Besides Watt, D-line simply just not getting done this year

[noxiousdog]

Originally Posted by Vinny

With Cushing out the two best players in this front7 are 3-4 DE's (Watt and Smith). With no edge rush its hard to beat great passing offenses.

Concur. I watched every passing down of the Jets game on coaches film and Barwin was awful. Absolutely completely manhandled every play. Furgeson just threw him on the ground repeatedly.


Tonight didn't look all that different.

I guess the good news is he's not going to hurt the salary cap.

[76Texan]

Wade Phillips sucks!

[dream_team]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Wade Phillips sucks!

Haha... I was waiting for that! I know you're just joking, but I'm surprised Wade hasn't been getting bashed in here like he should be. IMO, the defense played worse than the offense.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by dream_team

Haha... I was waiting for that! I know you're just joking, but I'm surprised Wade hasn't been getting bashed in here like he should be. IMO, the defense played worse than the offense.

I'm only half joking!

Who drafted Mercilus?

Who is responsible for how many snaps a player get?

Who is responsible to ramp up the outside pass rush?

[thunderkyss]

I'm just going to say last year we had a guy for the first five weeks of the season who could rush the passer from the outside. Though we don't like to give him a lot of credit, because it didn't "look" like he gave 100% effort on every play, everyone across the DL (with the exception of Cody) was getting to the QB.

Even the reserves like Brooks Reed & Tim Jamison had a sack or a few QB pressures by this time last year. When that guy was in the game, we didn't have to rush the ILBs, they focused on stopping the run. We didn't have to blitz our DBs, they focused on defending the pass.

When that guy went out, we started blitzing the ILB, then our DBs. That guy had led the team in sacks for 6 weeks after he left due to injuries.

When that guy left via free agency, outside pass rusher became our #1 priority in the offseason. We drafted one guy.

But we had a third year player who looked like the pass rusher we needed, Connor Barwin. However, he only had one good year, after being hurt week 1 of his sophomore year. Could we trust him to come back & do it again? Be productive in his 4th season? A contract year?

We also had two phenominal rookies, Jj Watt & Brooks Reed. Would the sophomore slump catch up to these guys? Jj Watt...... not yet. Brooks? He's shown flashes.

But yes, our biggest problem this year is our pass rush. We simply do not appear to have enough talent among the front four to consistently pressure QBs with average or better OLs.

Time to panic?

I don't think so. Why? Wade.

Up until today, our guys have been learning the theory. You could tell, watching as they tried to rotate on the back end through various blitz packages. Tomorrow, they're going to look at the film, they're going to match that theory with the practical lessons they learned today. They'll have a good week of practice. It won't be perfect next week. But by the time December & January comes around..... I'm getting excited, thinking about it.

[Luv_ya_blue]

Originally Posted by Wolf

I thought he had an open hand And did three quick taps when I saw it. I could have been wrong

Completely irrelevant.
Rule book says "throwing a punch" can happen with either a closed fist or open palm. Throwing hands in any capacity is illegal.

[Honoring Earl 34]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Indeed but one of them is getting a lot of chances to make his number go up while the other two are not. I'd kind of like to see Mercilus play more too. It's not like Conner is having a repeat of his 2011 campaign. He's actually looking a lot more like he did in 2010 when he was on the sideline hurt. At least in terms of sacks.

The bad thing is Seattle sacked Rogers 7 times in the 1st half . Chris Clemons had 4 sacks for the game .

On a sidenote ... Barwin is costing himself a bunch of money .

[TimeKiller]

One big thing I'm having trouble with is with Cushing done, with the most used 5th pass rushing option done, why are they trying to fill in THAT with GQ??? I mean, Quin can bring the hammer but that's as a safety. Trying to stick him in at LB is basically screaming "RUN THE BALL AT ME!" He'll get eaten alive by any OL, giving up probably at least 100 pounds to every starter in the league.

Anyway, my point is since Cushing is out, you don't have to replace him with a guy standing in the middle. It could very well be Mercilus that picks up that pass rushing slack, at a completely different position.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

One big thing I'm having trouble with is with Cushing done, with the most used 5th pass rushing option done, why are they trying to fill in THAT with GQ??? I mean, Quin can bring the hammer but that's as a safety. Trying to stick him in at LB is basically screaming "RUN THE BALL AT ME!" He'll get eaten alive by any OL, giving up probably at least 100 pounds to every starter in the league.

Anyway, my point is since Cushing is out, you don't have to replace him with a guy standing in the middle. It could very well be Mercilus that picks up that pass rushing slack, at a completely different position.

Looked like to me Quinn was playing about the same role he's been playing since last year when we go nickel and dime.

[SwoLy-D]

It was a stellar offensive line for which we did not have an answer. That was the difference between this and the previous games. They are that much smarter than our DEs and nose tackles. :o The previous OLs did not know how to handle our 3-4'ish rush.

Better yet, Watt was being doubled and whoever was left 1 on 1 with Barwin and the OLB who played the edge were better than our line.

[Vinny]

didn't read the thread, but I think the dline is playing well...the LB's are another story.

[Scooter]

our OLB's seem to be causing more trouble for our own guys than the opponents'. too many times i'll see them push wide and then stunt nowhere - effectively leading their blocker into the DE for a double team while the OLB does nothing.

[Grams]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Wade Phillips sucks!

Think he needs to spend more time on worrying about being the DC for the Texans than what Head Coaching job he can get next year.

This defense is no where near what the defense was last year. We have 1 guy that can actually get to the QB. When he was being blocked by 3 OL - where was the rest of the DL?????

The defense should have had a field day against GB. We made then look real good last night.

We did not look good against the Jets either. If we cannot come back and crush the Ravens, we will be lucky to finish 8-8.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by Rey

Looked like to me Quinn was playing about the same role he's been playing since last year when we go nickel and dime.

Then maybe it was Cushing next to him allowing that to be a succesful package, but Bradie James and GQ aren't enough to handle run stopping in ANY package, let alone one without a true NT.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Then maybe it was Cushing next to him allowing that to be a succesful package, but Bradie James and GQ aren't enough to handle run stopping in ANY package, let alone one without a true NT.

Against a single-back, 3 WR set, every team in the league counter with the same defensive personnel like we did.

They'd be in nickel or dime, depending on down and distance and how the DC likes to go about it on certain "special" occasion.

[Double Barrel]

The "bulls on parade" defense looked more like "fools on charades" last night. Massive hole where Cushing used to be - get used to it - and weak sauce pressure from the ends put our coverage in a position to get burned all night. The Texans did get to make history last night. 6 TD passes are now a Green Bay record. Yeah, that's nice.

[76Texan]

Can a player win Defensive Player of the week after a loss?

"After a pair of sacks on Sunday night in the loss to Green Bay, defensive end J.J. Watt regained the NFL’s sack lead with nine. Throw in four tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries, and Watt filled in the stat sheet once again in 2012."

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/ar...2-aa4d271a7541

The guy is just a monster.
I salute, you, Mr. Watt!

[GuerillaBlack]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

The "bulls on parade" defense looked more like "fools on charades" last night. Massive hole where Cushing used to be - get used to it - and weak sauce pressure from the ends put our coverage in a position to get burned all night. The Texans did get to make history last night. 6 TD passes are now a Green Bay record. Yeah, that's nice.

I'm just hoping that Ruud will be better.

[stingray]

Amazing what a pass rush does for your team. This team is almost unbeatable when they have their pass rush going.

[PandapuffTexan]

idk they looked pretty good agaisnt the ravens..