I agree. It's a 10-10 game against a team widely considered to be a playoff team (if not a Super Bowl team) barring that single play. Still, stuff like that will lose us games, so we need to prevent it anyway. Then again, DeMeco's not going to do everything himself every game. Cushing should help.
Honestly, most of the points came after the starters left the field. Other then the run defense, (which last night showed improvement while going against a higher quality rushing team), all the crying over that game is blowing out of proportions what the team might be capable of. Last night despite the opening play (which thankfully I missed as it happened), I saw a lot of effort from our defense that I hope come the opening game, will turn into production.
all encompassing response... assuming good health, and looking at their schedule – on paper, in august – i’ll be disappointed if they finish with 8 or fewer wins. having said that, their defense is not very good – again: on paper; they’re counting on two offensive players who have yet to prove that they’re consistent producers (schaub and slaton); they haven’t proven they can consistently beat indianapolis and tennessee… IOW, while id be disappointed, i likely won’t be among the inevitable loud, angry throng calling for a regime change. they’ve beaten those two teams, what? 4 times total in seven years?... says the guy knee-deep in courageously fighting off the anti Obama rhetoric in the d&d… and i’m being serious. it’s one thing to knee-jerk: i think we all do. but now that there’re various outlets to broadcast that knee-jerk, it can become pervasive and take over an issue: “death panels!” “fire kubiak!” and when it rides on a wave of disinformation, ill-informed thought and outright lies, it can be frustrating. are these the same people wondering if jay cutler is a system QB? how’s the search to uncover those plentiful opinions coming, btw? the vast majority of the people i ran across in this forum had no idea how bad the team was; the rampant company line, expressed both directly as well as indirectly, was that getting rid of david carr would solve a host of our problems, if not the vast majority of them. you can spin that however you want; but that was the prevailing sentiment. when, *three years later,* you have posters concluding, you know, in retrospect, kubiak may have inherited the equivalent of an expansion team - it underscores my position. that’s because “David Carr” was usually followed by some variation of the following sentiment: “is the reason the Texans suck.” but you’re right about one thing – he was the most obvious target. but the fact it’s taken seemingly competent personnel men *years* to rebuild other parts of this team kills any notion that "QB was the most glaring hole." which was the foundation of my david carr "crazy-defense mode."
Yep, I'm satisfied some what with what they showed last night. The opening play sucked, but after that the defense seemed to have settled down for the most part, and was doing what seemed a good job. Either way, I'm excited for the next game. Really can't wait for the regular season, just hope our starters can stay on the field.
Forgot about that thread - happily responded to it. And it was a perfect example of what I'm talking about here with you reading and seeing only what you want. Nonsense. There must have been 15+ conversations with you, both with myself and others that went something like this: Poster: Get rid of Carr! Ric: Why? That won't solve all our problems. Poster: Of course not. But it's a part of the problem. Ric: This team has lots of holes. Poster: Yes, and Carr is one of them. We have to fix the rest of the team too, but Carr is a part of that. Ric: Getting rid of Carr won't make this team good. Poster: We know. But it's a start. Ric: The defense sucks. Poster: Yes, and we should fix that too. While also getting rid of Carr. Ric: Carr isn't the only problem. on and on and on. I remember both MadMax and I having this conversation with you numerous times, and just sitting it out many other times. No, it wasn't. If people thought the rest of the team was good at the time, they wouldn't have been thrilled with the firing of Casserly. He was enemy #1 in Houston - why do you think that was? Because people thought he stacked the team with talent? I challenge you to find even one conversation where a legitimate poster said David Carr was the only problem on the team. Just one.
What a horribly flawed statement to make. It's like you took 1 game of Favre's and Schaub's and assumed that encompassed everything. Oh wait, you had to have...cause otherwise, you were drawing on Favre of the first few games of last season..
Player A: 66.1 completion percentage, 15 TD, 10 INT, 92.7 rating, 8 YPA Player B: 65.7 completion percentage, 22 TD, 22 INT, 81.0 rating, 6.65 YPA Player A: considered superb leader by his teammates Player B: anti-social drama queen, creates "schism" in locker room You guys tell me, which player of those two is clearly better for your team next season? Oh, and player A just turned 28, while player B is about to turn 40. Go back to jocking Kobe, Reggie Bush and whoever else ESPN tells you to, Vinsanity.
That's great, but what does durability matter if you aren't that good? Erick Dampier has a much better track record at finishing seasons than Yao Ming -- would you swap Yao for Dampier?
Totally agree with you about Schaub. However, I found it a little funny that you linked to an ESPN article about the "schism" after that last statement. Not that ESPN isn't full of crap, and not that there isn't possible dissension in the Vikes locker room, I just found it kind of ironic. I think they'll be fine with Favre if they are winning, just like any team would be. I really don't think he'll hold up throughout the season, though.
