Not enjoying it, but I certainly get it. They're not playing make believe. The group in charge bought a franchise with bare cupboards....takes time to rebuild. I'm a good to great guy. I hate the mentality of building organizations around being good. If it takes some losing to be great, I'm fine with that. Medicine tastes awful, usually.
Erode the fanbase? Aside from the Browns and Buc, we are probably the least-successful NFL franchise after its first 12 years in existence. We've had not one game that was not a sell-out. I have no more faith that the fans of the Texans will stop supporting this team no matter how ****ty they are (we're too scarred by losing the Oilers) than I have the Texans winning Sunday.
This team has received far more support than the product they've delivered warrants. I'm fine with that. That's not a complaint. But it's the truth.
I am too. I mean, I've probably watched over 95% of this franchise's snaps. But this team is a mess. If they limp to the finish as it looks like they're going to (considering they're almost a full 16 games of playing under .500 ball) and they don't make major changes both on the roster as well as in the coaching staff/front office, that's hopefully going to change for a lot of people. I can't very well say it'll be me, of course.
Not sure this fan base would have lasted through an even worse run of ineptitude that the Browns have shown in their re-boot. The key is does this franchise have some building blocks (something the other putrid franchises have yet to have)... Watt/Cushing are good enough players to build around on defense. If the regime changes, you might as well make every offensive player "expendable"... especially the "system" guys like Chris Myers.
Even if the Texans lose their next five games, I still want them to beat the Patriots and Broncos, especially the Patriots.
The corporate base here would cushion all that. They sold out every game when they were 2-14. Tailgating alone is an event. Fan support in terms of tickets sold isn't going anywhere soon.
Sure... but the pulse would certainly be lessened around the community, and fans have shown the ability to NOT go to Texans games (esp in the 2-14 season), despite all tickets being sold. I definitely don't see any blackouts. I also don't think Bob is in this just to "cash in". He could have done that via a far cheaper route than maxing out the salary cap almost every year.
Tanking doesn't happen the way it does in the NBA. Besides, Texans would already have to get in line behind the 0 and 1 win teams, and they have too much talent to be anything worse than 5+ wins. You think Kubiak, Phillips, and Smith are in a hurry to lose their jobs? Because that housecleaning almost always follows. Even the players know they are far more likely to get cut. So long as we can chase even 8-8, they're going to do it. The Giants aren't shutting out the lights, there's no way we will. Only the Jags are tanking, and that's as shameless a job as I've seen in years.
There is no logic to this post. Tanking works. Mediocrity breeds mediocrity. 8-8 is nothing more than a moral victory, at best. It doesn't get you any closer to a super bowl. The texans need a franchise QB. It's a lot easier to get one when you have a really high draft pick. In a draft that might produce a few transitional qbs, in a year when you have no chance to get to a super bowl, your best course of action is tank, plain and simple.
Tanking has never really worked in the NFL. There's too much turnover year-to-year with teams. No team in this league stays terrible for long, unless there are fundamental problems in the organization... and not team stays great for long unless you have geniuses in the front office.
and 8-8 has worked? ya'll are confusing. btw, the colts tanked, and 2 years later they own the texans. bwhahaha
Name an NFL team that has been stuck at 8-8 year after year. There's not. Either the team gets better, or bottoms out due to a lack of talent (like the Texans did in 2005 after going 7-9 the year before). 2005 Texans didn't "tank"... they were just bad.
Correction: teams that are good, get worse, not better, as age and free agency sets in. The only teams that stay consistently good are those with franchise qb. Overwhelmingly so, teams that have franchise qbs win super bowls, divisions. If you are an NFL team you should be looking for a franchise qb, constantly.
I agree that you need franchise corner-stone players, and the most important one is the QB. This could also be a left tackle. Texans have some building blocks in Watt/Cushing on the defensive side... not much to build around on the offensive side. I disagree that you need to tank to get a franchise QB.... especially not in a draft that is littered with potential future QB's in both the first and second rounds.
So you wanna trade one of our 2 best offensive players for a second round pick...???? ARE ****ING OUT OF YOUR MIND...?? I don't understand why everyone on this board wants to get rid of Arian, the guy has been one of the top 5 RBs in the league for the past 2 or 3 years and despite being injured the guy could get it done every game. The obsession with Ben Tate on this board is unbelievable.