Although preseason games are essentially meaningless, the Texans felt a sense of satisfaction in defeating the defending AFC champion Denver Broncos 18-17 Saturday night in the Mile High City.
In fact, if you take away the final stages of the first half, it was a great night for Houston. Andre Johnson & Brian Cushing were back in action. Rookie QB Tom Savage piloted a last-minute drive for the winning touchdown & two-point conversion. Defensive lineman Ricardo Matthews, mostly known as a guy who caught a punt during practice which enabled the team to take an afternoon off, sacked Peyton Manning & provided good run support. A.J. Bouye & Eddie Pleasant were picked apart by Manning during Denver’s scoring splurge at the end of the half, but Bouye also intercepted the venerable veteran & Pleasant had a great tackle on special teams.
What else was notable? Let’s find out in our latest installment of the Pick Six…
D.J. Swearinger is out of control
Head coach Bill O’Brien is trying to build the Texans into the Southwest edition of the New England Patriots. New England head coach Bill Belichick usually does not put up with egregious mistakes & players that do not fit within the 
team structure. And that makes me wonder how long O’Brien is going to put up with Swearinger, even though he appears to be standing behind him for the time being.
The Texans have needed to be tougher for quite some time. However, they are going to be tougher simply because Jadeveon Clowney is on the scene & Brian Cushing is back. Swearinger’s antics are not needed. If Swearinger’s often reckless disregard for the rules ends up costing the Texans a game that counts, O’Brien may pull the plug on the secondary swagger show.
Boring football is better football
A good portion of the Denver game was boring. And fans want to be entertained. But they also want to see a winning football team. If you take away the Manning touchdown 
passes at the end of the half, Houston did what they wanted to do. The defense bent at times, but did not break. And Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t make any costly mistakes. Denver was unable to score any points in the second half, enabling the Texans to hang in long enough to pull out a victory.
Of course, if Manning played the entire game, the Texans probably would have been in trouble. But Manning saw very little of Cushing & J.J. Watt while completely avoiding Clowney. At a minimum, this looks like it will be a competitive team most weeks, especially with a softer schedule.
Don’t forget about the tight ends
No, the Texans don’t have Jimmy Graham on the roster. But all 3 of their tight ends can play. We saw Ryan 
Griffin haul in the game-tying touchdown pass. C.J. Fiedorowicz has looked capable. And Garrett Graham was one of the few bright spots during last year’s disaster.
Yet, they have not really been a focal point of the attack so far. Maybe that will change during the regular season, and it should.
This year’s draft class isn’t a joke!
Any draft with Clowney has the potential to be very successful, but after last year, Texans fans 
were right to question the sanity of general manager Rick Smith. This time around, although it’s early, it looks like Smith has done considerably better.
We mentioned Savage & Fiedorowicz earlier, but quality blocking has been provided by guard Xavier Su’a-Filo & fullback Jay Prosch. Andre Hal, although he may not be a lead-pipe cinch to make the roster, returned an interception for a touchdown against Atlanta. Louis Nix may eventually emerge as a fixture at nose tackle. Undrafted free agents such as linebacker Max Bullough & wide receiver Travis Labhart, who caught the decisive two-point conversion, may have done enough to stick around. And then there’s a certain player who has impacted my mood…
I’m feeling blue because I’m not seeing enough of Alfred Blue
Like many Texans fans, I like what I see from Jonathan Grimes. He’s a smart ballplayer who seems to have a knack for making plays, whether it is scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt or smartly producing a 24-yard play in the Denver game when the Broncos failed to realize he wasn’t down following a reception. His high football IQ has made him a fan favorite & a favorite of O’Brien’s.
Yet, I feel like Grimes may be a bit of a jack-of-all-trades contributor as opposed to being a lead runner. Alfred Blue seems to possess a higher ceiling. I realize Blue had more carries than Grimes the other night, but Grimes played more with Fitzpatrick than Blue. And in the second half, veteran Ronnie Brown was also part of the mix.
Maybe I am wrong & Blue doesn’t represent the inevitable post-Arian Foster future for the Texans. But out of curiosity, I would like to see him become a bigger part of the mix if Foster misses time at some point this year.
Case may be closed on Keenum as Houston’s #2 QB
It was not all that long ago when I said Case Keenum might be the best QB on the roster. That was because Case distinguished himself during the misadventures in Arizona as the only signal caller who wasn’t an embarrassment.
Now, as the preseason is almost over, Case is the only one of the group who has not distinguished himself in a positive manner. Fitzpatrick played well against Atlanta & Savage of course produced the game-winning drive in Denver.
Add in the fact that Case struggled down the stretch last year & seems to have issues playing in a new system, and maybe the Texans ought to give the Sam Bradford-less St. Louis Rams a call & see if they can get a draft pick for him. I don’t think the Texans should cut Case, because he is a functional NFL QB. But his future doesn’t appear to be in Houston.
-HST Contributor Andy Rioux
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