Didn't see this posted. Texans are on the front page of espn's NFL section (that's weird). http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=3027002 Texans following Schaub's lead By Greg Garber ESPN.com The second-quarter pass was supposed to hit Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson on the back shoulder. Instead, Matt Schaub's underthrown ball fell right into the hands of Panthers cornerback Ken Lucas. The apparent interception cost Houston a 14-all tie on Sunday at Carolina and sent Schaub, deeply contrite, directly to the sideline. "I promise you," Schaub told head coach Gary Kubiak, "that will never happen again." After Houston challenged the interception and as the instant-replay process progressed, Schaub told the Texans' defenders it was his mistake but, going forward, if they had his back, he had theirs. The play was overturned and Schaub's subsequent 9-yard touchdown to Johnson tied the score. In only the fourth start of his four-year career, Schaub led the Texans to 34 unanswered points and, for the first time in the franchise's six seasons, a 2-0 record. "That's accountability," Texans general manager Rick Smith said Monday. "The team never panicked because he never panicked. He's got that thing that good quarterbacks have, a presence, a confidence, poise. "And what's happened is his accountability has spread throughout the team. The guys are now accountable to each other. It's a different feeling because they believe in him." Although the Patriots have been energized by the offseason acquisition of Randy Moss and Adalius Thomas, it can be argued amid the early returns that no one has had an impact on a team quite like Schaub. The Patriots, after all, have won three Super Bowls in six seasons. The Texans have won 26 games. In surprising wins over Kansas City and Carolina, Schaub completed 36 of 50 passes for 452 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. His completion percentage (72.0) is the league's third best and his passer rating (111.4) is sixth. But it is Schaub's presence in the huddle and the locker room, not his statistics, that has changed the chemistry in Houston. "The way we came from behind to win this game after the way we beat Kansas City shows things have changed around here," Johnson told reporters after the 34-21 victory at Carolina. "There's a different attitude in here." To a man, the Texans credit Schaub with that transformation. A complete makeover In 2002, the Texans made Fresno State quarterback David Carr the first overall choice in the NFL draft and the face of the franchise. He struggled over five seasons to carry his team over the threshold, and it was strangely symbolic that Carr, standing on the Panthers' sideline, witnessed Schaub's breakout game. To their credit, no one in the Texans organization will criticize Carr publicly, but parse their words and you will discover, by inference, that the very things they praise in Schaub were lacking in Carr. Presence. Confidence. Poise. The unlikely story of Schaub's success in Houston begins in 2006, when owner Bob McNair sacked two NFL career veterans, Dom Capers and Charley Casserly, and replaced them with two management neophytes, Kubiak and Smith, who both learned their craft together with the Denver Broncos. After the 6-10 shakedown season, Smith and Kubiak came to the conclusion that their first priority was upgrading at quarterback. They mulled the conventional options of signing a veteran free agent or drafting a quarterback. Figuring that Notre Dame's Brady Quinn would be gone when they drafted No. 8 -- he ended up going to Cleveland with the 22nd pick -- the Texans went to Plan C. Smith, at 37 still the league's youngest GM, called the Falcons and found out Schaub, who was likely to become a vigorously pursued free agent after the 2007 season, was available. Kubiak spoke with his college coach, Virginia's Al Groh, and Falcons assistants Bill Musgrave and Alex Gibbs. They loved him, and after a round of golf in Newport Beach, Calif., Kubiak understood why. Schaub, a 7-handicap, was cracking on Kubiak's ungainly golf game by the third tee. It was love at first slight. After the round, independently, Kubiak called Smith and Schaub called his agent, Joby Branion. Their message: Do the deal. A day later, March 22, the Falcons traded Schaub for two second-round draft choices and swapped first-round picks. Despite an incomplete résumé behind Michael