The Texans are really bad at trying to be the Patriots The Nick Caserio tampering saga is the latest hiccup in the Texans’ quest to completely copy the Patriots. By Charles McDonald@FourVerts Jun 13, 2019, 2:32pm EDTSHARE Everyone knows that the New England Patriots have been the epitome of greatness in the NFL over the past 20 years. Nine Super Bowl appearances, six Super Bowl wins, 16 division titles — every team would love to be able to replicate New England’s success. There might not be a team trying to do that more than the Houston Texans. The Patriots’ influence is heavily felt throughout the Texans’ organization. Their head coach and offensive playcaller Bill O’Brien used to be New England’s offensive coordinator. Romeo Crennel, their defensive coordinator, held the same title with the Patriots. Even their special teams coach Brad Seely had the same job in New England. Houston tried to complete its barbershop quarter of former Patriots staffers by making Nick Caserio, New England’s director of player personnel, its new general manager. However, the Patriots filed tampering charges against them in the process. Like every other team that’s tried to copy the Patriots’ method, the Texans keep falling short. Houston hasn’t had any success against New England since 2014 The Texans haven’t been incompetent since hiring O’Brien as their head coach in 2014. They have a 42-38 record, a playoff win (albeit against Connor Cook), and only one losing season. But Houston hasn’t been able to do anything against the team it’s been trying to mimic. Including the playoffs, O’Brien’s Texans are 0-5 against the Patriots. The average score of those games has been 30.2 to 15 in favor of New England. In its first three games against the Patriots, Houston only managed to score one touchdown — losing those games by an average score of 29.3 to 7.3. The Texans have had more success scoring since Deshaun Watson was drafted in 2017, but they’re still 0-2 against the Patriots with him at quarterback. The closest they got to winning was a 36-33 loss during Watson’s rookie year. Houston had the lead late, but O’Brien got too scared to go for it on a fourth-and-1, giving Tom Brady all the time he needed to throw a game-winning touchdown. While that 0-5 mark against New England is spectacularly bad, the Texans’ most embarrassing defeat to the Patriots came off the field. Houston, you have a general manager problem Former Texans general manager Brian Gaine was recently fired after holding his position for roughly a year and a half. Gaine didn’t have much of a chance to make his imprint on the organization, but no one really protested his firing. Even though everyone and their mama knew that the Texans’ offensive line was an issue for two offseasons in a row — they gave up 62 sacks in 2018 — Gaine didn’t do much of anything to fix it. What makes the Gaine firing interesting is the timing of it. Gaine was let go one day after the Patriots’ Super Bowl 53 ring ceremony, which was attended by the Texans’ new executive vice president, Jack Easterby — another former member of the Patriots front office. Easterby was at the ring ceremony with Caserio on June 6 and, amazingly, Gaine was fired on June 7. Houston officially asked to interview Caserio on June 11. Jack Easterby, now a VP for the Texans, was at the Pats’ ring ceremony. The next day, Gaine was fired. That’s the connection the Pats might be making here. The #Texans firing GM Brian Gaine the night after the #Patriots ring ceremony set off some alarm bells. Now, it’s on the league to look into the situation and make a ruling before Houston proceeds. Isn’t that all just an incredible coincidence? New England didn’t see it that way and quickly filed tampering charges against the Texans. Considering their own history with tampering, the Patriots seemed to have a pretty clear idea of what it looks like. But even Houston’s cheating can’t compare to the Patriots’ — at least New England got accused of tampering for Darrelle Revis! What’s the next step for the Texans? At this point, Houston just needs to wait and see what the NFL decides about the case and whether the Patriots have enough evidence to prove the team did in fact tamper. “Tampering” in this instance is trying to get Caserio to join the Texans at the risk of disrupting his employment with the Patriots. Until it’s sorted out, the Texans won’t be able to hire Caserio — or maybe ever — to fully rebrand themselves as the Houston Patriots. Right now, they can get is O’Brien answering questions with non-answers like Bill Belichick. The Texans will have yet another chance to grab their first win against New England in the Bill O’Brien era in Week 13 this year, but it still doesn’t feel like they’re ready to take down the Patriots. They still have gigantic holes on offensive line and rebuilt their entire secondary in one offseason. Houston isn’t even a sure bet to repeat as the top dog in the AFC South this year. Sometimes, the apple does fall far from the tree.
What units of measurement are you using to say he was GOOD here?? It certainly can't be success on the field, overall talent on the roster, or even savvy signings of under-the-radar veterans. So again, I ask.....how was he GOOD here?? Hitting on first round picks is the lowest hanging fruit a GM can have, so I'm not giving Rick Smith any kind of credit for that.
Houston Rockets organization has a few stumbles during off season (fire assistant coaches, Adelman contract disagreement). Houston Texans say...
Maybe this was the plan all along? We know BOB has an ego, and the news that he wanted to give up personnel power, even to someone as supposedly close as Caserio, sounded fishy.
So Bill O'Brien is effectively the GM, Head Coach, and essentially the offensive coordinator - a position Tim Kelly holds by name, but in no other way. Alright, Bill, good luck. Hope you don't have anything less than a 9-7 season, because otherwise, your bags better be packed.
I don't have a problem with just rolling with Olsen. He's not a sexy big name, but he seems to be qualified.
