Enemy Fan Forums: Houston Texans

Excited for the game. One of my best friends is a Vikings fan so he, his brother and I will be watching.

They had an incredibly rough pre-season. One of the roughest ever and are now 2-0 and looking good. I'm hoping to see us clean up a lot of our issues from the first two games and hopefully put a better product out there. I fully believe we can do it.

'd say Vikes have a slight edge, especially at home. They are the league's biggest surprise early on, imho, with the Saints being a very close runner-up. This coaching staff has managed to turn Darnold into a more than serviceable QB - it's very early, but that's the most shocking development. We need to rattle his cage and force him to turn back to the SD we all know.

In any event, I'd like to turn Cinderalla's carriage back into a pumpkin at noon this Sunday.

If the Texans hope to win...they must clean up some of the nonsense we've seen the first two games. So many mistakes and sloppy play. Reduce the crap we've seen, and put the offense into a higher gear and we can do it. But neither of the first two performances is likely to get it done vs. the Vikings. 2-1 certainly isn't a bad start, but 3-0 heading into the Jax game would be sweet as hell.

There's Danielle Hunter going back to Minnesota, as well.

Is there a more surprising 2-0 team than the Vikings? I've never heard of Patrick Jones, but the 4th year edge rusher has 4 of his career 9 sacks in the first 2 games of 2024. I thought I was familiar with Sam Darnold, but not the version that carries a Passer rating over 100 in his first two games. Is this a mirage, or can O'Connell and staff keep this hobo train rolling?

I think it's a lot less personnel and more Brian Flores being a very good DC. He's definitely going to cook up tough looks for CJ.

I'm going to be watching the Vikings day today but I've already seen clips of a lot of funky disguises from the defense.

Vikings appear to be banged up at WR. Will be interesting if Jefferson and Addison can’t go or are limited how DeMeco deploys the CBs. I would think he’ll have Stingley travel with Jefferson. Sting might demand following his old teammate if he has that kind of pull with the team.

I expect DeMeco to craft a gameplan that will have Sam Darnold go back to seeing ghosts!

But I also expect Flores to take advantage of the Texans’ inability to pick up stunts.

If we are gonna drop an early game to help get our focus back, let it be this game. NFC losses are better than AFC ones and our team needs to be slapped back into focus.

I hope they can just do it themselves and get the dub, but I fear they may need to be embarrassed.

After the Texans had 12 penalties for 115 yards and let the Bears have a chance to win the game with under 2:00 I did some research looking at other teams and their penalties in week 2. Bears had 9 penalties for 60 yards. Nearly half the penalty yards definitely helped them remain competitive in a game that should’ve been a blowout victory for Houston:

1) Ravens dropped a close game and had 11 penalties for 109 yards. Their opponent, the Raiders had 3 penalties for 15 yards. 3 point loss, safe to say a cleaner game would make the Ravens winners here.

2) Browns beat Jags 18-13. They have 13 penalties for 100 yards. Similar to Texans, their sloppy play kept this game close. Browns completely shut down Lawrence similar to Texans defense with Williams.

3). Broncos lose 13-6. They had 9 penalties for 124 yards. Steelers, similar to Bears gave up their share as well with 10 for 78. Sounds like a sloppy game!

4) Bengals lose a heartbreaker to the Chiefs 26-25. They had 8 penalties for 79 yards, none bigger than the 4th and 16 PI to end the game. This was a fair call, just sloppy play by the rookie safety… similar to the Texans PI on Bullock that led to Chicago’s only td.

I penciled this in as a win in the preseason. I'm completely baffled by Darnold's emergence through 2 games. I'm gonna watch their games and see what I think. Beating the Niners is impressive, for sure. Should be a tough game. Worried about Mixon's injury and all of the penalties. The latter HAS to be cleaned up.

The OL penalties are very disturbing. A very good team performs without the disruption of OL mistakes. I’m only pointing out OL as we will have to score more than 20 as the Vikes are hot on offense.

