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lol saints
He's seen the Steelers a time or two. Lolcarson started out horrible today. but damn he was lights out second half, especially 4th qtr. loved it.
If I were to submit my Power Rankings right now, Houston would sit on top. I am sure many Falcons' fans will dispute my claim after Atlanta took down the Chargers in San Diego. And Arizona was also extremely impressive today, but I still have questions concerning their offensive line and quarterback situation.
Until Arizona answers those questions to my liking they're going to remain outside the conversation when I'm talking about the best teams in the NFL. By contrast, Houston looks to have the AFC South all but wrapped up -- after just three weeks.
The Texans' recipe is pretty simple. Along with Arizona, Seattle, Philadelphia and San Francisco, Houston has one of the five elite defenses in football, although this wasn't the Eagles' finest performance in Week 3. The Texans' defense is really without weakness. Because they are so dominant on this side of the ball, Houston can be a run-first operation on offense. And no team in the NFL is as good at running the rock as the Texans with their zone blocking scheme and great pair of running backs.
Everything on offense stems from that running game, as Matt Schaub is great at selling play action and is very efficient with the passing game. Andre Johnson remains an elite wide receiver and some young wide outs like Lestar Jean and Keshawn Martin are coming on and contributing. Houston also has a deep and versatile group of tight ends/fullbacks that they use extremely well to go along with one of the top offensive lines in the league.
Houston is good. Very good, in fact. But how good can they be by the end of the season? Can they win the Super Bowl? For sure. I mentioned that their division cannot keep up with the Texans, but how about the rest of their schedule? Can they go undefeated?
Obviously it is very early to discuss such a thing, but let's just say the Texans get past Week 6 and 7 when they play host to Green Bay and Baltimore ... then the undefeated talk will be going full force. They visit Chicago in Week 10 and New England in Week 14. Any team can lose any given week in the NFL, but those are the four difficult games on Houston's schedule. Compared to some of the daunting schedules faced by the NFL's other top teams, that challenge isn't too terrible. But going undefeated takes more than a relatively easy schedule. It demands perfection.
Do I think Houston is a legitimate threat to win out? No. I really do not.
What could derail Houston? More so than most teams, injuries worry me with this squad. Of course any key player can be injured in any game, but Schaub, Johnson and Owen Daniels have a pretty extensive injury history -- and they are no longer spring chickens. It would be very difficult for the Texans to get by without any of those three.
My other big concern with Houston's bid to be undefeated is their ability to mount a late comeback. If Houston finds themselves in a shootout type of game (against Green Bay or New England perhaps) or down on the scoreboard by a few touchdowns, can they win that type of game? Schaub is a good quarterback, but no one should confuse him with Aaron Rodgers and this offense isn't built to air it out down after down.
Much like San Francisco over these past two seasons, I think Houston has to play its particular style of game to be at their best. As we saw late in today's game, the Texans can go into a shell at times in terms of play calling. They are exceptional at controlling games and are great at doing so early in games. But in a throw-fest against another heavyweight, I fear Schaub would come up short. But of course, as Peyton Manning found out most of the day Sunday, throwing against J.J. Watt (who I believe is in the early mix for Defensive Player of the Year) and a strong Texan pass-rush into a deep secondary with great coverage safeties and the second best corner in football (Johnathan Joseph) is no easy feat for any quarterback.
Houston has the make-up to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. But when you look at the other great teams that have threatened to finish the season with an unblemished record, there are just a few too many question marks for me to believe they can pull it off.