I didn't mean to imply that McNair is a bad owner, I think he will be a great owner, at least thats what I've been thinking since the beginning.
You got any better ideas? If Carr's the QB next year, I may as well stay heavily medicated and extremely intoxicated so I can have a delusional POV that Carr is the man and can get it done. I mean how much more beyond this season do you need to solidify the point, Carr will NOT lead us to playoff-dom. That's what this is all about and that's all that matters. That being said, I trust Kuby and GM Smith's decisions and instincts. It's just IMHO Carr will never excel here too much has happened. Courtesy of the C&C Idiot Factory.
Hurry up offense? Hmmm, what's that? I've heard of that concept on other teams you know you force the defense into bad situations and disallow them to make ample substitutions where their players can get rest and ... ****!!! I have a feeling it's not that Kuby is conservative, he cant do what he wants because our QB cant get it done and/or we STILL have mostly a poor compliment core surrounding him. Blablabla!!! I wanna be sedated ...
He better work in some pass rush moves for that to happen. Mario has 4.5 sacks through 11 games. Hardly pro-bowl caliber. Don't get me wrong, I like Mario and I think he has the potential to be an absolute monster, but from what I've seen of his play on the field I'm somewhat disappointed.
those situations have absolutely no bearing on the texans. none. btw, i really appreciate you being grounded and not indulging in hyperbole like so many of the posters here… it gets old, ya know…. oh… well… huh… ok… two weeks ago against the eagles, vince young was 8/22 for 101 yards and a TD. quick - call canton! hell, in the first three quarters against the giants, he fumbled, failed to convert a 4th and 1 and was averaging 7 yards an attempt. oh, and the team was down 21-0. but sometimes, breaks start to go your way… eli throws an interception in giant territory, pacman jones runs a punt back 23 yards to shorten the field, eli throws another interception in giant territory, this one with :32 left… hell, jones, who had both picks + the punt return, was every bit as important, if not moreso, than young to that comeback. now, who on the texans’ D has provided the texans with such playmaking ability? hell, between weeks 2-6, they didn’t pick off one pass. not a single one. yes, probably carr’s fault – after all, great leaders like young should will teammates to make plays around them, right?…. kubiak’s had a single offseason and 11 games with carr – does that seem like enough time to make a fair evaluation when you’ve installed a brand new system, your top RB never made it to the field and 3/5 of your OL is now on the IR? let him play out the year; kubiak will then have a much better idea what he has. it takes more than a QB to lift a franchise up. besides, drew bledsoe, statistically, is one of the most prolific QBs in NFL history and has played in a SB. i’d be thrilled if carr had a career similar to bledsoe’s. and that’s essentially what he got – the texans gutted their organization this past summer, top to bottom: new front office, new coaching staff, new systems on both sides of the ball, new players… MM, this is completely backwards. the pass does not set-up the run; never has and certainly doesn’t in kubiak’s system, which is predicated on having an effective running game. notice how the broncos’ offense is struggling this year…? yeah, it’s because their running game has been wildly inconsistent and ineffective. at their current pace, this will be the first year they haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2001. last year, their top 2 backs combined for 1,935 yards; this year, they’re on pace to hit 1,559. the lack of an effective running game is exposing plummer, who’s best when rolling out. well, now he can’t play action because teams aren’t biting on it and that’s preventing him from getting out of the pocket because teams can use a LB shadow him. btw, the texans’ top 2 backs are on pace for 919 yards. combined. in which games did carr struggle…? which, btw, is an interesting choice of words – struggle – considering yesterday, he had, per you, “sucked.” he had an underwhelming game Sunday, though i think it was a combination of several elements – no running game, horrible game plan, injuries on the OL and, yes, just plain carr struggling. the interception he threw was one of the worst passes he’s ever thrown. otherwise, he did not struggle against the giants, jags or bills. it’s not really that vexing – did you watch the jet game? they were getting pressure using 4 guys; sometimes only 3. that leaves 7 guys to drop into coverage. 7 guys covering 3 receivers and a back who’s running underneath… you want him to force throws downfield under those circumstances? if you want to watch a QB prove how big his **** is by constantly throwing downfield in the face of such coverage, spend a weekend watching a bear game. or the packers. my guess is that both teams would trade their current starting QB for carr yesterday. believe me, watching a QB trying to complete passes into double, triple – hell, quadruple coverage (like the pick carr threw in tennessee) is just as mind-numbing and every bit as unsuccessful. kubiak is trying to minimize the mistakes and keep games close because he doesn’t have a good enough team to do it any other way. i’d agree with 99% of this, except i think he’s getting better at escaping pressure and comparing pro athletes with high school athletes is ridiculous. they DID win the dolphin game. with carr. if you meant the titan game, well, who knows – sage couldn’t beat out a litany of really bad QBs for years and years in miami, so to think a team is better off with him starting even a game is a little silly.
