5 Keys To Beating The Texans
The Kansas City Chiefs will once again have their hands full this weekend as they travel to Houston to take on the Texans.
The Texans present a couple of problems for the Chiefs. They have Matt Shaub who is capable of busting out a 500-yard passing performance at any time. They have Andre Johnson who many believe is the absolute best receiver in the game today and not they have Arian Foster tearing up defenses on the ground.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Texans have the 5th best rushing defense in the NFL but are hampered by ranking dead last against the pass. Houston is giving up an average of 329.6 yards per-game through the air.
On paper it doesn’t look like a good matchup for the Chiefs. Their strength on offense (the run) is the opponents strength on defense. The Chiefs biggest weakness on offense (the pass) is the opponents weakness on defense.
Therefore, this game could very well come down to which team can overcome it’s weaknesses.
Let’s take a look at 5 ways the Kansas City Chiefs can steal a win on the road in Houston this Sunday.
1 Win the turnover battle.
This goes without saying in any football game but it will be especially critical when the Chiefs go to Houston. Matt Shaub has thrown a pick in all but one game this season. He has thrown 5 picks vs. 7 touchdowns. The Chiefs have a secondary that is capable of making these sorts of plays.
Last week, linebacker Derrick Johnson dropped an interception that likely would have gone for 6 points. On another play against the Colts, John McGraw intercepted a Peyton Manning pass and set the Chiefs up with favorable field position. On the next play, Dwayne Bowe dropped a Matt Cassel pass that would have been for a touchdown. Those 14 points would have been the difference in the game. The Chiefs can’t afford to let that happen again. They must cause turnovers and they must turn those turnovers into touchdowns.
2 Keep stopping the run
Texans running back Arian Foster is having a breakout season but he can be stopped. The New York Giants proved that last week, doing such a good job containing Foster that he only received 11 carries. Shaub is a talented QB but he is not Peyton Manning. Last week, the Chiefs were in nickel and dime packages designed to stop the pass all day. This strategy allowed the Colts to have some (but not very much) success running the ball. The Chiefs need to guard against the pass in this game but perhaps not as much as they did against the Colts.
Expect Romeo Crennel to work in more blitzes against Houston than he did against the Colts. If KC can stop Foster like they stopped Frank Gore, they should be able to get pressure on Shaub.
3 Get the passing game going
One area the Texans excel in on defense is stopping the run. Since the Chiefs have shown weakness in the passing game and strength in the running game, the Texans are going to come out stacking the box in an attempt to stop Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. The Chiefs can’t fall into this trap. The need Mat Cassel and the receivers to set the tone and make the Texans pay for being overly aggressive.
Houston is the worst in the league at stopping the pass. If the Chiefs can’t throw on Houston they are going to have serious problems on offense moving forward.
4 Make Andre Johnson a non-factor.
Andre Johnson is a beast and the Chiefs need to take him out of the game. After Johnson, the Texans’ receivers are not that intimidating. I would double team Johnson most of the day and use different coverages and blitzes to confuse and frustrate Shaub.
If Glenn Dorsey and Tamba Hali can have another good game rushing the passer Shaub will make some mistakes.
5 Get an early lead
Part of the secret to the Giants’ success last week against the Texans was that they jumped out to an early lead. They did this by scoring when they got the ball and by converting Houston turnovers into touchdowns. This forced the Texans to be one dimensional and the Giants rolled the rest of the game.
The Chiefs need to strike fast and not look back. We saw when they played the 49ers how effective they can be with a lead. If the Chiefs can get up early, I don’t think the Texans will be able to come back against KC’s stout D.
Those are my 5 keys to victory Addicts. What are yours?