Archive for the ‘Preseason 2007’ Category

Not-so-fair-weather fans

Sep 10, 2007 2007 Season, Fatty Starbucks, National Media, Preseason 2007

(Some of this was discussed in the comments to the previous posts, but I think this deserves a post.)

For most of the past five years, we have been nothing if not a laughingstock. From the offensive line to the Mario draft pick, non-Texans fans have used Houston as an NFL punchline at every opportunity.

Something strange happened over the last nine or ten months, though. The trade for The Savior Known As Schaub and the removal of the Carr-shaped tumor, coupled the back-to-back wins at the end of the 2006 campaign had people whispering the words “Texans” and “sleeper” in the same sentence. (At the height of this, I even wrote a post about how people needed to stop picking us or I would have nothing to be angry about.)

So, the preseason rolls around. We should’ve beaten Chicago. We throttled Arizona and Dallas. We lost to Tampa playing only our scrubs. People are singing the praises of Schaub and Jacoby (though still deriding Mario) and talking about how we might have turned the corner.

Given all of that, you would assume that we would get some sort of recognition for the all-out decimation of the Kansas City Chiefs, right? Nope. Now that the season has started, it seems like the national media are afraid to give us any credit, lest we revert to our losing ways and make them look (more) stupid. Fatty Starbucks (aka Peter King) went so far as to rank teams who lost in week 1 ahead of us in his fine fifteen. Teams like Buffalo. BUFFALO! I honestly cannot come up with an argument for how Buffalo is better than us as of this instant. Or how about Jacksonville? Their strength was to be their defense… and that got shredded for nearly 300 rushing yards. So they are better than us?

Now, look… I know the whole thing about having to show some track record of success before you are given any sort of respect. I get that. I don’t even disagree. My anger–or, more accurately, righteous indignation–at the whole situation stems from the disingenuous approach of the writers. If you honestly thought we were improved or a sleeper or turning the corner or anything else positive prior to the start of the season, you can’t jump off that wagon after seeing the Texans rip the collective heart out of the Chiefs. It makes no sense. If anything, that win should have given the random myopic sportswriter fodder to point at his preseason predictions and scream about how smart he is. You know they all love to do that.

(Random side note: I should’ve linked to this weeks ago, but Gregg Easterbrook can eat my crack.)

Anyway, in the end, I suppose I am glad that we are back to being off the national radar. That will make it all the more sweet when we rack up our 9 (or more) wins in a “keep my name out of your mouth” sort of way. I just get irritated at the hypocrisy of the national media.

You’d think I’d be used to it by now.

T-minus 26 hours

Sep 8, 2007 2007 Season, Batman, Predictions Guaranteed To Go Wrong, Preseason 2007, Teams that aren't the Texans

Thursday night’s game was all well and good in that it was real football that mattered beginning to end. Football is back, yada yada yada. However, for all of us not living in Indianapolis (thankfully) or New Orleans, there is one day left until we kick off the season for real.

For fans of the Juggernaut, of course, tomorrow’s game against the Chiefs is full of storylines. Will Schaub keep making us forget about Zoolander? Is Ahman Green as much of an upgrade as we think? Are the Chiefs going to be worse than the Raiders this year? [Author's note: The answer to all of those questions is "yes."]

Now, I am on record as counting this game as one of our nine wins. I still believe that and, other than laughing about the Chiefs failures to win a playoff game since Bill Clinton’s first year in office, I have little to add.

I do think, however, that this is as good a place as any to throw out the official DGDB&D 2007 Predictions. Let’s rock. (# denotes first round bye, * denotes wild card)

AFC East
New England #
New York
Buffalo
Miami

AFC South
Indianapolis #
Jacksonville *
Houston (9-7)
Tennessee

AFC West
San Diego
Denver
Oakland
Kansas City

AFC North
Baltimore
Pittsburgh*
Cincinnati
Cleveland

NFC East
Philadelphia
Washington
Dallas
New York

NFC South
Carolina #
New Orleans*
Atlanta
Tampa Bay

NFC West
Seattle #
St. Louis*
San Francisco
Arizona

NFC North
Chicago
Green Bay
Detroit
Minnesota

AFC Championship Game
San Diego def. New England

NFC Championship Game
Seattle def. Carolina

Super Bowl
San Diego def. Seattle

Feel free to hammer me in the comments. Not that you really needed an invite for that.

Roughly 75 hours until kickoff

Sep 6, 2007 Chad Stanley, Dunta Robinson, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State makes baby Jesus cry, Please let the season start soon, Preseason 2007, Preview, Secondary issues are primary, Self-Referential Stuff

Contrary to popular belief (hope? expectation?), I did not end it all after Saturday’s Michigan loss. However, with the younger brother in town until 4AM today, I was otherwise occupied with non-blog-related stuff. Shocking, I know.

Stories I missed between Sunday and today:

  • TEP was granted a stay of execution and was placed on IR. He’s like herpes… always lurking, ready to flare up, but currently invisible. Eww.
  • Dunta Robinson’s house was robbed.
  • The practice squad was finalized. Jared Zabransky (QB), Darius Walker (RB), Harry Williams (WR), Brandon Frye (OT), Mike Brisiel (OG), Deljuan Robinson (DT), Tim Bulman (DT), Brandon Mitchell (S), and imported LB Eduardo Castaneda.
  • Scott Jackson made the team and then didn’t make the team. He was released when we brought in Carolina-cast-off Rashad Butler. Given that Jackson was doing his best Jimmy Herndon impression in his extended reps, this can only be viewed as a positive.
  • Stephanie ran some Q-and-A with me, Tim, and other people whose curse hobby it is to write about the Texans.

And, just like that, we are up to speed. Awesome.

Looking good, Billy Ray! Feeling good, Louis!

Sep 2, 2007 Boulware, Charles Spencer, Jason Babin, Michigan Wolverines, Preseason 2007, Secondary issues are primary

I was out-of-pocket yesterday, spending most of that time playing football with (much) younger cousins and drinking beer. Thanks to the wonders of cellular technology, however, I received two pieces of interesting news mere minutes after the events occurred in real life.

The first, obviously, was that Michigan lost to something called Appalachian State. Ah, yes… the beautiful state of Appalachia. Where men are men and sheep are nervous.1 Seriously, though, I am not one of those people who is trying to excuse the loss with the whole “well, they won the Division 12 Super Bowl two years in a row.” Fuck. That. Shit. You schedule a HOME GAME with a DIVISION I-AA TEAM, you sure as shit BETTER WIN. End of story. My college football season was ruined on September 1 and I blame Lloyd Carr. I hate you, Lloyd Carr.2 OK, that’s enough Michigan talk. I realize this whole paragraph only applies to me. Moving on…

The other piece of news was the Babin-for-Boulware trade. Now, I am part of a very small group of people who liked Babin as a draft pick, even at that price. I might be the only non-EMU grad who was talking Babin up as a starter even before camp started this year. In short, I had a weird mancrush-like obsession with J-Babs. That said, I LOVE this trade.

