Quick thoughts on the game
Aug 10, 2008 2008 Training Camp, Awesomeness, Awfulness
I have a full day with the fam, so this’ll be quick.
Now, understanding that it was the first pre-season game with a lot of new faces, all grades are about a “B” no matter where they stand. I’m simply breaking down players and groups in two divisions and would love to hear people’s opinions on the game last night. Also, please note that the camera angles and my distance from the TV kinda sucked, and I don’t feel like I got a good look at line play.
Impressive:
Frank Okam:Had a couple of plays where he got swallowed up, but he was pushing up the gut, occasionally taking out two blockers on the way.
Zac Diles:Ran with the first teamers and was all over the ball.
Petey Faggins: Yeah, I said it.
Jamar Fletcher: Gawd-awful pass interference, but he held his tackles and made a particularly nice pick on the hail mary. Sure, it was just a hail mary, right? Well, he broke on the ball and nobody else moved.
Mario and DeMeco: No comment necessary.
Duane Brown and Chris Meyers: Kept Sage and Schaub upright from their assignments. No multiple hold calls like the Broncos’ dudes.
Sage Rosenfels, Matt Schaub, and Shane Boyd: I am more and more hopeful every day on our QB play.
David Anderson: Wow!
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Not so impressive:
Chris Taylor: Running hard, sure, but not breaking tackles and missed a blitz assignment, nearly leading to Sage’s decapitation.
Steve Slaton: Maybe I missed it, but did he break a single tackle?
Ahman Green: Just sigh.
Jacoby Jones: That punt return was awful, though he did make a beautiful catch later on. I’m not sure if the return means he’s getting his cockiness back, though, which would be a good thing. He just seemed to lose confidence last year.
Morlon Greenwood and the rest of the 1st team run defense: We were used and abused on the touchdown drive.
Tim Carter:You got owned by Anderson and Jones tonight, and your hands are as delicate as a chainsaw.
That’s all I can think of, especially with my son getting pissed that I’m at the computer. What say y’all?
Edit: I can’t believe I forgot Anthony Maddox, who was downright awful. Did he start every play back-pedaling? Or was he just that easy to move.
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August 10th, 2008 at 8:52 am
i agree with your analysis. but the players that stood out most to me were boyd, diles and anderson. diles was all over the place, anderson played near if not flawless and boyd was a very nice contrast to last year’s first preseason game with bradlee.
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August 10th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Faggins took some peculiar angles trying to tackle. But then again, Anthony Aldridge has speed to make people look bad.
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Morlon Greenwood lost contain on that TD run.
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Okam looked pretty fast for a fat man. Very good lateral movement. Almost got the QB on one play. I watched him through binoculars at the end of the game because I figured he was the few guys worth keeping an eye on.
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The running game looks like the same old same old. Not many holes, not great running.
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Some of the defense I just wondered about. Sometimes defenders weren’t within 10 yards of the receivers. That’s some same old same old I don’t want to see.
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That Ahman Green play was like a stereotype of what everyone expects of him. Looks good physically, tries to play football and hurts himself.
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August 10th, 2008 at 10:11 am
This is why I rarely, if ever, watch complete preseason games. I think the only play I saw was Tim Carter dropping an easy one. And promptly getting his ass taken out of the game. Then again, the Olympics were boring as shit, too.
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August 10th, 2008 at 10:31 am
@Steph: Ahman just broke his collar bone reading your last sentence.
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August 10th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Whoa, are we forgetting about the Faggins play where he was supposed to contain on a run, and bit inside and turned what should have been a two-yard loss into a fifteen-yard gain?
And I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m for Schaub all the way, but every time I see our two QBs play I become more and more convinced that I might be wrong. Rosenfels is tough as nails, and he gets it done in the red-zone usually. And ever since that Cleveland game last year, Schaub has looked very tentative. I just really hope that a few hard hits haven’t made him gun-shy.
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August 10th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Based solely on football productivity, Anderson should be graded an “A+”, but if you factor in that “please make it stop” touchdown dance and that goofy crap he had shaved on the side of his head… I firmly agree with your “B”.
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August 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
@patrickw: Bradlee was hateful.
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@Steph: As nash mentioned, he really got burned on that one run, but his coverage was solid/better, which was nice. He was also throwing his body around. Oh, talkin’ bout Petey.
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@brent: This was the biggest socialist/soccer mom grading curve ever. Everybody gets a B! Cept Maddox, who gets a “P” for “pancaked.”
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August 10th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Ahman Green: Just sigh.
How’s about just fucking sigh. The running game is going to cause me to vomit. I really would have liked to see this need addressed once and for all during the off season. Mike Bell and the like need not apply.
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August 10th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Look, I know everyone is bitching about the run game but it’s the first time they have tried to actually use the cut blocking, against the team that practices it as well.
And jersey bill if your talking about the future offseason, I agree that we should draft a rb early in the first 2 rounds (as of now, that could easily change in the season). But there wasn’t much for the offseason, we didn’t have the money for michael turner and I would rather have drafted a left tackle instead.
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August 10th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I’m just happy. First, my KC Chiefs won, and now the Texans. I’m happy, happy, happy.
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August 10th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I just got back in town from Lubbock (sucks ass) and watched the first 1.5 quarters of the game. Could someone please take Ahman Green out and shoot him in the face? Seriously, what a piece of shit. Can we just dump him now and move on? The offensive line looked good, the defensive line looked good with the exception of the run defense. I’m not ready to give a thumbs up OR thumbs down. I’ll watch the whole game with greater attention to detail tomorrow night. All I can say right now is “FUCK! I need another beer.”