10-05-2018, 09:33 PM
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Sean Pendergast - NFL Week 5: Cowboys-Texans — Four Things To Watch For:
Quote:
Much like presidential elections, the Olympics, the World Cup, and my getting on a workout kick, the Texans playing the Cowboys in the regular season is something we only get once every four years. To that end, for just the third time in the history of both franchises, the Texans will host the Cowboys at NRG Stadium. I don't know if the scarcity of the matchup is good or bad, as it certainly amps up the juice for Sunday's game, but seeing the two teams play each season would add some spice to the schedule, for sure.
Regardless, we in the media tried our best to pull something from the Texans players this week that would feed a "War for the Texas Supremacy" narrative. To the players' credit, they really weren't having any of it. Right now, the Texans aren't some sort of Lone Star State juggernaut trying to defend their patch of Mother Texas. They're just a 1-3 football team trying to get their second win of the year, opponent be damned.
The Texans came into this season with high hopes of competing for an AFC title, and now, according to Bovada, the Texans are a +500 shot (risk $100 to win $500) just to make the playoffs! So, yes, they have work to do, and it starts with beating the Cowboys this Sunday night in prime time (on NBC on TV and SportsRadio 610 on the radio, tune into the pregame and postgame for more of, well, ME!)
Let's quick look at four things to watch for....
4. Watt and Clowney Show, Episode 2
Unfortunately for the Texans, one other thing that took four years to happen was J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney being dominant in the same game, something we were promised with far more regular frequency when Clowney was drafted in 2014. Against the Colts last week, the two put up a slew of crooked numbers in the box score, both getting multiple sacks, tackles for loss, and Clowney scoring a touchdown. As a result, Clowney was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week and Watt was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month. Whatever Romeo Crennel was doing to unleash the inner, two headed beast in these two, he needs to do more of it, because....
3. Texans secondary
....this area of the team has been scary — the BAD kind of scary — the last two weeks. Despite Watt and Clowney performing at herculean levels in Indy last week, Andrew Luck STILL threw for over 460 yards. Eli Manning completed 86 percent — EIGHTY SIX! — of his passes the week before in the Giants' win at NRG Stadium. The narrative on BOTH of these guys coming into each of those games was that they each might be shot, Eli because he is old and Luck because he's damaged goods. The biggest issues in the secondary have been scheme (what's up with these ten yard cushions) and depth. Kevin Johnson and Aaron Colvin weren't playing all that well to begin with, but now both are out long-term and your corners are Johnathan Joseph (87 years old) and two guys who weren't even on the team in Week 1 in Shareece Wright and Kayvon Webster, who both have awesome cornerback names that sound like my son made them up on MADDEN, but they might not be able to cover anybody. Fortunately, Dak Prescott and this receiving corps should be a step down from previous weeks, but still...yikes.
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