Yes, I know that there are concerns that Boulware is a run-stopping safety and not that great in pass defense. So what? That’s pretty much all Glenn Earl did, and I’m 99.27% sure that Boulware will be better than Earl. And no offense to Jason Simmons, who by all accounts is the nicest human being on the planet, but I even more sure that Boulware will be an upgrade over him. Hell, I like having a strong safety that is great against the run. I just wish we had a free safety who was that good against the pass. That will come in time, I suppose. For now, though, we traded a backup DE for an upgrade at SS. That’s a deal I’d make 10 times out of 10.

Besides, the deal looks even better when you stop to consider the odds against us snagging a Boulware-level strong safety in next year’s draft. More importantly, if Boulware works out like I think he will, we won’t have to look for a strong safety next season. We can focus our attentions elsewhere–say FS or (if Barbaro doesn’t come back healthy) OT.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to continue numbing yesterday’s pain with dark beer.

1 How the hell was that quote not on the IMDB page? Someone is slipping.
2 I’ve mentioned this to a couple of you, but isn’t it bizarre that two of my least favorite people in the whole world have the last name “Carr,” yet they are not related? What are the odds of that?

Bring out yer dead!

Aug 31, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, Batman, Chocodiles, DeMeco Ryans, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Please let the season start soon, Posts that list too many players, Preseason 2007, Preview, Roster, The Fred, The Schaub Experiment

Well… I wasn’t quite as on-the-money as I thought (hoped?) I would be. Kubes announced the dearly departed in today’s press conference. They are:

(# denotes practice squad possibility, ! denotes turd-eating pederasts who no longer wear Battle Red)
Chad Stanley!
Bethel Johnson
Keenan McCardell
Wali Lundy
Jared Zabransky #
Darius Walker #
John Walker #
Tyrone Poole
Dexter McCleon
Jon Abbate #
Drew Hodgdon
Alfred Malone
Matt Brisiel
Brandon Frye #
David Anderson
Victor Degrate #
Brandon Mitchell #
Trent Bray
Deljaun Robinson #
Tim Bulman

Which leaves us with the following roster:
QB: Matt Schaub, Sage Rosenfels
RB: Ahman Green, Ron Dayne, Sam Gado, Vonta Leach, Jameel Cook (boo.)
WR: Andre Johnson, Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter, Andre Davis, Jerome Mathis,
TE: Owen Daniels, Jeb Putzier, Mark Bruener, Joel Dreessen
OL: Eric Winston, Fred Weary, Jordan Black, Scott Jackson, Chester Pitts, Kasey Studdard, Steve McKinney, Mike Flanagan, Chris White, Ephraim Salaam

DL: Mario Williams, Travis Johnson, , ND Kalu, Amobi Okoye, Anthony Maddox, Jason Babin, Earl Cochran, Anthony Weaver, Jeff Zgonina, Cedric Killings
LB: DeMeco Ryans, Danny Clark, Morlon Greenwood, Charlie Anderson, Shantee Orr, Shawn Barber, Zac Diles
CB: Dunta Robinson, Petey Faggins, Jamar Fletcher, Dexter Wynn, Fred Bennett
S: Jason Simmons, Von Hutchins, Brandon Harrison, C.C. Brown

P: Matt Turk
K: Kris Brown
LS: Brian Pittman

Unless my counting is off, that’s 55, so there are still two more cuts to come. (Eduardo Castaneda does not have to be cut–he will be put on the practice squad automatically and doesn’t count against the number of players we can put on the squad.) I imagine one cut will be either Dreessen or Pittman, as I can’t see carrying two longsnappers, and I am guessing Chris White or Scott Jackson will get the boot.

It blows my mind that McCardell didn’t make this team, but it blows it in a nice, call-you-the-next-day sort of way. When was the last time we could honestly say we had a deep WR corps?

Projected Roster as of 8/31/07

Aug 31, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, Batman, Chocodiles, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Posts that list too many players, Preseason 2007, Preview, The Fred

And like that, the preseason is over. Thank goodness. While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Schaub exorcise some demons and watching Jacoby Jones be absolutely amazing, the preseason still reminds me of that girl in high school that would make out with you at a party, but never went any further. She thought she was playing hard to get, but she was really just annoying you and leaving you unfulfilled. That’s the preseason in a nutshell. ESPECIALLY game 4, when most teams play “this is what it would look like if all our starters died.” Blech.

Anyway. Moving on. Like last week, * denotes a player is a lock to make the team. All numbers are based upon last year’s opening day roster.

QB (2)- Matt Schaub*, Sage Rosenfels* (Jared Zabransky should make the practice squad, as shown by his performance last night. Practice, dude.) Changes since last week: None.

RB/FB (5)- Ahman Green*, Ron Dayne*, Vonta Leach*, Sam Gado*, Wali Lundy. (That’s right–I think we will carry five RBs and only one true FB. If push came to shove, I’m sure Captain Pie and/or Samkon could play the role of blocking back. Lundy looked good (relatively speaking) last night. That coupled with Jon Abbate’s injury likely puts him on the practice squad. Patrick Pass just misses the cut. Darius Walker continues to not be good. Jameel Cook not invited back after last season’s debacles.) Changes since last week: Wali and Abbate switching places.

WR (5)- Andre Johnson*, Jacoby Jones*, Kevin Walter*, Jerome Mathis*, Andre Davis. (Charlie Adams is the sixth WR if we really keep six like Kubiak is saying. [Ed: Nevermind.] (What a difference a week makes. Last time I did this, I wrote “Keenan McCardell looks to be getting every benefit of every doubt in order to keep him on this team.” However, after seeing Bethel Johnson get every chance in the world to make this team, I think he’s the sixth man if such a creature exists. David Anderson reminded me that he is, in fact, still on the roster.) Changes since last week: Bethel above McCardell on the list.

OL (9)- Eric Winston*, Chester Pitts*, Fred Weary*, Ephraim Salaam*, Mike Flanagan*, Steve McKinney*, Kasey Studdard, Drew Hodgdon, Jordan Black. (Just missing the cut: Scott Jackson, Kevin Barry, and Brandon Frye. I have pretty much already decided that Black is the player I like least on this team, but I’m guessing he’ll still be around come Sunday morning. Chris White and Mike Brisiel won’t.) Changes since last week: NONE.

TE (4)- Owen Daniels*, Jeb Putzier*, and Mark Bruener*. (Yes, I realize that Joel Dreessen is on the roster, and, yes, I realize that he is a TE and long snapper… but I have been laboring under the impression that he had zero chance from day one. I stick to that.) Changes since last week: NONE

K (1)- Kris Brown*. Changes since last week: Impossible.

P (1)- Matt Turk. (Dear Chad Stanley. Please leave. Sincerely, all of us.) Changes since last week: NONE.

