Peyton Manning was ruled out with a neck injury, so we knew going into the 2011 NFL season opener that the Houston Texans were the clear favorites. But, 34-7 good? I don’t think anyone saw that coming.You would think that just their aerial attack would struggle, but Manning’s absence has had a domino effect on the rest of the team’s performance as well.Obviously 39-year old Kerry Collins, who came out of retirement to join the Colts under a month ago, struggled and understandably so considering he’s had little experience running their complex offense.Typically, Manning would spread the ball to a plethora of receivers. Last year, eight receivers had more than 19 receptions. Today, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark were virtually the only ones targeted, leaving Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie without an impact.Moreover, their rushing attack had, but only ran the ball 16 times.The reason for this is that the gameplan has always been predicated around setting up the ...
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