and Manning may get to see action in the playoffs if he’s lucky. All this is happening while implementing a completely new defensive scheme. And yet the Texans have the #1 overall defense in the NFL.
On offense, the attitude is similar. James Casey and Andre Johnson were each having huge games at the beginning of the season and then both went down with injuries. Johnson probably won’t be back until the bye week and the same is likely for Casey. So every time Houston gets into the red zone, they buckle down because they’ve had trouble in the red zone earlier this season and they’re playing without two great offensive options.
Everything isn’t going perfect for the Texans. Usually there are one or two teams every season who have everything breaking their way. There are only two discussions anybody has about them: how awesome they are and which of their players are best for fantasy football production. That’s the way the Green Bay Packers are being talked about. That’s obviously not the case for Houston.
They’ve suffered two heartbreaking losses this season and have had to deal with injuries everywhere on the field. They’ve stepped it up in impressive fashion, but it hasn’t gotten to their heads. It’s not just their inexperience working for them, it’s the adversity they’ve had to face. As I said before, they can’t afford to relax on the sidelines because whenever they’ve taken a seat to watch the game after a drive, they’ve had to stand next to guys like Foster, Johnson, Casey, and Williams all wearing street clothes. It’s a quick reminder that puts things in perspective. And it’s why you won’t see Houston let up this season.