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The Texans: Woes and Troubles

Discussion in 'Houston Texans' started by Ashes, Oct 29, 2007.

  1. Ashes

    Ashes Member

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    The recent poll got me thinking. What is wrong with this team?

    It's a combination of a lot of things.

    Coaching has been very subpar. The amount of turnovers shows lack of preparation and inexperience. Penalties and turnovers have been the downfall of this team and need to be addressed.

    Injuries. I mean, you can't deny that despite our poor play, if we had been healthy, we would have definitely been better. With a healthy Andre Johnson, healthy Offensive Line, healthy Jerome Mathis, and a healthy Ahman Green, we might have...well, looked like we did our first two games.

    Offensive line. Speaking of that damn O-Line, it is once again the root of our problems. It has shown it's inability to protect the quarterback, but the bigger problem is setting up the run. Dear Lord, if we could run the ball we would be such a promising team. Matt Schaub has great decision making and has shown he can get the ball out quick, but now the guy is getting too pressured, and even the best of quarterbacks will turn the ball over if they are getting hurried and knocked down every play. Watch the Patriots. Brady could grill some burgers in the backfield before throwing he has so much time.

    Secondary. My God is it bad! Big play after big play. Dunta Robinson is alone back there, and while I think we can get by with an average CB, we need a stud Safety. Our safeties have proven to be inept and our defense has been exposed. Our D-Line is great. Young, strong, and even more potential. Our front seven is actually pretty damn good, but with such a weak secondary, the defense falls apart. Give up a big pass, then the run will naturally open up, it's part of football. So without a secondary, our whole defense stalls.

    That whole "Why Wouldn't That Happen to the Texans at This Point" factor. Seriously, watching the Chargers game, I notice that we just cannot catch any breaks. The football gods are not on our side. Perfect example, late fourth quarter, aka garbage time, and the Chargers punt it away. Ball clearly going for the endzone, however, about four inches away from the goal line it turns horizontal and some how takes the ole' friendly bounce and just runs along the side. Are you serious? This team is not meant to win this year.

    Now, as tiring as this is getting for diehard fans, like me, once again I'm stuck wondering what could have been and hoping for the future. What if we were healthy? What if our run game could work? What if our secondary could stop a pass? What if our O-Line could block? All questions that probably add a win or two with each answer. As for the hope for the future, I'm getting tired of it, but I'll give it one more year. I knew in the back of my head there would be struggles this season, I knew somehow we'd probably still be a sub-.500 team, I mean, we are in the hardest division in football. I'm feeling so tired of saying this, but next season is looking more realistic for Texans being good.

    Dunta Robinson is an elite DB. Our front seven is incredibly strong. Kevin Walter, Owen Daniels, and Andre Davis have shown that they can all be legitimate weapons, and I'm anxious to see what happens when Andre Johnson is back. Maybe, just maybe, we'll draft an O-Lineman in the 1st Round. Maybe we'll make a move and get a 2nd to nab another in the 2nd Round. We need too. Then maybe we'll trade for/sign a good safety or two, or maybe a safety and another DB. If we can do that, then big things are in the wait for the Texans.

    But then again, that is beginning to sound redundant. Here's hoping we can bounce back against the Raiders and head into the bye week with a Win. Maybe the season has hope yet. I don't even know anymore.
     
  2. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Contributing Member

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    Draft needs, in order:

    Offensive Line
    Free Safety
    Running Back

    I think they are doing as well as can be expected with the amount of injuries and woeful talent in the three areas I listed above.
     
  3. Ashes

    Ashes Member

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    I agree. The thing is: will the Texans? Or will we draft someone like an OLB or some random defensive piece like we've been doing. We dance around our immediate needs and it has cost us.
     
  4. updawg

    updawg Member

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    I predict another 1st round def lineman
     
  5. Rocketball

    Rocketball Contributing Member

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    Talk about going out on a limb................ :p
     
  6. Achilleus

    Achilleus Member

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    They're getting Andre Johnson and Ahman Green back soon. They've got some easier teams ahead. If Dunta moves his hand a few inches over against the Titans, that receiver drops the ball and the Texans are 4-4 (and don't forget the ridiculous pass interference that costs the Texans four points).

    The Texans will win six out of their last eight games and finish at 9-7.

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  7. Hey Now!

    Hey Now! Contributing Member

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    david carr. no, seriously - i've read a bunch of threads here, and they all said so. as soon as they throw his ass out of town, the pass protection will improve, additional playmakers will emerge, the running game will start moving downhill...

    here's the problem: kubiak inherited a team that was beyond terrible. it lacked talent; it lacked depth. nobody wants to hear this- nor should we have to - but i've been saying this for a while now: you have to readjust your thinking. this is year two of the expansion; not year six. they've turned over so much of the roster that '02-'05 almost doesn't exist in the texans' current configuration. there's no foundation left from that era.

    yes, it's frustrating; yes, there are reasons to be legitimately concerned about some elements (specifically kubiak); yes, we probably all drank a little too much poisoned kool-aid to start the year.

    but keeping the big picture in mind is important. they have so many needs still because of how poorly the team was initially constructed. the OL needs to get healthy and better; they need to find playmakers on offense; and they need to revamp a terrible, terrible - maybe the worst in nfl history - secondary.

    that's a significant part of your team.
     
