Chron: Offense under review, including Palmer's calls

Is this good news?

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3359465

By JOHN MCCLAIN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

After Sunday's 27-7 loss to the Steelers, Texans coach Dom Capers declined to respond to sources who claim he plans to demote offensive coordinator Chris Palmer and give the play-calling duties to offensive line coach Joe Pendry.

Through a team spokesman, Capers said he wants to look at tape of the game before making any comments about possible changes on his coaching staff or in his starting lineup.

Palmer also declined comment when asked if he thought he would be replaced as the play caller after the Texans scored a combined two touchdowns in their first two games against Buffalo and Pittsburgh, the two best defensive teams in the NFL last season.

Speaking about the team's performance in the first two games, Capers made it clear that he's as exasperated as anyone in the organization.

"In the situation we're in," Capers said, "there's really only one thing to do: We've got to evaluate everything and take a good look at what our problem areas are."

When Capers was the head coach at Carolina (1995-98), Pendry was his offensive coordinator. After the 1997 season, Capers fired Pendry, and speculation in the media was that team owner Jerry Richardson forced him to do it.

Capers hired Pendry as his offensive line coach after the 2003 season. Pendry installed a zone-blocking scheme, and the players struggled with it during the first half of the season.

Dating to the last game of 2004 — a 22-14 loss to Cleveland — the Texans have been horrendous. This season, the offense has looked disjointed in a 22-7 loss at Buffalo and again on Sunday against Pittsburgh.

"I don't like what I've seen the first two weeks," Capers said. "I didn't like what I saw on defense, either. I really wasn't happy with any phase of our team today."

Owner Bob McNair wasn't happy with the second consecutive lopsided defeat, either.

"Whatever changes we need to make, we'll make them," McNair said. "I'm not satisfied with the results. I'm disappointed because I know we're a better team than the way we're playing.

"We'll evaluate everything and do whatever we think we need to do to play better. You're limited to what your options are. Whatever you do, you should make sure it's going to have a good chance of improving the team. If it doesn't improve the team, there's no need doing it."

Because the Texans will be idle during the first week off for four teams, they have two weeks to prepare for their next game at unbeaten Cincinnati on Oct. 2. If a change in play-calling is going to happen, this is the ideal time to do it because of the extra week.

"Quite frankly, I'm glad we have a bye week," Capers said. "It gives us a chance to do a lot of self-evaluation. We have to find some way to bounce back."

The Texans' defense was as disappointing as the offense against the Steelers, failing to force a turnover for the second consecutive game and registering only one sack.

"We're all responsible," McNair said. "You can't put all the blame on the offense because the defense needs to play better, too. I think we can coach better and play better.

"We're continuing to make mistakes that we can't make if we're going to play the way we should be playing. This is certainly not satisfactory for the players, coaches or me. We know we can do better.

"We've got to work harder to get this thing turned around. Somehow, we have to be more focused on what we're doing as a team. This is not what we expect."

john.mcclain@chron.com

 

Doesn't Tom Brady do that already since they don't have a so-called offensive coordinator?

 

Here's another article on our atrocious offense:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3359464

Offense can't connect
And that's about all Texans agree on as the search for answers continues
By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The Texans' offense failed to come together on the field or in the locker room.

Just 15 minutes after the game, players and coaches couldn't agree on who was at fault in another abysmal offensive outing. The Texans appeared completely incoherent in the 27-7 loss to the Steelers at Reliant Stadium on Sunday.

There were eight sacks, two penalties for delay of game and two dropped passes.

The delay penalties drew the most opinions after the game.

"We change personnel a lot, but it just has to happen faster," quarterback David Carr said. "We need to get guys in and out faster. It's on me; it's on everybody. We have to move at a faster pace."

Tick, tick, tick

Offensive coordinator Chris Palmer had another view.

"The quarterback wasn't aware of the play clock," he said. "You have to be aware of the play clock. If you have to take a timeout, take it. They were playing some multiple fronts, and there was some confusion at the line."

The offense was often unable to counter what Pittsburgh threw its way. Three of Carr's sacks came from Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. Two other sacks happened as Carr scrambled out of bounds.

Carr now has been sacked 13 times in the first two games. After the Texans reviewed film of the Buffalo game on Sept. 11, only one of the five sacks was blamed on the Texans' offensive line.

Right tackle Todd Wade said he expects very few of Sunday's sacks to be blamed on the line this week.

"It's premature for me to say this, but I don't think the offensive line had a lot to do with that," Wade said.

Costly sequences for the Texans' offense:

No. 1

• On the Texans' first drive, David Carr rolls right and held the ball away from his body, allowing Clark Haggans to strip it from him. Pittsburgh's Joey Porter recovers at the Texans' 22, and two plays later the Steelers scored their first touchdown.

No. 2

• Corey Bradford bobbles a pass and then drops it in the first quarter on third-and-four at Houston's 48-yard-line. The Texans are forced to punt.

No. 3

• Carr calls a timeout on third-and-10 in the second quarter. The next play, Carr is sacked for an 11-yard loss by safety Troy Polamalu.

No. 4

• On the Texans' last drive of the first half, Carr is sacked while running out of bounds two yards behind the line of scrimmage on a first-and-10. He gains one yard by running out of bounds on the next play and then is sacked for a 13-yard loss to force another punt.

