The Kubiak zone-blocking scheme is more about run blocking than pass blocking. Not that they're terrible against the pass, but they're far from world beaters. Just look at the Green Bay game for evidence. Line play might be a small factor, but the biggest reason Matt Schaub is better than Jay Cutler is that he doesn't make as many dumb decisions.
Big opportunity for Crick. I think he has a chance to break out. I would guess that we'll also see Wade employ a 4-man front a little more than normal, where Watt goes inside with (Smith, Mitchell, Crick, McClain) and the ends are two of Reed, Barwin, Mercilus. You can do that as a 4-3, with one of the regular OLBs still available to sting, or go to it as a nickel with the two ILBs alone.
Just in case any of you Texans fan are curious about the amount of pornstaches being sported by Bears players this Sunday night, this is the reason, from earlier this month; http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post/_/id/4679705/cutler-show-jay-to-rock-movember-stache#more Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said Monday he'll join his co-hosts of ESPN 1000's "The Jay Cutler Show" and grow a moustache during November to raise money and awareness to fight cancer and other health issues. "This is going down," Cutler said in front of a packed house at Joe's on Weed. The deal is for Cutler, Marc Silverman and Tom Waddle to grow moustaches from Nov. 12-Nov. 30 as part of the "Movember" (moustache plus November) campaign. "I did a trial run on Friday, and it's not pretty," Cutler said. "(Fiancee Kristin Cavallari) didn't even notice by two hours. I'm in like fourth place, we have two dogs (and a newborn son). It got nothing for a couple of hours. "I didn't like (the look of) it. It was bad." Cutler admitted that he initially tried to get out of the deal by saying he had to check with Cavallari, but she tweeted "The Waddle & Silvy Show" to say it was all Cutler's decision. November is also an awareness month for diabetes, which is a disease that afflicts Cutler, who raises money for research. Cutler was asked how will he feel if he steps to the podium in November after a tough game and the moustache is blamed. "I guess it's better than most of the things that are said, so I'll take it," Cutler quipped. Cutler said one of the reasons he agreed to grow the moustache was to force the hand of Waddle, who so far has refused to commit
Lance Z weighs in on the Scouts Inc. idiocy (and he's dead on): <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>I can't see how any football people would take Cutler over Schaub. It's not about Schaub being "great" but Schaub being safe. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23TurnoversKill">#TurnoversKill</a></p>— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) <a href="https://twitter.com/LanceZierlein/status/267027028698603520" data-datetime="2012-11-09T22:12:59+00:00">November 9, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
even in that quote, i feel the condescending feelings toward 8's game. it's not even about being safe, it's about being smart. If Bears play man to man and Wright lines up on the line of scrimmage, then schaub is going to hit a receiver wide open down the seams. this offense's timing is up there with the elite that they can make that happen. when the bears go to their cover 2, he'll take whatever is there and not even think twice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#Bears">#Bears</a> injury report: WR Alshon Jeffery, DT Matt Toeaina DOUBTFUL. DE Isreal Idonije, DT Henry Melton PROBABLE</p>— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonTexans/status/267007418670645248" data-datetime="2012-11-00T20:55:04+00:00">November 0, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#Texans">#Texans</a> injury report: NT Shaun Cody, RB Ben Tate OUT. TE Owen Daniels QUESTIONABLE <a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#Bears">#Bears</a></p>— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonTexans/status/267007121944616960" data-datetime="2012-11-00T20:53:53+00:00">November 0, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Minus Shaun Cody, NT @<a href="https://twitter.com/EarlMitchell92">EarlMitchell92</a> to make 1st start (via @<a href="https://twitter.com/NickScurfield">NickScurfield</a>): <a href="http://t.co/KfQzTHNP" title="http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Minus-Shaun-Cody-NT-Earl-Mitchell-to-make-first-start/0750d76f-1c0a-46ed-bd46-bfe1cda488cd">houstontexans.com/news/article-2…</a> <a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#Texans">#Texans</a></p>— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonTexans/status/267040716327366656" data-datetime="2012-11-00T23:07:22+00:00">November 0, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Weather factor: Really worried about this aspect of the game...Expecting a rainy, windy and slick night at Soldier Field...Its gonna be imperative that the Texans dominate in the Run game...Knowing Kubiak, the Texans are probably gonna run a ton(65% - 35% Rushass).
