DEFENSE

Defensive Line: D+
While the line has shown flashes of good play against the run this season, they have failed miserably to pressure the quarterback all year long. Coach Kubiak is never going to come out and say that he’s disappointed with Mario Williams, but he was drafted to sack and pressure the quarterback. In a division with Peyton Manning, that’s what the Texans need badly. He’s done better than his lackluster statistics suggest - but the fact is while he is moving his defender week in and week out - you don’t often see him make a quarterback change his throw, or see him get a hand on the passer. That, and watching him carefully you can see him coming off the ball slowly on a small handful of plays each game.

Rookie Amobi Okoye has four sacks so far this year, and has been a bright spot. That said, he’s a rookie and at times he has played like it this season. He needs to play the run better. Anthony Weaver hasn’t done a whole lot opposite Mario this year, after being a bright spot last season.

Simply put - the defensive line has done little in the way of a pass rush, and that’s unacceptable given the pedigree of the players. Is it coaching? Is it execution? Effort? Nobody knows. If the line can build on some of the success they’ve had against the run in the second half of games - and get to the quarterback - they stand a much better chance of finishing the season with a better record than last year.

Linebacker: C
DeMeco Ryans is all-world. I’ve seen people say he’s having an ‘average’ year, but I don’t see that. He’s had a game or two where he didn’t play his best game, but everyone has games like that. He’s been nails in his second season, and is far and away the brightest spot in the Texans’ linebacker corps. Because of the poor play of the defensive line, the LBs have had to make some plays they normally wouldn’t have to make - and the D-line has certainly made the LBs look bad in some instances where they did not deserve to look bad.

Danny Clark has done a pretty good job as a Texan this season. He earned a spot as a starter and has played well. Shawn Barber and Morlon Greenwood are just a couple of guys who play linebacker. The LBs don’t really have an identity, and though that’s certainly not the most important thing they need to work on - improved play by the D-line will go a long way to improving the linebacker’s grade.

Secondary: D
Dunta Robinson’s continued great play is the only thing keeping this from being an F. DeMarcus Faggins has been burned repeatedly, and the only reason he’s not on the bench is because the guy behind him is a rookie. Soon it may not matter as rookie Fred Bennett has looked good in recent weeks - certainly better than Faggins.

With SS Glenn Earl on Injured Reserve, the safety spots have been up and down. Mostly down. Von Hutchins is having a rough go of it, but C.C. Brown has done a solid job filling in.

Will Demps and Michael Boulware were brought in to add depth to the safety positions - but neither has seen much playing time or made any kind of a positive impact.

The bottom line on the secondary is that there have been way too many blown coverages this season. Of course, some of it is coaching - but grades are grades. If you leave Antonio Gates wide open, there’s no excuse for that. Too many mistakes, too many boneheaded blown coverages.

Another knock on the secondary - the Texans are next-to-last in the NFL with only four interceptions - and one of them was a pick by lineman Travis Johnson.

Special Teams: C
The Special Teams were earning a solid A through the first few games, but my how things have changed. With Jerome Mathis and Jacoby Jones missing time, the return game has become virtually non-existant. Andre Davis hasn’t done well returning kick-offs, and there has been virtually no punt return game whatsoever.

In the kicking department, Kris Brown of course gets a high mark. He’s been nearly perfect, and of course won the Miami game with an unreal 57-yard field goal.

Punter Matt Turk has been a HUGE upgrade. He’s shown an uncanny ability to pin teams deep in their own territory, and he’s been able to boom long bomb punts when the Texans are unable to get out of their side of the field. That said - all that good will went away when he decided to lay down and take a nap in the end zone against San Diego instead of falling on or kicking the ball out of bounds. That was an embarassing moment, and it brought even more shame to the team on a national level.

Coaching: C-
This is a tough thing to grade. Gary Kubiak has copped to some poor play-calling this season, and while that’s true - his good calls have outweighed the bad. That said - one blown play-call in a tight game has a habit of outweighing all the good ones. It’s important to remember that Kubiak is only a second-year head coach. There are kinks that need to be worked out, and there are going to be more growing pains before it’s all said and done. The offense has been up and down this year, and Kubiak hasn’t been able to trust the running game. He’s taken heat for not going for it on 4th and short… those are things that will work out when the run-blocking improves.

The biggest negative knock on the coaching this season is simply that the Texans have not looked ready to play in recent games. When you get blown off the field as they did against Jacksonville, most of the Tennessee game, and the San Diego game - there’s something wrong there. There’s too much parity in the NFL for the Texans to get down that far to those teams. In simple terms - the Texans aren’t that much worse than any of those teams. No team in the NFL is that much worse than any other. Well, you know - except for the Colts and Patriots.

Something that goes hand-in-hand with the team not being prepared to play is the fact that the Texans seem to be getting pushed all over the field. They’ve been physically beaten all over the place. To me that speaks to a team’s effort and desire to win. Kubiak needs to impose his will on this squad, and toughen them up. It’s also up to some of the team’s veteran leadership to make sure the guys next to them are constantly up and ready to play. Perhaps the coaching staff should evaluate players leadership abilities and assign them the task of jumping on players who don’t seem to be 100% focused.

We’ve got a long way to go this season. There are nine games left, and NONE of them are going to be easy. Oakland is by far the worst team left on the schedule. After that, it’s an overstatement to call it ‘Murderer’s Row’, but there’s definitely going to be a lot more tears in Texan-land if they don’t right the ship immediately.

Please visit www.HoustonDiehards.com for much more!

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