Alfred Blue right at home in Cleveland

Nov 16, 2014 at 08:24 AM

Drew Dougherty

Texans TV Host

It was 33 degrees.

It was gray.

It was a little windy from time-to-time.

But for rookie running back Alfred Blue on Sunday in Cleveland, the 23-7 win was like being back home in Marrero, Louisiana.

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"It was just really like playing in the backyard," Blue, who rumbled for 156 yards on a franchise-record 36 carries, said.

Arian Foster, who entered the weekend with an AFC-best 822 yards, was at home in Houston because of a groin injury. Blue, who's previous NFL-high in carries was 14 against the Titans, stepped up in Foster's place. But according to the former LSU Tiger, his preparedness level was the same as it always was.

"It was always instilled in me to always be ready," Blue said. "To seize the opportunity when it was given to me."

The Texans went early and often to Blue, as the rookie ran the ball 16 times for 80 yards in the first half, and 20 times for 76 yards after the intermission. It was a rugged day between the tackles for Blue, and his effort was appreciated by head coach Bill O'Brien.

"Alfred Blue, he's a tough kid," O'Brien said. "Big runner. Physical guy. Smart. Good vision."

Blue's longest run of the day went for 14 yards. He was very complimentary of the offensive line, as well, and echoed O'Brien, who said the unit up front played it's best game of the season. The up-tempo pace of the offense, Blue said, aided in that as well.

"It was great to get that tempo," Blue said. "To get that defense off balance. They didn't really know what was coming at them."

Cleveland cornerback Joe Haden agreed.

"We had a hard time stopping their run game," Haden said. "They kept going with the hurry up tempo and we struggled against it."

But for left tackle Duane Brown, who along with the rest of the line was able to pave the way for Blue, the game went the way they envisioned it.

"Coming out, the thought we had in our minds was this was the kind of game we wanted to have, and it went exactly as planned," Brown said.

Blue and the Texans are now 5-5 on the season, and will host the Bengals next Sunday at NRG Stadium.

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