Why are there such great expectations on the Texans?

Because Jacksonville is on the decline. There's a lot of talk about Del Rio getting fired after this season. We were supposed to be on the rise. We were better last year. Game was at home. Jags were 0-2. We should have been expected to win.

 

everyone was duped this year. ESPN, CBS, FOX, Inside the NFL, and most nation wide web and newspapers had the Texans winning 9-10 games. so it was a national overrating this year

 

SI picked us to win the division this season. We were a hot pick of more than a few of the pundits. So it's not just hometown bias.

They showed improvement down the stretch last season. Their offense was killer and their defense showed huge improvement. I never would have guessed bringing in Bush would make their defense worse. Never.

 

defense just should not be this bad. Improved talent across the board really...but the secondary is still bad, and somehow even with more talent, we cannot get a consistent pass rush.

No pass rush = too much time = defensive breakdowns.

That, along with poor tackling in the secondary (I won't fault our LBs yet...though it's hard not to given the results) has resulted in those huge plays.


But the talent is there on defense. We've seen it all come together on occasion...so it's hard to believe that the D is sucking this bad.

 

With the amount of talent and money this team has invested in the defense, it's fair to say that giving up as many points and yards as they have is a HUGE disappointment. Nobody was expecting the Ravens defense of last year or anything, but seriously, is not giving up 400 yards of offense every week too much to ask? And the fact that this team just keeps finding new, painful ways to lose games doesn't help things either. The reason why everyone has expectations for this team is because you look up and down the roster, and you see some of the names, and you think "well, ok, that's about as good a roster as I've EVER seen for this team." Just because Jacksonville was good a couple of years ago does not mean that they are still good now. That is NOT a good team, and we let them pound it down our throats. It's frustrating, and I think the city almost feels helpless as to how to fix this team. If it's not the coaches, it's the players....if it's not the players, it's the scheme....if it's not the scheme, it's turnovers. The list just keeps going on and on, and I think everyone here is tired of it.

 

Sorry for the double post, but another point is that it feels like the more and more talent we acquire in the front 7, the more and more our secondary gets exploited. I thought when you have one or two really strong units, they cover up for everyone else....but in our case, it's as if the divide is growing more and more everyday. The stronger we got in the secondary, the weaker we looked at LB and on the line, so teams just took all day to throw on us. So then we get stronger at D-Line, but our secondary gets weaker, so teams just use the dump play on us. Now, we've gotten super strong and LB, but our secondary is the worst it's ever been. We can never get it together at one time, for one season. It's annoying, and frustrating, and as a fan, it's the equivalent of being in purgatory. Sorry for the rant, but I'm just sick of feeling like this after every Sunday.

/rant

 

I think, after a near decade, this town is desperately anxious to see the winning happen. No one wants to be like the Saints, who took 21 years (!!!) to get their first winning season.

If they don't get 9 wins this year, if Kubiak loses his job, we're staring down a third stab at building this franchise.

This team is a lot more enjoyable to watch than nearly any other one before it, but this town is all out of passes if they can't break 0.500

Evan

 

Because their offense was ranked 3rd in the nfl last year and it seemed like their defense was vastly improved with the additions of Cushing, Antonio Smith, and a healthy Dunta.

 

this, right here. well said.

 

*i'm not for firing kubiak*

that being said, I think the contention that they would be rebuilding like when Kubes gets here if he's fired is a little ridiculous. The offense is in place, that's not even debatable. The defense has parts, this team is a couple of secondary pieces away from being a decent defense.

this is nothing like what kubiak walked into.

 

We're not supposed to be an expansion franchise anymore. We got rid of Casserly, Capers, Carr, and everyone else (except for 2 players) associated with us being an expansion franchise.

A year after going 2-14 and starting from scratch, we draft well, get a new coach, and go 6-10. Then we draft well, get a new QB, and go 8-8. Then we draft well again and after an 0-4 start, we finish the season 8-4.

It's only natural that fans expect playoffs this year.

Disclaimer: By "draft well", I just mean we didn't totally drop the ball like we did during the Casserly years.

 

i think 9 wins is still within reason.

 

Heck, I think 10 is still within reach. We went 8-4 in the last 12 last season with a tougher schedule.

 

I think alot of reasonable assumption were made especially on the "D" and one could only assume that those assumption would come true. Very different from the Stros who were making BIG leaps of faith on Hampton, Ortiz and Co. The offense hasn't been the issue and special teams have been good so it all comes down to the "D". If the Texans get avg play from there "D" and outstanding production from the offense then 10 wins is still very much a possibility. The only Defense that truly worries me from here on out is the 49ers but who else really truly scares you like the Jets, Ravens or Steelers? If we can survive the next 4 games at 4 and 3 then we should be posied for a nice run but again it all falls on the "D".

 

When is a good time to expect something from them? We been down this same road for 8 years now. There are high expectations because if I gave you control of my team for 4 years...I expect something good will happen by year 4. Why would I not expect that? The team is good enough to beat anybody. Dumb mistakes and a loss of focus is what's killing this team. A top notch D Coordinator could make this group a top 10 Defense by just focusing on technique. Tackling better, catching a football when it hits you in the chest, not taking a shot at a player when they are clearly out of bounds, patience.

On a positive note I have noticed our dline getting their hands up and knocking balls down more often than in years past. That's a positive.