Semi-coherent Philadelphia Eagles vs. Houston Texans preview

Last week, the Eagles re-learned that if they continue to make key mistakes and squander scoring opportunities, they’re not always going to be able to find a way to win.

Hopefully, they’ve learned their lesson and will turn in a relatively mistake-free performance against the Texans this week.

Houston Texans

Record: 4-4 (2-1 home)

Head coach: Bill O’Brien (4-4 with Texans)

Last week: Defeated Tennessee Titans 30-16

The last time they met

In 2010, the Eagles and Texans met up for one of those Thursday night games that the fans really don’t care that much about.

Arian Foster. Image Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles got off to an early 17-3 lead, but some shaky defensive play allowed the Texans to mount a comeback. After an Arian Foster touchdown run in the third quarter, the Eagles trailed 24-20.

As he did so often that season, Michael Vick played the hero. He ran for one touchdown in the fourth quarter and then threw for another, giving the Eagles a hard-fought 34-24 win.

What’s the deal with the Texans?

It should be no surprise that the Texans’ offense leans heavily on the running game. They have a star running back in Arian Foster who, after an injury plagued 2013 season, appears to be back in top form.

Despite missing one game and most of another, Foster ranks second in the AFC with 766 rushing yards. Last week, he managed 151 yards and two touchdowns.

Ryan Fitzpatrick. Image Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

On the other hand, the Texans passing game is less impressive. The Texans are quarterbacked by Ryan Fitzpatrick, an adequate quarterback who scares absolutely no one.

They do have a good receiving duo in Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins, but there isn’t much depth, considering Eagles castoff Damaris Johnson is third on the team in receiving yards.

Defensively, the Texans rank 30th in yards allowed, but 8th in points allowed. This discrepancy is largely due to their 17 takeaways, which rank second in the league. That is somewhat concerning considering the rate at which the Eagles have turned the ball over this season.

Featured Texans player: J.J. Watt

It seems like J.J. Watt is everywhere these days. He’s appeared in commercials. He’s appeared on the television show The League. And he’s made appearances in the countless highlight films for the way he’s harassed opposing quarterbacks this season.

J.J. Watt. Image Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

He has seven sacks, but more importantly, watching a Texans game, it feels like he gets constant pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

For anyone who is concerned by Nick Foles‘ ability to stand tall against pressure, this is not a good sign.

Reason to hate the Texans

Aren’t football games are even more fun if the fans actively dislike their team’s opponents? Isn’t that why divisional games get the fans more juiced?

With that in mind, I’ll try to come up with a good reason to hate each week’s opponent. Some weeks this will be easy. If I have to tell you why you should hate the Giants, then you’re not much of an Eagles fan.

The Texans are a little tougher. They’re an AFC team that doesn’t share much history with the Eagles. The two teams have only played each other three times (all Eagles wins! Take that, Houston!)

But let’s not forget that the Texans are from Texas. (Honestly, if you forgot that the Texans are from Texas, you might have some issues.) Which means that almost all of their fans were probably Cowboys fans before 2002. And Eagles fans don’t much care for the Cowboys.

Out of curiosity: Who did the people of Houston cheer for in the time between the time the Oilers left and the Texans were created? Did most of them maintain some loyalty to the displaced Oilers and become Titans fans? Did they switch over to the Cowboys? Or did they wander in some sort of allegiance-less wilderness?

Key Eagles Storyline: Turnovers

In 2013, thanks to Nick Foles’ ability to avoid interceptions, the Eagles rarely gave the ball away. In 2014, that hasn’t quite been the case.

Nick Foles. Image Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

In just about every game this season, Foles has thrown at least one interception that makes me wonder what the hell was he thinking. These aren’t Brett Favre style “gunslinger” picks where he’s just being too aggressive with the ball. Most of the picks are due to bad decisions or poor mechanics.

Like most Eagles fans, I am getting tired of watching Foles backpedal twenty yards and then throw the ball off of his back foot.

The rest of the team needs to be more careful as well. There have been careless turnovers by Riley Cooper, Zack Ertz, and Josh Huff, and just about every one of them could have been avoided.

Disney song that relates to this week’s game

When I did these previews last year, I would include a segment called “Chappelle’s Show Skit that eelates to this week’s game.” I ended that feature because Chappelle’s Show has been off the air for ten years now, and there’s only a finite number of skits to choose from.

I realized that I should find something else to fill the void. It was just a matter of deciding what to use as my source material.

As the father of a four-year old girl, I have had a lot of exposure to Disney songs. And so, from here on out, each game gets compared to a song from the illustrious Walt Disney collection.

In recent weeks, Nick Foles’ pocket presence has been a bit shaky. Every time that pressure starts to come, he begins backpedalling like crazy. It feels like he needs to throw the ball thirty yards just to complete a five yard pass.

With J.J. Watt sure to be in his face, let’s hope that Nick Foles can stand up to the “Big Bad Watt.”

Foles-o-Meter

Last week, I compared Foles to Eli Manning. But now I realize he might be better compared to a different quarterback who once suited up for a divison rival.

Jason Campbell was the starting quarterback for the Redskins over the course of a few seasons. During that time, there were some games when he had me convinced that he was a future star. I even once remarked that Campbell looked just like a young Donovan McNabb.

However, Campbell could never quite find consistency. He could never string too many of those “future superstar” games together in a row.

Foles has shown a disturbingly similar level of inconsistency this season. Within each game, he’ll cause a huge swing of emotions. First he’ll throw a beautiful deep bomb to Jeremy Maclin, and on the next drive, he’ll toss it five yards behind Riley Cooper.

I’m just hoping that Foles has more long-term success with the Eagles than Campbell ultimately did with the Redskins.

Prediction

Based on the numbers, it feels like if the Eagles take care of the ball, they will win. Of course that’s easier said than done.

It’s clear that Foles needs to start handling pressure better. With that in mind, this seems like a good week to lean on the running game to help make the quarterback’s job easier.

I’m being optimistic that LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles, and even Chris Polk get at least 30 carries among them. If that happens, I feel confident that the Eagles will be victorious.

Eagles 30 – Texans 21