I wonder who the h*ll does Norv have naked pictures of . . . . Rocket River Didn't he take over a 14-2 football team???
Turner gets too bad of a rap for what's happened with the Chargers. Yes, he took over a 14-2 team. The 3 years under Schott before Turner took over: 35-13 The 3 years under Turner following Schott: 32-16 Since going 31-16 his first 3 years the Chargers have gone 9-7, 8-8 and are now 4-7. Is that because Turner is a bad head coach or is it because Phillip Rivers has become a shell of himself, Shawn Merriman got popped for roids and flamed out, LT moved on, Darren Sprolles was allowed to leave, etc. The bigger problem to me is that their GM has done a bad job yet manages to keep his job. He's not well liked around the league and has allowed the roster to age and get worse. Their defense has absolutely collapsed since Schott left as their players have gotten older, left or retired and Smith has done a terrible job at replacing them. Turner won 3 playoff games and got the team to the AFC Championship game. Schott never won a playoff game in San Diego.
Hasn't all his job went similarly. Some would say he coasted on Schott's players. Schott was not a 'great' coach either imo Rocket River
He did better with "Schott's players" than Schott did. Turner has had the following men picking personnel for him in his career as a head coach: AJ Smith Charley Casserly Al Davis I'm not going to say Turner is a great coach. Obviously nothing suggests that, or even that he is necessarily a good coach. I just don't think he has earned this reputation as a bad coach.
If you are a Texan fan, there is no room for feeling secure at this point. The Ravens are consistently winning and they will likely get Ray Lewis back for the playoffs. The Pats and Broncos just keep winning and both have SB winning QB's. Getting out of the AFC is not going to be a cake walk. The defensive decline in the last two weeks is of major concern, but better to be lucky (Jags and Lions); however, we have to straight up beat the Titans and the Colts won't be pushovers. A win at NE would be sweet, but not unless we take care of business in our own division (something we didn't do down the stretch last year). Frankly, I have a shaky feeling that only a dominant performance in Nashville will help. A stumble against the Titans and Colts and we could be toast.
You know solid, the way I see it the only things standing between us and a Super Bowl appearance are more injuries, the Denver Broncos, or a coaching snafu in the playoffs. As to the Broncos..I guess we all figured that if we saw Denver again later that they would be much better. Well, that is going to be a big understatement. I can't see why it shouldn't be a classic. Even so, the return of a healthy Joseph probably spells doom for them and the rest of the AFC. Our defense should be dialed up to Super Bowl Dominant.... Bring on Baltimore ....It would be nice to kick their butts again. That defense is a shell of it's former self with or without Lewis....I would wager Flacco doesn't make it through the whole contest. NE is a different story, but again so is our D, plus I believe we'd be able to run the ball.... all over those guys.
As long as we have home field and don't end playing in sleet and snow and a 40 mph wind, I like our chances. But, the defense has to rise back to a higher level.
You do this a lot - hang much too much significance on the outcome of a single game, as if a loss will propel the Texans into a never-ending ditch. They will (probably) lose again. More than once. But even if we, say - give the Colts two wins against us - they're *still* a game back. The only scenario in which we're "toast" is if we not only lose our final five games - but the NFL decides to go back and rule Forsett down and award the Lions a victory. And even then, 9-7 has you in the playoff picture. All this drama queen hand-wringing about a team that's 10-1 is baffling.
I shudder to think about the "sky-is-falling" reaction a loss or two the rest of the way will cause with solid and those like him (esp. if we lose to New England). The last two weeks I've heard nothing but negativity because we weren't beating teams by double digits and the defense wasn't dominant -- but the bottom line is that you're going to have some rough weeks throughout the season and the good teams find a way to win even those. Even the 49ers and Giants, considered favorites in the NFC, have put up bigger stinkers this year. My confidence in this team has not wavered and I know they will be ready for the playoffs. Just need to find a way to win home field advantage, and the only team in my mind that can take that away is New England (since we have tiebreakers over Den and Balt, making it really tough for them to overtake us).
Agreed. I think we'll get homefield...finding ways to win....and how we're doing it. In the past I might have just said that those games shouldn't have been close. But it's the way we're winning. At the core of it is of course the defense, holding when Schaub does throw that crucial interception. Now, Matt is showing the ability to come back in games AND Andre looks like himself. Yes, we miss Cushing, but Sharpton, Braman et. al and the rest of the D will gel cushioning the loss......and again, I can't stress enough how much tougher we are w a healthy JJo and a fastly improving KJ. Our issues with pass defense of late obviously can be directly attributed to it. Football like baseball and basketball, has it's on own wonderful flow/chemistry when things are clicking for a team ...The Texans have it. We are a juggernaut. Buy the ticket, take the ride.......
I am a realist, a collapse is a real possibility. Seems like I remember a Giant team that was 11-1 and lost the next four games. Division games are rivalry games, generally hard fought, regardless of the records. Home field is critical or else get a supply of parkas and hot chocolate. It is not being overdramatic to say that the team is so close, but must finish the deal. The "oh go ahead and lose a few more games" approach seems utterly stupid to me. Just win them all and don't look back. Winners determine their own destiny.
The last "OMG, this team is toast!" loss was followed by a 43-13 shellacking of the Ravens. Go figure... Players do not live week to week like the fans do. They're 5-0 on the road with wins in Denver and Chicago. Other than health, this team has *nothing* to sweat.
Also a possibility: Never losing again. Ever. They just won a sloppy, cold game in Chicago – why is cold weather suddenly Kryptonite? As it does to every other living person. Who’s advocating this? You mentioned being a realist – they’re (probably) not going 15-1. But this idea that a loss will start an endless spiral towards oblivion is just silly. Sillier because you beat this drum *all the time.*
I think the Colts games will be tougher. They have more to play for. Even if NE beats the Texans they still aren't guaranteed a bye. The game is bigger for power rankings than it is for actual standings.
Texans can lose to NE and the Colts twice and it is still a real possibility that they make it to the Super Bowl. What happened in one week has no real affect on how a team performs the next week. your logic suggests that losing leads to more losing. well, it should work both ways. you should expect the Texans to keep winning since that's what they've been doing.
The Colts have just been getting so lucky. They're 7-4 with a point differential of minus-43. Punt return touchdowns, fluky calls, terribly weak schedule... at some point it has to end. The Texans should be motivated to put their foot down in those two (as long as we haven't already clinched homefield ).
assuming we hold serve and have HFA throughout, the Ravens loss is great for us. I expect the Broncos to win out which includes a win over the Ravens, giving the Broncos at the least the number 3 seed. Would love to see a Luck vs Manning first round matchup with the winner going to NE.
If it came down to rooting for Den or Balt for a home field spot, who would you rather want having it? I personally would want Denver. Flacco plays a lot better at home vs. on the road generally, and I think M&T is probably an even tougher place to play than Sports Authority Field.
are you asking where i'd rather play if we lose HFA to BAL or DEN? that would mean we go 0-4 the rest of the season. i don't think that's going to happen. but if i had a choice, i would definitely choose to play Flacco on the road than Manning. Manning is the superior QB regardless of the playing field.
