Just sayin'....

[patfanken]

I thought I'd wait a couple of days before comi ng back with some post game comments. No fair piling on. Its very hard on fans who have rooted so hard for their team for so long, to have it come to such an abrupt stop. Been part of many such seasons. Only one team gets to have a totally happy fan base. For all Pats fans know, we just might be prolonging the agony....but I'll take it.

1. By and large most Pats fans have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with Texans' fans, both here and on our site. Can't say there is a more fair minded and knowledgeable fan base. It good to discuss actual football issues and get to see things through a set of eyes that have a different bias. Thank you.

2. About the game itself. I think you saw the gap between the 2 teams was less about the respective talent of the 2 teams and more about the coaching and mind set.

Texan fans got to see the affect of how the Patriot Way Works, and its not just about saying the "right thing". After a week of gearing their offense to showcase Woodhead and Gronkowski, the Pats had to quickly adapt when they lost BOTH guys in the first series. Its not just a matter of "the next man up". Its the ability to adjust and adapt on the fly during the chaos of the game.

Not only were the Pats able to reconfigure their offense, but the they had the players who now had to play fully prepared to execute their assignments. Shane Vareen was the offensive star, rarely gets more than 10 snaps a game. He's been a healthy Scratch a couple of times this year. Yet when the moment came for him to have to step up, he was ready. Credit to him, but also credit to the staff that had him ready

3. I can't understand why Wade didn't make more defensive adjustments the 2nd time around. Isn't the definition of insanity - doing the same things over and over, and expecting different results. Wade blitzed the exact same number of times and got pretty much the same results he got the first time.
Can you imagine what the carnage would have been WITH a healthy Gronk? You can no longer do it just one way in the NFL.

You can not longer just rely on JJ Watt to destroy an offensive game plan. He's the best in the league, but even the best can be taken out of a game as you saw after the 2nd series of the game. JJ was a non-factor.

BTW- blame the coaches - its not like you didn't know that the Pats like to run an uptempo no huddle in the red zone, yet there was the same confusion that was there in the first game?

4. You guys have a superb OL, an elite RB, and the most underrated elite WR in the leaue....and your QB doesn't suck either. I think the Texans need to add just 2 things to have a really elite offense next year.

a. 2 additional WR's to help out AJ. Another outside threat and a Welker like slot guy that Shaub can go to quickly, like Brady does with Welker and Hernandez

b. An additional RB, who is a Woodhead/Vareen type. That type of RB would relieve some of the pressure from Foster and force defenses to spread out more. You guys are going to quickly wear Foster out.

5. On defense you need to be more flexible and varied. No defense is prepared to stop today's offenses. Good teams with good offenses have all the advantages. Even the best defenses can't stop a good offense. All they can do is slow them down and confuse them enough so their offense isn't under total pressure.

6. The next step is mental for your team. They have to learn to beat the good teams in tough conditions. Right now you are the AFC version of the Atlanta Falcons, only with a couple of wildcard wins. I have no doubt you will be back in the playoffs next season. So will the Pats. Maybe the story will be different then. We shall see

[Vinny]

Congrats and envy....although I try not to envy and really don't need to outside of the sports world...but since this is just entertainment, I'll just go ahead and envy. What the heck.

Kubiak has a system that he plugs "his kinds of guys" into it. Belichick builds systems around his players talents. I think that's the long and short of it. Thankyou, thankyouverymuch. It's been great!

[BullNation4Life]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Congrats and envy....although I try not to envy and really don't need to outside of the sports world...but since this is just entertainment, I'll just go ahead and envy. What the heck.

Kubiak has a system that he plugs "his kinds of guys" into it. Belichick builds systems around his players talents. I think that's the long and short of it. Thankyou, thankyouverymuch. It's been great!

Kubiak plugs "his kinds of guys" into it = Failure

Belichick builds systems around his players talents= Winner


there is really nothing more to say...

