DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

Losing is never fun, but here’s a little something to keep your spirits up. It’s real nice, I got it at Target. It was on sale.

Sep 16, 2007 2007 Season, Andre Johnson, Athletes who don't stab people, Batman, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Secondary issues are primary, Teams that aren't the Texans, The Schaub Experiment, Winner winner chicken dinner

If today’s performance was any indication, Amobi Okoye would like to invite Mike Florio to kiss his large, Nigerian butt. You see, back on August 22, Florio wrote at Pro Football Talk that Okoye was “another whiff by the Texans.” If Florio had the testicular fortitude to permalink his rumor mill entires, you could read the following at his site. Thankfully, BRB quoted him.

There’s already talk in league circles that defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, the No. 10 overall pick in the draft, could be a bust.

The 20-year-old rookie from Louisville received plenty of hype in the run up to the draft. But the opinion of some is that he is undersized and not strong. As one source said, he’s the “creation of a good P.R. campaign,” and “there’s no way he’s a first-round pick.”

Okoye already has been overshadowed in training camp and the preseason by Rams nose tackle Adam Carriker, the 13th overall selection. Carriker appears to be poised to make an instant impact at this level.

In our view, the biggest red flag regarding Okoye was raised when his college coach, Bobby Petrino, drafted defensive end Jamaal Anderson instead of Okoye. If Petrino, who had prior NFL experience, believed that Okoye could excel as a pro, Petrino surely would have taken the known commodity over the unknown quantity.

If Okoye falters, he’ll be the third first-round pick on the Texans defensive line that has underachieved, including defensive tackle Travis Johnson and defensive end Mario Williams.

In the first game of the season, Amobi notched only one tackle, but there was talk afterward about how he was already drawing double-teams. Today, Amobi showed up and fed Florio (and the Panthers) a Manchild-sized platter of “Shut the Hell Up.” 2 tackles, 2 sacks (for 23 yards), and forced fumble. In his second NFL game. Just for the sake of comparison, Will Smith of the “hey, look, they SUCK this year” Saints was in his second season before he notched a two-sack game, which remains his single-game high. Between Okoye’s production today and Mario Williams and Travis Johnson’s production last week, that single blurb from Pro Football Talk might go down as one of the dumber things he’s ever written. Which is saying a lot.

Moving on to happier, Panther-beatdown notes:

• There was a moment, just after Steve Smith had his filthy way with Petey Faggins for the second time in roughly 13 seconds–seriously, why the hell was Faggins “covering” him?–where I found myself doubting that we could play with the “good” teams. It was just a flicker, just a momentary lapse in confidence, but it was there. You see, these are the things that happen when you are more used to your team being the punchline. Unlike years past, however, there was still a part of me that thought we would be fine if we could punch it into the endzone on the next possession. Thank you Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson.
• Speaking of Amobi and Mario, et al, how about that defensive front seven, baby? Gus Johnson must’ve been sporting a semi with the way he was praising them in the second half. And with good reason. For the second game in a row, we kept the opposition under 100 yards rushing. The line notched 3 sacks. Jake Delhomme looked like he’d been taking happy feet lessons from Zoolander.
• The Schaub Experiment continues to be a success. In addition to his cold-hearted ninja drive for the first TD, he was just Fonzie all day. 20/28, 227 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs.
• I continue to worship at the high holy altar of Matt Turk’s golden foot.
• It’ll get mentioned to death in the next six days, but today’s win was our fourth straight going back to last season. Our first four game winning streak. Our first 2-0 start. The latest in the season we’ve ever been in first in our own division. These are not your older brother’s Texans.
• DeAngelo Williams and DeShaun Foster got DeStroyed by our DeFense. Yes, that was lame.
• Because we won, I am more than willing to admit that Steve Smith is friggin’ amazing. On that third TD, despite the fact that DeMeco should have wrapped him up better, he showed exactly why he is the greatest WR in the history of Utah football. Go Utes.
• If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Petey Faggins is awful. Yes, Steve Smith makes lots of corners look bad, but I can’t remember ever seeing one looked confused and scared on every single snap. Credit the coaches for putting Dunta Robinson on Smith after the second TD. And credit Dunta for snagging a sweet INT.
• Finally, how awesome was it that the first extended shot of Zoolander on the sidelines showed him touching his hair with a white glove on his throwing hand. It’s 80 degrees, you aren’t playing any time soon… LOSE THE GLOVE. Maybe stash it in the helmet that you also will not be using prior to the point where Panthers fans consider self-immolation.

I think it goes without saying (but I am going to say it anyway) that next week’s game against Indy is going to be off the proverbial chain. Both teams undefeated. No real love lost between the two teams. Reliant will be as loud as you’ve ever heard it. If anyone has tickets but will be, say, taking their kids to the Houston Zoo, please let me know.