Texans Stock Report, Ed Wade...smart?

Never gave you the complete Texans Stock Report following Sunday's game...so here it is in its entirety.
Texans Stock Report
Rising
- Mario Williams - despite the embarrasing highlight reel that ESPN put together last night. They actually tried to make it look like he got worked over by the Steelers O-line. Bogus. Williams had a fine game. He was the only Texans player to get into the backfield and disrupt the Steelers offense at all. He created the defenses' only turnover with one of his 2 sacks. The team caused just 25 turnovers last year and had 31 sacks. Well Mario has both sacks and forced the only turnover so far. Not his fault.
- Zac Diles - Now I'm not fooled into thinking Diles had a great game just because he had 13 tackles - most of 'em were several yards off the line of scrimmage. But this was his first real NFL action and if he can find himself around the ball enough to make 13 tackles then there are good things on the horizon. His size will continue to be tough to overcome, but in time he should learn more about how to shed blockers and get to the point of attack more quickly.
- Kevin Walter & Andre Johnson - They were targeted a combined 16 times. They made 13 receptions, including 10 by Johnson and Walter's excellent TD reception in the back of the endzone. One of the three passes not hauled in, was the second of Schaub's two INTs.

Holding Steady
- DeMeco Ryans - He was in on 12 stops and scooped up the fumble and nearly took it to the house. He also accidentally conned the referees into calling offensive pass interference on what would have been a 74-yard completion to Hines Ward. Problem is they need him to make more impactful plays, rather than just pile up tackles. Not his fault, but with the guys around him, he needs to do more.
- Steve Slaton - Not sure how high expectations could be for a rookie who hardly worked with the first unit all camp and then essentially was given the starters workload against arguably the league's best defense. He was adequate in his pass protection and when there were yards to be had on the ground, he got 'em. Again, not his fault that he was met in the backfield so many times.

Falling
- Duane Brown - By no means were the offensive line woes all on Brown, because each of his four linemates had equally bad afternoons. The concern with Brown is from a mental standpoint. After he allowed the sack that caused Matt Schaub to fumble and Brown completely whiffed on the recovery - he lay prone on the field with his hands on his head and couldn't hold in his frustration any longer. His performance this week against an incredibly similar attacking defense will be a telling sign about his future.
- Kubiak, Kyle Shanahan, Richard Smith, etc, etc... - The coaching staff had no answers at all. They had months to prepare themselves and their team. The Steelers dominated on offense and defense from the opening kickoff until Byron Leftwich entered. They made no adjustments and changed nothing - just simply watched the domination unfold and kept trotting out the exact same looks which produced the exact same results.
I will say that Kubiak's decision to go for it on 4th and 1 on the game's opening drive was the correct call and it was correctly executed - too bad the referees completely blew it.
- Matt Schaub - Mistakes are one thing, but unforced turnovers are too much for a marginally talented team to overcome. Sure the rush was on him all day, good quarterbacks can cope - he could not.
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The three pitchers that Astros GM Ed Wade acquired over the weeks leading up to and following the July trade deadline - Randy Wolf, LaTroy Hawkins & Alberto Arias - are a combined 6-1 with a 3.76 ERA. Houston is 7-1 in Wolf's 8 starts. Hawkins is perfect in his 16 appearances. That is nuts.
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ON THE SHOW
- Conference calls have become a breeding ground for pranksters. Exhibit F - Pete Carroll's players interested in Britney? How about the Jonas Brothers?
- McCain gets BarackRoll'd. (Hat tip - mikemcguff.com)
- Longhorns suspension is short for Houston. Lamarr requests to speak at press conference to apologize for his drunked-driving charge.
- Who stole Rudi Johnson's stuff? The plot thickens...(Hat tip - MDS at PFT)
- VEGAS BABY - We'll be back in Vegas this Friday night broadcasting LIVE from the MGM Grand, site of the HBO PPV boxing event Saturday night from the Grand Garden Arena at the MGM. Here's the fight poster, I used my masterful photo skills to take this photo while in Vegas last weekend.- Longhorns merchandise tops again. Love that burnt orange!
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