Texans morning huddle: Midseason grades, run defense needs work

Good morning and a happy Sunday to all the Houston Texans fans out there. It’s game day and since the Texans are off, feel free to sit back and enjoy some football while we see if Houston ends up alone in first place without having to do any of the work.

Here is the news you need to hold you over until the team’s next game;

Texans’ defense trying to get tougher against run – by Aaron Wilson, Houston Chronicle

"It was an eerily familiar snapshot of the Texans’ frequently disorganized run defense.Although the breakdown wasn’t nearly as glaring as the shoddy pursuit angles and tackling from two games ago when Miami Dolphins running back Lamar Miller burst up the middle for an uncontested 85-yard touchdown run, a similar issue cropped up Sunday."

Houston Texans Midseason Report Card – by Sean Pendergast, Houston Press

"QUARTERBACK: C-If there’s one player who is the perfect metaphor for the Texans’ uneven play this season, it’s Brian Hoyer. As a team, the Texans signature this year has been to fall behind in the first half of games and then pile up stats in the second half of games while making the scores look a lot closer than they really were. As for Hoyer, his season was put on hold three quarters in when he turned the ball over deep in Texans territory twice against the Chiefs in the opener. So he was benched for a guy who couldn’t complete 54 percent of his passes nor make the charter to Miami on time. So Hoyer got his job back and he’s won a couple games against bad teams and piled up meaningless second half numbers against the Colts and Dolphins. In short, Hoyer’s 97.1 passer rating is every bit as deceptive as the Texans’ -31 point differential.RUNNING BACKS: DThis is the one position that is thoroughly depressing to grade knowing that Arian Foster’s career as a Texan is probably over. Through eight games, the Texans have gotten one noteworthy performance from their entire stable of running-backs-not-named-Arian-Foster — Alfred Blue’s 31 carry, 139 yard game against Tampa Bay’s massive sieve of a defense. Take that performance out and the non-Foster running backs have rushed 109 times for 372 yards (3.4 yards per carry). The Texans backfield strikes zero fear into opposing defenses. In fact, if they were a guard dog, they’d be a Yorkie. Speaking of Yorkies…."

Houston Texans attend Festari fashion show – Click 2 Houston

"Houston Texans players take time off the field and strut their stuff on the runway. Dominique Sachse reports."