A Look Back – The 2009 campaign might have statistically been the best ever for the Houston Texans at 9-7, but that doesn’t mean that the season was viewed at as a success. This is still a franchise that has never made the playoffs, and though it came close last year, repeating the “close” process this season will get Gary Kubiak canned. It’s playoffs or bust in the Lone Star State.
Key Addition – RB Ben Tate – Tate is going to hopefully help out the worst red zone offense in the league from last year. The running back position has never been one that Houston has really ever had settled from one year to the next in its team’s history, and though Tate will be amongst a plethora of backs hoping to become the starter for Kubiak’s offense, eventually the hope is there that he will be able to be the #1 back for a long time for this team.
Key Loss – DB Dunta Robinson – The other position that has always plagued this team is cornerback, and losing former first round draft pick Dunta Robinson won’t help that any. Robinson, a South Carolina product, became very disgruntled two years ago when GM Rick Smith wouldn’t give him a new contract. Now, he’ll be defending passes in Atlanta, while the Texans have to pick up the pieces to an already torn secondary.
2010 Will Be a Success if… – The offense manages to get a bit of a balance. QB Matt Schaub became known as an elite passer after flirting with the 5,000 yard barrier last year and leading the game’s #1 rated passing attack. However, when push came to shove, a number of games were lost on the goal line. If just one of those three defeats (Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Arizona) goes the other direction, the Texans are in the playoffs last year. Consistency on the ground needs to be achieved, as ranking 30th in the NFL in rushing won’t cut it again.
The Crucial Game – Right off the bat, the Texans get to play host to the Indianapolis Colts, the big, bad wolves of the AFC South. Eventually, Houston has to figure out how to overcome QB Peyton Manning and the Colts if it ever hopes to win the division. Though winning at Lucas Oil Stadium isn’t a pre-requisite for making the playoffs, it’d be difficult to get swept by Indy and still have a winning record in the division.
Predictions – If Tate or another running back can step up and lead the charge for the Texans ground attack, they will be an incredibly dangerous team. This is a tough division and a tough conference overall to play in. Anything less than ten wins probably won’t get the job done for the playoffs, but there’s a realistic possibility that even 10-6 won’t get Houston in and the over/under on NFL regular season wins for the Texans is just 8.5. However, this is one of the better teams in the league as evidenced by their Super Bowl odds which sit at +1600. Like we said at the top, anything less than a postseason appearance will cost Kubiak his job.
2010 Houston Texans Regular Season Schedule
9/12 vs. IND
9/19 @ WAS
9/26 vs. DAL
10/3 @ OAK
10/10 vs. NYG
10/17 vs. KC
Bye
11/1 @ IND
11/7 vs. SD
11/14 @ JAC
11/21 @ NYJ
11/28 vs. TEN
12/2 @ PHI
12/13 vs. BAL
12/19 @ TEN
12/26 @ DEN
1/2 vs. JAC
Cushing Retains Defensive ROY
AP voters have decided to retain Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans as the Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Cushing could have potentially lost his DROY award after it was revealed that he tested positive for a banned substance HCG. Cushing will be suspended for the first four games of next season due to the positive test.
I wonder if they know anything about performance enhancing drugs?
HCG is a fertility drug that is often used to mask steroid use by restarting natural testosterone production and is the same drug that Manny Ramirez was caught using last year.
Cushing had one positive test in September and hasn’t tested positive before or since.
Cushing originally won the AP vote by a 39-6 margin over Jairus Byrd and the second time around it was just 18-13. Nineteen people changed their vote from Cushing to someone else while one person changed his vote to Cushing.
Media types are having a field day debating the merits of the re-vote. I won’t rehash any of that here, but I recommend you check out Tom Curran’s Why I voted for Cushing . . . again, Don Banks’ Why AP’s revote decision is wrong, and why I’m still voting for Cushing, and Peter King’s Why AP’s revote decision is right, and why I won’t vote for Cushing.
The Houston Texans without Cushing for the first four games are long-shots in odds to win the Super Bowl at +3000.