This team's in trouble

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by Thorn

I'll tell you this, it's a lot more fun arguing about this years Texans than the arguments we used to get in just a few short years ago.

Hell yeah!

[fiasco west]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Not true. If they would have come out today and played like they did against BAL earlier in the season, I think a lot of people, myself included, would have their postseason concerns lessened. They did not do that. You're right that they won without their best game, and that is good. So they're winning the games they should win. But can they win the games they need to win? I see no signs that lead to that conclusion.

They needed to win this game.

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by fiasco west

They needed to win this game.

Referring to the playoffs, where there is no next week. But hey, point taken.

[2slik4u]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Well, not every facet. They won the game, so that's the one stat that matters. Aside from that, I agree with you.



That's the crux of the matter. What signs have we seen that give us reason to think they'll be fixed? I think we're all pinning our hopes on HFA throughout, which is great, but I still see too many tendencies that lead me to believe if a team jumps out to an early lead, Kubiak has no answer.



Oh, I agree. I'm just looking for signs, is all.



Ehh, maybe. But I tend to think this team is in trouble if they face off against the Pats or Broncos in the playoffs. And that seems almost inevitable, doesn't it?

Our team is 12-2, tied for the best record in the NFL.

We have the best record in the AFC.

We have just clinched our division.

We currently hold the #1 seed two weeks from the playoffs.

Ipso facto, this thread is a joke.

And for the record, I can't wait to face NE again in the playoffs. What happened last week will not happen again.

[fiasco west]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Referring to the playoffs, where there is no next week. But hey, point taken.

Yeah we will see.

But I feel they over achieved last year in the playoffs. They handily beat a team that some people did not have them beating...and then almost beat a team they had no business beating.

Everyone stepped up during the playoffs...if everyone does that again I love our chances. Even against the Patriots at home.

I'm less scared of Manning because I feel like we've played him so many times we know him a lot better.

[Ryan]

I still don't get the obsession with Andrew Luck. I think he's gonna be a GOOD qb in this league for a long time, but i am not seeing shades of Peyton in this guy or a truly great QB and behind his o-line, who knows what can happen to him in the next couple of years. He had a free TD on a busted play and a pretty nice drive with a lot of assists from Texans penalties. He led the league in turnovers coming into today. I know he's just a rookie but it's just what I see personally. I'm sure he will get better, but i'm not seeing HOF type.

Just chill out for one day and enjoy the win, guys. We played a fairly bad game as far as penalties and red zone efficiency and came out with a win. All correctable mistakes. Wish Kubes would pick better times to be conservative.

[TexCanada]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

You view it as negative. I don't. I am very happy about 12-2, and I think they'll finish it out 14-2, which is nothing short of awesome. JJ Watt is having a historic season. AJ is back to form. The team won the AFCS for the second year in a row. These are all incredibly positive thigs that I am happy about. Here's the thing - along the way accomplishing these great things, they actually gave me real hope they could win a Super Bowl. Now I want that. Call me greedy.

No one really talks much about the 1998 Vikings or the multiple 12+ win Charger teams, do they? I'm sorry if you see that as negative, but if so, then I'll just say there's a really good chance reality is negative for you. Sorry to hear that.

Reality is negative for me? Is it realistic to say this team is in trouble? What are they in trouble of, finishing first in the AFC and being the ~3rd favorite team to represent the AFC at the Superbowl?

The reality is that we have a chance to lock down homefield advantage in the playoffs, and that there are probably only 2 other AFC teams that might be considered better then us. That all sounds very positive to me, even if we do end up losing to one of them in the playoffs.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Rey

Before the game a lot of people were saying the colts weren't good. They were lucky to be where they were. They were saying that they really should be a 5 win team or so.

Now when they come in here and battle us tough, it was a good win against a quality play off team.

Im judging this team hard because I don't believe our superbowl window will be open for a long time because we dint have an elite qb.

Elite qb's keep their teams in superbowl contention. Andrew luck looks like he can develop into that kind of guy.

We need to make this happen.

I was one of those who said the Colts weren't good. I said they would help us beat them & they did.

However, I'm also saying this team is flawed, but I think every team is flawed. Throughout a sixteen game season, some teams are going to start off strong. We were one of those. Some teams are going to start off slow. That was the Patriots & the Packers. Some teams are going to get hot at different times during the season.

We need to get hot again. So does the Ravens, the. Steelers, the 49ers.

Maybe we don't get hot again & are 1 & done in the play offs. Maybe we start clicking & get better every week from here.

