Offseason Questions

So we just finished the 2011 season with the Giants beating the Patriots… again.  The Texans are coming off the best season in franchise history with their first division title, first playoff appearance, and first playoff win.  Here comes the offseason and with it a lot of questions about what’s next, who stays, who goes, and how do we build on it for a deeper run next year. 

The biggest question for the Texans in the offseason is what to do with Mario Williams.  On hand I say, you have to let him go.  Brooks Reed obviously showed he can play the position at a high level and the defense looked spectacular after Mario left.  But if you really start to look at it, the Texans started their season against some of the best offenses in the league, playing New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Oakland (Oakland was a top 5 offense when we played them).  After Mario got hurt the schedule turned easier and we played teams like Jacksonville, Cleveland, and Tampa. It was in this stretch that the defense became one of the best in the league. Now that stood up later against playoff teams Atlanta, Cincy, and Baltimore. But the fact is the defense was at its best without Mario.

Another school of thought, is that anyone can run behind our offensive line.  We almost had 2 thousand yard backs this year, and Derrick Ward looked dynamite behind this line in 2010.  It has been suggested that maybe they pay Mario and let Foster go. This team has often been called Denver South as its coaching crew and offensive philosophy have been taken from the late 90’s early 2000’s Denver Broncos.  Denver NEVER held onto great backs.  Clinton Portis had back to back 1500 yard seasons in 02-03 and after 2 years it was obvious he was up for a big contract and the Broncos shipped him out.  He hasn’t touched that same level of success since.   The Broncos though continued to be a powerhouse rushing team until 2008 which was the first time in a decade they hadn’t been in the top 10 in rushing.  The Shanahan/Kubiak philosophy is that a great running game is born out of a great blocking scheme, not great runners.

If it were up to me, and thank goodness it’s not, I would probably say pass rush is harder to duplicate than a running game. That said, I worry that Mario only plays half speed sometimes, and he’s ALWAYS hurt.  He’s a warrior and plays through injury almost always, but his effectiveness suffers tremendously.  But when he gets that next big deal, will he still take some plays off or will he be the monster we know he can be?  Conversely, I think Arian is replaceable.  I think had Ben Tate had the lion share of the carries he would have broken 1200 yds.  Now he’s not the receiver out of the backfield that Arian is but Arian is going to command max type money next year and we still have Tate on his rookie deal for 2 more years. 

To tell you the truth… the player they need to lock up the most this offseason is Chris Myers.  He is the anchor of the best O line in football and is key to making this zone blocking scheme effective.  He played in the Pro Bowl this year and should have been an All-Pro so he’s not going to be cheap, but at minimum they should franchise him if not locking him up in a long term deal.

I’m glad I’m not Rick Smith or Bob McNair (well I guess I wouldn’t mind being Bob McNair).  These are hard decision and will undoubtedly affect the future of this franchise.  I’d hate to let Mario go and see him in Tennessee or Jacksonville.  Or imagine the Colts with Andrew Luck, Arian Foster, and Reggie Wayne!!  What needs will we address in the draft?  How many more years can we expect to keep Wade Phillips?  The future of the Texans may be one of the brightest in the NFL but there is a lot of uncertainty right now. 

Not So Happy Ending

 

The best season in Texans franchise history came to a crashing end on Sunday at the hands of Ed Reed and the Baltimore defense.  Looking at the statistics after the game just makes me cringe.  The Texans dominated this game defensively! But when the offense and special teams gives the ball away 4 times even this masterful defensive performance goes to waste.   After the 3^rd interception of the day the Texans defense again stood strong and got the ball back for the TJ Yates and the Texans offense one last time.  With a shot at tying the game, Yates’ pass found no Texan and fell restlessly to the ground.

When you look at the box score, you think the Texans won.  The Texans D held the Ravens to 227 total yards, 87 rushing yards and a scant 2.8 yards per carry.  Andre Johnson had an Andre Johnson type performance with 8 catches for 111 yards and Arian Foster went for 27 carries and 132 yards and a TD. The best offensive line in football gave up 0 sacks to the team that led the NFL in sacks, and our defense got 5 sacks against the Ravens and held Flacco to under 50% passing. JJ Watt had one of his most dominating performances as a pro with 12 tackles and 2.5 sacks.  Almost everyone on the Texans played well enough to win. 

I said almost everyone.  There were two notable exceptions.  TJ Yates looked like a rookie going against a great defense.  All three of his interceptions were off of bad decisions. TJ got locked on to Andre Johnson and couldn’t seem to get to the next receiver in his progression. The one that killed the game though was at the end of what should have been the game tying drive. Reed grabbed his 8^th career post season interception at the 4 yd line and ended a drive that could have vaulted Andre Johnson into post season lore.

