They're my pick to win their division this year and I don't think the media is giving them enough credit. They had a bad year last year to be sure, but the two biggest factors that caused that tailspin (injuries to McNabb and T.O.) are history. If McNabb stays healthy, the team will be good. He looked good when he got protection, but as soon as those sacks started coming the offense really started to fall apart; hell the whole team did. As they should since they're in the same division; they have a pretty big rivalry. You can point to the Dallas-Philly Monday Night game last year to Philly's downfall; that's when McNabb suffered the sports hernia I think.
They did show some old habits...but looking at the level of competition we were playing against today versus last season in the 1st game, I'd say they did look better; the early protection for Carr, Moulds as a second option, the 4th down tries, more variety in the offensive play calling, etc. They need to get the running game going though and they need to stop the big plays/drives.
I was listening to some reports. After they have reviewed the tape, 3 of the 5 sacks were broken coverages by people on the offensive line or backs. One was a blitz that was completely unblocked and one was a coverage sack. The reality was that Carr did exactly what he was supposed to do. He had time to do what he needed to do, but the two most significant problems were: 1. They had no running game. When you can't run, you can't set up the pass and teams will blitz the hell out of you. Unlike last season where the team could run but had no ability to protect the QB, this game the Texans couldn't run which mean Philly could do what it does best - blitz. They are known for that and they do it really well. 2. They had no pass rush. At some point, you have to be able to pressure the QB without a blitz. You have to be able to beat guys one on one. The team couldn't do that. And with the secondary getting killed by McNabb, they couldn't afford to run a ton of blitz packages. They went into nickel packages with the zone and then Westbrook went nuts because of that. Just ugly. Ultimately, the Eagles are just a better team that kicked our ass, but this isn't the same team as 2005.
No...he played about a quarter and a half of PRESEASON and his first ever regular season game. You can't seriously think that this is the path of his career from 5 1/2 quarters of football?
Agree a little with you Jeff, but c'mon, Carr didn't do everything right...I was in town and able to see the game and man, he just made some bad decisions... Granted, he's not a top tier QB, but man, just mistakes to a minimum and throw the ball away...Mario who? Yeah, I said it, he was a non factor...I know its only his first game, but c'mon, he was suppose to be this badazz and he was the one getting thrown around...Our D just sucks... An improvement somewhat from last year, from the so-called coaching side, but overall, a bottom dweller...
This bears repeating. I'm sure the Bush lovers will just call us homers for saying this, but the Eagles are a better team than the Texans, but that doesn't automatically mean the Texans suck. I don't know what it is about Houston fans. If we win a game, we're going to the Superbowl. If we lose a game, we're going 0-16. There's no in-between.
When did he NOT throw the ball away? He did that 2 or 3 times when he was being chased. In addition to the sacks, he was hurried SEVEN times. I'd be interested to know how many times he was hit. It had to be quite a bit. He tripped on one play (I inadvertantly listed that as a coverage sack in my last post). That was his fault. Beyond that, the line and his backs couldn't protect him. I re-watched the four sacks when he didn't trip. He was unable to get rid of the ball on ANY of them because guys were on him immediately. These were NOT coverage sacks. Even Flanagan said that he made all the right reads and did everything correctly. One was a completely blown coverage on the left side of the line. One was a blown coverage by Putzier. Why was he trying to block Kearse, by the way? Another was a blown block by the running back. The last was an all-out blitz by Carr who was about to unload but made the right decision and held the ball when two guys hit him. Kubiak said that Carr played well and he said that three of the sacks were blown coverages, two in MAX PROTECT that should never happen. I can accept putting things on Carr when he is at fault, but this one was not on him.
Welcome to Houston, home of the hardcore bandwagon fans. No one jumps or climbs back faster on the wagon then us. So by all accounts (didn't get to watch the game), this Demeco Ryan is the real deal and Mario underwhelmed. Is the guy at least disruptive, commands double teams? Or was invisible and barely noticeable?
I agree with Jeff here, Carr did his part today... Some people just dont like Carr period no matter if he won the game and appeared absolutely flawless; some people would find something to gripe about with his game simply because they think hes too much of a pretty boy. I'm not his biggest fan but our problems today were not his, our running game was horrible and our "D", which in the preseason had me believing in them; stunk it up badly. Sidenote... Mario was not much of a precense. I'm sure he'll rebound next week and if he even gets one sack on Manning i'd be happy
What the heck is Carr supposed to do? He completed well over 60% of his passes, mostly downfield to receivers. He had 0 interceptions, He wasn't throwing the dump off crap to RBs that he did last year, except for the screen plays (which were totally ineffective). He also had some good scrambles. I think he still needs to feel the rush better, but overall he was a bright spot of the game.
He has yet to show that he can be an every down back running the ball. None of us knows if he can or not, but he hasn't shown that he can yet in college or in the pros (granted his pro career just started). It is common to split carries in the NFL...when you don't have a RB that can handle the rock all the time. The premier backs in the league (LT, SA, LT, Edge, etc) are not splitting carries.
Wait a second, though. I'm a Houston homer...but we played awful yesterday. We gave up 5 sacks...had no running game...our secondary was awful...we got no pressure on the QB. The only moral victory we're walking away with is that it appears our QB played better than he had in the preseason. That's it. We did suck yesterday. I don't know if that means we'll suck next week...or the next. But it didn't look good.
This is kind of strange Cause Last year. . . we at least RAN somewhat well so I hope this is just a Aberration We could not Pass Protect Now . . it maybe reversed at least this one game Rocket River
no, it's not reversed. reversed would mean our pass protection was good yesterday, too. it wasn't. it sucked. they gave up 5 sacks. so, to be clear, neither the run blocking nor pass blocking were effective yesterday.
I'm not saying we didn't suck yesterday. I was there, I saw it first hand. All I'm saying is that I'm not willing to write off the season and call Mario Williams a bust just because we lost to one of the best teams in the NFC by 2 touchdowns. People seem to forget that the Eagles have legitimate Superbowl aspirations this year and the Texans only have legitimate aspirations of winning 6 or 7 games. The Eagles have one of the best defenses in the league. That just might be part of the reason we sucked so bad. I'm just saying.... [cliche]Rome wasn't built in a day.[/cliche]
This is the one thing that galls me to no end. OK, if you are going to pass on one of the most skilled offensive talents to come out of college in the past 20 years for Mario "Invisible" Williams, then you (Kubiak, Texans) had damn well better make sure that you can AT LEAST run the F'ing ball! Oh, and putting more than 1 TD and FG on the board won't hurt either. Where was this magical "Denver System" that says you don't need a talent like Reggie Bush because it can transform 2 guys named "Herb" into dynamic NFL running backs? To me, this is a situation that's absolutely unacceptable. It's that kind of inept coaching that got the previous regime canned and fans like myself, are beyond fed up with watching a so-called "professional" organization as it stumbles around trying to get a clue.
