Defense 12/2/2012

[thunderkyss]

What are your thoughts on the Texans' defense from Sunday's game. We saw issues against the Jags and again against the Lions. My thoughts were that we didn't have a lot of time to adjust to the personnel that ended up playing those games. We lost key pieces as those games went on & had to make adjustments & get a win at the same time.

It looked ugly, but considering I don't think it was too bad. My contention was to give Wade some time and some consistency in personnel & he'd whip up a batch of lemonade.

I expected him to have his lineup determined before the game then go with the best he had available. I think he one-upped me & actually got everyone involved, probably thinking we're going to need them at some time.

We saw Rudd, Sharpton, & Dobbins (man that guy can lay a hit) all in the ILB rotation. I didn't see Braman get in on the OLB rotation. Too busy watching Whitney & how well he played.

Brandon Harris, I like his energy. You can tell he's excited, wants to play, & wants to make a difference. Roc probably got more time than we thought he would, but overall I'm impressed with him.

Manning may have been an unsung hero Sunday. They didn't call his name much, but he was every where.

I can't wait till we get our starters back. I'm not saying any different. But I feel better now (as opposed to after the Jags & Lions game) about wrapping up the season with the guys Wade has.

What do you think?

[ChampionTexan]

My thoughts on the defense are that considering that 3 of our top 4 CB's were out for some or all of the game, I'm much more concerned about our offense - who other than the opening drive didn't score a TD where the drive started outside the Titans 20 yard line, and only coverted 4 of 17 third down attempts.

Just to clarify, I absolutely believe they can go into New England and play a much much better offensive game than they did yesterday, but I also believe they're gonna have to if they have any hope of beating the Pats.

[TexanSam]

I thought the defense played really well yesterday considering we were out 3 CBs and one more injury away from having to put Posey in the secondary. We were also able to consistently pressure Locker all game, something we hadn't been able to do against the Jags and Lions. 6 turnovers doesn't hurt either.

[Trail.Blazr]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

I can't wait till we get our starters back.

What do you think?

This pretty much sums it up for me. Injuries take an element of greatness out of Wade's playbook/scheme. Every single one. You say you can't wait. I say I hope and pray we will. But, it's the end of the season, and if we can get some luck on the injury front, we should feel good about our bench getting a ton of reps, if we can roll into the post season with most of our starters back, healthy and effective.

[sportfan73]

D looked great for nearly 3 quarters, and that is the point Kubiak's teams always let down a bit.

Manning was in perfect position on the first long pass play, he knocks it away, and we shut their asses down for ~40+ minutes of football in their place.

[dsorc]

3 of the top 4 CBs out for most of the game.
3 of the starting LBs out with the one remaining (Barwin) playing on the opposite side of where he usually is.
And yet we got 6 sacks and 6 takeaways. I know the Titans haven't done well but that's pure genius.

I did see Braman come in at OLB once. It was on the play where we got called for 12 men on the field because Mercilus couldn't get out quickly enough. He stayed at WOLB for a couple of snaps after that. Don't know if he got in on any other series.

[DocBar]

I thought the D looked OK. The score could've been much different if not for turnovers, which you can't rely on. They did a lot of bending, but didn't break. Pretty good job for having so many injuries.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

What are your thoughts on the Texans' defense from Sunday's game. We saw issues against the Jags and again against the Lions. My thoughts were that we didn't have a lot of time to adjust to the personnel that ended up playing those games. We lost key pieces as those games went on & had to make adjustments & get a win at the same time.

It looked ugly, but considering I don't think it was too bad. My contention was to give Wade some time and some consistency in personnel & he'd whip up a batch of lemonade.

I expected him to have his lineup determined before the game then go with the best he had available. I think he one-upped me & actually got everyone involved, probably thinking we're going to need them at some time.

We saw Rudd, Sharpton, & Dobbins (man that guy can lay a hit) all in the ILB rotation. I didn't see Braman get in on the OLB rotation. Too busy watching Whitney & how well he played.

Brandon Harris, I like his energy. You can tell he's excited, wants to play, & wants to make a difference. Roc probably got more time than we thought he would, but overall I'm impressed with him.

Manning may have been an unsung hero Sunday. They didn't call his name much, but he was every where.

I can't wait till we get our starters back. I'm not saying any different. But I feel better now (as opposed to after the Jags & Lions game) about wrapping up the season with the guys Wade has.

What do you think?

I wanted to see some backups get significant playing time and was pleased with Harris intensity as he should be real good next season. On O, I saw with one TD play what I wanted from Jean. This game was satisfying especially with Harris subbing for Newton. I almost fainted when D Brown went out.

[eriadoc]

The rules favor the offense. The old adage "defense wins championships" is less true than it ever was, not that it was ever 100% true anyway. A great defense can hold down the QBs like Sanchez and Gabbert, but like we saw last year against Brees, when an elite QB has the ball with a couple minutes to go and the game on the line, it's now to the point where you expect that QB to deliver more often than not. This year, we have seen elite QBs like Rodgers, Manning, and Stafford (and Henne, LOL) tear up the Texans defense. You can blame injuries, but every team has injuries, and Rodgers faced them pretty close to their best.