The other obvious notable exception was Jacoby Jones. It hurts right now just to say his name.  A friend texted me during the game and said that Jacoby didn’t deserve his own initials as he was the anti JJ Watt of this game.  Jones had no catches in the game and averaged .7 yards per return. To be clear that is 0.7 yards not 7 yards.  His fumble in the first quarter flipped the script on the game after a great kickoff return by Danieal Manning and a quick 3 and out by the Texans defense. If he doesn’t get cut on the plane ride home, I may turn on Kubiak.  I don’t care how much money they gave him, he’s not worth it.  1 punt returned for a TD a year isn’t worth all the fumbles and the consistent lack of production. In Andre’s absence this year he was downright horrible. I don’t want to say the Jacoby is the reason we lost but my buddy did say if Jacoby’s dad had just pulled out… the game would have at least gone to overtime. Just sayin…

My Playoff Experience

Sorry for the long layoff.  I am just getting my voice back, literally and metaphorically.  So what happened while I was gone?  The Texans finally won a game I hear!  And what an experience!  I snagged some tickets the day before because I figured I share my experience with you.

I was at work on Friday when a coworker was perusing StubHub and said there were tickets that were under $100.  I said I didn’t believe him and when I saw it for myself I decided to give the wife a call to get the go ahead. (Yes, she controls the wallet).  She knew there was no way I was going to miss this so she acquiesced with little fight. I secretly think she really wanted to go too! We also snagged a parking pass from a good friend of mine who manages Reliant Park. So were set, tickets, parking pass and a voice to lay in sacrifice on the football altar.

We met up with a buddy of mine in the Blue Lot and had one hell of a tailgate.  The BBQ was great, the beer was flowing, and the anticipation was building.  I have to admit, I had been anxious all day about the game and walking up to the stadium I was so nervous for the Texans.  Could they beat this team again after a less than stellar performance the first time around?

We go into the stadium about 15 minutes before kickoff and it was as packed as I’ve ever seen before kickoff.  The atmosphere was already buzzing and when the starting lineups were announced it felt as if the roof might blow off.  Then the entire visitors side of the lower bowl became on big “GO TEXANS” billboard and at the moment the crowd just erupted!!  It was amazing! 

I was really looking forward to the first big 3^rd down to see how loud the crowd would get and the fans didn’t disappoint, it was near deafening.  I could barely hear myself screaming, as my yells of excitement just seemed to fall in line with the rest and commenced an attack on the Bengals offensive eardrums.  It would get much louder though… much!

Much of the first half was a defensive battle and the Texans had far from asserted dominance.  But when J.J. Watt grabbed that ball out of the air and started running the place went crazy.  I spilled half the beer in my cup, as I was jumping around like an idiot screaming “Oh my god!, Oh my god!, Oh my god!!!!”.  The Houston Chronicle reported that the sound was measured on the field at 110 decibels, which is the equivalent to listening to a power saw at 3 feet.  I tell you what, there was a power saw on that field in the second half as the Texans completely dominated the Bengals from the halfway mark.  And let me say this, I was so happy and so proud to be have been a Texans fan for so long when I saw Andre juke Pacman out of his shoes and scored his first playoff touchdown! He did a Lambeau Leap that he’s been holding for a long time!

 I tweeted after the game that I spent $105 on the tickets and it was totally effing worth it.  It was. It was worth every dollar.  Not sure if I can afford tickets should fate bring the Texans back home in two weeks, but we’ll cross that bridge if we get to it.  The Texans are 1-0 last week and hopefully they can find a way to go 1-0 this week.  For now, I'm going to check out this Bama-LSU rematch.  Talk to y'all soon.

Pro Bowl Snubs!

So the Pro Bowl selections were announced yesterday and, of course like a typical Houston fan, I’m upset about the apparent lack of respect for the Houston Texans.  I know that Pro Bowls are much more about star power than actual performance and no one outside of the beltway has heard of players like Conner Barwin or Chris Myers.  Two Texans did make the initial roster and nine Texans were named as alternates.  Arian Foster will be making his second consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl and Johnathan Joseph gets the call for the first time. But on a team with the best offensive line in football and the 2^nd best defense to have only 2 Pro bowlers is a slap in the face if you ask me, and neither of which will be starters.

The fact that the Texans have no Pro Bowlers on arguably the best offensive line in football is possibly the biggest Pro Bowl snub in the league. LT Duane Brown gave up zero sacks and had only 2 penalties all year.  A left tackle gave up ZERO sacks! Think about that for a second.  Profootballfocus.com said Chris Myers at center was easiest selection of all the AFC players and that no one was even close.   Yet the Jets have 2 Pro Bowlers on their offensive line that wasn’t even close to the Texans.  700 less rushing yds and  8 more sacks given up than the Texans.  The Texans sack numbers are also a bit inflated too due to the addition of a rookie QB.

