Raiders plan for stopping the Texans running game? Look in the mirror

December 20, 12:12 PMHouston Texans ExaminerAlan Burge

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One of the keys to a Raiders victory against the Texans might be as simple as looking in the mirror.  Another is to repeat what they did at Denver in Week 12.

Keep both of those thoughts in mind for the next few minutes while I connect some dots.

While some fans might glance at the Raiders terrible rushing defense stats and automatically chalk up a buck-fifty and two TDs for Steve Slaton, it doesn't take much digging to find angles that run counter to the herd mentality that is prevailing over this matchup.

The Raiders run a zone blocking scheme very similar to Houston and Denver.

Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp worked with Alex Gibbs in Atlanta in 2004.  Knapp was the Falcons offensive coordinator and Gibbs was the offensive line coach.  Gibbs of course was also at Denver.

The Raiders crushed Denver at Denver in Week 12 due in large part to shutting down the Broncos running game.  Sure, Peyton Hillis is no Steve Slaton but he's still averaging 5 yards per carry on 60 something carries this season.

See where I'm going with this?

Jason Jones brought up the 'looking in the mirror' aspect of this argument in his article today in The Sacramento Bee.

 Well, [the Texans are] playing us (in practice), and we're playing ourselves, and vice-versa.  It's the same exact scheme.

- Raiders Interim Head Coach Tom Cable

Denver did plenty to hurt themselves in that game by committing two turnovers and missing two field goal attempts.  The Broncos scored points on only 2 of their 9 offensive possessions.  The score could have been even worse than the 31-10 final  because the Raiders had an interception return for touchdown called back due to penalty.

The Raiders ran the ball 41 times out of their 53 offensive plays that day, dominating time of possession.  Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden combined for 34 carries for 145 yards, JaMarcus Russell only had to attempt 11 passes, and Sweeny, Texas native Johnny Lee Higgins returned a punt for a TD.

If your name is Greg Knapp or Rob Ryan, that's how you draw it up.  And if I were you, Texans fans, I wouldn't automatically assume that the Raiders 31st ranked rush defense is an automatic reason to celebrate. 

Much of the Raiders trouble against the run this season was against man blocking schemes where their defensive linemen would get pushed around or get caught out of position.  The Texans offense (or Denver's for that matter) doesn't pose that threat.

Cable's comments on gap control and defensive line penetration shouldn't be taken lightly, because it's exactly what they were able to do against Denver and it's possible that they could repeat that feat against the Texans.

We'll see.