Defense, much more so than offense, can be affected by scheme and how well the unit meshes. For a perfect example, look at the Broncos so far this year. They were an absolutely miserable (beyond terrible) defense last year, and suddenly this year, they look pretty damn good with a new coaching staff and new philosophy. (Yes, they've played some terrible teams, but Cinci has shown they have some real offensive ability. Denver has given up 16 points - for the SEASON! That's good against any set of opponents.) As another example, the Jets defense was OK last year - not bad, not good. And now with a new scheme, they are suddenly pretty spectacular. So it's hard to say that it's all a talent issue - it may very well be, but it could also be just a case of a need of a different strategy.
Oh I agree - they benefited from a weak schedule so far, and their offense will probably have major issues with Orton. But their defense didn't hold a single opponent in single digits last year, and they've done it 3 times already this year. That suggests some kind of significant improvement on that side of the ball.
As I said, Kubiak is going to take the blame for the defense but realistically he has little to do with it. This is not something the Texans do, rarely do head coaches have FULL control of a team, that's why there are OC and DC. Kubes was a OC and he was one of the best. That's why our offense looks the way it does now. You can blame Kubiak for hiring Bush, but honestly...I don't think Bush has done a bad job with the playcalling. If anything the play calling has been more than solid. We see our CBs press more often and we do Blitz...but if we're blitzing and not getting pressure how is that on our Coach? Kubiak is a good coach, his players WANT to play for him and believe in him. That much is obvious with how the players are quick to blame themselves and Dunta said they want to play better to make Kubes look better. Yeah you there are better Coaches out there, but unless your absolutely sure you can get one...why risk it? A lot of great coaches take years to grow into the job. YES a lot of them also in turn don't take quite as long to lead their team to success...but a lot of others take years. Kubes is a good coach to me, the secondary as I pointed out in the other thread...is filled with undrafted and late round picks. That's not going to get it done, especially when you have guys like that STARTING on your team. I feel like this team is the Saints of last year and a year or two back. This team offense can compete with the best of them, and the numbers prove that. But the defense, just like those Saints team is horrible, and it's mostly because of the secondary. Saints then had one good CB just like we do, and the past two years they have filled it with veterans and high picks...time for the Texans to do the same. No matter who coaches this team, as long as we have guys like Busing and Bennet starting, this team is never going to make that leap to being a 'Good' team. That's just it. Also i'm not ready to throw in the towel after 3 games.
Denver had some big injuries last year and also they actually addressed their needs on defense. As for the Jets, I think that's a great example of a coach who has really brought out the best of his players. Rex Ryan is a defensive coach and he made all those guys on defense much better. That's not any different from what the Texans have done on offense though. The main difference is though that...defense is always going to be consistent. Through rain, snow, sleet, hail...whatever...defense can always be relied upon. Our guys are going to have to win shootouts with how our defense has been playing...which is basically how we win games. But i'd be ready to get rid of Kubes too...but he has little input on what goes on that side of the ball. Also once again this doesn't make him a bad coach. Dungy puts a lot of power behind his coordinators, also Tomlin does too. I just think Kubes should stay unless we have some big name lined up ready to go. He has made this offense a elite offense, it's about time the GM does something about our secondary though. I'd want to blame Bush...but really every DC we have had has sucked...that's because our secondary has always just had one guy...Dunta. That's it (Aaron Glenn also lol) all these other guys are undrafted, cut by teams, 6th and 7th rounders. Rick Smith and the everyone in the FO including the Coaches should have seen this coming. Did they really expect those guys in the secondary to hold up?
i disagree completely. i think scheme and cohesion impacts both sides of the ball equally. the jets had the 7th ranked run defense in football last year. that's an infinitely better foundation than the one bush inherited. they also signed, arguably, the best defensive free agent available so they definitely benefited from an upgrade in talent, too, in addition to scheme.
i'm sick of the empty rhetoric. i'd rather hear craig biggio-like cliches - "it's long season; one game at a time..." - and then *see* them fixing this and that. hearing them talk about fixing this and that... and then not fixing this and that is starting to grate on me.
