Texans fired up for Year 2 with Phillips (Four letter network)

[rmoreno]

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth/pos...-with-phillips

HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans' defense is brimming with confidence, expecting to swarm, believing it’ll be dominant. And why not? The Texans' D was second in the NFL last year in yardage allowed, balanced in stopping the run and the pass. A stable of young talent should get better. And last season's ascent on defense came after a lightning-quick installation during training camp following the lockout -- there was no offseason with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and the staff. “We’re going to be a whole lot better, because everybody fully understands the defense and all the concepts,” second-year defensive end J.J. Watt said. “So now we can just go out and have fun and not have to think about it. “It’s going to be tough [on offenses]. They’re going to have to decide, really. If you want to block Brooks Reed, you’ve got me. If you want to block me, you’ve got Antonio Smith. If you want to block Antonio, you’ve got Connor Barwin. If you want to block all four of us you’ve got Brian Cushing. We’ve got guys coming from all over and Wade can draw up some serious schemes. So good luck. Who do you want to try to block?” Many teams wound up playing a lot of max protection against the Texans last season, and Houston will often take that and chalk it up as a win. Even if you keep the Texans from hitting your quarterback, you’ve narrowed your options in the passing game by choosing to field extra blockers over pass targets. The defense has solid options to shut down primary weapons in such situations as well, starting with corner Johnathan Joseph, who will cover the top receiver. Max protection certainly qualifies as a sign of respect for the Texans’ pass-rushing powers. When Phillips was hired to revamp the defense last year, much of the talk was about the success his scheme had had in the first season virtually everywhere he’s installed it. Before he joined the Texans, the seven teams with a first-year Phillips defense had posted a .571 winning percentage and gone to the playoffs five times. Last year’s team went 10-6 and won the AFC South. Not everything is in a defense’s control, of course. But teams with a second-year Phillips defense have not fared as well, posting a .471 winning percentage and advancing to the playoffs only once. “He hasn’t talked about it at all and I don’t see any reason that would happen here,” Watt said. “If that’s the true stat, then we’re going to change that stat. Because we won’t let that happen. We were No. 2 last year, this year we want No. 1.” Phillips doesn’t see any sort of trend. The 2003 Falcons lost quarterback Michael Vick to injury. The 2005 Chargers and the 2008 Cowboys both finished 9-7. “It’s not like the defense had a bad year, it just didn’t go quite the same as the year before,” he said. “New Orleans we were better, Philadelphia we were better. I was coordinating in those places too …” “What we want to do is pick up where we left off at the end of the year, that’s the goal. We want to be near as good starting off as we were finishing last year. I think that’s the key to how well we play this year.” Five of Phillips' previous seven teams were worse in points allowed in the second season than they were in the first. Years 1 and 2 Under Wade Here are NFL rankings and records for Wade Phillips' defenses (either as head coach or coordinator) in his first and second years with a team. Year Team PPG YPG Rush YPG Pass YPG W-L 1981 New Orleans Saints 24 11 11 20 4-12 1982 New Orleans Saints 8 5 10 8 4-5 1986 Philadelphia Eagles 12 17 19 14 5-10-1 1987 Philadelphia Eagles 25 23 9 28 7-8 1989 Denver Broncos 1 3 6 3 11-5* 1990 Denver Broncos 23 20 17 21 5-11 1995 Buffalo Bills 12 13 11 16 10-6* 1996 Buffalo Bills 6 9 14 8 10-6* 2002 Atlanta Falcons 8 19 23 16 9-6-1* 2003 Atlanta Falcons 30 32 29 32 5-11 2004 San Diego Chargers 11 18 3 31 12-4* 2005 San Diego Chargers 13 13 1 28 9-7 2007 Dallas Cowboys 13 9 6 13 13-3* 2008 Dallas Cowboys 20 8 12 5 9-7 2011 Houston Texans 4 2 4 3 10-6* * Denotes a playoff berth. Maybe the Texans are on the verge of becoming a defensive football team that constantly clamps down on opponents. But it’s also possible we see some sort of regression. The Texans aren’t engaging in that idea, nor should they be. “I think those kind of comparisons are not really fair,” Barwin said. “Every year is different. Every team is different. I don’t think you can really use those stats to say we’re not going to make the playoffs because Wade only did it once on the last five teams he coached.” “We’ve got a good football team, a well-rounded football team.” It’s true. The one big question is about a new guard and tackle on the right side of the offensive line. The Texans won a playoff game with a rookie quarterback at the helm and will have Matt Schaub back in place. As they defend their first division crown, their competition all has bigger questions. The Texans proved to have a deep defense that controlled a lot of games last season. They expect to do even more of that. “I think with the players we have, we’re confident we’re only going to get better and improve,” said Cushing. “Last year we were still learning our defense in camp and through the first couple games of the season. Now we’ve got OTAs and a full season under our belt. We have a ton of confidence.”

