Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
Houston has forgotten what it is like to root for its hometown NFL team in the playoffs. It's been since the 1993 season that a playoff berth has graced this football-obsessed region, and everyone wonders after two 8-8 Texans seasons whether the team finally has the pieces to make a legitimate playoff run. The Texans have replaced the Cardinals as the trendy dark horse pick that might break out in 2009. No really. Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin's comments are pretty representative of this sort of thinking.
HOUSTON -- To say that the Texans defense of the last three years was vanilla is an insult to ice cream. Last year, a Football Outsiders game charter marked down "4" before just about every defensive snap, knowing it was very likely the Texans were only rushing four defensive linemen, and that he would have to erase only a couple of marks every quarter.
This year the theme of the defense is "aggressive." Texan fans have heard that before, but maybe this is the year it may actually happen. Watching in training camp, the line as a group looks to be penetrating upfield faster, and when they do blitz, the blitzes look less predictable. How games will be called remains to be seen, though first-time defensive coordinator Frank Bush said Tuesday that Gary Kubiak is going to give him a lot of freedom on that side of the ball.
Putting together a successful NFL team is as much about finding quality starters as it is about filling out the roster with competent backups. The Patriots, Steelers, Giants and Colts have won Super Bowls because they had second- and third-teamers step into the starting lineup with no discernible drop-off in productivity.
Roster spots 23-53 are almost more important than the 22 guys who are listed first on the depth chart. And it's also what separates the perennial playoff teams from those struggling to win more than they lose.
The Texans have made progress since hiring Gary Kubiak in 2006, going from two wins the year before he arrived to back-to-back eight-win seasons in '07 and '08. Not surprisingly, lack of depth -- particularly on defense -- has been one of this team's biggest weaknesses.
As we get ready for week one matchup of the Steelers and Texans, Chris Watkins from the Houston DieHards was nice enough to offer some insights on the Texans for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.
1) We Steelers fans are pretty bummed about our schedule, but I have to imagine it's always rough to be a Texans fan. Six games against the Titans, Jags and Colts can never be easy. Is this the year the Texans get out of the cellar?
Check out these two stretches of the schedule for Houston. Stretch 1:Week 1 though Week 5 - at Pittsburgh, Baltimore at home, at Tennessee, at Jacksonville, Indianapolis at home. Stretch 2: Week 9 though Week 14: at Minnesota, Cincinnati at home, at Indianapolis, at Cleveland, Jacksonville at home, at Green Bay.
Of course Baltimore at home in the first stretch, and Cincy at home in the second should be winnable games, but at this point early in the pre-season, all the others could go either way. Luckily, very few in the Texans fan community are complaining. A lot of us have the attitude of "hey, if we're going to finally get respect in this league, we NEED to beat whoever they throw at us, no matter who it is."
Tonight, the Cowboys and Texans will battle for the all-mighty and magical Governor's Cup. It's the big silver trophy awarded to the Texas team that wins their yearly matchup. I'm pictured with it and a large gentlemen who works for the Texans.
Though tonight's game is just a preseason game, the third pretend game is one that knowledgeable fans watch closely because the starters are left in the game longer.
Three Things to Watch From the Cowboy Perspective: (From my semi-reasonable Cowboy fan friend, Michael Whitehead, founder of sofantasyfootball.com, a terrific site to find thoughtful fantasy football information).
1. The Secondary. The biggest problem Dallas has had in recent history is the secondary. What has looked like sure wins has turned into disappointing losses in the second half of too many games. Pay particularly close attention to Adam "Pacman" Jones, as he will get the start, and will have a true test against Andre Johnson. Rookie Mike Jenkins, who started the previous two games will be used in nickel situations, an area that Dallas has truly struggled in for the past two seasons.
Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
Quarterback: In Matt Schaub and Sage Rosenfels, the Texans have two quarterbacks who could start in this QB starved league. Schaub needs to show he can hold up over a full season, and have better decision making in the red zone. Even so, he could end up having a breakout season assuming he and his supporting cast stay relatively healthy. Heat Index: 7
Running Backs: The Texans have been busy fixing so many other parts of their team that they have had little interest in drafting running back with a high pick. The running back group consists of Ahman Green (old and oft injured), Chris Brown (oft injured), Chris Taylor (inexperienced and coming off of injury), Darius Walker (inexperienced), Steve Slaton (3rd round pick rookie and more of a third down back). Coach Gary Kubiak won't want to have to rely on a young player because of concerns about blitz pickup. The best hope for this group is if offensive line guru Alex Gibbs shows some magic in his run blocking teaching that makes this group look good. Heat Index: 4
With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.
