Hey I'll take the win any way I can get it with this team, considering we've found so many creative ways to lose games over the years. I will say that I get quite annoyed with Kubes' desire to run clock as soon as we get a decent lead. If we had a solid running game, I could understand it, but we don't. Our best running game is a screen pass to Slaton, AJ, etc. Pounding it inside is just asking for 3 & outs/TO's with this team. Also, if Slaton brings his Crisco to the stadium, why not sit him and give Moats a try? He hits the gaps hard and is a very similar back to Slaton's shifty style.
Well, late in the 4th, we needed to put some points up...my problem with the team is that we go into shutdown mode when we are up by 2+ scores. We reverted back to the passing attack once we needed to move the chains and keep the clock running. Speaking of Andre, I did remember seeing him spit blood when it showed him hunched over on the ground.
Very happy we won, but I am not content with a "win wipes away all warts" perspective. I do agree the team is improving - who would have foreseen the complete turnaround with the run defense? Major accolades there. The defense as a whole looks more balanced and the secondary personnel finally look better than practice squad material (not phenomenal, but acceptable). Schaub and the receiving corps remain an elite NFL passing unit. That said, I can't be okay with such a pitiful running game and a coaching staff that stupidly presses it. Only two teams gain less yardage per game than us (77/g), and no running unit turns the ball over more than we do (6). As good as the passing attack is, you can't develop consistency, you can't protect leads with a ground game that's a liability. Today, we can say "who cares, a W is a W" - but this team's inability to put two halves together cost us by a similar margin in losses to Arizona and Jacksonville, and nearly with Tenn. The Texans are a decent team, but they're middle of the pack in this league. It's plain that they can be a great team, a top 10 team, when they put it together and play with passion and aggressiveness. When a team doesn't play to its potential, I have to look at the coach. I want to see a playoff team. I want to see a team that plays to its potential more than 50% of the season. For those asking about luck, don't brush it under a rug that an unforced fumble gave us the ball at the 10. There were honestly only two real scoring (TD) drives by Schaub - and they wouldn't have been enough. Again, I'm glad that one half was all we needed today. But that won't get the job done when we play the upper third of this league, as the Cardinals demonstrated.
I think the Texans, despite their coaching, are exactly where they should be given their makeup. They're a 4-3 team. They have a spotty defense, and an elite passing game. They have a subpar rushing attack. If you look at all the elite teams, they all run the ball effectively and have a defense that makes plays. Houston does not have that. THAT is not on the coaching... its more that we have missing parts (like quality secondary talent, and an o-line that consistently creates lanes for the rush... also a RB that doesn't fumble 4 times a game). The good news is that they're getting better. Even if Andre is out, I don't think the passing attack suffers much. They're starting to protect Schaub with some semblance of consistency, and he will make the plays if he gets time. The defense is holding its own against the run.... and the changes in the secondary seemed to be working (until Alex Smith tore us a new one). They're still a work in progress. They badly need some more "big game" experience to learn from. A wild card in this years playoffs (even though they likely won't advance) would be a plethora of learning experience for this young bunch.
Chronicle reported that Johnson will be ready for next weeks game in Buffalo earlier. Hopefully we don't play down to our opponent next week and have a solid record of 5-3 when we have our showdown with the Colts in two weeks
Johnson will be back, I know he wants more then anything to win and get in the playoffs this year, as do the rest of this team. Great win, Im glad we didnt give up the lead and start being down in the dumps when 49ers made their run. Buffalo is 3-4, Texans need to play them as if they are 6-0 Hopedully the weather wont be a big factor next week either.
I'm very concerned about Slaton holding onto the ball in upstate NY cold (possibly wet) weather. OTOH, I hope Cush knocks the snot out of Owens on a crossing route.
We were lucky our average QB didn't cost us the game! I don't get the whole "lucky" argument. Luck didn't put 24 points on the board. It was ugly, and we should've adjusted better, but we won the game. We probably would've won by more had Slaton not fumbled. 49ers are still a pretty good team. Of course I hated seeing them fight all the way back, but who came out on top? That's a big victory and hopefully the Texans will review the tapes and learn from their mistakes, even in victory.
The only thing I can think of for the second half collapse, was that the team wasn't prepared for Smith. Thats not an excuse, but I have a hard time believing the guy is as good as we made him look. I hope these guys can start putting together whole games consistently. I am happy with the rush D though. We do need to get to the QB more though to help thing secondary.
I'm really pleased with how well our linebacking group is coming along. I don't know if most of Vernon Davis' catches could be put on them, but those guys were shooting the gaps and not giving Gore ANYWHERE to run to. I'm still concerned that our defensive line really just isn't that talented, but I think our linebackers are good enough to really make up for that.
I will say I am glad I have Owens as my starting TE on my fantasy team, but AJ has been mediocre at best in FF this year. DD
I cannot stand when the texans have a lead and they start playing that fricken zone defense (that never ever works) so the opposing team picks up big chunks of yards and moves easily down the field. You would think that the defense would maybe adjust to stop the SAME PLAY from working 3 straight times for touchdowns. Glad with the win, but it really didnt feel like one yesterday when the game was over. Hope they work on correcting their mistakes. Oh, and they need to superglue a football to slaton so he can learn how to hold onto it....its gonna suck to have such a talented player sitting on the bench because he cant hold onto the ball. GO TEXANS!!!
I hear everything you're saying and generally agree. But the continued wild swings from half to half indicate to me that this team has more potential that's not being realized. It indicates to me that they're not well coached. Just my two cents.
Maybe it's different in a PPR league, but he's tied with Reggie Wayne for top WR in my yahoo league. Was he worth the first round ADP, probably not, but hardly any of the others outside of Peterson, JonesDrew, and QBs were.
a frustrating win. At half time i was thinking, "boy, our D has really turned the corner. They really got something going here" The first TD i could understand. They made their adjustments and were going to open it up. Fair enough. The second one...ok, we get it...Vernon running the skinny post. But when they do the same play and the safety still plays in no mans land I will give them some credit, it was a nice throw but Pollard should have been there. Owen is seeing $$$ signs.
He should be....and Dunta should be hitting himself repeatedly for making a stink over an offer he'll never see on the table again.
