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Ready or not, Texans look to playoffs |
by Associated Press
khou.com
Posted on January 2, 2012 at 9:56 PM
HOUSTON — Ready or not, the Houston Texans are less than a week away from the franchise’s first playoff game. The Texans (10-6) will ride a three-game losing streak into Saturday’s game against Cincinnati (9-7) at Reliant Stadium. Last week, Texans players talked about the importance of regaining momentum after consecutive losses. They lost to Tennessee 23-22 in Sunday’s finale when they botched a 2-point conversion at the end, then said after the game that their three-game skid was irrelevant. Coach Gary Kubiak said Monday that his players have “got to let it go,” pointing out that a winning streak would’ve also had no bearing on what may happen in the postseason. “You’ve got to let everything go,” he said, “and start over.” Kubiak thought the Texans played better Sunday than they had in losses to Carolina and Indianapolis. His team has dealt with major injuries almost every week this season, and he said that’s led to constant transition that’s affected the level of play. Add one more injury concern leading up to Saturday’s game: Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates, who started the last five games, bruised his left shoulder when he was sacked on his first snap against Tennessee. Kubiak expects Yates to start against Cincinnati, though he acknowledged Monday the fifth-round pick is “sore.” Yates was a revelation when he first took over the starting role in the wake of season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub (right foot) and Matt Leinart (broken left collarbone), guiding the Texans to narrow victories over Atlanta and the Bengals to clinch the division. In Cincinnati on Dec. 11, Yates engineered two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter, rallying Houston for a 20-19 win. Yates struggled in the next two games and played only one series Sunday, but Kubiak says he still has enough confidence to play him over veteran Jake Delhomme. “He’s very young and this is a big, big game,” Kubiak said. “But he’s the best guy for our team, and if he’s able to go and do the things we need him to do in practice, then we’ll turn him loose and let him go.” Delhomme, signed out of retirement in late November, relieved Yates on Sunday and completed 18 of 28 passes for 211 yards without an interception. The 36-year-old Delhomme was seeing his first action since December 2010, when he played for Cleveland. He’s one of only a handful of current Texans with playoff experience and the only one who’s already played in a postseason game at Reliant Stadium. Delhomme guided Carolina to its only Super Bowl in February 2004, when the Panthers played Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Delhomme threw for 323 yards and three touchdown in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss. The Panthers had only one postseason victory in their history before that Super Bowl season, and Delhomme thinks inexperience could actually work to Houston’s advantage. “When you don’t know any better, to me, that’s a great thing,” Delhomme said. “If you play well during the season and prepare well, obviously you’re one of the better teams at the end of the year. So we just knew that if we just did what we did week in and week out, it would work.” The 2003 Panthers won their last three games, but they lost three in a row just before that, so Delhomme isn’t a big believer in needing momentum. “This is a young, hungry football team that works,” Delhomme said of the Texans. “I know I haven’t been here long, but last week on that practice field, just watching guys fly around you saw how important it is. This team is going to be ready and sometimes innocence is bliss.” Kubiak isn’t sure how much past experience helps in the playoffs, either, but he has plenty of it. He was an assistant coach on three Super Bowl teams, one in San Francisco and two in Denver. “All those things took place for me somewhere else, on a different team,” said Kubiak, Houston’s coach since 2006. “I’ve been growing as a head coach with this group I have, they’ve been growing with me as a team, so it’s our first opportunity together. That’s what’s most important.” Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has participated in his share of playoff games, too. Phillips coached from the press box Sunday, just over two weeks after kidney and gall bladder surgery, and Kubiak says he’ll work from the booth again for the playoff game. “That’s a long road back from what he’s been through,” Kubiak said. “We’re just trying to make sure he gets his rest, and he’ll be ready to call the game on Saturday once again.”
