Week 2: Houston Texans vs Miami Dolphins

[Marino]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

Field will be fine, the Marlins haven't had a home game since last week. They have an **** road stretch right now.

And I hope Foster plays....for fantasy reasons.

[TheMatrix31]

I recall reading that Miami and OSU will be playing there at night on Saturday. Could be wrong.

[Marino]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

I recall reading that Miami and OSU will be playing there at night on Saturday. Could be wrong.

This is true, but those cheaters won't mess the ground up that much.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

A healthy Tate may be better than Foster, actually. Foster only got the start when the high draft pick, Tate, went down with injury last year. The rest is history... Foster's a beast. But Tate still has all the potential they thought he had when they planned on starting him last year. In the preseason he averaged 7+ ypc. I honestly don't think there is any drop off at all in running from Foster to Tate. It remains to be seen about passing and blocking but running... I don't think they lose a thing.

[Rancid Radio]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

A healthy Tate may be better than Foster, actually. Foster only got the start when the high draft pick, Tate, went down with injury last year. The rest is history... Foster's a beast. But Tate still has all the potential they thought he had when they planned on starting him last year. In the preseason he averaged 7+ ypc. I honestly don't think there is any drop off at all in running from Foster to Tate. It remains to be seen about passing and blocking but running... I don't think they lose a thing.

Fair enough, I wouldn't say he's as good as Foster yet without having seen him a full year but you definitely could be right.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rancid Radio

Fair enough, I wouldn't say he's as good as Foster yet without having seen him a full year but you definitely could be right.

I wouldn't say that either but there's not as much reason to assume he isn't. Houston has a potent passing attack and a zone blocking scheme that's been about as successful as where it came from (Shanny's days in Denver). It seems like yearly they "make" a new star running back. Slaton is an after thought now but was in conversations with Chris Johnson not too longs ago. That's taking nothing away from Foster, he's a beast... but I am saying the environment helps him show his talent. So considering it was projected for Tate to be great (unlike Slaton, Foster or Ward for that matter) and he has shown crazy skills in the preseason followed by a huge week 1, I have no reason to think he's a drop off. Said the same thing last week and, of course, he helped my case.

[Rancid Radio]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

I wouldn't say that either but there's not as much reason to assume he isn't. Houston has a potent passing attack and a zone blocking scheme that's been about as successful as where it came from (Shanny's days in Denver). It seems like yearly they "make" a new star running back. Slaton is an after thought now but was in conversations with Chris Johnson not too longs ago. That's taking nothing away from Foster, he's a beast... but I am saying the environment helps him show his talent. So considering it was projected for Tate to be great (unlike Slaton, Foster or Ward for that matter) and he has shown crazy skills in the preseason followed by a huge week 1, I have no reason to think he's a drop off. Said the same thing last week and, of course, he helped my case.

Interesting stuff, I'm definitely going to pay attention to how he performs in this game (although I think the word is Foster is playing). I also have noticed Houston manages to get production out of one running back or another every year, although none of them were nearly as much of a game changer as Foster last year.

A lot of variables in this game, I'll reiterate that it's the most intriguing match up of the week outside of SD/NE (at least for me).

[TheMatrix31]

Foster is definitely the best of the three. Has the best combination of size, vision, speed, and agility.

Tate is prettay good though. So is Ward.

Far cry from the Chris Taylor, Ron Dayne days. Ugh.