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Texans pass Monday Night test
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The view from Section 102
The Texans passed their first Monday Night Football test with flying colors as they dominated the fading Jaguars 30-17.
The Texans left points on the field in the first half and they could have easily scored 37 but we're not complaining. Any time you win on Monday Night Football it's a good thing. Especially when it's your first dance.
I haven't had time to go back and re-watch the DVR of the pre-game and the game itself, so I don't know what ESPN had to say about our city and our team but I think we showed favorably.
The crowd was primed from several hours of tailgating in the cool and windy parking lots and they were really into it at the beginning of the game, helping force a couple of false starts.
The Texans touchdown on their opening drive - for the second week in a row - helped set the tone and get the crowd into it. I saw more people standing for the majority of the game than I usually see. Some of that was because of the action on the field and some may have been to jump around and stay warm. It was a little coolish but I loved it. Great football weather with the roof open - and with a blimp floating overhead showing replays against the darkened sky.
The aerial shots of the fireworks shooting off the roof at the start of the broadcast was quite impressive. Has anyone cut a Youtube of that by any chance? If so, shoot me the link and I'll post it here.
After a quick start to the game, the tempo slowed and by the 3rd quarter I was thinking that I was watching a NFC East game or something where the score of every game is 13-10. Or at least that's the way it used to be. My friend and I were joking that this game probably lost all of its East Coast viewers to Seinfeld about the time the Texans went up 16-3.
The crowd really enjoyed "Kiss Cam" when the two Jags players were shown seated on the bench - and the one guy had this silly smirk on his face, as if he was considering it for a moment.
And please, take that page out of the playbook with Jacoby running the Wildcat and put it through the shredder this morning. Please.
Beyond the fact that it was Monday Night Football, the game lacked the type of riveting excitement that would keep most non-Texans fan (or Jags fan) viewers captivated. But we didn't care because we were winning and that's all that mattered.
I still get a bit nervous watching the Texans offense operate because you're always waiting for that next mistake (such as Sage's pick). But when Jacques Reeves got it right back with a fantastic play on the ball we should have known things would be going our way.
Speaking of Sage, the more I watch him, the more I realize he's more of a 'game manager' type than he is an attacker. And when he tries to be an attacker that's when he gets in trouble. He lacks accuracy and touch on the longer pass routes and those which require precise timing. There were two balls that he threw, one being where he missed Andre Johnson in the endzone - and the other I think was to Andre Davis in front of the Jags bench later in the game, that he fired like bullets but if he had only put some air under those balls, they would have both been scores.
Jacksonville seems like a shell of their former playoff selves. I don't know what it is, if the players aren't buying in to the Del Rio style any more, or if they still haven't recovered from the injuries to the o-line or what, but they aren't the same team any more. They lack their typical swagger and looked lackluster with the exception of a few bursts here and there by Taylor and Jones-Drew or an occasional Garrard completion to Matt Jones.
But this was one where you had a feeling that a 14 point lead would hold up just because of the way the Jags were playing. The Texans won the turnover battle for the second week in a row and are 12-2 under Kubiak when they do that.
The stars of the game were obviously our Rookie of the Year candidate Steve Slaton, and Mario with his three sacks and tons of disruption.
As you may have realized by some of my previous writing, I am also becoming a big Xavier Adibi fan. He's fast and makes plays all over the field. He also showed good strength and tackling ability on a solo stop of Jones-Drew early in the game.
All in all it was a great effort by the Texans and I think it earned them a return invite to more prime time. Reliant Stadium is a beautiful venue regardless but the night games add so much excitement and buzz. You could feel it in the parking lots before the game . You could feel it during the walk up the ramps (with yet another Battle Red t-shirt to add to the collection in hand). You could feel it during introductions and during the first few drives of the game. You could feel it again as the Texans put it away in the 4th.
And all this for a 5-7 team. Just think of what it will be like when these games matter in terms of playoffs.
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