[Kaiser Toro]

Kubiak and Phillips are the anti-adjusters. It is rampant in this organization.

Hit the key performance indicators, and all is good. Bunch of Eunuchs.

[GP]

Originally Posted by BullNation4Life

Kubiak plugs "his kinds of guys" into it = Failure

Belichick builds systems around his players talents= Winner


there is really nothing more to say...

I said this earlier today, as well, just slightly different though:

Gary expects people to buy into HIM.

Other head coaches take what they have, especially at QB, and shape themselves around what would utilize his players' skills/talents the most.

One caveat: I think RGIII was a Snyder pick. And I think Snyder told Shanahan & Co. that they WILL mold the team around RGIII. Why would Shanahan go after RGIII after having been a part of a miserable situation with McNabb?

I see their other QB, Cousins, as being Shanahan's personal choice, btw. That was Snyder's way of letting Shanny have a Shanny-type QB in case Snyder's RGIII experiment went wrong.

Carroll and Harbaugh strike me as being two head coaches who personally went after a more mobile QB and wanted to try this thing themselves, rather than what I think happened in Washington with Shanahan/Snyder.

[dream_team]

I totally agree with patfanken that the coaching failed big time in three areas:

1) Failure to adjust, on both sides of the ball, from their first game. Kubiak still tried to run the ball right at Wilfork, which didn't work again. And Phillips still tried to blitz like crazy, which didn't work.

2) Defense was not ready for the quick snap. This is just totally mind-boggling. Everyone know the Pats like to do this, they did it to them in the first game... but they still weren't prepared.

3) No in-game adjustments, on both sides of the ball. Pats saw a big mis-match when they lined up their RB as a receiver (we'd cover him with an ILB). Pats kept doing that until we adjusted, but we never did!? On offense, we were quite successful when we spread their defense out. I do not understand why we didn't do that more, especially if we're in comeback mode.

At the same time patfanken, football is alot easier if you have an all-world QB. If we switched Schaub & Brady around, I would think we're giving you tips of where the Pats went wrong.

[BullNation4Life]

Originally Posted by dream_team

2) Defense was not ready for the quick snap. This is just totally mind-boggling. Everyone know the Pats like to do this, they did it to them in the first game... but they still weren't prepared.

This was simply inexcusable...How in a blue monkey's bong hole do you NOT come prepared for that AFTER you just got dealt with the same way 6 weeks ago?

Is that on the players or the coaches? Myself, a little of both...

[SheTexan]

IMHO, a Pats fan sums it up perfectly!! THANKS! I'll leave it up to the talking keyboards to "debate" the issues, but, your #2 hit the nail on the head, as far as I'm concerned. Kubiak has never been good at in-game adjustments, nor preparing his team for something other than his basic game plan! Sad for everyone, esp a talented, hard working bunch of guys who lay it all out for him. JMO!!

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by patfanken

I thought I'd wait a couple of days before comi ng back with some post game comments. No fair piling on. Its very hard on fans who have rooted so hard for their team for so long, to have it come to such an abrupt stop. Been part of many such seasons. Only one team gets to have a totally happy fan base. For all Pats fans know, we just might be prolonging the agony....but I'll take it.

I hate you and Steve and every other Pats fan because you're Pats fans. In all other ways, most of y'all seem pretty cool. I hope you lose next week.

[Fred]

Pretty good analysis of the Texans - too calm to be a Texans fan! My comments in blue.

Originally Posted by patfanken

I thought I'd wait a couple of days before comi ng back with some post game comments. No fair piling on. Its very hard on fans who have rooted so hard for their team for so long, to have it come to such an abrupt stop. Been part of many such seasons. Only one team gets to have a totally happy fan base. For all Pats fans know, we just might be prolonging the agony....but I'll take it.

1. By and large most Pats fans have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with Texans' fans, both here and on our site. Can't say there is a more fair minded and knowledgeable fan base. It good to discuss actual football issues and get to see things through a set of eyes that have a different bias. Thank you. Maybe we are fair minded and knowledgeable about other teams. Most of our folks are whacked out about the Texans still.