Vikings have been opportunistic for sure. 2 INTs back to back possessions by Purdy. Also a blocked punt. And then throw in a 97 yard td to Jefferson. Hard to overcome that many momentum shifting plays. Even if you’re the 49ers.

I think it's likely going to be a lot more of defensive slugfest like it was vs the Bears. Just need to cut out all the self inflicted problems.

I am surprised at the few if any comments about the lack of productivity from Tank Dell. Is it on Stroud? Where is all the connectivity I have heard about between the two best friends?

With the quality of all our receivers, Tanks targets will be less than last season. Tank didn't capitalize on the targets that he did get vs the Bears, but I think he will rebound in the coming games.

The rook and Stingley better be up for the challenge because Jefferson is a bad boy.

I surely hope Meco brings that fire like he did this past Sunday. You can’t let Dornold set in the pocket all comfortable and stuff. He’ll dice you up for sure.

The Vikings defense is solid as well. So we might have another defensive showdown.

What’s the update on Scruggs? We’re going to need him because Patterson is trash.

If we’re able to establish the running game I believe we’ll win.

Texans 23
Vikings 20

A lot of negativity in here... if everything goes its normal way, we easily win this one. If we keep shooting ourself in the foot with penalties, fumbling the ball at the 5, getting our punt blocked and keep getting Stroud getting sacked - and if they keep on overachieving, they win. But we are clearly the better team. Focus, execute and we get the W.

Easily?

Vikes just beat the Niners.

NFL teams beat NFL teams - on any given week even a bad team can beat a great team. This week, Baltimore lost to LV, Dallas to the Saints, Detroit to the Bucs, the Colts to a Lovelss GB team. Not all of these teams are bad, but I would argue all of them were the underdog.

Like TheRealJoker V2 has said, there were a lot of momentum swing big plays in that game, including a blocked punt, 2 turnovers and a 97cd TD throw. Those things don't happen every week - and it is really hard to overcome them.

On paper we are better than them almost across the board. Take away that long play by Jeffersion and Darnold would be 16/25 for 171 yds, 1TD and 1 INT. Week 1 was against the Giants which doesn't really tell us much. So far they have been good at getting to the QB and forcing TOs while taking care of the ball themselves. Our focus should be on protecting CJ Stroud. If we can do that, I think we are completely fine. As an eternal optimist I go into this game expecting us to win by double digits (I was also expecting that against the Bears...)

Only thing I’m worried about is Flores’ defense. They didnt elaborate much on it yesterday, but John and Lance yesterday morning referenced how Flores’ defenses tend to perform well against Shanahan type offenses. It was said that his defenses are “barometers” for whether your qbs are good or not in those types of offenses. And last week’s defeat of the 49ers did nothing to dispel this notion as his defense all but shut down Purdy and that explosive 9ers offense. I think Stroud will be ok, but if he struggles, we could be in for some trouble.

Defensively I think as long as we can get to Darnold, he’s gonna give us at least 1 extra possession and that might prove to be the difference if Flores defense keeps our offense in check. I see another grind it out but close win similar to the Bears victory 20-13 good guys.

Purdy stat line: 28-36 319 yards 1 TD and 1 Interception. He was sacked 6 times.

Mason rushed for 100 yards, 5 yards a pop, a TD and he fumbled once.

Those two mistakes cost them the game. The Niners had 421 total yards from scrimmage.

You can’t beat yourself like the 49ers did against them with those turnovers.

Agreed, but those 2 TO’s were forced & not sure how much of those stat lines are garbage time. And just for reference, we sacked Williams 7 times.

Just watched the Vikings game

Niners definitely made some misques

The Vikings look like a solid, well coached team, playing well in all phases.

Nothing easy about it.

I think the Vikings are solid, but playing above their talent level. Perhaps the Texans can bring them back down to earth.

The 2 regular season preseason games for starters are done. Time to start seeing what teams are really about.