DL (9)- Mario Williams*, Amobi Okoye*, Anthony Weaver*, Anthony Maddox*, Jason Babin*, ND Kalu*, Travis Johnson*, Jeff Zgonina, and Earl Cochran. (Just missing the cut: Cedric Killings. Also not making the roster, though by a wider margin, DelJuan Robinson, Victor DeGrate, Alfred Malone, and Tim Bulman. Christ, this is a logjam. Cochran and Killings looked decent last night. I moved Orr back to the LB list just for the sake of simplicity. ) Changes since last week:

LB (6)- DeMeco Ryans*, Morlon Greenwood*, Charlie Anderson*, Shawn Barber*, Danny Clark*, Shantee Orr. (Practice squad: Zac Diles. Getting cut: Trent Bray.) Changes since last week: Orr back on this list, with Diles to the practice squad. I think he’s a great kid and he will probably find a way back onto this roster, but Orr’s ability to play pass-rushing DE and pass-rushing LB keeps him on the roster.

CB (6)- Dunta Robinson*, Demarcus Faggins*, Fred Bennett*, Jamar Fletcher*, Von Hutchins, Dexter McCleon and Tyrone Poole. (Not making the cut: Dexter Wynn and Roc Alexander.) Changes since last week: Wynn and McCleon changed places.

S (4)- C.C. Brown*, Jason Simmons*, Brandon Mitchell, Brandon Harrison (John Walker gets cut. In my perfect world, Von Hutchins is spending more time at safety. Gary Kubiak does not seem to agree with this plan, so I’m guessing it’s Walker who misses out.) Changes since last week: Mitchell up.

Long Snapper (1)- Bryan Pittman*. (I just want to mention one last time that Zgonina can long snap, which would allow us to carry 6 CBs and 5 Safeties.) Changes since last week: NONE.

So I says to Mabel, I says…

Aug 30, 2007 Chad Stanley, Jacoby Jones is slighty less unheralded, Matt Turk rules, Ohio State makes baby Jesus cry, Preseason 2007, Preview, Secondary issues are primary

Three player-related notes on the eve of the 53-man roster.

I wonder if Chad Stanley1 woke up this morning with a Jack-Bauer-esque countdown clock in his head. Considering it’s 83.2% certain that Stanley will get the axe2 at some point between now and Saturday afternoon, it’s kind of fun to picture him racing around town today, trying to save his job. It’s even more fun, however, picturing him getting a pink slip on Saturday morning. Lord knows he deserves it.

Jacoby Jones continues to show that he is a pass-catching, punt-returning, country-music-listening3 super ninja bent on total NFL domination. He ended the preseason with 11 catches for two TDs to go along with his two punt return TDs. Which, of course, means that Kevin Walter is still the second WR. Because, you know, those two catches and two drops he had over the past four games were simply dominant.

I have a love-hate relationship with Brandon Mitchell. On the one hand, he worships at the altar of Woody Hayes and, thus, is a soulless puppy-eating incubus. On the other, though, he’s played well enough this preseason that I would actually feel better about our safety depth if he made the roster. Honestly, I would rather have him on the active roster than Brandon Harrison, whom Mitchell has outplayed in three of the four games.

Final roster decisions made today (trimming from 75 to 53) and most likely announced tomorrow. I’ll have my last set of projections up sometime today. Because I’m sure Kubiak is waiting for my input.

1 The turd-eating pederast.
2 Only figuratively, damn it.
3 Huh?

We got a thing goin’ on

Aug 29, 2007 Jacoby Jones is slighty less unheralded, National Media, Preseason 2007, Special Teams, Training camp 2007

Ask any Texans fan what he or she thinks of Jacoby Jones and the answer you get will likely include phrases such as “simply amazing,” “great draft pick,” and “want him to be my baby-daddy.” Having your way with the Dallas Cowboys will get you that kind of respect, and deservedly so.

Jones might not be the leagues best-kept secret for much longer, though. It looks like the national media is catching wind of the greatness that is JJ. NFL.com’s Adam Schefter writes

Last year Bears rookie Devin Hester rocked the football world, returning punts for touchdowns and the Bears to NFC prominence.

This year, Texans rookie Jacoby Jones could do the same.

Three weeks into the preseason, no rookie has shined anymore than Jones, who has been a threat as a punt returner and a wide receiver.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Jones has caught eight passes, including one that went for a 19-yard touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys.

As a punt returner, Jones has brought back two for touchdowns in each of the Texans past two preseason games –- one for 81 yards against Arizona, the other for 90 yards against Dallas — and there could have been a third if Jones weren’t narrowly tripped up in Houston’s preseason opener against Hester’s Bears.

The Texans recognize Jones’ talents already, and have for quite some time. While many teams forecasted Jones as a fifth- or sixth-round pick, the Texans picked him in the third round. They liked him then; they like him even more now.

Jones was something of an unknown coming from tiny Lane College. There were questions about Jones’ small hands and dropped passes. But Jones hasn’t dropped anything this summer. It’s starting to look as if other teams dropped the ball on not picking Jones sooner.

Seriously… how cool is that? I know that there’s a list as long as my arm of guys who flashed in training camp, but never did anything in the pros. Hell, we’ve had a few of them. But Jones seems legit. Even if he can’t return punts for TDs in 10 or 11 games this season, we’ll still be more than pleased with what he brings to the table. As long as he treats the Titans like he treated the girls from up north.

Texans pass on Pass. Please pass the peas.

Aug 29, 2007 2008 Draft, Chad Stanley, Dan The Assassin, Jon Abbate, Matt Turk rules, Michigan Wolverines, Offensive (punch)Line, Posts that list too many players, Preseason 2007

The team made two player moves yesterday, one surprising and one not so much. First, despite the fact that (a) he’d played pretty well, (b) Jon Abbate is nursing a bum bodypart, and (c) he’s not Jameel Cook, the team released RB/FB Patrick Pass.

I want to hope that this means Abbate is going to make the team (or, at the least, that we are going to keep a fourth RB) and that we will not have to deal with another year of Cook screwing things up. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, like right around the same time we find out if Chad Stanley made some sort of deal at the crossroads with Jerry Jones and traded his eternal soul for the chance to punt in Houston in 2007.

The other move–the unsurprising one–was that Charles Spencer was put on the PUP list to start the season, meaning he will have to miss at least the first six games. According to Kubes, however, “it’s still a pretty long shot that he plays this year, but who knows.”

Spencer will (theoretically) be ready for Opening Day 2008, regardless of how this season turns out for him. If doctors determine that he’d be better served by not playing at all in ‘07, I am fine with that. That said, and coupled with the dearth of first round quality secondary talent next April, it would not bother me one bit if our first pick was Jake Long, Michael Oher, or Sam Baker.

