From TMQ: That seriously makes my blood boil. I just don't understand, how, in week 5, our secondary continues to be THIS bad.
A few interesting stats from Football Outsiders: KC #5 ranked defense, with teams doing 16% worse against them than on average (DVOA). And it's rating them is nearly equal in making the run and pass tough: #4 against the rush (-21%) and #6 for pass (-13%). I was hoping they were going to be softer in the air, but we all saw how effective they were against the Colts in Indy. Everyone knows how bad we are, teams have been 23% better against us, a flipping 43% better through the air. And our elite run stopping is a myth - we're average - teams only do 2% worse when facing it (and some of that is abandoning the run for the treasure trove riches of the pass). They have a neat additional layer looking at how we do against specific members of the receiving corps: Top WR: we're slightly better than the league average, with them only doing 1% better than normal against us. Part Quin, part picking on Jackson. I can live with this. #2 WR: 23% better than when not facing us --> Jackson (or McCain) #3 WR: 30% better. (McCain or Jackson) TEs: 45% better! Part of this is Miller's big day on us, and the good news is that missing Cushing played a big factor here. RBs out of the backfield: 33% better than against other teams. This is normally the responsibility of the OLBs, so could also improve with Cushing's return.
Yikes. That's all on coaching if he blew it that badly. What was he even doing? And it's Nicks of all people!
Mccain has been our worst corner by far. Jackson has taken his beatings, but also shown some signs. I don't see why Mcmanis and/or Molden don't get all of Mccain's reps. Has Antwaun Molden even played a defensive snap in 3 years? I think it's time to see what he can do.
Everyone would like to see him but it's amazing how he is constantly hurt. It's also pretty incredible they have been so patient with him
Shouldn't have said "all on", but it's the way I see things: Didn't make effort, dropped ball, got juked, etc...on player Not knowing what they're doing...I attribute that to poor coaching and preparation. The secondary coach has a responsibility to make sure his group knows what to do in given situations. I'm more used to seeing the safeties do dumb things, and that's indicative of poor coaching and preparation. Jackson getting torched because he can't anticipate how a receiver will come out of a break and having no recovery speed to make up after is 100% on him.
He was active and played on special teams for the first time last week. Time to get him some defensive reps .
i see your point but there is the possibility that he was taught what to do but he just didnt do it. He could have got his coverages mixed up. He could have heard wrong. Could have psyched himself out. It's not all that unheard. What's more possible? That the coaches didn teach him what to do in certain coverage? Or that the player, in the heat of the moment, simply didnt do what he was taught? I tend to lean toward to latter, simply because is a mistake more likely to be made in a split second? or more likely to be made during practice all week and even since they started practicing.
I have Cassel on my fantasy team as a bench warming emergency QB, but I'd be a fool not to start him this week... I really hope it backfires on me, though.
I think that it's probably a mixture of the two. Coaching can be blamed for simply putting him the position to fail. I'm not 100% sure how the defense reacts to how the offense lines up, but if I'm seeing Hakeem Nicks, the best receiver the Giants have and someone who has torched us the entire half, lining up across from my nickel corner, who has NO help behind him, I'm either A) calling a timeout or B) calling an audible. With that being said though, the players have to have accountability as well. Now I will fully admit that the only football I play is flag football, so the intricacies of the sport are not something that I'm 100% familiar with, but I'm assuming that a professional cornerback in the NFL knows pretty much all of the ins and outs in terms of technique, and McCain should have been able to cover this route REGARDLESS of what the coaching staff has taught him. It's not as if Nicks was covering 65 yards of turf....this was in the red zone. If I had to choose one person to blame in this situation, it would probably be McCain, but the coaching staff should realize what they have in each player, and be able to utilize them to ensure that they are as successful as possible.
Yep. People ask why Jackson is starting. McCain is the answer. Molden was inured in preseason and probably is playing catch up. He did get a tackle in the Giants game on special teams. McManis maybe should've been getting reps but tweaked his hammy on Sunday.
Matt Schaub's first game as a Texan came against the Chiefs back in '07. Let's hope Sunday's outcome is the same. Btw, that game was also the game in which Mario Williams scored his only career touchdown.
All of the first-half I saw Jackson give a 5-yard cushion. That means the reciever goes 5 yards down field, catches a pass, runs 5 yards and is then tackled for a first down. That's not the player's fault. Watching a guy give 5 yard cushions all day and then get burnt on deep passes is the player's fault. This is the worst pass defense in NFL history.
On what planet would this be classified as a trap game? The Texans are just coming off one of the most embarrasing losses they've had in a long time, their fans and the media have been ripping them apart all week, and the secondary looks as lost as ever. If something in there suggests that the players are EXPECTING to win this game, I sure as heck don't see it.
I wonder if it is statistically...because it sure LOOKS that way to me. I don't ever recall a professional secondary looking that lost.
I just did a quick skim of the past 10 years. The Texans defense is allowing somewhere between 60-80 yards more per game passing than the worst defenses of the past decade. The one saving grace is that the Bills and Jaguars are allowing a higher passer rating.
