Houston Texans: 4 Things They Need to Do to Beat the Tennessee Titans

The Titans are not as bad as everyone expected them to be, and now people are starting to say that we aren’t as good they thought we were. Yes it is that part of the year people, it always happens in Houston once we hit .500. So what do we do to prevent the Texans from getting a losing record? If we do go under .500, and if Gark Kubiak doesn’t do these 4 things, we might get  a new head coach early.

1. Protect Matt Schaub

I have a bone to pick with our offensive line…what the hell happened? We used to be one of the best offensive lines in the country

for two years, and this year we are terrible! QB Matt Schaub is already wearing down after 13 sacks, and that isn’t good. I firmly believe Schaub can beat a lot of defenses without AJ, I think he is that good, and plays quite well against the Titans typically. The Texans cannot afford to lose Matt Schaub this season, without him the Texans season is over.

2. The Tight Ends Need To Step It Up

I always praise our TE’s, but unfortunately one reason why Baltimore beat us is because TE Owen Daniels and TE Joel Dreesen got stopped. Daniels caught two catches for 13 yards, while Dreesen got none. The two tight end formation is absolutely crucial to Gary Kubiak’s offensive attack, and when they get shut down it disrupts everything. Why you say? When the tight ends are playing their A game in the two tight end formation, that establishes our run and pass offense. With WR Andre Johnson, Schaub is heavily relying on Daniels to step up, and in the Texans second game without AJ this season, he definitely did not step up.

3. Stop Matt Hasselback

I know this is strange, but the Titans are 9th in the pass and dead last on the ground, even after the RB Chris Johnson hold out. So why is the pass doing so well? Well the credit goes to veteran QB Matt Hasselback. Even after rising star WR Kenny Britt went down, that didn’t stop Matt Hasselback from gaining an average of 272 yards. Our defense has been playing quite well lately, we are 13th against the pass and rush, and that is one heck of an improvement from last year. So what do we need to do? We need to use lots of Wade Phillips great blitz packages. When the Texans apply pressure on opposing QB’s, we really are able to shut down opposing offenses. OLB Brian Cushing is playing amazing, and even players like DT Tim Jamison accumulate 2 sacks in the first half of last game. We need to keep this heavy rush going against Hasselback if we want to beat Tennessee.

4. Arian Foster Needs Run Better

Receiving wise, he has been playing better than ever with the absence of Andre Johnson, he has accumulated almost 200 receiving in 3 games. So far this season RB Arian Foster has had 77 carries he has rushed for 305 yards, and half of those rushing yards came from the game against the Steelers. For the past two games against, Baltimore and Oakland he has been shut down on the ground pretty much. I partially blame the offensive line, they have been playing terribly, and Foster only has one TD all season. Gary Kubiak needs to run the ball more past the opponents 30, so Foster can get in the end zone. I predict Foster to have a big game this weekend, I am just feeling it. This game will have high emotions from last year, and with AJ maybe out, Foster will step up as a leader on our offense.