Even though week three went about as badly as possible, the Houston Texans still sit tied atop the division with the Colts and the Titans. The Texans are now faced with what could be their toughest matchup of the season as they prepare for the undefeated Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks are as well-rounded as you can be in the NFL.
On offense, they have a young, explosive quarterback in Russell Wilson. Wilson, in just his second year, might be the most well-rounded quarterback in the league. He is small in stature, but he makes up for it with smart decision making and athleticism.
Wilson is fantastic throwing on the move due in large part to his baseball past. When he throws on the run, Wilson looks like a shortstop coming across the middle and throwing to first. His mechanics on the move are perfect. In order for the Texans to stay in the game on Sunday, they need to find a way to keep him in the pocket.
Don’t think that keeping him in the pocket means automatic success — Wilson is just as deadly in the pocket as he is out of it.
But by keeping him in the pocket, they can contain his scrambling ability and allow their pass rushers to get there. Texans linebacker Whitney Mercilus has to start stepping up. If the Texans want to win on Sunday, linebackers Brooks Reed and Mercilus need to have a nice edge rush that causes Wilson to step up into the pocket, preferably into the arms of defensive ends J.J. Watt or Antonio Smith.
The Seahawks also have a stacked ground game. Running back Marshawn Lynch is fantastic behind his offensive line.
Lynch is tied for third in the league with 62 rushing attempts through the first three games — the last two have been blowouts. Lynch has two touchdowns on the young season to go along with his 210 yards rushing. If the Texans can find a way to shut down Lynch and the rest of the Seattle backs early in the game, they can force Seattle to be one-dimensional and they can also take away the play action pass. Wilson is lethal on play action, so by shutting down the running game, it makes it less viable.
As for the Texans’ offense, they need to find a way to get running back Arian Foster rolling. He has still yet to rush for 100 yards in a game. Foster was off to a good start in the Baltimore game, but due to the score, Houston went away from the run for the most part in the second half.
There has been a lack of big plays this season on both offense and defense. The play action sets up a large portion of the big plays on offense for the Texans. Without Arian Foster gashing defense for 4 or more yards per carry, they have no reason to bite on the play action, giving quarterback Matt Schaub fewer windows to throw through.
Schaub has to be better this week than he has been in the first three. Seattle is easily the best defense he has faced all season. Seattle has two big, physical and fast corners in Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner. On the back end, Cam Chancellor and Earl Thomas might be one of the best safety combos in the league. Schaub is coming off back-to-back weeks in which he threw a pick six. That can’t happen against this Seattle defense. They are built to force turnovers. This is a great opportunity for Schaub to show he and the Texans belong in the conversation of the NFL’s elite teams.
The last thing the Texans really need to focus on is the play of their offensive line. The Seahawks defensive front is a beast. They have guys like Cliff Avril, Chris Clemmons and Red Bryant who will bring a great pass rush off the edge.
Texans left tackle Duane Brown did not play last week and it was obvious. If he is able to return to the lineup on Sunday, it will help, but the other members of the line will still need to step their game up in order to compete with one of the NFL’s best defenses.
Coming off a bad loss, I expect the Texans to come out fully charged on defense. Look for linebacker Brian Cushing and Watt to force a turnover early in the game that pushes the momentum the Texans’ way. I think this one comes down to the final drive but the Texans pull out a squeaker 17-14.
