Holiday brings the kickoff back to the Texan 24.

---------------------------

Pass over the middle to Forsett only gets 2.

Pass to Maehl gets 4 yds.

Pass to Maehl goes inc..... Texans to punt with 15 seconds left.

Punt goes out of bounds at the Panther 26.

Anderson scrambles for no gain.

Halftime.

Texans 13, Panthers 13

Could be lack of numbers available. We're pretty thin at ILB right now. They suited 4 for this, and probably got James outta there pretty quick.

I believe Ball is going to get an earful from Wade at the half...Ball was Wade's idea...I'd rather see more of Brandon Harris and Roc Carmichael.

Unless Ball get's a pick in the second half, he is on my "watch that idiot" list...

Abbreviated stats:

TJ = 5/8, 24 yards

Tate = 7 carries, 38 yards, 5.4 avg.

Forsett = 5 carries, 21 yards, 4.2 avg

K Martin = 2 catches for 24 yards

OD = 1 catch for 22 yards

McCain = 4 tackles

Dobbins = 3 tackles, 1 sack

Jamison = 3 tackles

Reed/Mercilus = 1 sack each

Texans start at the 20.

Deep pass Graham complete for 25 yards.

Grimes on the right side for no gain. 2nd and 10 coming up.

TJ's pass is deflected at the LOS, inc. 3rd and 10 coming up.

Pass over the middle to Graham is good for 10 and the 1st down.

Pass over the middle to Jean goes for a big gainer - about 30 yards. Ball at the Panther 15.

Grimes runs for about 4 tough yards.

TJ tucks and scrambles for about 3. 3rd and 3 coming up.

TJ gets sacked. Texans to go for the FG.

Graham's 38 yarder is good.

Texans 16, Panthers 13

10:41 left in the 3rd quarter.

That was Butlers guy, and it was the second or third-stringer for the Panthers.
Not good.

Butler is not looking good.

I'm not live with the game, but man is spencer Tillman awful. A few of his gems...

TJ Yates has phenomenal athletic ability.
Justin Forsett is an amazing talent.
Whitney mercilous is unblockable.

I may have to mute it.

Adams brings the ensuing kickoff back to the Panther 24.

----------------------

Anderson's pass is complete to the TE for a nice gainer. Ball at the Texan 48.

Sweep to the left only gets 1. 2nd and 9 coming up.

Pass is INT'ed by Nolan! Texans ball at the Texan 39!

Beck in at QB.

Forsett rushes for 5.

Mixup in the backfield, run is for no gain. 3rd and 5 coming up.

Pass to Maehl gets 7 and the 1st down.

Grimes for 11 on the left side.

Pass to Graham is knocked loose, inc. 2nd and 10 coming up.

Flags on the running play. Offsetting penalties - replay 2nd down.

Forsett gets 5 on the right side. 3rd and 5 coming up.

Pass to Casey gets about 8 and the 1st down at the Panther 24.

Grimes caught in the backfield -3. About 4 1/2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

Nice pass by Beck complete to Jean at the Panther 5 yard line.

Forsett for 2. 2nd and goal at the 3.

Grimes up the gut for the TD!

Texans 23, Panthers 13

3:03 left in the 3rd quarter

What about the "Matrix" reference

"Mr. Anderson" instead of Mister Alexander

Just first preason gamezn but nice to see Nolan get turnover and Grimes looking good on TD run.

Yates and Beck look ok.

WR and TE all looking good as well.

Did anybody see that Marvelous block by Brooks for the TD run?

Edwards brings the kickoff back to the Panther 25.

-----------------------------

End around to Adams gets about 4. 2nd and 6 coming up.

Clausen's pass sails out of bounds, inc. 3rd and 6 coming up.

Clausen smothered in the backfield by 3 or 4 Texans - sack. Panthers have to punt.

Trindon - not much on the punt return. Ball at the Texan 31.

One of the Panthers injured on the play..... Injury timeout....

1:56 left in the 3rd quarter.

Beck still in....

