Don' get me wrong, I like Sage. I just don't think he's the sole reason for the late turnaround. Anyway, I think we'll probably see what Sage can do against San Diego's "A" game this weekend.
So if someone points out that maybe, just maybe, David Carr wasn't the primary reason behind the Texans' offensive problems then to you that makes them a "Carr Defender"? Oh come on Max! I know that you are more reasonable than that. You know I was commenting on the "Blame David for eveything faction" and not defending him. If you've read my posts you've seen me take shots at him as well (especially his hair). It's like what Ric keeps pointing out: that it's far easier to blame one guy for the foibles of this team than to take an unflinching look at this team's severe shortcomings. Clearly, Kubiak & Smith aren't the knights in shining armour many folks made them out to be because we are now seeing the results of their mistakes alongside those of the C&C Idiot Factory. On Sunday, we all saw Schaub get beat down just like David Carr was for years and guess what? Why he started to act just like David Carr did when he was absorbing 70 something sacks in a season. Suddenly, the consensus now is that something has got to be done about that terrible offensive line or they risk "ruining" another QB. I find it funny that while this was going on for years to Carr - HE was being singled out as the problem - not the OL for being inept. Those sacks were actually his fault to quote the gospel of John McClain. And to all of those so-called "experts" who downgraded the Texans' chances before the season started because they didn't see this team addressing the OL issues, well, they didn't know what they were talking about. Thank God we FINALLY have a REAL QUARTERBACK! was shouted from the rafters of Reliant and all over this board over and over and over again. Now just 7 games into the 2007 season, Scahub is getting the same treatment that Carr got and gasp! he's in danger of being "ruined". So you see, the issue isn't what Carr does or doesn't do because he's long gone yet the offensive problems we had when he was the QB are still here for all to (finally) see. Looks like all of those "experts" may have actually had a clue after all. I wonder: does that make them "Carr lovers" as well?
all these problems can be attributed to one player...Andre Johnson! Hurry the **** up AJ and get back on the field!
for the record, i've never believed or championed the idea that those wanting to run carr out of town were oblivious to the additional problems. i knew they knew they were there. my contention was always that they marginalized those additional issues to focus their ire squarely at carr (and now mario, fwiw). but as we've seen this year, many of the "excuses" we made for carr were real - the OL IS terrible; a running game IS important; the team DOES need additional playmakers; the previous regime WAS inept. a football team is a big, inter-related machine that requires all parts firing for it to be successful. upgrading carr has solidified a part of this team's march forward but it remains a small part in relation to the big picture. lots of work left to be done. hopefully, schaub proves as tough as carr because i think he'll see a few more days like sunday before all is right.
Well, except for the inconvenient fact that we're now in the top 12 in scoring and yardage as opposed to being #28 in both categories. The O-Line didn't change significantly, nor did the TE or WR positions. If anything, WR is worse since AJ isn't there. RB is slightly better with Green and worse/equal without. The ONE major change was QB, and the offense is worlds better. So yeah, it does appear Carr was the single biggest problem, despite the disaster that was Sunday's game.
this is, again, a component of not watching games, which major has admitted to. i detailed the texans' scoring output thus far this year with schaub under center and it comes to, roughly, 15 or so points a game. he's led them to 3 TDs in the past 5 games -- THREE! -- in which they're 1-4. rosenfels has as many TDs (5) as schaub. if we were getting those results with david carr, people here would be launching the apocolypse. actually, it did. the running game got better last year after fannigan got hurt and mckinney replaced him, and regressed this year after mckinney got hurt and flannigan replaced him. may be a coincidence, but everyone has said mckinney is a much better run blocker than flannigan, so... winston also wasn't starting the first half of last year (he wasn't even active for a lot of it) and has another year of OTAs, camp and preseason worth of experience. yeah, other than owen daniels having another year of experience; kevin walter starting (after barely playing last year); and the addition of andre' davis and jacoby jones, you're right - not a lick of difference. isn't eric moulds having a great season for us so far this year? oh, wait... careful; we don't allow people to make excuses for our QBs here in houston. yes; it certainly does... carr's numbers last year thru the first 7 games: 70.3%; 9/4; 172 att; 8 fumbles (3 lost). schaub's numbers this year thru the first 7 games: 68.5%; 5/5; 197 att; 7 fumbles (3 lost) with 1 benching and an missed second half due to injury.
