Exactly. As we were doing this in the first or second quarter, I thought ....why did this take so long? Part of it is because we never had the personnel, but why haven't other yes done it? And we did all of this without Conley, who will make us better. Just amazing all around.
This is true, you still need good "slot" corner types to make it work well as guys like James White can still beat DB's more times than not unless they are good at covering quick hitting routes. Glad we have stockpiled DB's to see what sticks. Seems like each player on the defense has a role and each player's strengths align with our defense.
They're now 22-12 when Watson starts, and 11 of those 12 losses were by 8 or fewer points. I'm not sure why that's significantly less meaningful than being 0-1 in the playoffs with Watson starting, but... Also, I feel obligated to point out... sure, they beat Connor Cook - big whup, right?.... Yeah, the Texans started Brock Osweiler, who's essentially a 3rd string QB. BOB deserves a little more credit for that win than is often given.
And the person that gets credit for that? Yep. O'Brien. That all happened in the off-season and in season. Kudos to O'Brien the GM for overhauling this roster quickly since Gaine was fired. Quite honestly, I think he's been better as a GM than as a coach.
Man I can't wait to see our secondary at full health roby Conley hargraves johnson Joseph Reid addai and Gibson could be great
I was meaning more like at risk for ACL tear or running back type injuries. Running backs have a generally short career, and quarterbacks with that kind of rushing are more vulnerable. I think of guys like RG3 and Newton, or even Watson in his earlier days. I'm glad he doesn't run as much now.
I can’t predict the future but all I know is Watson, Jackson and Mahomes are must see tv. Those brothas taking over.
Good point. That Chiefs game is in the discussion for sure. I don't know that it's more emotionally significant (given the history with the Pats), but as a road victory it was HUGE.
"Most significant regular season victory in franchise history" is an interesting subject. 2002 Beat 10-win Steelers team @ Heinz Field (this was a defensive showcase for the ages) 2003 Beat heavily favored 10-win Miami team to open the year Beat 11-win Superbowl Bound Carolina team 2008 Beat 11-win Dolphins team Beat 13-win Titans team (4th of 4 game win streak putting playoffs in reach for first time in franchise history... where we immediately pissed that away @ Oakland) 2009 Beat 10-win Patriots team to secure first winning season in franchise history 2011 Beat 12-win Steelers team (infamous Foster-Polamalu play) Beat 9-win Bengals team on the road w/ backup QB to secure first playoff berth in team history 2012 Beat 12-win Broncos team in Denver Beat 10-win Bears team in Chicago (brutal game) 2015 Beat 12-win Bengals team in Cinci 2016 Beat 12-win Chiefs team 2019 Beat 8-win Chiefs team in KC Beat 10-win Patriots team (bonus points for primetime since we suck donkeyballs in those) If we're judging wins on quality of opponent (record + home v away) then both have a chance to be up there depending on how the season shakes out, but I'm not better that the KC win ends up looking quite as good as it felt in the moment.
This. He was sitting in the pocket, going through his progressions, and abusing the Patriots up the middle when he had to. There was much less of the running himself into a sack drama this game, though he did have a few fantastic plays he extended with his legs to great effect. He's looking like a QB who also runs. Rather than a running QB. The former can last a long time in this league.
Sure. If they have the money. They're on the hook for 140 next year, and need to sign the following (IMHO, 'important' UFA's: Hyde, Fells, Reader, Mercilus, JJo, Roby, and pretty much all of the skill ST players: Anger, Weeks, Fairbairn. There are others, but the above are key. Plus, they have to find extensions for Watson, Tunsil, and a bunch of others if they want to do that next year instead of waiting until 2021. It's a lot of guys, and not much uncommitted money. The "Maximum Salary Cap", per spotrac, this year was 214-ish. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/houston-texans/yearly/cap/ How they get there from a salary cap figure of 188.2, I dunno. It was 177 the prior year, so assume another six percent bump next year, from 214 to 227.3 or so. Can they sign everyone with 227 ish minus 140, or 87 million? I'm not sure. Which is why the GM position in a salary cap league is such an important position, and why teams really, really like cheap draft picks. All worth it if they get a ring this year though.
So I mean...we handled what was the best team in the AFC going into the night. No small thing. Considering we beat KC too that means the only team we have to fear are the Ravens...but I hope the experience has taught us something against them. It feels good having a decent secondary, for so long we've sucked back there. I say decent because the Pats basically have no weapons in the passing game this year, lets see how consistent they can be .
