[@EvanSilva] - "Good team with arrow pointing down = #Texans

It doesn't matter if the team sucks! They are built for the playoffs...wait.

 

One could've very easily said the same thing about last years Super Bowl champs the Baltimore Ravens. Their RB was seen as overworked by some, and their qb was considered nothing more than a game manager until Rahim Moore caught temporary amnesia and forgot how to play defense. They definitely were seen as having no shot when they were stamped as an aging defense, whose star LB went down, star pass rusher (Suggs) wasn't sure if/when he would be able to come back, then they come down to previously mentioned "arrow pointing down" team and got their butts handed to them. And what do ya know, they win it all and Joe Flacco gets a ridiculous contract.

Note to ALL media members: Please don't tell me we don't have a chance, unless we're not in the playoffs anymore;ONLY THEN, WILL I BELIEVE WE DON'T HAVE A CHANCE!

 

In other words, no QB is capable of taking his team to the Superbowl until he takes his team to the Superbowl.

 

OK, last one...

In 2009, Houston won their final four games; had the Jets lost one of their final two games, including the final game of that season, a Sunday night game in Cincinnati, the Texans would have made the playoffs. Over that stretch, Schaub was 101/149 (68%) with an 8.9 YPA (!), 1,321 yards, 7 TDs, 3 INTs. That was the year he threw 4,700 yards and 29 TDs. Were those games meaningless? I get that the answer is “yes” four years later - but at the time?

And the team won some huge games in 2011 and 2012, too – with Schaub under center. I’m now firmly in the “prove it” camp with Schaub; the way his season ended altered my perception of him. But the reason it flummoxed me so much was because, frankly, I’d never seen him play like that before. Oh, sure – he’d have a bad game here or there… but he’s consistently been a very good QB, regardless of the situation.

 

Bingo! I will admit that I am among the group that thinks we could/should do better than Schaub, but I also admit that I think we can do a lot worse than Schaub. I don't think Schaub can necessarily "take us to the Super Bowl", but I do think we can get there with him as our QB.

 

Yeah, except... one of them has an.. how did you term it - ah, yeah: "immensely better" QB. That instantly makes the teams incompatible.

And while we're here... what term would you use to describe a QB who has a career QBR of 93.3 and just 64 INTs in 80 career starts (as a Texan)? That's not at least bordering on "excellent"?

 

I love the Texans...I will root for them like crazy...they represent the city well....

but I'll believe they're a Super Bowl team when I see it. Not before. The history of football hopes in this city has burned me too much. That may not be logical...but it is based on experience. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Went all out to answer, that is something. I don't know how old you are, or how long you have followed Houston sports, especially professional football. I was there when the Oilers played their first game. I have "earned' the right to be any kind of fan I want and so has all the other long suffering folks who have followed Houston AFL/NFL football for decades. We have been through years and years of disappointment. The Texans looked like they were going to break through to excellence a couple of years ago ( after being stuck in mediocrity for ever) and then the late season collapses. More disappointment. To say that I and thousands of others are tired of it is a gross understatement. What makes it worse is that most of it is "management," poor management. I understand injuries can be a factor. The loss of Cushing was huge. But you are supposed to plan for injuries and have good back ups ready to go. Sports is supposed to be fun. I lived in Houston for years, so it is hard to just switch. I wish I could.

 

Mos Def. He squandered any and all good will with the way he played down the stretch last season. He will have to earn our trust back and I'm firmly in the "September/October is no longer good enough" camp. Any and every win is important. But until he does it in December/January, I won't fully trust him again; not like I did up until November of last year.

 

It doesn’t ultimately matter – fan chest-thumping is such a beat down - but 1976. I’ve been following Houston pro football since 1976. Is my opinion now validated?

Yes, we have. We have literally been witness to historically bad football. So excuse me if I’m hesitant to group a 13-5 season with some of the dreck the Oilers and even these Texans have subjected us to.

How long do you claim to have watched football?.... Teams don’t snap their fingers and replace players of Brian Cushing’s ilk. If that’s your expectation… that the Texans have a bench full of Pro Bowlers… you should sincerely consider some other form of entertainment because that’s remarkably unrealistic and is never going to happen.

Are you sure - because you’re b****ing up and down about a 12-4 season…

Me too… me too….

 

That and no receiver targets outside of Andre. It has been beaten to death, but the rotoworld guy is somehow unaware.

 

I think its premature to say that the Texans arrow is pointing down or that the team is in need of an overhaul.

I will say that the team going into this season has more question marks than it has the past 2 seasons. The front office attempted to find answers for those questions in free agency and the draft. It's too early to say if those efforts were successful or not.

I do think we could take a step back this year, but I don't feel like the wheels are about to come off. If we hit on some of these draft choices, we should be able to contend for the playoffs the next few years.

 

Their biggest issue is health - if Cushing, Joseph and Reed are all healthy for week 1, then I think they're more or less exactly where they were last year (right-side of the OL; non-Andre WR production; is Schaub the man?).

 

Wasn't that the year when the Jets whipped the Texans like dogs? First game of the season, correct? Right after the Texans had spent an entire training camp telling us how they were different only to come out an play with zero effort when it really mattered.

There are three reasons why the Texans are winning regular season games, Arian, JJ, and Wade, and no one is saying those men are the problem.

The problem is that Kubiak and Schaub should be on the hot seat, yet they both got extensions!

No accountability.

 

I think the pass rush has more question marks than previous years. We have a lot of unproven 1st and 2nd year players that we are counting on at the outside linebacker spot.

Also I think the NT position is a bit of a question mark, as we have not seen Earl Mitchell manning the position without splitting time with Cody.

 

^Addition by substraction. Barwin was a scrub last season.

 

True, the pass rush was underwhelming last season. But going into the season I thought Barwin and Reed would pick up where they left off in 2011 season.

So heading into the 2012 season I thought pass rush would be one of the Texans strengths. We all know how that turned out.

Going into the 2013 season, I just don't have enough data to make a prediction on how our pass rush will perform.

 

Yes.

Here we go... does it seem even remotely convenient to you they've never won a game *you* deem meaningful...? Yes, the Jet game wound up being important (and ultimately costly) - know why? Because the Texans later won meaningful games that season that elevated its importance.

You guys can't continually do this: decide which games are important by virtue of the result (ie if they lose, it's important; if they win, it not). Or, at the very least - you have to start acknowledging that you're doing it. It gets old.

Do you really, truly believe that? I mean... really? That's what you think?

Kubiak? Name any other coach who would be on the hot seat for a 24-12 stretch that not only includes back-to-back playoff wins, but 8 games without your Pro Bowl starting QB.

As for Schaub... sure, put him on the hot seat - so what's the alternative when he catches fire? Everyone jumps into a vacuum with him. They don't have a plan B - that is in part a (very small) failing but it has much more to do with the fact that they don't want to invest limited resources in a player that would, if all is going well, sit on the bench for 20 weeks. Do you blame them?

 

not only a game of matchups but also a game of ifs....if our d played like they did a season ago against the pats and thor doesn't drop that pass we win 26-14, 12 of the other points being fgs of course.

point being, defense is kind of important. Baltimore found theirs at the right time, along with their offensive line, which in the regular season had been rag dolls for every D-line.