Chron ranked Rick Smith as 15th best General Manager. 1. Ted Thompson(Green Bay) 2. Bill Belichick(New England) 3. Ozzie Newsome(Baltimore) 4. John Schneider(Seattle) 5. John Elway(Denver) 6. Kevin Colbert(Pittsburgh) 7. Jerry Reese(NY Giants) 8. Steve Keim(Arizona) 9. Jerry Jones(Dallas) 10. Mike Brown(Cincinnati) 11. Dave Gettleman(Carolina) 12. Mickey Loomis(New Orleans) 13. Trent Baalke(San Francisco) 14. Ryan Grigson(Indianapolis) 15. Rick Smith(Houston) 16. John Dorsey(Kansas City) 17. Martin Mayhew(Detroit) 18. Scott Pioli(Atlanta) 19. Tom Telesco(San Diego) 20. Rick Spielman(Minnesota) 21. Doug Whaley(Buffalo) 22. Ruston Webster(Tennessee) 23. Chip Kelly(Philadelphia) 24. Les Snead(St. Louis) 25. Reggie McKenzie(Oakland) 26. Mike Maccagnan(NY Jets) 27. Mike Tannenbaum/Dennis Hickey(Miami) 28. Jason Licht(Tampa Bay) 29. Dave Caldwell(Jacksonville) 30. Scot McCloughan(Washington) 31. Ryan Pace(Chicago) 32. Ray Farmer(Cleveland)
The Astros big trade additions will likely be long term bust. Gomez sucks, he has been trash all year. Kazmir is a one year wonder and now the Astros are officially the Collapstros. They may get the final wild card spot but the chances of the winning a real series are slim. I don't at all see how comparing the Astros to the Texans, makes the Texans look bad at all. They have been around for over 50 years and have 1 World Series appearance, not 6, not 5, not 4, not 3 but 1!!!! To go with there 7 division titles in 55 years! It took them 40 years to even reach a World Series. I am a fan of both teams but please don't try and put the Texans down by comparing them to Astros, its just stupid.
wow...I see the Astros with a legit lineup and tons of young talent in the system. I'd far prefer the Texans to be in the Astros' shoes right now than the other way around. And for all the talk about 1 World Series....we'll see if the Texans can even get to the AFC Championship within the next 25 years. So far, Houston pro football has failed to even get to the game you have to win first to make the Super Bowl...in over 40 years. And by the way...it's 9 playoff appearances...not 7....2 of which came at a time where getting to the playoffs only happened if you won one of the 4 divisions in the entire league.
I don't feel that it has anything to do with the drafting of a QB - it's just the overall stifling air of mediocrity that permeates this franchise. What you keep choosing to ignore is that their two "division titles" occurred when Indy fell apart after Peyton Manning was injured. Once Indy got another QB, the Texans went back to being an also-ran in this weak division. I suppose I'd be "overly negative" as well if I had greater expectations for this team than I currently do which helps a great deal. This team is simply not ready to place playoff expectations upon it - by doing so, you will simply open yourself up to frustration and disappointment.
Actually, the Texans did win the division/make the playoffs in Luck's rookie year.... but that's splitting hairs. To me, the Texans aren't really separated from the majority of the NFL. Even the Cowboys, who have had increased success as of late, haven't really separated themselves from the majority. All you can do is look at the coaching staff and the core players and see if there's something there that could be built upon. Most franchises basically hit a reset point at 5-6 years, unless you're one of the elite-unique ones that happens to be blessed with the most amazing run in NFL history (the Patriots). Fan expectations/satisfaction also hits a reset point... as Texans fans aren't going to be able to live off 2 division titles and competent looking football for even 4-5 years. The Texans are STILL young... STILL have a ways to go before establishing any sort of trend one way or the other... and most fans here are still not going to be satisfied till they actually make and win a Super Bowl, which is an extreme standard to hold any team to.
