Judgment Day [Week 9] GDT: Texans versus Bills

[dsorc]

Mercilus needs to get more snaps.
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[jch1911]

No mercy = game

[Longhorns90]

As much as we harangued Ball's coverage skills during the preseason, he really has been one of our most consistent STers.
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[amazingandre]

Great win. Mercy is a beast.
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Adopt a Texan :Trindon Holliday
15.7 per attempt KR / 14 per attempt PR

[Pastor Dillon]

It gonna be a battle next week
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[BillsGuy82]

Good game today guys.. Good Luck going forward in ur home field advantage push.

[Marco79]

http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2012/11/mario-williams-doesnt-mind-boos-and-makes-his-own-noise/

[bunnyracin]

Well here comes another prime timer... Can we finally not lay an egg on prime time and play the way we are capable of. I'm really excited for this one because they play almost the same type of ball we do. This game has classic written all over it
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[DreDay80]

Offense was kind of shaky today. Lucky for us, Andre balled out today. We're gonna need to step it up on offense next week against that ridiculous Bears' defense.

edit: Kareem and Andre were our 2 best players today. Kareem has quietly turned into a wait for it....."shutdown corner."

[mse326]

My Thoughts
1. Our offense actually played better than the score. Effective. Efficient. No major mistakes (from them).
2. Penalties killed us. We'd be moving great and then a penalty destroyed the momentum
3. If it wasn't a penalty it was Kubiak's play calling. Why run the ball with Martin there. We were getting 10 a pop with normal plays.
4. Duane Brown gave up a sack. First since 2010 I believe. It was bound to happen at some time. Time to start a new streak
5. Andre had himself a game. That's good since we'll need him next week
6. Our defense didn't play as well as the score. We were giving up chunks of yardage, and getting fortunate just in time.
7. Especially our ILBs. They are BAD. It's a good thing the Bears don't have a TE because we'd be screwed
8. JJ Watt had another great game. 1 sack, 2 tfl, 5 QB hits.
9. But not as good as Kareem Jackson. He's been great this year. One of the biggest turnarounds I've seen.
10. Not really about this game but next week. We have what it takes to beat them as long as we take care of the ball. Their offense doesn't scare me. If we don't make mistakes on offense we should win. If we give them the ball and momentum they're a mac truck that can't be stopped.
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[Jacobys Homey]

[DreDay80]

What did you guys think of Kubiak's call on 4th and 6? I personally loved the fact that he went for the throat. Andre 1 on 1 with a corner who he was abusing all game? I'll take that and if not for Schaub slightly overthrowing it that was Andre's ball. It was pass interference also IMO.

[CAS22]

[EliteTexan80]

Post game thoughts:

- If an off game means a 21-9 win, I'm happy. There were moments in which the Texans looked rusty with this one, but they took a lead and held it for the entire game, so can't REALLY fault that, you know? Make no bones about it, this was an off game. Yet, an 11 point win is impressive, knowing you brought your "B-" game.

- That bye week led to a lot of rust in some of the execution. The penalties were mind blowing - three (?) consecutive false start penalties on the first punt more or less set the tone in regards to how disciplined we were yesterday, and it showed itself on a lot of drives. In a game like this, we can get away with it, but against more stout teams, shooting outselves in the foot doesn't end well.

- Hey, there's Andre Johnson. 25 catches in the last three games, a 100+ outing yesterday, nearly finding the end zone on a deep ball - he's got every bit of skill that he had when he was the most dangerous player in the NFL, and now he's starting to get into that groove. This might be a case of good timing on AJs part, as we need as much offensive diversity as we can get going into the teeth of our schedule.

- The "we need a new QB!" bandwagon is losing guys week by week, ain't it? It should be, at least. Despite the flaws on offense, one guy who has looked every bit the player is QB Matt Schaub. Yesterday wasn't some big stats play for Matty...but it was a solid, efficient game with some great throws. That playfake and cross field throw to Owen Daniels was as good a throw as you'll see in the NFL, from ANY QB in the NFL: It was an amazing playfake, calm rollout, plant, throw...and dropped it RIGHT into ODs hands, all the way across the field. That ball covered at least 45 yards, just a beautiful throw, set up by a beautiful fake...and a great display of awareness, seeing OD after he ran his cross-to-up route. The TD to Garrett Graham was also a great play, a 3rd read throw where Matt bought himself the extra 1-2 seconds to make the throw with a very calm shuffle to the right, and another fantastic throw while shuffling, a softly placed ball where only GG could get it. Matty won't be doing any State Farm commercials or getting any MVP consideration, but you couldn't ask for a better QB for this team.