Ric: There are absolutely teams that use the pass to set up the run. The Broncos do that. West coast offenses do that. The comparison between high school and pro is relative. High school QB's vs. high school defensive lines....pro QB's vs. pro defensive lines. QB's at both levels have to respond to pressure relative to the competitive level they're playing at. You're right...I meant Titans, not Dolphins. Not sure where that came from. As for your point about, "it takes more than a QB to lift up a franchise." I agree. It does. But it's a damn good start.
Interesting how? He did suck this week. He has struggled for weeks. Perhaps interesting in the same way you went from "Carr was awful yesterday" to "he had an underwhelming game Sunday"? He's been struggling for weeks. The offense can't score. His rating has been consistently lower. He's no longer throwing TDs. He's averaging about 5-6 yards per pass. He's throwing for fewer yards. In every way, his numbers are worse than they were the first 5 or 6 weeks. It's really not complicated to see that he's struggling. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5887/gamelog;_ylt=AkweOi1yxVPHQl.Y5c40A9D.uLYF First 4 games: About 7.7 yards per attempt 7 TD, 2 INT QB rating over 100 Last 5 games: About 5.8 yards per attempt 1 TD, 3 INT QB rating in the 70s Against the Jets, the offense scored 3 points when it mattered. He did nothing of value. Against Buffalo, it scored 14 points. In the 2nd half, 5 drives, 5 punts. And yes, they had a running game. Against Jacksonville, he completed 50% of his passes at 5 yards per attempt. They scored 13 points, 6 of which were on field goals from drives that started in Jacksonville territory. His rating was almost identical to that in the Titans game. If you think that's good, then you and I have very different definitions of good. You can make excuse after excuse after excuse, but no other QB in football gets the kind of free ride Carr gets. None.
The guy has been written off by every major media source, and the vast majority of fans for the last two years... how is that getting a "free ride"? The guy is no longer the golden boy... management gave him a reprive because Kubiak and Reeves were convinced that they could make him better (which they are... even if it isn't at the pace that you would like). I understand that undoing his bad habits seems pretty tedious, and it may have been "easier" to just start fresh with another rookie QB. But, given that the defense was still going to be horrible, and that there were still missing parts throughout both sides of the line, I don't mind the fact that they tried to upgrade other areas first. Other than that second chance, I don't see him getting a free ride... he gets the blame for everything that is wrong with this offense (even though they're missing parts with every component, with the slight exception of WR... despite AJ's stone-hands). He's been taken out of games that he's struggled, and has been publicly called out by his head coach countless times. If this team had that attitude at its INCEPTION, with all members of the organization (Capers, Casserly, etc.), things would be a lot different... instead, we were all so greatful to have a team, we let the honeymoon period run a little too long. The media was too nice, the fans were too forgiving, and alas... 5 years later, we're back at square ONE. If you're not willing to be patient now (11 games into a new regime), when they're actually attempting to BUILD something out of nothing (whereas 5 years ago, it was simply fun and games), then there's really no point in following this team.
So I am assuming since Carr got his first td in 20 quarters last week then thats a sign of improvement and we should hope he builds on it next week. Maybe a TD during a meaningful part of the game, not garbage time.
