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Official Sunshine Thread 2018


Apollo Stallion

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- Zero sacks, one QB hit, 100+ for Miller a 2nd straight week. THIS is an OL that can carry this offense into top 3 status. 

- Lucky start #13 will be known as Deshaun Watson's best start to date for his career. Took care of the ball all game long, checked down when needed, was very smart with his runs, took what the defense gave him, but took a knife to the secondary's heart when the opportunity presented itself. This was Aaron Rodgers-esque, amazing what Watson can do with a run game and pass protection. 

- Ryan Griffin just lost his job to Jordan Thomas. That first TD was a very athletic grab, got up with full extension and pulled that soft floater down very nicely. That 2nd TD was a nice bit of awareness on Thomas' part; Protection broke down, QB flushed to his side, so he found a soft spot and sat down for the easy score. He also had some nice blocks, sealing an edge to allow Miller to hit an inside hole without any backside defenders to cut him off from the 2nd level. He's not a premium TE, but he's the best true TE we got.

- DeAndre Hopkins made the catch of the year. It's absolutely horrendous he was called for OPI, but that catch stands as a reminder that the man is nearly uncoverable. Xavien Howard is a top tier CB and Hopkins ate him for lunch.

- Tyrann Mathieu looks more and more comfortable in his role every week. He's starting to time his blitzes well, just closes in on a QB and disrupts the timing of a play so well. 

- JJ Watt is doing his usual thing now, and that's a sight to behold. JuWann James tried to German suplex him, but it didn't matter. Watt's got the inside track to DPOY right now vs Aaron Donald.

- Watching Brock sail passes over open WRs and looking flustered after Josh Keyes demoralized him on a blitz tells me that last year's 2nd round pick was the best utilized pick in franchise history. Giving that 2nd rounder to the Browns to simply rid ourselves of Brock (and open up the door for Mr. Watson) could be perhaps the defining moment of this franchise. 

- Just this past week, an official was fired. First time in league history an official was fired mid season. So, there is hope we never see this officiating crew again. Quite literally, the most incompetent officiating I've ever seen in any sport. Shawn Michaels vs Brett Hart in Montreal was a better officiated event, and that was a scripted wrestling match remembered as "the Montreal Screwjob". So, that's saying something.

- Five in a row feels good, no matter who the HC is.

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  • 4 weeks later...

- Seven in a row. For once in my Texans' fandom, I am not the victim of late game letdowns. 

- The division is rough, but there is a nice cushion between the Texans and Colts, the actual threat to the division. Colts and Titans proving what I had thought last season: They could only win in division if there is bad QB play. Luck and Watson swing this division to Colts/Texans until proven otherwise.

- Justin Reid has names ahead of him, but should get some votes for DPOY. I think his pick six is the longest play of the season, but he's been pretty dependant and consistent in creating turnovers as well as playing solid coverage. He's slated to have a very long, very productive career here. 

- I'm not fawning over him, but Martinas Rankin (with zero reps at G since his Sophomore-ish year at MSU) looks better at G than T. The inside run game actually worked, holes were created and running room was there to be had. An OL with Andre Dillard at LT, Rankin at G, Nick Martin at C, Greg Mancz at G and Jawaan Taylor at RT is a young and talented OL that could grow into a dominant unit (with some solid, experienced depth with Julie'n and Fulton ready to step in. Kelemete should be cut, IMO).

- 7-3 after an 0-3 start? Not how I envisioned it, but I'll take it. There's something to be said about not getting down on yourself and turning it around like this (even if it's winning ugly). The actual coaching part, I'll criticize... but O'Brien is proving to be an adept leader, someone these guys want to play hard for. Look at the league as a whole: Steve Wilks and Matt Patricia are one and done most likely, Vance Joseph has a talented team quit on him, Pat Shurmer is probably on the hot seat next season, Todd Bowels is sitting on a landmine, Doug Marrone and Dirk Koetter are in the middle of mutinies, Jon Gruden has lost the team he's coaching for the next 10 years... heck, even stalwarts such as John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy are getting ousted from playoff-ready teams. Those teams have more or less quit on their coaches, and it's pretty public. The Texans? No. Not at all - despite some pretty awful losses early on. Plenty of ammo to fire at him, but nobody on the team even looked at a gun during that 0-3 start.

BOB is still not a good coach, but - maybe with the right coordinators - he doesn't have to be a good coach. (He'll have to concede that he is in fact, NOT a good offensive coordinator, I'll say that). Maybe he can be a Mike Tomlin type, a Pete Carroll type, a "leader of men" that Mike Vrabel is being positioned as. I don't know, maybe I'm softening the blow knowing he's going to come back for the next few seasons, because 12-4 and a division title means he's sitting on a block of ice.