The other big snub for the Texans is Brian Cushing.  Ray Lewis gets voted in off sheer reputation.  He’s missed 4 games this year and his stats don’t stack up well against Cushing.  Every Pro Bowl projection I’ve seen had shown Cushing and Derrick Johnson as the starters.  Cushing has played lights out this year with impact plays all over the field. He has 110 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles.  Many of the pundits have said today that Cushing may have been affected by his previous PED suspension 2 years ago. But to that I say what about Ray Lewis? He was allegedly picked up at the border trying to sneak out of the country in a car trunk after he was implicated in a murder!  I guess that makes Ray Lewis a scary bad ass and Cushing a cheater?

I think that Conner Barwin is deserving of a Pro Bowl selection, but again, ask someone in New York or LA who Conner Barwin is and most likely you’ll hear something like “huh?” or “who?”.  Plus Barwin gets penalized for being an OLB on a 3-4 defense.  If it were a 4-3 he would likely play DE in which he would have most certainly made the Pro Bowl… I hope.  Considering that he had 11.5 sacks compared to Dwight Freeney’s pathetic 7.5 sacks and 18 total tackles.  The fact that Freeney gets a Pro Bowl start with JAG numbers off of the worst team in football and one of the worst defenses in the NFL is downright outrageous! It’s not like he didn’t have his chances either.  The Colts defense was on the field longer than any in the league and they were 3^rd from the bottom in plays allowed.

I always tell fans that are angry about lack of Texans coverage from ESPN or NFL network that respect is earned and the fact that they are not getting it just means they have to work harder.  The Texans have done well this year in the underdog role and have responded to adversity at seemingly every turn. Hopefully the Texans will post this one on the bulletin board and try to prove themselves to their doubters, again.

Kubiak needs to let Yates play

I am going to apologize in advance for what I’m about to say.  I’m not even sure I believe any of it but I have to let off some steam or my head is going to blow up! I was literally throwing things and breaking things last night I was so livid!  If you want to be considered a legitimate playoff team, you cannot lose to a 1 win team.  Under no circumstances can you lose to a 1 win team. Bad officiating or not, I repeat, you cannot lose to a 1 win team!!!

The officiating was awful!  Terrible!!  It was near scandalous.  The two main penalties that most fans are complaining about are the two separate roughing the passer calls that were so bad even Colts fans had to be scratching their heads.  It just seemed every time the Texans made a play on defense they were getting flagged.  And it wasn’t just the calls against the Texans, it was the non calls against the Colts. Mathis slapped TJ in the head on one of the sacks and on another TJ got popped in the head helmet to helmet. If you are going to call that weak ass penalty, you HAVE to call it both ways!!

That said, there is so much blame to go around, singling out bad officiating would be almost unfair. You won’t beat many teams if you don’t convert a single 3^rd down until late in the 4^th quarter.  And that one was a fluke!  1 for 10 on 3^rd down against a 1 win team is inexcusable!! Utterly inexcusable!!!  Many people are putting this loss on TJ today, but TJ wasn’t the problem.  He only had 3 incompletions and one of those was a hail mary. The problem is Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison.  They have absolutely no faith in TJ and its obvious! Last week TJ only threw the ball deep down field 3 times, this week only twice, and again one of those was a last second hail mary.

If you won’t even attempt to stretch the field then you have to operate with 8-9 in the box every down.  Credit Arian for still being very productive in that environment but against a good Jets or the Steelers defense it won’t work!! Yes TJ played a bad game against Carolina, but he’s a rookie!  He is going to make mistakes but that’s part of the learning process. If you won’t let him get some confidence with those downfield throws now against a team like Indy, then when are you planning on doing it?  When we’re down by 21 to Pittsburg in the playoffs?  Yates showed he can play well against a good defense, if you let him.  So let him!! The 1^st round bye is gone.  Stop being so damn conservative!   I thought that would make me feel better but I’m still so pissed today! Inexcusable!!

Wake Up Call or Exposed

The Texans hadn’t lost a game since mid October. They showed last week they could go on the road, get punched in the mouth, and respond with a spectacular come from behind win. Well this week they punched in the mouth again, hard.  They tried to respond after halftime but Cam Newton and the Panthers laid the knockout blow with a 7 play, 80 yd, 4th quarter drive that put the game essentially out of reach.

