By Daniel Charles

– Staff Writer

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Houston on Facebook.

Sep 18, 2011 – A lot of the pre-game media analysis on this game said that a desperate Miami Dolphins team would pull one out at home against the Houston Texans. Perhaps fans should remember that as the Texans scrapped and fought to pull out a 23-13 victory over the Dolphins.

Early on, the game looked as if it would be easy as the offense was moving through the Dolphin defense like fingers through wonderfully tender BBQ. Houston, however, would have to settle for two Neil Rackers field goals in the red zone. Unlike last season, settling for field goals wasn’t a bad omen for the rest of the game.

The defense held up their end of the bargain early on with constant pressure in the face of Miami quarterback Chad Henne. Outside linebacker Mario Williams, to single out a player, was able to knock one pass down on one play and would hit Henne’s arm on another. That wobbly ball would find Jonathan Joseph for his first Texan interception which would set up a Matt Schaub-to-Owen Daniels touchdown pass that put Houston up 13-3. A late 2nd quarter Rackers field goal would make the score 16-3 at halftime.

After that, the Texans sputtered and hobbled. All-Pro running back Arian Foster left the game with a re-aggravated hamstring injury and Joseph would be out, in, and out once again with a right ankle injury. Meanwhile, the Dolphins would utilize the Henne-to-Brandon Marshall combination, mixed in with 107 Daniel Thomas rushing yards, to cut into the lead and make it 16-13.

Despite an ugly start, Schaub, Ben Tate, and the Texans offense would buckle down and steamroll down the field on a five-play, 63-yard drive that was capped off on a 23-yard game-sealing touchdown pass to a wide open Andre Johnson. Yes, Andre Johnson was left open in a critical part of the game.

The defense would stand up to Miami for one more drive with a sack by Antonio Smith, his second of the season, and another swatted pass by rookie J.J. Watt, who also blocked a field goal in the first quarter, to effectively close out the game with a 23-13 win.

The Texans are now 2-0 and in first place of the wide-open AFC South. Check out Battle Red Blog for more post-game reaction and analysis. Keep following both SBN Houston and BRB with all the pre-game stories for Houston’s week 3 match-up with the New Orleans Saints.

Offensive leaders:
M. Schaub – 21/29 for 230 yards and 2 TDs (118.5 QB Rating)
B. Tate – 23 rushes for 103 yards, 4 receptions for 32 yards
A. Johnson – 7 receptions for 93 yards and 1 TD

Defensive leaders:
Brian Cushing – 10 tackles
A. Smith & Connor Barwin – 1 sack each
J. Joseph – 2 passes defensed, 1 interception

Read More: texans news, texans recap, texans score, houston texans 2011 regular season, texans week 2, texans win, Neil Rackers (K – HOU), Andre Johnson (WR – HOU), Mario Williams (LB – HOU), Brandon Marshall (WR – MIA), Chad Henne (QB – MIA), Connor Barwin (LB – HOU), Brian Cushing (LB – HOU), Arian Foster (RB – HOU), Ben Tate (RB – HOU), Daniel Thomas (RB – MIA), J.J. Watt (DE – HOU), Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans, Houston Texans at Miami Dolphins, Sep 18, 2011 3:15 PM CDT

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Houston on Facebook.

Do you like this story?

By Joel Thorman

– NFL Editor, SBNation.com

Follow , and

Like SBNation.com on Facebook.

Aug 31, 2011 – The 2011 NFL season is almost here which means it’s time to preview every team’s chances this year. SB Nation’s Battle Red Blog gives us the scoop on the Houston Texans. 

Record Prediction

I’m going with 9-7, though 10 or even 11 wins wouldn’t totally surprise me.  Having to play the AFC North and NFC South is no walk in the park, and I think that’ll have a substantial effect on the bottom line.  I also think the Texans will lose a division game or two that they shouldn’t to the Titans and/or Jaguars, despite the talent being there for Houston go go 4-2 or 5-1 in the division.

Best Game On The Schedule

While the chance to take on the Steelers in Houston is intriguing, I’m not sold that it’ll end well for the Texans.  As such, I’d say the best game on the schedule may well be the tilt with the Saints in New Orleans.  It should feature two great offenses, and an opportunity for the Houston defense to show that it’s no longer a punchline.

Player Who Takes a Step Back This Year

Although I don’t think Arian Foster is going to duplicate the amazing season he had last year, he’s still going to be plenty good.  In other words, I don’t think he’ll be taking nearly the step back that Brian Cushing will.  To be fair, Cushing wasn’t any great shakes last year when he returned from his suspension, and he took a sizable step back from the historical rookie season he posted in 2009.  Still, I fear that the Brian Cushing who was one of the best LBs in the entire league during his rookie campaign is gone and isn’t coming back.