Vick of two starts and six career touchdown passes, Schaub got a six-year contract worth $48 million. Thirty-four days later, police raided 1915 Moonlight Road in Surry County, Va., and the world discovered Vick's unsavory relationship with dogfighting. Beyond Schaub, the Texans' unprecedented start owes to many happy convergences. Defensive end Mario Williams, taken first in the 2006 draft ahead of Reggie Bush and Vince Young, had two sacks and a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Chiefs. Rookie defensive tackle Amobi Okoye had two sacks at Carolina. Johnson, who will miss Sunday big game against the Colts (2-0) because of a knee sprain, has Moss-like numbers at wide receiver: 14 catches, 262 yards and three touchdowns. Running backs Ahman Green and Ron Dayne have averaged 110 yards combined per game. In a conscious effort, the Texans signed 10 free agents in the offseason with more than 40 games of playoff experience. When the Texans beat the in-state rival Cowboys five years ago in their NFL debut, great hopes were raised. This season's opener at Reliant Stadium against the Chiefs featured acres of empty seats at kickoff. Losing has bred contempt, and fans are still angry the team passed on the Longhorns' Young in the 2006 draft. Houston is wired for Sunday's game against Indianapolis. "This is the first week," said Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice, only slightly exaggerating, "Houston has ever had an NFL team." Pocket presence In Carr's rookie season, 2002, he was sacked 76 times, an NFL record for futility. When a national television crew visited to chronicle that dubious achievement, Carr politely answered questions and had the grace to smile. Carr was sacked an astounding 249 times in 75 career starts in Houston and fumbled 68 times, losing 21 of them. He was not particularly agile, and his decision-making process sometimes required more time than was advisable. Schaub, on the other hand, moves well for someone who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 237 pounds. "He just knows where the football's supposed to go," Smith explained. "He goes through his progressions quickly, he has a good pocket presence -- he feels the pressure well -- and he gets rid of the darn ball." Translation: This wasn't always the case with Carr. Last year, through Kubiak's insistence, the Texans allowed only 43 sacks, down 25 from the previous year. This year's goal is 30. So far, there's been an average of only one per game. After taking two sacks in the opener against Kansas City, Kubiak chided Schaub in his postgame interview, saying, "He missed a couple of blitzes where he's got to get rid of the football." Against the Panthers, one of the league's most quarterback-unfriendly teams, there were zero sacks. This is remarkable, because the three interior offensive linemen -- left guard Chester Pitts, center Steve McKinney and right guard Fred Weary -- were starting in 2002 when Carr was thrashed in record fashion. While Carr reportedly was an indifferent teammate, Schaub lives only a few minutes from the Texans' facility and is usually among the first to arrive and the last to leave. He is very aware of his place in the game and the quarterback food chain. Schaub knows that the four quarterbacks taken ahead of him in 2004 were all starting last year: The Giants' Eli Manning (No. 1 overall), San Diego's Philip Rivers (4), Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger (11) and Buffalo's J.P. Losman (22). Schaub, taken in the third round with the 90th pick, is finally getting his opportunity. The Texans' Sept. 30 game at Atlanta will give Falcons fans a painfully close look at the quarterback they might have had post-Vick. Smith knows a little something about championship quarterbacks. He was a Broncos assistant coach when John Elway led Denver to back-to-back Super Bowl victories. "The belief that his teammates had in him, the way he carried himself, was really something," Smith said. "To say that Matt Schaub is going to be the next John Elway -- no, I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is that Matt's got a lot of the qualities that the good ones have." And that's saying something. Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
can someone with espn insider post the article that's on the front page of the nfl section about the texans? it's titled "colts-texans preview" and "green on schaub". thanks.
