The Houston Texans will take on the New Orleans Saints and even with a new offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien will be calling the plays. What’s going on?
Here were go HoustonTexansfans — it’s T-minus one day before it’s time for our team to conquer the 2019 season. We all hope that this season is filled with success but they have a much tougher schedule this season, starting with battling againstDrew Breesand the New Orleans Saints in their house tomorrow night.
Right off the bat, the HoustonTexanswill be featured on prime time and I’m positive that this team won’t disappoint. WithDeshaun Watsonunder center and in front of a national stage, there’s no telling what he’s going to be able to do. We just need to sit back, relax and enjoy what we’re about to see because it’s going to be damn exciting!
Just wait and see!
With improved protection on the offensive line with the acquisition ofLaremy Tunsilthat will be on Watson’s left side, along with rookies Tytus Howard and Max Scharping being able to help out veteransZach FultonandSenio Kelemete, we can only hope there’s an improvement in the pass protection department. Hopefully,Greg ManczandSeantrel Hendersoncan stay healthy this season as they’re two amazingly valuable assets to the line as well.
This unit allowed 62 sacks on Watson last season, an NFL-record and that was in the forefront of the HoustonTexans‘ mind this offseason, making significant investments in this lackluster, under-performing group of the past.
With a wide receiving core ofDeAndre Hopkins,Will Fuller,Kenny StillsandKeke Coutee, the team already has a lot of weapons coupled withJordan Akins,Jerell AdamsandDarren Fells. The HoustonTexanscarried all five of their tight ends on the 53-man roster so it remains to be seen when red-zone targetJordan Thomasand 2019 third-rounder Kahale Warring return back to the lineup.
Duke Johnsonwill handle a good chunk of the carries withCarlos Hyde, a recent acquisition will
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help him out. There’s a lot of promise with those in the fold so let’s hope for the best there.
But in terms of offensive strategy, the HoustonTexanspromoted tight ends coach Tim Kelly to offensive coordinator this season. He called the majority of the plays in the preseason and we at least saw some uptick in production in the first two games before the bottom fell out with injuries to key offensive players.
As I mentioned, with the season on the line comes new expectations andBill O’Brienis signaling that he will call the plays against the New Orleans Saints tomorrow night. It’s apparent that Kelly will provide input but it goes to show that the power structure of in-game strategy hasn’t changed one iota.
Here’s what Kelly told Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle late last week:
"“I think that Coach O’Brien is going to make the best decision there in the best interest of the team,” Kelly said. “It was good to call plays along with him, but moving forward we’ll see what he decides to do with that.”"
That doesn’t necessarily sound like a ringing endorsement to give Kelly the reins just yet. Although Bill has been complimentary of Kelly’s work so far, he still doesn’t quite trust him in the saddle just yet. Kelly is still more of like an advisor but won’t be calling the plays at least for now. It makes one feel as if Kelly is an OCINO (offensive coordinator in name only) and the wool has been pulled over our eyes once again.
I just implore Bill to at least give some thought about Kelly’s ideas as he seems like a really smart guy and it’s always good to have somebody else look under the hood because their perspective may not be the same.
We’ll have to see how this pans out but it appears as if nothing has changed and we’re still at the mercy of O’Brien having juggle so much on the sidelines during the game.
That could spell disaster for the HoustonTexans.
Let’s hope not.
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