Regardless of whether or not people were concerned about it during the first 12 weeks doesn't change the fact that this is a very real problem. The warning signs appeared long before week 13, too. They really started around week 5. Lack of creativity in the offense hurt us in many ways. Unable to compensate for losses in personnel, inability to capitalize on the abilities of existing personnel, and being painfully unable to keep pace with teams like Green Bay and New England. I'm glad to be able to grumble about 12 win seasons, but if Kubiak isn't able to grow a little bit, I think a good-to-great regular season and early playoff exit will continue to be our fate.
I think the main point the author was driving home is that while the scheme does net you 10 wins...it looks to be ineffective once it runs into the big boys of winter. High powered offenses blew the team apart the past two seasons, and it's reasonable to ask if we are going to go through those same teams and get to the Super Bowl staying the course. You don't find it fishy that the system tended to not work whenever we played a high octane offense? I would say this - the vast majority of coaches in this league are married to a particular system and are locked into it. Guys like Belichick are pretty rare - he's going down as a top 10-15 coach in the league's history, bare minimum. The NFL coaching merry go round has been moving towards dumping old blood for new blood in the past decade - old school systems are washing out in favor of the new generation of ideas. You saw that much more than 90s coaches suddenly flipping from RB-centric offenses to 4 wide on 1st down. Kubiak and the Shanahan system are looking more like dinosaurs in this current Pistol/4 wide/hybrid TE world. I do agree that the team has not been nearly as creative as it had been with Kyle as OC....especially in terms of the pass. We've become far more run-oriented under Dennison - though it can be argued (well) that could be a product of the personnel. Bob McNair thinks he should leave the actual football work to the staff and stays out of their way. He's not about to tell them what to do. Things have to get extremely bleak in some fashion for him to step in, and when he does, it's to lay down an ultimatum or force someone out of a job. Wade Phillips and Gary Kubiak have been very similar in their game planning. Both of them believe that their system should force opponents to adjust to deal with them and not the other way around. It's a good thing in that the players aren't constantly reworking their roles week to week and can hone their routine. You also want to believe in your system to that degree. Unfortunately, it resulted in both sides of the ball walking straight into buzzsaw match ups. The offense was going to play conservative run-first ball regardless of opponent, and Phillips was going to send 5 forward and leave his secondary in man-zone 95% of the time. Against the spread and West Coast teams, the defense was carved up. It was a waste to send extra men in on Brady when (a) he got the ball off too quick for it to matter, (b) he's never a threat to run, and (c) you don't have personnel that can handle guys like Hernandez one on one. Both coaches set up the bowling pins in certain games. It was 100% the right thing to do against bottom feeders like Jacksonville, but it was foolhardy against the likes of the Pats and Packers. Are they going to change? I don't really see it. Wade has already adjusted his scheme in a global sense - swap Quin for Ed Reed to play more single high with a nickelback to face third wideouts. But that doesn't mean he's going to do much more week-to-week tweaking than he already does. Kubiak's a bigger question mark. I have no clue what's going through his mind. Does he intend to shore up weak spots and plow forward? Is he reevaluating the playbook? Wide Receiver has probably been the most talked about offseason issue. But here's the thing - if Kubiak isn't altering his scheme, it's pointless. In the last four years, our leading non-AJ WR (usually Walter) saw an average of 70 targets for 565 yards (highs: 80, 621 happened in 2010). Your typical "modern" passing offenses usually have two WRs with 100+ targets. Kubiak doesn't like to line his guys up in non-run formations. He wants 90% of his sets to be a run look with the play action/boot as an option. How many third and longs did we see with three wide and a vertical throw? How many times did he do that at the end of a half? Most of the time he either ran a dump off or simply sat on the ball. What's going to change with a new wideout? Will he change his system to employ two guys wide? Empty backfields? Will he drop the notion that his second WR needs to block on most downs? How many sideline speedsters are out there that can block? If you ask me, it's an either or issue. Either they stay with the system or they make an effort to bring in a second dedicated WR. If they stay with the system, it's going to be another Walter type of guy that will block and run short-to-mid routes without breakaway speed. If they say in the system, they're far FAR better off using a premium pick on a second TE. That fits this scheme far better - you've got a guy that can block as well as go out. Dreesen's departure still stings and Graham isn't going to fill those shoes. Upgrading TE2 would be a strong move. Keep looking for a new WR, we desperately need one no matter what considering the horrifying drop off anytime Andre isn't on the field. But if Kubiak is sticking to his scheme (I suspect he will), there's no cause to reach for a guy early in the draft with a high bust rate that Kubiak won't employ anyway.
Texans put up the same amount of pts in the playoffs vs. NE as Baltimore did. Adding a true lead blocking FB as well as a #2 WR in the draft and maybe a few pieces on the right side of the line will be an improvement. If anything I'm more concerned about the D. They need to find two quality starters in the front seven and greatly improve the depth in the secondary.
With competent QB play . . . the Run and Shoot was killing teams sometimes things just fall out of favor Rocket RIver
This is very misleading. Watch the game again. They squeaked out just 13 points when it mattered, and left lots of points on the field. Our offense hung our defense out to dry routinely in the first 40 minutes of that game, and then after their backs were finally broken and the dam gave way... we were doomed because our offense can't score quickly.
Let me guess... the Packer game? Never mind they scored 43 points two weeks later against the Ravens - you know: the team that won the Super Bowl. Nope, because the Packers and Patriots beat em, it's time to scrap an obviously inferior offense and start from scratch... Key term being "a little bit" - I would agree: the offense needs to be augmented. But this idea that its suddenly exposed and sooooo last year? Mularky.
