What's the main reason the Texans don't suck this season?

Carr is gone.

Seems simple, but I really do think that was the best move we made and the main reason we seem to be (it's still early, folks) such a better team than before.

Carr signing with a team that already had a starting QB instead of a team that needed one told me everything I need to know about him.

 

that's the problem - there isn't any ONE thing, try as a lot of people often do to pinpoint one.

case in point: dunta robinson is having his best season yet. why? some might immediately go to the improved pressure the DL is getting and that would be true. but what about the improved offense? it's scoring more, holding onto the ball longer, building leads and dictating what the opponent can and cannot do. do you not think that's having an impact on robinson's game? he's on the field less; there's less pressure on the defense; they're playing with a lead (average margin of victory this year: 15 points, and that's with smith getting a cheapy late last week).

conversely, (iirc) the team is tied for 1st overall in TO margin (+4, i believe) - well that greatly impacts the offense: it shortens the field and keeps the opposing defense on it longer, tiring them out....

this is and always will be a TEAM game and this is the best TEAM the franchise has ever had. what's amazing is that kubiak and smith have been able to build one this respectable this quickly because there wasn't a lot here to work with, which is why i never understood everyone's frustrations over last year.

they made ridiculous strides in '06; too bad everyone had their attention diverted eastward...

 

dead horse and all, but just curious: if given a choice between, say oakland and carolina, you'd admire him more for choosing last year's worst team over playing behind a shaky starting QB on a good team?

frankly, i thought it was a pretty smart move on his part. there's no future in moving from one crappy franchise to the next. had i been carr, my preferred destinations last winter would have been chicago, baltimore, philadelphia, carolina, kansas city and green bay. thanks, but no thanks cleveland, oakland, tampa bay and any other cruddy team that needed a tackling dummy. been there, done that.

 

cycles, good or bad, runs in 3's.


Girly Man = Dumb


Dumber


Dumbest

 

everyone was upset because carr was still here holding the team back.

 

agreed about it being a team effort, but every successful team needs a leader. for us, it has been schaub and the confidence and swagger he brings. I can't count the # of times carr took unnecessary sacks & the frustration it gave me. imagine if u played with him!

there's a lot to be said about playing with someone whom you really believe will get the job done. schaub has that. carr never did, and it shows in everyone's play.

 

FWIW I really enjoyed this piece of commentary.

Agreed completely. No matter what happens Sunday, this is team is a far cry from the train wreck that awaited Kubiak upon his arrival.

 

no, not "everyone," updawg. some of us appreciated the strides the personnel made around carr last year.

 

you remain david carr's lone fan in houston. keep fightin' the good fight!

 

of course people appreciated the strides they made in other positions. Never said I/they didn't.
You said you didn't understand peoples frustrations last year and I said everyone (generalization) was upset Carr was still here since he would still hold the team back.

 

so how's about saying this instead: "a few people were upset because we couldn't let go of the fact they didn't draft our little heo, baby vince" instead of using words with "every" in them.

i wasn't upset last year. none of my friends were upset last year. nor were any of us frustrated last year beyond the usual frustrations of following a 6-win team that drops two games on the final play.

 

you had people like me, though. yeah, i was upset they didn't draft VY...i was upset they extended Carr to begin with, though. i was upset that they seemingly closed off all options of QB's in that draft because they decided it wasn't a need. only to decide, less than 12 months later, that they did have a need and the guy they extended needed to be elsewhere.

all is well. but carr's presence on this team was a real downer to me.

 

because thats not what I was thinking or saying

 

I'll agree on Chicago, Baltimore, and KC because I think he may have had a better chance at beating out the starter on those 3 teams. Not sure about beating out the starter on a team whose QB took them to the Superbowl a few years ago.

But like you said, dead horse. Whether it was his fault or not really doesn't matter anymore because he's gone.

**We had a problem. We tried to do everything we could. You know what I mean. He's gone, and we couldn't do nothing about it. He's gone.... That's it.**




*name that movie

 

I wasn't upset about not drafting Vince Young, but I must admit that whatever enthusiasm I might have had in the upgrades to LB, TE, OL etc from last season were ALWAYS tempered by the fact that I knew Carr could never be the QB we needed and I had no idea who WOULD be. So I understand what uprising is saying.

 

Built around both lines. Gotta control the lines in order to control the game.

Schaub has been great and shown leadership, poise, and ability.. but he's also had decent protection. Haven't seen much noise from his blindside at all..wasn't LT supposed to be a BIG question mark this year with Spencer down?

The D line has been solid, so I'll put them at #2. If we compete with the Colts, it'll be on the D line to put SOME pressure on Manning so that the WR's and Clark don't have all day to find a seam like they seem to when we get blown out by the Colts.

Certainly all 3 are huge. I put O line first because I just think the 2 lines have been devastating to the team the last 2 years. And O line before D line because Demeco, Dunta, etc. help out the D line a good amt (at least enough to be 2nd on this list)

 

With the exception of Andre Johnson, in your case.

 

in two years, kubiak has passed on young, leinart, cutler, quinn and quite a few second rounders to extend carr and deal for schaub - this after his last significant proect in denver was jake plummer. seems fairly obvious kubes prefers guys who have nfl experience to raw, inexperienced rookies.

iow, i don't think young, et al, was ever a consideration, carr or no carr.

 

you mentioned that before, and i agree.

but if you can't pick up good young talent because the coach doesn't like him, then that's on the coach. if you can never draft a QB because your coach won't let you, then that coach is severly limiting the health of your franchise. i don't think that's ok.

fortunately it's all worked out just fine.

 

Or one could argue that:

- David Carr
- Dom Capers
- Dumba$$ Casserly

Texans are no longer a D- team