Fire Bill O'Brien

Beating the Jets last year, with an off-the-street Yates (and doing so with mostly strong offensive execution) stands out to me.

He devised a gameplan (wildcat) that the Jets were not prepared for... an aspect that none of the previous HC's ever even tried, in terms of out of the box approaches.

Of course, that will only get him so far. If he wants to be the type of coach that is only really good at turning chicken **** into chicken salad, I bet he could pull enough wins out of there to continue to have a high level job. But molding/developing the high level talent to take them all to the next level is what the overall goal has always been... and this year (and possibly next year) will be the defining time to accomplish that.

 

What if it ends up being a close approximation of our season?...

And for the record, Osweiler was 18/22 for 205 yards (9.3 YPA); 2/1 for a 116.6 QB rating in the second half (+ OT), which is, you know, 50% (not 10%) of the game. He made exactly one bad throw after halftime (the pick, which was bad). They scored 23 points in the second half (+OT).

I mean, come on... He still has far more signature losses - but that was a big one.

I said this in the game thread... the team looked genuinely happy for Brock; they're pulling for him. Sometimes, these guys need to get over the hump and it clicks once they do.

 

I've thought that O'Brien is actually a pretty good "x's and o's" coach. The problem with this regime has been personnel moves (like what they did with the OL), not so much in-game coaching.

 

I don't want to be all grampy mcgrampypants about you kids and your new-fangled fancy stats - but if I offered you - for the game - 18/22; 9.3, 2/1 116.6; 23 points, you would have ponied up.

I've been of the opinion Osweiler is being weighed down by a complicated offense - and sometimes... sometimes.... it finally click into place and there's no looking back. I'm not saying last night was that moment - but if you want to be optimistic, let's all hope it was.

 

However, they've attempted to do exactly what you've been suggesting... address the positions of need in the draft. They've selected two O-lineman the last two years in the first 2 rounds.

 

It's simple for the rest of the season ya play like you're 2 touchdowns behind in the 4th quarter. Full throttle, stop playing and coaching skeered.

 

Fair enough, my point is that it isn't working. Yes, some of it is bad luck (Martin) but Xavier hasn't been very good

 

He was a big part of what worked in the run blocking last night. Its his strength. Pass blocking is not his strength.

Its still obviously an area they've actively tried to improve... and will probably do-so again this off-season via a first-day draft pick.

To act like this regime doesn't recognize where their bread is buttered is just being overly anti-regime.

 

Not saying they don't recognize it, saying the moves haven't worked out. Sort of like Brock at QB

 

It's like sometimes it takes rookies a while to come into their own and find their footing in the league....who would have thought?

 

I'm glad we won last night, because even though I don't think we have a prayer to do any damage in the playoffs should we make it, I do prefer to watch meaningful games later in the season.

But any hope left for Brock is fading quickly. I know some guys need more time to develop, but his ceiling seems average at best to me. We won that game in spite of him IMO - he did make some nice throws late, but that defense had fallen back on its heels and stopped bringing pressure. Not to mention they are an awful, awful defense and we never should have been in that position to begin with. Brock might put together some good games going forward, but I have no faith that he's going to deliver consistently when it counts the most.

I've said it before, I won't be happy until this team starts drafting a QB in the top three rounds AT LEAST once every two years, until they find a top tier franchise QB. It's just asinine to keep putting all your chips on one guy. Where would the Seahawks be if they had avoided drafting Russell Wilson just because they had signed Matt Flynn?

I do think Bill O'brien is capable of winning big, just like it's now been proven that Kubiak is/was. But the bottom line is you need a very good GM and good coordinators as well as talent evaluation. If we continue to sputter, it's time to get some fresh blood in at GM and maybe bring in new OC for some fresh perspective.

 

If everything worked out immediately, they'd be lauded as one of the most successful front offices of all time. As a Kubiak diehard, you seem like you would understand the time it takes for units to come together, or for players to find their own. Hell, it 'only' took Kubiak 6 years to rebuild the Texans into a SB contender.

Certainly some things may work... some things may not. You seem quick to giving every acquisition of this regime a failing grade till proven otherwise. Not really how it works, but does promote your bias/agenda.

 

Not sure how I'm a Kubiak diehard. I believe in retrospect we should have kept him. I wasn't against firing him at the time.

And not sure why having an opinion automatically means I have some huge bias/agenda. It's my opinion that Rick and Bill have done terrible personnel moves. I don't have any ulterior motives other than not wanting my team to suck.

 

After last night? I'd counter last night offered the first true glimpse of genuine promise. If you want to be optimistic about Brock's future, re-watch the 4Q/OT last night. He was truly great.

But that's *exactly* what he did last night. There's no "yeah but"ing his performance. He was great in a meaningful moment; helping them win what may very well be a critical game.

Well, if they had kept drafting QBs, they'd be without many of the pieces that make up their great defense. You can't waste resources in the NFL. If you've done your homework and think you have a guy good enough to win games, you ride that guy.

I think there are some genuine reasons to be concerned but, again, this morning seems like a weird time to bring them up. They're 4-2 and after next week, their schedule gets much easier. And, frankly, the luster if off Denver a bit. Still a likely loss - but wouldn't be a shocking win.

 

Our schedule gets harder. @ GB, Oakland in Mexico City, Jags and Colts on the road.

 

Uh... no. Those teams are not as good as KC, @ NE, @ MIN. GB looks downright pedestrian offensively; the Raiders' defense may very well be worse than the Colts, and the Jags and Colts are not very good.

 

Well, fewer super hard games but also fewer "super easy" games like Titans, Bears or Colts at home.

 

I'll give him credit, he made some good throws downfield during the comeback. He has connected on deep balls very well all season when it's been given to him. His weakness seems to be the crucial intermediate throws, where he's made too many mistakes and been inaccurate.

We're fans, we get to "yeah, but". Indy's defense is piss poor. We were crushing them on the ground which should have opened up things for the passing game, yet some combination of Brock's poor decisions/bad throws and bad play calls led to where we were after 3Q. My point was that I don't trust that he can do that against a legitimate, playoff-caliber defense...not yet anyway.

Do I really need to go back and show anyone Rick Smith's track record of 2nd-4th rounders, where we could have taken shots at QBs instead of drafted guys who were total wastes?

I bring these things up because I think we should have been moving the ball with ease all game against Indy and it concerns me that we didn't. Even the casual observer knows that the Colts are very flawed and a good team should have no problem with them. Yeah, yeah, any given Sunday...they're all professionals...and maybe I wouldn't be so concerned if we hadn't been flattened by Minnesota and NE...but we were. I just want to be more than a one and done playoff team.

 

Is Brock terrible because BOB refuses to tailor the offense to his strengths or is Brock just terrible by himself? I don't know anymore. I thought Miller was bad before I realized BOB was using him the wrong way (running him up the middle instead of getting him in space). It seems BOB is also using Strong the wrong way too; trying to make him a different receiver.

BOB might have a huge ego and its hurting the Texans. Texans aren't the Patriots.