Game 13 Preview: Texans

Five Things You Didn't Know About The Texans

1. The Texans have 16 players on injured reserve. Over half officially have their injury listed as "shame".
2. Texans owner Bob McNair sold his horse farm next to Saratoga in January to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the UAE, for $17.4 million. McNair doesn't even bother wearing shoes or a belt to the airport anymore.
3. Chester Pitts was recently arrested after being stopped for making an illegal turn and then fleeing. Fred Weary responds, "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"
4. Amobi Okoye was offered a scholarship to Harvard at the age of 15. He turned it down to go to Louisville because he wanted to play football. Matt Birk is not amused.
5. Adimchinobe Echemandu was also the name of a rejected character in Star Wars, a pimp on Tatooine who mostly dealt in four-breasted lizard-looking chicks who could crush jawas like walnuts with their thighs. His action figure would have come complete with his hat and walking stick and would have been awesome.

The Texans are cursed; can't we just leave it at that? I mean, Atlanta already beat them. That should say it all.

Houston is pretty much using anyone they can find for their offensive line. For a team that is already notorious for giving up tons of sacks every year, this can't fill Sage Rosenfels with confidence. Greg White, Jovan Haye and Gaines Adams should have decent days in terms of quarterback pressure and sacks. I'd look for Rosenfels to dump the ball off quick to whoever is around, most likely Ron Dayne. This will put some pressure on the linebackers to make the tackle before the receiver can make more than a couple yards. Barrett Ruud should be back up to the top in tackles for the day. I worry about Andre Johnson a little bit because he might get matched up against Phillip Buchanon and if Johnson beats him, my brain may melt. There may be a threat there because the Texans have the #6 passing offense, but let's just assume the defensive line gets the job done and Rosenfels doesn't get a chance to get many passes off.

The Texans have spent their last two first-round draft picks on defensive linemen. Mario Williams isn't the bust everyone thought he was last year and Okoye is getting a lot of pressure up the middle. Davin Joseph needs to step up and give a hurting Jeff Garcia enough time to scan the field. Garcia isn't going to be able to bob and weave like normal. DeMeco Ryans is a tackling machine, but the rest of the defense is relatively suspect. Earnest Graham will have a good day and take pressure off of Garcia. He probably won't put the ball up too much and they'll try to speed the game along. Should be relatively low-scoring. Bucs by 11.