Week 1, Steelers open at home against the Houston Texans

Houston Texans Defensive Star Mario Williams who was the NFL 1st pick in the draft a few years ago, just finishes off getting a sack against the Denver Broncos (he tallied 14 total sacks last year).

Well after a tough playoff loss by the game Steelers against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season that ended a great campaign for the men of steel (we could have won if Willie Parker were healthy), a new season & new hopes begin this Sunday as the upstart Houston Texans come to town.

Houston Texans coming off their best season ever, 8 – 8 come to town with their pretty good offensive team still intact from last year. Many pro football prognosticators think they’re a team on the rise (I do too), & might make playoffs push in the very competitive AFC. If anyone saw them play last year, they will agree that this team is fun to watch sort of similar to the Cleveland Browns – A lot of offense but not so great on defense.

Personally, I think (I might not be alone here) that backup QB Sage Rosenfels is a better QB that the incumbent starter of Matt Schaub (who they broke the bank to trade & sign from the Atlanta Falcons a year ago). Sage went 4-1 when he started, while injury prone Matt went 4-7. QB shouldn’t be a problem for this team, nor Wide outs. They have a stud in Andre Johnson & next to him, poor man’s version of Wes Welker is Kevin Walter who posted career numbers with 65 catches for 800 yards & 4 TD’s. Lookout for exciting punt/kick returner in Jacoby Jones (a speedster). They don’t have a running game, which makes them a passing team (therefore a chance for many big plays, but without a running game – they can’t finish off teams when they have a lead). They brought in used up Ahman Green from the Pack a few years ago & he’s broken down on them. Steve Slaton from West Virginia is promising, but due to his size might not be an every down type of back, but among what they have – he might make a mark here. Things are so bad at RB, that they were trying to land Tatum Bell of the Lions who mistakenly took the wrong bag while getting cut from the Lions a week ago. On D, they have promising studs in DE Mario Williams who last year didn’t earn Pro Bowl honors (big time error by voters) while playing great & posting 14 sacks and ILB DeMeco Ryans. This team is on the rise, unfortunately the AFC is stacked with many great teams.

If QB Matt Schaub can play to the potential the Texans saw in him when signing him to a lengthy contract – this team might make the playoffs.

I see this team scoring points this Sunday, but not being able to the stop the Steelers from scoring on them more often. Vegas has the Steelers being favorite by near 7 points. I see the Steelers starting the season off great, winning their season opener.