Houston Texans 2011: 6 Reasons Arian Foster and Mates Will Make Playoffs

Arian Foster and the Texans started to put the NFL on notice when they took down the Colts 34-24. They weren't able to make the playoffs, but you of little faith would be wise to view the new Texan's as the team to beat in the AFC South. 

Arian Foster, Matt Schaub, and Andre Johnson put together one of the NFL's most terrifying offenses, being able to regularly beat defenses on the ground or through the air. 

They were consistently let down by a truly horrendous defense. If their defense had even been average, there's a strong possibility the 6-10 record could have been 10-6. 

Now that the Colt's are without Manning for an unknown duration, it's time to strike. The Texans will usurp their Indianapolis masters and appear in the playoffs for the very first time. Here's six reasons why. 

Return of Dominant Offensive Line

Strangely enough, the Texans offensive line has no truly great starters. None of them were recently ranked in even the top 100 of Scouts Inc. player ratings on ESPN.

 However, consistency is extraordinarily important, especially in a NFL without a true off season. The Texan's offensive line is the prime example where the sum of the parts is not equal to whole.

 All five starters from last year are returning, the same ones that ranked fourth in pass blocking and third in run blocking according to profootballfocus.com. That spells out good news for Arian Foster and Matt Schaub.

Andre Johnson

Andre Johnson is consistently viewed as the NFL's top wide receiver (though I might prefer Larry Fitzgerald's golden hands).

In 2008 and 2009, Johnson had back to back 1,500 yard seasons, and has scored eight touchdowns every year for the past four years. All things considered, Johnson's 1,216 yard season in 2010 was a down year (by Johnson's standards). 

There's no reason why Johnson shouldn't sky rocket back to the top of the stat charts this year. Injuries hampered him for much of last year, and he's had a nice long off season to overcome them. With the return of Owen Daniels, you can expect Johnson to get a little bit more room to work with.  

Improved Secondary

It's been said before, but Houston's defense can only get better.

The 2010 Texan's secondary was one of the worst in the history of the NFL, surrendering 267 yards through the air on average, good for last in the league. The Texan's immediately went to find help in the off season.

The best acquisition the Texans made was signing Jonathan Joseph in free agency. Some might view him as a consolation prize to Nnadmi Asomugha, but in reality Joseph is a very talented young player, who created one of the best CB tandems in the league over the last few years with Leon Hall.

Danieal Manning is the other significant secondary addition. Many of the leagues better safeties, outside of Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed, go largely unnoticed. According to profootballfocus.com's grading, he was the seventh best safety in the NFL last season. He is above average against the run and in coverage, which is a massive upgrade over everyone else.

If these two players can make the Texan's secondary average then the defense will be much improved.

Return of Injured Defensive Players

Among the problems the Texan's had on defense last year were injuries. Mario Williams is one of the leagues best defensive ends, but he cannot carry a front seven by himself.

Linebackers Brian Cushing and DeMeco Ryan both missed the majority of last season, and were the two best players on the defensive side of the ball outside of Williams.

Both players return this year and will each start at middle linebacker in the remodeled 3-4 the Texans will be running. This gives the Texan's one of the best middle linebacker pairs in the NFL out of teams to run a 3-4. 

In addition, the Texan's drafted J.J. Watts and Brooks Reed, two players that could immediately impact the front seven. Brooks Reed looks to be a situational pass rusher opposite of Mario Williams on passing downs. J.J. Watt will play right defensive end, the end that's considered more of the pass disruptor in the 3-4. With Mario Williams coming from the same side, it could be a deadly combination.  

Wade Phillips

Wade Phillips has a habit of turning bad defenses around. In his last three jobs as defensive coordinator he's been handed a terrible defense, made it respectable, and that team went to the playoffs each one of those years.

Phillips is installing a 3-4 defense on short notice, which seems to be the problem they'll have to overcome. Phillips may not have made a great head coach, but there's no denying his genius on the defensive side of the football.

Expect Wade Phillips schemes, simplicity of installation, and ability for the quick fix to make a lot of Texan's fans happy this year.    

Arian Foster

Foster brings a whole new dimension to the Texan's offense. 

They were largely a pass, pass, and pass more team when Andre Johnson emerged and Schaub had one of his best years. Now that they've got a run game to lean on, they can keep opposing offenses off the field and control the clock. That's a must for a team that had one of the poorest defenses in NFL history. 

Foster can also catch the ball out of the backfield, he had 66 catches for 602 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His versatility makes him an every down back that pound the ball away at 4.9 yards a pop, or become a receiving threat on third down. 

To put it simply: this team is dangerous on offense. 

Foster may be having early hamstring problems, but that didn't stop him last year when he had a knee injury. It won't stop him this year.