Photo by Mark C. Austin
Click here for a slideshow from last season…
I tried watching the Texans again this weekend, but seriously, when Michael Phelps is busy making Lance Berkman eat his words, and the Arizona Diamondbacks are making Brandon Backe look like a Little League pitcher, a preseason game is just not that exciting.
That said, it was good to see that the Texans still have no running game. It was nice to see that, even if it is an exhibition game, Gary Kubiak actually made an adjustment and dumped the running game and went to the passing game. For the most part, Matt Schaub and the first team offense looked good. I also noticed that the Texans pass defense is still non-existent. Okay, maybe that’s not fair to Mario and the boys; perhaps I should say that the defensive backfield is still non-existent.
Still, the Texans won the game 31-27, and the offense, after forgetting the running game, seemed to move at will. But the Texans will never be a big success until they get a professional-quality running game, or until they get some defensive backs who can actually do something besides let receivers get wide open on play after play.
SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:
My nephew has a birthday coming up, and he’s a big Texans fan. So I thought I would buy him a Texans jersey for his birthday. I didn’t want one of those expensive things – he’s eight and he’ll have outgrown in about a year or less, after all – so I spent my tax-free weekend at places like J.C. Penny’s and Sears. And here’s my question: how come the only Texans jerseys I could find were Matt Schaub and Mario Williams?
I know Schaub is supposed to be the Second Coming – okay, that was supposed to be David Carr, so maybe he’s the Third Coming – and that he’s got a big contract, but it’s not like he’s really done anything to make himself the jersey face of the franchise. Same thing with Mario Williams. The team just keeps shoving him down everyone’s throat to make us forget Vince and Reggie, but I don’t think he’s that one player on this team who everyone fears when making their game plans.
So why isn’t there a jersey out for there for Andre Johnson? He’s the guy coaches plan against. He’s this team’s weapon. He’s the all-star, the all-pro. He’s probably about the only guy who casual fans throughout the nation probably know when asked to name a Houston Texan. I would think that if anyone deserves to have his jersey in the kid’s section at J.C. Penny’s or Sears, it would be Andre Johnson.
*****************
Hey, what do you know, Texans running back Ahman Green Chester Taylor was injured. Are there going to be any healthy running backs by the time the regular season starts? Ahman Green told Bob Allen during the game that his groin was fine and that he would be ready soon. But didn’t he say last year that he was fine? And how often did he play?
The Texans signed Arizona Cardinals reject Marcel Shipp to a contract yesterday to help make up for the absence of Ahman Green in training camp. You would think the Texans would have taken into account any Green injury before training camp. Then again, I would have never signed Green in the first place because of his injury history, so I’m probably not the ones the Texans are coming to asking for advice on dealing with the issue now.
*****************
I kept seeing this commercial for Wendy’s starring Texans offensive lineman Chester Pitts. And they make the point in the commercial that Pitts has started every game in the history of the Texans, and that he has missed only six plays in his career. Now I know this is a technicality, but it’s one of those minor things that bother me. Pitts has missed only six offensive plays of his career. Six offensive plays is different than six plays, as six plays implies every play of the game, including those on the defensive side of the ball, as well as special teams. Like I said, it’s a minor thing, but it’s not accurate.
So I’m going to climb down off of my soap box because I know I do lots of things which are probably wrong, as well. As I’m sure many of you will more than
This article appears in Aug 14-20, 2008.
