Obrien's philosophy is to go conservative when he has a lead. It's obviously worked out, record-wise but not stats wise. Anyone complaining about the scoring stats and all that, needs to take that into account and realize a lot of this is skewed. I don't need to score 50 points a game to feel satisfied with this offense. O'Brien has shown the ability to lead men, to adapt, to innovate, and play chess when the time calls for it. Those are all the signs of a good coach. I fully expect him to turn it on in the playoffs. I think this team can put up 40 a game when needed, as log as Keke is healthy. Granted, Fuller being hurt screws us over. If Fuller was healthy, we'd easily, easily be able to hang with the Chiefs, in my opinion. No coach is perfect. O'Brien is not. His time management sometimes sucks, which a lot of coaches has that issue. His arrogance with this media is sometimes grating, too. But O'Brien has shown hat he is a great coach. Those complaining that his offenses aren't good enough are simply not taking into account his propensity for going conservative after half.
Defensive red zone per stats are a little mis-leading.... most teams do score something when in the red zone. The better defensive metric would be how many red zone opportunities/game is this defense giving up, or just simply focus on overall points (which also isn't perfect as some points allowed are simply because the offense turned it over deep). Its also not all that illuminating when dealing with 10-12 game sample sizes, and one great game (or one bad game) can change things significantly.
We're in the midst of a 9-game winning streak. I'd argue that everything IS cool. Lots of teams would LOVE to have our "problems" this year. If any other team in the league had a 9-game winning streak, their fans would be enjoying it. But not Texans fans. We're complaining about it. I'm pretty sure Saints fans are complaining about their pass defense this year. What is it with Texans fans? Have we been beat up that bad over the years? Battered Fan Syndrome?
That's like saying Hakeem wasn't really a great player because his defense and post-up game always bailed him out. Why didn't he shoot more 3-pointers??? Every Superbowl team in NFL history has played to it's strengths. Why is this all the sudden a bad thing?
Does it really bother you that much that I'm not as impressed or happy with the team as you are? Reminds me of this meme:
it's because time and time again, BoB fans praise him as the Offense guru and him being a good coach. To me it seems like he's just coasting by on offense and letting defense do the heavy lifting. U wonder y people aren't happy with the HC that is one big reason why. Your basketball analogy isn't great, but here's a gud one for u to understand my point. Mchale literally relied on Harden to carry him into playoffs, is he a great coach? He played to his team's strength "harden", so why all of a sudden it's a bad thing? IT's a bad thing because by heavily relying on one side of the team or one player, they will get burnt out which is pretty important in a high stake game. U think kicking field goals and punting is enough time burnt or points for our defense to properly rest to conserve a lead against team that can easily score 30 points ? That's basically Bob conservative game plan when ahead: stall for time, kick field goal and let defense carry him to victory. That sht may work against inferior team, but against brady and high powered offense our defense gonna get worn out. There are a lot of people who are optimistic that Bob will turn on his offensive mindset for playoffs and will his team to easily score sht ton of points, i on the other hand w/ 4-5 seasons of data on this HC is doubtful.
Yeah, but... Look, this isn't a terribly difficult equation - here are the Texans' opponents during the streak, ranked by their defensive DVOA. 2. DEN: 19 points 3. BUF: 20 5. JAX: 20 7. DAL 19 9. CLE 29 ------------- 11. IND: 37 19. WAS 23 20. TEN 34 22. MIA 42 Hey, whaddya know? Against elite defenses, they struggle to score points (21.4/game v. top 10; 19.5/game if we take out the Browns for the reasons you cited) Outside the top 10? They're averaging 34.0/game. Thirty. Four. Probably just a coincidence........ Fans are so busy twisting themselves into knots trying to disqualify this streak, few realize... more than half of the streak has been against elite defenses, including a third against top 5 defenses (two of which were on the road). BOB has his shortcomings, no question. But I'm choosing to look at this offense as half-full. I believe he's coaching the **** out of a less-than-optimal situation, finding ways to minimize problems while putting up enough points for his elite defense to hold the line. You can certainly blame him for some/all of the issues he's trying to overcome (the OL; lack of playmakers, etc.) But I'd argue this has been his best coaching performance in his five years - *especially* when you factor in his keeping this team in it after a truly disastrous 0-3 start.