The other question-marked positions (starter at SLB, C, and DT; survivor at P) should be sorted out some time between now and the fourth of never at this rate. Answers were supposed to come yesterday, then Friday, and now Saturday. My predictions are still Danny Clark, Steve McKinney, Anthony Maddox (though Travis Johnson has impressed me this preseason), and Matt Turk. Of course, the last one in that list is the only one that really matters, as that’s the only battle where the loser deserves to be shot in the face gets released.

The best part about all of this, though, is that it means we are only 11 days from a game that actually means something.

Projected Roster as of 8/27/07

Aug 27, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, Batman, Chocodiles, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Ohio State makes baby Jesus cry, Posts that list too many players, Preseason 2007, Preview, Teams that aren't the Texans, The Fred

Another week, another demonstration by Jacoby Jones as to why he should be the starting WR2. Which, of course, means that he’s not. That’s life, I guess. Like last week, * denotes a player is a lock to make the team. All numbers are based upon last year’s opening day roster.

QB (2)- Matt Schaub*, Sage Rosenfels* (Jared Zabransky should make the practice squad.) Changes since last week: Quinton Porter and Bradlee Van Pelt were cut. So, far, I am 2/2.

RB/FB (5)- Ahman Green*, Ron Dayne*, Vonta Leach*, Sam Gado*, Jon Abbate, (Wali Lundy and Patrick Pass just miss the cut. Darius Walker continues to not be good. Jameel Cook not invited back after last season’s debacles.) Changes since last week: Gado bumped up to lock status. Abbate is hanging on by a thread and I could see Pass or Cook (NO!) supplanting him.

WR (5)- Andre Johnson*, Jacoby Jones*, Kevin Walter*, Jerome Mathis, Andre Davis. (Charlie Adams is the sixth WR if we really keep six like Kubiak is saying. [Ed: Nevermind.] Keenan McCardell looks to be getting every benefit of every doubt in order to keep him on this team. Bethel Johnson was given a temporary stay of execution, as poor Charlie Adams was killed instead. David Anderson reminded me that he is, in fact, still on the roster.) Changes since last week: Adams and Harry Williams were cut. I am 3/4.

OL (9)- Eric Winston*, Chester Pitts*, Fred Weary*, Ephraim Salaam*, Mike Flanagan*, Steve McKinney*, Kasey Studdard, Drew Hodgdon, Jordan Black. (Just missing the cut: Scott Jackson, Kevin Barry, and Brandon Frye. There is still no indication that Kubiak is as unhappy with Turnstile Black as fans are, so I am guessing that he’ll be around come the end of the preseason. Chris White and Mike Brisiel get sent packing.) Changes since last week: NONE.

TE (4)- Owen Daniels*, Jeb Putzier*, and Mark Bruener*. (I think this is why we’ll be carrying 6 WRs, which is good news for Charlie Adams someone other than Charlie Adams.) Changes since last week: NONE

K (1)- Kris Brown*. Changes since last week: Impossible.

P (1)- Matt Turk. (Chad Stanley is gone. Praise Jesus.) Changes since last week: NONE, technically, but Kubiak’s statement that they “could have” made a decision yesterday but decided not to suggests to me that Stanley is 99% out the door. I mean, I see no way that they could have decided “you know… I am really sick of getting good punts and winning the field position battle. Turk’s gone!”

DL (9)- Mario Williams*, Amobi Okoye*, Anthony Weaver*, Anthony Maddox*, Jason Babin*, ND Kalu*, Travis Johnson*, Jeff Zgonina, and Shantee Orr. (Just missing the cut: Earl Cochran and Victor DeGrate. Also not making the roster, though by a wider margin, DelJuan Robinson, Cedric Killings, Alfred Malone, and Tim Bulman.) Changes since last week: Thomas Johnson released, a week after I had moved him UP on this thing. I am 3/5. Orr was moved from LB to RDE and seemed to play extremely well.

LB (6)- DeMeco Ryans*, Morlon Greenwood*, Charlie Anderson*, Shawn Barber*, Danny Clark*, Zac Diles. (Getting cut: Trent Bray. Theoretically, Orr might make the team as an LB who just plays DE, kind of like DeMarcus Ware, with Diles going to the practice squad, which would allow for Earl Cochran to make the team as a DL.) Changes since last week: NONE (though it looks and sounds like Clark is back to being the bona fide starter at SLB).

CB (6)- Dunta Robinson*, Demarcus Faggins*, Fred Bennett*, Jamar Fletcher*, Von Hutchins, Dexter Wynn and Tyrone Poole. (Not making the cut: Dexter McCleon and Roc Alexander. The last four guys on this list were more or less invisible Saturday, so I am not sure if there was any real shake-up here.) Changes since last week: I moved Hutchins back to CB because I think there was some movement at safety.

S (4)- C.C. Brown*, Jason Simmons*, Brandon Harrison, Brandon Mitchell (John Walker gets cut. I moved Hutchins back to CB, as I think Mitchell strong showing Saturday has him back on the good list. Also, there is a possibility that we will carry only 5 WRs/3 TEs so that we can use the extra roster spot for a 5th safety along with our 6 CBs.) Changes since last week: Mitchell up, Hutchins moved.

Long Snapper (1)- Bryan Pittman*. (I just want to mention AGAIN that Zgonina can long snap, which would allow us to carry 6 CBs and 5 Safeties?) Changes since last week: NONE.

28-16

Aug 26, 2007 Andre Johnson, Athletes who don't stab people, Dan The Assassin, DeMeco Ryans, Dunta Robinson, Owen Daniels is a big ol' Pimp, Preseason 2007, Secondary issues are primary, Super Mario, The Schaub Experiment, Winner winner chicken dinner

I’m not gonna lie. I was cheering and yelling at the television as if last night’s game really mattered. Considering I have no special feeling for the Governor’s Cup (I mean, he’s not even my governor), I can only chalk this up to some combination of seeing the team play well and hating the Cowboys.

And they did play well, especially the first team, in all three facets of the game.

OFFENSE
Matt Schaub is rapidly making his signing look like the smartest thing this organization has ever done. Which, I realize, is not saying much–kind of like calling him the prettiest girl at Flathead Valley Community College–but still. He is poised in the pocket. He can make all the throws from all the possible drop distances (as well as rolling to either side). He can avoid sacks with his feet. He gets rid of the ball in short order. And so on, and so forth. In short, he’s doing absolutely everything we could have hoped for. Plus, he has a totally awesome first name.

I was also thrilled with the WR play of Andre Johnson, Apostrophe Davis, and (of course) Jacoby Jones. AJ flashed speed and nice open field moves on one catch, then turned around and showed his amazing strength/size combination on the TD grab. Without jumping that route, I can think of only one or two CBs in all of football who might have stopped him on that slant. Apostrophe looks like he is completely fine with playing the role of slot guy/3rd WR, which is perfect for what he brings to the table. JJ has done absolutely everything and then some to win the role of WR2 (leaping TD grab/end around speed), PR (breakin’ off a little somethin’ somethin’ twice), and defender of the free world (he could totally catch bin Laden).