[J.R.]

.....

Five of Phillips' previous seven teams were worse in points allowed in the second season than they were in the first. Years 1 and 2 Under Wade Here are NFL rankings and records for Wade Phillips' defenses (either as head coach or coordinator) in his first and second years with a team. Year Team PPG YPG Rush YPG Pass YPG W-L 1981 New Orleans Saints 24 11 11 20 4-12 1982 New Orleans Saints 8 5 10 8 4-5 1986 Philadelphia Eagles 12 17 19 14 5-10-1 1987 Philadelphia Eagles 25 23 9 28 7-8 1989 Denver Broncos 1 3 6 3 11-5* 1990 Denver Broncos 23 20 17 21 5-11 1995 Buffalo Bills 12 13 11 16 10-6* 1996 Buffalo Bills 6 9 14 8 10-6* 2002 Atlanta Falcons 8 19 23 16 9-6-1* 2003 Atlanta Falcons 30 32 29 32 5-11 2004 San Diego Chargers 11 18 3 31 12-4* 2005 San Diego Chargers 13 13 1 28 9-7 2007 Dallas Cowboys 13 9 6 13 13-3* 2008 Dallas Cowboys 20 8 12 5 9-7 2011 Houston Texans 4 2 4 3 10-6* * Denotes a playoff berth.

[Raven Lunatic]

I worry about a drop off a little bit. Not because of of any real fact-based reasoning, but I recall one of the Cowboy fans on this forum was posting last year about how Wade's defense will look good at first and then regress as other teams figure out his scheme. I can't imagine that happening with us because this team has great defensive talent...but it's something in the back of my mind.

[emjohn]

With the team young, bursting with talent, reloading, and having their first true offseason under the staff, it's very difficult for me to see the drop off happening.

Where I see an area of concern worth watching is how the secondary handles strong West Coast passers. Wade's aggressive scheme is vulnerable to quick passes and 2 minute drills, exacerbated by Kareem Jackson, no more Jason Allen, and question marks on the bench (do I really trust Brice McCain?)

Wade's scheme is lights out against pocket passing and creates TO opportunities for the secondary as QB's rush passes. But on quick/hot routes, there's no time to get to the QB and affect the pass, and with so many defenders coming forward, the secondary are on an island.

We're going to need to be on our toes this season, since we're going to face a few QBs that excel at eating up defenses in the air:
Denver
Patriots
Packers

And I wouldn't be too dismissive of Fitzpatrick on the Bills - they've put together a nice receiving corps. Lions and Bears also can do damage - but those offenses are more vulnerable to the rush.

[ubigred]

Well there is a pattern.

[ThaShark316_28]

Originally Posted by emjohn With the team young, bursting with talent, reloading, and having their first true offseason under the staff, it's very difficult for me to see the drop off happening. Where I see an area of concern worth watching is how the secondary handles strong West Coast passers. Wade's aggressive scheme is vulnerable to quick passes and 2 minute drills, exacerbated by Kareem Jackson, no more Jason Allen, and question marks on the bench (do I really trust Brice McCain?) Wade's scheme is lights out against pocket passing and creates TO opportunities for the secondary as QB's rush passes. But on quick/hot routes, there's no time to get to the QB and affect the pass, and with so many defenders coming forward, the secondary are on an island. We're going to need to be on our toes this season, since we're going to face a few QBs that excel at eating up defenses in the air: Denver Patriots Packers And I wouldn't be too dismissive of Fitzpatrick on the Bills - they've put together a nice receiving corps. Lions and Bears also can do damage - but those offenses are more vulnerable to the rush.

You only don't trust Brice because you didn't hear his name a ton. He had a really good year last year.

Bills were exposed by mid-season last year. Man up, don't play zone. They are a spread-type offense. Get in "trips" to the left or right and throw short passes all day. Fitzpatrick destroyed defenses early on with their version of the spread. I like DET and (especially) CHI, so that's legit. That said, DET can't stop anyone from what I can tell. CHI can, however. As for GB, DEN and NE...GB and DEN have bottom half of the league defenses. NE does, too, but proved their worth when the chips are down.

Which brings me to my next point: Another key that folks aren't looking at with these Texans...barring injury (can be said about everyone), who's going to STOP them? Schaub, Dre, Arian, OD, Tate, etc....this was a top 5 offense last year before Matt gets hurt.

I understand the CONCERNS, but what about the things we got???

[tallanvor]

Originally Posted by emjohn And I wouldn't be too dismissive of Fitzpatrick on the Bills - they've put together a nice receiving corps.

Good NFL franchises don't pay large sums of money for any position but QB (patriots come to mind). The Mario Williams deal proved just how smart the Texans are and how dumb the Bills are. The Bills wont make the playoffs for atleast another 10 years.

