I think there is a huge drop off when you go from Walter to Jacoby, Anderson, and Davis. Walter is becoming one of the better #2 receivers in the league, great size, great hands, runs good routes, blocks, works his tail, pretty everything you ask for in a team player. Dropcoby is still pretty raw IMO, Davis is more of a vertical threat than a #2 receiver who I think needs to be more of a possesions guy, and Anderson is too small
DD, you are right on points regarding Schaub, but to say that he's average and holding the Texans back is....well....tough to defend, put diplomatically. (For example) A phony Pro-Bowler like Jay Cutler would be a downgrade from Schaub. Desperate for home run plays, tendency to disregard coaching, prone to being a brat on the field, reckless play at times, etc. Schaub is a professional, involves his entire corps, his focus is on finding the open man and not forcing the ball to the primary route coverage be damned. He does an excellent job 90% of the time in his decision making. We didn't lose this game because of Schaub's two major breakdowns. I agree with those pointing to the running game. I'm not putting it all on Brown or Slaton, either. What is a RB supposed to do when his O-Line gets pushed back a couple yards nearly every down? The only back I've watched succeed despite an awful line was Barry Sanders. Additionally, we have a FB that is nice catching balls out of the backfield but dubious as an effective lead blocker. What can you say? You aren't going anywhere in this league with a basement rushing offense. #30 in the league in rushing yds/game, #31 in yd/carry, 1 ground TD (only 3 teams are shut out), tied for #2 in rushing game fumbles. Schaub isn't perfect, but he's at worst a B+ guy behind center, and the last thing you should say is that he's what is between us and being a playoff team.
Isn't next season completely uncapped? If so, Texans should spend A LOT of money because the team has been bringing in a lot of money. Honestly i'd resign Dunta. He's not a bad player he's a good CB but it's just our safeties make all of our corners look worse than they actually are...then they make bad corners like Bennet look like they don't even belong in the NFL.
I said this earlier but here's what I would like to see this offseason... -Please draft Taylor Mays or Eric Berry (were well on our way to being in position to draft them) -Bring Dunta back if he realizes he's not worth top dollar money -Make a play in free agency for: Corners- Carlos Rogers, Marlin Jackson, Terrence McGee, Ellis Hobbs Theres 3 levels to a defense, I think were relatively set at D-line and linebacker, this offseason needs to be heavily invested in the secondary. (When I say "set" at D-line, I mean we've invested enough and there's enough talent/bodies there to not make that as much of a priority as the secondary)
I also said this earlier and I'm still curious... I just want to know, how upset were you on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most upset, during the second half that Schaub was carving up the Cardinals, LEADING his Texans to a tie game, that disallowed you to rain on everyones parade.... Then how happy were you on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most gay (happy, whatever..) that Schaub made a couple of mistakes towards then end that allowed you to conveniently re-enter this thread to again allow you to rip Schaub for the "terrible" Quarterback that he is?
I think if an agreement doesn't get reached before a certain point than yea its suppose to be. My question is, what's going to happen if a team spends a ton of money, then a new CBA gets installed and that team is about 100 million OVER the cap?
Credit for what....catching a floating ball? That was a horrible, horrible throw. You are never supposed to float a ball like that acorss the field. Matt played well and set the team up, but then he made critical errors to basically give it away. It's similar to Karla Malone scoring 40 points, and then missing the two freebies at the end to win it (i.e. choking). It's not all his fault but you can point to those mistakes as the key plays. That's a 14 point swing....
110% agree. Secondary is horrible. We aren't getting sacks because the QBs are finding guys open quickly, they aren't afraid to throw it. Like how you have guys like Nnamdi, Reed, Polamalu, etc etc. They make the QB think twice before throwing in their area. We have NO ONE like that and never have. I can't count how many times I have seen Mario or someone else under a second away from the sack only to have the QB throw it to someone who was wide open, if that guy was never open...we'd have our sack. Secondary is a GLARING need. With how we are playing right now, we are good for 7 or 8 wins again...give or take. That's good for picking around 13-17. We should be able to pick the 1st or 2nd CB or Safety with how we are playing. All those Corners you named are better than what we have behind Dunta...and Dunta is a glorified #2 as well.
Yes but he didn't cost the team the game. He's bound to make a mistake. Why ignore that we were unable to get one yard on several occasions? The playcalling? Those were glaring mistakes. Also Cromartie made a great play. The reason Matt floated that ball was he was on the run and his guy WAS open. That's called jumping the route, Elite corners do that. They sit back and make the QB thinks the guy is open. Matt would have probably not made that throw if he wasn't pressured...but he was...so why not blame the guy who gave up on the pressure? QBs throw INTs...Manning just threw one...ah well. I can pardon ONE interception, especially on a jumped route which is a big gamble also. That was a great play by the CB as well, too bad. When I saw that play I failed to remember the last time one of our CBs made a play like that. I know Dunta has done once or twice but it has been awhile since we had a CB get a INT like that.
The best thing for a smart GM to do in an uncapped year isn't to SIGN big name players, the smart thing would be to CUT players. In an uncapped year, you could absorb all of those accelerated cap hits with no real penalty. Big pocket owners can eat the loss - the problem is the effect it has on the cap. Not next year. Lose dead weight players and clear space. It's like a Christmas version of the NBA's one time amnesty (Allen Houston) rule. No one wants to sign a big time player right now or next offseason. Players (*cough* Dunta) are having fits trying to get long term deals before the new CBA. The deals they can sign today are almost guaranteed to be more generous than they'll see under the upcoming CBA. Essentially, a forward looking GM should see the next two years as an opportunity to reshape their roster. Lose albatross underachievers this offseason, resist multiple year big money signings this offseason, put yourself in a very pretty cap situation for 2011. I'd also expect teams trying to trade out of the top 10 of the draft this year. The out-of-control contracts at the top of the draft are almost certainly going to be addressed.
