Here are my three biggest beefs with the offense in the second half yesterday: 1) Schaub got rattled in the 4th quarter. Great chance for him to step up and lead his team to a victory, but he came up a little short with his play in the 4th. 2) Offensive play-calling couldn't have been worse. First, they didn't run the ball enough to stem some of the NO momentum, and then second, when they did pass the ball, they lined up in formations that allowed the Saints to disguise their blitz too easily. In the Green Bay game a couple of years ago (with Kyle Shanahan as the OC), we lined up 4 and 5 wide against the Packers pressure defense and Schaub picked them apart. Same thing happened on Opening Night this year - both teams (NO and GB) spread the field making the reads easier for the QB and allowing for 1-on-1 match-ups on the edge. Yesterday, the Saints made that adjustment in the second half, and the Texans didn't for some reason. 3) Passing targets - yes, sometimes the defense will dictate where you go with the ball, but there's no excuse for locking in on AJ80 when he's triple covered. And then, don't expect your TE2 to make big plays consistently down the field. Yes, Dreessen can make a grab for you here and there, but relying on him to come up with a "got to have" play is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Run better routes, get someone open, don't just ask your TE2 to run a go pattern and hope he can beat the LB off the LOS. As much as I like what Kubiak and Dennison have done with the running game, the passing game has taken a step back from a scheme standpoint since Baby Shanny left.
Saddest part of game: Texans getting beat for a second 2-pt. conversion by the exact same play as the first.
If I were a betting man, I'd take the under on next week's game. I expect a big game from our defense, and hopefully Arian can smash some faces. I expect Pittsburgh to try to pick on our secondary, and for Rothlisfailure to turn the ball over multiple times.
i wonder if those who were complaining about not having balanced scoring in the Colts game are happy about yesterday...16 first half points, 17 second half points. now tell me how much better 33 first half points would have looked yesterday.
Honestly the Texans would be a 4-12 team without Andre. The guy is just so humble he still sticks with them. He's a Ronny kind of player, similar to Asomogha, Revis and Fitzgerald. But like Garnett in Minnesota, a day will come when he can no longer tolerate the insolence. And I'll be there supporting whichever team he goes to.
I feel like Schaub's arm isn't strong enough to throw those darts at receivers when we're in the redzone. He still sidearms it when he's 5 yards from the end zone.
Why they don't press up on the receivers and force a short QB like Brees to throw over the top is mind numbing. DD
Jonathan Joseph, Mr. "he'll shutdown the Saints#1 receiver" himself, got burned on both of them as well.
His lack of mobility is the biggest problem in the redzone. He can't extend the play, and there's no way he could outrun an LB to the pylon on one of those bootlegs. If our running game stalls inside the 20, we're mightily boned.
He didn't "get burned" as much as he was sitting in the same spot, 7 yards off the line, when the ball was snapped. That's on Wade.
Well you can probably do that with Joseph, but Kareem doesn't get put in press coverage because he can't do it. He gets beat off the line. He has bad footwork at the snap of the ball and he has no recovery speed. You have him go to the line to jam a receiver and the receiver gets behind him every time. At least in off coverage and zone you have a chance of Kareem being there.
Fair enough. So much for all that red zone defense and scoring defense praise after we handled the crappy Colts and the unfortunate Dolphins.
Eh... this is on the coaching. Plenty of teams manage to score touchdowns with the passing game without a mobile QB.
You know what's funny? Two weeks ago, bored, I started charting his "close-and-late" 4Q results - and I think those with an open-mind will be surprised how good he's been. I'm by no means selling Schaub stock. My concern is that he doesn't rise to the level of his competition often enough. What was the last *meaningful* game the Texans played in which he didn't throw a crucial INT, start slowly, and/or play poorly? His track record is pretty spotty.* (* Note - I'm going totally from memory here.) And having said that, if Foster is healthy - he doesn't have to.
Kubiak often does not put players in the best position to succeed. Schaub is BEST when he has a bootleg and can take his time to scan the field and nail a receiver (In fact he is probably the best bootleg QB int he NFL). Kubiak will call 15 bootlegs in one game and 2 in the next. It makes little sense to be. Kubiak also does not design plays for Andre in the endzone which is not put Andre or Schaub in a position to succeed. He calls 3rd and long plays where every receiver sits short of the first down marker. As great as his "system" is, the guy is an erratic playcaller.
When I say "the" biggest problem, I mean that is "his" biggest problem. His mobility isn't really an issue until we get down inside the redzone, then it's like... damn it Matt, would it kill you to run some sprints?
I'll disagree, and do the math on top of it. 4 failed drives in the first half still gave us 12 points and 13.5 mins of Brees on the sidelines, getting the ball behind his 30 afterwards. Saints nab a TD and FG on those 4 resulting drives. The Momentum Swinging double fail in the 4th burned less than 80 seconds off the clock (combined) and gave the Saints the ball at mid-field twice for two no problem TDs. First Half "Fail" Drives averaged: 3.4 mins, +0.5 net points (Texans-Saints) Second Half "Fail" Drives averaged: 38 secs, -7 net points Oh, and the second half drives fired up the crowd and the Saints players.
Eh, it was against the Saints, who have possibly the most dangerous offense in terms of weapons in the NFL. And the red zone is where that comes to fruition. Before we start jumping off ledges, let's give this team a chance to respond. Last year's team folded week after week when adversity struck....let's see if this team takes this loss, and uses it to punish the Steelers. I have faith in Wade and his defense....even moreso than Kubiak and his offense.
some teams are more susceptible to the bootleg than others, so I can understand that. As for why AJ doesnt get targeted more in the redzone...i have no idea. It's a complete mystery to me. I can't recall the last time i saw a short fade route to the corner
