Texans Debut

Kudos to the Houston Texans for doing what I gave them no chance of doing: beating the Dallas Cowboys in the opening game at Reliant Stadium.

The Cowboys looked terrible. Their special teams were inept, their offensive line was inept, and their quarterback was inept. I would say the game plan was inept, but I'm not sure there even WAS a game plan.

I wonder which Cowboy will be fired first this season, head coach Dave Campo or quarterback Quincy Carter?

I have to admit, though, that it WAS kind of fun to watch the look on Jerry Jones's surgically altered face as the Cowboys disaster rolled on, and I say that as a lifelong Cowboys fan. That $40 million he paid in signing bonuses to upgrade the talent this offseason must be hurting him tonight.

(09-09-02 Update) Kevin Blackistone says Campo is toast. It's only a matter of when:

Campo knows it. You could tell from his physical disposition as Sunday night eroded into a nightmare. He kicked at the ground, held his hands on his hips, buried his face in a palm a few times, shook his head in utter disbelief at the inept play of his team.

Randy Galloway says Quincy Carter should be fired immediately:

Meanwhile, bench the quarterback.

To put it bluntly, The Q cracked. Cracked under the pressure, but don't rush to judgment on Quincy Carter simply choking on the moment.

Carter's awful performance was about the pressure, but it came mostly from a Texans defense manned by expansion draft rejects. This pressure was masterminded by a defensive coordinator named Vic Fangio, who has bounced around the NFL for a while.

They're both right.

(09-09-02 Update 2) Someone needs to tell the Texans not to shoot off fireworks in Reliant Stadium with the roof closed. I was watching the game on television, and the smoke looked like damn fog hanging in the stadium.

[Posted at 22:57 CST on 09/08/02] [Link]