I haven't seen any talk about this, but I just wanted to throw something out there that has crossed my mind in the past few years and finds relevance now that we are on a roll. Ever since the beginning when the Kubiak debate raged hot regarding whether or not he was fit to be a head coach, I believe there were two lines of argument against him. The first revolved around his X's-and-O's ability, his game-planning on both sides of the ball if you will. The second, however, was a more nebulous criticism of his psyche, his attitude, and his ability to lead this team in high pressure situations. Although he certainly proved his worth in the past few years, I feel like this year has been the necessary evidence to finally put to rest the first argument. Everyone universally recognizes him as a great offensive mind, and criticisms regarding his defensive shortcomings now center on his Texas-bred tendency to favor "his guys" while lacking the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing and fire coaches when they proved their incompetence. This past year, Bob McNair and Rick Smith took that power away from him, did the right thing, and finally hired a capable D-coordinator. The question now remains: how far can we go? The answer to that question now depends on how you respond to that second criticism of Kubiak. After last season, I confess that I wanted Kubiak to go. Listening to Gary talk in press conferences it sounded to me that he lacked confidence. He was a decent football mind, but sometimes he might have actually overthought things. Successful coaches in my mind have to be a little numb-skulled. Rex Ryan, Jon Gruden, and Bill Cowher are the prototypes I'm thinking of, but John and Jim Harbaugh are more recent examples that prove the point. You need to be so blind that you believe all your BS, even if not all of it may be true. Only after that point can other people believe your BS also and follow you into battle so to speak. For those of you who understand Meyers-Briggs, my criticism was this: most successful coaches in the NFL I've seen are J's, and Kubiak appears to me to be a P. This year, we've witnessed once again the adage that winning cures all ills. We're not just winning; we're BLOWING teams out of the water. Even when we were losing, I thought that our talent was building up so much that if we could ever get a little confidence then our performance would make like a broken dam and just overwhelm everything in our path. To that extent, Kubiak has been vindicated. But when you look at the Texans' ceiling, I and other posters can only but wonder: what is going to happen when the Texans are once again in a hotly-contested close game against a similarly talented opponent? Will the past return to rear its ugly head? We saw it with the Matt Schaub fetal-position end to the New Orleans game. We saw it with the Al Davis Memorial Bowl. Are the Texans as a team relegated to being big-winners and close-losers? Kubiak has shown us in the past few years that he is capable of learning, even if it's at a snail's pace. Has this year's run changed him? That is one way I can foresee the Texans having no ceiling, if Kubiak really has grown. More likely, however, I believe that Kubiak is still the old one. The other option the Texans have for success is for the team as a whole, and that includes all personalities from the coaching staff to the player leaders, to overcome Kubiak's tentativeness with their own confidence. To "win in spite of Kubiak", if you will. Guys like Cushing, Wade, Antonio Smith, and Andre Johnson have me hoping, even believing, that this might be the more likely scenario. No matter what, like every other Texans fan, I worry for the same old, same old but am praying for the best.
For all you TL;DR's, here's the one-line synopsis: Do you believe Kubiak can lead us to the championship or not? Or is the "same old Kubiak" going to shoot us in the foot in the playoffs.
Summary is appreciated. Of course he can. It's not like he has all that much evidence against him, unlike Norv Turner, etc.
Its also not like he's never been involved with drawing up game plans for playoff games or Super Bowls. He ran the offense in Denver for all of those playoff runs, and has participated in SIX Super Bowls as a coach/player. He's been around the big games enough to know what he needs to do to get his team ready... what can work... what usually doesn't work... etc. Now knowing those things and those things actually working in the big game are completely different scenarios. So again, until he gets there and fails, you can't make any conclusion other than the fact that he's got enough experience as an ex-player/assitant coach to breed him for the chance.
I won't bag on Kubes today What ever his deficiencies. . . . Wade makes up for them So he is LOOKING GOOD and yes. . .our defense is better than our offense Rocket River The Biggest Anti-Kube guy
Can't forget the Bob McNair element of leniency towards Kubiak and the franchise. Once McNair balled up and sent out some threats and ultimatums, much more moxie coming out of the team.
I think I'm in this camp. Whether or not Kubiak is a choker, Wade and that D won't let Kubiak nor Schaub nor anyone F this up this year.
I believe people can learn and grow from their experiences. Also, the supporting cast can be critical. Yes, Kubes has the charisma of a commode float, but the talent level now is such and the other coaches are apparently so good he may not need to do much. The Team looks pretty motivated and play calling seems to be improving. Nobody was looking for the home run on the first play. The proof is in the pudding, 7-3 and rolling.
Frank Bush would put the fish on the beach. Kinda like asking Mario Williams (and Bernard Pollard) to cover.
Looking at Kubiak's success, I wonder if teams will be more patient and give their coaches more than 2 years to implement their vision.
They should. But, I think more than that, looking at Kubiak and the Texans' success this year, it further enforces the idea that teams like Green Bay, New Orleans, and now Houston (and I'm sure I'm missing more than a few) that have great minds on one side of the ball can be made much better by putting a top notch (and usually highly paid) coordinator on the other side of the ball.
Chicago is a great example of that, Martz is finally getting that O on track this year, built around Forte now they just have to pay his ass.
