Last Year:
After a 3-year run, Houston Texas is no longer the chunkiest city in America. According to Men?s Fitness magazine?s annual report they have been overtaken by Detroit for that fattening feat. While the city in the Lone Star state is making progress, so did their second year expansion football team who upped their win total from 4 to 5. The Houston Texans portly offensive line managed to protect David Carr a little better than his rookie season, allowing only 1.25 sacks per game compared to the all-you-can-sack buffet of 4.5 per game in Carr?s first season. The rest of the offense, and defense as well for that matter, didn?t pull their weight as they jelly-bellied to the 31st rank in both categories. Though they labored statistically, the Texans did manage to keep all but one of their home games suspense filled so maybe that?s a little appetizer of the meal that we?re about to be served in the coming season.
What we Learned from Last Year:
Only a win better than their inaugural season, the Houston Texans win-loss record does not sufficiently portray the growth of this team.
Houston seems to like the first game of the season as both years they have come in as a Danny Williams-sized underdog and knocked out their opponents. Beating state-rival Dallas Cowboys at home is one thing, but traveling to Miami where the Dolphins soar in the month of September and coming out victorious is astonishing.
Unfortunately in week 2 this team has been pounded by 21 points both times, which demonstrates the inconsistencies this team has desperately struggled with during its existence.
The simplest reason to account for their variable play is a fairly young roster with limited experience at numerous positions.
Key offensive players Domanick Davis, and Andre Johnson were rookies last season, while David Carr and Jabar Gaffney will be entering their third season in September. Tight end Billy Miller has had only 2 influential seasons in his career, which builds to the point that the offense is constructed of youth. In that case irregular play should be expected.
On defense the difficulties were not undeveloped players, rather a general lack of health is what pained this team. Sacking the quarterback was an onerous task in itself as the linebackers on this team combined for more quarterback drops than the defensive linemen. Blessed with the presence of starters Seth Payne and Gary Walker for only 6 games, the defensive line?s scarce depth is the reasoning for only 19 sacks last year. Even though the line was decimated by injury, it was strange to see a Dom Capers defense allow 148 rushing yards per game. Poor pressure on the quarterback masked the solid play from underrated cornerbacks and linebackers.
David Carr, Domanick Davis and Andre Johnson are the future of the Texans. Carr has yet to have a serious season, but his co-workers Johnson and Davis established themselves immediately. Davis barely topped 1000 yards and Johnson barely bottomed 1000 yards, but the sky is the limit for these youngsters as they develop a better rhythm with their quarterback. Wins like a last second goal line plunge at home to Jacksonville is what fuels this trio?s confidence. Many people are still unaware the potential that the new firm Carr, Davis & Johnson possess but it won?t be much longer until people take note.
Losses off the starting lineup were as common as losses to opponents thanks to a league high 17 men on the injured reserve but health intact, a year of experience does wonders.
What Has Changed?:
Fairy tales can come true,
It can happen to you if you?re young at heart.
As the Houston Texans enter the 2004-2005 season their sleeper status will have to guide their fairy tale. Several teams will gaze the schedule and glance past the Houston Texans placing an imaginary ?W? next to that date, but for a team young at heart being overlooked shortens their path to victory.
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams, which is what the Texans did last season after an unconscionable week one victory was only followed by 4 more wins the rest of the way. With a few key additions, the optimism will be renewed.
The draft added 2 vital prospects to the Texans, but in essence filled 3 positions. Cornerback Dunta Robinson is expected to be a stud and while he lines up opposite of Aaron Glenn, and former cornermate Marcus Coleman and his 7 interceptions move to free safety. The other touted selection was defensive end Jason Babin who will be converted linebacker to ameliorate a weak sack rush for this 3-4 defense. The position changes do not end there as prized signing defensive tackle Robaire Smith will move to end but Head Coach Dom Capers is known as one of the brighter defensive minds in the NFL so expect his guidance to ease the transitions of all these players.
