FanHouse Kris Brown

Before Jeff Reed arrived in Pittsburgh, field goal kicking was sometimes a scary event for Steelers fans. Any Pittsburgh fan who has been around a while can't help but remember Kris Brown's four missed field goals in a 13-10 loss to the Ravens in 2001. It was one of those rare cases where a field goal kicker can truly be blamed completely for a loss.

Reed has never had a game like that. Two years ago, he missed two field goals for the entire season. Before Sunday, he hadn't missed two field goals in one game in five years. So it's worth cutting Reed a little slack after he botched two makeable field goals in the Steelers' 17-14 loss to the Bears.

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.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Quiet Contenders. With an explosive offense -- last season's third most prolific to be precise -- Houston is a hot topic this season in fantasy terms. Last season, starter Matt Schaub and backup Sage Rosenfels combined for a franchise record in passing offense. Furthermore, rookie running back Steve Slaton proved to be the sleeper of the season.

This year, with an improved defense and a healthy Schaub, the Texans look like real deal contenders. The defense remains the big question mark, but the offense should keep them in contention, and more importantly continue to provide fantasy owners with big-time points.

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The Texans signed kicker Kris Brown to a four year, $10 million dollar extension. This includes $2.5 million dollar guaranteed, making him one of the best paid kickers in the league.

This happens to refute linebacker DeMeco Ryans' recent contention that the Texans don't reward their own players. Ryans and the Texans are working on a long term deal, and Ryans is a little grumpy that TE Owen Daniels, CB Dunta Robinson and he don't have them worked out yet. Maybe they are next in line? After a kicker?

One question is whether Brown's accurate performance of the last two years is going to continue. As FootballGuys.com notes, Brown has improved in scoring performance every year as a Texan, especially so since his scoring opportunities improved after Gary Kubiak took over head coaching duties.

Before you move any further, make sure to check out Part 1, if you haven't done so. I explain things in the intro. For our purposes on this post, however, there's no need to twiddle the thumbs. Let's dive in:

Wide Receiver

How about that Sunday night game for the Denver receivers? Last time around, they completely schooled the Chargers secondary. Now Eddie Royal has tons more experience under his belt, and Brandon Marshall is still just as talented. Both of them are in line for an obscene stat-line in what should be a shootout.

Only illegal formations by his teammates can stop Megatron. Yes, start Calvin Johnson in all formats. He's just too good to sit.

I'd avoid Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Anthony Gonzalez, because of the fact that Jim Sorgi should be under center for the majority of the afternoon for the Colts. It's just too much of a gamble to try and predict where the touches go for Indy.

I'm a Bears fan, and I have absolutely no idea how they can do anything to remotely stop Andre Johnson. He's likely to go berserk. Again.

When Texans #1 receiver Andre Johnson strained his knee in Week 2 against the Panthers, estimates on his return were as long as five weeks. The Houston Chronicle is reporting today that it is likely that Johnson won't be back until the November 18th home game against New Orleans.

Uh-oh.

The Texans have a history of providing overly positive assessments to fans of when players will come back. See e.g. Tony Boselli, Domanick Davis/Williams, Charles Spencer. Hopefully, Johnson's situation is not in that league of unhappy results. For an additional information about Johnson's injury, please check out my September discussion.

The Texans have been able to throw the ball in Johnson's absence even without a functioning running game, but his presence is particularly missed in the red zone. If they can't figure out how to improve red zone scoring in Johnson's absence, field goal kicker Kris Brown is going to have a lot more opportunities like he did against the Dolphins.

Probably the only thing that this game will be remembered for is Miami quarterback Trent Green suffering a concussion after blocking Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson in the knees and flipping him onto his head. And Johnson angrily yelling and walking past the motionless body of Green. And then going into a tirade in the locker room about how Green's play was dirty. And then apologizing.

(There's lots being written and said about this--some inaccurate--so I suggest watching the video and deciding for yourself).

Whether or not Green's play was dirty, It's pretty ugly to watch someone scream at an unmoving body, or hear of such a locker room rant after a game being stopped for a long time after Green was being put on a stretcher. Apparently, Green has a concussion, and at least some are suggesting that this incident demonstrates that he should retire.

The game was nearly as ugly as the play on the field. Though Ted Ginn Jr. played well on returns against a good special teams, getting a great average field position for Miami, he also was part responsible for that broken play that led to Green's concussion. Miami fans are still waiting for his break out receiving game, though he did have one catch for a 36 yard gain.

Ugly defines the Texans running game. Against the worst run defense in the league, the Texans managed to get 59 yards from their backup running backs, Ron Dayne and Samkon Gado for an average of 2.4 yards a carry. The Texans need Ahman Green back and healthy, but given his history so far, they are in desperate need for a Plan B.

In beating the Cardinals, 33-20, (Texans TV highlights link here) the Texans set a team record for the most points they scored in the preseason. And it's a good thing too because the Texans defense didn't have the best day. Special teams was special, with Jacoby Jones returning a punt for an 80 yard touchdown and Kris Brown going 4-4 in field goals.

On the good list:

Quarterback play looked solid with both Matt Schaub and Sage Rosenfels. It looked fundamentally different than when David Carr was quarterback, which is the unstated subtext of articles and quotes talking about the game. There were lots of balls thrown to the middle of the field, and drives included deeper balls. The quarterbacks weren't overly focusing on a particular receiver instead of going through their reads--Matt Schaub completed his first six passes of the game to five different receivers. All of the quarterbacks completed 18 passes to 12 different receivers.

Third round pick, Jacoby Jones continued to shine in the preseason, catching two passes for 32 yards, gaining 24 yards on two reverses and his 80 yard punt return TD. A number of draft *experts* suggested that the Texans reached to take small school product Jones in the third round, but he has already shown what the team saw in him.