Week 2: Houston Texans vs Miami Dolphins

[Rancid Radio]

I'm calling Miami to win this game. Chad Henne looked like he's finally ready to reach his potential against New England, he was outstanding in that game and he's going up against a still not-so-great Texans defense. I respect the Texans offense, they are dangerous but they're still no New England. I also think Miami's defense will show up for this game and limit the Texans to around the 21-28 point area.

I could be dead wrong about this, it's so early in the season that everything is really speculation though. I've been a big fan of Henne's dating back to his days at Michigan so I'm hoping he finally steps up and proves himself as an NFL caliber starter this year, so my bias leads me to call a 35-24 Dolphins win.

If Arian Foster doesn't play, I think Miami can limit Ben Tate better than zombie Indy did in week 1. Schaub and Johnson will put up Madden numbers as always, but I think Henne has a more talented set of receivers to work with and I also believe Reggie Bush is very capable of breaking some big plays in this game. Especially after how much they got him involved with the offense against New England.

The keys for Miami are definitely the offensive line and their secondary, both of which performed horribly Monday. Still though, I think Mario Williams will be all over the field and I think Schaub will look great but I still think the Dolphins should be able to outperform the Texans and leave with their first W of the season.

A lot of believes, thinks, and ifs I know lol. Other than SD/NE, this is my favorite match up of the week. Bummer that they're both on at the same time, but I'll definitely be following this one and rooting for the Dolphins.

[Rancid Radio]

Quote: Originally Posted by Marino

I don't think that matchup will happen, Mario is on the other side, he will go up against Marc Colombo.

Mario should go up against two-three guys at a time, that guy is a beast lol. If they try to stick Colombo on him the entire game then I don't see this one going well for Chad Henne at all.

[TheMatrix31]

Houston's offense was statistically better overall, in passing, rushing and receiving than NE last year.

I understand the point, and I'm not saying Houston's offense is leaps and bounds better than NE, but Houston is most definitely in their league and not "no New England".

Defense will be fine, I think. Phillips' D is opportunistic, and Henne is prome to multiple mistakes a game.

Gonna be tough to cover Bush and Marshall but a guy like Davone Bess is going to be a killer in this game. Tons of catches and targets, he'll do some damage.

[Fiasco West]

I'll say this. As good as NEs Passing attack is, Houston's run game is.

I don't think i'm being a homer when I say this but Houston Possibly has the best run game in the NFL. They have three guys in the backfield that has had 1,000 yard seasons. Every single guy in that backfield can come in and produce. Their run blocking is elite.

NE definitely has a great set of receivers with their two TEs, Welker, Branch, Chad...but when you can run the ball like the Texans can and will AND you have a Andre Johnson out there and Owen Daniels...along with a FB that's actually a TE in Casey...along with Jacoby who has gamebreaking speed...That's a elite offense...I did not forget about Walter just don't think he's playing this week, but he's a weapon himself.

They are not NE simply because NE presents a different set of problems.

We'll see, but Tate is no slouch. If Foster doesn't play (all signs pointing to that he does.) Tate is still a guy who can chew up yards and if the Oline is providing the holes like they usually do Tate is still a guy who can bust out some big plays.

We'll see but I think the Texans should win by about 10 points. If the Texans defense IS improved than the margin can be larger than that, but can't go by almost shutting out the Colts who had Collins come in there unprepared and all. So forgetting last week, it's probably going to be a high scoring game. Fins have a good defense though guess I just don't think their offense can keep up with the Texans.

[Rancid Radio]

Very solid points guys. But, I still don't think Matt Schaub can read and slice up defenses quite like Tom Brady can.

I think Schaub's two largest weapons are obviously Andre Johnson, and Arian Foster. I've never been overly impressed with Houston's other receivers outside of Johnson, and I can't name their tight end off the top of my head (EDIT: Wow, totally forgot Owen Daniels. Fail.). That could be a lack of knowledge on my part, but I don't think it's any question that New England has one of the most diverse and impressive receiving corps in the league.

This game could play out a ton of different ways, like I said I'm predicting a big showing from Chad Henne and a Miami W, but I wouldn't be shocked at all to see the Texans win either. This is a great match up, it really hinges on which defense plays better in my opinion.

I also think whether Arian Foster plays or not could have a big impact, although Ben Tate was really good against Indy, I don't think anyone would argue that he's a more dangerous back than Arian Foster.

[TheMatrix31]

Not very crazy about Foster playing in ridiculously humid conditions to be honest. Miami's field is beat up too, and will be further since there's a game being played on it the night before. With the injury and the conditions, might be best to prevent any further problems and sit him one more week.

[Rancid Radio]

Yes, but remember it's Miami playing at home. Somehow things will go right for Houston, and Foster if he plays.

But dammit, I hope not.

[Marino]

First, the NE game was an anomaly. Unless Schaub can run a no huddle like Brady did, and keep the defense from making substitutions, then the defense will be much better.

The real offensive weapon for Houston will be Owen Daniels...or whoever plays TE for Miami. That is the biggest weakness in the Dolphins defense, Brady exploited it, many other teams do. Hell, whenever we play the Jets, Dustin Keller kills us.

Daniel Thomas should play this game, so we may have a little more of a running game. I look for Marshall to have a big game, even against Jonathan Joseph. He just put up 150 yards on Dexter McCourty, who in my opinion is better than Joseph.

I think a good match up on Andre would be Sean Smith and I fully expect that too happen.

Miami is 1-10 in the last 11 home games, and 0-5 against Houston, I see no reason for those streaks to end this weekend.