The Texans stake their claim to AFC South supremacy and other NFL thoughts

(1) I think we can all agree that the Indianapolis Colts are on the short list of dominant teams over the last 10 years. Since Peyton Manning joined the team, they have won 10 or more games on 10 different occasions. The more impressive fact is that they are working on a seven year streak of at least 12 wins, which, in the salary cap era, is the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest without oxygen while hopping backwards on one leg. Despite the fact that they have only claimed one Super Bowl title in Manning’s career, the Colts have been the model franchise in the NFL. During this dominant period, the Colts have been alternately challenged by the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they have always overcome based on their supremacy at the quarterback, head coach and general manager. Frankly, the Colts have become one of the surest things in all of sports.


Unfortunately, we all know that sports are cyclical. A dominant team can turn into a doormat without too much effort. Sometimes the descent is slow and sometimes it feels like falling off a cliff, but the one constant is that there is always a moment that can be pointed to that defines the subsequent collapse. For the Super Bowl Seahawks, their moment was allowing Steve Hutchinson to leave Seattle via free agency. The Hawks still managed to make the Divisional Round the next two years, but the writing was on the wall. Did we see one of these seminal moments on Sunday when the Houston Texans finally earned a meaningful victory over the Colts? The Texans came into the game with a 1-15 record against Indianapolis with their only previous win coming when the Colts rested their starters. During the offseason, the Texans talked a good game, but no one was going to take them seriously until they knocked the Kings of the AFC South off their throne. Based on what we saw in Houston’s 34-24 victory, I believe that they have served notice that they must be taken seriously.

The Texans and their fans should be very encouraged by this victory for three reasons: (1) they got the King Kong-sized gorilla off their back, (2) they beat the Colts without any contribution from their high-octane passing attack and (3) they held on to a big lead for the first time against Indianapolis. It is safe to say that the Colts have had Houston’s number since the Texans debuted in 2002. The Colts have beaten Houston 15 times in the eight years since. The Texans desperately needed to beat Indianapolis in a game that meant something in order to prove that they had closed the gap between the two teams. This victory should provide a huge confidence boost for Houston as they prepare for the rest of their season. Secondly, the Texans got the big victory despite the fact that Matt Schaub finished with only 107 yards passing and a 67.5 QB rating. Instead, Houston was more than happy to hand the ball off to Arian Foster, who battered the Colts defense for 231 yards rushing on a franchise record 33 carries. The result was the NFL’s second best opening weekend rushing performance since 1933, topped only by O.J. Simpson’s 250 yards for Buffalo in 1973. Foster’s record-breaking performance allowed the Texans to overcome another virtuoso performance by Peyton Manning, who threw for 433 yards and three touchdowns. Finally, the Texans should be encouraged that they finally put their feet on the Colts’ throat and didn’t allow them to make another amazing comeback. Back in 2008, the Colts overcame a 17-point fourth quarter deficit by scoring 21 points in just over two minutes in a game that will forever be known as the “Sage Rosenfels Game.” In addition, the Texans blew a 13-point halftime lead last year when Matt Schaub turned the ball over three times in the second half. The fact that Houston actually held on to a lead against the Colts represents significant progress in my mind.

In the end, I think that the Texans should definitely feel good about how they started the 2010 season, but they have to avoid feeling like they have scaled the mountain because there are still 15 more games to play. Their opening day win certainly makes things more interesting in the AFC South, but I’m far from ready to pronounce the Colts dead. I still believe it is their division to lose and I still believe that they will win another division title.

(2) When teams are missing key players it is important that other members of the team stand up and provide a little extra effort in order to make up for the missing component. In these situations, style points do not matter. The only thing that is important is getting a victory. The Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in one of these situations as they entered their season opener without the services of Ben Roethlisberger, who was serving the first game of his four-game suspension for lewd behavior. In addition, the Steelers did not have veteran Byron Leftwich available either, which meant that Dennis Dixon would be asked to supply a victory against the Atlanta Falcons. Dixon had stepped in admirably for Big Ben last season, but it was still just his second career start, so the Steelers’ faithful had to be feeling a wee bit apprehensive.