[rezdawg]

Originally Posted by tallanvor Good NFL franchises don't pay large sums of money for any position but QB (patriots come to mind). The Mario Williams deal proved just how smart the Texans are and how dumb the Bills are. The Bills wont make the playoffs for atleast another 10 years.

Mario Williams' salary is hardly that bad...it may be bad in 4-5 years, but at that point, they can cut or restructure his deal. There are about 3-4 players on every single NFL team that will be bigger cap hits on their team than Mario will be for the Bills this upcoming season. Mario's cap hit is 9.8 million. However, plenty of teams have defensive players that are much less cap friendly. The Patriots are probably the only example in which a team has been successful while allocating a good chunk of its money to QB...but most teams have at least one player on defense that makes as much as or more than their QB. Here are some of the successful NFL teams:

Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata combine for 38 million in salary cap hit for this upcoming season for the Ravens.

James Harrison makes more than Big Ben.

Julius Peppers makes more than Jay Cutler.

The Giants have a few defensive players that make what Eli Manning makes.

Pretty much half the defense of the Jets makes more than Sanchez.

The Eagles have 2 CBs that make 10+ million each.

When Clay Mathews and BJ Raji's rookie contracts come up, they will join Charles Woodson in the 10+ million per year category.

You cant be successful in the NFL if you dont have the defensive cornerstones that make 10+ million, or QB level money....unless you have a once in a lifetime QB like Tom Brady running the show (which most teams dont have).

[vinsensual]

Originally Posted by tallanvor Good NFL franchises don't pay large sums of money for any position but QB (patriots come to mind). The Mario Williams deal proved just how smart the Texans are and how dumb the Bills are. The Bills wont make the playoffs for atleast another 10 years.

I think that's a pretty short sighted opinion to make of what constitutes good NFL franchises. It's pretty established that a good pass defense comes from the ability to generate QB pressure. Mario was coming in as the biggest defensive FA since Julius Peppers, and Chicago probably doesn't regret paying him crazy money. There were probably a few teams that would have been willing to make him one of the highest paid defensive players ever.

The AFC East will look completely different once Brady's gone, and that time's coming a lot sooner than 10 years from now.

[tallanvor]

Originally Posted by vinsensual I think that's a pretty short sighted opinion to make of what constitutes good NFL franchises. It's pretty established that a good pass defense comes from the ability to generate QB pressure.

Teams with a good pass rush don't over pay for one pass rusher (Giants)

Originally Posted by vinsensual Mario was coming in as the biggest defensive FA since Julius Peppers, and Chicago probably doesn't regret paying him crazy money.

It has gotten the bears 0 playoff wins so far.

Originally Posted by vinsensual There were probably a few teams that would have been willing to make him one of the highest paid defensive players ever.

There are lots of dumb teams.

Originally Posted by vinsensual The AFC East will look completely different once Brady's gone, and that time's coming a lot sooner than 10 years from now.

They will still be a far better franchise than the Jets or Bills when Brady is gone.

[Raven]

Can we just move the season up to August 1st please. Yeah, that would be great.

[Juxtaposed Jolt]

I know it's way early, but I'm thinking Superbowl this year.

[J.R.]

Here are NFL rankings and records for Wade Phillips' defenses (either as head coach or coordinator) 
in his first and second years with a team.
Year     Team                                PPG        YPG       Rush YPG        Pass YPG        W-L
2011     Houston Texans             4              2                  4                         3               10-6*
2012     Houston Texans      T-10             7                  7                       16               12-4*
* Denotes a playoff berth.

Here are NFL rankings and records for Wade Phillips' defenses (either as head coach or coordinator) 
in his first and second years with a team.

Year     Team                                PPG        YPG        Rush YPG     Pass YPG     W-L
2011     Houston Texans          17.4     285.7         96.0              189.7          10-6*
2012     Houston Texans         20.7     323.3         97.5              225.8          12-4*
* Denotes a playoff berth.

[ipaman]

what about year 3?

[emjohn]

I think we can agree that the biggest factor in the drop off this year was losing Cushing. The defense had several more impressive performances, but we were never really the same without him. His ability to handle ILB on his own allowed Wade to send 5 forward and put 5 DBs in a zone - lethal for opposing offenses to deal with. Wade kept flipping between sending 4 or leaving only 4 DBs in off man or soft zone, and we couldn't get away with it half the time.

Other factors:

Barwin's abysmal contract year showing.

Joseph's injury

Teams catching on to the kryptonite of Wade's D: scheming quick passing attacks with spread formation, West Coast passing, or screens. This has happened at most of his spots. Even if you just look back at his SD and Dallas stops, it's been his M.O. to lean completely on pocket pressure to defend the pass. When the pressure slips, the secondary gets eaten alive.

There's also a line to toe between trusting in your system and tweaking your gameplan for opponents. It seems that both Kubiak and Phillips have been slow to adjust their schemes to deal with opponents that game plan for theirs - Wade simply has not come up with a counter to deal with the quick pass or spread.