I'm trying not to worry about some key injuries (Arian Foster and Jadeveon Clowney) or think too far ahead. This game on Sunday against the Bills is going to be a tough one because the Texans are struggling to stop the run defensively. When you can't stop the run on defense and for that matter when you can't run the ball on offense that's usually a recipe for losing games. That and the turnovers.

Arian Foster will likely be a game-time decision after missing the game last week against the Giants. Without him the Texans are just not a productive offensive team because he's literally 65 % of the total offense. He led the NFL in total carries the first two games (both were wns) and then all of a sudden another hamstring issue sidelines him. If the Texans are going to make the playoffs Arian Foster has to play in 12 or 13 of the 16 regular-season games. He can't afford to miss more than three or four this year.

Jadeveon Clowney is going to miss another two or three games but if the Texans can somehow beat the Bills and reach 3-1 they'll remain all alone in first place in the AFC South. It's all about grinding out these games with whoever is healthy and ready to play. Nobody said it was going to be easy to make the playoffs following a 2-14 season. The Texans have to show some resiliency if they want to pick up a big home win in two more days. The Bills are a good team that is also looking to improve to 3-1.



This is a pivotal time for the Houston Texans despite being early in the season. They play the Bills, at Cowboys, Colts and at Steelers the next four games. The good thing is every other team in the AFC South is off to a slow start. The Texans are the only team in the division with a winning record for now. All it takes is a win and a 3-1 record to feel good about the Texans again.

Texans win 23-17. A 3-1 record and first place in the AFC South. I'll take it. They already won more games than last year.

J.J. Watt's 80-yard interception return for a Touchdown was the difference in the game. The CBS announcers mentioned it was his first career interception returned for a Touchdown which is technically true I guess. He did have a pick six against Andy Dalton and the Bengals in the 2011-2012 AFC wild-card game but playoff stats don't count in terms of career numbers.

Not the prettiest game for Ryan Fitzpatrick despite throwing for 268 yards (1 TD and 2 INTs) and Arian Foster struggled with a bad hamstring (8 carries for 6 yards) but they both made big first down plays when it mattered. Foster had 7 catches for 55 receiving yards. Should have had more but he dropped a few passes in that short-yardage passing game.

Andre Johnson had 6 receptions for 71 yards and DeAndre Hopkins was 5-for-64 with a 35-yard TD catch. Both of them continue to produce despite the inconsistent passing game. In fact Ryan Fitzpatrick completed a pass to nine different plays today. If he can just keep the Interceptions down. That's now 5 interceptions in the last two games after throwing none during the first two games.

The Texans travel to Arlington, Texas to play the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium next Sunday at noontime. It's going to be a tough road game but if the Texans reach 4-1 that would be amazing. It would give them a decent chance to make the playoffs if they can continue to improve and it would buy them some time to become healthy as a team.

Am I happy with the way the Texans are playing? No. Am I happy with a 3-1 record? Yes. At the end of the day that's all that matters. You can always improve as a football team but what you can't do is change losses into wins. After last season's 2-14 record we may as well have a parade for being 3-1 already.

Andre Johnson moved into 12th all-time in receptions today and he's still 15th overall in receiving yards.

I can see him passing Randy Moss (15,292) and Terrell Owens (15,934) for second all-time in receiving yards sometime during the 2016 season. He's currently at 12,923 receiving yards after today's game and he's had 1,598 and 1,407 receiving yards the past two seasons. He's on pace for over 1,000 yards again this year. He should finish 2014 somewhere near 14,000 receiving yards barring a serious injury.

He was one catch short in today's game of tying Marvin Harrison as the fastest player in NFL history to reach 950 career receptions. Andre Johnson has caught a pass in 122 straight games. He's quietly moving up the all-time list in many categories.

Lack of career Touchdowns is his only weakness in terms of Hall of Fame credentials but who's to say where he'll end up when he retires in another four or so years? I think he can play at a high level until he's 37 years old. He's going to become like an aging Chris Carter. Where all he did was make big catches aka great possession guy late in his career. Carter was still producing 90-plus catches and 1,200-plus receiving yards back-to-back years at the age of 34 and 35. He was also a reliable red zone target for the Vikings but of course it helped that he had Randy Moss on the other side of the field.

DeAndre Hopkins is already emerging as the Texans deep threat with his freakishly large hands. That will help Andre Johnson.

His University of Miami "older mentor and great friend" Reggie Wayne may be his biggest obstacle to moving into second all-time in receptions and receiving yards at some point in the future. Wayne is moving up the all-time as well. It depends how long Wayne plays. He's going to turn 36 years old soon. Andre Johnson just turned 33 years old and will have a couple extra years to pass a lot of people.

