Today is like Opening Day for me.
The Autumn Wind has come in and carried out the trash, well, atleast what we all saw as the major weakness on this team...Tom Walsh.
Now, it is time for the players to rally around thier Head Coach and New Offensive Coordinator and go out and stick a 30+ spot on the board.
I am interested in seeing IF Moss and Porter join in to the offense for the final 5 games.
The word on Shoop from all angles is that he was a player's coach in Chicago. He would oftentimes talk to the players and run the plays they thought would work.
I'll be at the game and will give a full report when I return.
Here are a few things to look at before the game:
The Raiders are 2-9 with thier two victories coming over Arizona and the "More Like Tin Can" Steel-ers.
Houston is coming into the game at 3-8 with the 27th best defense in the league, despite having one of the top tacklers in DeMeco Ryans.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=7782
Ryans is one of the best stories of the Texans season.
In his rookie season after being drafted in the 2nd Round out of Alabama last yearhe is 3rd in the NFL with 99 tackles!!! He also has 2 passes defensed and 2.5 sacks!!! Roll Tide!!!
The Texans also boast one of top wide-outs in the game in Andre Johnson.
He is not so much of a surprise as he was drafted 3rd overall 3 years ago.
He is having a comeback year after gaining only 688 yards in 13 games last year. He has currently rolled up 982 yards in 11 games and he also has a career high 84 cathes.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=4461
In all honesty and fairness the Raiders have a MUCH better team.
The Texans strength is thier passing game and that is our strength, passing defense.
This will be the second time in 11 games that our offense has faced a team in the bottom 3 of defenses and the other game was against AZ.
My key's to todays game are:
The Raiders will need to force 2-3 turnovers.
Brooks will need to pass for 280+ yards.
Crockett and Fargas should get 25 carries combined.
If these happen it will be a walk in the park.
IF Moss runs complete routes and Porter suits up and plays this will be a blowout!!!