i was thinking more specifically of all the super bowl talk. jeez, it was endless. childress, i remember especially, talked about it all. the. time. "super bowl this, super bowl that." hey, how about, you know - winning a playoff game every now and then before talking about the super bowl. in hindsight, i really hate those late 80s/early 90s oiler teams, in spite of their winning. a bunch of selfish, me-first pricks. they talked and talked, held out, whined, chocked.... they don't fill me with warm fuzzies. compare that prima donna bunch to the luv ya blue era oilers. i'm getting the same vibe from this texan team. three holdouts (well, technically, one - but i was disappointed in the way ryans and daniels handled their situations during the offseason) the year we're supposed to make the leap; lots of empty promises and rhetoric; lots of steps forward on the field followed by two steps back....... yes. mcgrady's another one - talk, talk, talk, talk... less talk, more action; that's what i want to see (hear). i'm sick of "it needs to be fixed and we're going to fix it" - especially because... they're not fixing it!
No thanks to Cowher, unless he can lure Dick LeBeau from Pitt. Seeing how well Rex Ryan is doing with the NY Jets, heck, hire his twin brother from the Browns.
Now I see what you're saying, Ric (and Max). You can add the recently departed Cecil Cooper to that list. In fact, he may be the poster child.
Coaching is the problem. We do not prepare well for teams- for instance trying to establish the run over and over against the Jets who if we scouted properly we would have started out exploiting them with our passing game which is the strength of the team and opens up the running game. We are a finesse pass oriented offense and we still insist on trying to 'establish' the run. Our defense is confused and ill-prepared. We consistently miss assignments on run plays- duh We either need to start players who can work the scheme or we need to change the scheme or players. I have no clue what we are trying to do on defense, we don't get to the QB and we don't try to scheme blitz's that are effective. We consistently over commit on plays and other teams break big runs. Our defense if very poorly coached or the players do not get it. Our offense is very poorly schemed. We could have easily lost to the Titans.
they ran 13 times against the jets. and they don't pass to set up the run; in fact, its the exact opposite. this offense isn't nearly as effective if it can't run and work off of the playaction. it's one of the league's better offenses. i mean, it really is. i know the jets ground them, as did the steelers and ravens last year. but it moves up and down the field consistently. and though early, it looks like they've corrected one of their two biggest issues last year in the red zone: scoring. unfortunately, the other issue (turnovers) reared its ugly head sunday. we could have easily beaten jacksonville. they were beaten soundly by the jets. but they bounced back well in tennessee and made just enough plays on sunday to be in position to win. there're a lot of reasons to be worried... but it's not ALL bad. if they lose sunday, though...........
Its most likely going to be Shanahan, and we will still have a losing season. We would do well picking up an new GM too.
given the relationship between shannahan and kubiak, i can't imagine that happening. i suppose it's not impossible...but i highly doubt it.
I think we have all heard enough of this kind of sentiment. its on the radio, in the paper etc... We move the ball alot, yes, but we also turn the ball over alot, and are still not efficient in the redzone. We have scored plenty in the last two games, which is nice, but we could easily be 0 and 3 right now. Our team is not consistent and our Offense and Defense looks way too confused on the field. The D has some bright points here and there but overall it is just garbage right now, and we cant count on our Offense to outscore anyone. Raiders win by 10 this sunday and all hell is going to break loose.
Personally I would not like to see it. I would hope, and think a better argument would be: The owner wanting a real change of attitude would go in a totally different direction. "Everything around here is like Denver light, lets go after Cowher, Gruden, ....." OR The owner seeing a chance to go from Denver light to Full Denver. "Everything around here is so much like your old system Shanahanhanhanhanaaaa, just tweek it up and lets get some super bowl rings....." Personally: We had the D coordinator head coach, we have an O coordinator head coach, lets get a Head Coach, Head Coach.
I'm not the kind to blame coaches right off the bat. Players ultimately have to make plays. If the safety can take a good angle and make a tackle, CBs adjust to the receiver (Bennett is getting abused), DL get some penetration...well then the "coaching" will look a lot better. I don't mind being a conservative offense...i don't mind running the ball. All that being said, the coaches will take the bulk of the criticism. Why? Because it's easier to say it's the coaches fault, rather than the players sucking.
