The Houston Texans have put their 0-3 start behind them http://www.authenticsmiamidolphins.com/ … mes-jersey , winning four straight games capped by Sunday's victory over the Jaguars to move into first place in the AFC South."We got a lot to prove," safety Tyrann Mathieu said. "Anytime you win four games in a row you set a standard for yourself. I think it's a standard that we'll have to live up to, especially since it's a short week."Miami is a hot team, so we have big challenge coming Thursday. We have to get over this game. It was a big game and a big win, but we have to get over it quickly."Coach Bill O'Brien knows that most people wrote his team off after its terrible start, but he insists he never doubted that he had a good team which could turn things around."I knew that the team had the resolve to be able to really take the cliche of one day at a time, one play at a time, really take that to heart and make it work," he said. "Those are clich茅s unless you actually make them work, and this is the type of team we have. We have a mentally tough team."Quarterback Deshaun Watson agreed with his coach, but was quick to point out that they still have a lot of work to do."We were down and out White Robert Quinn Jersey , and everybody was counting us out," Watson said. "The thing is we have guys on this team who understand that early on it doesn't matter. We just put our heads down and kept working and now we have to continue to do the same thing."Houston's first three wins in this streak were close games, with two of them coming in overtime. But on Sunday against the Jaguars, the Texans jumped out to a 20-0 lead and came away with a 20-7 win on a day they forced three turnovers.Another key to Houston's win over Jacksonville was success in the red zone. After struggling in the area all season, the Texans scored a touchdown on two of their three trips inside the 20-yard line on Sunday to roll to the easy win.Despite Watson's solid play in the win on Sunday, the Texans faced more questions about his health after it was revealed that he made the 800-mile trip from Houston to Jacksonville by bus because they were worried about how air pressure from flying would affect his bruised lung and injured ribs.O'Brien wouldn't provide any more details on Monday about why he took the bus, but said that he didn't expect his travel to be impacted by his injury in the future.While Watson continues to grow into his position and hopefully become the franchise quarterback the Texans have long searched for, on Thursday they'll face the player they once thought would fill that role in Brock Osweiler.Signed before this season to be Ryan Tannehill's backup, Osweiler will start his third straight game on Thursday night with Tannehill still out with a shoulder injury.It will be an interesting matchup considering Osweiler's history with the Texans. Houston signed him to a $72 million contract before the 2016 season, but he was benched before the year was over and shipped to Cleveland before the next season.Though he struggled during his time with the Texans, O'Brien has been impressed with his work in the past two weeks where he's thrown for 619 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions."They're doing a great job with him Youth Jerome Baker Jersey ," O'Brien said. "Brock's a very talented player and he's a having a really good year right now for them. He's doing a real good job." The NFL regular season is behind us, and, while four teams are still fighting to become Super Bowl champions, the majority of the league is preparing for the 2019 league year. While the league year, and thus free agency, does not begin until March 13, teams are working their way through their own rosters right now, trying to make tough decisions. Do they cut a player for salary cap reasons? Do they restructure a contract to lower a 2019 cap number, while potentially increasing the salary cap hit in the future?And what should they do about soon-to-be free agents? Is the player worth re-signing? Should they use the franchise tag? Or, should the player be allowed to leave in free agency?Last week, Justin Hier started our annual series of “Retain Youth Ryan Tannehill Jersey , Tag, or Walk” articles here on The Phinsider where we take a closer look at players with expiring contracts for the Miami Dolphins and try to determine what the team should do. After he covered running back Frank Gore, today I take a look at center Travis Swanson.Fact CheckPosition: CAge: 27 (turns 28 on January 30)Experience: Entering 6th seasonHeight/Weight: 6’5”, 304 lbsCollege: ArkansasExpiring Contract: 1 year, $1.55M ($800K cap number)2018 ReviewSwanson’s 2018 began with a training camp stint as a member of the New York Jets. He then signed with the Dolphins after the final round of roster cuts, but was released the next day when Miami claimed running back Brandon Bolden off waivers. The Dolphins re-signed Swanson a week later giving them some depth along the offensive line, then needing him to move into the starting lineup as the top center on the depth chart. He played in 12 games for Miami, starting 11 of those. He was graded as the 19th player at his position in the league, according to Pro Football Focus, which was six spots ahead of the player he effectively replaced, Los Angeles Chargers Pro Bowler Mike Pouncey. 2019 OutlookSwanson is still a young center who is developing and provides White Jesse Davis Jersey , at worst, an average NFL lineman who can provide depth.VerdictThe Dolphins have to rebuild their offensive line this offseason, a story line that seems to come up every offseason. Swanson was not perfect in the middle of the line, but he was solid enough to be considered as a depth option. Given his contract for 2018 was not huge and that he was available as a free agent twice during the season, the Dolphins should be able to bring him back on a relatively cheap, short-term deal that would likely make the most sense. No reason to create another hole when there is a quality depth option available. I will not include the tag option for Swanson, because there is no realistic reason to use a franchise tag on him.My vote: Retain
But they won't have much time to celebrate their recent success
Страница: 1
Сообщений 1 страница 1 из 1
Страница: 1