Texans morning huddle: Observations from the weekend
By Randy Gurzi
I think all of the Texans fans out there would admit that a Monday is much easier to face after a win than a loss. The one saving grace is that this loss happened in the preseason, so hopefully the team will learn from this and get better. While we wait for the next chance to get a victory, let’s catch up on all the news related to the Houston Texans;
31 observations from Texans vs. Broncos – by John Harris of HoustonTexans.com
"It wasn’t the prettiest night for the Texans on a number of different levels, but we’ll trudge on to the next one.Here are my observations from Saturday night’s loss to the Broncos.1. The Broncos’ first offensive play was a smoke screen to Demaryius Thomas and CB Kareem Jacksonmade a textbook tackle on him for little to no gain. But, the one thing that stood out was that the Broncos were in an empty formation and QB Peyton Manning was in the gun. He actually made a run, play action fake before he threw the ball, again with no back in the backfield. Defenders will freeze for a split second out of instinct but it worked against Peyton as it gave Jackson the extra time to attack Thomas for no gain.2. Rookie corner Kevin Johnson took the challenge of Demaryius Thomas head on and it wasn’t as if Peyton Manning shied away from it. Johnson knocked down the first throw to Thomas, gave up a completion on the second and then was in Thomas’ hip pocket on an incompletion on the third. Other than the one completion and a questionable holding call, Johnson played very well in his second outing as a Texan.3. The Texans ran power a few times on the first drive and it didn’t look all that bad for the most part. The first time Alfred Blue powered through LB Brandon Marshall for a significant gain. On the second one, he had a massive hole about to emerge but the kick out block missed Broncos OLB Von Miller as LG Jeff Adams had eyes, wrapping around, for the linebacker. That play could’ve popped if Miller had been just nudged out of the way.4. I noted last night on the broadcast and perhaps last week in my game observations, the loss of Arian Foster truly shows up in the outside zone running game. Not that he can always gets the edge, it’s the cutback or cut up runs back behind the center where Foster flourishes. The outside zone on the first offensive drive went for a loss that put this offense behind schedule."
Texans’ defense improves in game vs. Broncos – by John McClain of the Houston Chronicle
"The Texans allowed one touchdown pass until late in the game when substitutes took over.Cornerback A.J. Bouye was beaten on a 57-yard touchdown catch by Andre Caldwell on a perfectly thrown long pass from Brock Osweiler.Before Osweiler played, the defense shut down Peyton Manning on four series. The Broncos reached Texans’ territory once with Manning at quarterback.“There are always good things and bad things,” outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus said. “We want to capitalize on not making bad plays and make some more good plays.“We’re leagues beyond where we were last year at this time. The younger guys are doing a heck of a job. We don’t accept losing.”"
Just how well do Kareem Jackson and Johnathan Joseph know each other? – by Tania Ganguli of ESPN
"Where one goes, the other follows — it’s been that way almost since Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson became teammates in 2011. They’ve been two of the Texans’ most consistent players during that time, and lead a cornerback group that might be one of the strongest in the league. Both players signed multiyear extensions this offseason to ensure they’ll be together even longer.“Bebop and Rocksteady,” Joseph said. “We come to cause havoc.”You’ve seen a little bit of it on “Hard Knocks.” Joseph and Jackson shopping for baby clothes. Joseph and Jackson offering live analysis of the fights in Richmond. Joseph and Jackson offering way too much information about their underwear choices. So I put them to the test. How much do they know about each other after five years of playing together? How similar is their thinking?The first challenge was separating the two. I enlisted Texans’ ace PR intern Ellie Pardee to pull Jackson reluctantly away to a group interview."
Next: Grades for Hoyer and Mallett following 2nd preseason game