The Texans have to like a draft that is particularly deep in cornerbacks, offensive linemen, and running backs, because 2008 may be a year where need perfectly fits best player available.
Do I really think that Leodis McKelvin will be available at #18? Probably not, but it is theoretically possible that a very good cornerback will be available at the 18th spot if the top offensive linemen are already taken off the board.
It has been painful in every way to watch the Texans secondary since 2004, and one of the few bright spots, Dunta Robinson went down with a hamstring/knee injury that was so awful that the television broadcasts refused to show the ugly replay. Robinson says he will be back faster than everyone expects (unfortunately for him, it is his contract year), but as I understand for his type of injuries the best prescription is hard work and an unhurried time.
The Houston Texans have been pretty low key in free agency, mostly because they: 1. aren't one player away; 2. don't have a ton of money to spend; 3. usually make bad free agent acquisitions and trades (see e.g. Anthony Weaver, Ahman Green, Phillip Buchanon).
How many running backs can you sign with their best years behind them?
For the most part, the Texans have spent this free agency period shoring up weaknesses with not terribly splashy acquisitions: former Dallas CB Jacques Reeves, former Seattle linebacker Kevin Bentley (seen in above HT.com video or video transcript here), and re-signing Andre Davis.
"You guys can point the finger at him," T.O. said. "You can talk about the vacation, and if you do that, it's really unfair. It's really unfair. That's my teammate. That's my quarterback. If you guys do that, man, it's unfair. We lost as a team. We lost as a team, man."
He's right. It is unfair. But so go the spoils of being the Dallas Cowboys QB (just as it is dating Jessica Simpson). Over at The Boys Blog, they break down where some of the blame should go.
Obviously, there were too many turnovers (eleven of them, total) for the Cowboys. Everyone has 'em, sure, but some of these were horrible. A Demarcus Ware offsides penalty that extended a drive. The unecessary roughness call on Leonard Davis that not only cost Dallas 15 yards but negated a 10-yr Jason Witten reception. Patrick Crayton (who spent all week talking smack) dropping a wide-open third down pass. Jacques Reeves getting torched three times plus getting called for a facemask penalty in the Giants TD drive at the end of the first half. How about the Cowboys' coverage teams who were as poor today as they've been all season?
The lead story of Saturday night's Dallas Cowboys win over the Carolina Panthers will be the status of Terrell Owens' injury. However, many will talk about the tough calls against the Panthers during the game.
The two biggest calls were on huge passing plays in the 4th quarter. The first came on a long pass attempt from Matt Moore to Drew Carter that Cowboys CB Jacques Reeves broke up. The replays showed (and it was quite obvious to the naked eye) that Reeves held up Carter as he lept to break up the pass. No call. That was on 3rd down and would have sent the Panthers offense to mid-field.
The second was on a pass that Steve Smith seemingly caught, was knocked to the ground and the ball came squirting out. The official who was standing on top of the play ruled it complete. Then the other officials joined into the discussion and changed the call to an incomplete pass. Carolina challenged the call but referee Mike Carey ruled that since Smith was knocked to the ground, it was incomplete. Huh? Smith caught the ball, both his feet touched the ground, he was hit, he fell to the ground and then the ball squirted out. How in the world is that incomplete? Even Chris Collinsworth (who sheepishly said he guessed it was a good call) wasn't too sure during his analysis of the play with Bryant Gumbel.
Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
HOUSTON -- To say that the Texans defense of the last three years was vanilla is an insult to ice cream. Last year, a 
Putting together a successful NFL team is as much about finding quality starters as it is about filling out the roster with competent backups. The Patriots, Steelers, Giants and Colts have won Super Bowls because they had second- and third-teamers step into the starting lineup with no discernible drop-off in productivity. 
As we get ready for week one matchup of the Steelers and Texans, Chris Watkins from the 
Tonight, the Cowboys and Texans will battle for the 
At a post game news conference, Cowboys receiver 
The lead story of Saturday night's Dallas Cowboys win over the Carolina Panthers will be the 
