Texans' Grades Houston V. San Diego September 9, 2013 We

Texans’ Grades Houston v. San Diego September 9, 2013 We posted a story back in June called “It’s the Injuries Stupid!” which highlighted 10 key players that could play a significant role in a successful Texans’ season. As a follow up to that story, I thought that we could grade out those 10 players based on their performances in last night’s come-from-behind victory against the Chargers. It looked extremely bleak through the first half of play. I saw more sloppy play than I cared to see. In fact, I saw more sloppy play on Sunday in most of the games played than I can ever recall seeing. However, as they were able to do last year on more than one occasion, the Texans pulled a rabbit out of the hat and won the game on a Randy Bullock field goal as time expired. Let’s hope for a better performance on Sunday against the Titans in the home opener. Let’s also hope for some better grades from some of the key players below: 1. Brian Cushing Grade: A Brian played a relatively quiet game until approximately 9:00 minutes left in the game when he pulled off an improbable interception and touchdown return. He stretched out to make a super catch, and then sprinted to the end zone for the tying touchdown. Great timing from a great player. He, along with Danieal Manning and Whitney Mercilus led the team with 5 tackles each. 2. JJ Watt Grade: B- JJ was double teamed throughout most of the game but it didn’t stop him from getting three tackles and a crucially timed batted down pass. While not his usual impactful self, he nonetheless created pressure and stepped up when it counted. 3. DJ Swearinger Grade: C- DJ made two tackles, but he was made to look silly by a much older Antonio Gates on one pass in particular he tried (unsuccessfully) to defend. He has a lot to learn, but not to worry. He has Ed Reed and Jonathan Joseph to learn from- not bad teachers at all. 4. Arian Foster Grade: C- Arian caught six balls for 33 yard s and rushed for 57. Not a bad outing for a player who missed the entire pre-season, but certainly not what we have come to expect from one of the league’s top running backs. What was worse was seeing the on-camera pity party he held for himself in the midst of the Texans’ comeback. Let’s chalk it up to the personal disappointment in his performance in light of the high bar he has set for himself and hope for better game ahead. 5. DeAndre Hopkins Grade: B- 5 catches for 66 yards and a HUGE 30 yard reception from Schaub. DeAndre played well in his first NFL regular season game and we can expect even greater things to come. 6. Ed Reed Grade: N/A (did not play) 7. Randy Bullock Grade: A While Randy missed a 51 yard field goal earlier in the game, one could put part of the blame on LeStar Jean for his offensive holding penalt(ies) which backed the Texans up and caused a longer field goal than should have been kicked otherwise. And with his game winning 41 yarder, Randy boosted his confidence as well as that of his teammates. Randy passed his first “kicking under pressure” test with flying colors. 8. Matt Schaub Grade: A Matt was 34 of 45 passing attempts for a total of 346 yards. He completed 75.6% of his passes for a stellar 110.0 quarterback rating. Matt made big throws all throughout the second half and played as well under pressure as I’ve ever seen him play. 9. Duane Brown Grade: C Maybe it’s just me, but Duane did not have one of the Pro Bowl worthy performances we have come to know and love. He wasn’t bad, but wasn’t that great either. He gets an average C. 10. Shane Lechler Grade: A See, I told you the punter was important! Field position cannot be underestimated. Lechler pinned San Diego inside their own 20 yard line with his punt just prior to the Cushing interception. That lack of real estate and close proximity to their own end zone put Cushing in position to score the touchdown as he only had to run 18 yards to do it. Shane punted the ball three times and all three were placed inside the opponents’ 20 yard line..

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