Kubiak and Wade Phillips are 7-0 and Rick Smith is.....

Never thought I'd see the day when people said they were wrong about Kubiak and Phillips. I swear so many people here were screaming for their heads, and I'm actually happy to see them do well after how badly people here were putting them under the bus.

 

I've been pretty consistent. Nothing he has done has surprised me. But I understand why he had to be let go. It was time for change.

 

I was indifferent at the time. Felt like the move was made for the sake of making a move. Team needs a franchise QB, but then again the AFC South is still there for the taking.

 

What move? You can call them a joke franchise but they had a playoff win. You just got that one wrong.

 

They had the Tebow draft debacle and lucked into a playoff win in OT. Still a joke. RG3 took Washington to the playoffs; doesnt mean they weren't a joke in the way they have dealt with him since he was drafted.

 

Over the first 14 games of 2012:
12-2 record
65% completion
7.5 YPA
22 TDs
10 INTs
93.8 rating

Final four games of 2012, including postseason:
1-3 record
57% completion
6.7 YPA
1 TD
3 INTs
71.0 rating

Those first 12 games include the MNF meltdown in New England (few fans care to remember that he, and the team, were absolutely *awesome* the following week, knocking off the Colts.)

Every fan on this forum and/or in the city of Houston would trade half of this roster to have a QB as good as Schaub was weeks 1-12 in 2012.

And when you extend it to include his 2011 season (which was, pre-injury, shaping up to be a monster year), here are his total numbers:
19-5 record
63% completion
7.9 YPA
37 TD
16 INTs
94.9 rating

At the end of the day, he was not combat-ready and 2013 was essentially him dealing with PTSD. It happens and despite what anyone says, there's no way to ever know that until you see the guy in battle. It's too bad.

I do think Kubiak had to go; 2013 was just too decisive. And, ultimately, he did underachieve here - the '08-'12 window should have had much greater success (his failing to properly address the defense undid him). But fans were irrationally way too over the top in sending him out of town. He landed in a cush position in Denver, sure - but him being successful elsewhere felt like a pretty safe bet.

 

^ Well put.

Kubiak's first years were marred by not having a legit DC, and his final year plus was by not having a competent QB. Those problems are fixed now in his second go-round and it's paying dividends.

Makes a compelling argument for not hiring a first time HC, but there are plenty of examples of the contrary. Looking back, having a first time GM, HC, and multiple first time DC's is downright laughable.

 

Don't forget what he did in Baltimore in one year

 

Rick Smith is the CANCER...just MAYBE we fired the wrong guys...not just maybe...we DID

 

How so? I really haven't seen anyone prove that all of the bad draft picks and personnel moves are directly attributed to his decisions. We all know that Rick gets the players that BoB, the coaches and scouting staff pick out. So just how is Smith the CANCER here? Again: Firing Smith without a change in the organizational structure accomplishes nothing.

 

Well if he leaves then I assume the next GM will be more traditional.

The GM no longer would be the guy who just gets the guys the coach wants then throws the coach under the bus

 

have you been following the "Rumblings" in the Texans locker room on how the players feel about Rick Smith that reporters haven't been at liberty to discuss on the record yet? Hopefully we hear more about this as the year moves along or even after this year is over. The one constant after all these years other than the owner is Rick Smith. We're seeing what Kubiak did in Baltimore in 1 year and now in Denver...that's also why I said "Maybe" at first...so I'm somewhere between "Maybe" and "We Did"

 

Come on. The Broncos have been a great team ever since Peyton signed there. It's not like Kubiak and Wade have magically transformed them just this year.

I know this year has sucked, but let's not get carried away with this "we shouldn't have fired Kubiak" nonsense.

 

well how about this...we shoulda fired Rick Smith right along with Kubiak and truly start from scratch

 

Anyone claiming that Kubiak and Phillips shouldn't have been fired is suffering from side effects of 40/40 hindsight while their eyes are dialated.

 

What people are forgetting about Denver is that Kubiak didn't build that team. He was gifted that team, and he doesn't have full control like he did with the Texans.

Elway is his boss and he must abide to his decisions.

Kubiak has always been a terrific offensive coach. What he was not good at was being the de facto GM. He was a poor decision maker as for as the draft and in FA. He was also incapable of letting players go when they were already past their prime. He was also too stubborn in having players that only fit the small niche rolls of his offense, instead of versatil players that would be capable in other schemes. If you weren't a west coast and ZBS type of offensive player, you had no place on this roster.

Once the talent level of his roster began to drop, so did his ability to develop and plug the holes.

He just so happen to sit down in a fully loaded lambo and was handed the keys. Let's see what he does once Manning and all these vet FA's are gone in a year or two.

 

Manning is coaching that team. Be serious.

 

That's more like it.

 

I still think the biggest flaw in the Kubiak system is an inability to adjust to what other teams are doing in-game. We've seen his offense with the Texans and Ravens get stymied at times with Kubiak seemingly helpless to change it up in-game. Having a scheme helps in identifying the players needed in draft and free agency. Yes, giving him complete control of the roster as a rookie coach wasn't a great move, but he could find guys to fit his offense. Where he suffered was on the other side of the ball, and having a bonafide DC (with his own scheme) has been helpful to say the least. They did land a boatload of (young) talent on the Broncos.

 

I don't know about that... You look at that 2011 roster... Schaub, Foster, Walter, Brown, Myers, Winston, Watt, Smith, Cushing, Ryans, Barwin, Williams, Joseph, Quin, Manning....... all acquired under Kubiak.

And if you look at this year's roster... the best players (not listed above) are Kubiak's, too: Hopkins, Brooks, Newton, Crick, Mercilus, Jackson...

Just curious which players you're referring, too. Because there are a lot of productive Texans lining other teams' rosters right now...

His QB failed him; that was ultimately Kubiak's demise. Prior to that, he wasted too many prime years ignoring the defense. Had he walked into town with Mike Nolan, or whomever - those '09-'10 teams don't disappoint/underachieve, and we'd all view his tenure differently.

He inherited a roster bereft of any talent, beyond Andre Johnson, in 2006 and added 12 Pro Bowlers by 2012.