I disliked T-Mac's quitting as much as anyone, but T-Mac showed up in the playoffs. Every single one of them. If Schaub had put up the QB equivalent T-Mac numbers in our last 5 games and the post-season, I would say he's elite. Schaub is more like Kevin Martin.
I'm not shocked at Flacco's numbers, I'm saying Flacco has the tools to physically beat teams by himself (regardless if he has consistently done it) that Schaub simply doesn't have. Sticking with a guy like Flacco seems to make (and have made) eminently more sense than Schaub who needs a lot of other things to be going right to burn teams. (mostly a dominant running game so he can feast on play action).
You guys… you get yourselves wrapped around the silliest axels. Do you know what would have changed if the Texans hadn’t extended Schaub and let the season play out? They would have wound up paying him more money. As is, they extended him for roughly the same money Arizona gave Kevin Kolb. Had they not extended him, he would have been slapped with the franchise tag roughly 15 seconds after the Texans were allowed to do so. There was no way they were going to let the starting QB of a 12-4 team walk. No way they were going to let one of only six QBs in the NFL to post a 90+ QBR every year since 2008* get away. No way they were going to turn this team over to TJ Yates, or Rex Grossman, or a rookie QB they may or may not have a chance to draft a month later. When they extended Matt Schaub is ultimately irrelevant: there was almost zero chance they weren’t going to do so. I would wager Baltimore was in the same boat with Flacco (he was going to be extended no matter what); except… they’re now going to have to pay a guy who, again, I’ll remind you was being run out of town as recently as 45 days ago - $15-20M/year. And there's already talk that Boldin and/or Jacoby will be cap casualties because, while the Texans locked Schaub up and were able to apply some of it to their 2012 cap to give them more flexibility in 2013, the Ravens aren't going to be able to do that. (* - Tom Brady. Drew Brees. Peyton Manning. Aaron Rodgers. Tony Romo. And technically… Brady and Manning didn’t do it; they each lost an entire season to injury. But, obviously, had they been healthy, they would have posted 90+ QBRs for the seasons they missed so I’m including them.) Schaub’s final six games of 2012: 147/220 (67%); 1,551 yards; 7.1 YPA; 3 TDs; 5 INTs; 82.2 QBR Points per game: 18.6 W/L: 2-4 Schaub’s previous 16 games: 325/504 (65%); 4,035 yards; 8.0 YPA; 26 TDs; 10 INTs; 98.1 QBR Points per game: 30.1 W/L: 15-1 These look the same to you?
I think you're maybe still basking in the immediate afterglow of Flacco winning a ring. He played very well this postseason. But it took a record-setting kick return and last minute defensive stand to get him that ring. And he didn’t post back-to-back competent playoff games until Boldin and Smith showed up last year. By himself? Hardly. I’m neither discounting nor disparaging Joe Flacco. Just tapping the brakes on his (predictable) coronation as a certified elite QB. Again, as I’ve posted several times, he was being run out of Baltimore as the regular season was coming to an end just a month and a half ago.
Would you rather have a QB who has the arm strenghth to make all the throws on the passing tree or who only has the ability to make a smaller percentage of them, and not nearly as well? That is the difference between Flacco and Schaub that you are underselling and that makes a huge difference about what you can do in terms of passing offense
How about this, for the next two years, lets try to get Schuab as many quality targets as possible. If we still see no progress, then we get rid of him. Matt isn't going anywhere for the next two years that are guaranteed.
answer this question: would you rather have schaub or flacco as the Texans qb? that is the only question that needs answering in this thread.
Even before the super bowl, you'd HAVE to go with flacco, more durable, younger, and more physical ability with a similarish performance.
Basically most people think Schaub can get us to the playoffs, but he lacks the ability to elevate his game to the next level. Primarily bc he has failed at doing it so far. Next year will be his last chance to elevate his game to the next level, or expect the Colts to take back the division
And yet... since 2009, Schaub has put up better numbers on a consistently worse team. I get it - Flacco's the Golden Boy right now (deservedly so). And he possess a talent Schaub doesn't have so there's a greener grass component to all this. But Flacco, big arm and all, simply hasn't been a better QB than Matt Schaub until this postseason. Again, show me how the limitation has manifested itself. Since 2009, the Texans have outranked the Ravens every single year in passing yards and points (save for points in 2009 when the Ravens held a 3-point advantage): Texans (starting in ’12) Pass Yards | Points Rank 11th | 8th 18th* | 10th 4th | 9th 1st | 10th Ravens (starting in ’12) Pass Yards | Points Rank 15th | 10th 19th* | 12th 20th | 16th 18th | 9th (* - includes six games of TJ Yates starting; and the Texans *still* led the Ravens)
I agree with SamFisher's response, in terms of age and durability. I can't think of too many instances where, given similiar talent, I wouldn't take the younger player. That's a no brainer. But that doesn't necessarily mean Flacco has been better.
Schaub finished the year with a 90 qbr - flacco with somethign like an 87 IIRC. I just don't see that difference as statistically signficant Sure if you go back to 2009 maybe you can make Schaub look better, factoring in Flacco's rookie season etc. But it's not 2009, it's 2013
half through the middle of this season, i thought a trade would have been a wash at best. flacco really showed me a lot this postseason (hell, he was one play away from the Super Bowl last year). i'd definitely prefer flacco now.
So, IOW... Flacco's big arm didn't make a "significant" difference? Understand: I'm not trying to disparage Flacco; I'm trying to slow this burgeoning revisionist idea that Matt Schaub isn't a good QB. If the Ravens can win a Super Bowl with Joe Flacco, then the Texans should absolutely be able to win one with Matt Schaub (assuming he has the mental capacity to show up for big games).
I'm going to say this, and then I'm done trying to make a valid point in this thread. Schaub is an average QB that had an offense that allowed him to hit wide open receivers and accumulate a lot of yards. He is a smart QB that will not make many mistakes, but most of it is because he doesn't take chances. I can guarantee that if we had a mobile QB that can throw the long ball, (and mobile meaning just able to allude the pass rush and take that 5 yd run that is given on a bootleg, does not have to be in the mold of VY or Vick) that this offense would be even better. You are in denial if you don't think a QB that can hit AJ in stride or able to move in the pocket wouldn't be great in this offense, which Flacco can do. The running didn't just suffer because of the o-line, but because of the QB play. Teams realized Schaub could not beat them and started selling out on the run game. They were able to drop their LB in coverage cause they knew Schaub would not run and take the 4 to 5 yd cushion they were giving him on the bootleg. Its also easy to play one on one when you know the DB will be able to adjust and make a play because the ball will be underthrown or thrown to where the receiver can't run after catch.
I think there needs to be a new thread: Can the Texans win the Super Bowl with Schaub as QB? I say yes.
