LZ: The offense is very much broken and Kubiak can’t rely on ‘the system’ he has to f

[Mr teX]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

It appears that way, except on defense where they are a bit younger. The offense's best days are way behind, unless we get a new playmaker QB and some OL help. Our receiving core isn't that bad tbh. Manning would kill with it.

Manning is an all time great...anyone less than him is likely having the same issues getting the ball to anyone other than AJ and OD...which is pretty much what schaub has been doing....especially if they have protection issues.

[devo-x]

We could certainly use some scoring help from the defense this weekend considering the recent offense struggles

[Tailgate]

This organization is going to have to hit it BIG in the upcoming draft in the OL, and LB positions for us to get back on track. DL is quickly becoming a major need as well with the aging Smith as our other anchor and just getting buy at the NT position for a while now.

Back on point. We all know what Schaub can do when the offense is clicking. Unless we can find a mobile gun slinger who can figure out this system in one offseason.... we MUST get the OL fixed this offseason. It wont be easy. Imo.... Duane Brown is the only true All Pro/Pro Bowler of the group.

[Hervoyel]

32 teams in this league and most of them have less than perfect OL play. Is there something wrong with the Texans line? Of course. Newton and "Rookie-of-the-Week" have been a mess and Wade Smith is a fraud this year but Myers and Brown deserve every accolade they get by and large. Even the fraud is good enough most of the time.

The OL has problems but it's not like every QB needs the Great Wall of China in front of him to be effective. There are ways a QB can help an offensive line that's struggling. He can move (Schaub can't) and he can burn the pass rush when they blitz (Schaub isn't making anyone pay this year for blitzing).

None of that is happening for us. Roethlisberger could play well behind our line. Hell he'd probably make them look brilliant. Schaub can't do it. We need to either maintain a starting OL that's damn near perfect or find a guy who can be effective behind an average line.

[DX-TEX]

Its all on Kubiak and his son Matt. Analyze it all you want that is the root of the problem.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Before you lay it on too heavily on the OL and the play calling, keep in mind they have, as should be the case, focused on furthering the STRENGTHS of Arian.......while focusing on minimizing the WEAKNESSES of Schaub. The latter unduly places a major challenge/strain on the OL and play caller that would otherwise not be there.

[Tailgate]

Interesting comment:

Great article Lance.
I am a semi-pro poker player, and always see the strategy and ” out thinking ” that goes on. To me both Kube and Schaub seem.a bit tilted. Their game isn’t ” on ” , they are lacking overall aggression.

Mentally your aggression is a weapon you use to dominate and impose your will. First you must have a idea of what your will is. This could be a overall tight game, meaning you have a tighter range of hand selection. Or a lose style that opens up your range and creates more doubt, but courage in your opponent. The common element, in both styles, will be the use of aggression.

You WILL BE AGGRESSIVE. No winning player will choose to play a overall passive game in the hands they do play. This is important because MENTALLY the other guy is accepting a passive or les dominate path.

Will they defend a re-raise? If not, that is my move on them after creating a solid tight image. Your mindset is attack and aggression is your only weapon. Some players will completely submit. They will fold everyone to your aggression.and tighten.up their hand selection to avoid clashing with your aggression and to optimize their chances of coming put on top, with a stronger range of playable hands.

If Kubiac isn’t calling the plays he needs to start. The game plan must be aggressive. It isn’t enough that the plays should work. They must be designed to make your opponent submissive. You want to force them into playing it safe.

Mout times i agree with the third and long delay handoff etc. These are good selections based off the defensive philosophy and personell on the field at that given moment. After watching the Texans for 6 years straight it just looks like our play callers are losing a bit of their aggression. Our Kyle Shannohan play calling was insanely good. It just reaked of overall aggression. It isn’t enough that it make sense. It must be agressive.

[Say Watt]

Originally Posted by Tailgate

Interesting comment:

That was really good and perfectly echoes my thoughts. Since the Detroit game, I have felt we needed to start running more no huddle, make quicker passes, and better utilize the strengths of our team. Our offense line is struggling, so why in the hell are we running plays that take an eternity to setup?!? We are asking for Schaub to get killed.

We need to switch things up. Everyone knows we want to run the ball and control the clock. We have gotten far too predictable. Once our defense started regressing, the offense had to pick it up. They never have and here we are playing our worst football of the season.

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by Playoffs

LZ is on track.

Schaub is playing it safe.

O-Line is lacking talent at two, probably three positions.

And Gary needs to look at different ways to playcall within those limits.

There have been plays to be made .... Schaub simply hasnt made them.

[powda]

For all the people that have whined for years about getting another explosive faster wide receiver (myself included), schaub doesnt have the arm to capitalize on it. Defenses have figured out we are exclusively a horizontal threat. I dont really care about any deep play stats someone presents to argue that. I've watched and rewatched everygame this franchise has played since day 1. Proof is in the games, not the stat line.

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by powda

For all the people that have whined for years about getting another explosive faster wide receivers (myself included), schaub doesnt have the arm to capitalize on it. Defenses have figured out we are exclusively a horizontal threat. I dont really care about any deep play stats someone presents to argue that. I've watched and rewatched everygame this franchise has played since day 1. Proof is in the games, not the stat line.

The proof is in the pudding .... we almost never see throws over the deep middle of the field ....You almost never see sideline patterns that take advantage of the back shoulder throw .... and thats because Schaub simply doesnt have the zip to make those throws.

Schaub's a solid game manager and ball handler .... but is lacking in so many other area's of QB play.

We may as well get use to it because he's signed for two more seasons. We're stuck with the noodle arm statue game manager.

