SPORTS

Texans Starting To Resemble a Playoff Team

Texans. Playoffs. Paired together, the two words sound as natural as vegetarian brisket. And, honestly, from an objective standpoint, talking about the Texans making the playoffs in 2008 does seem pretty absurd at first. After all, they are a team that just finished last in their division for the fifth time in six seasons, they have never posted a winning record, and they play in arguably the toughest division in football, where the other three teams were all 2007 playoff participants.

Yet with training camp underway and the Texans' preseason schedule about to kickoff, even the most casual NFL fan is likely to hear the Texans' name bandied about as one of the possible "sleeper" teams that could challenge for a post-season berth in 2008. How does this make sense?

Here's how: Even under the most objective lens, Houston seems to have a number of things working in their favor. First and foremost, the team is relatively healthy again. Last season featured the starting quarterback and Pro Bowl wide receiver both missing roughly half the year as well 18 players ending the year on the injured reserve list. Of those, all but cornerback Dunta Robinson are healthy and expected to contribute from Day 1 in 2008, and even Robinson could conceivably return sometime after week 6. The team even altered its off-season strength and conditioning program to target "high risk" areas such as the neck and joint in an effort to avoid the types of injuries that are avoidable. For a team that went 8-8 last year while resembling a MASH unit, the prospect of playing a full schedule with all their weapons available is very exciting.

Second, the Texans took several steps this past off-season to address the two most glaring problem areas - rushing offense and pass defense, which ranked 22nd and 25th, respectively, in 2007.
To try and run more effectively, Houston hired zone-blocking guru Alex Gibbs to install his system and, hopefully, mimic the success he had in Denver and Atlanta. They spent their first-round draft pick on left tackle Duane Brown, whom Gibbs believes is a perfect fit for the new scheme. They also traded a sixth-round pick to Denver for another player familiar with the zone system, center Chris Meyers. Unsatisfied with Ahman Green's injury-riddled 2007 campaign and unsure that Ron Dayne could thrive in the new system, the team released Dayne, signed former Titan Chris Brown, drafted speedster Steve Slaton, and brought back Darius Walker and Chris Taylor, with all the players understanding that it is performance and not contract size that will determine who gets the ball. 

Likewise, in an effort to shore up a porous (at best) secondary, the team signed former Cowboy cornerback Jacques Reeves, drafted Antwaun Molden, and hired former NFL head coach Ray Rhodes to help coach the defensive backfield. They will be without Dunta Robinson for roughly half the season at least and they still employ DeMarcus Faggins, whose play was nothing short of abysmal last season, but they also return second-year corner Fred Bennett, who showed a ton of ability in 2007, as well as free safety Will Demps - a 2007 Pro Bowl alternate - and strong safety Glenn Earl, who missed all of 2007 with an injury. If Mario Williams and the rest of the defensive front seven can pressure opposing quarterbacks and limit the time they have to find holes in the coverage, the Texans could have enough talent in their secondary to get the job done.

So, while penciling the Texans into the playoff picture sounds odd, upon further review it might just be feasible. After all, they should be able to run the ball better this year, they should be able to defend the pass more effectively, and they showed that when healthy they have the talent to play with almost anyone in the league. That has to give them at least an outside chance.

With a lucky bounce or two in 2008, an outside chance might be all they need.

Matt Campbell is a freelance journalist and the creator of atexansblog.com. His work has been featured on NBCSports.com, Deadspin, and Football Outsiders. He can be reached at matt@atexansblog.com

(The Banner, August 6, 2008)