I think he's saying, as I am, that in other places around the league he'd be on the bench or on another team by now.
11 games into a new regime? Granted, if Kubiak was here 4 years ago, and he performed as such, it would be true... but since Kubiak just got here, the situations are mutually exclusive. Also, had we not hired an "offensive" coach, I believe we would have never extended Carr's contract. (the defensive coach would have done the opposite of what Gary did... he believes in his defensive scheme, thus he drafts offense... the offensive coach believes in his scheme, so he drafts defense). Gary's job is tied to Carr's improvement... if he can't salvage David out of his terrible habits, or show that his offense can be implemented regardless of personel (ie - his "unfathomable" running game that doesn't need a talented RB), then Kubiak will be toast before he ever clinches his vision.
MM, you're right about the WCO; shanahan's version, however, is a run heavy variation - it uses quick, decisive rushes the way walsh used quick, decisive passes to open up spaces in the defense. kubiak is using shanahan's version; it's predicated on having an effective running game. you're right, MM. i will now start comparing professional athletes relative to high school athletes because, really, the only difference is that the games are played at different speeds. well, it's actually kind of a horrible place to start. very few teams have been built from the QB up. the vast majority of QBs currently enjoying loads of success joined an already solid foundation.
I have no problem with the Mario Williams pick. I have a problem with them not being willing to consider replacing him no matter how badly he performs. Other than that? Really? He's being treated as though he shouldn't have been expected to improve at all in his entire career because he had bad coaching. Can you name another QB that has had 4 years of regression excused like that? Well, hell. He's been yelled at - so clearly he's been held accountable. He was benched, his replacement was fantastic and moved the offense better for a half than it has at ANY point this season. And then Carr was immediately given back the job and continued to hold it without question despite failing to move the offense for another 4 games. Accountability? Right.
Stop being a smartass. There are qualities in sports and other walks of life that are instinctual. That aren't just learned. You can see those qualities on every level of competition. A lot of those things in sports are cerebral. The ability to think quickly...to problem-solve quickly as everything is going to hell around you.
If it was simple as "bad coaching", things would be different. There's a lot more that goes into it. He's a rookie QB on an EXPANSION team... one that doesn't improve its already horrible o-line the first 4 years of existance (its biggest weakness), and one that doesn't draft wisely, nor sign impact free agents. Name another team that was more talented AS AN EXPANSION TEAM 4 years ago, than it is now? Also, name another rookie QB that started with an expansion team... and did somethign successful (which merely highlights the mistake the Texans made at the start of this regime). The only thing Sage's performance proved is that Kubiak's offense can go downfield against prevent defenses... Carr had already duplicated this feat in 3 other games (in addition to last week). Its all on Kubiak... he's the one that will make the call if it needs to be made. I haven't seen him giving Carr preferential treatment, and he's already said that there are a number of things he has to undo in the guy before things get better all around. Blame Kubiak for wanting this challenge... but there's nothing to do at this point, but wait it out. The "frustration level" with this franchise has already peaked and re-started itself...
The biggest problem that I or Ric has is that Carr is looked at as a "scape goat", or that if you solve him... all other things get taken care of. I don't know if Carr is salvagable... but I do know that he shouldn't get the blame (nor even most of the blame) for everything that is wrong with this offense. Kubiak believed he was salvagable. My biggest fear is that the Texans will go out and panic, and draft another rookie QB... there are still far too many problems with foundation positions on this team (especially if they move Spencer to RT, and Winston to guard) that would need to be fixed.
and this is where i've tried to say over and over and over and over and over and over and over again that it's NOT WHAT I'M SAYING. i do not believe Carr is soley to blame. i do not believe he is the entire problem, and if you replace him you're all of a sudden a winner. i have never said that or anything close to that. and it frustrates me because despite the fact i've never said that...and only folks like Luckyazn with his one post of DAVID CARR SUCKS per thread actually have said that....that it seems to be part and parcel of the defense and the excuses for Carr. we're past the statute of limitations for scapegoating...he's been the QB for 5 years now.