Linebackers Kailee Wong and Jamie Sharper return as stalwarts on this defense and along with Jay Foreman group one of the better corps in the league. The line is where questions remain due to porous production last season. End Gary Walker had 6.5 sacks two years ago and the team will expect those numbers to return if he remains healthy. Seth Payne should retake his starting job and Jerry DeLoach and Corey Sears are basic depth charters in case of injury. This line is the Texans? prime weakness but if they can alter that label then this is a defense to concern yourself with.
And life gets more exciting with each passing day, and love is either in your heart or on the way if you are a believer of this underrated Texans team.
Offensively this team will look to experience a full season from Domanick Davis as the number one running back, and with speedy Tony Hollings as the number two David Carr may finally relieve some of his stress. This offense has officially become threatening owing to legitimate runners and the time is at hand to see what Carr is made of. While cornerbacks will hone in on the running game a little more this season, Carr and offensive coordinator Chris Palmer will explore deep passes to Corey Bradford and Andre Johnson. The attack is finally manned with the talent to thrust this team to success.
This is a tight-nit team whose core remains from its first few days, and they are hungry to succeed.
"I just feel like it's time to win some football games," Carr said. "I'm tired of being average, I'm tired of being called an expansion team. I just want to go out and compete for wins, championships, everything."
Compete they will. With an offence itching to prove themselves, and a revamped defense advised by a strong intellectual this is a team that could finish with a solid record if they are taken too lightly. Remember Cincinnati last year?
O/U 6.5:
Is there a new set of triplets in the AFC South? Skeptics-a-many believe this team to be the division?s dullards but an ambitious team will try to prove them wrong. In addition to the traditional 6 division games, here is their schedule: SD, @DET, @KC, OAK, MIN, @DEN, GB, @NYJ, @CHI, and CLE.
Fantasy Sleeper:
While Domanick Davis and Andre Johnson are no longer fantasy sleepers, it?s finally time to draft David Carr in your pool. Granted this offense is not built for 40 points a game, Carr may be a steady option now that he has the skill around him. His statistics will be moderately good, so a late selection is practical.
After a 3-year run, Houston Texas is no longer the chunkiest city in America. According to Men?s Fitness magazine?s annual report they have been overtaken by Detroit for that fattening feat. While the city in the Lone Star state is making progress, so did their second year expansion football team who upped their win total from 4 to 5. The Houston Texans portly offensive line managed to protect David Carr a little better than his rookie season, allowing only 1.25 sacks per game compared to the all-you-can-sack buffet of 4.5 per game in Carr?s first season. The rest of the offense, and defense as well for that matter, didn?t pull their weight as they jelly-bellied to the 31st rank in both categories. Though they labored statistically, the Texans did manage to keep all but one of their home games suspense filled so maybe that?s a little appetizer of the meal that we?re about to be served in the coming season.
What we Learned from Last Year:
Only a win better than their inaugural season, the Houston Texans win-loss record does not sufficiently portray the growth of this team.
Houston seems to like the first game of the season as both years they have come in as a Danny Williams-sized underdog and knocked out their opponents. Beating state-rival Dallas Cowboys at home is one thing, but traveling to Miami where the Dolphins soar in the month of September and coming out victorious is astonishing.
Unfortunately in week 2 this team has been pounded by 21 points both times, which demonstrates the inconsistencies this team has desperately struggled with during its existence.
The simplest reason to account for their variable play is a fairly young roster with limited experience at numerous positions.
Key offensive players Domanick Davis, and Andre Johnson were rookies last season, while David Carr and Jabar Gaffney will be entering their third season in September. Tight end Billy Miller has had only 2 influential seasons in his career, which builds to the point that the offense is constructed of youth. In that case irregular play should be expected.
On defense the difficulties were not undeveloped players, rather a general lack of health is what pained this team. Sacking the quarterback was an onerous task in itself as the linebackers on this team combined for more quarterback drops than the defensive linemen. Blessed with the presence of starters Seth Payne and Gary Walker for only 6 games, the defensive line?s scarce depth is the reasoning for only 19 sacks last year. Even though the line was decimated by injury, it was strange to see a Dom Capers defense allow 148 rushing yards per game. Poor pressure on the quarterback masked the solid play from underrated cornerbacks and linebackers.
