IMHO it had more to do with the coaching philosophy that Capers and co. had for their duration, that the team was going to stay close for three quarters and then try to steal it away in the fourth. That line of thinking is fine when in your expansion and maybe second year, but not in your fourth season when you're trying to make the playoffs. The team never tried to take over the game or enforce their will on the other team to dominate, that has alot to do with the players, but moreso with the coaching staff.
Dom Capers has his style, he has always coached- Strong defense with an attacking, blitzing scheme with great edge pass rushers. Strong running game, ball control, great special teams, positive turnover ratios. He has always coached conservatively winning with execution in the 4th Qtr. That is who he was when he was hired and it worked with an expansion team that had climbed to a 7-9 record. However he never got the strong running game do to injuries and poor depth (Hollings and the rest). He never had an impact edge pass rusher. Never had a front 7 that could stop the run. His QB made too many mistakes (that's OK he was inexperienced). His receivers were not possession receivers and the turnover ratio turned south. Gary Kubiak is probably a better coach than Dom Capers, but for Capers coaching style he had a bunch of junk of a roster to work with and it was a miracle that those scrubs were 7-9. In 4 seasons he was given 2 impact players out of 35 draft picks- Andre Johnson and Duanta Robinson. In 4 seasons he was given ZERO impact free agents after signing a bunch of hand me downs. I for one am glad he is gone because Dom Capers is a quality guy, maybe not the offensive coach we needed, but I am glad he got away from the mess of an organization and roster he was dealt. If anyone thinks this team had playoff talent last season they are living in a dream fan world. IMHO
