MoiseKapenda Bower is a Howard University educated Houston native who spent nearly 10 years with the Houston Chronicle covering prep, college and professional sports, covering a wide swath of postseason bowl games to the NCAA Tournament and the College World Series as well as all-star and postseason games and the World Series.
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If a response could be simultaneously tepid and enthusiastic, the Houston Texans' first-team offense elicited such with its impressive showing Saturday night against the New Orleans Saints at Reliant Stadium.
The Texans featured a top-five offense in yards per game and top 10 in scoring last season. Thus, their first-half dismantling of the Saints was hardly revelatory. But the fact the Texans scored on their opening four possessions and were a rare Neil Rackers missed field-goal attempt from going 5-for-5 before halftime was nevertheless noteworthy.
On the heels of a season filled with offensive superlatives, that the Texans picked up where they left off was undoubtedly satiating.
"We felt that we played really well against the Saints," Texans fullback/tight end James Casey said. "We played the Jets and the Saints, and we feel like those are two great defenses and we felt like we played well against both of them.
"But at the same time you can never settle, you've always got to be going out there and expecting excellence. That's what the coaches keep preaching to us: to be perfect. We can't be afraid to be excellent, to go out there and put up a ton of points.
"To win in the NFL, you win a bunch of different ways every Sunday. But we need to go out there and prove sometimes that we can just win by putting up a lot of points and, hopefully, blowing some teams out sometimes. We need to focus on executing offensively and trying to score every time we get the ball, because it's possible to do."
With so much offseason emphasis focus on bolstering a porous defense and retooling the inept special teams, the Texans' offense entered training camp relatively under the radar.
All the particulars of note returned, save for Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach, but the wailing over his departure proved pointless given the versatility of Casey and the signing of veteran Lawrence Vickers. That the loss of Leach qualified as earth-shattering news emphasized just how good the Texans had it on offense this offseason. Status quo was a beautiful thing.
Quarterback Matt Schaub is back after consecutive 4,000-yard seasons. The front-line receivers, led by All-Pro Andre Johnson, return, as does a deep stable of quality tight ends, paced by Owen Daniels. The vastly improved offensive line remains intact, and tailback Arian Foster, a sensation and revelation as a starter last year, has a multiyear contract befitting his production to earn, thus an additional point to prove.
All that slowed the Texans in camp were nagging injuries — a dislocated finger here, some balky hamstrings there.
When all the necessary components were present and accounted for against the Saints, the results were staggering: scoring drives of 72, 80, 51 and 80 yards in the first half en route to a 323-yard half. Schaub was effective, Johnson terrific and Foster so efficient that his backup, Ben Tate, stole the spotlight with a breakout performance in his first extensive work since he suffered a catastrophic injury during the preseason of his rookie year.
That everything blended so marvelously sets the bar high for an encore performance Saturday against the 49ers in San Francisco. The starters will play into the third quarter against a defense that was solid last season (13th in yards allowed per game and 16th in points), but not extraordinary. Given the desire for incremental progress throughout the preseason, the Texans' preparation in advance of their most crucial exhibition game is vital.
"We want to continue to be consistent, obviously, and start fast like we did," Daniels said. "We were pretty thorough with critiques of the game. We did a lot of good things, a lot of things well, but there's a lot of things we can fix up. Plus, this week we've got to come out of that halftime and show that we can get back to work. That'll be a big challenge for us, too.
"This week will be a test because we'll treat it like a normal game week, more of a regular-season schedule, and you'll probably see a little bit more out of us this week. It's going to continue to get better for us."
"Consistency" was the buzzword for building on last weekend's exceptional effort. As they transition into their regular-season routine and prepare for the preseason game that will not only yield the most significant playing time for the projected starters but also serve as a final evaluation period in advance of the first round of roster cuts next week, the Texans will delve a little deeper into their playbook.
Against the Saints, glimpses of how Casey might be utilized were revealed. The showcasing of Tate expanded the possibilities for an already prolific ground game. The synergy between Schaub and Johnson was on display, per normal. As far as exhibition contests are concerned, the Texans experienced nirvana on offense. If they practice smartly in preparing for a defense that features standouts at tackle (Justin Smith) and linebacker (Patrick Willis) and leave the Bay Area having taken another step forward, immediate goals will have been met.
"You just want to be consistent," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "We had everybody on the field last week, so that was a good thing. We've got everybody back at practice this week. We've been missing time together, but now we're getting some good time. We're going against a good front up there, a good young front, so we'll get challenged going on the road learning how to play in some noise. Just keep getting better."
Maintaining a thirst for improvement might remain as the greatest obstacle for this offense, particularly in light of the potential flashed against a title contender from the NFC. External focus remains on the defense this week, with heavy dialogue on the transition of Mario Williams, the emergence of Brooks Reed and the health of Johnathan Joseph. It's almost as if no one is paying rapt attention to the offense, taking for granted its capability and explosive performances sure to come.
The obvious danger of such flawed perspective doesn't need reinforcement. The Texans were outstanding offensively against the Saints, but the desire to earn a more complimentary adjective is pressing.
"The offense was one of the strengths of our team last year, and we want that to continue," Daniels said. "Every other phase has definitely gotten better during camp. Our defense is looking great, and our special teams are getting better. And offensively, we need to continue to be consistent, continue to help out the defense, continue to make plays when we have opportunities to. We were a top-five, top-10 offense last year, and we want to stay there and crack that top three, so we're going to keep working."
Said Casey: "You can always get better; there's always room for improvement. You can look back on film last year, and there's probably a lot of things we could have done even better. We can't go backwards: We've got to keep getting better, and we've got to make those big plays."
Follow MK Bower on Twitter at moisekapenda.
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