Who knows? But this isn't unheard of in the NFL. This is what mAkes it so good why so many people like this sport.

[AMartin56]

Originally Posted by Ryan

We played a fairly bad game as far as penalties and red zone efficiency and came out with a win. All correctable mistakes.

Well except that we never seem to actually fix these mistakes. The defense has been sloppy penalty wise for quite some time now and red zone issues have been around for near forever.

Although I will say that I think the RZ issues are entirely on Kubiak. He settles for FGs way too often.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

We're all happy for 12-2. That doesn't stop some of us from analyzing what we see as problems with the team. So here's an open question to the Sunshine Club:

What did the Texans do today to convince you that the Patriots game was a fluke?

I don't think New England was a fluke. I think we have an opportunity to get better. I think we may be able to get to the Super Bowl without seeing New England or Green Bay.

I also know the best team rarely wins the Super Bowl. So we have a shot.

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

I don't think New England was a fluke. I think we have an opportunity to get better. I think we may be able to get to the Super Bowl without seeing New England or Green Bay.

I also know the best team rarely wins the Super Bowl. So we have a shot.

I think Denver is the team to beat I the afc. Their defense...

[GP]

Eriadoc:

There's just no long-term thinking in the sports fandom world anymore.

It's all about what happened NOW.

That's why the majority of people on here are jeering and laughing and being sarcastic *******s with every comment. Because we're losers if we're not happy with what happened NOW. I mean, we just won! Can't you see how things are lining up???

Sometimes I think the ones who are happy with NOW must not have been around for the old Oilers games of the 1990s--The "good" teams that choked when they played outside of the dome. I wonder if they were around for all of Kubiak's tenure here...if so, then they'd wonder NOW how he could have grown absolutely ZERO inches in that whole span here as it relates to getting a team to where the throttle is at full blast and stays that way for 4 quarters.

To me, the most saddening aspect of this team is what happens when the defense comes up with a miracle stop...our offense starts within our own 10-yard-line, and we go 3 & out and make the defense go right back out there again and are asked to stop the opposing offense...AGAIN. Every once in awhile it's a fluke, but it's been an epidemic all season this year.

OK, so it does work against the poorer teams. It doesn't work against the better teams. As we have seen TWICE this season.

The NOW is fun, for NOW. The Super Bowl is not NOW. It's four games away IF we win out and get some good fortune in the playoffs.

I care about a SB, and yes this team has positioned itself to deliver it to us. But can they? It would be storybook, for sure. I just can't sit here and say that the NOW is a foretelling of a SB victory. Sure, yes, it feels good...NOW...but I was old enough to remember us being two quarters away from a SB appearance with the Oilers. With Houston pro sports teams, there's ample reason for this guarded attitude. It's not silly, it's far more silly to be crazily carefree right now.

[GP]

Originally Posted by Ryan

I still don't get the obsession with Andrew Luck. I think he's gonna be a GOOD qb in this league for a long time, but i am not seeing shades of Peyton in this guy or a truly great QB and behind his o-line, who knows what can happen to him in the next couple of years. He had a free TD on a busted play and a pretty nice drive with a lot of assists from Texans penalties. He led the league in turnovers coming into today. I know he's just a rookie but it's just what I see personally. I'm sure he will get better, but i'm not seeing HOF type.

Just chill out for one day and enjoy the win, guys. We played a fairly bad game as far as penalties and red zone efficiency and came out with a win. All correctable mistakes. Wish Kubes would pick better times to be conservative.

I felt like that about Luck...until today.

He's going to be an Ice Man in a couple of seasons, especially if the Colts are smart enough to spend all resources on a better OL for him.

I won't worship the guy, but I will say this: He showed signs today of being a guy you can't let up on for even ONE play. And this is his first season, and this was his first time out of the gate against our defense.

All in all, he was very poised and never really got his confidence shattered today like so many rookies are prone to do in situations like today. He's a guy who wasn't heart-broken over this loss. He'll learn from it, he'll study everything about it, and next time he'll have answers for us.

He's going to be a problem.

[fiasco west]

Originally Posted by Ryan

I still don't get the obsession with Andrew Luck. I think he's gonna be a GOOD qb in this league for a long time, but i am not seeing shades of Peyton in this guy or a truly great QB and behind his o-line, who knows what can happen to him in the next couple of years. He had a free TD on a busted play and a pretty nice drive with a lot of assists from Texans penalties. He led the league in turnovers coming into today. I know he's just a rookie but it's just what I see personally. I'm sure he will get better, but i'm not seeing HOF type.

