Say it ain’t so, Tim. Say it ain’t so.
Oct 13, 2007 2007 Season, Andre Johnson, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Gary Kubiak might be high, Teams that aren't the Texans, The Schaub Experiment
Great. Fantastic. Yeah, this is precisely what I needed.
I take a break from painting the nursery (light yellow, if you must know) and log on to the ol’ laptop to see the latest news about my beloved Texans. Of course, the first thing I see is this post by Tim1 telling me that uber-stud Andre Johnson might not be back until week 11.
Now, I know I asked this a couple days ago, but I’m going to ask again: Why in the world was Andre Johnson still playing when we had a 17 point lead with less than 12 minutes to go? Steph suggested that it was because Andre is so happy to be playing with a real NFL QB that there’s no way he would have quietly taken a seat when he thought he could be out there catching more TDs. Probably true. But that’s not his fault–every big time receiver wants to play and wants the ball. It’s on the head coach to make decisions like “hey, you, the large African-American fellow, sit down now.” I love the Kubes, but he airballed on this one and Andre’s injury is on Gary.
The one good thing that has come out of this injury, to the extent there was one, is that we’ve gotten a chance to see just how good Matt Schaub can really be. Playing without his number one target, without his only true running back (and, therefore, without any semblance of a running game), and without his game-breaking rookie WR for most of the past three games, Schaub has kept us in against Indianapolis, tried to lead a comeback in the Petty Faggins debacle that was Atlanta, and beat Miami. Sure, Matt had some assistance from a resurrected Andre Davis, a very good defensive front seven, and Travis Johnson’s knee, but I am officially ready to say that we didn’t overpay for The Schaub.2
Back to Andre The First, though. If he isn’t back until the 11th week, he’ll miss @Jacksonville, Tennessee, @San Diego, and @Oakland. Strangely, if you are going to be without your best WR, this seems like a decent stretch to do it. Jacksonville is going to be tough, but this game would be tough even with Andre, given how well Jackonville’s D is playing at the moment. Tennessee had our number last year, but I think we can all agree that a win against Tennessee will have much less to do with our passing game and almost everything to do with how we stop (or don’t stop) VY. The San Diego game seemed like a sure loss when the schedule came out, but they look imminently beatable as of now–especially by a Texans team with a stout run defense–thanks to the Norv Turner Experience. Finally, Oakland might be much better than anyone thought they’d be, but it’s not like they are invincible by any stretch of the imagination. That’s four games that are winnable without Andre Johnson. So, sitting at 3-2 right now, if we come out of this stretch with a record of at least 5-4, we will be sitting well going into the final seven games with a healthy Andre.
And, yes, it’s possible that the entire previous paragraph was just my way of trying to convince myself that Kubiak didn’t screw us by failing to sit Andre.
1 I suppose “by Tim” is redundant when talking about BRB. It’s not like Scott is still around.
2 Though I would not protest if he decided to have fewer fumbles.
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October 13th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Light yellow? Are you not doing the ultrasound to find out the sex beforehand?
It sucks about AJ, but I really think this will be a great time for Jacoby Jones and Andre’ Davis to gain more experience. We are building a great (read: Seattle circa 2004-2006) WR corps.
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October 13th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Decided that we wanted to have a surprise. Partly because I like surprises and partly just to piss off the inlaws.
Yeah, if Apostrophe keeps up this level of play, we will have a trio as good as any in the league. Which is odd to even consider.
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October 13th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
FWIW, Robertson doesn’t cite a source in the throwaway article about AJ’s return.
Kubiak said this week in a presser that AJ was running, that he was on schedule, and he was hopeful for next week.
So who knows? What I do know is that you can play a game when you are watching a game of, “Andre woulda got that.” Happens at least 3 times a game, not to mention how much more open other receiver would be.
As much as I want AJ to be right, I really want Ahman Green just to be non-embarrassing. The running game has been distressing.
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October 13th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
That’s a good point. At least Apostrophe and Walter and Daniels have stepped up since Andre went down. NO ONE has stepped up in the running game. I swear, I think we’d have done better by having an open tryout in the Houston area.
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October 13th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
rotoworld.com pulled that week 11 figue out of the air. they didn’t have a source inside the texans tell them that. they made it up.
Mclain said Dre was running this week. Not cutting yet but running.
truth is dre will play when he’s ready, but if he doesn’t play the titans game, i’m pretty damn sure he’ll be ready for san diego. I have the same “reporting” skills as whatever ass at rotoworld has.
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October 14th, 2007 at 6:45 am
I have a room in my house that is exactly the same color of yellow, for exactly the same reasons: versatility and spite (parents instead of inlaws). Nice work.