You can put Jackson on Wayne if, and only if, you've also tied safety support over the top on all downs. Let Jackson play him underneath with Quin or Manning behind. Garcon can be nearly as dangerous, and is actually a little more explosive today than Wayne. I'd actually consider him a tougher mark for Jackson, who's still very vulnerable against guys that explode out of their initial move. I was surprised to see Pancakes, of all people, calling for his benching after the game. I'm still sour over Kubiak blowing two games in a row with his determination to try and win with minimal effort. He's more concerned with hiding our playbook than trying to win out, and it's cost us any chance at a bye week....and worse, sending us into our first ever postseason mired in a morale killing slump. He should be challenging and fanning the flames with Yates. If these wins are all bonus...then let him go out and make mistakes. Let him sling it around. He demonstrated in every game that he's capable of doing that. Give him learning opportunities. Stop forcing him into being less than what he can be. It took almost all season....but we're back to watching Kubiak outkubiak himself once again.
Kubiak is not "hiding" the playbook. Don't be ridiculous. Not having a legitimate receiver or deep threat is "hiding" the playbook for him. There isn't much he can do when the receivers can't get separation and the safeties can have free reign to go where they please, not having to worry about covering over the top. The only thing I can say against Kubiak right now is that he needs to at least try a couple of homeruns per game to keep the defense in check. I know there is little faith that Walter or Jacoby can make that play, but you have to try to keep them honest.
Andre should be back for Tennessee, right? We'll see how much better the offense does with him on the field and see if these last 4 games are a case of not enough weapons or Kubiak keeping too tight of a leash on Yates.
The Tennessee game is pretty much worthless to us now. AJ will not play until our first round playoff game.
Not necessarily. If the Broncos win tomorrow, all they need is a Texans loss in Week 17 coupled with a home win over KC to jump us for the No. 3 seed. There's a world of difference in hosting the Jets/Bengals (No. 3) and hosting the Steelers/Ravens (No. 4). It's only if Denver loses that the Tennessee game becomes worthless (assuming no mass upsets with the Pats/Ravens).
No game is worthless right now...the Texans NEED the Titans game bad. They have a lot to work on and you can't replicate real-game flow and pressure in practice. TJ and the offense needs a good game to build some confidence and momentum going into the Wild Card weekend.
This is exactly why I thought our offense has always good not great. It was based off of one player...AJ. That's is exactly why we could move the ball all over the EXCEPT the endzone. Take away AJ and its bad, when it should be at least average. Plug the holes and play man on the outside ....and you will beat the Texans. We needed a legit #2 WR for 2 years now. Next question is: why the hell didn't we trade for Bradon Lloyd?
I'm just not seeing this. I certainly didn't see it last week when Yates was rushing *everything* while guys were getting open deep, checking down to his fullback and putting way too many throws into the dirt. There have been specific instances where Kubiak has infuriated me (I hate that he continues to kick FGs when he has 4th and very short in opponent territory, which he did twice last night); but by and large, I see Yates (and AJ's hamstrings) as the problem(s) here. The guy is what he is, which is not particularly good. I think it's remarkably unfair to expect ANY coach to get a fifth round rookie who hadn't dressed all year to excel in the middle of a playoff push. He did that against Carolina and Yates turned in a putrid performance. He's now turned the ball over 6 times in 4 starts - and that doesn't include the nearly game-clinching pick against the Falcons that was wiped out by an off-the-ball penalty. Schaub turned it over 7 times in 6 more starts. Let's stop pretending Yates is the next Tom Brady. He's had flashes - but nothing sustained beyond mediocrity. I just find it silly that the solution is to let a fifth round rookie prone to TOs "sling it." You want to talk about a recipe for disaster....
No; it's based off of many players including the Pro Bowl QB currently sitting on the bench with his foot in a giant cast. He'd still have TJ Yates throwing balls at his feet; or getting winded running 20-yard patterns while Yates is busy dumping it off to LawrencefrickingVickers.
Not true at all, Matt Schaub consistently put up Madden like stats without AJ, and our offense was still able to regularly put up 20+ points on the board... however, take away Matt "please trade him" Schaub, and you have an offense that goes from top 10 3 years in a row, to one of the worst in the league despite having the best running back tandem this year...
The Texans continued to put up 30 and 40 point games without AJ. It's based around a QB that can run the offense. Schaub.
If you don't let him sling it we end up losing to the Colts. While Yates is a turnover machine he has shown the ability to pull some plays out of his ass. The only way we have a chance at beating a good team is by letting him air it out.
Exactly. Unless we're already content to call it one and done in the playoffs, we need at least some momentum going into them. We need to wash the taste of Carolina and Indy out of our mouths. We need to reestablish our confidence. If we're to have any hope at all, we can't be riding a 3 game losing streak into the first round. If AJ can go, he should go.
Ric is right on. People lose all rationality when talking about QBs. Schaub sucked and Yates needs to be unleashed? Laughable.
What plays has he pulled out of his ass? I think people are still luxuriating in the Cincinnati win and forgetting that, while he looked - at times - competent that afternoon, he's been anything but the two games since.
If you take away the Carolina game, he had a QB rating of 86.8, 85.4 and 101. Against Atlanta, Cincy and Indy he had 3 TDs and 1 INT. Sure his passes weren't all that accurate at times; a little high or behind. But he still was effective, and that's what we need at the very least. In the very few chances he got against Indy, he did well enough. So why cut off his rope? Why play ultra safe? Shoot the last 4 games before Thursday he had 61 rushing yards. Against the Colts he had -1. He stopped scrambling. If I'm Kubiak, I tell Yates every day between now and Tenn (and the playoffs) that I want him to be the Yates that played against the Falcons and the Bengals and (to a lesser extent) the Panthers, and then, as the freakin' head coach and offensive coordinator, I find I way to make that happen. I stand by my word and let him be who he is. I find a way to channel the confident Yates we saw those first two games especially. Thursday we barely won (and didn't) with an ultra conservative game plan against a then 1-11 team. And we expect that to work against the elite??? What would you call Thursday? We got AJ coming back, just open it up and let Yates be who he is, flaws and all. They're not gonna win if they play like they did against the Colts.
He also lost 3 fumbles and was sacked 9 times. I don't know if I'd call his performance "effective." He made a few plays and essentially stayed out of the way. But he's by no means making the team better. I think people are too quickly disregarding the student and focusing way too much on the teacher. There's only so much Kubiak can do. If they're lucky, Yates will be an average QB who'll make a few plays and not hurt them. I think any expectation beyond that is wildly out of whack. Letting a 5th round rookie "fling it" ain't gonna work, either. Until AJ is back healthy, this is their best chance to win: don't make mistakes, keep the score close, ride Foster.
