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Greetings! This is KPRC 2 Sports Director Randy McIlvoy checking in with your Houston Texans update!
GO FOR THE TIE OR THE WIN?
It’s been the talk all week since Sunday’s opener against the Colts that ended in a 20-20 tie in overtime. By now you know what went down and the decisions that were made. What did you think? Did Lovie Smith make the right call by punting on 4th and 3 in that overtime to secure a tie? Many are on the fence and I’m still in the belief that Lovie made the right call. I feel that way because things had not gone well for 4 straight series with the Texans offense and they were staring at a 4th and 3 at the Colts 49 yard line. If you go and fail then IMO, you’ve basically gift wrapped it for Indy to pick up a quick 20 -25 yards, kick a field goal and get out of NRG with a win. That would have really stung with the way the Texans had played for most of the that game. Lovie wasn’t confident in his offense at the time and knew a punt would salvage a tie and avoid a loss. I think it was the right call. If Houston had been let’s say at Indy’s 40 or closer then yes I think it would have been a no-brainer to go for it and take your chances. But midfield? No thanks.
Lovie Smith on coming off of a tie this week
“The complexity of the week doesn’t change when we win, lose or tie. You move onto the next opponent. You watch that video, critique everything that needs to be corrected, praise everything that you did well and you do move on. And for us, we moved on quickly. We had the opportunity, in an ideal world, to see your next opponent play, which we were able to do with Monday Night Football. Who did we play last? It was a long time ago, that last game we played. They are all back there in that same box that we’ve left.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
It’s on to Denver now and a date with the Broncos on Sunday afternoon. I’ll be flying out to Denver to cover it for KPRC 2 and it’s going to be a raucous crowd for their home opener and the Denver debut for QB Russell Wilson. They are coming off of that shocking loss at Seattle in Wilson’s homecoming so the Broncos and Broncos Nation are pretty angry this week. Wilson is elite as we all know and in Denver he has weapons in the backfield and in his receiver corp. Add in the fact, Wilson is also mobile and this will be a huge test for the Texans defense that struggled to stop Indy’s Johnathan Taylor in the opener.
Lovie Smith on gameplanning against Russell Wilson
“It’s been that way for some time. I had an opportunity to go against him, of course we played him last year. I’d say we’re dealing with some similar things offensively with him. As I mentioned, mobile, accurate thrower, smart decisions, that kind of opens everything else up.”
PIERCE WORKLOAD GOING UP
The big topic at NRG this week outside of the tie and Lovie’s OT decision has been centered on rookie running back Dameon Pierce.
He’s the starter but was limited to only 11 carries against Indy while sharing the load with Rex Burkhead who actually carried more of the workload against the Colts. Pierce though will get more snaps and become a key piece starting in Denver.
Lovie Smith on getting more touches for Dameon Pierce
“I’m saying the same thing right now. We need to get Dameon (Pierce) more touches. Without giving the Broncos our total game plan, that’s what we need to do. You look at the reps, that’s why as you play evaluation is looking at those things to. You can get in a game and situations dictate, you may have to lean a little bit in the one direction after you analyze it more, you wish you hadn’t. I just know this week we’re going to try to get him more touches.”
MY PREDICTION
Going to Denver is never easy any season but catching the Broncos Sunday in Wilson’s debut will make it tough on the Texans. Denver’s running game will be a factor, and I think Wilson will attack Houston’s secondary and try to get Jerry Jeudy and company going early. Offensively, the OL needs to fix their communication issue they had against Indy and get Pierce going. He’s a North-South runner and needs space to run and do some damage. Davis Mills was good for the Texans in the opener but really struggled, as did the whole unit, in their final four series Sunday.
I’m going with Broncos win 31-19.
FIND HOUSTON TEXANS COVERAGE FROM PRO FOOTBALL NETWORK REPORTER AND KPRC 2 CONTRIBUTOR AARON WILSON EACH WEEK ON CLICK2HOUSTON.COM.