Saints at Texans: Insert 'Reggie Versus Mario' Storyline Here

To get you ready for week 11, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Houston Texans/New Orleans Saints preview.

2007 Records:
Houston Texans 4-5 (4th, AFC South)
New Orleans Saints 4-5 (T2,NFC South)

Last Game:
Texans Bye Week (Previously Texans 24, Raiders 17)
Rams 37, Saints 29

If you want to read or participate in some Reggie Bush-Mario Williams talk, check out this. Otherwise this is going to be a straight up preview of the game.

It's interesting that both of these teams have the same record, but that the Saints are only one game out of first place in the division and are very much talked about in the playoff hunt, but that the Texans are three games out and not much in the playoff discussion. Certainly both teams want to leave this game with a .500 record.

As a part of this preview, I've asked the FanHouser that covers the Saints, Tom Mantzouranis, to answer a few questions to help preview the game, (and I will answer the same questions as it relates to the Texans):

What might casual NFL fans not know about the Saints as of Week 11?

For all the talk about leadership and character on the roster (and there's a good amount of that, more than average), the Saints are emotionally fragile. They need an early lead to win. If a team gives them the least bit of adversity in the first half, they begin to press and make mistakes.

Part of this is Sean Payton's fault -- he'll abandon the run completely in the second quarter if the team's down by 7 and get "too cute" in his playcalling, making the offense predictable and easy to stop. But the difference between good teams and great teams is the ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and the Saints haven't proven capable of that. They could do it last year, but for some reason it's become an issue this season.

What has Saints fans worried the most going into the game against the Texans?

Two things have Saints fans worried most. The first being a team in need of a win coming off the bye. It's a big game for the Texans as a victory keeps them at the very least relevant in playoff hunt, and they've had two weeks to prepare for the Saints. We as a group were worried about playing the Rams, desperate for their first win and also coming off a bye, and obviously that fretting was for good reason. The second thing that worries us is Andre Johnson's return.

I don't know how creative the Texans offense gets, but the Saints don't match their corners -- Mike McKenzie plays one side and Jason David plays the other no matter who the receiver is. McKenzie is an excellent bump and run corner who can stick to most receivers in the league, but if the Texans can get Johnson matched up against David it can be a long day.

David has almost single-handedly been responsible for 3 of the Saints 5 losses (and it can be argued 4). He plays way off the receiver, making him susceptible to short routes. He watches the quarterback instead of the receiver and bites on double moves, making him susceptible to the deep routes. He's susceptible to all routes, pretty much. Fans have been clamoring for David to be replaced, and it might happen this week, but i doubt it.

What question did I not ask you that I should have regarding the Saints, and what is is the answer to that question?

Which Saint(s) get no love but need to concern the Texans?

The defensive line. People still have the misconception that the saints have a bad run defense; that's not the case at all. They are 13th in the league and have been as high as 10th. Before the Rams they kept 7 straight opponents under 100 yards. Hollis Thomas has really turned it on after a weak preseason and they've found a solid rotation at tackle with Antwan Lake, Brian Young, and Kendrick Clancy. The ends have been playing well too, in both run support and pass rush. Charles Grant missed the first game of his career against the Rams, but he and Will Smith have really turned it on over the last 5 or 6 games.

Thanks Tom. Here's my view of the Texans going into their matchup against the Saints:

What might casual NFL fans not know about the Texans as of Week 11?

Probably most fans would look at the Texans record and say same old Texans. But as much as the Colts' injury troubles have made the news recently, the Texans injury problems have been mostly under the radar. For large portions of the season, they have been able to move the ball despite missing significant playmakers on their offense.

Some fans are disappointed with the Texans 4-5 record, but it is amazing to me what they've been able to do with a very makeshift offense. The game against the Saints is probably the healthiest that they've been since Week 2, with the exception of losing corner Dunta Robinson in the last game with a season ending leg injury.

What has Texans fans worried the most going into the game against the Saints?

The Texans defense as a whole has played awful this season. As much as New Orleans fans are down on corner Jason David, Texans fans have been down on corner DeMarcus Faggins. With the injury to Robinson, the Texans have decided to take Faggins out of the starting corner position and will be instead starting rookie corner Fred Bennett and moving Von Hutchins from safety back to corner.

With an entirely new secondary look, this could either be 1. a huge improvement over the Faggins show; 2. a catastrophic joke; 3. somewhere in between. I have no idea, but I'd guess that it is going to get pretty ugly out there as I have little reason to think that the secondary will look better with a rookie and someone who couldn't beat out Faggins earlier unless I wake up and Raiders quarterback Josh McCown somehow is starting for the Saints.

The Reggie Bush show is a bit worrisome to because the Texans have been awful defending screen passes and runs to the outside. Heck, inside runs have been bad too. Defensive coordinator Richard Smith is baffled about how poor the running game has looked because he makes defending the run a point of emphasis. If the DC has no idea what the problem is, I am guessing it isn't going to be fixed in time to see Reggie Bush doing his thing during Mario versus Reggie hype week.

What question did I not ask you that I should have regarding the Texans, and what is is the answer to that question?

What might be the difference in this game?

The Texans and Saints are fairly evenly matched--their offenses can move the ball and their pass defenses only frighten their fans. The biggest difference may be special teams. With few exceptions, the Texans special teams has out performed the rest of the team.

One way or another, with as poor as both defenses have played this season, I am expecting a ton of points.


Thanks to Tom again, and for you for reading my conversation with him and my conversation with myself. I guess you start talking to yourself during the bye week. What do you have to add to the conversation?