Just chill out for one day and enjoy the win, guys. We played a fairly bad game as far as penalties and red zone efficiency and came out with a win. All correctable mistakes. Wish Kubes would pick better times to be conservative.

I agree.

I'd take RGIII over him personally, I've seen both a lot but RG3 just sticks out as special to me.

I do think Luck will be a very good QB in the NFL, but will he be a guy that will be a top 3 QB...elite...Brady/Manning/Rodgers guy? That's not guaranteed. He's really good for a rookie but improvement is not just a given because a player is young.

Just like all the guys the Texans drafted that didn't pan out...like Okoye...who had a good rookie season but again...drastic improvement is not just guaranteed.

[Thorn]

Originally Posted by GP

I felt like that about Luck...until today.

He's going to be an Ice Man in a couple of seasons, especially if the Colts are smart enough to spend all resources on a better OL for him.

I won't worship the guy, but I will say this: He showed signs today of being a guy you can't let up on for even ONE play. And this is his first season, and this was his first time out of the gate against our defense.

All in all, he was very poised and never really got his confidence shattered today like so many rookies are prone to do in situations like today. He's a guy who wasn't heart-broken over this loss. He'll learn from it, he'll study everything about it, and next time he'll have answers for us.

He's going to be a problem.

He's going to be a problem a hell of a lot longer than Schaub will be, that's for sure. The Texans will need to get themselves a good QB in the next year or two and get him in shape. Indy and Houston are going to own the AFC South for a long time. It's going the be just like the old days of the Oilers and Steelers.

[Nawzer]

Before the season had started I theorized that the Texans would hit their stride by the 13th or 14th game ideally. You don't want to peak too early in the season and then limp into the playoffs. The last couple of Super Bowls have shown us that the team that gets into the playoffs hot experiences success. Unfortunately, my feeling is that this team may have peaked early in the season even though it didn't look like it because of the blowout victories. We're being found out right now and I wonder if Kubiak has what it takes to overcome these deficiencies. The defensive penalties and blown coverages are alarming and Schaub's play has been shaky over the past 2 weeks. Even the pass protection has been average imo. I think one of the best things to happen in this game was the last 3 mins where Arian found gaping holes and the offense looked like it finally found its rhythm. Winning the division was great today and a nice accomplishment, but from what I've seen over the past few weeks I don't think this team is capable of making a deep playoff run unless the team plays better.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by GP

I felt like that about Luck...until today.

He's going to be an Ice Man in a couple of seasons, especially if the Colts are smart enough to spend all resources on a better OL for him.

I won't worship the guy, but I will say this: He showed signs today of being a guy you can't let up on for even ONE play. And this is his first season, and this was his first time out of the gate against our defense.

All in all, he was very poised and never really got his confidence shattered today like so many rookies are prone to do in situations like today. He's a guy who wasn't heart-broken over this loss. He'll learn from it, he'll study everything about it, and next time he'll have answers for us.

He's going to be a problem.

Nah, he still makes a lot of mistakes.

Luck has a lot of athletic abilities, but I ain't scared of him as a QB.

Like I said before the draft, if he can put things together between his ears, I will worry a lot about him. He has not shown that yet.

What's the odd, I don't know, it's up to him.
But sometimes, close to sure bet remains just that.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Thorn

He's going to be a problem a hell of a lot longer than Schaub will be, that's for sure. The Texans will need to get themselves a good QB in the next year or two and get him in shape. Indy and Houston are going to own the AFC South for a long time. It's going the be just like the old days of the Oilers and Steelers.

Case Keenum!

I told y'all that Wilson is a very good QB, that has turned out to be true.
Don't just measure a guy by his size.


I also said that Cousins is a good one that a team can groom.
He's doing pretty good today.

[GuerillaBlack]

Originally Posted by utahmark

There is nothing they can do today, tomorrow, next week that can convince anyone that was a fluke. It's a negative question that can not be answered. All we can do is celebrate the division title and hope we can clinch home field. When we are in the playoff's we will find out if that game was a fluke or not.

The only way the question will be answered is if this team beats the Patriots in the playoffs. For me, the Texans are going to continue having the big question mark on their head until they beat an elite QB.

[Thorn]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

The only way the question will be answered is if this team beats the Patriots in the playoffs. For me, the Texans are going to continue having the big question mark on their head until they beat an elite QB.

Until you bring home the big trophy, there will always be doubt. It works that way for every team. Most especially for those that have never been to the show.