  8. updawg

    updawg Member

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    don't leave out the d-line
     
  9. Hey Now!

    Hey Now! Contributing Member

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    i think the d-line might very well rank dead last in things we have to worry about with this football team... let me think about that... nope -- andre johnson is dead last; the d-line is just ahead of him.

    rivers threw 11 passes; LDT had a 20-yard run -- otherwise, he totaled 70 yards and no TDs. the chargers as a team averaged less than 4 yards a run. the d-line is playing well, they're just being let down by an increasingly sloppy, ineffective offense and an absolutely terrible secondary. i'm serious - i knew the DBs were bad, but they may very well be one of the worst secondaries i've ever seen. the safeties, specifically, look like they're playing at a level that's two or three ticks below everyone else.
     
  10. msn

    msn Member

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    And now we have it. The D-Line is the new David Carr.

    (not really, but the argument around them is eerily similar!)
     
  11. Major Malcontent

    Major Malcontent Contributing Member

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    Whats the over/under on the amount of gloating Ric is gonna do over the Texans problems being more extensive than just David Carr?

    Cause I wanna put a hundred on the over sight unseen.
     
  12. JeopardE

    JeopardE Contributing Member

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    Sorry guys, I have to agree with Ric. The D-line is the least of our worries with this team. Give them an even moderately competent secondary and you'll see a world of difference. What's the point of containing LT and the running game when you have Faggins watching Gates run a deep route and giving him up to a safety that may or may not be in the same zipcode? And no matter how good your defensive line is, they're going to get worn down when your offensive line can't keep them off the field.
     
  13. msn

    msn Member

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    I agree, too; I was just pointing out the similarity. When life is funny, it's best to laugh with it.
     
  14. DonkeyMagic

    DonkeyMagic Contributing Member
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    i think its kind of hard to attribute t/os to coaching. If a player fumbles the ball, its on him. But there has been some questionable things concerning coaching but i dont put t/os on so much. Schemes and clock management have been suspect in a few games.

    Then again, its hard to scheme when you have next to nothing to work with.

    o-line is really getting exposed recently. They are just getting blown up at the line.

    1) o-line...maybe 2 early picks.
    2) RB.
    3) play making secondary guy. Im looking forward to seeing more of bennett
     
  15. Hey Now!

    Hey Now! Contributing Member

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    there will be some, including no fewer than 143 "it's david carr's fault" posts. but hell, even as recently as LAST WEEK, people were posting about cougars attacking carr as being among the "excuses" we made for him... so, really, any and all gloating has been more or less earned, don'tyathink?

    having said that (tongue mostly in cheek), it's not like i wanted the team to fail; i'm just as bummed (though, probably not as suprised) as anyone else, and would much prefer i was completely and utterly wrong and enduring the requisite negative feedback because at least i'd have a fun, competive football team to fall back on.
     
  16. thegary

    thegary Contributing Member

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    the worst part of this bad team is that they started so well, gave us all some hope, then crushed our dreams of the playoffs with utter ineptitude.
     
  17. JeopardE

    JeopardE Contributing Member

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    It's easy to attribute them to coaching when you're at the bottom of the league and you come out and give up five more, plus more mistakes like a ridiculously botched punt snap and that first Gates touchdown. These guys are not being prepared well enough, and it's obvious.
     
  18. studogg

    studogg Contributing Member

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    just to nitpick this a bit more. I've previously stated that many of the sacks were on Carr. Was I right?

    I've stated that the line would look better with a more competent qb behind the line. Was I right?

    Injuries are part of the game that every team has to deal with, so running behind the McKinney injury excuse I will not do. But sticking with an aging vet with his best years behind him over a young payer who (by the coaches early account) was "outplaying" both ahead of him on the depth chart is something we shouldn't have to deal with.

    The offense this year is much improved over what we saw last year. I didn't want to say it early, because I really like the guy, but I'm starting to believe that Kubiak is not cut out for the HC job.

    Kubiak's poor play calling and the teams unpreparedness (is that even a word?) is forcing Schaub to try and make perfect throws instead of taking what is given to him.
     
  19. Hey Now!

    Hey Now! Contributing Member

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    hard to really know; the fair and accurate statement is that not all the sacks were on the OL.

    uh..... do YOU think the OL looks better? i don't.

    i'm not ready to bury kubiak, either, but this is FAR AND AWAY my biggest gripe with him. they knew well in advance of the '06 draft that DD/W would likely be a no go. they passed on bush and have since thrown dayne, gado and green at the backfield.

    i'm not arguing bush should have been the choice; just that kubiak is demonstrating a frustratingly consistent pattern thus far of marginalizing the need for talented playmakers in his backfield.

    enough with the f-wording systems around here!!
     
  20. No Worries

    No Worries Contributing Member

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    You were not right.

    One might say that our crappy OL our competent QB appears not so much so.
     

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