[Chron] Mario Williams making move to outside linebacker

Well yeah, that's part of the problem. I don't even know how to argue with this logic. How many years should we wait before we give him a chance to win a playoff game? It's been five years and we haven't even been yet. If we can't win the crucial games in the regular season, how the hell are we going to do it in the postseason?

Bottom line is we've had enough of a sample to see that it's very unlikely that we'll be consistently good under Kubiak, much less making regular appearances in the AFC championship game. There is not one instance of waiting out greatness in a coach (as far as I could find a couple of years ago).

Wade is the same way. Lots of success, but hasn't gotten to the top. Nothing suggests that he will, either. Two wrongs doesn't make a right. Kubiak and Wade aren't going to suddenly going to become championship caliber coaches just because they are together.

You can sit there and be patient and optimistic with this approach. I'll watch along and hope for the best too, but I'm not going to pretend that we're "on the right track" as the saying goes.

 

Marv Levy never won a Super Bowl. Would you hire Marv Levy in his prime?





Kubiak and Wade have won plenty in this league. They've both been a part of championship calibur teams.

What Kubiak does with this 2011 Texans team will determine his future head coaching career. He's loaded on offense. And now he's loaded on defense. And we still haven't worked our way through free agency. There's still likely another piece or two coming to this team. And McNair is not a village idiot. He wants to win in the worst way. Whether Kubiak and Wade can do it remains to be seen. But to write them off as not being able to do it is foolish.

 

Ric, I'm with you - I hope Phillips, or Mr. FixIt as HillBoy (and Randy Galloway) calls him, can do to the Texans defense what Capers did for the Dolphins and Packers.

To your point as to "who said it," it was Phil Simms. Went back and did a search and found the article linked prior. Not sure if Simms is open to hyperbole, but it's pretty damning when the opposing coaches tell you they've picked up something on film in the pregame meetings and then go out and exploit it during the actual game.

Maybe Wade figured it out with his time off; I certainly hope so!

 

??

help me out with that last part.

how is the worst defense i've ever seen "loaded on defense" given that they've made no free agent moves to date, and the only guys they've added are rookies??

 

I think he meant the players were loaded while playing defense...

 

They are loaded and stacked in the front 7. And they've got a couple decent defensive backfield players, not spectacular but decent. They need to add a quality veteran defensive back in free agency but outside of that, they're stacked, lineman, linebackers, they're loaded. They're going to pressure opposing offenses every series. They're loaded.

 

We're loaded allright.

 

wow...i think we're looking at 2 entirely different teams. what i saw was absolutely the worst NFL defense I've ever seen in my life last season. they couldn't get to the QB...they couldn't stop the long passing game...they couldn't stop the short passing game. the offense had to put up 3 TD's to be competitive.

 

I never said we should only hire coaches that have won a Super Bowl. Marv Levy won 4 AFC championships as a Head Coach.

Wade hasn't made it past the divisional round since the '91 Broncos. Kubiak was never the primary playcaller in all the runs with Denver. They are both solid coordinators, but I don't trust them to get it done. They just don't have the background and they've had plenty of opportunity.

 

Yes, but that was without Connor Barwin...

 

and JT W(h)attttttt?????

 

Yep, our defense needs a lot of work. I doubt dafting a bunch of rookies, moving Mario to linebacker and installing a 3-4 is gonna do it.

 

Dude, how effing hard can it be *average* on defense? To be as bad as the Texans were last year on defense took a hella effort!!!

 

While I would never argue the defense is "loaded" - consider: It does feature 5 first round picks and 4 second round picks - all within the past 5 years with the oldest being just 26. That group includes two DROYs and three Pro Bowlers.

Throw in Antonio Smith, who's an above-average DL (and, at 29, the oldest of this nucleus), and the promise of Quin and Mitchell, and I think, on paper - paper! - that there's potentially more to work with than we realized. It needs more work/players (especially in the secondary). But that's a pretty nice core, especially if this coaching staff proves better at maximizing talent and they can get positive contributions from the rookies.

 

I seriously can't believe people are trying to talk up this defense.

Let's see a pre-season game or two, or at the very least, some free agency movement, before we start riding the hope train... even if it is on "the right track".

 

ric, i can't discuss the texans with you. i'm sure you're super-swell and we'd get along big time over beer lamenting houston sports history. but i swear to all that's good and holy, every time i read one of your posts about the texans i get a visual of the iraqi information minister with hands up in the air telling everyone the situation there was completely under control.

 

Ric is the master of the ambiguous statement.

"I'm not saying *insert random comment about the Texans here*, BUT..."

One of my favorite examples: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=200186

It truly is a sight to behold.

 

knowing the texans luck...next year the defense will shine and the offense will struggle, which will only lead them to focus on loading up more firepower.

IN the following season the defense will collapse again and we will be is the same spot as we are in now.

 

i like it. there is absolutely no reason to be excited about next season based on the past, but what's the point of sports if not for hope. ric helps me with that and actually backs it up with some sort of argument. my money is on him being completely wrong, but i hope he's right.

 

Well, it shouldn't be hard. But the Texans D has to improve A LOT to get to average. It will take time, not one draft.