Without cheating, anyone care to take a guess on how many times Matt Schaub has been sacked in 3 preseason games (roughly 6 quarters on the field) this year? Keep in mind, 2 of the games (4 quarters on the field) were against 2 of the best defenses in the league (Chicago and dallas). Come on, take a guess. Give up? Here's a hint: Spoiler 1. If you think about it, Schaub is actually playing behind a line that isn't even as good as last year because of Spencer being out. This begs the question.... Were all those people who blamed Carr for most of his sacks actually right? And were all those who defended him for 5 years (myself included) wrong? And I'm not even talking about the running game, which really took off during the last 3 games last year as well as the preseason. Look at the stats: Ahman Green 17 carries, 91 yards, 5.4 Yds/Att Samkon Gado 16 carries, 75 yards, 4.7 Yds/Att I won't mention Dayne's 3.0 Yds/Att since he's basically a short yardage guy now. They showed some highlights last night of Chester Pitts absolutely CORKSCREWING his man into the turf on 3 different running plays where he was pulling for the RB. Maybe the O-line is finally developing some chemistry, since the coaches aren't switching guys around every 2 games.
I think the O-line improved last year. I think a really bad O-line is likely to blame for how bad Carr ultimately became. But I don't think the O-line last year was the primary reason that Carr was throwing into quadruple-coverage or throwing 4 INT's in a game.
poor gameplan plus poor coaches mixed together with incompetent QB and you have a ton of sacks. I've never been so happy seeing a QB throw the ball away. Thanks Schaub...i forgot you can actually do that in football.
I used to always partly blame Carr for sacks that happened to him. He never seemed to find the open space in the pocket and was piss poor at sensing the rush coming, never getting rid of the ball or going through his progressions...and then there were the scrambles where he would run out of bounds behind the scrimmage line. Ugh. But, having said that, I never would have thought that his shortcomings had as much effect on the total number of sacks as this preseason seems to indicate. I watch Schaub side step rushes and step up in the pocket and it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Schaub has only been sacked once, but he has avoided about 5 times that many would-be sackers with his feet and quick mind. It really has been amazing to watch.
I agree the O-Line improved last year. Most of the improvement I saw was in running the football, which make sense given a new head coach implementing a new scheme. Green is also a better RB than we had last year, so we should all expect the running game to continue to improve this year. Now the pass blocking did not improve last year. Eric Winston from what I saw in the last game missed assignments. Ephraim Salaam also has problems with quicker DEs. Given more game experience, Winston should improve, while Salaam aint getting any quicker. Did anyone else noticed that Kubiak started calling three step drops after Schaub got sacked? The announcers proclaimed genius, from which I found great humor.
The O-Line has looked fantastic. But gentlemen, it's preseason. I want to see on 9/9 if they can actually protect consistently. But our D-Line is what I'm worried about. No pressure from them make our LBs/DBs look like crap.
The O-Line was already much improved the 2nd half of last season, they have looked even better this preseason. As another poster pointed out, Salaam will have some problems with quick DEs, but Schaub has much better poise than Carr and will get the ball out of his hands. I'll go ahead and make the safety-valve comment..."It's only preseason," but you have to like what we've seen so far.
... but at least the D-Line is looking good against the run. And Travis Johnson appears to have finally shown up. And Jason Babin looks like he might become a good situational pass rusher.
david carr was only sacked twice last year in the pre season, i heard McClain throw in that stat. Either way, Steve should start at center. the running games seems to be smoother when he is in there!!
I'm not sure if it was so much McKinney's play at center as it was Pitts play at guard. I have no problem with McKinney as center, but I think Flanagan can probably do as good a job. McKinney can rotate in regularly at a few different spots to keep everyone fresh.
Look up PRESEASON in the CARR era and PRESEASON in the SCHAUB era. Also, look at who was in the O-LINE during EVERY game, and how many times the SAME offensive line played together with the same linemen. Then we can start talking.
i don't know if the Line has improved or not. all i know is that we're actually putting up real numbers, albeit it's preseason. but hell, we've never had a preseason as potent as this...NEVER!
I beg to differ, my beloved muscular kung fu fighter friend: Preseason: Houston Texans 24, Kansas City Chiefs 14 August 12, 2006 Preseason: Houston Texans 27, St. Louis Rams 20 August 19, 2006 Preseason: Denver Broncos 17, Houston Texans 14 August 27, 2006 Preseason: Houston Texans 16, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 August 31, 2006 There is ONE preseason game left. In 2006, we were 3-1. In 2007, we're 2-1 with one game left. It's difficult to make the argument you made. p.s. WTF? We play the BUCCANNEERS every effin' preseason!
ok, maybe i should have said i don't remember a preseason as EFFICIENT as this...especially from our first team offense.
I have to disagree that Flanagan should be the starter. Once McKinney started the running took off. That is including the monster game that the Texans had against Ind. I like Falagan but he should not start. Go Texans!
Chester was pancaking the D on the pulling Guard plays.He is a very underrated linemen. But Mckinney was made for the zone scheme. Steve did a great job going mano y mano with the nose tackle. not only that, but he was also able to turn up field and get a piece of the line backer. I've yet to see that from Flanagan. i think the only reason he has the starting role is Bc of his ties to the packers regime.
I'll tell ya this - I watched the last two games several times for lineplay and I think Casey Studdard is going to be a LEGIT player. He shed DLINE and switched to the stuntman, picked up D-End coming around, and shoved some guys to the ground - hoie footwork looked great!