Batman looked great. Power runs, toss plays, that huge off-tackle gain… so this is what it’s like to have a real running back. Weird. I like it. The Dallas announcers can make all the Ahman-is-old jokes they want. When push came to shove, he run the ball right at them and–with the help of some good blocking–took them from first to fourth in average rushing yards allowed this preseason. I’m still calling 1100 yards and 8 TDs this year.

Speaking of the blocking, I thought the o-line looked very good in run blocking and above average to good in pass blocking. We knew Dallas was going to throw more bodies (and faster bodies) at us than we’d seen so far. The unit was able to pick up blitzers and/or slow them down enough to keep Matt Schaub upright for all but one play. In fact, that one sack wasn’t even on a blitz so much as it was a blown assignment where Burnett came free. Sure, you have to credit a lot of that to Schaub’s ability to avoid sacks and whatnot, but it was still a good performance all around. And it was nice to have Chester Pitts back.

Owen Daniels and Jeb Putzier played well, too. And that’s all I feel the need to write about TEs.

DEFENSE
Super Mario, baby. Sure, I am probably putting too much emphasis on this one game. I’ll even stipulate to that. But here’s the thing: I am only a fraction of the importance on this good performance as people were putting on his two previous games. If Chicago and Arizona were proof that Mario is a piece of shit bust who should probably just go play in traffic, last night’s game supports my notion that he is the greatest athlete ever to play any sport anywhere in the world. The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle. Still, by my count (though I haven’t gone back over the tape closely) he had 3 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, a sack, and at least one hurry. More importantly, though, is that he did a lot of this from the LDE spot, which physically he is probably better suited for.

DeMeco and Dunta continued to shine. D-Rob was the third man to the clusterhump that missed TO on the touchdown, but he otherwise had the Dallas headcase on lockdown. DeMeco was in on 8 tackles. What else is new?

Other defensive notables included Jamar Fletcher, who had a nice defense of a quick pass to the slot man, Jason Babin, who had five tackles and a big sack (as opposed to ND Kalu’s 1 tackle and virtual anonymity), and Danny Clark, who should be the damned starter at SLB.

SPECIAL TEAMS
JJ. Punt return TD. Again, he flat ran past people like he was a created player in a video game. I am currently petitioning the wife to let me name the new child, boy or girl, Jacoby. She seems unreceptive.

Matt Turk averaged 39.7 on his three punts, pinning two inside the 20 with one of the boots going 51 yards. TEP hit one 32 yards, yet somehow managed to avoid today’s roster cuts.

Early Observations

Aug 25, 2007 Amobi Okoye is 20, Dunta Robinson, Jacoby Jones is unheralded, Preseason 2007, Super Mario, Teams that aren't the Texans, The Schaub Experiment


Ten things I’ve noticed in just over a quarter of play.

  1. Jacoby Jones is as good as advertised. If he ever learns to square his shoulders before he catches a punt, he’ll be unstoppable.
  2. Mario is looking good. By my count, two assisted tackles, one solo tackle, and a sack.
  3. Mario is also playing about half the snaps at LDE. I am in favor of this.
  4. Manchild is not lining up directly beside Mario very often. I am also in favor of this.
  5. Batman is running the ball well. Off tackle, mainly, but he’s showing some power is left in that engine.
  6. Dunta is owning TO so far. And he still plays the run extremely well.
  7. Dallas announcers are jerk offs. Smug jerk offs.
  8. Schaub has completions on 1-, 3-, and 5-step drops. David Carr does not.
  9. Tony Romo is being allowed too much time to pass against our base defense.
  10. Seriously. Jacoby Jones.

Bonus coverage: Another live blog at BRB.

Wherefore art thou, dude?

Aug 22, 2007 Jacoby Jones is unheralded, Preseason 2007, Self-Referential Stuff, Super Mario, Teams that aren't the Texans

Yes, it’s been a little quiet around here.

Part of that is because I’ve been busy in the evenings (damn it) and haven’t had time to go back over the game tape from Saturday. I still want to go over all of Petey’s snaps, mainly to see if he did anything positive to make up for getting owned repeatedly by Boldin and vacating the spot where Edge caught the TD. I might as well help OJ look for the real killers.

The other reason is because I am refusing to talk about a couple certain stories for the time being. Foremost on the posta non grata list is any further reference to Mario Williams performance until the season actually starts. Sure, I have theories on the guys just like everyone else, but I am going to stop re-writing the same old tired stuff until I see how he plays when it actually matters. Because, if he gets three sacks in week 1, a whole lot of tunes are going to change.

With any luck, we’ll be back to multiple daily postings in the next day or so. (Thankfully, we didn’t sign Robert Ferguson, so I don’t have to post about how dumb that would have been.) For now, just ponder why every media outlet keeps talking about Jacoby getting 24 yards on two “reverses.” I’ll give you two possibilities: Ignorance or Laziness.

Projected Roster as of 8/20/07

Aug 20, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, Batman, Chocodiles, DeMeco Ryans, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Preseason 2007, Preview, Secondary issues are primary, Shawn Barber and Danny Clark, Super Mario, The Fred, The Schaub Experiment

Another game, another round of roster shuffling. There weren’t too many changes this time around, if only because our defense has the most question marks, but no one really stood out. Click here for last week’s entry. (* denotes lock to make the team; all projections are based on the number of players we took at each position last year.)

QB (2)- Matt Schaub*, Sage Rosenfels* (Jared Zabransky on the practice squad. Bradlee Van Pelt and Quinton Porter cut.) Changes since last week: NONE.

RB/FB (5)- Ahman Green*, Ron Dayne*, Vonta Leach*, Jon Abbate, Sam Gado (Wali Lundy and Patrick Pass just miss the cut. Darius Walker continues to not be good. Jameel Cook not invited back after last season’s debacles.) Changes since last week: Gado supplants Lundy in the last slot because Kubiak is strangely enamored with Samkon. Pass snuck up to “just misses the cut” status, based mainly on special teams work.

WR (5)- Andre Johnson*, Jacoby Jones*, Kevin Walter*, Jerome Mathis, Andre Davis. (Charlie Adams is the sixth WR if we really keep six like Kubiak is saying. Keenan McCardell is on the verge of having no shot. Bethel Johnson is already there. Harry Williams is like one of those uncles you never see–you know he’s alive, but you have no proof.) Changes since last week: Adams up to #6, McCardell less likely to make the team without a big showing over these next two games.

OL (9)- Eric Winston*, Chester Pitts*, Fred Weary*, Ephraim Salaam*, Mike Flanagan*, Steve McKinney*, Kasey Studdard, Drew Hodgdon, Jordan Black. (Just missing the cut: Scott Jackson, Kevin Barry, and Brandon Frye. There is still no indication that Kubiak is as unhappy with Turnstile Black as fans are, so I am guessing that he’ll be around come the end of the preseason. Chris White and Mike Brisiel get sent packing.) Changes since last week: Hodgdon moved up, due mainly to a biceps tear to Kevin Barry.

