Bounce back year, last year they quit on Kubiak to get him fired, they were not as bad as 2-14 - and were closer to the 12-4 the year before. Therefore - 10-6ish. DD
I picked 7-9, so I feel good about that. What's funny, though, is in the NFL a team can actually have .5 wins (and .5 losses) from ties.
Like most years, it's all about health. There is no way that we're finishing under 6 wins with the crap division that we play in while playing teams like the Raiders/Browns over the Broncos/Pats. It just isn't happening.
Then you're the one that needs to get out to Vegas and throw some money on that line!! It's a crap division...and we're a crap team. Our talent looks better on paper than it actually is...because it's aged and it's ridiculously injury prone. That's my view. But I promise you....I hope you're right and I'm wrong. I honestly believe winning 6 games shows real progress.
Their best offensive plater is aged, yeah... but I don't think they'll have more than 6 guys on the final roster who are 30+ - and one of those is Lechler. In terms of (likely) above-average contributors: Clowney - 21 Hopkins - 22 Swearinger - 22 Su'a-Filo - 23 Watt - 25 Jackson - 26 Foster - 27 Cushing - 27 Brown - 28 Plus: Griffin (24), Posey (24), Brooks (25), Jones (25), Newton (26), Graham (28). Fiedorowicz is 22; Bouye is 23; Crick is 25...... Sure, Foster and Cushing haven't been healthy in years - they remain big question marks. But I wouldn't call their talent aged *at all.* I mean, they have the best defensive player in football and he just turned 25. Clowney's been legally drinking for 6 months, I mean...
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2014/snap-weighted-age-2013-nfl-rosters TL;DR - Adjusted for snap counts, the Texans have the 15th oldest team in the NFL, 10th oldest offense, 20th oldest defense. In other words, age is basically a non-factor in terms of what hinders or aids this team.
6-10 maybe 7-9, win a game they shouldnt, lose a few they shouldnt.. crappy QB play will be our doom.. also the secondary is still crap, linebacking core is suspect also.. so ya 6-10..
I'm not thrilled about more than few guys you've listed there...that's not a nucleus that has me going to bet the over.
That is, without question, the nerdiest nerd thing I've ever read. Which means I devoured it... A. Smith, W. Smith, Daniels, Manning and Reed are all gone. Fitzpatrick is younger than Schaub and in some areas (Smith to Su'a-Filo, for instance), they got significantly younger... It'll be interesting to see where they shake out next year. I still maintain the core is relatively young. Other than AJ and JJo, there's not a single player I listed older than 28. Wait... am I just old and 28 seems young *to me* but really isn't? I hope not... Thanks for posting.
I think this defense is going to be top 10 material. It will boil down to how much Fitzpatrick turns the ball over and how many kicks fat Randy shanks.
I agree; I know it's difficult to talk up a 2-14 roster; I get it... but I just don't think there are too many 6 (ish)-win teams that can boast a top 5 RB*, top 5 WR, top 5 LT, top 5 NFL; top 5 MLB*, a top overall NFL pick, and a slew of good, young talent. Eventually, every coach gets tuned out. If you're smart, like Belicheck, you turn the roster over and keep it fresh enough so that you never grow stale. Kubiak was stale. They were as sick of his schtick as we were. A new coaching staff - especially if it's competent - is going to make a world of difference. We've already seen it with Wade. Players crave new blood, new perspective, new opportunities. * when healthy, of course... Yeppers; if he cuts down on the TOs, this team could very easily win 9-10 games. I don't think that he can but.......
One game at a time. Does 9, 10 win seem more realistic now? It won't be easy against a desperate team but man would it be nice to be 3-0 heading into a tougher than expected game against the Bills.
1 win away from a correct 9-7 prediction. Although I will admit when we were sitting at 4-5 and another thread popped up asking to predict the record the rest of the way I had us finishing 8-8.
I picked 10-6 I did not anticipate the Clowney injury or the Texans and BO'B gifting a couple of games away Rocket River
I undershot it, I picked 8-8, but I always thought they'd have "a shot" at 10 wins....turns out they had a shot at like 12 wins.
