OC Rick Dennison says WR Andre Johnson, RB Arian Foster crucial to Houston Texans success – NFL News
Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator Rick Dennison has backed wide receiver Andre Johnson and running back Arian Foster’s performance as crucial to the team’s success in the playoffs.
The Texans are through to the playoffs and have won the American Football Conference (AFC) South division for second straight season, and Johnson and Foster have remained a significant part of their offensive effort throughout.
Both players are leading the AFC in receiving and rushing yards, respectively. Foster has reached the mark of 1,313 rushing yards while Johnson has a measure of 1,360 receiving yards.
The coach has acknowledged that both players give the team a balanced attack and their games will be crucial to the team’s success chances in the second round. He said overall they also complement the defensive line’s performance.
He said:
"It makes the defence defend a lot. They put an extra guy down in the box to stop the run; we think we have the people to throw it well and a quarterback that distributes it well. They play back, we think we can do enough offensively running the ball that
we can find some holes."
Johnson also had a significant role in the team’s victories and playoff berth last year even though he had missed most of the season because of a hamstring injury.
Head coach Gary Kubiak has also backed a balanced offensive line, saying it provides some space to their defensive line to defend better.
He said:
"We want to be balanced. When we're doing those type of things, we're usually staying on the field and helping our defence."
The Texans still have two more games in the regular season to play yet. They are up against the Minnesota Vikings this weekend and if go on to win the tie they will qualify for the home-field advantage. Gary has already spoken of an importance of the home
advantage, saying it will help their win chances.
It is pertinent to mention that the Texans had a home game in the playoffs last season, when they reached the second round for the first time, and they went on to win that game versus the Cincinnati Bengals. They lost their next game versus the Baltimore
Ravens, a road game.
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