Know Your Opponent with Derek Havens
Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs. The Houston Texans head back to Foxboro, MA for the second meeting versus the New England Patriots in 5 weeks after the initial 2012 meeting in week 14. What have the Texans learned, what new wrinkles will we see from Belichick, Brady and crew, and who will show up who may not have been so influential in the game’s outcome in December. We can always count on Derek Havens of PatsFans.com and @PatriotsHaven on Twitter, for answers to all our burning questions – some serious, some not-so-much. Read below to get Derek’s valuable…
Texans to Watch: Patriots Playoff Edition
This weekend’s playoff matchup features a re-match of the December 10th Patriots blowout of the Texans. It was a game we all remember but one we wish to forget. The biggest key to this game is did the Texans, including the coaches, learn anything from the December 10th matchup? For example, will Wade Phillips change his high risk, high reward man to man coverage scheme and try to blitz Tom Brady again? And, did Kubiak’s offensive line learn how to block Patriots’ Vince Wilfork? In the NFL, teams are relatively balanced in terms of talent and parity, hence the phrase any…
Know Your Opponent with Mike Wobschall from Vikings.com
Here we are, week 16, the final 2012 game against an AFC North foe (unless… Super Bowl, anyone?) This time, the Houston Texans face the Adrian Peterson led Minnesota Vikings for a Sunday noon game at Reliant. The Vikings are not entirely unknown to the Texans as the interconference opponents met in the final week of the preseason. Of course that was a long time and many injuries ago – and before a couple of each team’s players emerged as potential NFL MVP candidates. Where’s the fun in this particular game? Only watching Adrian Peterson grind it out in attempt…
Know Your Opponent with @PatriotsHaven
Week 14. Monday Night Football. The 11-1 Houston Texans take their AFC-leading record into Foxborough, MA to face the defending AFC champion New England Patriots for the Texans biggest test of the season. The Texans can expect to face a challenge unlike any since perhaps week 6 versus Green Bay. What exactly does that challenge consist of? We check in with Derek Havens of @PatriotsHaven and PatsFan.com to see what it is that makes the Patriots so fearsome, where the team’s deficiencies can be exploited and get some insight on the many Patriots playmakers and the injuries that may affect…
Know Your Opponent with Soldier Field Insider
In what has been dubbed a “colossal matchup” on HoustonTexans.com, a “battle of Super Bowl hopefuls” in the Chicago Tribune, and a potential “Super Bowl preview” on NFL.com, the Texans trip to Chicago to meet the Bears for a Sunday night spectacle is nothing if not hyped. Both teams come into the contest at 7 and 1. Both teams have stellar defenses. The Bears tend to score more on defense, but the Texans have a much higher ranked offense. Special teams? Chicago wins that battle handily – on paper. We know the game will not come down to statistics but…
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Ravens Edition
The Houston Texans hosted the Baltimore Ravens in a game that had immediate and future implications on the seating in the AFC. In this game, both teams were playing for the top seed in the AFC. The Texans had a little bit extra to play for as they were bulldozed the previous week by the Packers and the Texans needed a good showing. The Texans also needed to win this game after coming so close in beating the Ravens over the last 3 years, but always coming up short due to a turnover. In this game, the Texans were able…
Know Your Opponent : With @TexansBroncos
State of the Texans continues our Know Your Opponent series for Week 3 with a focus on the Houston Texans matchup versus the Denver Broncos and our old rival, Peyton Manning. This time around we dig into the well-informed mind of resident State of the Texans, Broncos AND Texans fan Aaron Close. We get Aaron’s thoughts on what we can expect to see from the Manning-led Broncos offense, Von Miller and company on defense and what, if any, effect Mile High air has on Bulls. We also took questions from the Twitter crew to ensure the questions YOU want answered are addressed….
Bradie James is M.I.A.
The Houston Texans worked out several defensive linemen today, as reported by Ravens Insider Aaron Wilson. This is a standard practice for the Texans each week to see if any street free agents have the ability to come in and possibly compete for a roster spot or replace a player in the event of an injury. The Texans brought in defensive linemen Remi Ayodele, Brandon Bair, Corbin Bryant, Daniel Muir, Jay Richardson and Clifton Geathers. I wonder why the Texans didn’t consider bringing in any additional linebackers after the sad display put on by inside linebacker Bradie James? James played…
Alan Ball: Under the Radar
The Houston Texans recently signed unrestricted free agent Alan Ball to the roster and initially most fans’ first impressions were he must be Jason Allen’s (former Texans cornerback) replacement. Alan Ball is one of Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips’ guys he drafted while he was in Dallas. Ball has an impressive combination of size and speed at 6’2 197 lbs with 4.48 speed. Most cornerbacks with those measurements usually become safeties when they come into the NFL. Very few cornerbacks have that type of size, speed, and hip fluidity combination that excel in the NFL. Ball, while in Dallas, was drafted to be…
A New Week: Texans OTAs
Here are some notes from Tuesday’s Houston Texans OTAs. – The big news was that UDFA Dwight Jones left the team because he doesn’t want to play football anymore. The Texans still have yet to confirm that Jones has left the team, and Head Coach Gary Kubiak said they were still going to talk to Jones about the situation. With all of the news flying around it seems like Jones has quit the Texans. – Hebron Fangupo who sprained his MCL last week on the first day of OTAs, was riding the bike at the end of last week. On Tuesday,…
