While I don’t want to take anything away from the Vikings, Houston lost the game more than Minnesota won it. Our Texans lost the turnover battle 3-1 in the game giving up 2 interceptions in the opponent’s redzone and fumbling while in Viking territory. Jacques Reeves recorded Houston’s lone turnover in the game picking off a Gus Frerotte pass and returning it for the score. While Reeves made arguable the biggest play in the game for the Texans, he was rarely able to hold his own against the Minnesota receiving corps giving up 2 of Frerotte’s 3 TD passes and was beat numerous other times.
There is a colossal difference in 4-4 and 3-5 and now we will find out a lot about this team in the next couple months.
Looking ahead at what this may mean for the rest of 2008, Houston has to treat every game as a must win in order to achieve the preseason goal of reaching the playoffs. Playing in the AFC South we must assume that the Tennessee Titans are going to win the division. They are currently 8-0 and to expect them to start losing is just unrealistic. That means we’re left battling for a wildcard bid.
This coming week the Baltimore Ravens travel to Reliant where the Texans are currently 3-1. However The Ravens total of 5 wins is currently more than that of the 3 teams Houston has defeated combined. The Ravens are at the top of the board in almost every defensive statistic, and if Houston’s offense comes out the way they did against the Vikings it will be another long game for our Texans.
While I don’t expect much success from the running game I do hope to see more commitment to it than we saw against the Vikings, This team will thrive if we become one dimensional.
First and Foremost we have to stop the run on defense, and try to force the Ravens into 3rd and long situations. If we can do that, I think we can pressure Baltimore’s young QB and force him into making bad decisions.