TE (4)- Owen Daniels*, Jeb Putzier*, and Mark Bruener*. (I think this is why we’ll be carrying 6 WRs, which is good news for Charlie Adams.) Changes since last week: NONE

K (1)- Kris Brown*. Changes since last week: Impossible.

P (1)- Matt Turk. (Chad Stanley is gone. Praise Jesus.) Changes since last week: NONE, though I would be putting a * by Turk’s name if we’d gotten a nice 18 yard wobbler out of the Turd Eating Pederast.

DL (9)- Mario Williams*, Amobi Okoye*, Anthony Weaver*, Anthony Maddox*, Jason Babin*, ND Kalu*, Travis Johnson, Jeff Zgonina, and Thomas Johnson. (Just missing the cut: Earl Cochran and Victor DeGrate. Also not making the roster, though by a wider margin, DelJuan Robinson, Cedric Killings, Alfred Malone, and Tim Bulman.) Changes since last week: Johnson onto the roster, DeGrate moved up, Malone moved down.

LB (6)- DeMeco Ryans*, Morlon Greenwood*, Charlie Anderson*, Shawn Barber*, Danny Clark*, Zac Diles. (Just missing the cut: Shantee Orr. Also getting cut: Trent Bray.) Changes since last week: NONE (though Anderson is now co-starter at SLB with Clark).

CB (6)- Dunta Robinson*, Demarcus Faggins*, Fred Bennett*, Jamar Fletcher*, Dexter Wynn and Tyrone Poole. (Not making the cut: Dexter McCleon and Roc Alexander. These last two positions are up in the air as much as any two can be.) Changes since last week: Wynn up, Poole added, McCleon downgraded.

S (4)- C.C. Brown*, Von Hutchins*, Jason Simmons*, Brandon Harrison. (Brandon Mitchell and John Walker are left out if we only keep 4 safeties. However, given the flux at that position right now, I would not be surprised if we kept 5 CBs and 5 Safeties, in which case Mitchell would get in. This would actually be preferable in my mind, if only because Hutchins really gives you a sixth CB if need be, anyway.) Changes since last week: NONE.

Long Snapper (1)- Bryan Pittman*. (I just want to mention AGAIN that Zgonina can long snap, which would allow us to carry 6 CBs and 5 Safeties?) Changes since last week: NONE.

Keeping up with The Jones.

Aug 19, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, DeMeco Ryans, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Jacoby Jones is unheralded, Preseason 2007, Secondary issues are primary, Super Mario, The Schaub Experiment, Winner winner chicken dinner

First off, I know that wins in the preseason mean about as much as to the outcome of the season as campaign promises do to the direction of a presidency. Still, given the choice between playing well and winning or playing well and losing, even in the preseason, that’s no choice at all.

Second, I feel sorry for the fans of the Arizona Cardinals. You have, hands down, the worst television announcing duo I have ever heard. They talked so highly of everything Arizona did, you would think the Cards were coming off a Super Bowl threepeat. They honestly seemed to believe that every position player for the Cardinals is Pro Bowl quality, and the play-by-play guy makes every tackle sound like it was Mike Jones against Kevin Dyson. Even worse, they whined about every call that went against the Cardinals, while ignoring that the Cardinals offensive line play seem centered around holding. Horrid. Even my wife, who couldn’t be less biased about any of this, remarked when the coverage switched to the Texans feed after halftime, “Did they change announcers? These guys don’t sound so retarded all of the sudden.”

As for the game itself…

  • Matt Schaub looked fantastic. He completed his first six passes to five different guys, finishing 9/12 for 108. He showed an ability to roll to either side and deliver a ball. He stood tall in the pocket without getting happy feet and delivered a couple great throws–including the one to Owen Daniels down the middle on the long drive–and showed some good mobility on the naked bootleg TD. What was that people were saying about him being immobile?
  • Jacoby Jones continued to be, for lack of a better word, amazing. He gained 10 on an end around on the long TD drive in the first and another 14 on an end around in the second. (Note: Not to go all Gregg Easterbrook on you, but both of these runs were end arounds and NOT reverses, as stated here.) He had 2 catches for 32 yards. Oh, and there was little 80 yard punt return TD, wherein he straight ran away from people who had good pursuit angles.
  • Danny Clark showed why he has been bumped into a starting role when he stuffed the 4th down attempt by Arizona. Clark came in untouched, got a hold of the RB, and held on long enough to allow the line to snuff out the play. I continue to be more and more excited about the Clark-Ryans-Greenwood trio.
  • Sage Rosenfels and Charlie Anderson were the best 2s of the week. I don’t think Anderson played well enough to get back into the starting threesome–nor do I hope he did–but he provides some really nice depth at that SAM position.
  • If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times, but Petey Faggins is NOT GOOD. I know it’s hard to stop Anquan Boldin, but Faggins’ play made one wonder why the Cardinals did anything on offense other than throw to Boldin. He was also caught napping on the TD pass to James, as the throw went right to the spot he mysteriously vacated. I know Faggins is a crowd favorite, but c’mon… enough already.
  • Dunta Robinson continues to knock the crap out of people this preseason. It’s always fun to watch a 180-pound DB level someone.
  • According to the NFL Gamebook, Jason Babin played. Though you wouldn’t know it by watching the game or looking at the box score. Not really the best way to follow last week, Babs.
  • Not to toot my own horn, but in last week’s state of the roster post, I threw out the line “though I suppose Charlie Adams could make some noise before it’s all said and done.” A 40-yard TD grab officially counts as some noise. And it pretty much guarantees that Bethel Johnson should update his resume.
  • DeMeco Ryans was quietly solid as per usual. It’s really nice to have that sort of talent and consistency in the middle of the field on a weekly basis.
  • Owen Daniels had 3 grabs for 45 yards and delivered as much damage as he received on the tackles. He is a underrated weapon and a fantasy football sleeper.
  • Kris Brown is still banging them through. Though I wish he wasn’t getting so many from stalled red zone drives.
  • You can color me surprised if Scott Jackson gets anymore lip service from Kubiak about “getting more reps with the 2s.” He nearly got Sage Rosenfels killed.
  • This lack of a pass rush from the front four (one sack so far, courtesy for Th. Johnson) is going to kill us. I don’t want to opine on the reasons just yet, as I hope to go through the tape of the first team a little more closely, but it has reached “critical concern” status. The defense as a whole, actually, is underwhelming. We can’t seem to stop the short passes and the check downs, and the Cardinals showed that our secondary is highly flammable against big receivers.
  • Two picks, regardless of the QBs throwing at the time, is still a nice development. Jason Simmons, however, is not a starting safety by any stretch of the imagination. VIVA VON HUTCHINS! (Sorry.)
  • Mario Williams, ND Kalu, and the aforementioned Babin… we’re sure they dressed for the game, right?
  • The Arizona broadcasters just said “DeMeco Ryans… I think he was the defensive rookie of the year.” Really?

