Kubiak will be named AFC Coach of the Year this weekend. I would say he deserves it. What do you think? http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2012/02/texans-kubiak-will-be-honored-as-afc-coach-of-year/
Even then, I still think Kubiak deserves the recognition. He's come a long way. He's got to be proud of the battle fighting the Texans did.
I'm just not sure what he did differently that took him from average, constantly on the hot seat coach, to coach of the year? I mean I guess there aren't that many other options. I could probably make as strong or stronger case for John Fox... maybe Marvin Lewis. But if you dont want to give it to the coach of the Pats, Steelers or Ravens every year, than I guess he's a good chocie.
First thing I thought of. <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0XFNtXbkelM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So weird, especially seeing how his game planning after Cincy cost us a couple of games and a bye week. He better bring Wade up onto the podium and hand over the award quick.
?? I'm not sure I get it? Because he played a third string rookie quarterback when his only other options were Jeff Garcia and Delhomme? Especially when by virtue of the laws of not being able to see what would have happened if he made the other choice (i.e. played Delhomme) how it would have turned out. Yates played horribly against Baltimore. Moreover, see emjohn post above this for alternative summary.
First of all, John Fox is in the other conference. And I continue to be amazed that Kubiak and Schaub remain as vilified as ever despite what most would readily agree were pretty definitively redemptive seasons. Kubiak's offense played nearly its entire first half without Foster and Johnson on the field together and finished 5-3. All told, before Schaub's injury, the offense was rolling teams, averaging nearly 30/game. After Schaub *and* Leinart went down - let's not forget it wasn't just Schaub he lost - Kubiak and his offensive coaches got enough out of Yates to beat three playoff teams and finish off the best season in franchise history. emjohn has never been a Kubiak fan, and his recall is suspect, at best. Yates vomited up a storm against Carolina and the team played like it was hung over - disappointing but I don't begrudge them for that. The Indianapolis game was disgraceful - but they had that team beat and the defense, not offense, let Orlovsky up off the turf. I don't hold anyone responsible for Tennessee - he was smart to get everyone out of that game healthy. If you need Kubiak to do it again next year, I understand that. But as a single entity, there's no way to intelligently denigrate his 2011 season.
The Broncos are now in the NFC? You're poster formerly known as Ric, right? C'mon, surely you pay attention to the rest of the league a bit? I won't even respond to the rest.
Agreed. I know there are a lot of folks just happy to be in the playoffs last year... gaga about Gary's job "keeping us together despite all the injuries." ....satisfied with what a "great season" we had. We shouldn't "SETTLE" though. It was exciting/great to experience that playoff feeling again after all these years. But remember, this team should have been in the playoffs the year before under Kubes AND should have gone deeper last year. The Texans wouldn't have sniffed a playoff win without Wade, tons of talent, and a favorable schedule. I applaud our players for laying it all out there, but it seems they play for Wade with his D setting the tone...and covering a lot of Kubiak mistakes. The game against Baltimore was there for the taking (and perhaps much more).....I will continue to have major concerns about this team underachieving as long as Gary is at the helm. This coming year, it seems almost a foregone conclusion that we'll be in the mix for the whole enchilada. And though the regular season looks kind of tough, I think we'll breeze though. It's when the playoffs come up, that I'll start to worry. I really hope all that talent can stay healthy and that Wade's D can carry the day because when it comes down to big games against upper echelon teams we are working with a handicap.
I don't think he's being vilified. That's a bit extreme. I've given him plenty of credit over the years. That I don't give him a pass for royal f-ups like the Indy MNF game or hiring/holding onto unqualified half wits like David Gibbs doesn't make me a hater. He is who he is, a 7 out of 10 on the coaching scale, along the lines of Norv Turner. Yates had two horrendous games: Carolina and Baltimore. Both times he went south when the team fell behind and he tried to play above himself. That game was probably a loss no matter what. They celebrated the AFC clinch a little too much and walked right into a trap game. Indy was one of the games I was alluding to. Kubiak, after Cin, seemed to go into "let the defense take it from here" mode as soon as we got an early score. Opening minute TD, and the offense went into coast. You can only hang your defense out to dry for so long before they get winded, and Kubiak's uber conservative calls to nurse a lone TD lead helped lead to a 76-51 disparity in the number of plays and let Indy win TOP. We punted more than Indy. Foster was red hot, but there were no throws to him out of the backfield to keep the chains moving. Kubiak tried to get away with a bare minimum on offense, and his dice roll came up a FG short. And the refs completely ass raped the defense with their final series of BS calls (almost all on Watt). Wade's defense is vulnerable to teams in 2-minute drill mode. No pass rush can help you when a QB is launching in less than 3 seconds with quick routes, and DBs can only do so much when guys are catching the ball immediately out of their break. Letting them get gassed with so many short possessions on offense backfired. They're a great D, but they aren't gods. Win Indy, and there's something to play for against Ten. Ultimately, I felt like he never truly adjusted to the loss of Schaub/Leinart. There were two roads with Yates - adjust the playbook to hide/protect him but still move the chains, or forget about the bye and use the final 3 games to give Yates a serious test drive in real game action. Kubiak told the media they were going to call the same plays as before, but it looked as if they just closed the playbook and became over-reliant on vanilla Foster plays and the defense. The offense ground to a halt, and the defense couldn't win on their own. My response is, what did he do? I think most people would agree that far and away the biggest difference between this year and his previous 5 is that Wade was brought in and turned the defense into a juggernaut. Kubiak's accepting the award on his behalf.
LOL at the Kubiak hate. The Texans do not have superior offensive talent outside of Foster and Johnson. The offensive line is great because of coaching. Wade made the defense great. The two together is what makes the Texans a powerful team. The defense has a lot more talent than the offense does. Getting JJ at CB helped a lot with defense.
