If Daniels hadn't dropped two point blank passes and the Texans had gotten points on the first drive of the second half, all this might not have mattered.
Actually, I found the game kind of funny. Since the Texans in general are boring to watch and irrelevant to most NFL fans, these kind of collapses actually make the team more interesting. Sort of like a team full of Charlie Browns or that cartoon dog with the long ears and droopy face. Maybe Jerry Glanville can come back. Hire Warren Moon as the QB coach. Anyone remember ex-Oiler Jeff Donaldson? That was one mean dude on the field.
I just need to ask a few questions... Ok, first thing's first. This loss SUCKED. Absolutely. But here's the thing(s)... If Sage makes one less boneheaded play - let's say...the helicopter leap that became a TD the other way, we probably win the game. Right? And if we win the game, everyone's so happy because we beat the Colts. Right? And we'd be 1-3. Right? So...1-3 is way better than 0-4? Look, this was a bad to mediocre team on the rise at the end of last season. Mediocre at BEST. On the way up it seemed, but still not good. So your first four games are at Pittsburgh, at Tennessee, at Jacksonville and home for the Colts. The first two were against the top two defenses in the league. Did ANY of you REALLY think we'd even come close? REALLY? I expected blowouts or at least two touchdown losses. Now, they laid an egg at Pitt and couldn't have looked worse. The coaching blew it in Tennessee. With Jacksonville, the offense looked great. The defense blew, but the offense looked a lot better. Ditto against Indy, at least for the offense. The offense looked great with a backup QB at the helm and the defense had pressure on Peyton most of the day. But the bottom line is this. At the beginning of the season. Did any of you REALLY think this team was any good? Who was it we added to an 8-8 team (really a 7-9 team considering Jacksonville put out their B squad in that last game) that made us any better? Who? Getting Andre back from injury? I guess so. But losing Dunta? Adding nothing to a bad pass rush? Having a thrown together secondary full of lower round crap and Jacques Reeves - who was just a body because they needed SOMEBODY to play corner?? Who here looked at this roster and REALLY thought this team was any good? If you did, I think the problem is with you. You bought into some r****ded hype without looking objectively at the team and now you're disappointed. Well, I'm not really. They're still a very mediocre team at best. They could very well be 3-4 in three weeks after this run of crappy teams. Then what? Go 5-4 and end up 8-8 again? or 4-5 and end up 7-9? That's actually about right, guys. They didn't make enough of a change to this team to improve on an 8-8 year. The leap from .500 to contention is huge in the NFL. You have to have some draft picks fall into your lap, some lower round people ending up being studs or some really really good free agent moves to take that next step. Well, Duane Brown is alright but other than him it's Steve Slaton and.....ummm.... And our biggest free agent pickup, Roosevelt Colvin...didn't even make the friggin' team. But it's just absurd to me that one or two plays brings you people from "best weekend EVARRRR!!!11111~~!!" to "let's put bags on our heads like the fans in Detroit". How about realizing that to be GOOD, this team has to play damn near perfect football? How about if they play to their talent, they're mediocre at best and if they make mistakes they can look like a bad college team? How about coming to grips with that people? Stop expecting anything out of THIS team. I've been a sports fan my whole life. Some of you have too. If you can't spot an average to crappy team by now, I don't know what to say to you. I shook my head at this loss - and moved on with my weekend. When this team becomes a GOOD team...when this team is a perrennial playoff team and chokes away a game like this....when they have EVER been a winning team and then they choke away a game like this, let me know and I'll get upset. Until then, they're just an average to bad football whose mistakes make them look really really bad sometimes. Getting angry over that is just stupid.
