Who's fault is it when the secondary completely blows coverages and leaves people WIDE WIDE OPEN? How many times has that happened this season? I've lost count. I guess none of us really knows if that is coaching, huh? I have a strong hunch.
I keep going back and forth between which of the following two areas I want to upgrade more: DE/DT or MLB. Looking towards the draft (sigh), I wonder how much better the defense would be if it had a player opposite Mario that could collapse the pocket (think Brian Orakpo) or even a big-time DT like Ricky Jean-Francois to help out inside. On the other hand, it'd be nice to have another good LB (James Laurinaitis or Rey Maualuga) to plug in the middle and move DeMeco outside (and more importantly get Greenwood off the field). It'd be nice to come away with both in one draft, but that might be asking for too much. Unless, of course, we continue to play like we did today.....
how is declaring they need six new defensive starters "defending" the team, updawg? they lack personnel - i've been saying that since at least 2004 (the first time it was actually relevant). i don't think they're good and have never argued that they are. but i disagree with those who think it's ONLY coaching (or ONLY the players) and i vehemently disagree with anyone who thinks there's enough talent on this team to be appreciably better than what they are right now. i do think they've endured some tough breaks this year: a brutal opening schedule, a hurricane, some just flat-out horrific luck, injuries... we can't just put 3-6 in a vaccum and assume it's ALL bad - there're things in place.
Wait...who drafted Okoye again? Rick Smith and......Gary Kubiak the head coach? Gary Kubiak has at the very least 50% control on player personnel decisions, if not then moreso then Rick Smith. So if our team is filled with "fillers" then who's fault is that? I just read Shroopy2's post that you commented to and realized the coach in question is Richard Smith. In that vein, there were too many times where the other team scored or made a big play because our secondary were not in the vicinity of the receiver making the catch. Whose fault is that? If it's the player, why are they still given playing time only to be burned again? (*coughPetey Fagginscough*)
if they're constantly out of position, it's coaching. if they're constantly jumping the wrong route, abandoning their space and getting fooled by misdirection and play-action, it's on the players. and i've seen a whole lot of all of it this year. you mentioned the secondary: they've played 6 games without their best CB (and 3 more with him still getting back up to speed); have demoted their opening day LCB, FS and SS, as well as the LCB who replaced the opening day starting LCB. my guess is they'd love to upgrade the talent at all 3 positions. it's a terrible unit - but you're convinced it's the coaching, huh?
what's the alternative? to play no one back there? no one wants me to say it but they inherited an awful football team, devoid of talent up and down the roster at every single position save for 1 WR and 1 CB. they're filling as many holes as they can (and have done a pretty damn good job) but they're simply not going to be able to fill them all at once.
3 years. That's how long Kubiak has been over this team. That's long enough to shore up major holes in our personnel. The Miami Dolphins were 1-15 last year and 5-4 right now. Now I would define that "all at once".
I think they are a better team than the record shows. The problem is that there is a loser attitude throughout the organization. Nobody is accountable. That is what needs to change and I guarantee if it had, we would have at least 2-3 more wins this season than we currently have. Asd long as excuses are acceptable this team will be mediocre
Coaching is clearly a big part of the problem. IMO, you have to stick your head in the sand not to see it. Nobody is arguing the secondary is talented. Don't take what I said and distort it. When Jacques Reeves (who's bright idea was it to sign this guy?) gets beat because he's no good, oh well. But the multiple times when nobody was in the vicinity of the receiver, coaching is culpable. This happens too often.
it wasn't an exaggeration: when kubiak took over, they had two above-average talents on the roster. that's it. you're not going to fill 20 starting positions, plus build a viable second unit, in three years. the dolphins won 4, 9 and 6 games in the three years prior to going 1-15; i would argue they (likely) weren't "1-15 bad" and they probably weren't "9-7 good" in '05 (they were actually 3-7 before winning their last 6. they did beat SD and NE -9 and 10 wins - but also oakland (4), buffalo (5), the jets (4) and tennessee (4)). so you're probably, realistically, starting with a 5(ish)-win foundation in miami. houston was much, much worse; a 2-win team with a roster devoid of any talent.
who are you? BOB MCNAIR?....... what could have happened that would have "guaranteed" 2 or even 3 more wins this year? i don't inherently disagree; it's why i suggest - if they feel he's not maximizing what talent he has - they should fire richard smith tomorrow and make a statement of some kind. but what else can they do? cut rosenfels?
So how many years does it take, if not 3? So how many more positions have they filled beyond Andre and Dunta since the Kubiak era? DeMeco? Mario? Walters? That's it in 3 years of drafts and free agency? That 7-9 before the 2-14 was smoke and mirrors? How did we get an 8-8 record last year with "fillers"?
Whatever. The Texans suck. They've always sucked. They will continue to suck for the foreseeable future. Half the time I forget we even have an NFL team. It's sad, really.
When considering who could start for others teams part of it was who actually HAD started for other teams. Which is why Greenwood (not a great example) was mentioned, and Weaver could be mentioned too. Maybe not right this minute today but those guys started on some decent defenses. Unless they were Jeff Posey faking which is possible, I dont think they were the Jacques Reeves of their teams. I said a good coach gets the filler to perform better, better didnt mean 2000 Baltimore Ravens. At least to in the high 20s to low teens in points allowed, a few ranking spots up. Good is desired but slightly below average is acceptable, which is an improvement over suck. Coaches have gotten held accountable for this kind of thing before, wouldnt suprise me if it happened here in this instance.
This is another reason I hope dallas fails. Then Wade will get fired and maybe we can lure him to become our DC. Dude might not be head coach material, but is supposed to be a more than solid D coach. Being a Texans fan is tough.
it took the titans 4 after they bottomed out. '04: 5 wins '05: 4 wins '06: 8 wins (+4) '07: 10 wins (+2) the texans were 2-14 when kubiak was hired in 2005. '05: 2 wins '06: 6 wins (+4) '07: 8 wins (+2) under kubiak,they've signed, drafted or traded for: schaub, slaton, walter, daniels, brown, winston, williams, ryans and diles. also, jones, okoye and bennett - all young enough that they might still be productive. and they also landed charles spencer - not kubiak's fault his career was ruined. they've rebuilt and upgraded their depth all across the board (rosenfels, a quality back-up; anderson, salaam, bauman, robinson, cochran, bentley, wilson and fergueson - these guys may not be good enough to win if they're playing every week (coughrosenfelscough) but they represent quality depth. they couldn't go 2-deep at ANY position when kubiak took over.) they haven't been perfect: they gave up too much for schaub - but they've turned this roster over 85% and they're infinitely better right now than they've ever been. not exactly the highest compliment but true nonetheless. god, yes. go back and look at the 2004 season: if they played a good team, they got absolutely kicked. i never understood why anyone thought they were a playoff team. and then they had a terrible offseason (after a pretty awful one in '04, too) and it all went to hell. last year, they were 1-5 in their division with the lone win coming against jacksonville's 2nd and 3rd stringers on the season's final day. nothing happened this offseason that moved houston ahead of any of its divisional opponents. so anyone who thought this team was going to win more than 7-9 games was delusional. they almost automatically start the year no better than 2-4 because they're in such a great division. until that gap gets closed, they're going to hover around .500; they're not going to 8-2, 7-3 against the rest of the league (unless they're fortunate enough to play teams in both western divisions, which they'll never be.)
phillips coaches a 3-4; his dad invented it. he would be a terrible fit (though i agree he's a great defensive coordinator).
