preseason 2010 week 4 - AFC South Blog

AFC South Blog

September, 3, 2010

9/03/10

12:18

AM ET

By Paul Kuharsky | ESPN.com

Some bullet point thoughts on the Texans’ 24-17 loss to the Buccaneers Thursday night:

Houston sat 29 players.
Neil Rackers hit a 21-yard field goal while Kris Brown was short on a 56-yarder in the final chances in the kicking competition. Expect the guy who doesn’t stick to find work with relative speed.
Jeremiah Johnson turned three carries into 20 yards while Chris Henry needed 15 carries for 51 yards as the Texans got a look at their third and fourth backs. I like Johnson as the third.
After Dan Orlovsky threw two interceptions to Corey Lynch -- one for a 91-yard touchdown -- John David Booty threw two touchdown passes. Gary Kubiak expressed continued confidence in Orlovsky after the game, but what is he supposed to say?
The Texans went for it on fourth down five times and converted four.
Even without Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, Jacoby Jones, Arian Foster and Steve Slaton Houston managed 417 total yards. The Texans ran 76 plays compared to 49 for Tampa Bay, though time of possession was only 32:55 to 27:05.
Dorin Dickerson’s one-handed 27-yard reception from Booty was the best catch I remember seeing from an AFC South player in the preseason.
Rookie linebacker Darryl Sharpton got the start and was credited with six tackles and a sack. Xavier Adibi started on the strong side. The Brian Cushing replacement strategy looks like it will be Adibi in his spot or Sharpton at weakside with Zac Diles moved to strong.

Tags:

September, 2, 2010

9/02/10

11:48

PM ET

By Paul Kuharsky | ESPN.com

Some bullet-point thoughts on the Jaguars’ 13-9 preseason win over Atlanta on Thursday night.

With Anthony Smith among the players held out, Courtney Greene got a start at strong safety. He nailed running back Antone Smith, forcing and recovering a fumble. The Jaguars forced three fumbles, recovering two.
Rookie fullback Brock Bolen completed his bid for a roster spot with a 16-yard scoring run, the only touchdown of the game.
Josh Scobee hit field goals of 40 and 49 yards to complete a perfect preseason (nine of nine).
Jacksonville’s average drive start was the 32-yard line, 10 yards better than Atlanta’s.
The offense was just three for 14 on third down.
The defense didn’t record a sack.

Tags:

September, 2, 2010

9/02/10

11:19

PM ET

By Paul Kuharsky | ESPN.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Some bullet-point thoughts on the Titans’ 27-24 preseason win over New Orleans on Thursday night.

Impressive:

With Chris Johnson not dressing, Javon Ringer showed an ability to keep his feet moving and his eyes open on an early 47-yard run. He felt space open to the left side and took it, slipped a tackle attempt by Leigh Torrence, and moved back to the right. Samkon Gado got a lot of work relatively early with the first team, and broke off a 31-yard run.
Defensive tackle Jason Jones was very good again, with some nice pass rushes. He did well chasing stuff downfield when needed. If he stays healthy, he’s looking like a guy who will be heard from outside of Nashville this season.
Gerald McRath showed his ability to cover pretty deep, breaking up a pass down field with Robert Johnson and Nick Schommer also arriving at the throw from Patrick Ramsey intended for Jimmy Graham.
Jared Cook and LeGarrette Blount had some nice yards after the catch by hurdling defenders. Eventually, though, one of the hurdlers will get crushed when he encounters a defender who anticipates it, stays upright and buries a helmet in his chest.

Unimpressive:

Kenny Britt dropped two early passes -- the first on a right-to-left short crossing route, the second on about a 22-yarder on which he was cutting left to right. Both throws were on target from Vince Young. A bit later, Britt caught a 7-yard pass with Jonathan Casillas draped on him and Malcolm Jenkins fast arriving. But then he had a false start penalty when Collins was in at quarterback. Craig Stevens and Lavelle Hawkins also dropped balls they should have caught.
Schommer, in a battle for one of the last safety slots, hurt himself on special teams. Lined up on the right of the line, he allowed Junior Galette to get past him and casually block a Brett Kern punt with one hand. Harry Coleman juggled a bit but kept it in play for himself and pulled it in for a 1-yard touchdown. Kern should have felt the pressure from two rushers on a second block in the fourth quarter.
Too many penalties. Marc Mariani had two nice returns, one undone by penalty against Stevens, one with 15-yards chopped off thanks to a personal foul call against Donnie Nickey. In all, Tennessee was flagged nine times for 133 yards. Schommer needlessly shoved a receiver out of bounds for a late pass interference call. Thankfully, the Saints didn’t kick on the fourth-and-2 from the Titans’ 16 that came after that with 11 seconds left.

September, 2, 2010

9/02/10

11:12

PM ET

By Paul Kuharsky | ESPN.com

Some bullet-point thoughts on the Colts’ 30-28 preseason loss to Cincinnati on Thursday night.

The Colts sat 32 players.
The kick and punt return candidates didn’t seem to do a whole lot to differentiate themselves. Devin Moore took two punts 4 yards and Brandon James took one punt 2 yards. Those two and Ray Fisher all had averages between 17.5 and 25 yards on kickoffs.
James and Tom Brandstater certainly had nice statistical nights, linking up for three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Indy gave up a 93-yard touchdown run to Cedric Peerman and didn’t get a run longer than Javarris James’ 12-yarder.
Even playing a large share of guys who will be cut by Saturday, the Colts played pretty clean. They committed just three penalties worth 30 yards, while Cincinnati had 11 for 99.