No. 5

• In the fourth quarter, Carr is charged with delay of game before two punts.

The Texans entered the game referring to Pittsburgh as "Blitzburgh." They realized what the Steelers would try to do, and the players said little surprised them. They were unable to counter the blitzes and changes on defense, though.

"I'm just trying to find a way out," Carr said. "You can throw the ball away, but if I would have thrown the ball away every time they covered us up, I would have done it 20 times."

Carr tried to scramble, but only twice did it pay off. On the Texans' third-quarter scoring drive, Carr converted two first downs by running. The rest of the time, Carr threw the ball away or ran out of bounds. He was charged with one intentional grounding penalty.

"They scramble around and make plays," Palmer said. "We scramble around and we don't make plays."

The inability to be more productive only increased Carr's frustration, and he appeared upset at times.

"I don't want a receiver throwing his arms into the air and saying, 'Throw me the ball,' " Palmer said. "I don't want the quarterback throwing the ball down on the field showing his frustrations.

"David's a tough competitor. He gets frustrated. I talked to him about it at halftime. He settled down, and at the beginning of the third quarter, he played very well."

It's all in the mind

A number of players on offense said the Texans beat themselves with their turnovers, penalties and mental errors.

Not everyone agreed. Carr said the offense wasn't able to be productive because Pittsburgh's defense simply had an answer for everything.

"They were on our stuff," Carr said. "Pittsburgh did a good job of game-planning and scouting. They were locking our guys up, and we just really had nowhere to go with the ball."

megan.manfull@chron.com

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Man, these muthaf***ers can't take any blame...

 

Palmer can really talk. I really hope his ass gets fired.

 

Found this off the ESPN recap:

http://sports-att.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=250918034

While Carr said his linemen "fought their tails off," Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter heard Carr saying otherwise.

"He was arguing with his offensive line," Porter said. "Whenever you get a quarterback arguing with his team that's a good sign."

 

Here's the Chron article about our marshmellow defense:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3359463

Defense gentle to Ben
Roethlisberger, Parker encounter little resistance
By MICHAEL MURPHY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Earlier in the week, Texans linebacker Jason Babin was telling reporters about the surprising new wrinkles in the team's defense that everyone was going to enjoy watching.

Well, if by "everyone" he meant Steelers fans, then Babin was correct.

Without much opposition from the Houston defense, Pittsburgh rolled to a 27-7 victory over the Texans Sunday before 70,742 fans, most of whom had deserted Reliant Stadium by game's end after spending much of the afternoon booing.

Traveling by air and land

In their 16th straight regular-season victory, the Steelers rode the arm of Ben Roethlisberger, who spent much of the afternoon window-shopping for receivers that Texans defenders couldn't locate with GPS technology, and the legs of Willie Parker, who rolled up 111 yards on 25 carries.

The Texans, who sank to 0-2, sacked Roethlisberger just once and — for the second week in a row — forced no turnovers. Roethlisberger, who had been battling a bone bruise on his kneecap that had him listed as doubtful before the game, finished with a passer rating of 139.8 (compared with 92.9 for the Texans' David Carr).

"He (Roethlisberger) keeps his eyes down the field. He's a good quarterback," said Texans defensive end Gary Walker, who suffered a separated shoulder in the first quarter. "And they have a lot of playmakers around him. When you have Hines Ward (six catches, 84 yards, two TDs) and (Antwaan) Randle El (three catches, 75 yards), you just throw it up and they go and make plays."

Babin, Buchanon replaced

While the Steelers were rolling on the field, finishing with 388 yards of total offense and averaging 7.2 yards per play, heads were rolling on the Texans sideline. Babin and cornerback Phillip Buchanon both found themselves benched and replaced by Shantee Orr and Demarcus Faggins, respectively.

Babin was punished after jumping offside with the Steelers facing a third-and-10 from their 32 with six minutes to play in the third quarter. Babin's boo-boo moved the ball up five yards, and Roethlisberger then hit Cedrick Wilson with a 40-yard pass to the Houston 23.

Three plays later the Steelers scored on Parker's TD run for a 27-7 lead.

"Obviously it upset me, but it sent a strong message to everybody — if you make mistakes, especially at critical times, then something's going to happen," Babin said. "I can't be upset. If I hadn't made the mistake, I wouldn't have gotten pulled. That's the way it goes."

Buchanon, who was yanked for simply playing poorly, shrugged off the benching and the loss.

"They came out and executed, and we didn't," Buchanon said. "It was one of those games where we couldn't get anything going. We had no turnovers again.

"It's hard to win when you're not getting turnovers. They're making plays and we're not. When you're not making plays, it's hard to win. And we can't make any plays right now."

Time on his side

Not with the time Roethlisberger had in the pocket. The Texans tried all sorts of approaches, but nothing worked.

"There were opportunities there," said Texans linebacker Antwan Peek. "It wasn't like we just didn't get any pass rush."

Actually, it was pretty much like that.

"He just made plays," said Peek of Roethlisberger. "He has led them to 14 straight wins (now 15), so he found openings. We're going to have to go in, watch film and find out (what went wrong)."

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They just sucked.