Breakout Player Candidates

Glover Quin.  He’s been moved from CB to FS, and he could be a game-changer there.

Best Player No One’s Heard Of

Thanks to fantasy football, many fans are familiar with the Texans, especially on offense.  Not to sidestep the question, but I do think Glover Quin could be a great fit at safety this year, and he’s not very well known outside of Houston.  Keep an eye on him.

Something That’s Overrated

All the freaking out about Mario Williams moving to OLB and the reports that he’s not taking to it well.  Relax.  Wade Phillips runs a scheme that’s closer to a 5-2 than a true 3-4, and Super Mario will still have plenty of opportunities to line up as a pseudo-DE.  He’s going to make an impact wherever they line him up.

Fantasy Football Outlook

Everyone knows that Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, and Arian Foster are fantasy stalwarts.  One guy who may have slipped through the cracks, thanks to an injury that cut off what was a phenomenal first half of 2009 and slowed him during the first half of 2010, is Owen Daniels.  He’s looked very good, and I think he’s going to have a monster year.

Best Media Personality

Lance Zierlein.  Runner-up:  John Harris (primarily a college football guru, but he’s incredibly insightful about all aspects of the game).

Best Player To Follow On Twitter

Jacoby Jones and/or Arian Foster.  Jakespeare used to be the runaway winner, as each of his tweets required the reader to immerse himself into a different dialect.  “Jakespearean English,” we call it at BRB.    

Read More: Brian Cushing (LB – HOU), Arian Foster (RB – HOU)

Follow , and

Like SBNation.com on Facebook.

Do you like this story?

Mario Williams plowed through a line of blocking dummies in one of the Houston Texans’ first practices, slamming each of them sideways with powerful punches.
After another workout, he peppered linebackers coach Reggie Herring with questions about hand position and footwork.
The Houston Texans are counting on Wade Phillips’ new 3-4 defensive alignment to finally lift them out of mediocrity and into the playoffs for the first time.
And the 6-foot-6, 295-pound Williams may be the most pivotal player in the switch, moving from end to outside linebacker.
The top overall pick in the 2006 draft, Williams has led the Texans in sacks in each of his five seasons — even last year, when he sat out the final three games because of a sports hernia. But Houston’s coaches envision Williams morphing into the kind of unstoppable force that 2010 NFL sacks leader DeMarcus Ware became in the same position when Phillips was the head coach in Dallas.
Coach Gary Kubiak saw more glimpses of what Williams could become in the Texans’ second preseason game, a 27-14 win over New Orleans.
“Reggie and Wade are trying to get him settled down on everything he’s doing,” Kubiak said. “It was just a big step forward. I think he’s really taking to what they’re trying to teach him, it is something totally different, but you see him get better each day.”
But the Texans’ defense, last in the league against the pass in 2010, is showing in the preseason that it’s more than just Williams.
Houston has 11 sacks from eight players and has generated four turnovers in its two exhibition games. All of last season, the Texans got only 30 sacks and 18 takeaways.
“I’m pleased with the progress,” Kubiak said. “The thing I’m excited about is I think we have more playmakers than we’ve probably ever had around here. Like I said, we are getting our hands on the football with the emphasis of turnovers and stripping the ball. You can see that showing up on the field.”
First-round pick J.J. Watt has made a big impression in camp, earning a starting nod at one defensive end position. Antonio Smith will man the other end after recording four sacks in 2010. Defensive line coach Bill Kollar says Smith’s skills are better suited to the 3-4 than they are to the 4-3 defense that Houston played last year.
Nose tackle is another key position in Phillips’ defense, and Shaun Cody and Earl Mitchell have been sharing reps in training camp.
DeMeco Ryans and Brian Cushing will play the inside linebacker spots, book-ended by Williams and Connor Barwin, who’s also making the switch from defensive end. Barwin dislocated his ankle in the first game last year and missed the rest of the season.
Houston needs a bounce-back year from Cushing, who served a four-game suspension last season for testing positive for a banned substance. He’s missed extended practice time due to a slower-than-expected recovery from offseason knee surgery, but made two tackles in about 20 plays in the second preseason game against the Saints.
“He did a good job, he moved around very well,” Kubiak said. “I thought his conditioning level held up.”
The Texans signed free agent cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Danieal Manning to bolster a secondary that struggled in 2010. Joseph intercepted nine passes across his past two seasons in Cincinnati. He’s been slowed by a groin injury in training camp.
All-Pro receiver Andre Johnson said the additions of Joseph and Manning were the two most significant in his eight seasons in Houston.
While the defense is undergoing a facelift, the Texans’ high-powered offense returns virtually intact. Arian Foster, the NFL’s leading rusher in 2010, is back, along with the entire starting offensive line.
Houston lost All-Pro fullback Vonta Leach in free agency, but versatile James Casey has played well at the position in the preseason, and the Texans also signed veteran Lawrence Vickers.
The Texans ranked third in total offense (386.6 yards) and ninth in scoring average (24.4 points) in 2010. Houston was hampered by slow starts last season, something Johnson said has been a focus in training camp.
“When you look back at the season last year, we weren’t consistent,” said Johnson. “That’s the thing that cost us a lot of games. That’s something we’re trying to change. We’re just trying to get better every week and every time we’re on the field. I think we’ve done a good job of that the last two weeks.”

