Can Ryan Fitzpatrick keep Houston Texans' hot streak alive?

Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Can Ryan Fitzpatrick keep Houston Texans’ hot streak alive? A weak division, weaker schedule, strong run game, and stronger defense provide hope in Houston. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in part two of this week’s TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.

[Part one – Can Andrew Luck vault the Colts atop the AFC?]

TODD:

I’m concerned about Houston’s actual upside this season, outside of its remaining schedule.

We both liked the Texans for a bounce-back season entering the year, but that was obvious because of how bad they were in 2013. An improvement was coming by default. That’s how this league works.

And as things currently stand, the team is looking pretty okay. Arian Foster is healthy and running well; Andre Johnson seems healthy and finally has a relatively talented running mate in DeAndre Hopkins. The offensive line is coming along; rookie guard Xavier Su’a-Filo just got his first career start recently. But the offense will always have a limited ceiling because of its signal caller.

Ryan Fitzpatrick currently has the highest completion percentage and yards per attempt figures of any season of his career. However, he has a 1:1 touchdown to interception ratio, and head coach Bill O’Brien felt the need to come out and reaffirm Fitzpatrick as his starting quarterback. That is never a good sign.

On the defensive side, Jadeveon Clowney is still an unproven rookie who hasn’t played a full NFL game in his career. Brian Cushing is still not back to the level he was at a few years ago for Houston. Johnathan Joseph on the outside also seems to be playing differently than in years past. He has yet to pick off a pass and his passes defensed numbers are really low, but his tackles are way up perhaps because opponents are getting around the edges and into the second level of this defense.

Of course, this helps any defense, so how bad could things really be on this side of the ball?

The special teams have been nothing worth noting. An average return unit, a below-average coverage unit, and a kicker who just missed a really big kick last week, don’t add anything to this team’s overall picture. We don’t have a Philadelphia Eagles situation on our hands.

I don’t see Houston finishing better than .500 under any circumstances. It just isn’t a finished product on the field yet, especially at QB. Unfortunately, Indianapolis seems to be putting things together year after year in this division while Houston can’t get its talent to line up across the roster. Once the quarterback situation is figured out, where will Foster and Johnson be as offensive talents? And if the defense becomes elite but the offense takes steps back, again, that makes this barely a playoff team even in the weak AFC South.

Things look positive early in 2014. The future looks less so because of bad timing.