David Carr, Domanick Davis and Andre Johnson are the future of the Texans. Carr has yet to have a serious season, but his co-workers Johnson and Davis established themselves immediately. Davis barely topped 1000 yards and Johnson barely bottomed 1000 yards, but the sky is the limit for these youngsters as they develop a better rhythm with their quarterback. Wins like a last second goal line plunge at home to Jacksonville is what fuels this trio?s confidence. Many people are still unaware the potential that the new firm Carr, Davis & Johnson possess but it won?t be much longer until people take note.
Losses off the starting lineup were as common as losses to opponents thanks to a league high 17 men on the injured reserve but health intact, a year of experience does wonders.
What Has Changed?:
Fairy tales can come true,
It can happen to you if you?re young at heart.
As the Houston Texans enter the 2004-2005 season their sleeper status will have to guide their fairy tale. Several teams will gaze the schedule and glance past the Houston Texans placing an imaginary ?W? next to that date, but for a team young at heart being overlooked shortens their path to victory.
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams, which is what the Texans did last season after an unconscionable week one victory was only followed by 4 more wins the rest of the way. With a few key additions, the optimism will be renewed.
The draft added 2 vital prospects to the Texans, but in essence filled 3 positions. Cornerback Dunta Robinson is expected to be a stud and while he lines up opposite of Aaron Glenn, and former cornermate Marcus Coleman and his 7 interceptions move to free safety. The other touted selection was defensive end Jason Babin who will be converted linebacker to ameliorate a weak sack rush for this 3-4 defense. The position changes do not end there as prized signing defensive tackle Robaire Smith will move to end but Head Coach Dom Capers is known as one of the brighter defensive minds in the NFL so expect his guidance to ease the transitions of all these players.
Linebackers Kailee Wong and Jamie Sharper return as stalwarts on this defense and along with Jay Foreman group one of the better corps in the league. The line is where questions remain due to porous production last season. End Gary Walker had 6.5 sacks two years ago and the team will expect those numbers to return if he remains healthy. Seth Payne should retake his starting job and Jerry DeLoach and Corey Sears are basic depth charters in case of injury. This line is the Texans? prime weakness but if they can alter that label then this is a defense to concern yourself with.
And life gets more exciting with each passing day, and love is either in your heart or on the way if you are a believer of this underrated Texans team.
Offensively this team will look to experience a full season from Domanick Davis as the number one running back, and with speedy Tony Hollings as the number two David Carr may finally relieve some of his stress. This offense has officially become threatening owing to legitimate runners and the time is at hand to see what Carr is made of. While cornerbacks will hone in on the running game a little more this season, Carr and offensive coordinator Chris Palmer will explore deep passes to Corey Bradford and Andre Johnson. The attack is finally manned with the talent to thrust this team to success.
This is a tight-nit team whose core remains from its first few days, and they are hungry to succeed.
"I just feel like it's time to win some football games," Carr said. "I'm tired of being average, I'm tired of being called an expansion team. I just want to go out and compete for wins, championships, everything."
Compete they will. With an offence itching to prove themselves, and a revamped defense advised by a strong intellectual this is a team that could finish with a solid record if they are taken too lightly. Remember Cincinnati last year?
O/U 6.5:
Is there a new set of triplets in the AFC South? Skeptics-a-many believe this team to be the division?s dullards but an ambitious team will try to prove them wrong. In addition to the traditional 6 division games, here is their schedule: SD, @DET, @KC, OAK, MIN, @DEN, GB, @NYJ, @CHI, and CLE.
Fantasy Sleeper:
While Domanick Davis and Andre Johnson are no longer fantasy sleepers, it?s finally time to draft David Carr in your pool. Granted this offense is not built for 40 points a game, Carr may be a steady option now that he has the skill around him. His statistics will be moderately good, so a late selection is practical.