Meggett gets about 6 on the right side but flag on the play. Illegal block (?) on Texans -15. 1st and 25 coming up.

Pass to Iglesias complete but roughness on the Texans backs it up some more - half the distance to the goal line. Ball at the Texan 13. 2nd and 23.

Meggett gets a nice run - about 8 yards on the left side. Makes it 3rd and 14 coming up.

Short pass is deflected inc. Texans have to punt.

------------

Adams eludes several Texans for a nice punt return. Ball is at the Texan 40.

Screen goes for about 5 yards. 2nd and 5 coming up.

End of the 3rd quarter.

--------------------------------

Deep pass into the endzone is broken up by Keo. Nice play. 3rd and 5 coming up.

QB is sacked! Braman, I think.... Panthers have to punt.

Flags presnap. 5 yards against Texans for ? Panthers still have to punt.

Meggett fair catches around the Texan 8 yard line. Texans ball.

Keenum in at QB.

Meggett rushes for about 3.

Meggett (I think) gets 7 - just short of the 1st down.

Keenum sneaks for 2 and the 1st down. Ball at the 20.

Grimes right side for 1.

Keenum's pass to Posey a little off target, inc. 3rd and 9 coming up.

Keenum is sacked. Texans have to punt. About 11 minutes left in the game.

Punt goes out of bounds at the Panther 45. Panthers ball.

Pass complete goes to the Texan 42, 1st down.

Sack by Bryant. 2nd and 15 coming up.

Short pass complete to Vaughan for about 6. 3rd and 9 coming up.

Dump-off pass to the back is dropped. Panthers have to punt.

Punt goes into the endzone. Texans ball at their 20.

Grimes for 3.

Keenum rolls out and hits Iglesias for about 16 yards, 1st down. Ball at the 38.

Meggett's nice run is gonna be brought back for holding - Mondek. Makes it 1st and 20.

Keenum scrambles right side for about 9.

Running play goes nowhere. 3rd and 11 coming up.

Screen to Grimes goes for about 16 and the 1st down. Ball at the Panther 46.

Grimes - nice run on the left side for 15 yards.

Meggett for no gain.

Meggett? for about 3 yards on the left side.

Keenum can't find a receiver and scrambles but loses about 3. 4th and 12 coming up.

2 minutes left in the game.

Bullock to attempt a 52 yard FG.

Good!

Texans 26, Panthers 13

1:57 left in the game.

Panther bring the ensuing kickoff back to their 26 but flag on the play. Against Texans 5 yards. Ball is placed at the Panther 31.

-------------

Clausen nearly sacked but throws inc. 2nd and 10 coming up.

Previous play under review....

QB is ruled down = sack. Ball is placed at the 19. Sack by Bryant.

Clausen loses the football while scrambling and Texans recover (Fangupo)! Texans ball at the 19. (review)

Play stands, Texans ball.

Meggett gets about 6.

Texans kneeling it out.

Final score:

Texans 26, Panthers 13

So what are you guys thinking after this win?

I'm thinking that the young offensive linemen need a lot more seasoning. I'm also thinking that the first team defense looked pretty damn good without its two best players.

I'm thinking our 1st round pick looked awesome. We have some very solid pass rushers and a good team pass rush. Our guys stunt very well. We get good interior pass rush from Watt and Smith.

But in terms of raw ability, Mercilous looked like he has the potential to be a scary individual pass rusher.

Watched the game on DVR so just now chiming in. Good effort. I didn't notice any major injuries.

The two new OLs concern me but we ran the ball pretty well. I'm impressed by how much better the secondary looks except for Ball.

Still, it's just the first preseason game so don't try to read too much into it.

Most encouraging thing to me . . .kareem jackson actually looked like he was actually playing the ball.

I was happy with the team defense, also thought we moved the ball well for the 1st preseason game.

Want to see some progress moving forward.

Also I am hoping that Cody is not out for to long.

Run blocking looked solid, but I saw lapses from both Butler and Newton in pass blocking and I don't think the Panthers are known for having any stellar edge rushers ? On the other hand former Texans' RT Winston was not known either for his pass-blocking skills ?