On one hand the Texans, as they have all year, had the cards stacked against them in this game. This was a classic trap game after a super emotional comeback win that claimed the first ever playoff spot for the franchise. The assistant coach of the year who has turned this defense from worst to first wasn’t available for his signature half time adjustments after a mid week medical procedure.  The best offensive threat on the roster was sitting on the bench AGAIN for the 8th time this season.  And the best weapons we had left combined for a pretty poor performance offensively.  Not to mention Ron Rivera was running trick plays from the kid’s movie “Little Giants”.  All of this combined with the fact that the team has been getting patted on the back ALL week may have set this team up for a letdown. And maybe a much needed wake up call.

On the other hand, this isn’t the first time the Texans offense has struggled under Yates. I know we all, including myself, had him up on a huge pedestal after the Atlanta win and especially after the Cincinnati win, but he looked like a rookie on Sunday in ways he hasn’t the 3 previous games.  He seemed to always be going straight to the check down receiver rather than looking to move the ball downfield.  Only 3 of Yates 19 completions were long throws over 10 yards.  He didn’t complete his first long throw until the 4th quarter with the game almost out of reach.  Both of the interceptions were caused by bad decisions, especially the one in the end zone.  Yates tried to squeeze a ball into Jacoby with triple coverage because, as the TV analyst put it, he saw the flash of color he was looking for. He obviously failed to see the 3 defenders surrounding Jones. For all you Schaub haters out there ready to hand the keys to Yates, this was the 5th best offense in the league under Schaub scoring 27 points per game, now with the 3rd stringer Yates, were down to 17 points per game and 19th in total offense over the last 4 games.

Let’s not put this all on Yates though. There’s plenty of blame to go around for this bad performance.  Arian fumbled and gave Cam a short field, the defense failed to secure a much needed turnover, and let’s be honest, the defense laid an egg in the first half. 3 out of 5 drives in the first half netted TDs for the Panthers.  The defense got caught sleeping on trick play and our linebackers had no answer for Cam when he got outside the pocket and ran. Interim Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring seemingly made great adjustments at half time but after the 3rd quarter we couldn’t stop Cam Newton and the 5th ranked offense in the NFL.

Now I ask you, should we as Texans fans write this off as a bad game and expect the Texans take it as a wake up call, or should we be worried that maybe the Panthers exposed a weakness that will limit us against the higher competition we’ll see in the post season. Antonio Smith said today that this is going to be the fuel they need.  I hope so…

Can Yates be "Legendary"?

The Houston Texans trailed the Cincinnati Bengals on the road by two scores with less than 12 minutes left in the game. The Texans running game wasn’t providing its rookie QB the protection it normally does and the defense wasn’t getting to the Bengals QB like the Bengals were getting to ours.  After he fumbled the ball away on 4^th down early in the fourth quarter, most 3^rd string rookie QB’s would have folded up the tent and gone home, but Texans rookie QB TJ Yates, with his parents watching from the nosebleed seats,  put on his big boy pants, put the team on his back and won Houston is first division crown in team history.

Yates was near legendary on the final game winning drive.  Watching him pull it off with the poise and precision of a grisly veteran I couldn’t help but be reminded that the guy on the sidelines calling the plays witnessed, first hand, another QB define the “game winning drive” 25 years earlier. Before you have me committed for comparing Yates to Hall of Famer John Elway, hear me out.  Yates game winning drive had a lot of similarities to “The Drive” by John Elway in the 1986 AFC Title game.

Elway was backed up on his 2 and Yates got it at his 20 but Elway had over 5 minutes to play and Yates had only 2:33 and no timeouts.  Elway dinked and dunked down the field until he had a huge 20 yd completion to Mark Jackson.  Yates completed a few short passes until he hit Kevin Walter on a long pass over the middle.  Both QB’s took sacks in the drive, and both QBs had to scramble for long first downs but neither saw a 4^th down during the drive. Yates went 5-9 (not including spikes) and Elway went 6-9.  Both QB’s finished off the drive with a TD pass to the same receiver that made the big catch to get them in position to win it.

Now Elway’s legendary drive was in the playoffs and won the Broncos an AFC Title while Yates’ drive only won a regular season Division Title.  So before we anoint Yates the second coming (Tebow already has that title by the way), let’s see what the kid can do in the playoffs.  He will still have chance to prove he’s the real deal against NFL legends like James Harrison and Troy Palamalu, or Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs.  Just remember no rookie QB has ever started a Super Bowl so Yates will have to succeed where so many others have failed.  But then again this team is doing all sorts of things that are “impossible” so, not to be too cheesy but, who knows where this magical run will end?

Notes:

Texans reclaimed the top defense spot after allowing only 111 yards and 3 points in the second half including -1 yards for RB Cedric Benson.

Texans sustain more injuries losing KR Sherrick McMannis for the year with an ankle injury and G Mike Brisiel for 3 to 4 games with a broken leg.