I would say he did. His intro led to 7 points. His overthrown pass cost us another 7 points. That's a 14 point swing. Sometimes a few plays can be the difference makers. Why is he bound to make a mistake? Your QB is not supposed to throw a pick 6 in a tied game. Your QB is not supposed to overthrow a wide open TD. You guys are dismissing these as simple mistakes....or like it's somewhat acceptable. It's not. Your QB is not supposed to make critical errors late in the game that cause you to lose. I'm not ignoring all of that. It's not all of his fault, but those other mistakes didn't lead to direct points. The pick 6..direct points. The missed TD pass...direct points. Simple, simple errors that any quality QB does not make, or should not make. And in the games where the Colts were driving and Manning threw an easy pick 6, I would say he blew it in that instance. If Manning overthrew a wide open dude for the game tying score, I would say he blew it. Matt blew it.... I can't, because that score was the game winning points.
And Andre Johnson, and Owens and...... Schaub is an OK QB, just not consistent enough. I am not happy the Texans lost, I wanted them to win.....and no, I do not like Matt Schaub as a QB, I concede he is better than Carr but then, who isn't. And Wally, post that as often as you like, it is not worth my time to answer. Just win baby. DD
He's not the only guy playing. What intro, what mistake did he make the first half? The whole offense besides Andre was playing bad. That's because we're set on running to set up the pass for some odd reason when our Pass doesn't even need to be set up. I think you miss all the times Favre and Manning have thrown game costing INTs. Yes your QB is not supposed to miss open guy for a TD but your RB and Oline giving 3 chances to get one yard should get it. Yes they all do lead to direct points. If we don't convert we get off the field and they score. All those times we failed to not convert...The Cards came right back down and scored. That's part of the reason how they got up 21-0 in the first place. Would you say Manning cost the game when he is the reason his team is in the game? My point is...your QB should be able to throw a INT and STILL win the game. Manning has thrown a INT...yet the Colts are well up on the Titans. Because they are getting it done in other areas as well. Everyone is going to make a mistake in the game, more than once. Andre dropped a open pass for a conversion also in the first half. Everyone is going to make a mistake or two. I can't say he cost us the game. Just like if a guy misses a FT to tie the game but had a triple double...it's hard to say "He cost us the game!" when he was the reason we were in the game in the first place. Had Matt been out there overthrowing guys consistently and throwing bad INTs i'd blame it on Matt. But the INT he threw was as much as a great play by the CB as well. I'm not excusing his throw, he messed up by showing his hand and locked on to Walker like he did. That allowed the corner to sit back and wait on the throw. My question. Who has cost the game? The guys who failed on numerous occasions to get one yard? Or... The guy who made two mistakes but had a great game and gave the team a chance to tie the game? I'm voting on the guys who failed time and time again to get one yard. then i'm blaming the coaches for not realizing that running up the middle has not worked all year... why are we doing it again in crucial situations? Again and Again although it has failed every other time all this season? That's why I blame the coaches for their playcalling. I'm not saying give up on running inside...but in crucial situations we have to do something we are good at...get the ball to one of our best guys, not our weakest area on offense...just puzzling. I thought in clutch moments you want the ball in your best players hands.
That flies in situations when the game is still going on and it doesn't lead to direct points which are the difference in the game. For example, the pick Manning threw earlier did not lead to the game winning points. The Schuab pick did. Not to mention, he threw a pick and we were still able to win the game....until he made another "you can't make this kinda" mistake and overthrew a wide open dude for the game winning points that he just gave away. It's not that complex. A game has many plays. But even with all the bad ones made by everyone, we were tied and driving for winning points, and the QB makes a dumb pass. We come back and can potentially tie it, and the QB missed a wide open man. Again, it's not that complex. Those two plays/mistakes were the difference. I don't care if you have thrown for 500 yards in a game. If the game is tied and it's the last play and you turn the ball over on a dummy pass which led to 6 the other way, and the win, then you blew it. You can point directly to your mistake and say "that ended the game". I don't care if T-Mac has 50 points. If we are down by 1, with no time left and he missed two freebies to win the game, then he blew it. Thanks for keeping us in the game man....but you still choked when it mattered at the end.
Look, You guys can like Schaub all you want, maybe he will grow in consistency....he certainly could use a better line, though they protected him really well in the 2nd half tonight. DD
I think people just find it strange that you find fault with Schaub when he is possibly the farthest thing from the problem. Sure, he made a mistake at the end of the game, but his play from before that point is what was able to put the Texans in that situation in the first place. The defense's inability to stop the pass or prevent the run are MUCH more pressing needs than a quarterback who is putting the ball in the endzone and making few mistakes.
You can hate him all you want. He's been the most consistent player on offense. This team will need a runninggame and a defense to win, Schaub can't do it by himself- no QB can.
And he freaking threw for 250+ yards and 2 TD's in the second half tonight, when the Cardinals KNEW we were going to be throwing nearly every down. You can hate Schaub all you want... but the Texans could do a helluva lot worse. The QB is not the reason why the Texans are where they are. Namely, if you can't run the ball, and can't defend the run, you're not going to be winning any divisions any time soon.