When you've played Pitt and Tenn and Jax...and went to OT against the non-elite team in that group.. then yes, 1-3 is better than 0-4. And yes I thought we had a chance this weekend. Indy's defense has been suspect (esp. without Sanders), their offense hasn't shown up yet this year, their O-line just came back from injuries this week, and on our end, the Texans were looking respectable to good in the 2nd half of the Jax game. So yes, I thought we had a damn good chance. Coming into the season, I thought 8-8 or 9-7. But if you beat a good team or 2 along the way and finish with that record--and look better--that can be classified as improvement. With a young team including Mario, Amobe, Demeco as your main defensive guys... and Schaub (1st full season hopefully) and some set of young RBs (now we know that to be Slaton)...yes, you can expect improvement even without huge additions. Young players with a lot of potential tend to get better. And Schaub and AJ both coming back is pretty large compared to last year. The defense did not gain players, so we had to hope for improvement and hope to get lucky in the secondary without Dunta. Anyway, a win against Indy would have done wonders imo for the team psychologically, just given Indy's record against us and their status as a "great team" over the past 5-7 years. Knowing that they could beat someone besides the crap of the NFL would help them...people always say you have to learn how to win in the pros. This could have been a step in that direction while Indy was at its low point of the season. Yeah I'm writing too much, but I think this loss means more than the simple distinction of 0-4 vs. 1-3
Well, I just think that losing out on a win "while Indy was at its low point of the season" is kind've like being excited about beating a terminally sick kid in a wheelchair dragging around an IV stand in one on one. This Indy team was not even good by Indy standards and it took our best ball to get where we were in the fourth quarter. Look - to me? If a loss, any loss can cripple your season emotionally and psychologically then you probably didn't have the make-up to be great to begin with. Bottom line is - I just don't think this team was ever as good as some of you must have thought it was. And hey, that's fine. We're fans. But all I'm saying is you need to take a second look. Some of those players from last year have regressed, some are pieced into the secondary and Schaub JUST had his first good game last week, right? Well hey, if he plays like last week when he comes back - as referenced in my first post they could end up 7-9 or 8-8 anyway. And Dunta is back right? Well - the problem is - best case scenario is 8-8 with a spectacular finish. When has this team ever done ANYTHING spectacular and why would you expect it now? But that was true BEFORE this loss. If they do it? Well hell....THAT will deserve the level of passion this one loss is evoking. But this one loss, at least to me...doesn't. Again - when you are a superior team that blows games, like the Oilers did for years - get upset. When you're a weak team trying very very hard to beat a banged up and struggling team and blow one...you say "DAMMIT...we should have had this one." and move on. Rockets lose to the Jazz? Get pissed. Oilers blow 35-3 against the Bills? Get pissed. I just have a different perspective, that's all. And if this crushed the team emotionally? They weren't tough enough for the NFL in the first place.
The key word is "way". In other words, would things have been THAT much better today if they won this one game? The entire point is that there is so much more for this team to do, the emphasis on this one game is out of control in my opinion. Then again, it IS just my opinion and you're REALLY smart. So I could be wrong. And the key word is "could" in THAT one.
Well then... I guess we just have to disagree. They'll still balance out by the end of the season. Whatever they are, they'll still be. I think they're mediocre at absolute best, if some things bounce their way. I guess we'll find out. But I still contend being this emotionally freaked out over THIS team is probably a waste of time. I'll still be watching or there every week, but they're gonna have to win first. The Buffalo loss in '93 was like getting kicked in the nuts, punched in the stomach, your dog dying and coming home to find your wife riding a Jazz fan while wearing a Karl Malone jersey all in one. I just can't be upset like that over a Texans team that's never shown us any real winning yet. Sorry.
The impact of this loss is greater than it just being one loss. The way they lost, I believe, will impact them next week...and weeks to come. Things like this can begin to define a franchise....as they did with the Oilers. That they lose more than 2/3 of the time sets the tone...but games like this capture all that in a very "special" way. But having said that...one win difference last year was crucial. People were willing to throw a party at the end of the season after winning ONE GAME to go 8-8..to avoid another losing season. Had we gone 7-9, I think people would have felt much differently about the season. If this team wins only 5-6 games this season...it's going to look very different than if they win 7-8. It's going to look very different for the coaching staff and their ability to hold on to their jobs. They had this one. They lost it.
I don't disagree with that. I think that's largely because it's difficult to build those sorts of feelings for a team you didn't grow up with. At least that's my experience.