2. About the game itself. I think you saw the gap between the 2 teams was less about the respective talent of the 2 teams and more about the coaching and mind set. You are going to have a hard time getting an argument about that.

Texan fans got to see the affect of how the Patriot Way Works, and its not just about saying the "right thing". After a week of gearing their offense to showcase Woodhead and Gronkowski, the Pats had to quickly adapt when they lost BOTH guys in the first series. Its not just a matter of "the next man up". Its the ability to adjust and adapt on the fly during the chaos of the game. Texans don't do in game adjustments. Not even in season adjustments for that matter.

Not only were the Pats able to reconfigure their offense, but the they had the players who now had to play fully prepared to execute their assignments. Shane Vareen was the offensive star, rarely gets more than 10 snaps a game. He's been a healthy Scratch a couple of times this year. Yet when the moment came for him to have to step up, he was ready. Credit to him, but also credit to the staff that had him ready

3. I can't understand why Wade didn't make more defensive adjustments the 2nd time around. Isn't the definition of insanity - doing the same things over and over, and expecting different results. Wade blitzed the exact same number of times and got pretty much the same results he got the first time.
Can you imagine what the carnage would have been WITH a healthy Gronk? You can no longer do it just one way in the NFL. Ibid.

You can not longer just rely on JJ Watt to destroy an offensive game plan. He's the best in the league, but even the best can be taken out of a game as you saw after the 2nd series of the game. JJ was a non-factor.

BTW- blame the coaches - its not like you didn't know that the Pats like to run an uptempo no huddle in the red zone, yet there was the same confusion that was there in the first game? Ibid.


4. You guys have a superb OL, an elite RB, and the most underrated elite WR in the leaue....and your QB doesn't suck either. I think the Texans need to add just 2 things to have a really elite offense next year.

a. 2 additional WR's to help out AJ. Another outside threat and a Welker like slot guy that Shaub can go to quickly, like Brady does with Welker and Hernandez

b. An additional RB, who is a Woodhead/Vareen type. That type of RB would relieve some of the pressure from Foster and force defenses to spread out more. You guys are going to quickly wear Foster out. At the start of the season we had Tate and Forsett. They must have keeled over dead months ago.

5. On defense you need to be more flexible and varied. No defense is prepared to stop today's offenses. Good teams with good offenses have all the advantages. Even the best defenses can't stop a good offense. All they can do is slow them down and confuse them enough so their offense isn't under total pressure.

6. The next step is mental for your team. They have to learn to beat the good teams in tough conditions. Right now you are the AFC version of the Atlanta Falcons, only with a couple of wildcard wins. I have no doubt you will be back in the playoffs next season. So will the Pats. Maybe the story will be different then. We shall see

Of course 98% of us are rooting against the Pats since you are the evil empire. Or maybe it would be more fun for the Pats to win this week, then lose the Super Bowl. So, thanks for stopping by, but I can't say good luck!

[Jules Winnfield]

kept running right at vince wilfork when wilfork is arguably the greatest DT in the game. stupid.

just sayin.

the fact that they knew they were running no huddle yet they were so inept and totally unprepared for it was just straight stupid.

just sayin.


kept on throwing screen passes despite it not working. stupid.

just sayin.


never used ben tate, keyshawn martin, or jean.

just sayin.


3rd and short. pass. 4th and short. pass. stupid.

just sayin.

[dc_txtech]

Thanks for giving us 24 hours, that shows class. Thanks for stopping by and look forward to having you back.

[Corrosion]

I think Gary summed it up best - It only ends well for one team.



Just sucks it cant be our team every year.

[HJam72]

This franchise is 11 years old. I'm happy with it at this juncture, but it's time to realize that the next step is beyond Schaub....and it is most definitely beyond Kevin Walter.