Houston Texans News: Arian Foster expected to play vs Buffalo Bills
By Wes Goldberg
It is not a coincidence that in the one game Arian Foster didn’t play, the Houston Texans lost their first game of the season. Foster is as important to the Texans’ offense as anyone. He can rush, catch and pass block, and takes a ton of pressure off the quarterback.
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Ryan Fitzpatrick struggled in the loss against the New York Giants. It was, by far, his worst game of the season. He completed 20 of his 34 passes for 289 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions with a 59.6 quarterback rating.
Foster will be a game-time decision for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, but the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain expects he will play.
"Foster is still a game-time decision, but don’t be surprised if he plays … The Texans were wise to keep Foster out of the Giants game rather than risk him aggravating his hamstring and costing him more playing time. He was limited in practice for the second week in a row. He was very close to playing against the Giants. If he plays, he might not have the heavy-duty workload of the first two games when he carried a league-high 55 times for 241 yards, which still ranks as the fifth-highest total in the league even though he sat out the last game."
It isn’t as if the Texans couldn’t run the ball against the Giants. Filling in for Foster, Alfred Blue ran 13 times for 78 yards. As a team, Houston had 25 rushes for 119 yards, however, seven of those carries and 34 yards were on Fitzpatrick scrambles. Plus, 46 of Blue’s yards came on one carry in the third quarter.
Blue, who split time with Ronnie Brown and Jonathan Grimes, isn’t an every down back nor does he have the impact that Foster has. Foster takes significant pressure off Fitzpatrick as a rushing threat and his pass-protection. They will need him back to get back to their winning ways.
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