Ric, I don't think Major (or anyone in their right mind) would argue with the fact that our offense has been absolutely PATHETIC in the red-zone this year, which obviously translates into scoring offense. But if you're going to throw out Schaub's stats and compare them to Carr's stats last year, you can't leave out the fact that the Texans are #5 in the NFL in passing yardage this season. I would be interested to know where we ranked in this catagory at this time last year. I would guess it wasn't anywhere NEAR #5 in the NFL. We need to improve our red-zone offense this year, no question about it. But you can't deny (and I'm not sure if you are or not) that Schaub is a much better option at QB than Carr is, was, or will ever be.
I've watched about half the games this season - and it's light & day compared to last year's team. And yet, the team is consistently moving the ball and keeping drives alive - things they didn't do last year. And in the end, they are #8 in scoring as opposed to #28. By no means is Schaub perfect, but the results are obvious - the teams is better statistically in just about every single offensive metric except for ruhsing. So last year, we had both Flannigan and McKinney... and it changed this year by us having ... Flannigan and McKinney? That's a significant change? Like I said, the O-Line is mostly the same group. You have claimed, multiple times, that you're upset that the team has failed to address the O-Line problems - now you're claiming they made big changes? Again, Kevin Walter was on the team last year - if they thought he was better than Moulds, they would have played him. They haven't had AJ most of the season and Jones for half of it. Andre Davis was a practice squad player, which tells you how highly they thought of him. If you think having Walter, Jones, and Davis is better than AJ, Walter and Moulds, you're nuts. These guys are looking much, much better because they have a QB that can actually get them the ball in a position to do something with it. You can see the difference clearly in the increased effectiveness of AJ. Conveniently, you skipped the numbers where Schaub has been far, far superior: yards & yards per attempt. The difference between last year and this year is that Schaub is able to move the ball - despite a terrible running game and all sorts of injuries to receivers. In his first 7 games last year, Carr never threw for more than 230 yards a game. In his first 7 games this year - minus the disaster last week - Schaub never threw for less than 225. Instead of throwing 5 yards on 3rd and 6, Schaub throws 7. Instead of just completing a bunch of dumpoff passes that don't lead to scoring, he tries to move the ball forward. Does he make more mistakes? Definitely. But that's because he does a lot of good things also. And the results can be seen in the team's increased scoring and across-the-board improvements in offensive numbers. If you can't see the world of difference in the offense between this year and last, I'm not sure what to tell you. This year, we've never scored less than 16 points in a game. Last year, we did that in half of our games.
maybe, but we'd be a better running team with him. i know it doesn't seem to make sense, but linebackers and the safeties aren't going to cheat on the run as much b/c they fear AJ breaking a big one.
we are one left tackle, a center and a running back from establishing the run, wait until the offseason.
I don't know how you can watch this team and not see that they've dramatically improved on the offensive end of the ball.
Can Michael Turner get here fast enough next year? Pay the man what he wants! Pray that Spencer can make a comeback so we dont have to draft another LT and hope McKinney is back for the start of the year. BTW when is Studdard going to get a shot?
Yes they are and a lot of that has to do with the fact that Schaub is very familiar and comfortable with the WCO since he's been playing in that system since college. So compared to David Carr, he should look better running this offensive system. It also helps immensely that he didn't have a coaching staff that had him throwing over ladders to compensate for the fact that the OL couldn't provide him with adequate protection. Anyhow I digress... With Schaub it's also reasonable to expect even further improvement on the offensive side provided that he manages to stay upright and in one piece. Judging from what I saw Sunday, that's one big IF.
Generally agree with most of what Major says, but if the Texans thought Moulds was a valuable NFL player, Moulds would be a Texan. I think it is obvious that the Texans re-evaluated all their data after the 2006 season and determined that Walter and the available options for 3rd WR were better than Moulds. Schaub has looked much better than Carr even in games without AJ. The offensive line looks much worse since AJ and Mckinney went down. I think teams have been more willing to blitz and bring more guys into the box when AJ isn't in the game. The Texans still need a RB and more offensive linemen, but hopefully AJ and Jones can help pull some guys away from the line when they come back. The defense is a mess. I like the core of Dunta, Okoye, Williams, Ryans, and Johnson, but think virtually everyone else is marginal starter/backup quality.
