I think (hope?) the Texans will have enough to hold off Tennessee and win the South. I'm guessing they'll be able to scrap and claw their way to 10 wins. (If my math is correct, as long as we beat Carolina and Indianapolis - even if we lose to Tennessee and we both finish 10-6, we get the division based on common opponent record.) Will that be enough to satisfy you, given the injury situation? Or are you still adament they have to win a playoff game for this season to have any merit? And what if they lose the division? Again, I think they can handle Carolina and Indianapolis to get to 10 wins. But if they don't.... the Titans finish with Buffalo, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and TJ Yates. They could finish 4-1. Will you be head-hunting disappointed? What a wild final six weeks.
Anything MORE than 2 wins from here on out is success to me . . At least the defense is bonafide and turned around.
As long as they win the division I'll be happy at this point. Can't expect much out of our QB situation. Either way, no way Kubiak is going anywhere. We looked too good up until the Schaub injury for him not to have earned another year.
Based on the fact that we are 8-3, and by all accounts would be poised to do HUGE things this year if not for health, I think the entire coaching staff has earned the right to continue working together next year. As far as this year is concerned, I would be incredibly happy if the Texans could finish 10-6. I believe that should be enough to get us into the playoffs, with a home game. But, I will add that I refuse to be pessimistic about this season. With everything this team has overcome, I'm fully on board the Texans train, and I'm clamoring for a 12-4 or 11-5 finish. One thing I think we can all be proud of is the fact that between the Rockets, Texans, and Dynamo, we have 3 franchises in this city that NEVER give up....no matter how badly the chips might be stacked against them.
Well the Texans are now at Rockets-tier circa McGrady/Yao era. Bunch of what-ifs thanks to the injuries.
Any playoff appearance is a success. Any result other than that is failure. I know there are massively extenuating circumstances but it is a results oriented business and we should be able to squeeze out a couple more wins with a replacement level QB. Now if Andre or Arian goes back down, then I am happy with "keeping the band together" even if we zilch out...because it is obvious that this just wasn't our year.
NFL Division Tiebreakers: Head-to-head Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference. Strength of victory. Strength of schedule. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed. Best net points in common games. Best net points in all games. Best net touchdowns in all games. Coin toss As of today, in the event of a tie on Jan 2nd, TEN can not win a tiebreaker based on (1) or (2) Should we win @ IND, we will own the (2) tiebreaker and the rest are moot Should we win on NYD, TEN can only get the division by a better overall record. Magic number this morning is 4. Any combination of our Wins with their Losses equaling 4 gives us the division outright GOB number is 3. This would result in a tie. Should we go 1-4 with a win against IND and TEN loses to Saints and someone else, we take the division. Should we beat the and Panthers and Titans lose to Saints, we take the division. Should we beat the Colts and Titans, we take the division.
Anyone saying that they have to do anything in the playoffs with TJ Yates at qb is nuts. Getting there with the 3rd string qb over the last 5-1/2 games would be a feat in itself, even with the schedule. I think Carolina and Indy are wins. I think they win against the t*** at home, too, to end all doubt. 11-5 is possible but I'd almost put money on 10-6. Either way, they play at home for the first playoff game in franchise history. My guess is, in Bob McNair's mind, the coaching staff is safe.
You're right; that would put us 5-1 in the division. I miscalculated and had us tied at 4-2. The keys are Carolina and Indianapolis because they figure into the 2nd and 3rd tiebreakers and they are, by a wide margin, the two worst teams left on our schedule. Win those two, and the division is ours, regardless of anything else that happens, short of a 5-0 Tennessee run. Which isn't happening...... right? Right?? Right???
F Tennessee. Is anyone else still weirded out hearing all this talk of the Texans being 5-1 in division???
Simply put, if we beat the Titans on the final game of the year, we're in. There's no way Tennessee goes 4-0 leading up to week 17. I think the Titans will go 2-2 and we'll go 1-3 with a win over the Colts in week 16 to wrap up the division. Now, if they go 3-1 and we go 1-3, setting up a winner-take-all game in Reliant vs the Titans in week 17... that'd be pretty epic. Hopefully we can beat Carolina at home and have a chance to seal the deal @ Indy in week 16, even if the Titans do go 3-1.
