Film Room: Preparing For the Texans

Arian Foster -- the Denver Broncos worst nightmare. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Every week, NFL Coaches watch films of the team’s last game and then watch films of the team’s upcoming opponent.  The goal is to know your opponent, some defensive players are so dedicated to film watching that they can perfectly predict what an offense is going to do in every down and situation.

The exercise is not just limited to watching film on offenses though, teams wanna know what defenses will throw at them as well.  So with that in mind, here’s what I’ve concluded from watching some game film:

1. The Broncos need to completely Release the Tebow
2. It could be a long day for the Broncos defense

More after the jump. Ok, it’s well known the Broncos shielded Tebow with conservative playcalling last week, and I think it ultimately cost the Broncos the game.  It’s time to change that.  The Texans have the worst ranked passing defense in the NFL and Tebow proved last week he can make NFL throws.

With Knowshon Moreno questionable to play Sunday with a rib injury, the Broncos may be forced to chuck the ball around more, as the Texans have the 9th ranked run defense and Lance Ball didn’t show much promise last week against the Raiders 26th ranked run defense.

The Broncos should balance the playcalling with runs and passes, but give Tebow the chance to win the game through the air — we all know he can run and we all know the offensive line isn’t helping the running backs in the rushing game, heck, Tebow has one of the best receivers in the game right now, let him spread the ball around.

The above video shows us a few things, (a) Kerry Collins easily picked apart Houston’s secondary, and (b) Andre Johnson‘s touchdown catch — which was his 8th of the season, and (c) the Titans ran all over them (but that can largely be contributed to the fact that Chris Johnson was the back running over them, and the Broncos don’t have a Chris Johnson in any shape or form).  While the Texans secondary will be playing this week, Andre Johnson hasn’t participated in practice yet this week and is questionable for Sunday.

On the defense, the Broncos have one man to really worry about, Arian Foster.

This season Foster has scored 15 total touchdowns, and gained over 2,000 yards from scrimmage.  To try and keep him from pulling a Darren McFadden, the Broncos should incorporate a game plan similar to the one they used against Chris Johnson and the Titans in week 4 when Johnson was held to 53 yards on 19 carries.

The presence of Brian Dawkins back on defense will certainly aid the Broncos this week, as the club has sorely missed the veteran safety the last four weeks.

To recap; throw more than last week, find a way to slow down Arian Foster, the latter of course being a more formidable task.

Hopefully returning home after three straight away games will give the Broncos some momentum, as the team looks to crack a 5-game losing streak.