Agreed. Thanks for telling me how be best invest my emotions. Really appreciate the advice, Dr. Phil. No, this loss doesn't remotely compare to the Bills loss in '93. I went numb after that one. I'm pissed. If you think I'm stupid for being pissed, good for you. I'm sorry for wanting to see competent NFL football finally played in the best football state in the union. Please forgive me for such an unreasonable emotional investment.
I agree with you. I didn't grow up with them, but I'm still way into the team. I think the bigger difference is that I was much younger then and have a broader perspective now, or at least a better hold on my emotions. I dunno. If they went 10-6 this year and THEN went in the tank next year, I'd be pretty pissed. But there's a long list of borderline teams that just didn't make the next step. It's not easy. And when you're not hitting on more draft picks and acquisitions than they are, you make it even harder. Now, if you wanna start talking about coaching - that's another topic. All I'm saying is - this was a pretty brutal opening schedule for a pretty mediocre team. And when the season started I looked at the schedule and thought there would be a very good chance we'd be 0-4 after the first four, even when it was Baltimore in there. I thought, couple good bounces…2-3 or 3-2 would me amazing. If we were even 2-3 now I'd be happy based on who we've played. Why would 2-3 make me happy? Because we're just not that good. When the Oilers were going to 7 or 8 or however many playoffs in a row, would anyone have considered 2-3 acceptable? People would be losing their minds. Remember '94, when they started what….1-4? Then won 11 straight? Thing is, that team had something like 7 or 8 pro bowlers. Hey, it's just my perspective. If anyone chooses to freak out over it, hey…it's their right. This is America. But I wouldn't have been overjoyed if we won that game, and I'm not gonna have a fit because we lost. I expected to lose. You get up and you go on. People with regular jobs have to do it, they have to do it too. It's life. Nothing personal, just an opinion. On the other hand, during the playoffs when the Rockets are playing - sometimes objects around the house mysteriously….crash into walls and stuff…..
Nah, I don't think you're stupid. Just trying to give some perspective to help people calm down. "Stupid" was too strong a word for me to use, so I apologize. And I don't think your emotional investment is unreasonable, just your expectations. Being from the best football state in the union, we should be able to recognize a good football team from the get-go. I'm just surprised more people thought this team was capable of that. Although...if you just want "competent" I still believe by the end of the season the overall results could bear that out.
I was able to hear the game on the drive back and man, what a cluster fock...It's Sage's fault, but the D couldn't do anything to stop them in last couple of minutes...sad...
To clarify, I fully expected a loss. I understand that this team is less than mediocre. My expectation changed when I turned on the tele to discover the Texans up by 17 late in the 3rd quarter. Expecting a win over Indy--even a crippled struggling Indy--is a little steep for this team. However, expecting them to hold onto a 10-point lead with 5 minutes to go is NOT. Bad playcalling, and historically stupid play on the part of our garbage time pro bowler QB, and Houston is in the thick of yet *another* all-time historic meltdown in the NFL. Awesome. So, yes, while I understand and appreciate your perspective, 1-3 is worlds apart from 0-4. At least to me.
important to note that not one of us had any expectation that the texas' defense would do anything but give up a TD once the Colts got the ball.
Believe me, having had to work on Sunday when I checked the score on my phone and saw 27-10 I thought it was in the bag. When I left and turned on the radio in the car to hear they lost, I couldn't believe it either. I guess I'm going on track record though, man. This has been par for the course right? Wasn't there just a little part of you that either expected a meltdown or at least wasn't surprised? I guess that's where I'm coming from. I was MUCH more surprised at 27-10 than I was at 31-27. Remember, we scored 27 unanswered. That didn't shock you more with OUR track record? Just saying. I still think we can be "so-so". But I think that's our ceiling, not our guaranteed level. Still - re: your take on it, fair enough.
That's not the point. 0-4 is a snowball effect that leads to 0-5, then 0-6...and all the way into a losing season. This one ended our season for us. If we had won this, maybe we go on a 4, 5 game winning streak. Realistically, probably 3 out of 2. That would've made us 4-5. We go .600 after this and we're looking at 8-8, 9-7...possible wildcard numbers. It's the snowball losing effect that 0-4 brings. If the Texans feel they can't even win with a 17 point lead with 4 minutes left, how can they ever feel like they can win?