I totally disagree. Most fans here are still watching...and the Texans' support in this city is just unreal good...they're just tired of "wait till next year" for all the teams in this city. We're the 4th (about to be 3rd) largest city in this country...a gigantic market that's done quite well for itself. And we have 2 championships in about 140 combined years of sports here. As I mentioned earlier, our football teams haven't even been to the conference championship game in the Super Bowl era. That's crazy. I'm not sure if there's another pro football city in the country that can say that...and certainly not a city that's as rabid for football as this one. Asking a team to win a Super Bowl in any given year is a lot to ask. Asking them to win one sometime in your entire life isn't asking a whole lot. We're in a pretty small group of fans that have never seen that.
Young talent doesn't mean anything unless it produces. Yes, they are a young team with talent. I didn't say playoff appearances, I said division titles to which they only have 7, they were in the wild card spot their most recent playoff appearances, 10 years ago. You can't compare the Texans to the Oilers now. The texans started completely from scratch with no handouts like other recent expansion teams. If the Texans had a legit QB they would be in better positioning than the Stros. The Texans had a solid team and a better team top to bottom than the perennial division favorite the Colts. The Colts have the best player in the division though at the most important position in all of sports. But like you said, lets see if the Texans can reach the Super Bowl in the next 25 years and if so they will have accomplished just as much as the Astros did in their first 40 years of existence. Then they can go back to sucking and being the worst team in the league for the next 10 years like the Astros did after their big game appearance.
I don't hold them to the standard of making a super bowl. I hold them to the standard of not having a horrible front office that relegates them to mediocrity.
You're right...young talent has to produce first. I'm in complete agreement. I'd still far rather the Texans be in the Astros' position right now than vice versa. And you're right...it takes a legit QB to really matter in this league (for the most part...but for a few exceptions...etc)....and we arguably haven't had that since Warren Moon was here. Schaub had a nice season or 2. One really good season, actually. So the Texans don't have that. That's part of my point. With you on not comparing the Texans to Oilers....just making a general point about Houston pro football and what it's produced. This is year 14 for the Texans. I hope they rattle off a Super Bowl before I die.
You can actually also say that about the Eagles, Lions, Cardinals, Chargers, Bills, Browns, Vikings, Falcons and Bengals. You also have the Jets who haven't won one since SB 3 and the Cheifs who haven't won since SB 4.
I've watched 6 of those teams play in a Super Bowl. The rest, hell even Detroit, have played in at least 1 Conference Championship in my NFL fan lifetime.
Cardinals, Chargers, Bills, and Falcons at least have gotten to the big game not too long ago. Plus saying you're in the same category as Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Detroit is not something you want to be doing as a sports fan. I hear you, this is not the worst franchise but let's not revel in mediocrity.
Yeah, that .391 OBP and .600 slugging this month is trash. His .320 average since 08/25 is trash as well. And Fiers with that 3.32 ERA with the Astros (would rank 7th in the AL if qualified) and 1.06 WHIP (would rank 2nd in the AL if qualified) hasn't worked out at all. Kazmir has stunk it up, with the exception of a few games, after his torrid start in Houston.
Right... but you're still basing your frustration on your entire life-span of watching football... not on what's currently transpiring, and the very brief (in comparison) lifespan of the current football team. People disregard the Texans 2011 and 2012 seasons in hindsight because of how they ended and where the team is now. People have already thrown out last year's 9-7 team after the poor start this season... regardless of the cirumcstances. Also, Houston is only the #9 or 10 media market... which is accurately reflected in terms of the coverage they get comparative to other cities. Only Houstonians will refer to the "We are the 4th biggest city in America" stat, when really media market size is a more accurate reflection of the type of importance a city's accomplishments really carry on a nation-wide scale.
But at that point, you just slightly shift the expectation.... and if you're still short of a championship, there's still frustration. Had the Texans just made the AFC championship game in 2011 or 2012, nobody would be "more" satisfied now. If they make 1 super bowl... but don't make another one for 15-20 years, nobody is "more" satisfied. The Rockets are a perfect example as nobody currently still lives off their last finals appearance 20 years ago... and as of last year, there was every right to be just as frustrated as any other fan base.
Who's the sixth? I count 5. Eagles, Bills, Chargers, Cardinals, and Falcons. Bengals, Browns, and Vikings haven't been there in a while.
Nobody is "reveling"... but lets not pretend that this is the worst city of all-time to be a sports/football fan in either, and that rooting for the current incarnation of the Texans is an exercise in self-flagellation or is likely depression-inducing.
