I agree. Its not fair to the offense to have to put up more than 30 pts a game to win. Our offense is elite, our defense is the bottom of the barrell. Thats it, end of story. If the defense could stop letting people rush for 200 yards a game, we might actually win some games...and maybe trying to do some toss plays or misdirections might get slaton some yardage...and shaub is a very good QB and people need to get off his case.
the problem is that we've built our personnel, especially on offense, around a scheme cowher almost certainly wouldn't continue. he's also, almost as certainly, a 3-4 proponent; i doubt he'd change that approach. so he'd immediately have to rebuild the OL (and i mean, very nearly from scratch) & his preferred scheme would instantly marginalize our best defensive player. that's not a complete rebuild - but you're looking at a year or more, at the very least. IF kubiak gets fired, there're simply too many guys available who could pick up, offensively, where he left off, including the guy who created this scheme. shannahan, holmgren and gruden would all rank heads and tails above cowher, imo.
Again, Schaub isn't the problem. Hey Ric, you think this team reminds you of last years Denver Broncos team? Cutler throwing for 4K yards, not much of running game (Denver did go through like a billion RBs), great weapons at WR/TE, and very bad defense that was in the bottom in run defense and below average in pass defense. Oh yea, Denver's record was 8-8 last year and they played in the pathetic AFC West. This is not an encouraging sign if the similarities are there...
OK, let's take the offense and defense separately: On defense - is our personnel good enough to matter that we need the same scheme? It seems like we have about 3 good defensive players and everyone else is marginal. Why can't Mario Williams play in a 3-4? I'm really not familiar with the details of what's needed for a 3-4, but is an awesome pass-rush DE really useless in that scheme? But beyond that, did he use the 3-4 because that's what he loved, or was it something his d-coordinators loved? On offense - what evidence is there to suggest he'd change it up? He's coached one team - for a very, very long time. Do we know he's not flexible? Or did he just use the scheme he used because he had personnel to fit that? I guess my question is whether there's evidence that he's the type of coach that will change personnel to fit his scheme, or change his scheme to fit his personnel?
yes; it's built around lane-clogging hogs freeing up the linebackers. coaches coach what they know. you didn't see kubiak come here and not implement his ZBS. rex ryan brought his 46-hybrid to new york. etc. etc. cowher's never, to my recollection, NOT had a 3-4 defense. i would be shocked if he was hired and continued the ZBS; not his thing, not his philosophy. possible, i suppose. but i'd give it less than a 1% chance of happening. and those linemen are built for the ZBS. winston and brown are probably keepers; the other 3 would have to be replaced.
funny, i *did* have that thought yesterday. i'm in shock this morning. i generally try to be silver lining guy but yesterday really zapped my strength. they'll probably beat oakland, and arizona should not be feared, so 3-2 is possible and thus, 5-3 is still possible. but... i was really disappointed in the results yesterday. they've now all but eliminated their margin for error. especially with indy still up in the first half. man, do they look good. again.
Schaub has been good. Very good. Against what has been proven to be two very poor pass defenses. I'll give you that. And, no, I don't think Schaub is the problem, or even close to being one of the problems. Also his numbers are a bit inflated because he has to throw so often due to our awful defense - again, against two poor pass defenses. But, my point is that you overvalued this team as a whole due to your homerism. Admit it. Also, you were wrong about Favre. Admit that too. The guy can still play.
forgot to mention as well, Shanahan wanted to keep his DC there and was probably the final straw that made Pat Bowlen (owner) fired Shanahan...could we possibly see deja vu?
There's some serious irony in you trying to devalue Schaub's numbers for throwing against bad passing defenses, when Favre has had two games himself against the Browns and Lions. Also, when did I say Favre couldn't still play? You keep building these strawman arguments. I didn't say Favre was a bad quarterback. I think he's a good quarterback, and I think he'll have a very good year given the situation he has in Minnesota - great RB, good line, etc. All I ever said was that he's not as good as Matt Schaub. Thus far, he hasn't been. Schaub has a significantly higher rating (101 vs. 94), more touchdowns, more yards per attempt and more yards per completion. Can you please tell me, specifically, what I was "wrong" about with Favre? If you're going to accuse me of saying he couldn't play (never said anything close to that), link me -- don't talk out of your ass. He's a good quarterback. He's just not as good as Matt Schaub. That's all I ever said. Also, can you tell me where I overvalued this team? I'm looking back through my prior posts now, and I can't really find any argument I participated in as to the team's success -- it generally all dealt with Schaub, who has been every bit as good as I expected and then some. Can you actually tell me, specifically, what I was wrong about with anything on this team? Or are you just going to keep making fictional strawmen and arguing with your fantasy?
