The Houston Texans won an amazing football game on Sunday.  The Panthers jumped right on the Texans with 2 TDs in the first quarter as they built a 14-0 lead before the Texans scored 34 straight unanswered points!  Matt Schaub was outstanding again as he completed 20 of 28 passes for 227 yards with 2 TD passes.  RB Ahman Green had another solid game for the Texans as he carried the ball 15 times for 71 yards (4.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Ron Dayne wasn’t nearly as good as Green was as he carried the ball 18 times for 44 yards (2.4 ypc).  WR Andre Johnson was outstanding once again as he led the Texans with 7 grabs for 120 yards (17.1 avg) with 2 TDs.  TE Owen Daniels was also solid with 5 catches for 58 yards (11.6 avg).  WR Kevin Walter also scored as he recovered a Nick Goings fumble on a kickoff return in the 3rd quarter to extend the Texans lead to 31-14!  The Texans finished up with 119 yards rushing on 36 carries (3.3 ypc) and they completed 20 of 28 passes for 227 yards.  The Texans did a great job of keeping the ball away from the Panthers as they had possession of the football for 34:48 of the game. 

Safety Von Hutchins (11 tackles) and DT Amobi O’Koye (4 tackles, 2 sacks) both had outstanding football games.  The Panthers only rushed for 66 yards on 18 carries (3.7 ypc) and they completed 27 of 41 passes for 278 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270916029

This was an outstanding signing for the Texans who keep losing safeties to injury.  Demps was one of the last cuts by the Giants before the season started.  Demps played in all 16 games last season for the Giants and he made 100 tackles, defensed 7 passes, had 1 sack, forced a fumble and had 2 interceptions.  Over his NFL career, Demps has played in 73 games and he has made 321 tackles, defensed 30 passes, has 4.5 sacks, forced 5 fumbles and has 6 interceptions.  Look for Demps to team with Michael Boulware to give the Texans a nice set of safeties when they learn the defense.

It seems as if the strong safety position is cursed in Houston.  Starter Glenn Earl was lost for the season before it even started and know Simmons will miss the remainder of the season with a torn patellar tendon.  He will finish the 2007 season with 1 tackle.  Von Hutchins will replace him in the starting lineup and he made 3 tackles against the Chiefs.  Look for the Texans to push Michael Boulware more this week in practice because they need his playmaking ability badly in the secondary.

The Houston Texans basically kicked the Chiefs ass on Sunday!  QB Matt Schaub was very efficient as he completed 16 of 22 passes for 225 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  RB Ahman Green was outstanding in his Texans’ debut with 16 carries for 73 yards (4.6 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 23 yards (5.8 avg).  Ron Dayne also got his work in with 13 carries for 33 yards (2.5 ypc).  WR Andre Johnson was outstanding with 7 grabs for 142 yards (20.3 avg) with 1 TD catch that went for 77 yards.  The Texans finished up with 109 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.5 ypc).  They also completed 16 of 22 passes for 206 yards.

The defense was nasty against the Chiefs.  2nd year linebacker DeMeco Ryans led the Texans in tackles with 9.  But the star of the show was DE Mario Williams who made 5 tackles, had 2 sacks and recovered a fumble that he returned 38 yards for a TD.  The Texans held the Chiefs to 72 yards rushing on 17 carries (4.2 ypc) and they completed 22 of 33 passes for 147 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270909034

The Texans are improving every day and it will start to show on the scoreboard a little more often than it has the last few seasons.  Still, without a professional offensive line the Texans upside is capped at 7-8 wins this season.  Still, Coach Kubiak has his team going in the right direction so I think a small bet on the over is warranted here.

The Texans have changed their skill players on offense but that might not matter because they did nothing to improve the offensive line in the off-season.  The Texans will have to keep DE Tamba Hali and OLBs Derrick Johnson and Donnie Edwards out of their backfield to give Schaub time to throw the football.  The way the Texans will probably try to work the game is by running Ahman Green and Ron Dayne at the interior of the Chiefs’ defense which could be weak.  MLB Napoleon Harris must stop the RBs of the Texans to force the Texans to throw the football.  The Chiefs will likely double WR Andre Johnson and force the Texans to beat them with their other receivers.  If that is the case look for the Texans to run a lot of 3 WR sets and throw the ball to rookie speedster Jacoby Jones who had an awesome pre-season.  The Texans will also send big TE Owen Daniels against the young safeties (SS Bernard Pollard and FS Jarrad Page) of the Chiefs.  Schaub must be careful when throwing the football outside as CBs Ty Law and Patrick Surtain might be old but they still can make big plays.

Look for the Chiefs to run the football a lot.  Likely Larry Johnson and Michael Bennett will be running a lot to the left behind C Casey Wiegmann, LG Brian Waters and LT Damion McIntosh.  The Texans will need rookie DT Amobi O’Koye to add support to MLB DeMeco Ryans and OLB Morlon Greenwood in defending the run.  Look for Tony Gonzalez to have a huge football game against the safeties of the Texans as they have suffered a lot of injuries there.  Also, look for the Texans to attack the side opposite of wherever CB Dunta Robinson is playing as he is outstanding.  Robinson will probably be keeping an eye on WR Eddie Kennison so watch for either Samie Parker or rookie Dwyane Bowe to have a good game on Sunday.  If the Chiefs keep DE Mario Williams out of their backfield, Damon Huard should have the time to throw the ball and have a good game.

The Texans do have a huge edge on special teams as KR Jerome Mathis and PR Jacoby Jones can take it to the house on any kick.  Also, Kris Brown is much more reliable than rookie Justin Medlock of the Chiefs who had a rough pre-season only hitting 3 of 6 FGs.

PREDICTION:  I know everyone is excited about Matt Schaub and some of the other skill players but the Chiefs are just the better team and they will win a close football game on Sunday.

The Houston Texans have signed OT Rashad Butler off of waivers from the Carolina Panthers.  Butler has been a complete with the Panthers as he didn’t even get on the football field last season.  Don’t expect much from the 6’4″, 293 pound Butler so he should fit right in on the awful offensive line of the Texans.

The Texans have cut RB Wali Lundy and WR Keenan McCardell.  It was a surprising move with Lundy as he was having a good pre-season.  He carried the football 25 times for 101 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 12 yards.  McCardell was just behind too many receivers to make the team.  He only caught 1 pass for 16 yards during the pre-season.

The Houston Texans have signed undrafted free agents Darius Walker and Jared Zabransky to the practice squad.  Walker looked good in his limited pre-season action as he carried the football 7 times for 42 yards (6.0 ypc).  He will have a good chance to get some carries at some point in the season for the Texans.  Zabransky didn’t get a lot of playing time in the pre-season.  He completed 13 of 26 passes (50%) for 136 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (49.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 2 times for 17 yards (8.5 ypc).  Zabransky will likely only get activated if Matt Schaub or Sage Rosenfels gets injured.