It honestly IS his best coaching performance in five years, and the majority of us should be happy that we are on a 9 game winning streak, but I think we aren't just that optimistic with him leading us into the playoffs with that conservative mindset of his. Factor in the OL. lack of playmakers, shtty time management and his tendency to heavily rely on defense instead of being more aggressive at important times it warrants the discontent no? Sure i rather be on a winning team than a losing team, but for some reason BoB playstyle just doesn't inspire great confidence. Bob fans like to tout the stat 30-1 leading halftime which sounds great and all, but it also means our team is 10-35 when he's behind (if my math's correct). That's disgustingly bad.
Does it really bother you that he wonders how ya'll can be so miserable during a 9 game winning streak? after every win a constant stream of I think he just wants you to enjoy the wins a little.
Most teams run the ball and eat up clock when they have a lead. That's Football 101. And some of the best teams in the history of the game have won Superbowls by "letting the defense carry them to victory." How is the defense going to get "worn out" if the offense if running the ball and eating up clock the entire 2nd half? That's exactly why you DO run the ball and eat up clock. To keep your defense from getting worn out. I'm not saying BOB is the greatest coach in the history of the NFL....but I am willing to see what he can do with a good QB for an entire season. Since he's literally never had that in his tenure with the Texans. Do you think that maybe he's not throwing the ball on every single down because he doesn't have to? We have the 3rd best running game in the league. Why would you not milk that? And perhaps he wants to keep Watson from getting killed before the playoffs even start?
I can't speak for others, but I'm not running around tut-tutting people who are celebrating/disagree with me. If someone comes into this thread and tries to spray undue sunshine in defense of BOB, yeah, they get the hose. Otherwise, I'm not bothered by people enjoying the moment. What's curious is that other people are bothered that I'm not enjoying it as much as they are.
When were you ever enjoying "it" in regards to this team? Even back in 2011-12, there were plenty of complainers about how predictable the offense was, how Kubiak struggled to make in game adjustments, how the Wade defense typically did regress as the season (and seasons) went on... They're primarily a running team that is winning games with a sound defense and turning over the ball less than the other team. That has never been sexy in the history of the game... but that formula has won games (as well as Super Bowls) and will continue to do so. I also don't believe anybody on the staff envisioned this sort of approach coming into the season... rather this is the adjustment to the personnel in order to not get Watson killed out there.
Yeah let me be clear on that one - I personally think it's crazy how negative you/people can be with everything. That's my jam.
It doesn't bother me per se. I was just replying to a post on a internet message board - that doesn't mean I'm losing any sleep over it. I do find it curious though. Things on South Kirby have literally never been better. We've had good records before but we've never really had a reason to believe because we've never had a stud QB like we do now. We've been BEGGING for a just a competent QB for 16 years. And now that we finally have one and much more, people are calling for the coach to be fired because we're not throwing the ball enough in the 2nd half during a 9-game winning streak. Just kind of an odd phenomenon, that's all.
What a weird question. I'm guessing your don't remember how I got crucified for being optimistic, defending Kubiak and Schaub, etc, 2007-2012. And not that anyone asked, but since we're prying into people's fandom/motivations here, I've been a Texans PSL holder since 2009. I consider myself a stockholder/investor in this team. When they win, the stock price goes up. Donny happy. Now, would I rather win with a clear trajectory towards a championship rather than just bumbling ass backwards into the W column? Sure.
Funny you would single me out in particular, because I was derided around here for being the consummate apologist and sunshine pumper for years. So, hey, maybe I'm actually pretty fair and balanced when it comes to evaluation of this team? Bonus fun fact: I was super supportive of the BOB hire as well.
Pointing out something that could be better doesn't mean you're not enjoying it. Even the players and the coaches point out their mistakes and faults in a win. The head coach is constantly saying "we haven't done anything yet", this last game he was visibly upset. I don't think people who are pointing out coaching errors or where certain things could be better are necessarily not enjoying it. Obviously everyone enjoys winning more than losing; I think there's still room to do so and still point out areas the team could be better.
That's a hell of a statement to make. I was way more confident in the 2010-13 Texans than I am in this bunch. If you think that the core criticism of BOB boils down to some ticky tack nonsense like that, then well, there's not much for us to discuss here because that isn't the reality of the situation. You're welcome to enjoy the games how you like, and I will do the same. I'm not going to question or criticize you for it.