Yeah, I thought of that too. But as much as I dislike ESPN (particularly SportsCenter and their entertainment over reality ideology), Adam Schefter is a good reporter. One of the few guys over there I really trust. I think the Vikings will be fine too, and I think they'll win the division again, largely behind AP and the run defense. Favre is definitely still a quality QB. It's just the idea that he's even comparable, much less better, than Schaub at this point is lunacy. I'll re-post the argument from one year ago that I made on this -- and remember that Schaub improved his numbers significantly a year ago (as expected), and Favre regressed significantly last year (as expected). http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=151090&page=2 Even if it's a given that Schaub will miss four games (two years hardly constitutes a career lock), the disparity between the two is enough that I'd much rather Schaub for 12 games + random backup for 4 than Brett Favre for 16. They're not even close. (Yeah, I know you're on my side in this, I'm just taking the time to elaborate on my prior post... lol.)
They showed that graphic last night and I had to rewind just to make sure I saw it right. Ugh... But I have to agree with DieHard Rocket. Last year was the first year in our history that we were actually competitive, so OF COURSE the Colts and titans mopped the floor with us during the first few years of our existence. That’s when most of those losses happened. And don’t forget that the loss to the jags last year was in OT on the road, and we all know we had the Colts beat at home until Rosencoptor. We were a couple of plays away from going 4-2 in the division last year. I know you can say that kind of thing about every team, but seriously…we had that Indy game WON. It was a total fluke. I expect us to go at least 3-3 in the division this year. I predict 4-2. Assuming we're healthy (and I know that's a HUGE assumption..), I see no reason why we can't split with the Colts and titans while sweeping the jags. We were just a few plays away from doing that last year, and this year's team is better.
LOL! I mean, sincerely: F’ing LOL. if anyone cares, after claiming "lots of people" have questioned cutler's ability to succeed outside the denver system (which, yes - usually applies to their RBs, but - well...), here's what Major "happily" came up with: i mean... really, Major? that's all you had? two flaccid examples (in which neither mentioned *anything* about a system) and then an even limper "go find it yourself”? why is that burden mine, anyway? i didn't make the baseless claim that "lots of people" were questioning cutler's ability to succeed outside the denver system – you know who did? you! so go find them yourself so that you can maybe start to dig your way out of this hole; i understand “lots of people” have said it and that the articles “are out there” so it should be easy. Major, come on... i mean *really*? "oh, yeah, well here's MY completely fabricated, make-believe recap of 15+ conversations that is also proof of absolutely *nothing*".............. i mean, my god, man.... the tenor of those conversations were, most assuredly, carr is THE problem. you said it yourself, Major – and i can’t emphasize this enough; this is YOUR quote: carr was "the most obvious target". hell, even in your stupid made-up "thread," you began it with: "Poster: Get rid of Carr!" so you now want to claim there were other targets creating equal levels of vitriol and focus in this forum? carr was the poster boy for the throng of angry texans fans who had *no idea* how bad the team truly was around him. hell, even *clutch* got into with me once, claiming leinart would have been an upgrade over carr. i mean, to try and spin this is just… it’s just insane! MadMax doesn’t hate me because we went round and round on seth f’ing wand! i suppose next you're going to recreate phantom conversations in which baby vince fanboys presented grounded, realistic appraisals of his nfl prospects?..... pure, 100% revisionist history, Major. carr was public enemy #1. i would estimate carr-centered vitriol outstripped any and every other texan discussion by a count of 2-to-1 and i'm probably being *really* conservative. and fyi - nice try, but i never said or implied - then or now - that everyone thought the rest of the team was good. it’s an oh-so-subtle but obvious tweak and it's a total, desperate strawman. "...go find them yourself. They are out there." haha. and btw, curious: does the op you cited in the cutler thread, with his 96 posts, count as a “legitimate poster”? honestly, dude… this is kind of getting embarrassing. anyhoo - unlike you, i'd actually happily take you up on the offer - but i don't have search capacity in the forum and those threads are 2-3 years old. but i'll say this: it wasn't always necessarily stated explicitly - well, it was, several times; but it was more inherent in a) the amount of vitriol spilled in carr's direction; b) the lack of interest in discussing anything else. maybe people *did* recognize how bad the team was – but they sure as hell didn’t have a burning desire to talk about it near as much as the did carr. but comments like, “you know, it’s like kubiak took over an expansion franchise” three years after I said the **exact same thing** underscores my position. to try and rewrite that era as grounded, realistic discussion... i mean, it was "david carr sucks!" 24/7. i know you know this. i know you know there weren't an equal number of threads on casserly, capers, palmer, the offense (other than carr), the defense........ i know you do. to continue to argue otherwise is nothing but face-saving desperation on your part. but feel free to make up another conversation and use it as proof!