If this defense can't find a way to stop guys like Brees, Manning, Brady, and Rodgers (much less Henne and Locker), then the offense has to step up. And I don't mean scoring 24 points against a hapless team like the Titans. I mean put up enough points to bury a team. When the playoffs come around, you only get one shot. There's no fixing it next week, and all these mindless chants of "11-1!!" won't matter.

Don't ignore in victory what you would not ignore in defeat.

[noxiousdog]

They only gave up 10 points and caused 6 turnovers. That's a good day.

[b0ng]

Barrett Ruud started at ILB and it wasn't a complete disaster, I'm actually amazed at that.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by b0ng

Barrett Ruud started at ILB and it wasn't a complete disaster, I'm actually amazed at that.

I thought Ruud played pretty good.

[deucetx]

Nothing stood out to me. Carmichael had some issues but after a bit I noticed his coverage tighten. First time out there with some real playing time so I didn't think much on it. Same goes for Harris who I think was even more tight on his receivers. A little aggressive but as a former corner who had the same issue, I like it.

Only thing that I may have find tiresome is our over reliance on man to man coverage. Brady generally eats that alive unless you get in his face constantly. Then again Wade could be holding back because just imagine if you study film on the Texans and you see man, man, man almost week after week. Think how different things would be for someone who suddenly tried to read our coverage and finds we're in zone.

Or I could be reaching, heh. Wade likes the blitz after all or feels the need to so our pass rush can stay relevant. Great push by our resident ninja though yesterday. Watt was...well...Watt. Dobbins was all over the place and even Rudd looked pretty good.

[SAMURAITEXAN]

I think Wade placed pieces of puzzle back together. With all the key injuries we had on D side, it is amazing to see how our D able to perform at good level. I hope, J Jo comes back soon. I am looking forward to Merci getting more reps and grow with experience.

Go Texans!!!

[Texans_Chick]

Worry about Roc. Not just against the Patriots.

Like Ruud's football IQ. Will be tested next week.

Like Cody back. Keeps line fresher.

The idea that they had to tell Posey to be prepared just in case another guy went down was scary.

Because they are waiting for guys to come back, and there's so many guys that are GTD (gametime decision), the remaining guys will be getting lots of snaps which can also risk injury. The key for the Patriots game is for the Texans to play their sort of game. Ball control. Consistent running. Moving the chains on 3rd down. Not getting behind. They had a ton of penalties the last game, more than their average. They can't do that.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

Worry about Roc. Not just against the Patriots.

Like Ruud's football IQ. Will be tested next week.

Like Cody back. Keeps line fresher.

The idea that they had to tell Posey to be prepared just in case another guy went down was scary.

Because they are waiting for guys to come back, and there's so many guys that are GTD (gametime decision), the remaining guys will be getting lots of snaps which can also risk injury. The key for the Patriots game is for the Texans to play their sort of game. Ball control. Consistent running. Moving the chains on 3rd down. Not getting behind. They had a ton of penalties the last game, more than their average. They can't do that.

And with the health issues what they are on the defense, the offense needs to keep them (& Brady) off the field as much as possible.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

Worry about Roc. Not just against the Patriots.
Like Ruud's football IQ. Will be tested next week.

Like Cody back. Keeps line fresher.

The idea that they had to tell Posey to be prepared just in case another guy went down was scary.

Because they are waiting for guys to come back, and there's so many guys that are GTD (gametime decision), the remaining guys will be getting lots of snaps which can also risk injury. The key for the Patriots game is for the Texans to play their sort of game. Ball control. Consistent running. Moving the chains on 3rd down. Not getting behind. They had a ton of penalties the last game, more than their average. They can't do that.

Can you please give some details on why you would worry about Roc? I thought he looked like a 2nd year guy getting his 1st significant playing time, but not completely horrible.

[Allstar]

Originally Posted by DocBar

Can you please give some details on why you would worry about Roc? I thought he looked like a 2nd year guy getting his 1st significant playing time, but not completely horrible.

Our aspirations deem this description not good enough. We're trying to win a championship.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by Allstar

Our aspirations deem this description not good enough. We're trying to win a championship.

He should only get better with more reps. I'm not saying he's gonna go all JoJo or anything, but I just didn't think he was completely awful against a not very good Titans offense.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by DocBar

He should only get better with more reps. I'm not saying he's gonna go all JoJo or anything, but I just didn't think he was completely awful against a not very good Titans offense.

Right, we're headed down the home stretch. Roc just needs to force difficult throws & challenge a few balls. He just needs to get better so if we need him when the real season starts, he'll be ready & not trying to learn at that time.

NE, Indy, Minny, Indy..... It's not going to be easy, he just needs to play his role on the team.