The Texans Are Already Wearing Their Rose Colored Glasses

[beastson]

 

I was more referring to Watt/Cushing/Clowney causing favorable situations for the offense. 

I realize the QB situation is less than idea for them but they still have playmakers.  Hopkins can get loose especially if we fall into a soft zone at any point.

I think their QB play and lack of Arian forces them to be one dimensional so what Shula needs to do is let Cam run the no-huddle all game long and tire their asses out

[Mojo]

I think their QB play and lack of Arian forces them to be one dimensional so what Shula needs to do is let Cam run the no-huddle all game long and tire their asses out

I think Alfred Blue is pretty good at times.. but yeah totally agree.

No more of the fake spin screens either or Cam might get killed.

[davos]

Charles > Stewart.  Come on now....

as far as Olsen vs. Kelce...Olsen is more proven.  I mean debating someone on the backside vs someone starting up.   Kelce's ceiling is higher IMO.  They call him baby Gronk for a reason.  He could easily jump Olsen this year l.....but talking of such on this board will bring out the lynch mob. 

Only thing clear is Cam > Smith 

but you left off OL...and KC OL > Car OL

When the Reid system gets going, it's a good one.  Smith is an ideal QB to run it as well.  I think that's a bigger point than comparing players but don't necessarily disagree with you. 

[CRA]

Two different styles of running. When healthy Stewart is one of the best. You can't really discredit him. 

both healthy, Charles > Stewart.  That isn't a discredit to 28.  

In Charles' worst season of his 7 year career he averaged 5 yards a pop.  He can take a run or pass at any moment 90 yards.   Look at NFL history and where he is slated with his yards per carry in 7 yr career (this 8) at 5.5 a carry.   We talking historic rushing. 

 

[CRA]

I think Alfred Blue is pretty good at times.. but yeah totally agree.

No more of the fake spin screens either or Cam might get killed.

Shula has to run that twice in every game.  I think he is just waiting for it to be pick 6'd.  

Not sure why it hasn't yet.  Too repeatitive and obvious

[pepaw]

I thought the Houston fanbase was supposed to be knowledgeable and take pride in their research, this is borderline Saints fan stupid.  Holy poo. 

[SOJA]

in the modern day NFL a lot of who wins and loses the average game comes down to who has better QB play. 

I'm not saying we're definitely going to win- but I like Cam a lot better than Mallett/Hoyer

[Riverboat Ron]

Cam > Alex Smith

Stewart = Charles

Olsen> Keller

Ginn < Maclin

I don't know what you're talking about really. It's even to me. People could argue we're actually more talented. 

Jesus, they beat them with Helen fuging Keller?

[R0CKnR0LLA]

Stewart = Charles

lol no

[Mol3m4n]

Stewart lead the league in rushing he last 4 games last year. I don't think it's that far off of a claim. 

[hepcat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakedaniel  Your second sentence It is what it is. We'll have to see how all this plays out. I hope they play a hell of a lot better than they did today.

I agree. The Texans will have to play much better across the board to win this one.
The Panthers should be a victory on the road though. 
The Texans should destroy them. 
They don't even come close to matching up with us on any level.

This classic post made me lol 

[KSpan]

Mallet is tall and immobile. He will be easy pickings for our Front 4.

The KC front is pretty dang good at rushing the passer and had 5 sacks, but only got Mallett once during a time when Houston was obviously going to be passing.  Not saying Carolina can't get sacks or that Houston is super-good, but you're over-simplifying it.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

They were both drafted in 2008, so they've been in the league the same amount of time:

Stewart: 5,990 AP yards, 4.6 YPC, 35 TDs, 134 receptions

Charles: 9,225 AP yards, 5.5 YPC, 58 TDs, 267 receptions

but yeah there was that 4 game stretch against garbage teams so all in all pretty much equal

[Seltzer]

Some good points brought up in this thread:

1) It is unfathomable to me how underrated our defense is.  We've finished Top 10 the last 3 years yet most of the national media would lead you to believe we are average at best.  Losing Greg Hardy was not the greatest death blow to a defense of all-time like the national media would lead you to believe.  Hardy was barely on the radar until 2013 and really not well known nationally until his incident last year.  Beside the fact that Rivera/McDermitt are 2 of the best defensive minds in the league, the Panthers have talent at levels of the defense.

2) Houston has a very good defense, but to think they are better than us is ridiculous.  JJ Watt is the best defensive player in the league (and that's most just b/c a defensive lineman could effect a game more than a LB, even the best LB in the league in Kuechly).  However, HOU D-Line > CAR D-Line, CAR LB (even w/o Kuechly) > HOU LB, HOU DB ~= CAR DB.  Both could (and should) end up the season Top 10.  I know how good Houston's defense can be, but it seems they have no idea how good ours has consistently has been and should again be.

3) If you're a Texans fan, how do you feel anymore confident in your offense than a Panthers fan does in ours?  You don't know who your QB is, and regardless, the fact that Mallett couldn't beat out Hoyer in the preseason should tell you he's not light years better.  Hopkins is a beast, but other than that, no one on that offense is someone that is going to keep Rivera or McDermitt up this week.

4) Since the offenses are overall probably about a wash, the tiebreaker goes to QB, and not even the biggest Texans homer could with a straight face say Hoyer/Mallett is better than Cam.  I imagine they will throw up the whole inaccurate throws, etc. crap but the truth us Cam has played better in the preseason and yesterday than he has other than in stretches for his whole career.  Cam showed a lot of mental toughness after a bad call (Olsen) and dropped pass (Ginn) left us with 3 points instead of 14.

Carolina very well could lose this game, especially if we lose the turnover battle.  Our offense is not going to run away from a very good Houston defense, but I think they are going to struggle scoring even more.  I think we win 17-13.