All depends on Matt Schaub. He needs to play better, plain and simple. The int to Greer was simply DUMB! Plus 2 other near INTs will not get it done. When Texans were living in the basement with David Carr, Schaub was a welcomed addition. Subsequently, the Texans have ascended to the main living room . Now Schaub , has to shoulder the burden to take the Texans into the attic...a move that is quickly revealing his weaknesses as QB. I would of welcomed a Schaub for Cutler trade two years ago.
Man if you are that hard on Schaub (LOL @ trading for Cutler :grin: that's a good one) - what do you think about, idk - the defense? Think they have to play any better for us to win too? We did beat them in Pittsburgh with a combined 47 yards of offense one time.
The funniest part about that post is not that Matt's play isn't warranting of such criticism, it's that for us to win this game, Matt is going to have to be the smallest of factors. The most important things for us to do to win this game are to run the ball effectively, especially in the red zone, and force Rothlisberger to throw it (i.e. establish a lead and keep Mendenhall under 4 yards per carry). If we don't do those two things, especially the former, then Matt is toast. It won't matter how good he plays. He's going to have Steelers in his face on every 5+ step drop if our running game doesn't take the pressure off him. If we're counting on Matt to win us this game, then we've already lost it. Not because Matt sucks. But because Pittsburgh can eat any quarterback's lunch under those circumstances.
I just hope he doesnt get happy feet against those LBs... He has to trust his 2 anchors(at least until he gets hit multiple times)....He's gonna need time for Andre to work through Pittsburgh's zone... So even if Matt does get hit a lil early, he's gonna need to stay in the pocket and take some shots down the field....
That's the whole point, we need to keep Matt out of situations like that. Pittsburgh's LB Corp cannot keep up with OD or James Casey, and their corners can't cover them... Matt needs be hitting them consistently on 3rd downs and off of play action to keep the chains moving when we need it. Otherwise, I don't want Matt to have to worry about throwing the ball at all.
QB rating 2007: 87.2 2008: 92.7 2009: 98.6 2010: 92.0 2011: 101.9 Schaub's limitations have become evident, but regression... I'd say that's kind of reaching.
he's been ok, or average, for what he is capable of. I certainly wouldn't say he's been bad, but he hasnt been great either. He's played good enough to win though, and yes, i'm talking about the Saints game as well. Yes, he made some mistakes but the texans still could have easily won if the defense and special teams had played better and closed out that game. Schaub is certainly not without fault, and I can admit that. However, when people make it sound like it's all Schaub's fault and that is simply incorrect and short sighted.
Donny I know your a smart guy. Those stats aren't indicative of his performance. His 2010 performance brought about the 'not if he will throw a int, but when' theme song (Bmore game). I don't hate him , I really dont. I just hate seeing Calvin Johnson catching bombs IN STRIDE from Matt Stafford . AJ is definitely better Calvin ,but noodle arm cant get him the ball.
Great post. This is the response that really resembles my feelings. I would like to see Schaub: Show mobility and poise in the pocket. Audible in and out of plays. Throw receivers open. Hit receivers in stride past the 15yrd line.
Well, yeah. Like any QB, the more he throws the ball, the more likely he is to be intercepted. Keep Matt's attempts under 30 and we probably win more often than not. Schaub's shortcomings are well documented; suspect deep ball, a statue in the pocket, throws off his back foot too much, etc. Lucky for us, this is not a big play offense, and we've proven we can win without a deep threat (Schaub to AJ over the middle is a thing of beauty), or a scrambling QB (not that it wouldn't be a nice luxury), and even throwing on the run (which Schaub does surprisingly well). As we've seen before, the games we've lost have been less on Matt than almost anyone. If the defense could hold a lead, our special teams could execute, and our running game didn't mysteriously evaporate at the worst times, Schaub would be considered in some elite company. Until everybody else starts contributing consistently though, we're going to have "good" Schaub and not "great" Schaub.
I can't imagine how furious you'd be now about dumb INTs if that had gone down. Here's a fun game - find the season where Schaub threw more INTs than Jay "I don't care if he's getting gang-raped out there, I'm still going deep!" Cutler. AKA Jay "It wasn't my fault - Hester should have come back and broken up the INT" Cutler. Guys I'd immediately switch out for Schaub: Rodgers Brady Rivers Brees End of list. Only other guy I might think about is Newton, given his potential. I see Matt Ryan as being a lateral swap. I think we have plenty to be happy about with Schaub. He's not perfect, I'll criticize his tendency to underthrow and fail to lead guys too. But he's a very good decision maker, makes the right throw, and doesn't get obsessed with high risk home run balls.
Schaub one of those players where the statement "He is what he is" applies emphatically.... Whether he throws for 2500 or 4200 yards this season, it wont change the aspect of Schaub to most people..... Good but not great, better than 1/2 Qbs in league, wont necessarily win it for you but wont lose it either... Gotta put talent around him to maximize his abilities(like everyone else)... And I think we've done that wonderfully ... He has about a 3/4 year window to get it done for us...
Id put Cutler over Brees for this particular team... Andre would think he was in heaven if we got Jay... Jay to Andre deep would be beautiful..
Jay Cutler is Matt Schaub with crappy skill players, no offensive line, and mediocre QB coaching. (and diabeetus) I feel bad for the guy, honestly. Cutler has a good defense and special teams though, so it's funny... cause they have almost the exact opposite problems of each other.
He did that at least a few times in the Saints game... And that doesnt count the perfect pass with Casey streaking down the sideline.