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MacPherson: Houston Texans become pride of Texas |
What a difference a year makes. A season ago the Texans were the joke around the state. A loss This year, though, the Texans have to be the pride of Texas. Sure, they lost three consecutive games heading into this But the Texans have to like their chances in the franchise’s The Texans have what every good playoff team needs – a tough run Sounds easy right? Yates should have some added confidence, too. Remember, the Thanks to the great start, the Texans get the added boost that It’s hard to imagine Saturday’s game being any sort of cakewalk, The Cowboys’ performance only adds to the lure of the failures It’s hard to imagine a team can’t get up for a game as big as Then again, it happened to them before. See the 44-6 whooping That being said, the whole state should be behind the Texans as While the Texans could very well come out on bottom of a dog Regardless of what happens, at least the Texans aren’t the Keith MacPherson is the Sports Editor of The Courier. He can be
Not much else going on in the NFL world today. |
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Texans’ Johnson to return vs. Titans, will be on… |
HOUSTON — Houston Texans star receiver Andre Johnson will play against Tennessee on Sunday after missing the past three games because of a strained left hamstring. Coach Gary Kubiak said Johnson will be on a play count, but wasn’t sure how many. Johnson has played only six games this season after missing six straight with a right hamstring injury that required surgery. “It was all depending on how the week went and everything went fine this past week, so I’ll be able to go out and play a little bit on Sunday,” Johnson said. Kubiak said he wants Johnson to play so he’ll be ready to contribute for Houston next weekend in its first playoff game. Johnson also believes getting some work in this week is important. “I just want to get back in the flow of playing a game,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played. I just want to get back to the game feeling. I think it will show fans that I will be ready to play for the playoffs. So it will give them something to be excited about.” Johnson is disappointed that he hasn’t been able to play much this season, but after enduring years of losing seasons in Houston, the team’s success this year has kept his attitude positive. “It’s been a long season with a lot of frustrating times, but there’s still light at the end of the tunnel,” Johnson said. The AFC South champions have lost two straight heading into Sunday’s game after reeling off seven consecutive wins. While the outcome can’t change their playoff position, they hope to build momentum for the postseason. “We want to go out and win this game and get back to playing football the way we had when we were on our winning streak,” Johnson said. “We need to come out and eliminate those mistakes that we’ve been having for the past couple of weeks.” Johnson has finished with more than 1,200 yards receiving the each of the past three seasons, including a career-high 1,575 in 2008. He has 31 receptions for 471 yards and two touchdowns this season while missing the most games in his career. What do you guys think about this. |
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My Week 17 Picks for the AFC South Division: A… |
In week 16, I posted a 1-1 mark with my predictions for the AFC South division. The Tennessee Titans made me look good in beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Houston Texans were surprisingly beaten by the Indianapolis Colts. Despite just a 2-3 record over the past two weeks, my overall record still stands at a respectable 34-14. Here is a look at how I think the teams in the division will fare against one another in the last week of the 2011 NFL season. Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts: As mentioned earlier, the Indianapolis Colts earned their second straight win, knocking off the Houston Texans 19-16. Dan Orlovsky played efficient, completing 23-of-41 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown, while the ground game totaled just 95 yards on 32 rushing attempts. Reggie Wayne also had a solid game for the Colts, hauling in eight catches for 106 yards, including the game-winning touchdown. On the other side, we have a Jaguars’ team, who played the Titans close last week, but still came up a bit short. With rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert struggling, Maurice Jones-Drew has been forced to shoulder the offensive load for a majority of the season. Last week, Drew rushed for 103 yards on 24 attempts and caught six passes for 21 yards, while Gabbert threw for 198 yards, completing just 50 percent of his 42 passing attempts. This game is difficult to predict because the Colts have been terrible against the run this season, which should favor the Jaguars. However, in week 15, they limited Chris Johnson to under 60 yards en route to their first victory on the season. In week 16, they gave up 158 yards to Arian Foster and the result was still a victory. I haven’t picked the Colts often this year, but I will give them the edge this week, especially if they do a good job of containing Jones-Drew. Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans: Two weeks ago, the Texans were 10-3 and were a strong contender for the top seed in the AFC. However, following two straight losses to the Carolina Panthers and the Colts, they have to settle for the third seed. With that being said, the Texans will probably be more concerned with resting their starters for the postseason instead of winning this game. The Titans on the other hand, will have a sense of urgency in this match-up because they still have a slim chance of making the playoffs. With that being said, I think the Titans will emerge victorious in this one.
James Tillman is a resident of the Chicago-land area who has been an NFL fan for over 20 years. James is also a fan blogger on Yahoo Sports and NJFFL Dynasty. For interesting topics on the NFL, NBA and MLB, follow him on Twitter @jtillman9693.