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17 hours ago, ET80 said:

- 7-3 after an 0-3 start? Not how I envisioned it, but I'll take it. There's something to be said about not getting down on yourself and turning it around like this (even if it's winning ugly). The actual coaching part, I'll criticize... but O'Brien is proving to be an adept leader, someone these guys want to play hard for. Look at the league as a whole: Steve Wilks and Matt Patricia are one and done most likely, Vance Joseph has a talented team quit on him, Pat Shurmer is probably on the hot seat next season, Todd Bowels is sitting on a landmine, Doug Marrone and Dirk Koetter are in the middle of mutinies, Jon Gruden has lost the team he's coaching for the next 10 years... heck, even stalwarts such as John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy are getting ousted from playoff-ready teams. Those teams have more or less quit on their coaches, and it's pretty public. The Texans? No. Not at all - despite some pretty awful losses early on. Plenty of ammo to fire at him, but nobody on the team even looked at a gun during that 0-3 start.

BOB is still not a good coach, but - maybe with the right coordinators - he doesn't have to be a good coach. (He'll have to concede that he is in fact, NOT a good offensive coordinator, I'll say that). Maybe he can be a Mike Tomlin type, a Pete Carroll type, a "leader of men" that Mike Vrabel is being positioned as. I don't know, maybe I'm softening the blow knowing he's going to come back for the next few seasons, because 12-4 and a division title means he's sitting on a block of ice.

This is an interesting thought on it and never looked at it this way.  Good point brought up on the team not giving up on BOB where as the fans have/had.  I doubt hes in the hot seat now

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  • 2 weeks later...

honestly, this season will be a success if we can get the 3 seed and win a home playoff game. Anything over that will be a bonus. 

Id love to get Baltimore with Lamar Jackson starting at QB. Our D has struggled with rushing QBs but I think we have the personnel to load the box and make him pass the ball and I don’t think he can do it against us. 

That Ravens D though is legit. Might have to win a 17-10 type game. 

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I am going to project we finish the season at 10-6 with the 3 seed and a 1st round match up with the Ravens. Then we travel to New England where we lose. 

The reason i think we go 10-6 is because I think we lose this weekend to the colts. We are riding high and they are desperate coming off a shut out loss to the Jags. They will be ready to go and we wont. It will serve as a wake up call and we will beat the Jets the following week to get to 10-4

meanwhile the steelers will lose to the patriots in week 15. We will then lose to the eagles in week 16 making us 10-5, but the Steelers will lose to the Saints, clinching the 3 seed for us in the process and Branden Weeden and the boys lose a game against the Jags that doesnt mean anything to us. 

hence we finish 10-6, maybe 11-5 if we managed to beat the Eagles, but just like the Colts, the eagles will have much more to play for than we will. 

The Ravens inability to really burn us in the pass game will be to our benefit and we will win a close 17-13 playoff games against them before losing 27-17 against the Patriots. 

We will move into the off season with playoff experience, clear needs at Tackle and CB and with 3 picks in the top 58 of the draft, with plenty of money to throw around in FA. 

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Some sunshine: i'll be at the game this week! First regular season game where we're still in the mix. ill be the one in the battle red watson jersey


EDIT: i might even get a new Jersey while im there maybe!!! I have Watson Battle Red, and a JJ T-shirt Jersey... maybe its time to get a Hopkins one? Idk i'll wait and see who impresses me during the game

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9 hours ago, ET80 said:

On the plus side, New England and Pittsburgh lost. 

The Pittsburgh loss was big for us. We will get a win against the Jets, at least I hope we can beat the lowly Jets who have every reason to lose and we have every reason to win. 

that puts us at 10 games, which means the Steelers would have to win out in order to have any chance at the 3 seed. They play the Patriots and the Saints the next two weeks. No way they win both of those. So we are looking at the Steelers going either 9-5-1 or possibly 8-7-1, which probably misses the playoffs....which we dont want. We want the Ravens in round 1 in the 3/6 match up. 

here is where it gets tricky inside our division. The colts and Titans play each other, so they cant both go 10-6, but either team would own the tie breaker over us if we finish 10-6, unless our 10th win comes against the Jags in week 17. The winner of that Colts vs Titans game, will be 4-2 in the division. I believe the Colts would have us beat in common games. we would be 8-6 in the 14 common games and they would be 9-5

All this can go away as we can clinch the division with a win Saturday and a Colts loss to the Cowboys and a Titans loss to the Giants. 

 

Another thing to watch for is the Eagles vs the Rams. If the Rams win that game, and the Cowboys beat the Colts, The eagles are eliminated from the division, and all but eliminated from the playoffs, which makes our game against them a little easier. I didnt want to play an Eagles team with a lot to play for. 

Amazingly the Giants, who beat us, are playing much better football as of late, and are playing both the Titans and the Colts in the next two weeks and can help us clinch our division. 

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