I thought it was impressive that using Martin on the end around actually WORKED.....

Good by slow white boy reverse. ;)

I know, I saw that and I thought Bob's going to be so excited he's going to spill his Cheetos jumping up from his La-Z-Boy.

I suppose Trindon Holliday's performance sticks out to me the most. He is such the "wildcard". Goodness, can he be the next Dante Hall? Hall (listed at 5'8") had 9 TD's from punt and kickoff returns over a 3 year span for KC in the early 2000's.

Can he (Holliday) be a playmaker/game changer or would he be a game changer the wrong way (fumbles/bone head decisions)? He's definitely worth looking at more.... I think another solid performance or two and he makes the team.....

At the expense of who/what position? That's the biggest question mark. If they go with 2 QB's + Holiday (assuming he backs this up the next 3 games), then I am probably OK with that. If they seek a shortage elsewhere.....I'm not so sure I would agree with it.

Not that that matters, but it will give me something to bitch about. ;)

If you think Holliday is something special as a return man, I would keep him over a 3rd string QB (particularly, if the 3rd string guy is a journeyman and not a draft pick you are grooming). Between punts and kickoffs, he should touch the ball about 8-10 times per game. In my mind, the potential for improved field position he provides greatly outweighs the security of a 3rd string QB. And let's face it, if you're down to your 3rd string QB, your season is basically over anyway. Finally, chances are we can cut Beck and he'll still be available if we needed him at some point.

I just remember how incredibly tentative he was on kickoff returns two years ago. I would like to see a whole lot more from him and I'm sure we will.

From the Chronic:
http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans...r-back-strain/
"Cody said there is no timetable for his return. He’s not likely to play against San Francisco on Saturday.

Asked if he’s certain he will be ready to play in the season opener against Miami, Cody said, “without a doubt.”"

I was just coming here to update this info, Thanks for posting this.

This is good news.

Wish the best and quickest recovery for Shaun Cody,

but Earl Mitchell and Hebron Fangupo did a pretty good job against Carolina, Fangupo had the fumble recovery as well.

Guess they will get even more reps helping our depth as preseason continues.

I thought it was neat/symbolic/making a point/ or just the way it turned out perhaps that the first pass completion of the game went from Schaub to Kevin Walters.

I have no problem with keeping a dedicated return man. Field position is huge in the NFL and if a return man affects it by as a little as 5 yards per change of possession he is having an impact worth as much as many starting players.

I am not certain if Holliday is that guy, but if they think he is the best return man on the team then I hope he makes it.

His problem is the numbers game at WR. We have two drafted WRs they probably won't cut (martin and posey) and a 3rd guy who took a pay cut and does all the things they like (walter). Then AJ of course, and Jean who looked good the other night. Either way he probably made somebody's team with that touchdown.

He needs to be great on Punt Returns then, which wasn't very exceptional this past scrimage.

On kickoffs, most kickers can go deep or out of end zone now on command.

Active roster is what 47 players, makes it tough if a guy doesn't help in multiple areas.

But, if all returns are consistent, no fumbles, no dumb decisions, yeah, gotta keep him.

Maybe he is the occasional deep threat WR as well at end of a half, or just to loosen up the defense.

I think he will always lack the size and ball skills to be a deep threat. If he was great on returns and they wanted to get him the ball, I think you are more likely to see him slipped onto the field for a screen pass or a drag. But if you look at Hester he was far more dangerous as a return man before he started to get snaps offensively. If Holliday was truly dangerous as a return man I would leave it at that. Not to mention we don't lack for weapons like Chicago (or Dante Hall's chiefs teams).

As for only doing one thing, our #4/5 WRs last year only did one thing and that was play special teams. They caught almost no passes and rarely saw the field as a WR due to our frequency or 2TE or 2RB sets. I'd much rather have Casey on the field than Holliday/Posey. All Holliday has to be able to do to be the 5th WR is know the routes in case of multiple injuries in the same game.

Of course, that would mean a draft pick like Posey is out and I doubt that.