Schaub a big step up from Carr In just six games -- four preseason and two regular season -- Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub put to rest the notion that he wasn't ready to be a starting QB in the NFL. The former Falcons backup acquired by Houston in March has been a tremendous upgrade over former starting QB David Carr both between the lines and in the locker room, where he has shown excellent leadership. After looking at tape of both Schaub and Carr running head coach Gary Kubiak's offense, there are some major differences between the two QBs and it became clear why Schaub has been able to make plays Carr couldn't for the Texans. Carr was hit early and often in his Texans career and, as a result, his footwork became shoddy and he spent more time looking at the rush then looking downfield. Schaub is playing behind relatively the same offensive line, but he does not fear the rush in the pocket. In the Carolina game, for example, he did a great job of feeling the pressure, getting flushed out of the pocket and then hitting his outlet receiver Owen Daniels for a nice gain. Schaub has an excellent feel for pressure. He does not see it when it is not there and does an excellent job of feeling it on the backside. It was also clear when looking at the entire offense that the line was not to blame for all of Carr's sacks. There were often times where Carr just held the ball too long or missed open receivers because he was looking at the rush. Schaub shows excellent quickness to get to the throwing point. Whether it is a three-, five- or seven-step drop, he gets there quickly and under control, comes to balance, pushes off his back foot to step up into the pocket and delivers the ball on time. Timing is also a huge factor in the version of the West Coast offense that Kubiak runs. Often times, Carr would not get the ball out quick enough, but Schaub does an excellent job of leading receivers. On the Andre Johnson crossing-route TD against Carolina, he threw a perfect strike. Johnson catches the ball without breaking stride, allowing him to pull away from the defender. Schaub gets the ball to his playmakers at the right spot and that gives them a chance to make play with their feet. With Schaub at QB, the receivers rarely have to break stride, stop, and then try to build speed back up to get yards after the catch. Schaub has shown excellent overall accuracy to all levels. That leads to the receivers running crisp and precise routes because they know if they run the correct route at the proper depth, they are going to get the football if they are open. It's too bad Johnson has a knee injury and will not play against the Colts this week because I'm not sure I have ever seen him this eager in terms of attacking the way he wants to run a route. It is very apparent that he and Schaub have quickly built the rapport needed between a QB and a No. 1 WR where each knows what the other is thinking. Schaub also shows very good instincts and vision. In the Kansas City game he did a very good job of looking at Johnson, dragging the FS out of the middle of the field and quickly coming back to Daniels in the middle of the field. He has some instinctive traits that are tough for a coach to teach. Sometimes, a player either just has it or doesn't. Schaub has it. Another thing Schaub does well is going through his progression. By getting to the throwing point quickly, he has time to look at his first, second and third reads before making a decision. In the Kansas City game he did an excellent job of looking at his three primaries before hitting the check down to the RB. There was no forced throw. There was just the poise to go through the progression and realizing that the outlet receiver was the best play In a very short time Schaub has shown a lot of traits needed to be a consistent starter in the NFL. He still has a lot to learn, but you can't really teach poise, confidence and leadership. He is the man running the show in Houston right now and all other 52 players on this roster believe that. That is something GM Rick Smith and Kubiak could never put a value on.
There were actually 3 of them, but only 2 were articles. The other one was full of stats and stuff. It wouldn't translate well. But here's the 2nd one. Houston is better than you think Why To Watch Texans head coach Gary Kubiak and his players might have been the only people out there who thought Houston would start the season 2-0. Kubiak has done a tremendous job preparing his team this season, making sure offensive coordinator Mike Sherman gets the ball to the playmakers and that this young defense is gelling and forming a fast, physical swarming identity. Expect much of the same this week against the Colts. Indianapolis will present a huge test for the Texans, though, with an explosive offense and a defense that is still riding high after its performance in last year's playoffs. When the Colts have the ball Rushing: The Colts offense uses the passing attack to set up RB Joseph Addai's ground game. It was an effective and productive concept in Week 1 but could catch up with Indianapolis in a negative way, as Addai had a good opening week against the Saints but was average against Tennessee, something that played a part in keeping the game close. On the other side of the ball, the Texans shut down the Panthers running game last week. Houston ILB DeMeco Ryans is a force against any rushing attack and the entire defensive line is playing well as a unit. Defensive ends Mario Williams and Anthony Weaver have done well in setting the edge against outside runs and DTs Amobi Okoye and Travis Johnson have played stout by taking on double-teams and not giving up much ground, which helps Ryans make plays closer to the line of scrimmage. Passing: Peyton Manning is obviously one of the best passers in the NFL and does a great job of distributing the ball to his entire stable of weapons. Tight ends Dallas Clark and Ben Utecht had a huge role in