Let's drop the Schaub/Favre talk, for now. Schaub has been good, Favre has been good, so far this, season, we both agree on that. But..... If you DID NOT overvalue this team then why in the world are you so upset about us being 1-2? Why would you make a post about deciding to not watch the team play and not participate in Texans game threads for awhile because you need a break? If you expected this out of them, then you wouldn't be upset. Would you?
By the way, if you want to deal in actual facts, we had two arguments of substance that I recall during the offseason - Schaub vs. Favre, and whether Reggie Bush is a good NFL running back. Through three weeks, Schaub is better virtually across the board than Favre, and Reggie is still rushing for an anemic 3.7 yards per carry. Moreover, through three weeks, Reggie is at 111 rushing yards and 114 receiving yards -- in other words, barely over 35 yards per game in those categories. What a stud. See, if you want to argue, that's how you argue -- with concrete examples and evidence.
My concrete evidence is that you made a post about not participating in this forum anymore (or taking a break) because you were so upset about the Texans being 1-2 and then later saying you didn't overvalue the team as a whole in this very thread.
Do you not understand there are differences in how you lose? It would not have shocked me if you told me before the season started that the Texans would be 1-2. It would shock me if you told me the Texans had given up five touchdown runs of 50 yards or further in two weeks. It would shock me if you told me officials would take away two point-blank obvious tying touchdowns. It would shock me if you told me the Texans would leave Chris Johnson completely uncovered on the sideline, with everyone in the stands screaming. Are you honestly telling me that you saw the officiating issue coming? Are you honestly telling me that you thought the Texans would come close to allowing as many long TD runs, through week 3, as they did in all of last season? These aren't issues that you could simply see coming if you take off the homer glasses. Be serious. The early season for this team has been completely, utterly bizarre, and anyone without an agenda would admit to that, I think. Even so, like I said, it wouldn't have surprised me if you had told me they'd be 1-2. It's just the ridiculous manner in which it happened that makes it frustrating.
When did I say that (the bolded part)? Arguments are a lot easier, I suppose, when you make things up to fit your agenda...
Actually, if you go back and look at that post I made (it's quoted at bottom of page 36), 99% of it is about the officiating. So can you explain how me being frustrated about officiating = evidence that the Texans as a team underachieved my expectations, which you claim (without any evidence) were too high? There are reaches, and then there's that. Wow.
Let me get this straight. You really believe that our defense put their heart and soul into this game and the officials merely took the game away from us?
The Texans lost that game on the defensive side of the ball. They didn't deserve the opportunity to win based on their play, so it's hard for me to be infuriated at the ref's call (and the hideous NON-call of Walter being yanked down by the back of his helmet when the play was clearly dead). But whatever suits your fancy. At any rate, I like your analysis, so when you've cooled off and decided to come back, please avoid feeding the trolls and getting into tete-a-tete wars with folks who just want to pick a fight. Use your ignore list, man.
