ugh...do i really have to explain this when I just did in the above posts? The original post I was referring to was about the texans defense being out there the "majority" of the time. The defense wasn't tired...they were outmatched. Big difference.
When you're losing the TOP battle to the Patriots *at all* (which we did in the first 47 minutes), that is absolutely putting your defense out there too long. A Patriot minute is a hell of a lot different than a Texans minute. They weren't exhausted, but they were a hell of a lot more tired than New England's defense, I can assure you. And the longer they are out there, the more opportunities the Patriots have to exploit confusion. The offense is the #1 reason we lost this game. The defense is #2, but it's not a close #2.
I don't know why you're making this more complicated than it is... being tired was not a valid excuse for how they played on defense. It's a very simple and true statement. No need to convolute it.
Judging Wade's defense against the best offense in the NFL missing 5-6 starters and key backups would be like judging the offense going against the 49ers without Foster, Johnson, Brown, and Myers. The issue will always come down to when the Texans need Schaub to make a play he has been unable to do it, and that likely doesn't change.
We were missing 1 starter actually and that was Cushing, everyone else who started that game was the starter on opening day.
Ever play defense against a hurry up offense? Scrambling to find position . . . 5~15 second between plays rather than the 40 or so the Texans do? It is like playing a fast break team and an slow it down team then coming back saying they play the same 48 minutes so one game should not tire you our any more than the other that just does not make sense. . . Rocket River
You are trying to create a different excuse when the answer is slapping you in the face. The defense looked lost, confused and outmatched much more than they looked tired.
Texans knew that the Patriots play a hurry up offense. Wade should have had the guys prepared for this, unfortunately he didnt. He even got to see the Patriots defense just a month earlier and he still was ready for them the second go around. We are not saying he should have shut out this juggernaut offense but letting them drop 40+ points on us twice this season is ridiculous. The secondary had no idea what hit them, receivers were open left and right and Pats players were running into the end zone untouched and unguarded.
People need to understand that the Patriots' ability to do this is one of the reasons they're so freaking good. No other team does it. To try and crack that in 4-5 days - especially in the 18th week of an NFL season... it's a tall task. I mean, ultimately, it's true - but knowing they're going to do it and then being on the field and trying to stop it are two entirely different things.
This was the second time they played them in a month. It wasn't a secret the Patriots were going to be standing in our way atop the AFC at the beginning of the year, either. Let's not make excuses. They were unprepared. There is no sugar coating that. Not as unprepared as the offense, but unprepared nonetheless. Out of their stances/position on 3 separate occassions, some in the friggin' redzone. Embarassing. The ONLY good/smart thing I saw the entire game was Wade having his entire DL standing at the LOS on a 3rd and 8. Why? Because he knew Brady was going to throw a quick pass, so he wanted his linemen playing the ball from the MOMENT the ball was snapped. They did, and JJ got his hands up and made Welker miss an easy first down catch. That was brilliant.
Wade also didn't disguise anything. I was listening to Antonio Pierce who was on the Giants in 07 and he described how they completely changed their defensive schemes in order to confuse Tom Brady and force him to make mistakes. Did Tom Brady at any point look confused on Sunday? No, he basically had a field day and it was easy for him. We should have done more, like show blitz but back off into coverage.
Agreed. Nothing was deceptive. Brooks had a comment about the defense not being prepared for the hurry up offense and how they were behind because they were getting calls late. Just no excuse for being so unprepared for something you knew was going to happen.
On offense, I thought the running game, in the first qtr, where we ran into a brick wall really threw kubiak's complicated offensive game plan off. =/ Defensively, the teams that are successful against the patriots have been teams with stout front sevens that play consistently throughout four quarters. It's not like the giants score 17 points in their first 3 possession then sit back and T off on Brady. They bring constant hurries and disrupt timing every down. We have to face reality, that something was missing with our defense as the season moved into november.
I was sad to see it, but not terribly surprised. From the day we hired Wade Phillips, I warned that the Patriots' offense was kryptonite to his scheme. Mentioned it like a broken record the past two years. He never solved or adjusted for it while in SD or Dallas, and it's the same story now. His scheme relies completely on generating backfield chaos, and when that fails, his defense falls apart. I was hoping the MNF embarrassment would have prompted some tweaks to deal with their West Coast hurry up attack, but nothing substantial. Is what it is. Take care of business week 16 or 17, and maybe it doesn't matter. The concern now is the turnover we see this offseason. I'm worried about potential downgrades: Mitchell for Cody Keo for Quin Warm Body for Smith Bradie James for Bradie James.
I feel bad because I think my original post was misunderstood. I didn't create this thread to put all the blame on the defense. I didn't even create this thread to show that anyone was to blame for this game in particular. I created this thread to show and (kind of) analyze my belief that with Wade Phillips, we will never be able to win against teams with elite quarterbacks. The only way we could beat an elite quarterback is to have the offense have a career-type day. The reason I say this, is out of frustration of watching Wade run what seems to be the same gameplan time and time again against these quarterbacks. I mean, you play Tom Brady twice in less than ten weeks, and you can't even fix what was broke the first time? You can't even show new wrinkles? You can't even fix the fact that your defense gave up uncontested touchdowns on quick snaps - something the Patriots have not only done to you earlier in the season, but to other teams all year? You can't constantly blitz quarterbacks like Brady, Manning, and Rodgers, because they'll pick up on it (especially when your team shows their blitz with about 20 seconds on the play clock about 90% of the time), audible, and get the match-up they want. I made this thread because of what I consider piss-poor coordinating at times from Wade Phillips. Yes, he's turned this team around. He's gotten this defense where it needed to be. He's helped develop some players (Thank you Wade, for the birth of Kareem Jackson). But that doesn't mean he should get a free pass from us. Our offense sucked over the last part of the season, but We've had some terrible games on defense lately, also. Wade does not get a free pass from me.
Kubiak and Phillips are basically the same guy on different sides of the ball. They are scheme guys. They play their scheme no matter what. Once that fails they are completely lost. They can't create a new game plan in a weeks time. They can't adjust in game. They don't pick on other teams weaknesses. Their schemes are good enough to beat the bad teams, but once they run into better players/coaches they are done.
Could the DC changing the playcalling improve the defense? Maybe. But the biggest problem is we were rolling out complete scrubs at linebacker thanks to injuries. Don't be surprised if our run D magically improves next year when we have our best players back.
Weird thought, considering, on the day he was hired, he hadn't faced the Patriots in four years (2007. The Cowboys did yield 48. In his only two games against NE in San Diego, the Pats only scored 24 and 17.) Weirder, the Patriots' offense is kryptonite to bascially every other defense ever - why is Phillips' defense specifically vulnerable? Phillips could maybe work to limit the damage - but people need to realize that elite QBs are going to tear up *most* defenses. In their other 15 games this year, NE averaged 34 points/game. So did Brees last year. Manning? 30. The Packers' offense wasn't as prolific this year (26 in their non Texan games though 4th overall in the NFL) - but they averaged 35 last year. The best way to beat these guys rarely comes down to coaching and/or schemes but more luck, as in you catch them on one of their rare off-days.
The formula to beat the Patriots is pretty simple. Have a beasting front 7, control the clock, convert in the redzone. This puts pressure on Brady to play catch-up while limiting his amount of touches, throwing the offense out of rhythm and giving your front 7 better opportunities to make plays. In the beginning of the year, we looked like this kind of team to a tee. At the end of the year, we looked like anything BUT this kind of team