Next week… the Governor’s Cup. Our starters are supposedly going to play into the third quarter. Cowboys jokes are encouraged in the comments.

13-10

Aug 18, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, Batman, DeMeco Ryans, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Jacoby Jones is unheralded, Owen Daniels is a big ol' Pimp, Preseason 2007, Super Mario, The Schaub Experiment

Halftime in the desert.

Good so far: Schaub, Jones, AJ, Dunta, Danny Clark, Owen Daniels, Sage, Green.
Bad so far: Mario, Amobi, FAGGINS, Dayne, Safeties, officiating, Cardinals broadcasters.
Invisible so far: DeMeco, Morlon, Apostrophe.

Full recap following the game. By which I mean some time between the end of today’s game the start of next week’s. Also, an update on the DeMeco Ryans/DGDB&D story.

The Young and The Defenseless

Aug 18, 2007 Preseason 2007, Teams that aren't the Texans, Vinsanity

Dear The Fans of The Tennessee Oilers Titans,

About last night. Um… yeah… was that as painful for you to watch as it was enjoyable for me? I mean, are you worried yet?

Sure, it was only one game, but 5 of 17 for 102? Ouch. And that play where everyone in the world knew Vince was going to run and he got run into the ground short of the endzone? Double ouch. Considering your boy only completed about half of his passes last year–worst in the league for anyone with over 90 attempts–watching him bounce ten yard passes at the feet of and sail twenty passes over the heads of his receivers could not have been uplifting.

Oh, and how about those sacks? Rodney Harrison blitzed from the offense’s RIGHT and Vince never saw him? Good times. At least for me.

Anyway, hope all is well. We can’t wait for you to visit Houston in October.

Sincerely,
Matt

The Big Babinski

Aug 17, 2007 Jason Babin, Posts that list too many players, Preseason 2007, Super Mario, Teams that aren't the Texans, Training camp 2007, Tremendous Busts

During the three months I’ve been doing this bloggifying, I’ve made little secret of the fact that I am pro-Jason Babin. (Don’t believe me? See here. Don’t ever doubt me.)

So, with that in mind, I was happy to see how well J-Bab1 played last Saturday. He wasn’t just impressive–he turned in not-so-arguably the best defensive lineman performance of the night for either team. Kubiak certainly noticed in the post game press conference.

[W]hen you look at the second group, there were some guys that really stood out. Jason Babin being number one, played extremely well.

Yesterday, Kubiak was again asked about Babin’s progress throughout camp. The message was still positive.

I said this many of times. We’ve had a lot of conversations about Travis [Johnson] and Jerome [Mathis] at this camp, but Jason needs to get into that conversation because he’s really dedicated himself to our program, to Dan [Riley], to what Jethro [Franklin] and Frank [Bush] are trying to do and it shows. He stood out last week as much as any guy we had up front so I’m looking forward to Jason having a good year (emphasis added)

For Kubiak, that damn near qualifies as gushing.

Anyway, considering how unlikely it seemed even a month ago that the words “Jason” and “Babin” and “extremely well” would be uttered in some sort of succession, it’s probably not surprising that the Chronic would run with the story, taking the “change of coaching is responsible” angle.

Franklin has worked on improving Babin’s technique and his mental approach.

‘That’s the thing about it, this game is so mental,’ Franklin said. ‘Mentally, he was probably all over the place. Hopefully now, he’s a little more focused on himself and not other people around him. He’s more focused on his body in terms of body mechanics.

‘I give them things they can hang their hat on. That’s what I try to give them. Try to get them some tools. If you give them some tools, hopefully they can build you a strong bridge.’

All of this is well and good; to a certain extent, I’m sure that new, simplified coaching has helped Babin. However, just as important–and mentioned only ever so slightly–is that Jason has matured professionally to the point where the initial expectations for him are now becoming reasonable.

Very few defensive ends go from being a good college player to a good professional in one year.2 The ones that do are usually the freaks of nature like Dwight Freeney and Julius Peppers (13 and 12 sacks, respectively, as rookies). More common, even with guys like Jason Taylor (5 sacks as a rookie) who go on to become great pass rushers, is a learning curve of at least one year. Taylor, for instance, went from 5 to 9.5, but then dropped to 2.5 his third year. Leonard Little played in 6 games each of his first two season–due to that pesky prison term for vehicular manslaughter–and recorded no sacks in either. Michael Strahan recorded 1 in 9 games as a rookie, followed by 4.5 in 15 games in year 2. Aaron Kampman notched 2.5 total in his first 24 games. The list goes on and on. Point is, it was ridiculous to expect a kid from a small directional Michigan school to jump right to the NFL and become a dominant pass rusher.

Of course, the old regime decided to up the difficulty for Babin by moving him from DE–where he was just asked to go forward–to outside linebacker in the 3-4–where he was expected to work in space, move in all directions, and cover the occasional TE. Funny thing is, Babin performed reasonably well in this role, notching 4 sacks and 4 passes defensed while starting all 16 games as a rookie. By 2005, he’d lost his starting gig, but he put up another 4 sacks as the words “bust” started being bandied about. Last year, with a new (read: non-retarded) coach, Babin was moved back to DE and in spot starts had 5 sacks.

That’s 13 sacks in three seasons, only one year as a full-time starter, which is more than Strahan or Kampman (and more consistent than Taylor). Now, of course, I am not suggesting that Babin will ever become Jason Taylor (or Michael Strahan); rather, I am just pointing out that at one point, no one thought Jason Taylor would become Jason Taylor.

All of that said, I think it’s pretty clear that I am nothing but thrilled with the “sudden” emergence of Babin this summer. Two plays last Saturday hinted that he might be on the verge of becoming the other pass rushing DE–first, when he came off the weakside edge, flew down the line, and brought down Cedric Benson from behind, and, second, when he powered through the strongside double team and made the play. (Ironically, both of those plays were against the run, though the knock on Babin is that he is a liability in run defense.)

So, where does that leave us in terms of a starting D-line? Assuming Anthony Weaver is not ready to go week 1, which seems a safer assumption by the day, I think you still have to pencil ND Kalu in as the starter at LDE, at least for now. Kalu is no spring chicken, though, so I think a pretty heavy dose of Babin might be involved there as well. Also, much like last year, there is talk that Weaver will move to DT on obvious passing downs, clearing the way for Kalu or Babin at times even after Weavs returns.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see the line change depending on how “obvious” the passing down is and, more importantly, how long the yardage is (i.e. how long the play will take to develop). On 3rd and 10 or more, a pure speed line of Mario, Babin, Amobi, and Weaver (unless you wanted to try Kalu on the inside) could be amazingly effective. In shorter situations, either Babin or Kalu at one end, with a bigger middle (Maddox/TJ, perhaps?) probably makes more sense.3

Regardless of the rotation, having Jason Babin continue to play like he has so far this season would go a looooooong way toward developing that front-four pass rush that our defense (most notably our secondary) so desperately needs. Even better, it will start to make the first-round pick of Babin make sense. “It’s about time,” you say? I agree… that’s EXACTLY what it’s about.

