Posted on 08/02/2009 6:16:13 AM PDT by Patriot1259
The Houston Texans took the field Friday for the start of their eighth season. After back-to-back 8-8 campaigns in 2007 and 2008, the Texans are facing their highest expectations yet. The motto for the players, coaches and fans is “Playoffs or bust.”
Head coach Gary Kubiak, who enters his fourth season at the helm of the Texans, has not shied away from his players talking about the playoffs. Kubiak said, “I like the players to think that way. I like that everybody around here is to the point that we feel like our football team has a chance to do that. That's a compliment to those players; they've worked extremely hard. A couple of years ago nobody would have said that so that's pressure. That's nice pressure. That's why we do this. That's why we're in this business. I like to see our players thinking that way but I also know what type of work it takes to get to that point so I've got to keep them focused on that work."
There are three keys to the Texans making a run at the playoffs this year. Keeping quarterback Matt Schaub healthy, getting off to a fast start as a team, and the continued improvement on the defensive side of the ball.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecypresstimes.com ...
That isn’t a typo. It’s a Freudian slip.
The Texans need to hope for continued mediocrity in JAX, a decline in IND or TEN, and they need to go at least 5-1 in their division. A tall order all around.
That said, if the Texans played in, say, the NFC West, I’d be penciling them for a home playoff game.
I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that the Texans make the playoffs. I don’t think they’ll go far, but meaningful games in December are a very nice thing.
When I look at them, my concerns would be RG and C on the O line, and the secondary (outside of Robinson). They’re going to need a lot of pressure from the front seven to make up for that secondary.
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