offensive coordinator Tom Moore's game plan against the Titans last weekend, something that should continue to happen. Moore uses Clark to stretch the opposing defenses vertically while Utecht runs the shorter routes and provides Manning an outlet receiver when he is under pressure. The Houston secondary has done a terrific job so far for defensive coordinator Richard Smith, with the exepction of some poor tackling against Carolina WR Steve Smith in Week 2. Other than that, the Texans should be in good shape and have done a nice job of disguising coverage by giving opponents a two-deep look in pre-snap and then either rolling the safeties down or playing quarters coverage. Richard Smith has also done a good job of getting the linebackers to understand their areas of responsibility in pass coverage, which is a sign of a maturing defense. When the Texans have the ball Rushing: The Texans did a great job of involving RBs Ahman Green and Ron Dayne in last week's win and that may be a game plan that offensive coordinator Mike Sherman tries to incorporate every week to keep the tempo of the game in Houston's favor. Green gives the Texans yards after contact with his relentless running style. Tackles Ephraim Salaam and Eric Winston have done a solid job of getting movement past the line of scrimmage and the offensive line as a whole has been a major factor in Houston's improved running game. The Colts defense has continued to play at a high level since last year's playoffs. Linebackers Gary Brackett and Rob Morris are very active and play downhill against the run, which will continue to be the goal for defensive coordinator Ron Meeks. Meeks also uses S Bob Sanders all over the field, including in pass-rushing situations, because Sanders has a knack for getting to the quarterback and registered 2.5 sacks for Indianapolis against Tennessee last weekend. Passing: Houston QB Matt Schaub is managing the game well and completing the high-percentage passes needed to win games. Wide receiver Andre Johnson is doubtful this week due to injury, so TE Owen Daniels, who does a good job of running routes and getting open, will have a bigger role against the Colts. Also look for WR Jacoby Jones to take Johnson's role on the offense since his style of play is closer to Johnson's rather than is Kevin Walter's. Sherman will also use fullback Vonta Leach in outlet passes and angle routes as an added threat to the passing game. Indianapolis caught a big break with the likely absence of Johnson in this week's lineup, and trying to overcome the Colts without their offensivse star will be a big test for the Texans. Sanders, along with CBs Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden, must be very conscious of Jones, Walter and Daniels. The defensive line of the Colts is designed to cause pressure and get upfield at all times, which can be trouble for the Texans. If Indy's defensive line stays in its proper rush lanes and gaps Schaub will have to get rid of the ball more quickly than he would like on play-action passes. Special Teams This game may depend on which team is the most productive in all phases of special teams. The edge on special teams goes to the Texans in the return and coverage units. Kickoff returner Jerome Mathis has the ability to give Houston's offense exceptional field position. Adam Vinatieri gives the Colts the best field goal kicker in the NFL and, believe it or not, the way the Texans are playing lately the gane may come down to a field goal attempt. Vinatieri is also effective in disguising his kickoffs, which could affect Houston's returns.
Exactly! He says that he loves wasting time at work, I wonder if he works for the government. Because, he has that waffling, "I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations" line down to a T.
Kimo sabe it has nothing to do with being sensitive. I'm a US Marine veteran and you did not hurt my feelings. I did not get mad, I got even. I called you out on the carpet and demonstrated in infinitesmal detail how you were wrong. Don't talk SH*T if you aren't gonna have the balls to back it up! Yeah, it's not secret I can't stand the Titans and the Mavs thus my screenname. Last point was a reference to the ultimate dumbass which too bad for you Titan fans are FOREVER linked to ... the doofus that said "VY has healing powers!" Everytime I hear that I am literally ROFLLMMFAO! Anyway, you're a Titan fan more power to you but, in the future don't try coming in saying BS you have no knowledge about. Because you don't know how the Texans are going to react to no AJ. Hey, neither do any of us. How many honestly thought the Texans would be 2-0 competing for first place this week? I bet no one thought we were going to win after we were down 14 points last week either. You see, the Texans FINALLY have a REAL team! Meanwhile you have VY! We now win by design and planning, y'all win by having VY bail out your incomplete ass team week after week. The Texans are becoming special, the Titans are becoming boring and ordinary. But VY has healing powers !!! LOL! I'm sorry y'all will NEVER live that down, NEVER!!! I rest my case ...
DUDE!!! I THINK ANDRE IS GOING TO PLAY!!! Saw it on another message board. I heard he saw some knee specialist in Nashville. Some dude took pics of Andre getting his knee checked out. Andre is cured!! Here is the picture. Spoiler
More love for the Texans. This time from USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/texans/2007-09-20-cover-story_N.htm
Outstanding post. When you become accountable to each other and play hard for each other something accidental happens, you become relevant. Solid take. Kuby's the MAN!
Lol. Maybe the Texans will win now. I wonder how mavhater feels about him going to see the Nashville witch doctor.
I'm actually thankful whenever we don't get a top CBS broadcast pair, because that means no possibility of listening to Dan Dierdorf. That guy is at the top of the list of most obnoxious commentators.
