When a bye week is one of the highlights of your team's football season simply because no one got hurt, you know that the rest of the season won't be much to write home about. Given that this is exactly the position that Texans fans find themselves in, it's at least comforting that they're coming out of the bye week to face a team almost as disappointing as the Texans.
After an inspiring 2006 season that looked like a made-for-Disney movie, the Saints of 2007 have been a confounding mess. Drew Brees, who last year delivered on the promise he'd shown at Purdue and in San Diego, has looked like just any other QB with a huge birthmark on his face at times. Meanwhile, with the Saints other running options hurt or under-performing , Reggie Bush has yet to grow into the role of every-down back, which should silence some of the Mario Williams haters around H-Town. Seriously: Unless Bush bulks up enough to carry the ball more than 15 times a game, he'll just be a more expensive Dante Hall who can come out of the backfield.
The Saints have been on an upswing lately, winning 4 of their last 5, but with the exception of wins at Seattle and at home against Jacksonville, all of those wins have come against weak competition. So the question remains, which Saints team will the Texans face on Sunday: the one that loses at home to the awful Rams, or the ones who dropped 41 points on the vaunted Jags defense? You can be sure that a lot of the action will take place in the air, and with the loss of Dunta Robinson before the bye, the Texans depleted secondary will have their hands full. If the Texans' front four can get to Brees and force him to make mistakes, the burden on the CBs will be lessened.
On the other side of the ball, the Texans welcome back QB Matt Schaub and WR Andre Johnson. Johnson in particular will be the most welcome return; since losing him in week 2 against Carolina, the team has been 2-5 and has had to rely on the kicking game as much as anything to score points. Johnson is a weapon who can take pressure off of the running game, allowing Ahman Green, Ron Dayne, and Adimchinobi Echemandu to keep the Saints' defense honest.
To be honest, the Saints are on an upswing while the Texans are still trying to patch the holes in their injury-prone ship. The Saints have the momentum, while the Texans have the key benefit of returning talent. We'll see what happens when the Saints arrive at Reliant Stadium this Sunday. We'd be happy just to see Mario Williams knock Bush out of his shoes in the backfield just once.
Texans vs. Saints
Reliant Stadium
12 Noon on Sunday
Local TV: Fox 26
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photo: Flickr user mrp1001
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