Getting to the playoffs is a success at this point. Given an 8-3 record, a great D, Wade Phillips, Gary's offensive mind, and a healthy Arian/Tate/Andre combo...this team should make the playoffs from 8-3 to the end, regardless of QB A wildcard win or a 1st round bye would be amazing and seems like a ceiling (unless Rosencopter or Favre show up, in which case, there's an equal chance for more success or utter failure)
Maybe it's just me drinking the kook-aid (damn, all of a sudden I've become a Texans homer), but I think we're as complete a team as any in the league. I think we are less dependent on QB play than any team in the league. I mean the freakin Jaguars beat the Ravens with that piss poor offense and by playing good defense, so we should be able to handle the softies on our schedule. Just have Yates/Sage/whoever throw the checkdowns, and every now and then run the boot and throw it deep to keep the defense honest. We may be in for some boring, ugly wins but I think we beat Indy and Tennessee at minimum, and maybe Carolina. We can't expect the defense to do what they did yesterday staying on the field that long, but they've made a believer out of me.
Success to me means to keep winning ugly with defense. Get a lead and sit on it and win as many of the next 5 games as we can without worrying about style points, statistics or strength of schedule. If we get to the playoffs, no matter who we have at QB, the week leading up to the game will be so much fun. The kind of fun we haven't experienced in this city for almost 20 years. Think about that for a second. We haven't experienced an NFL playoff game in this city for 18 years. Half the people on this bbs were in diapers the last time there was a playoff game in this city.
Anything less than a Superbowl win every year is a failure. That's just fact. That said, I think Kubiak has held onto his job, and for once, that doesn't bother me. Relative to what's possible, missing the playoffs after 8-3 would be hella disappointing, even considering the circumstances. Aside from QB, every other part of the team is well above average. They should be able to beat some of the scrubs they're playing, and if they don't think TJ can do that, sign a vet to do it. At least taste the playoffs... That said, longer-term, I think you have to start questioning Schaub. He's had a couple of fully healthy seasons, but he's had more than his fair share of season ending injuries. And if QB is that important (and it is), you can't be betting your entire season on a coin flip (or even two coin flips... i.e. 25% ish odds that you'll lose your QB). Matt Barkley is underrated in regards to also being a great QB prospect. Needs a little more size, but real polished, great pro potential. Luck is of course the can't miss QB prospect. Of course, both could suck.... But, Schaub's been injured an awful lot during his time with the team. And seemingly, there are a larger than average number of teams who would be willing to trade a top pick this year because they already have or recently drafted their QBs of the future. The rest of the Texans squad is well set up to have a good 5-10 year run with a HOF type QB. I would seriously look into giving up a bounty to trade for one of the top 2 picks. Meaning overpay. And if you can get that top spot for Luck, really overpay. I'm typically not a proponent of this, but Luck (or Barkley) with this team could win you 3 or 4 Superbowls. The complicating factor is you'd have to trade with Indy. Really overpaying with them in essence really hurts your chances going forward, even with a great QB. But perhaps the shine is off of them a little bit for good. Their defense has always been bad, and it's hard to imagine an older, less healthy Manning can stay as good as he was (to the extent their horrible defense was consistently overlooked) forever. But I can see why you wouldn't sell the farm to make Indy better.
Every single team plays that bet with every position on the field. About the only thing you can bank on is if Schaub and fat-ass albert play in the same game, Schaub is possibly going to get injured. Outside of playing against that blob, he's been pretty stout.
No, that's your opinion. Your incredibly narrow opinion. I agree they need to start looking at the future of QB. But this only makes two "season-ending injuries" for Schaub (IIRC). Perhaps two is two too many? It's not that easy. Who do you lose because you can't pay for all those guys on the salary cap? Because the bigger salary cap won't mean teams have room to pay more for their roster--we all know the richest prima donnas are gonna scoop up all that space for their own. Get ready for record-setting FA contracts in the next couple years. It's going to be really difficult to keep this Texans roster together. That, to me, is the biggest reason the Schaub injury hurts so much.
