Saw this online, if the link has been posted merge it please. Whether you think the Texans, as evidenced by consecutive 8-8 records, are on the verge of true success or are mired in mediocrity, the truth is a few breaks here and a few breaks there and the Texans can make their first trip to the NFL playoffs. The Texans played meaningful games in December last season. Playing in January must be the goal this season. The Arizona Cardinals played in the Super Bowl last season, for crying out loud. Surely the Texans are capable of making the playoffs. The more of the following that happen, the higher the Texans chances of making the playoffs are. 1. Matt Schaub plays 16 games. Schaub, when healthy (or when Jared Allen doesn’t cheap shot him) is capable of becoming a top ten NFL quarterback and can lead the Texans high-powered offense into the playoffs. Imagine if the Sage-en-copter game never happened. Imagine if Schaub had been playing against the Colts in Week 3. Would he try and hurdle over the Colts defense? Not likely. Would he have led the Texans to victory in that game. Maybe, maybe not. But we all know Sage Rosenfels did not. With the chemistry between Schaub and All-World Andre Johnson, along with Owen Daniels and Steve Slaton, the Texans offense is capable of playing at a high level. All that is needed is a constant leader under center. 2. Another pass rusher emerges. Last season, the only constant source of pressure was Super Mario Williams, who netted nearly half of the team’s sacks. If another player capable of constantly applying pressure develops or arrives, the Texans front seven will be playoff ready. Imagine if teams were forced to game plan blocking more than just Mario. Whether the pressure comes from Antonio Smith, Amobi Okoye or a rookie linebacker or rush specialist, pressure must arrive for the Texans to take the next step. 3. Amobi Okoye lives up to the hype. Drafted as the youngest player in the NFL out of Louisville, Okoye has had a few seasons to grow up into an NFL player. If he can apply pressure from the middle of the defensive line, the Texans can enter the second season for the first time. Even if he does not register double digit sacks, pressure from the middle, flushing quarterbacks towards Super Mario, will push the Texans toward the playoffs. 4. The offense cuts down on turnovers. This one is easy enough: cut down on fumbles, cut down on interceptions. Even with horrendous turnover numbers and an awful turnover ratio, the Texans were competitive and boasted superior offensive numbers. Playing smarter football will be a key in playing playoff football. 5. Improve in the redzone. Both the offense and the defense must play better in the redzone. Offensively, perhaps finding a bigger back to compliment Steve Slaton can increase the Texans redzone performance. Settling for field goals contributed to the Texans losing 4 games by a touchdown or less. Scoring opportunities must be converted into touchdowns if they Texans want to play anything other than golf in January. On the other side of the ball, tightening up in the redzone is a priority. Whether the improvement comes from the front seven or the backfield, better and smarter play is a must. 6. Play aggressive defense. When the Texans began playing more aggressively toward the end of the season, the team won more games. Bringing heat from all angles is the hallmark of recent Super Bowl winners Pittsburgh and New England. Now, I’m not saying the Texans have to sport one of the top defenses in the league or lead the league in sacks. Even middle of the road defense, when coupled with a top offense, can lead the Texans into the playoffs. Letting players attack and dictate the action, rather than sit on the hands and react to the offense, is a step in the right direction. What do you think is needed for the Texans to take the next step? http://www.nflgridirongab.com/2009/04/06/six-ways-the-texans-make-the-playoffs-in-2009/
I think how Okoye performs this year will be huge in how far we go this year. I know he is young but I was a bit disappointed with his performance last year. He doesn't need to register a lot of sacks, like that article says, he just needs to put more pressure on the QB and be a better run stuffer.
I'd really like to see us cut down on those turnovers. That alone could help us tremendously. Schaub being healthy will have something to do with that as well though.
Turnovers and finishing in the red zone. Improve both of those and they're already a playoff team. Imagine if opposing offenses were forced to play from behind a lot more last season...making them 1 dimensional. I think the Texans would have had a much better record if they could have held on to the ball and finished in the red zone at a higher clip.
The last two seasons, the Texans have finished strong to get their 8-8 record. The Texans really need to play better at the beginning of the season, in order to reach the playoffs or even be in the playoff hunt. The Texans defense needs to become an *average* NFL defense. The DLine controlling the line of scrimmage would go a long way to that end. The Texan offense needs to figure out how to score touchdowns in the red zone. Lots of problems to fix here. Bad execution. Bad play calling. Inability to run the ball. No push on runs by the OLine. Inability to pickup the blitz.
Health. If they are healthy, they will go to the playoffs. The Texans are ready to take off. F the haters.
Last year, if we cut down on the turnovers, we win at least two more games. Bad defense and all. Imagine doing that, improving in the red zone, and improve the defense even marginally and we're right in the hunt.
I'm so tired of people making Sage into a scapegoat. He did a good job filling in for Matt, and we were lucky to have him under those circumstances, Rosencopter or not.
Know what else needs to happen? Kubiak needs to get smart in the redzone and also learn how to challenge a play and WIN IT once in a while...
Number one way is find a way to beat the Titans and Colts. We have beat them each like 3 times in 14 tries? Pathetic.
I think keeping Matt healthy is more important than the other five combined. If he's able to start (and finish) 16 games, I think 10 and 6 is reasonable.
If any guy pulls any dirty hits on Schaub, it wouldn't shock me too much and upset me too much if Cushing returns the favor to their QB.
I think this is the most important part of the puzzle, and what has prevented us from having winning seasons the last two years. There have been several games, where a bad coaching decision has cost us games. In 2006, there were several games he gave up on the run way too early, our offense couldn't stay on the field, and our defense got flat wore out. That first Colts game comes to mind. I think our first win, came that season, when he decided to pound Ron Dayne, regardless of our 2.3 ypc at the time. Same thing in Dallas, when we kept turning the ball over. There was plenty of time to take control of the game, and eek out a win.
For real. Every time I saw that red hanky flying I was thinking, "here we go again." I really think this is the Texans year, I just have a feeling.
He lost an entire NFL game. All. By. Himself. That is rare, and regardless of how good he performed outside of that as a backup (and yes, he was good) it will not go away. Nor should it. The whole body of work counts. We were lucky to have him, except that he gave a whole damn game away. We only have 16 of those a year, you know. This isn't basketball or baseball. ________________________________________________ And to the guy who said TO's would be better just because Sage is gone: not quite. Schaub wasn't so hot in this category, either. Texans really need to get that under control.
Team. Sport. No. He. Didn't. Go ahead and blame the entire Cardinals superbowl loss on Warner's pick 6 then. Go ahead and blame the Oilers-Bills collapse on Haywood Jefferies 15 yard facemask that set up the winning fieldgoal. Go ahead and blame the Giants-49ers wildcard comeback on the NYG longsnapper who botched the FG. Go ahead and blame the Cowboys-Seahawks debacle on Romo for fumbling the snap. Some people amaze me in their selective memory. Sage made mistakes, yes. But he also put points on the board. There are things called special teams and defense that didn't step up in the clutch either. Stop blaming it all on the Rosencopter. That is weak.