Slow starts were common for the Texans in 2010 — they scored a total of 151 points in the first halves of their 16 games, and 236 in the second halves.

Schaub set the tempo against the Saints, completing 12 of 16 throws for 163 yards, including a 48-yarder to Andre Johnson. Tate and 2010 NFL leading rusher Foster ran for 142 total yards in the first half, helped by efficient blocking from the line and tight ends Owen Daniels, Joel Dreessen and James Casey, who’s also learning to play fullback.

“It sure helps when you run the football like that, that’s what makes our offense go,” Kubiak said. “The thing I was excited about offensively was we played well up front. Our five guys played really well. Of course, getting those two backs back helped.”

Tate broke a 43-yard run, Foster scored from 28 yards out and Chris Ogbonnaya and Javarris Williams both had rushes longer than 10 yards. The Texans finished with 208 yards rushing.

“The thing we ask our guys to do is cut, and that’s usually the difference in whether we have some 15- or 20-yard runs, and not just 6-yard runs,” Kubiak said. “We were cutting good, we were working hard on the backside. As a group, we played faster and played sharper.”

Kubiak also pinpointed areas that still need improvement, most notably the Texans’ run defense and the return game. The Saints rushed for only 113 yards, but found gaps in the first half.

“They ran weakside iso (isolation),” Kubiak said. “They were very committed to it in the game and did it quite a bit. We stopped it in the second half and got some things corrected, but that’s a concern. They moved the ball, especially in that first drive and in that first half, but we found a way to make big plays.”

Kubiak said new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips kept his game plan simple for the second straight week, as the Texans continue to break in his 3-4 scheme. Even with only the basic defense in place, Houston has generated 11 sacks and four turnovers in two preseason games, marked progress for a defense that ranked among the league’s worst in 2010.

“There’s a progression to what we’re trying to do, teaching-wise,” Kubiak said. “We’re just trying not to overload them, and make sure we’re good at something before we move to the next thing.”

Kubiak hinted that Phillips might delve deeper into his playbook when the Texans play at San Francisco on Saturday.

“I know we’ve got a lot of other things defensively we’re going to do,” Kubiak said. “Like Wade has told me over and over again, until we get this right, there’s no use in moving on.”

Mario Williams and Brian Cushing played well in just over 20 snaps, Kubiak said. Williams, working on the transition from defensive end to outside linebacker, made two tackles, deflected a pass and recovered a fumble. Cushing, who’s missed several practices as he recovers from offseason knee surgery, also made two tackles.

A growing concern for Kubiak now is that Houston ranks second-to-last in kick return average (16.9 yards) through two preseason games.

He says the new NFL rule that moves kickoffs up five yards is changing the way every team teaches them, but he still thinks the Texans need to block them better. Houston has no kickoff return longer than 21 yards in the preseason, and no punt return longer than a 19-yarder by Derrick Townsel in the Texans’ 20-16 win over the Jets last Monday night.

“We’ve got to make some vast improvements in there and just settle down,” Kubiak said. “We’ll really settle down this week with the people that we use in the aspect of that game. The game has changed from a kickoff return standpoint and we’ve got to adapt to it and do a good job.”

Kubiak said guard Kasey Studdard underwent ankle surgery Friday and doctors are still determining if he’ll be able to return this season. He said rookie receiver Lestar Jean bruised a shoulder, nose tackle Earl Mitchell bruised a knee and linebacker Darryl Sharpton sustained a hand injury in the New Orleans game.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.