Texans put up a 40 burger this week.

One of the biggest red flags with our offense is the pass protection. Both of our games so far, Cj has had to run out and he’s been sacked multiple times.

Being predictable against elite/good defenses won’t cut it. Averaging 2.6 ypc on first down and 3.4 ypc total doesn’t mean you force the run on 1st and 2nd down putting more pressure on your qb for 3rd down.

I think we’re 2nd in the league in sacks behind the Vikings. Slowik has to bring his A game. I think we can win but we can’t force the run game if it’s not working. Find ways to get the ball out quick.

10 teams won on the road over the weekend out of the 16 games played.

Personally, I think Patterson gets better with that first game under his belt. Guy hadn’t played in a regular season game since GM9 last season. His first 9 games…..he was a bright spot on the OL. So, I’m least worried about his play. As for Howard, I would never be as forgiving b/c the team has too much invested in him financially to be such rickety arse turnstile on passing downs. He’s such a liability to CJ’s health that at some point the team will have to recognize it’s a mistake to keep starting him. Also, I think the pairing of Green at LG and Patterson at C will get better at picking up the stunts especially when defenses know this confused them last week. They’ll see more of it and they’re both talented enough to know, practice makes perfect.

On another offensive note, time for Slowick to get Dell involved by calling some quick hitting slant plays versus the constant end around. If no one else on offense takes the end around….defenses catch on to this habit.

based on what Kittle did, i think we see a big game from our collective group of TE's. Schultz is the starter, but I think this is a particularly big game for Jordan to make an impact. He has shown he can make big plays in limited snaps & aslo presents more of a mismatch out in space than Schultz/Stover against the LB's. Also, based on what Nico has been doing in the 1st 2 games................... & the fact that they have Shaq Griffin as a starting cb & old ass Gilmore as the other starting cb, I expect them to start shading over the top of Nico with 1 of the safeties while they see if Gilmore's veteran saviness can hold his own against 1 of Dell/Diggs with Smith roaming over the top of those matchups Whomever draws Gilmore..which will probably be Steph, you can expect the other to have the big game amongst the WR's. Gonna start out with a bunch of dink & dunks underneath but as the game wears on, I think we start seeing the Vikes start to take more chances defensively and the big chunk plays will start coming. They saw how the Colts and Bears were able to get after CJ & will likely be employing the same game plan of creating pressure up the middle to flush CJ & push him right into Cashman and Greenard.

Defensively, I expect Will & Denielle to eat. The 9ers defense isn't as stout as it has been in prior years..I think they really miss Greenlaw in the run defense game.... & Floyd just ain't getting it done opposite Bosa...yet Bosa was still able to get 2 sacks on Darnold. & with the extra juice Hunter should have coming back to his old stomping grounds, I predict he's gonna get at least get 1 strip sack. I expect alot of delay and screen type of plays from the Vikes early in attempts to slow our rush down. With that in my mind this is a big game for Too Too IMO. I think he'll be targeted heavily in the screen/pass game. I think its gonna be a big game for Lassiter as well as he's already been targeted quite a bit b/c he's a rookie & i don't see that changing this week. But also b/c this will be the most capable and proven WR core we've gone against thus far With Jefferson/Addison and Nailor. So even if Addison doesn't play, He'll still see Nailor who has a TD in each of the Vikes 1st 2 games & is very capable.

Whose gonna be able to establish the run. That will be the key to this game.

Texans currently are a -2 favorite at Vikings, with the total points now at 46. Both numbers have dropped, likely due to the concern that Mixon's absence makes the Texans offense one dimensional. I would much rather run right at Vikings new MLB Cashman than trying to throw around him in zone coverage. Got to get that run game going again.

This will be a tough game. I think it will be important to run the ball well and pressure Darnold. Excited to see who wins the LSU reunion between Jefferson and Stingley.