If you put Andre and a bunch of slow receivers out there then of course the system won't be explosive, regardless of system.
No, the Jets game. Yeah, that's cool and all, but I'd rather it be us winning the Super Bowl. Gross misrepresentation of my argument and hyperbolic. Not cool. Not really. Look at the teams that have been the most successful since the rule changes that came in the mid 2000s. It's not a coincidence. "Suddenly exposed"? Actually, yeah. It kinda was (relatively speaking). That's more of a product of Schaub's injury, though, since it delayed us getting a really hard look at this team. "Soooo last year"? Well, isn't it? It's a more traditional style offense, is it not? I'm not saying it can't win, but it certainly needs a lot to go right these days for it to be ultimately successful. If we can't get all those things to go right (i.e. having Wade shut down elite offenses, and having the right side of the OL mature), then it's on Gary to change. How much that needs to be is yet to be seen, and I don't pretend to know, but it's the biggest problem facing this team in my opinion.
I think people are missing the true point of the article, which is that the Texans are trying to fit round pegs into square holes. Any offense can work wiht the right personnel. The Texans offense in theory could work better than most teams' without optimized pure talent(aka high, 1st round draft picks). So I do think the system is pretty good. However, like the article, I question the fact that they are choosing players who don't seem to fit the system. And in the case of schaub, paying a lot to do so.
They got a couple of trash-time TDs after falling behind 38-13 in the 4th quarter. Let's not try to rewrite history here. The Texans were never in that game.
This is part of my concern. We saw a lot of guys go mis-utilized or under-utilized because of it. But I don't agree that all offenses are created equal. The NFL rules have changed, and the most successful teams over the past 5+ years have been those who took advantage of these new dynamics. Even teams that dominated prior to the rule changes made adjustments and continued success afterwards. Hell, look at the Patriots. They ran a pretty white bread offense until about 2005. The rules changed, and their system did with it, including the personnel. The Pittsburgh Steelers did too. Their two Superbowl championship teams were 100% different from each other in terms of the offense they ran. Same with the Packers going from the Favre to the Rodgers era. Can the Texans win with Kubiak's 1997, slow-it-down, play-action, zone-blocking system? Sure. Does it give them the best chance to win? I'd say no. Although we can keep at it and hope we never have to face one of those teams in the playoffs that seem to be such a terrible matchup for us. It worked for the 1994 Rockets
Sorry; I just don't think asking an above-average defense to play well and for two young, seemingly talented youngsters to take the next step and solidify a line that was actually not terrible to begin with isn't asking a lot. Expecting Schaub to not tuck tail and curl up in the fetal position? That might be asking too much. But ever since he's been here, Kubiak has always - always - properly identified and successfully addressed offensive issues. And every year - going on 7 years now - his offense has been a league-leader. Until Schaub's late season fade, this offense was very effective in spite of some pretty easy-to-fix issues. There's no reason to assume it's been exposed. A team or two might have it solved, so to speak - but, again: that's not terribly uncommon in sports. All good teams have Achillies heels.
Dumb article. The offense didn't let us down against the patriots, the defense did. Ppl are giving wade too much of a pass
Right or not, Schaub's contract gives him a get out of jail free card. I think the Kubiak/Schaub/Andre/Arian core is going to ride into the sunset together, at least a couple of more seasons, and least until Foster begins to wear down.
Ummm, both did. The offense was NOT good in that game, especially in the first half. They put up most of their points late in the game after falling behind by 25. Yes, the defense sucked too, but you can't give the offense a pass for that game. New England's D pretty much dominated our offense in the first half. And I guess nevermind that the offense sputtered at the end of the regular season and against Cincy too, right? 6 points, 16 points, 19 points. 14 against NE the first time around. If the Pats hadn't built such a big lead in the playoff game and their defense backed off at the end, I'm not sure we would've surpassed 20 against them either.
Both sides did. Offense was gift wrapped a golden opportunity in the red zone by Manning's opening kickoff return only to immediately 3 and out for a FG to show for it. Next four possessions all end in punts, no more than 6 plays in any of them, all under 40 yards (30 on average). It was already 17-3 at that point, and despite the end of the half push, we were never really in it again. Offense donuts the third quarter while the defense gets shredded, and it's lights out. I'll assume you weren't talking about the MNF fiasco, when the offense laid an egg for the entire first half and opened the 3rd quarter down 21-0. The defense never recovered from Cushing's loss and Wade never figured out how to push the right buttons without him and was too stubborn when it was crystal clear the depleted/injured secondary wasn't able to hold their own. He has yet to figure out what to do against the spread or West Coast passing. That's all legit. But don't pretend that the offense wasn't an issue against the Pats.
I'd saw James Casey gift wrapped that opportunity. He dropped a easy pass. The next play, Schaub missed AJ. The play calling had 2 plays dialed in for TDs, but the players didn't execute. Now that doesn't excuse the following drives crapping out, but it certainly didn't help the team get into a flow.
No the offense isn't outdated. The only real complaint I have with the scheme is that this type of offense works a whole lot better with a mobile quarterback. John Elway and Steve Young flourished in this offense.
This passing offense is designed to protect the QB well, block well, minimize pressure by disguising the play-actions very well, and feature quick routes on the routine drop back passes. In other words, a NON-mobile QB's dream offense. The above QB's you mentioned would fluorish in any offense... with their mobility being a plus (although Elway wasn't as mobile as he used to be by the time Shannahan took over... this offense probably saved him from a career ending injury).
If the defense can't stop anyone whatever the offense does becomes moot: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_LiNu65-nMw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