1 No? How about The Babinator? I like that one.
2 Something to keep in mind regarding Mario, too, I suppose.
3 The one thing I don’t want to see, but that I have seen others advocating, is moving Mario inside on these passing downs, with Kalu and Babin on the edges. Ignoring how such a move would make the anti-Mario contingent even louder, it removes Mario’s primary asset (speed) and makes little to no sense in my mind. Plus, Baldinger would run his mouth again.

Riding with the King

Aug 15, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, DeMeco Ryans, Dunta Robinson, Posts that list too many players, Preseason 2007, Super Mario

In one of the more shocking developments of this offseason1, Jerome Solomon took time off from calling Texans fans “losers” in order to do something that smelled strangely like real football analysis. He tracked each of Mario Williams’ seventeen snaps from the first preseason game and tried to offer something in the way of insight or explanation for each.

Now, being bored as I am and questioning how much of Solomon’s article was colored by his own bias, I decided to re-watch the game2 and see if his own observations matched my own. I mean, I might not have the same credentials as “King” when it comes to being Tom Brady’s fluffer, but we should be on pretty even footing when it comes to breaking down gameplay.

Play 1 - Quick three-step drop for Rex Grossman, running back popped down to double Mario, no chance of doing any damage. Just guessing here, but Mario also slowed to read the back, because if it were a handoff he was the only defender in the area.

True, it was a three-step drop, but Benson had little if anything to do with preventing the rush. Grossman fired the ball to his first target on a 5 yard pass as soon as the back foot hit. He also didn’t “slow to read the back” because the back never even faked like he was getting the ball and Super Rex ignored him entirely.

Play 2 - Play-action with a seven-step drop gave Grossman extra time, but after initially honoring the fake, Mario ripped through a tackle-tight end double-team to pressure the QB.

Pretty accurate, but I don’t think Mario reacted much to the play action. Charlie Anderson was lined up outside Mario on the line of scrimmage, so he had any off-tackle run responsibility. Mario did manhandle the TE and St. Clair, basically forcing his way through them with minimal effort. These are the things that make us happy. Grossman still completed it. These are the things that make us sad.

Play 3 - Who the heck knows? By the time Ch. 13 got back to live action, Cedric Benson had broken a tackle (announcers say it was DeMeco Ryans) and been brought down on a run to the right.

Yup.

Play 4 - Mario was one-on-one with a tackle (though the tight end probably missed a chip), initial outside move was thwarted and couldn’t get free with inside adjustment. Tried to toss 315-pound John St. Clair to the side with a power swing (the move Reggie White made famous) but he didn’t budge. Excellent footwork by St. Clair.

The TE released on the snap, so there was no missed chip. Looking at Mario’s feet, I think the initial outside move was more of a bluff–he did a little hop step so that his weight stayed to the inside of St. Clair, which isn’t really a way to get by someone on the outside–designed to set up the arm swing inside move. Problem was, St. Clair didn’t bite on the outside move (that was some solid footwork), stayed square, and beat Mario to the contact, meaning the arm had little to no effect. (By the way, Manchild was lined up beside Mario on this play, though that was the exception rather than the rule as far as I could see. Also by the way, ND should have put his hands up.)

Play 5 - False start on the Bears. Mario might have caused it. We don’t know because Ch. 13 didn’t show the play. (Hey, it’s preseason for TV too.)

Silly Ch. 13. Also, Spencer Tillman is making my head hurt. To hear him talk, you’d think he was omnipotent, as he can basically tell us with exactly detail what every player on the field did on each play, before the replay.

Play 6 - Choppy three-step drop for Grossman. No chance for any pass rush from the outside.

The front four were a little more spread out (nickel coverage) and Mario began the play fully outside the tackle. It was a quick drop and Grossman again delivered quickly, but any inside move Mario had set up (and it looked like St. Clair overreacted to the outside move) was thwarted by the DT (Maddox, I think) pushing his blocker into St. Clair.

Play 7 - Running play, where Mario had outside contain (particularly since C.C. Brown ran up out of position which could have led to a big play), and he locked up the tackle, forcing Benson back inside where Ryans dropped him for a two-yard loss.

Um, C.C. Brown ran up because the WR the safeties were keying on motioned from the other side of the field. Prior to that, Earl was up and Brown was back. When the motion came, Earl dropped and Brown came up. None of which has anything to do with Mario’s responsibility on that play. Also, Ryans came through the line between the tackles because he read run all the way. Mario did have outside contain, though, and appeared to be getting past St. Clair when Benson made the move back to the inside.

Play 8 - Beat St. Clair with an outside rush, but it was too deep to get near Grossman’s five-step drop, so St. Clair led him further wide.

Newsflash: He didn’t “beat” St. Clair. Offensive linemen routinely set up to induce the outside rush so that they can push the DE on past the QB, especially when the play calls for a five-step drop. St. Clair set Mario up and Mario fell for it. By the time Mario tried to correct and move back inside, St. Clair had the position and leverage and made that impossible.

Play 9 - Was making progress into the pocket when Grossman threw a dump-off on a quick read. Had Grossman even thought about his second option in stead of looking at the first and checking down, Williams would have gotten to him.

Slightly late off the ball, but Mario pretty much rode St. Clair back into Grossman. If Anderson doesn’t give the RB too much cushion, that’s a sack. Grossman did look to his first and second reads, however, before the dump, so Solomon overstates things a bit.

Play 10 - Quick penetration to the outside on a running play. His move opened a cutback hole for Benson, but Charlie Anderson was there and Dunta Robinson closed with authority.

Mario went outside again and St. Clair just pushed him along, knowing it was a run. Mario got off the ball quickly, but a fake to the outside and an inside move would have (a) mixed things up a little and (b) allowed him to play the run. Considering Chicago had passed on three of the last four plays, he should have at least considered the possibility.

Play 11 - Texans were preparing to bring a blitz, drew St. Clair offsides. Granted a couple of people moved, but if the guy in front of you jumps, you get credit for a nice play. Hooray Mario.

Again in that spread front nickel, St. Clair might have been thinking about the fact that he overreacted to the outside bluff the last time they win in this formation. That coupled with Shawn Barber showing blitz over the top of Mario caused him to jump.

Play 12 - Wins race to the outside, forces Grossman to step up and dump off to Benson.

Despite the fact that he went outside AGAIN, Mario blew by St. Clair and forced the step-up and throw. Nicely done.

Play 13 (second series) - Mario slides left as if he read run, but it was a play fake and short throw to the fullback.

That’s pretty accurate. He did seem to bite on the playfake, in that he stood up, but he recovered and was double-teamed (allowing Amobi to come free). By the way, Amobi was next to Mario on this play. It looks so far like 2/3 of the time he&