In an effort to take the pressure off of Dixon and play to their strengths, the Steelers came out with a conservative gameplan. The Steelers mixed a bunch of short and intermediate passes with a healthy dose of Rashard Mendenhall and the running game. Dixon did hit one long pass to Mike Wallace to set-up a Jeff Reed 36-yard field goal, but otherwise his performance was not good enough to win on most Sundays. Fortunately, for Dixon, the Steel Curtain defense made a smashing debut by limiting Matt Ryan in the passing game and holding the vaunted Falcons’ running attack to a mere 2.3 yards per carry. In fact, the Steelers were so dominating that the Falcons didn’t score until the final play of the first half and only got into touchdown range one time. Nevertheless, the Falcons stayed in the game because Dixon was predictably shaky and Jeff Reed missed two field goals that could have sealed the deal in regulation.

This victory improves the Steelers’ chances of going 2-2 over Big Ben’s suspension, but they are going to need a huge offensive improvement next Sunday when they visit Nashville. It is clear that Dixon needs to get better, but the Pittsburgh running game seems to have received a pass this week based on Mendenhall’s 50-yard touchdown scamper in overtime. Before the game-saving run, the Steelers had only produced 93 yards on 30 carries for a measly 3.1 yards per carry. In addition, Pittsburgh only converted four first downs on 14 attempts. This offensive performance is not going to get it done on the road against the Titans. The Steelers defense seems to have rebounded nicely from a subpar season in 2009 and now their offense needs to catch up.

(3) One game into the Kevin Kolb era in Philadelphia we are already facing a quarterback controversy that has become all too familiar in the city of Brotherly Love. For more than a decade, Philly fans groused and complained about Donovan McNabb despite the fact that he led them to five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl. They finally got their wish when Andy Reid shipped McNabb out of town in favor of popular back-up Kevin Kolb. Kolb rewarded Reid and the fan base by generally stinking up Lincoln Financial Field for most of one quarter prior to leaving the game entirely due to a concussion. In his absence, Michael Vick rode in on his white horse and produced a performance reminiscent of his days in Hot-lanta. Frankly, Vick was electric finishing with 175 yards passing and 103 yards rushing. Vick made plays out of thin air with his legs and displayed an improved control of the passing game, including several completions that he fit into extremely tight windows. The Vick that was on display in week one appeared to be much more prepared than the version we previously witnessed in Atlanta. It is clear that he benefited from being around a consummate professional like Donovan McNabb last year and he is in much better football shape in his second season after serving the 18-month prison sentence. Vick’s dynamic performance made a rather mundane football game actually watchable. In addition, he has created a huge dilemma for Andy Reid. Fans are clamoring for Vick to start next week’s game, but Reid is essentially committed to Kolb after jettisoning McNabb in the offseason. More importantly, Reid still does not know what he has in Kolb because he lasted less than one quarter. Reid has already stated that Kolb will start if he is healthy, but the post-concussion symptoms that Kolb will no doubt face this week probably take the decision out of Reid’s hands. I think it is going to be tough for Reid to keep Vick on the bench if he continues to perform like he did against the Packers. The important thing for Reid to remember is that Aaron Rodgers went 6-10 in his first season as a starter, so he will probably have to be willing to go through some growing pains if he sticks by Kolb.

Speaking of Rodgers, he played pretty poorly for a guy expected to challenge for the MVP award and lead his team deep into the playoffs. He bounced several early throws and threw two interceptions, including one that was so horribly overthrown that it appeared to be an attempt at throwing the ball away. To be fair to Rodgers, the Packers pass protection was not very solid, which meant that Rodgers didn’t have the time in the pocket that he normally would prefer. Nonetheless, the Packers looked nothing like the team that I fully expect to be a top five offense and Super Bowl participant. They had a nice, long touchdown drive in each half, but otherwise they were their own worst enemy. It felt like they never got into a good rhythm, which was equal parts due to their inefficiency on third down (6 for 14), lackluster running game and Rodger’s inability to get comfortable in the pocket. I still believe they are the class of the NFC North, but they have a lot of things to clean up to achieve their ultimate goals. Fortunately, the Packers have a solid defense led by the relentless play of Clay Matthews, who knocked Kevin Kolb out of the game on his way to racking up seven tackles and two sacks. If Matthews keeps this up, he could very well collect a Defensive Player of the Year award to make up for the Rookie Defensive Player of the Year that he missed out on last season. Overall, I think that the Packers are going to be just fine with Rodgers and Matthews leading the way, but they just didn’t start the season on fire like I expected that they would.