I feel like there's a lot of similarities between this game and the Browns game last season. Both Flacco and Darnold have a devil may care attitude with the ball and that can both help and hinder them. They have the bravery to make big plays downfield but it can also lead to turnovers. Our defenders will have chances on the ball this game that's for certain but whether they can make the plays will be a massive determining factor of if we win.

Overall this game has me feeling more pessimistic than normal because I'm yet to be convinced that we can play a non-sloppy game in a loud away building.

I'd be willing to bet we commit 3 false starts MINIMUM. Let alone whatever other procedural blunders. Also wouldn't be surprised if we get Ravens game flashbacks of having to burn timeouts because we can't get situated properly and snap the ball in time.

Positional breakdown Texans @ Vikings:

QB: Advantage Texans

Darnold has started well this season. He has weapons and O’connell is a good coach who gets the most out of his QBs. But he is not him. That’s our guy!

RB: Advantage Vikings

Mixon is likely out this week. If he plays he wont be at his best. I like Akers but did not like the fumble last week. Hope that’s not a sign of things to come if he moves into a larger role. Aaron Jones has a knack for finding the end zone. Former British Brooks teammate Ty Chandler has 4.3 speed and ran for 82 yards on 10 carries against SF.

WR: Advantage Texans

Vikings might have the best WR in the league in Jefferson but as a unit the Texans win this one. Especially with Addison likely out this week. Nailor has shown promise in a larger role for them but that still doesn’t measure up to the Nico/Diggs/Dell trio. Plus Woods/Hutch/Sims in reserve.

TE: Advantage Texans

The Texans TE room is definitely weaker without Brevin Jordan but he was TE 2 at best. The Vikings are playing without their clear TE1 T.J. Hockenson. This would be advantage Vikings if Hockenson were healthy.

OL: Advantage Vikings

The issues at center for Houston give the Vikings the edge here. Vikings OL allowed 4 sacks and have averaged 5 ypc in the running game playing the Giants and 49ers stout DLs. Texans OL on pqper is awesome but we are still waiting for that fully healthy starting 5 OL to not only play an extended period of time together but to gel as a unit. The issues on the OL picking up stunts are mainly communication related. They just need to play together more! Tunsil/Howard didn’t practice most of camp, Texans might be on center # 3. If we hadn’t already seen C.J. overcome OL issues i’d be concerned. Good thing we have him.

Offense 3-2 Texans

DL: Advantage Texans

I will put the Texans QB hunters against anyone the team faces this season. Strength of the team starts up front here.

LB: Advantage Vikings

This would maybe change if Harris were healthy. And if Greenard were classified as a DL. But ranking Greenard as a LB gives them the edge. Although i’ve been impressed with To’o To’o to start the season and Shaair bounced back well against Chicago. Pace/Cashman are both dynamic albeit undersized players.

CB: Advantage Texans

I think Gilmore and Griffin on the outside is the matchup to exploit. Just don’t think they can run with the Texans WRs. Murphy is a good nickel but don’t think he can keep up either. Stingley and Lassiter will have their hands full with Jefferson but there’s not a CB in the league i’d take over Stingley to travel with Jefferson.

S: Advantage Vikings

Harrison Smith has been a top 5 safety in the league it seems like a decade now. Bynum is in his third year starting next to Smith. This continuity gives them the edge over the Texans safeties who have shown some communication issues.

Defense 2-2 tie

Special Teams: Advantage Texans

Come on now, do we really need to talk about why?? Kaimi the goat!

Overall 6-4 advantage Texans

I think this is the week to let C.J. loose. I don’t think the path to victory is to run down their throat. The questions at center and RB along with losing Brevin Jordan blocking on the edge make this suboptimal.

I think their secondary can be exploited and C.J. can consistently find the open man against Flores’ exotic blitzes. This is the type of team Tom Brady would concede running the ball and just use short passes as an extension of the run game. I think highly enough of C.J’s football IQ that I trust him to air it out 40-50 times if needed to get the win this week. Sure the Vikings pass rush will be tough to handle, but I think using short passes instead of the run game will set him up in more manageable down and distance situations.

