I think people may be overreacting and scapegoating Marciano a bit too much and not enough attention to the fact that Martin just wasn't good at returning kicks . And the coverage teams, outside of braman , was just lacking.
Constant penalties. Poor coverage and blocking. Returns from 9 yds deep in the end zone. All of these things point directly a the coach.
If you don't fire a guy after his unit is dead last in the NFL I don't know when you do it. Apparently this mf'er keeps his job no matter how ****ty he is at it. I don't know how they can look season ticket holders in the face with that kind of philosophy and say you're about winning.
The fact they were stuck with one of the worst kick off men I've ever seen doesn't help. Graham wouldn't have made the endzone if not for that rule change recently. You're destined to fail when you have to pooch or squib kicks to hide the kicker.
Trindon Holliday KO returns this year. w/Houston - 10 returns, 194 yards, 19.4 yard average w/Denver - 11 returns, 358 yards, 32.5 yard average Jacoby average 30 yards a return this year. When 2 return guys go someplace else and do significantly better, that's an indictment of the coach.
How is this guy not fired yet? Jacoby, Trindon, Ke'o, Ball, Posey, Martin... The evidence against him is staggering.
I think one of the worst things is that we're told that certain guys (like Keo) make the roster over more talented players because they play better on special teams. That tradeoff might be acceptable if it results in good special teams. But when the special teams suck, you just traded away more talented depth for essentially nothing. I don't know what to make of Martin yet. Marciano was tasked last offseason with scouting wide receivers that could contribute in the return game. Martin was one of the guys he identified which played a big role into why we drafted him. I thought he was decent in the return game but for a team that's weak at WR, he managed less than 100 yards on the season. 3rd round is too high for an average return specialist and I'd hate to think that Marciano's input maybe made us reach for Martin when we otherwise wouldn't have.
^ I'm not giving up on the players (except Keo, my god he sucks) just yet. Because as we saw with nearly every ST player we cut ties with, whereever they landed, they succeeded and did better than they did in Houston. If that isn't an indictment of the coach/system, I don't know what is.
Here are the "average KR & PR returns" rankings for Marciano's Texans ST units in the past 11 years: 2002: KR - #29, PR - #16 2003: KR - #18, PR - #29 2004: KR - #20, PR - #19 2005: KR - #2, PR - #22 2006: KR - #16, PR - #6 2007: KR - #2, PR - #18 2008: KR - #26, PR - #3 2009: KR - #16, PR - #10 2010: KR - #27, PR - #29 2011: KR - #7, PR - #15 2012: KR - #23, PR - #9 Okay, yes, the Texans were an expansion team and sucked for a while. I get that. Still, 6 (55%) of Marciano's KR units and 6 (55%) of his PR units were in the bottom half of the league over the past 11 years. And another 2 (18%) of his KR units were right at the cusp of being in the bottom half at #16. That's just mediocre, if not below average. The Texans have had 7 KR (none since 2009) and 4 PR returns in 11 years. How about opponents' returns, you say? Glad you asked: 2002: KR - #20, PR - #4 2003: KR - #23, PR - #16 2004: KR - #24, PR - #19 2005: KR - #14, PR - #6 2006: KR - #25, PR - #13 2007: KR - #23, PR - #12 2008: KR - #11, PR - #26 2009: KR - #14, PR - #2 2010: KR - #25, PR - #10 2011: KR - #7, PR - #15 2012: KR - #27, PR - #20 7 (64%) of Marciano's KR units and 3 (27%) of his PR units were in the bottom half of the league over the past 11 years. He's been absolutely terrible on kickoff coverage and pretty good on punt coverage. The Texans have given up 6 KR and 5 PR TDs in the past 11 years. Not too bad. All in all, Marciano has been fairly mediocre to slightly below average, IMO. I guess I can understand Kubiak wanting to keep him, but i think it's time for new blood, especially given this year's performance.
Funny because I think those thinks are signs of poor play by the players. You can put people in the right positions but ultimately they still have to make the play. Again, I'm not saying Marciano is without fault but I do think people are looking at things a little too simplistically
When its a one week thing...ok, it's the players. When its a noticeable fault every single game, it's the coach.
So it's Ric Smith's fault then? If we're going to make the excuse that the backups that play on special teams just aren't good enough, then it has to be Ric Smith's fault that we lack the depth to have competent special teams, right?
I'm saying that I don't think the problem is solely placed with one person. I think there needs to be more changes than just having a different coach. Obviously Marciano deserves blame because he is in charge of special teams, im not denying that. I do think the personnel was severely lacking as well, so yes, you could give some blame to Smith because the depth and special teams players for the texans aren't that great.
Most of the blame is on Joe Marciano.. If you lack the talent on special teams is one thing, but come on penalties on more than half of the kickoff/punt returns is crazy. This is what killed us.. Martin had some good runs returned back because of panalties... (you let go of Triton Holliday and he he returns about 4 touchdowns for the Broncos??) there were offsides on Field Goal Attempts that gave the opposing teams another 3 downs.. There were so many mental mistakes.... (which is on the coach not teaching the young players the proper way