have a feeling that this is what Culter is gonna face all game long... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hkPS8Az5IV8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Quotes from Kubiak after Friday's practice: Head Coach Gary Kubiak Spoiler (on the team’s health at today’s practice) “(NT) Shaun Cody did not practice. (RB) Ben Tate did not practice. (WR) Kevin Walter, obviously, he was back yesterday so he was full-go today. (TE) Owen (Daniels) was very limited in practice. We will rule Cody and Tate out this weekend, so that’s where we’re at right now after practice.” (on TE Owen Daniels’ situation) “He was very limited today. He did some of the individual stuff early in practice, took a couple of reps, still very sore. We’ve got a little extra time because we play Sunday night, so we’ll continue to give him every opportunity to get there. I know that’s very important to him, but we got a ways to go.” (on if TE Owen Daniels is a game-time decision) “Yeah, he’s a game-time decision. He does have some progress to make if he’s going to be there Sunday.” (on how the injuries affect the team’s game plan) “It affects us a great deal because we’re very oriented with the versatility of those players. Can we still go do everything we do? Yeah, we can. You get limited as far as freshness of guys or a nick and the game can throw you out of a lot of different things. It’s something that’s been a concern of mine, as I said yesterday, throughout the early part of this season and how we set our roster this year. But we’ve got to work through it. We have ways of working through it. We’ve had to adjust as coaches big-time this week and, bottom line, you’ve got to find a way to move the ball. If we’ve got a problem, we’ve got to do it some other ways.” (on TE Garrett Graham and FB James Casey stepping up) “I think (TE) Garrett’s (Graham) played very well for our football team. (FB) James (Casey), the bottom line here is James goes from a 30-35 to possibly a 60-play player in this game. James is ready to do that. He’s taken advantage of his opportunities. He’s very smart, does a lot of things for me so I’m encouraged. I’m excited I should say about his opportunity to do more for the team. He’s had a good week of practice.” (on FB Tyler Clutts playing more on Sunday) “He’s worked. You’re going to see him, obviously he’s going to play special teams. Something’s got to give there. (FB) James (Casey) has got to have a break. (TE) Garrett’s (Graham) got to have a break. So between, you’re talking about three players basically have to handle about five spots in what we do offensively, so you’re going to see (FB Tyler) Clutts be a part of this game.” (on if the team’s routine changes for the Sunday night game) “No. We do everything the same. I’ve changed our routine a little bit this week, but I do that at the halfway mark every year. I just change some of our times and how we operate and try to knock off a little bit of their day. It helps coaches, helps players. I think the further you go, the more fresh you want to be. You don’t need as much time on some of the things you do every week, so have changed some of our routine times but as far as our preparation stuff, (it) stays the same.” (on if Sunday’s routine changes) “Yeah, it gives us added time to meet as a team. We have walkthroughs in the morning on Sundays, so it just gives us more time to go through our game plan and stuff. Makes for a long day, watch a little football, walkthrough and go play.” (on if NT Terrell McClain is ready to play) “He better be. He’s going to play. The versatility comes from (NT) Earl (Mitchell) and it comes from (DE Jared) Crick. Crick’s really fun to watch right now, practice, to watch a guy just kind of come out, I’m going to say shell. I don’t know if he was in one, but to watch his personality come out a little bit. He’s got a lot of confidence in what he’s doing. He does not act like a rookie anymore on the practice field. He’s going to be important to what we do in the second half of the season.” (on if he relishes a big game like Sunday’s game) “They’re all the same. They’re all big in this league. That’s just the way they are. You never know how things are going to work out. The fact that we’re both sitting here 7-1, there’s a lot of emphasis on that. They all count the same. The key is here we’ve got to go play a very physical football team that’s been exceptional through the halfway mark of the season and we’ve got to go do it at their place. It looks like we could be doing it in some weather, too so we’ve got a lot of things we got to do. A lot of thing we’ve got to handle if we’re going to have the chance to win.” (on how important winning Sunday’s road game is) “Well we’ve won our three they’ve given us a chance to play on the road this year. I don’t care if we play Sunday night, Sunday morning, Monday. I don’t care. I just worry about how we play. It’s another game. It’s a big game, but they’re all big. Hopefully we’re going to play a lot better than we did the other Sunday night. We’ve just got to stay focused on ourselves.” (on the Bears’ defense) “Well I think the thing you see from them is first off, you see a group of guys that there’s no telling how many plays those guys have played together. You talk about (OLB Lance) Briggs, (ILB Brian) Urlacher, the group of guys, that defense, those two guys running that defense for I have no idea how many years both of them have played. There is nothing that’s going to surprise them. They know what’s going on from a standpoint of scheme. It’s going to be about us executing against them and doing the right things. So, very impressed with them as a group and obviously those two players being great for a long time.” (on TE Owen Daniels’ season and what it would mean if he can’t play on Sunday) “Well I’m going to hold out hope here. He’s come a long way in the last two days, but he’s onto a great year. He’s having a great year, unfortunately, just got a little nicked up. We know we’re going to get him back, hopefully that’s Sunday night. The encouraging thing is we know we’re going to get him back and if we have to make up for lost time we’ll do that.” http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...practice/f3373bb1-d6d3-4768-8c15-00e34918da6b
Here is the flip card for Sunday's game. Expect to see the Texans receive the opening kickoff. Whenever the Texans win the coin toss they always elect to receive. Whenever the Bears win the toss they always elect to defer. By that logic the Texans will get the ball first no matter who wins the toss.