Jags play by play: 1D - MJD run for 4 (A Smith) 2D - INC 3D - 17 yd pass FRED BENNETT on the uncoverage 1D - Garrard 30 yd run (DR23) (non-FB32 fail) 1D - 5 yd pass to MJD (DR23) 2D - 3 yd run by MJD (Zgon) 3D - INC -->FG 1D - MJD 2 yd run (Okoye/Cushing) 2D - INC 3D - MJD run for no yd (Mario) --->Punt 1D - 8 yd completion with FRED BENNETT on the uncoverage 2D - MJD 3 yd run (Diles/Ryans) 1D - 14 yd pass to Holt (DR23 on the uncoverage) 2D - 18 yd pass FRED BENNETT on the uncoverage 1D - INC 2D - MJD 3 yd run (Okoye, Zgon) 3D - 10 yd pass (Quin on the uncoverage) 1D - MJD loses 2 yds (Cushing) 2D - 15 yd pass to Wilford (Busing and Wilson on the uncoverage) 1D - Garrard 2 yd TD (Cushing fails to step into him) -->TD 1D - INC 2D - MJD 4 yd run (Diels/Cody) 3D - INC -->Punt 1D - INC 2D - 1 yd loss dump pass (Ryans) 3D - LBs shade Right, Busing plays up behind FRED BENNETT who, for no identifiable reason, is lining up alongside the defensive end, and Wilson has deep coverage. FB32 hops forward freezes and watches an imaginary handoff as MJD shots the gap he created. Sideline containment history. Busing sucked in too far and doesn't recover. Wilson physically unable to cross the field without his electric wheelchair. MJD 60 yd untouched TD. -->TD 1D - INC 2D - Penalty, Garrard kneels to end half -->First half: run defense on MJD is very good (4 yds or less/carry) until FB32 (and Busing) blow their zone responsibilities in a huge way and offer up a highway for his 60 yd score. This screw up was PRECISELY the same way we (and by we, mainly Dom Barber) allowed those 3 big play TDs to Chris Johnson. 1D - 6 yd pass, FRED BENNETT on the uncoverage 2D - MJD 1 yd run (Smith) 3D - 7 yd pass to MJD (Cushing) 1D - Thomas 22 yd run (Smith fails to stop, FB32 and Busing) 1D - INC 2D - INC 3D - 28 yd pass, FRED BENNETT on the uncoverage (Busing makes the stop) 1D - MJD 5 yd run (Bulman) 2D - 13 yd pass, FRED BENNETT on the uncoverage 1D - MJD walk in 1 yd TD -->TD 1D - MJD up the gut for 11 yd (DR23) 1D - INC 2D - 27 yd pass, DR23 on the uncoverage 1D - INC 2D - Thomas 13 yd run (Cushing) + 15 yd for unnecc 1D - 8 yd dump pass to MJD (Barber) 2D - Jennings 1 yd run (Ryans/Cushing) 3D - MJD run for no gain (Diles) 4th and 1 - FRED BENNETT again lines up alongside the end, gets blown out of the play as MJD converts with a 4 yd run off tackle. 1D - MJD bounces off of several defenders playing two hand touch, 8 yd TD run -->TD 1D - MJD 5 yd run (Diles/Ryans) 2D - MJD 7 yd run (Barber) 1D - MJD no gain (Cushing) 2D - INC, but Wilson foul gives them 15 and a first 1D - Thomas run for no gain (Wilson), holding 1D - 8 yd pass to MJD (Zgon) 2D - INC 3D - 8 yd pass to Jennings (Barwin) -->Punt 1D - MJD run for no gain (Mario) 2D - fumble (DR23) -->turnover Jags run out the clock after the Brown fumble. In the end, MJD was contained throughout the game until FB32 and Busing completely threw out the idea of containment responsibility. Jones-Drew wasn't breaking off 8 yd runs over and over to wear us down. The run defense schemes were working by and large. We lost this game when the Jags went into the locker room at halftime, looked at what was working, and came out throwing at FB32. The stats don't tell you he was several strides off his man (Sims-Walker) nearly all day. 80 of the Jags' 210 yds you can put squarely on Bennett's incapable shoulders. No one should be that proud of themselves - Okoye got in on squat all game. Smith and Mario did a poor job catching runs off tackle. DR23 got burned more than a couple of times. Busing and Wilson were awful shoring up deep protection. Last week's win didn't cover up the flaws in this unit - you aren't going to the postseason when you are this prone to big play TDs. You'd need a HOF offense to get away with this defense.
Awesome analysis (including the unquoted pbp), thanks for that. So, they sucked? Sure, Fred Bennett sucked the most, but the analysis here sounds like the whole product by-and-large sucked. And I would agree. They sucked. Horribly.