But great wideouts like Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne played with Peyton Manning and now Andrew Luck for the majority of their careers. More impressive how Andre Johnson has done it playing with as many as nine or ten different starting quarterbacks like David Carr, Dave Ragone, Tony Banks, Sage Rosenfels, T.J. Yates, Matt Leinart, Case Keenum, Matt Schaub and Ryan Fitzpatrick, etc... etc... I think I just named all of the Texans mediocre starters over Andre Johnson's career. He never had the fortunes of playing with an elite quarterback.

Calvin Johnson (28) may end up passing all of them, including Jerry Rice, in all-time receptions and receiving yards. We'll see. He certainly has youth on his side because he's still very much in his prime. By the time he's 33 years old, much less 34, 35 or 36, he could already be breaking his own records. Teams pass so much now a days that it's hard to predict where a beast like Megatron will end up.

We better enjoy being 3-1 because it could be a long game on the road against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. They are blowing out the Saints 31-3 early in the fourth quarter right now. Imagine what they're going to do at home against the Texans? I'm not even sure we're as good as the Saints are right now. At least not quarterback wise or offensively.



I guess any given Sunday right? It's going to be a long week waiting for this big Texas showdown.
The winner will be 4-1 and cruising along. It's going to take another Hercules-like effort by J.J. Watt.

No Sean Lee. No Bruce Carter. No Morris Claiborne.

If you had told me those three guys would be out when the 2014 schedule was first released, I'd have said we caught a huge break even with our uncertainty at the QB position during that time. That was after they had already lost their best defensive player over the past decade in future Hall of Famer, DeMarcus Ware.

Our offense has to step up in this game. No doubt about it. I doubt we'll be able to slow down the Cowboys explosive offense so our offense has to keep us in the game. I think I predicted DeMarco Murray to have 250 rushing yards and 3 TDs against the Texans on another thread. He's the NFL's leading rusher and we allowed a less talented running back like Rashad Jennings to embarrass us for close to 180 yards and 1 TD.

The Texans have never been a great road team. Just once I'd like to see them pull off a big road victory. I'm tired of the same old "losing road games." If it's not DeMarco Murray I'm worried about it's Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. I'm hopeful that Johnathan Joseph can bring his A-game and cover Dez one on one, and Brian Cushing can cover Witten on the intermediate routes. We can't afford not to go all out to stopping Murray in this game. Eight men in the box if needed but play it smart unlike the Saints did this past Sunday Night.

I'd feel more optimistic about winning this game if Jadeveon Clowney returned this Sunday. He may return the following Sunday against the Colts. The Cowboys offense is just so explosive and their offensive line may be the best in the NFL. It's going to be tough to slow down the Cowboys offense if the only source of pass rush we have is J.J. Watt. Somebody else has to have an amazing game: Perhaps Brooks Reed or Whitney Mercilus. Maybe Jared Crick, who had 1.5 sacks against the Bills last game.

We're going to need a pass rusher not named JJ Watt. Brooks Reed hasn't shown up since Clowney went out. Mercilus is a bust. Haven't seen Cushing being used as a blitzer much. They'll need to play lights out.

BOB needs to come up with a great game plan. Get Foster running.

Hopefully some much needed help is on the way. An upset win over Dallas on Sunday will just buy more time.
Win or lose, the Texans have an even bigger game at home against the Colts next Sunday. We have to win that one.



Jadeveon Clowney thinks he’ll be back in a few weeks

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/30/jadeveon-clowney-thinks-hell-be-back-in-a-few-weeks/

The Texans are 3-1 even though they’ve only had rookie linebacker Jadeveon Clowney in the lineup for the first half of the first game of the season and the first overall pick in this year’s draft said it has been “very tough” to be on the sideline for the last three weeks.

“Everything is starting to come along just like I want it to. … I think I’ll be back in a few weeks — that’s the goal,” Clowney said, via the Houston Chronicle. J.J. Watt’s weekly feats of strength have made it easier to forget that Clowney is supposed to be on the field causing more havoc for opposing offenses. If he can get back without too much rust accumulating on his game and the Texans can keep winning in his absence, Clowney’s return could be a big factor in how the AFC South race plays out this season.

J.J. Watt versus Tyron Smith is going to be the best versus the best depending on how many times they actually line up against each other. Watt will be moved all over the place like usual so it may only be for a handful of plays. The Cowboys have the best offensive line in football so somebody else on defense has to step up in this game.