[beerlover]

I probably shouldn't post after consuming large amounts of but hey, I am Beerlover right. So here it is: Schaub is a cerebral QB with bad feet. There I said it, high character & intelligence can only carry you so far, time to make more athletic moves. Instead, Matt is the proverbial immovable object on the field in constant state of flux. It's really more on Kubiak play calling to leave a back into block or TE in pass pro. It's virtually always an empty set or the back clears the hole leaving Schaub solo to avoid a delayed blitz unhindered. This is not a workable resolution, neither is dunk & dink to a TE or WR who cannot create after the catch or make a catch. as the box collapses.

Kubiak needs to adjust/change his play calling to be more assertive yet hold max protection in the pocket to do a better job protecting Matt Schaub. This will improve timing with receivers, hit them in optimum windows & improve yards after the catch. In other words we have to go back to the drawing board, before we thought Texans were the big dogs & pass the ball efficiently & run the ball late in games to put them away.

[Norg]

I refuse to beleive its the O-line cause of who we lost WInston and brisle

Mike was good but played hurtand Winston was just down right bad

its schaub whenever a free blitz comes lose has got to get rid of the ball or throw it away

and IMO these last two week i know matt is no Mobility master but last week he was moving around better then he has i liked seein that hopefully he can improve in that

[Norg]

u know another problem that no one talks about Andre and Kevins Break away speed there not has fast has they used to be and it causes DB to stick to them


DOnt put this all on schaub IMO at this point schaub just has to sit in the passenger seat not even drive

If we are going to win the other vets are going to have to step up and take this team on its back ANdre.Kevin.OD.Myers.SMith,Brown

i know yall dont trust schaub but let me ask yall a question do yall trust


Andre johnson Chris myers and Brown ..??????

[leebigeztx]

Beerlover, that's pretty much my take. When you look at texans offense, who can really beat you? Andre Johnson and to a degree foster,that's it. This year, they can't just run the ball down teams throat. So if teams stop arian and roll to andre, the offense is done. Teams aren't even playing 8 in the box vs the run game, they're just key run blitzing. So now its on schaub shoulders minus playaction opening lanes and we've seen the struggle. He won't really throw guy open or extend plays. Teams are daring him to throw in the muddled middle from the pocket minus playaction and he really can't do it. This isn't anything new. Go watch raiders and ravens games last year. In fact, go watch games vs jets when revis took andre out of games. Hell, watch the 1st game of the season vs miami. I dunno why people are so surprised,but here is what I think kubes should do.

Get back to wco principles. What's does that mean? Skinny post pass plays on early downs. Using the pass to setup the run. More 3 step drops to get tha ball out of matts hands. The no huddle out of base and use casey everywhere. What gary must do is use tempo to create matchups.

[otisbean]

Originally Posted by leebigeztx

Beerlover, that's pretty much my take. When you look at texans offense, who can really beat you? Andre Johnson and to a degree foster,that's it. This year, they can't just run the ball down teams throat. So if teams stop arian and roll to andre, the offense is done. Teams aren't even playing 8 in the box vs the run game, they're just key run blitzing. So now its on schaub shoulders minus playaction opening lanes and we've seen the struggle. He won't really throw guy open or extend plays. Teams are daring him to throw in the muddled middle from the pocket minus playaction and he really can't do it. This isn't anything new. Go watch raiders and ravens games last year. In fact, go watch games vs jets when revis took andre out of games. Hell, watch the 1st game of the season vs miami. I dunno why people are so surprised,but here is what I think kubes should do.

Get back to wco principles. What's does that mean? Skinny post pass plays on early downs. Using the pass to setup the run. More 3 step drops to get tha ball out of matts hands. The no huddle out of base and use casey everywhere. What gary must do is use tempo to create matchups.

Great points, my thoughts exactly.

[hradhak]

To me this has all been about (a lack of) execution. We had opportunities in every game that we just completely blew.

What bothers me the most about the Indy loss is that Indy gave up 500+ yards rushing in the last 2 weeks. Instead of running, we come out throwing a ton, and guess what? It fails in the second half because we win when we are balanced. Why didn't we keep running it? Why is Ben Tate getting 1 carry? Foster was averaging 6+ ypc and he only gets 16 carries.

This comes down to gameplan. You have a gameplan that worked from other teams but instead you abandon it and just keep throwing the ball.

[HJam72]

Originally Posted by hradhak

To me this has all been about (a lack of) execution. We had opportunities in every game that we just completely blew.

What bothers me the most about the Indy loss is that Indy gave up 500+ yards rushing in the last 2 weeks. Instead of running, we come out throwing a ton, and guess what? It fails in the second half because we win when we are balanced. Why didn't we keep running it? Why is Ben Tate getting 1 carry? Foster was averaging 6+ ypc and he only gets 16 carries.

This comes down to gameplan. You have a gameplan that worked from other teams but instead you abandon it and just keep throwing the ball.

Holy crap, you're right! I had no idea he was averaging that high.

[Speedy]

Originally Posted by HJam72

Holy crap, you're right! I had no idea he was averaging that high.

Running to the right side, the side with a revolving door of linemen coming in and out, the Texans averaged 3.0 yards per carry (8-24) Sunday. On the "Pro-Bowl" left side, the Texans ran the ball 4 times the entire game. 4 carries, 59 yards (14.75 per).

[IDEXAN]

Say what you want to about Briesel and Winston as pass-protectors, but both of those guys were very good run-blockers and without the rushing game the whole Texans' offense is just not nearly as effective as it was when they were in the lineup. And furthermore the Texas base-offense was virtually a 2 TE-set
and the OD/Dreesen combo was more effective than the OD/Grahmn combo.
Our offensive unit just lost too many important players in the past offseason to be as effective this year as we were in 2011.