In order for us to let CJ loose, the offensive line will have to pass block better. The Vikings defense can and will get after the quarterback. They’re up there with us in pressure and I believe they lead the league in sacks.

I do believe he’ll carve them up for 300+ yards and 3 touchdowns.

I pray they do. Vikings have faced the Giants and 49ers. Yet has the 7th worse pass defense in the league so far

Vikings rushing defense is 1 spot below the Texans(7) at 8.

The only things that jumps out to me about the Vikings are their the league leaders in sacks at 11 (Texans are #2 with 9) and they have the 3rd best defense at giving up tds. I think that’s a little inflated because they played the Giants. I think they are overrated and reality will set in for them going into half time. I don’t see this being a close game

I'm not sure why fans are worried about this over one fumble.

In his entire six year career, Sunday included, Akers has fumbled four times, four out of 405 total carries. So its not a thing. If anything the guy protects the ball very, very well.

Now, watch him fumble three times Sunday.....

One of the good thing about playing the Vikings now, is that we just saw them play "our" offensive scheme, when they took down the 49ers. Giving Slowik a week to gameplan around the Vikings defensive style, should work out in the Texans favor.

Don't make dumb mistakes/penalties and I won't be that worried. I am a bit worried about the run game, however. If Mixon and Pierce are out I don't really trust Akers.

They're not a bad team but it's clear over the last 20 regular season games that we're usually the ones beating ourselves. That is the biggest obstacle toward being an elite team.

Shore up the garbage. That's the biggest issue. No more Tunsil's sh*tty Jumps Of The Game (tm), for example.

The rest will come.

I wonder if Irv Smith TE will be activated for this game?

I'd imagine so. I don't think they'll be totally comfortable going into the game with only 2 especially when Schultz was fighting an injury last week.

I’m very certain that the Vikings defense will be expecting Slowick to try and establish the run, I seriously might trot out 4 wideouts and a TE to run quick hit patterns. I believe CJ has the ability to make the quick read and throw to try and get the Vikings defense off balance or having to use an early timeout to get the right personnel on the field. My thinking is to avoid trying to force the run and winding up with 2nd and long which allows the Vikings defense to start pinning their ears back. I’d rather see Slowick having his receivers pin their ears back.

That does play into the Vikes defensive back group though. They're somewhat slow but very physical. It's how Flo has operated for awhile. Create pressure and make the opponent go quick game against strong physical DBs. He throws more zero blitz than anyone although he's doing it less this season (so far).

Flo wants the opponent to go quick pass game.

I lived in Duluth for 12 years (2000-2012). Superior Wisconsin on one side of the Bong Bridge and Duluth on the other. Half my friends were Vikes, the other half Packers. And the Texans still haven't beaten the Vikings and it pisses me off.

If Sam Darnold plays well, the Texans will have to seriously up their game to get a win.

Darnold will return to the mean at some point this season but it may not be in week 3.

Expecting a win, hope we put a full game together.

Statement win. If we make mistakes like we did in the first two weeks, we won't beat Minnesota. Gotta play a complete game.

This will be a legitimate test to see where the Texans are, The Vikings are good, we get them on the road, so I think it's time for CJ and Bobby to light it up and get this 6 headed monster off the ground.

Texans 31
Vikings 24

The battle of the ex's ... Cashman has been balling for Minny. Jonathan Greenard not as impactful yet, but still a very good DE. Danielle Hunter and Stef will want to leave an impression.

I expect a defensive hard fought game no different than the first 2. Need some timely stops and also need the offense to insert some short passing routes if Mixon is going to be limited.

HOU 24
MIN 20

Vikings D has been great so far and apparently they are considered the most exotic and throw lots of unique looks at you.

Hopefully the passing game finally starts really clicking.

