Has the Texans’ offense officially become the Dameon Pierce show and how should fans feel about it?
Alexander: I’d hope so. Dameon Pierce is showing he’s the Texans’ most dangerous offensive weapon, and when the offense goes through him, great things happen. That doesn’t mean the Texans shouldn’t throw it. Nico Collins and Brandin Cooks are weapons they should continue to utilize.
But when the run is established, that essentially makes things easier for Davis Mills, because then you have teams loading the box trying to stop the run on every medium to short distance down situation. That’s what the Jaguars did. Pierce has two consecutive games with 99 yards rushing or more. His 26 rushing attempts against Jacksonville is right in that range where Lovie Smith says he wants. I’m not going to lie, it’d be nice if Pierce had a complement, though.
Kubena: Yes, and it shouldn’t have taken this long. There was understandably some early reservation by the coaching staff in training camp not to overload Pierce as a rookie. But really, once they cut Marlon Mack, the Texans committed to the fourth-rounder from Florida. Fans should feel temporarily excited that there’s an offensive playmaker that compels them to stay near the TV between commercial breaks and snap it off in frustration.
That will still happen with this rebuilding team, but at least there’s a strong chance Pierce will be bulldozing multiple defenders every week. Until Pep Hamilton morphs the scheme to a more pass-oriented style — which really requires more than just Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins at this point — just sit back and enjoy watching Pierce run his way toward possibly securing Houston’s first Offensive Rookie of the Year award since Domanick Williams in 2003.