Every week Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley joins Mitch Holthus for the Hy-Vee Chiefs Insider show to be shown on game day mornings. KCChiefs.com has a snippet of that interview and there was some pretty interesting talk from Haley about the Texans.
I think most of us think QB Matt Schaub and WR Andre Johnson when talk about the Texans but I'm quickly learning this week that Houston's run game will be a significant part of this game.
"I think run fits are never not the most important thing for us defensively but this week that is, if possible, amped up even more," Haley said. "When you have a team that can run the stretch play so to speak as well as they do...They have a very athletic offensive line group that does a terrific job of stretching every play.
"They do some good nakeds and boots, and play-action drop backs that they run off of that move. It all starts with that run. When you get a team that can really stretch you like that, and move east-west, fits become critical. They're very good with fits, and getting down low and trying to get defensive fronts worried about that, which some guys are, but that can't be something our guys are concerned with."
Maybe it's because I've lived in Kansas City my whole life but whenever I hear the word "naked bootleg" or even just "bootleg" I flashback to John Elway and the Denver Broncos. Even during the Jake Plummer years, bootlegs killed the Chiefs.
I always thought that was more of a discipline/coaching sort of thing since it's about not biting and staying home. This Chiefs defense, even though it's still early here, is very disciplined. For the first time in a long time, I'm confident in the Chiefs ability to handle bootlegs coming off of the run.
Now, as for the run itself, the Texans are legit. This will be an excellent test for the Chiefs defense. The Texans are a little more balanced than the Colts so I think in some ways this game will be a better test defensively.