Was watching some pods on the Vikings and they purposely had the roof open to take advantage of the humidity in Minneapolis. Purdy said it was why he threw an INT cuz the ball was slippery. Idk what the weather is gonna be like Sunday but I hope they try that ish with us cuz we laugh at any Northern humidity. We’re not those NoCal boys.

Favorites on the road - this is a game the Texans would routinely lose last year, particularly with overly conservative playcalling and not being prepared to play. Let's see if this year's team has improved upon that.

Facing a very good defense - the offense has to be patient and put together long drives. Take the check down, the 5 yard dump off and live to fight another down. Take the deeper throws when they're available but don't count on it.

Bobby has been bad this year. Stats back it up.

CJ is going up against the highest amount of "perfect" coverage.

He is just performing against it at a much higher rate than most.

Seems like a swell group of guys. I hate that Sam Darnold is going to break their hearts.

I feel confident. Vikings are a blitz heavy team and Stroud eats that up.

Also, I just don't believe in Darnold yet.

I hope we f*ck up Flores for his bullsh*t lawsuit against the Texans. Had forgot that **** is still on-going on.

Stingley Jr. locked up Justin Jefferson in practice at LSU. He will do it again!

Seriously, I'm looking forward to this game. I doubt we will blitz like crazy on Darnold like we did Caleb Williams. He is 9 for 10 when blitzed for 3 TDs, 0 INTs so far this season. If Jefferson doesnt play I fully expect us to shut down their run game. I think if we played them at home it would be a double digit win. Vikings will make it close at their place, but we win by at least 6 points.

Darnold has been really good this year, but he is not a really good QB. He is being coached up by those guys and its a beautiful coaching job. If jefferson for some reason cant go, its gonna be a huge turn of events for the Texans.

Here is the single most terrifying stat out there: Vikings are number 1 in the league with 11 sacks through 2 games. Stroud has been sacked 7 times. Thats tied for the 5th most in the league. Our offensive line, outside of Tunsil, is not a good pass blocking unit. I am scared for Stroud's safety in this one.

The vikings have been pretty decent on defense. 18th in yards, 25th in passing yards, and 8th in rush yards. It bolds well for us considering we probably wont have our top 2 running backs anyway. Points though the vikings have been lights out, currently at 3rd in the league. They did play the Giants who are terrible, but they also shut down the 49ers....who are missing some key guys, but still its been impressive.

I dont know what to think about this one. We havent started 3-0 since 2012, and that was the only time in franchise history we have done that!

I think the Vikings have a good chance in this one, but I am taking the Texans 24-21

f im not mistaken I think i read that the Texans brought pressure on 36 of 37 pass attempts against the Bears. We know Hunter and WAJ are nightmares for opposing tackles but Mario Edwards Jr and Fatukasi have been eating these last 2 games. With To'oTo'o and Azeez this front 7 is really causing havoc and this is without Christain Harris or Denico Autry. We could really have ourselves a potent defense come playoff push time.

I'm today years old finding out Danielle Hunter is from Katy and went to high school right down the street from me at Morton Ranch High. Had no idea.

Just got done watching the Vikings Niners highlights. Not sure we're going to be able to get out of this one with a W. If we do, I'm definitely expecting another heart attack special.

We have been bad in pass protection. The Vikings are very good at generating pressure. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but, I'm pretty sure Mixon ain't playing this week. On the other side of the ball, Darnold was throwing from some clean looking pockets last week against a very good 49ers front.

If we can't protect Stroud, we can't protect him with an efficient run game, and we can't pressure Darnold, I believe all of that spells our first loss of the season.

I do believe Bobby is capable of scheming up some creative pass protection chips and things. Last year we were able to keep Stroud practically untouched without 4 of our starting O Linemen vs the Steelers. If I recall, it was just a bunch of RB and TE chipping on the edges that leaked out into checkdowns. Something like that could work.

Also, if they're going to blitz, we've gotta make em pay. Even if we don't connect, I want Stroud throwing some deep shots to Collins and Dell (especially Dell) on man blitzes.