- Is it just me, or is Derek Newton not a good starter? I'll concede that he had a tough assignment with Mario Williams, but Newton just doesn't inspire me as a great starter on this OL. Doesn't seem to know where his assignments are in the run game, can be quickly beaten with inside moves when he drops into pass protection, tips his hand off when he's lined up pre snap...guy was a nice attempted project, but we have to call this spade a spade: The team would of been better off had Rashad Butler not got hurt. Alas, it's either Newton or Ryan Harris, someone who might be just as bad. I have to think Rickey Wagner or Luke Joeckel are Texans next season...even if we have to move up from 32 to get one of the two guys.

- Mercy me, that Mercilius kid is starting to come on! Two sacks in two games, two forced fumbles in two games...kid has some scary upside on that edge, and is coming together nicely as the #3 LB. I like how we've deployed him so far, limiting his snaps up to this point. I fully expect the snaps to ramp up as the year continues, and he might be a difference maker in the vein of Brooks Reed's run last year in the playoffs. Guy is looking the part of a 1st round pick in his limited snaps, and we have yet to really lock into him.

- Speaking of defensive rooks...Jared Crick! He's gonna be good. There was a time where Crick was considered a top 20 prospect in college, but injuries and questions of effectiveness without Ndaumakong Suh at Nebraska ate away at that...but yesterday was a display that shows that he very well has the skill needed to be a very good player in this league. He had a swat, made a few tackles at the POA, shifted very well, used his hands to set himself up to disengage at the LOS...just a very fundamentally sound performance from a rookie, someone who won't get too many snaps due to JJ Watt and Antonio Smith. It is refreshing to know that the immediate depth behind our DE tandem is able to perform at a high level. I wouldn't be too happy if he got a LOT of snaps right now (mostly because it would mean Smith/Watt are gassed or hurt) but in his role, he's been playing very well. Rock on with your bad self, Crick.

- Final thought: Week 15 and 17 just got interesting. The Colts are two games back, and we have "The Crucible" coming up in our schedule, at Chicago and at New England, and a Thanksgiving game thrown in there against a Detroit team that can chuck the ball. IF we don't win one on this road trip, we could be in for a lot of trouble, as the Colts could be tied with us in W/L going into Week 15, with Andrew Luck getting razor sharp with every snap. I don't want to even think about fighting for the division lead this late in the season, so the Texans need to take care of business quickly.

Winning in Chicago would be nice. Very nice. "Money in the Bank" nice.
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iPwn, Kempes and Flaccomania: The official sig makers for THE ET80!

[lumberjackchris]

Game thoughts:

1. Newton doesn't seem to be getting better, and with the like of James Harrison, Von Miller, Dumerville, Freeny, Mathis, Suggs and Chandler Jones the likely edge rushed will be facing in the playoffs, he doesnt bode well. Start Harris he's not much better but he has the experience.

2. Arian is a BEAST, running for 111 yards on 24 carries with the flu. He knew he had to play with Tate already being out and came through in a big way.

3. The OL has been allow to much penetration, the blocked pretty well yesterday as a whole but against a bad defense we should of preformed better. Kyle Williams is a beast at DT for the Bills.

4. The WR's and TE's had a whale of a game thanks in part to Matty Schaub. I like the wrinkle of Casey coming out of the FB position down the seam. I think we slowly start adding more and more wrinkles just to have them on tape for teams to worry about.

5. Dre is playing like Dre again, I was hoping he'd drag them into the endzone but he got stopped short. We know he's lost a step but that just means hes on par with the CB's now, but he still has great strength and shiftiness. You forget something that he didnt really do much in TC or Pre-season so he's coming into form right about now.

6. Whitney Mercilus, is the Reed of last year, but better. He just knows how to get the ball out of the offensive players hand. Even though Fitzy was just slinging the ball out there like a high schooler.

7. Last but certainly not least, KAREEM JACKSON. Fitzpatrick didn't even sniff the side of the field Kareem was on. That could of been cause McCain was getting abused but he was def targeting JJoe and not KJax. Ill need to re-watch the game to see what he was doing, but he has def been the most improved on the team.


Honestly we played a great game, Kubs play calling held us back from blowing them out and that $%^& won't fly in Chicago next week.
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^Kempes on the sick sig^