He points out the Jets? You mean the Jets with the same record as us? You mean the Jets who had 2 teams in week 16 and 17 LAY DOWN and rest their starters? Hogwash
I stopped reading after his first response, because that's all I needed to see to know the guy is a talking-head clown. As others have said, the Jets had the same record as us. They were beaten in week 15 by an ELIMINATED Falcons team, and until the Colts gifted them that week 16 victory, they were on the verge of being eliminated. The fact of the matter is we were the best team not in the playoffs last year, and better than at least one team in the playoffs (Cincy). The extension means nothing if he doesn't produce. Teams release players and take huge cap hits all the time ... a measly coaches salary means nothing. If we aren't minimum 9-7 next year, Kubiak is gone. I was calling for Kubiak's head at the end of the losing streak, but he did exactly what he had to do to save his job. There is no other scenario in which he'd have my support other than the way we ended the season. Another head coach means that you have to turnover the team again, and sets us back another 2+ years before we can even think about playoffs.
What an idiot. Baldinger? He couldn't even get his name correct- it's BUDINGER Here's to the Texans doing the opposite of brian_chapman and going deep next season!
Haha I was making a reference to Chase Budinger, clearly the more elite of the two "-dingers" So I turn this around on you and say.. YOU DA IDJIT! Spoiler
Another generic sports writer talking about the Texans with no clue as to what transpired in 2009. Did he even watch any of the games? I'm tired of misinformed wannabe journalists who think they are smarter than the owner of a professional team. Here we continue to blame Kubiak for what? Blowing 4-5 close games? Our kicker missed 2 game winning field goals. Our RBs fumbled a game winning TD in the endzone and then got stuffed on a 4th and Goal from the 1 yard line in another game winning situation. Without these blunders the Texans would have been 12-4. Do we fire Kubiak because of a few incompetant players? Get your record straight and watch the games before you make a fool of yourself Mr Baldygerk.
Not to mention the Jets needed the last two teams on the schedule to lay down for them in order to reach that record...and the playoffs.
Baldinger should say rewarding mediocrity. The issue isn't whether to retain Kubiak. The issue is giving Kubiak an extension. What if the Texans don't make the playoffs in 2010? That will be 5 years! If the Texans make the playoffs in 2010 then you give Kubiak the extension.
It's a slight gamble, but there's a couple reasons. 1) The team is obviously improving, and has shown no signs of regressing. 2) A contract extension now would be cheaper than a contract extension next year, especially if Kubes posts another winning record, or makes the playoffs (in that scenario, he'd certainly make bank) 3) Having some stability in the front office increases the likelihood for success, if it going to happen. (or at the very least, it prevents things from going into meltdown mode if the team ever dips below .500, etc) 4) Who else is going to coach the Texans without completely having to disassemble what is already built here? (i.e. a top 5 offense, a QUICKLY improving defense, etc)
I have heard rumors that because next season has no cap and because there is the potential for the players to strike, Bob McNair is sitting with Kubiak in case of a player strike. However, that does not seem to explain the new 3-year extension. Yes, I do agree that McNair has been content with mediocrity. He should have fired Casserly for trying to give Tony Bosselli a $1 million contract and should have fired Capers after his third season. One win improvements with a sub .500 record does not cut the mustard, and that has been the case with both coaches.
I have always hated Baldinger... he is a known texan hater who knows nothing about football apparently after making a reference to the Jets being better than us. Texans won their games fair and sqaure and if the Jets were not handed two wins in a row, their asses would have been 7-9 after starting the season 4-1. The Jets will not make the playoffs next year, and the Texans will win at least 11 games. Then we will see what DUMBASS Baldinger has to say then.
Sorry but Baldinger raises some valid points here. First of all, this excuse that Kubiak had to rebuild the team from ground zero is wearing pretty thin these days because it's been 5 years now and this is still being used to explain this team's lack of success today. Now you are correct about the terrible state of the franchise 5 years ago but I place the blame for Capers & Co squarely on McNair because that was HIS hire and he stuck with that mess in spite of all evidence to the contrary. All he's shown me as owner so far is that he can be as clueless as Butt Adams was during his tenure in Houston. If the Texans were a f***ing mess then that's on Bob who accepted mediocrity or worse all those years. And all of this "poor me, we play in the AFC South" whining has got to stop because it's just another excuse for mediocrity. The Cowboys play in a division just as tough yet I don't constantly hear them excuse their failures on the fact that the NFC East is just so very tough. Kubiak walked into this situation with both eyes wide open. He knew he wasn't coaching in the AFC West or the NFC South - that was the nature of the beast. He was faced with rebuilding a F**ed up team and chasing 3 teams in the division who were much better and constantly looking to improve. At some point in time, he has to show that his way of doing things can produce positive results and that starts with winning games inside the AFC South. The bottom line is that this team ain't going NOWHERE until it demonstrates that it can first compete in it's division and that is something that Kubiak has failed to do thus far. And the clock is ticking for him now - contract extension or not.
1. Baldinger is a joke. Have you ever watched/listened to him? 2. Twice the eternity? Is that also a joke? That doesn't even make sense, and it pisses me off how everyone wants coaches to win in one or two years. Continuity counts for something. 3. Jets? They were 9-7 and only got into the playoffs because the Colts forfeited their game against them. Stfu Baldinger. 4. All of that said, I think we can place at least a loss the past two seasons on the shoulders of Kubiak. Some of the close games have not been his fault, but I don't think it is a stretch at all to place just ONE loss a season on his shoulders. And I mean one loss each that we definitely, definitely should/could have won. How much different do the past two seasons look at 9-7 and 10-6 with a playoff season in there? If we go anything worse than 9-7 next season, I think Kubiak is out.