Sources: Week 17 NFL Picks and Predictions Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content. If you like reading our blog, remember to bookmark it. |
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Playoff-bound Texans can’t overlook 1-13 Colts |
After dominating the AFC South over the previous eight seasons, the Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts have given way to the Houston Texans. Even though these teams’ most recent efforts more resembled previous seasons than the current one, this may be Houston’s best chance to finally win in Indianapolis. Looking to regroup from their first defeat in more than two months, the division champion Texans visit a Colts team looking to build on its first win of the season Thursday (8:20 p.m. ET).
With Manning under centre, Indianapolis had won seven of the past eight South titles and made the playoffs in all nine years since the division was created in 2002 — Houston’s inaugural season. The Colts had been 15-1 in this series before losing two of the last three meetings, including a season-opening 34-7 defeat at Houston on Sept. 11. However, the Texans are 0-9 all-time at Indianapolis, giving up an average of 32.6 points, but this is the first time they’ve played there without having to face Manning. Then again, Indianapolis (1-13) is coming off its first win, shocking Tennessee 27-13 on Sunday. “I think [the Colts are] feeling very good after what happened last week,” Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said. “… You know, the Thursday night game gets a lot of attention. We know they’ll play well. Like I said, our history in that building hasn’t been very good, so we’re going to have to go change that and play much better.” The Texans secured their first post-season berth and division title in Week 14. They entered Sunday having won a franchise-record seven straight and coming off a last-second 20-19 victory over Cincinnati, but they lost 28-13 at home to a sub-.500 Carolina team. Houston had been tied for the conference’s best record but fell one game behind New England and is now one of three AFC teams at 10-4. ‘Wake-up call’“It is a wake-up call, and it’s up to us as leaders to let our team know what exactly this game is,” defensive end Antonio Smith told the team’s official website. “I wouldn’t say it has to happen, but if it does happen, it’s needed for you to be battle-tested in a situation like this, for us to grow as a team. You got to take your [knocks]. You got to take your hits on the chin.” “When you become ‘the team,’ just like when we face teams that people give high praise, you got the underdog coming to knock you right off the pedestal.” The Texans find themselves in a similar situation Thursday and likely know better than to overlook a Colts team that has plenty to celebrate following a 0-13 start. Indianapolis rallied in the second half to defeat the Titans, posting its first victory without Manning in more than 14 years. “Any time you get a win, it’s good, and these guys have been working hard,” coach Jim Caldwell said. “The guys haven’t been complaining, they’ve worked together, they’ve fought together, so it’s good to get a good result. I think it gives our guys a little bit of a lift.” Making his third consecutive start, Dan Orlovsky was just 11 of 17 for 82 yards but threw for the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, and no Colts passes were intercepted for the first time since Week 5. Donald Brown carried 16 times for a career-high 161 yards, including an 80-yard TD run late in the fourth. “It means a lot [to win], but we’re a proud ball club so one game out of 13 or 14, we still have a ways to go,” defensive end Robert Mathis said. A big reason Indianapolis dominated this series was the Texans weren’t very good defensively, but they’ve made major strides this year, ranking second in total yards allowed at 277.9 per game and fifth against the run (96.8 ypg). However, they gave up a season-worst 166 yards on the ground Sunday and two rushing TDs, one more than they surrendered during the seven-game win streak. Rookie T.J. Yates, thrown under centre with season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart, also had a forgettable performance as he went 19 of 30 for 212 yards and two interceptions. “We’ve got a lot of things to fix and maybe just a quick turnaround is the thing,” Kubiak said. With Yates still getting accustomed to his new role, the offence continues to lean on Arian Foster. The Pro Bowler had his fifth 100-yard rushing effort and eighth touchdown in eight games Sunday, running for 109 yards and catching five passes for 58. In two career meetings with Indianapolis, Foster has totaled 405 yards from scrimmage and four TDs. He rushed for a career-high 231 yards and three scores during a 34-24 win Sept. 12, 2010. All-Pro wideout Andre Johnson will miss a third straight contest and ninth this season due to a hamstring injury. It’s unknown if defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who went on medical leave after undergoing kidney and gall bladder surgery last week, will be available to coach. Feel free to leave your comments below. |
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