Key Factor's That Can Help Houston Triumph

As the Monday night quickly approaches, we as Texans supporters have to realize that this match-up is no walk in the park. All week the Texans have been preparing for this game and how to stop the juggernaut New England offense. The Patriots offense is very fast, can go vertical, and nickel or dime you down the field. Which results in touchdowns and quickly tires out opposing defenses. On top of that, it will be a cold and rainy night in New England with low foretasted to get down to 40 degrees with rain falling down constantly. This will be the toughest challenge of the year by far, but Houston is no slouch and has played their brand of football every week. Houston will be looking to come out and hit Tom and Co. right square in the mouth. I have come up with a few keys to the game that can really help Houston come away with the victory in this one.

Get the running game going early

I know it is said every week that this is what Houston has to do early to help the passing game but this time we really need to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible. In Arian Foster's first career start, he happened to be matched up against the Patriots and that was the game that solidified him as the stalwart in the Houston backfield for good. He ran the ball 20 times, racked up 119 yards and 2 td's in the final five minutes of the game to give the Texans a 34-27 comeback win over the Patriots and lead Houston to it's first winning season in franchise history. The pace Arian has been on this year carries wise shows that Kubiak will be trying to use him plenty but will also be mixing in Forsett and Tate to try and keep Foster in the game longer. Houston must be able to stay on the field as long as possible to keep Tom Brady off the field because we have all seen what their offense does. I see Arian getting 25+ touches and breaking the 100 yard mark early in the 3rd quarter, and if all goes according to plan 2 td's to keep the offense's pace.

Get to Tom early and often

We all know what Tom Brady can do when he has time to sit back in the pocket and the only way to really beat him is to keep him under pressure and off the field. Watt will be getting double teamed constantly to try and neutralize him, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the bulls on parade can't get in on the action. Connor Barwin and Whitney Mercilus are gonna have to beat the tackles all game long and cause Brady to move up in the pocket where Watt, Cody, and Ninja Assassin will be waiting to eat his lunch. Since it will be a wet and wild game, forcing Brady to move around will make him more likely to turn the ball over and give us the time to be on the field. Tom turns the ball over very little but this weather mixed with are pass swatting abilities and solid tackling from the front 7 can ensure that the turnovers will start to happen. Houston will have to win the turnover battle to win this game.

Let the offense set the tone

Everyone in the NFL knows that defenses are usually the ones that change the whole momentum of the game and I completely agree with that. This week though, it is the offense that needs to set the tone to ensure that the game can roll in favor of Houston. If Houston comes out throwing and mixes in the run well, it will be a long day for the Patriots defense that has been known to give up some big chunks of yards. If the offense rolls, so will the defense and the game momentum will take us to victory. If the offense does not get it going, the defense will be suspect and be heavily relied upon to spark the team and get the ball rolling in the Texans direction which has been done many times this year.

Overall, I see this being a dog fight where the game could really go either way and most likely will be decided by a field goal at the end of regulation. Something close to maybe 27-24 with either team being on top, but if the Texans execute their game plan to perfection, this W will be going back home to Houston. The Space City will erupt with Texans pride and have all the doubters eating their words and rethinking this whole "the Texans are overrated BS". I know I am confident in my team, now it's time for the rest of football to realize that we are the at the top of the AFC and we're here to stay.