Houston at San Diego: Preview of what’s to come.
Aug 25, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans inside linebacker Brian Cushing (56) warms up before a game against the New Orleans Saints at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Greetings Texans Fans!
Monday, 09Sep13 starts the 2013 Season. Your Houston Texans open up on the road against the San Diego Chargers. This meeting has plenty to watch for as several Texans will be coming off of the PUP list and seeing action for the first time. Also on tap for hopefully more than two plays will be the Defensive Player of the Year, JJ Watt. This should be a very good game to get the Texans going as they haven’t far to look ahead before the competition stiffens greatly come week 3.
But let’s focus on the here and now. Matt Schaub is on a mission, that mission is to prove he’s the man to win the Super Bowl for Houston. To get there, he has to perform well and up his game when it counts. New target DeAndre Hopkins should factor heavily into this as the season progresses, but he’s still finishing out the NFL concussion protocol and should see limited action tonight. The heft of the work would normally fall to Andre Johnson, Arian Foster and Owen Daniels.
While it’s easy to imagine this again being the case in game one, here’s hoping Keshawn Martin, Lestar Jean and Garrett Graham get factored into the game to help spread the field and really take advantage of the running game. Speaking of, with this being Fosters first action this season, expect him to only get maybe a dozen touches. Ben Tate, this is your night to shine and shine he shall. Another player welcomed back from a painful injury will be Devier Posey. Tearing ones Achilles Tendon then coming back 9 months later is quite a feat. Limited action again for Posey but it’s good to see him back.
On the other side of the ball JJ Watt and Co. minus the services of Antonio “Ninja” Smith who will be sitting out the last of his suspension for a preseason altercation should really have a great night harassing Phillip Rivers. Ed Reed will step onto the field for the first time as a Texan, but I expect he too will seem limited action as DJ Swearinger gets the bulk of the play time. No need to rush Reed in recovering from hip surgery.
Brian Cushing is ready and rearing to go. Preseason was nice to see him back out there, but meaningless games are just that in the end, meaningless. Now it’s time to see nearly a years worth of hard work recovering from a torn ACL and frustration at being sidelined so long unleashed in all it’s glory.
Finally, as Cushing returns, another Texan whose season was dreadfully difficult due to injury last season will finally come to fruition. That would be the leg of rising kicking ace Randy Bullock. Last year in preseason his groin decided to shred itself. Based on his preseason excellence, Kubiak’s penchant for kicking field goals should be far less painful for fans than last year.