You make good points. Yes, I agree that with both Mixon and Collins we have a better chance of winning, but like you said, those two have only been healthy enough to both play for only one full game together. Pearce is another guy who can't stay healthy, but I don't know why he doesn't play Taylor and Ogunbowale more on some of the plays, mixing it up to rest Mixon, or when he couldn't do much himself last game. He did use Ogunbowale once, and he got 11 yards, and Johnson hasn't had hardly any carries, but when he has, he's averaged 4.4 yards per carry. I think you are right about Slowik and Demeco too. No, I don't think Slowik forgets how to coach second half. I think he just doesn't adjust well when the same old thing stops working, and some of the play calling just makes me shake my head in frustration. I do blame DeMeco too, because he is the head coach, and maybe he does just want to play conservative with a lead. Who knows? Whatever the reason it's frustrating to watch far too often. Yes, I think the conservative stance kills us at times, especially after going backwards from sacks. It's like we come out firing only if we have too, or settle for getting within field goal range, but then our defense gets so tired and the other teams drive down the field easier. They seem to throw touchdowns into the end zone easy compared to us, which is also frustrating. Yeah, I agree that we almost lost that Bills game because of Stroud. He's making more mistakes being under so much pressure, and some of it is just bad throws, holding the ball too long, or not seeing an open target. That poor pass to Dell changed the outcome of our last game. Then we have guys dropping passes they should have caught, guys making stupid penalties, and a bad offensive line. As for our offensive line, well we knew it was bad last year, but spent most of our money to make a good defensive line better instead of giving CJ more protection this year. Everyone except Tunsil are mediocre players, but I guess they thought healthier mediocre players might work this year. I just hope CJ doesn't get hurt or regress from shell shock because of it. Nothing we can do but pray he doesn't.
I think the answer is: they're not very good. Any time a team doesn't use a player *we* think looks good, you have to remember they see 1000% more of that player; they know 1000% more than we do about how effective they are in the scheme, etc. Mixon is a top-tier running back. If he's healthy, he needs to be playing. It's one my one standing complaints with DeMeco Ryans: he is risk-averse. Take the end of the game Sunday night: the Texans should have gone for it on 4th down rather than try a 58-yard FG. The only scenario where you don't is if the FG is the last play of the game. Otherwise, make or miss, you're giving the ball back to Detroit. But convert the 4th down, and you don't necessarily give the ball back to Detroit *and* set-up an easier FG. Dan Campbell would've taken this approach. It's the right move, and Ryans too often feels stuck in the 1990s.
People might argue that on the guys they thought were effective enough to protect Stroud on our offensive line going into this year, and during the year. As for going for the FG I agree. The coaches had total lack of confidence in our offense being able to get a first down. Too many times they resort to that mentality. The sad part is that we have the highest time of possession in the NFL, but settle for too many field goals to play safe, or struggle scoring touchdowns from the red zone.
At present, the Houston coaches are being out coached. It is a chess game and they are losing. Will they turn it around? Hopefully.
This is true. Howevah, I have no idea how much influence Demeco has on the offensive gameplan. The defense seems to be ok.
THIS, although I don’t know that he’s necessarily risk adverse per se, I think he just really really gets a hard on for “letting the defense go out there and grind it out“. Winning tough close games that kind of thing he just seems to like that too damn much.
I don’t necessarily think you’re wrong, but that’s a problem in my opinion. I mean, I don’t really think it’s even much of an opinion. It should be just blatant fact that your head coach should have an influence on the ****ing game plan. He’s not the defensive coordinator he’s the ****ing head football coach, so yeah I find that annoying
This was a TEAM lost but I've said it before and I will say it until Demeco makes a statement! Demeco should have set Tunsil after the Minnesota game. Coaches got to make statements to keep the teams attention. Now, I think he has to to waive an end of the bench player, i.e, Bill Belicheck or demote Slowik. But either way, he needs to make a statement that he's SICK AND TIRED OF EXCUSES
It's hard to make a statement when the guy trying to make the statement is a key part of the problem.
Right now Demeco Ryans looks very much like BOB wrapped up in cooler packaging. At least asschin's team were usually disciplined. I'm not ready to write him off yet, coaches can improve just like players, but despite the record this has been an objectively awful second year from him, there's no way to sugar coat that. The team looks very poorly coached, and the coaching staff seems grossly incapable of making in game adjustments
It’s like watching Kubiak trot out his shitty DCs until Wade came. This MF is so stubborn Lucky the Colts don’t have a QB or we’d be in deeper trouble
