After watching the games today...

[Honoring Earl 34]

Originally Posted by Mr. Texan

i'm starting to think cushing would not have made much of a difference.

seeing this defense not even be prepared for the no-huddle makes me believe it's more than just personnel.

something is fundamentally wrong with wade phillips defensive scheme against good quarterbacks.

it's weird this defense went from giving up points/yards to EVERYBODY with frank bush to now giving up points/yards to just good offenses (other than the jags game).

they don't even make elite qb's work. dudes just waltz down the field on that defense.

yesterday i saw brady legit confused. something i didn't see against the texans.

13 points. 3 turnovers. shut out in the 2nd half. i still can't believe it

The Ravens defense can adjust just as fast as the Patriots offense because of Ray Lewis making the calls . Brady and Lewis don't have to wait for the sideline to make the call .

[BullNation4Life]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

I guess someone forgot to tell Belichick & Brady they need to score 7, not 3. How in the world did they make it in the NFL for so long.




You do know the Ravens lost to the Patriots last year right? They've probably played the Patriots a few times in the play offs & lost right?

Everything you're saying about the Texans now, was being said about the Ravens by Ravens fans for a few years now.

Then, look at your reasons here for why the Texans lost. Try to flip it around to explain why the Patriots lost. It doesn't make sense does it? I know it's hard to imagine this is a team game, but if you think about it, Matt's the only Texans who stepped it up on offense last week. He was let down by his running game, and pass protection.

Just like Welker & Brady couldn't beat the Ravens, Matt Schaub wasn't going to beat the 53 guys trying to beat him, Jj Watt & Antonio Smith.

It really isn't that hard to know why the Patriots lost, actually quite simple. The Ravens were not scared of Tom Brady, the Texans were. So in reality it makes perfect sense. Ravens lost last year on 2 fluke plays, so I am not using last year as a measuring stick, I am using THIS year, because THIS year the Texans got their ass handed to them, not once but twice.

Texans have a QB that shrivels up when pressure is near him. As much "Flac" as Flacco gets, in the playoffs, he has stepped up huge...

Now of course the defense has failure on its hands as well, but again, the biggest difference between the Ravens defense and the Texans, Ravens aren't soft, they man up and punch you in the mouth, then laugh at you while doing so...

Texans might punch you in the mouth, then apologize for doing it...

[76Texan]

Like I said, a lot of things need to go right to beat Brady.

1. On defense, rush 4 more, hoping to avoid the big plays.
Brady was still able to move the ball though .
But you hope he makes some errors. He did when he missed a wide open D. Branch in the end zone near the end of the half.
He also barely missed a few more throws downfield, Welker and Hernandez I think .
Then you need their receivers to drop a few balls; they did on a few critical 3rd down conversions.
Then you hope that their receivers don't have too many good plays, they didn't , they didn't make some great catches like the Ravens receivers and TEs did.

Then you hope your pressure can get close to him some when needed; it did .
They batted a pass at the line causing an INT; they got enough of a push not to allow Brady to step into his throw and was short on the second INT.

You stifled the run game enough, including that forced fumble by Pollard .

Overall, the Ravens D allowed a bunch of yards, but they sucked it up when they needed too .

The Texans didn't have any of the above and that's just on the defensive side .

[CeeQue]

It all boils down to leadership and preparation... and both of those start and end with our coaches.

I have not seen a team play New England as well as Baltimore did last night... on both sides of the ball. The offense was focused and attacked New England defense... and Baltimore's defense PUNISHED New England's offense and was not caught off-guard once! It was a thing of beauty...

And mind you, Baltimore did this with a bunch of former Texans... Vonta Leach, Bernardo Pollard, and Jacoby 'Blockhead' Jones. Their coaching staff turned our scrubs into AFC Champs.

Our team has put on the mental fortitude of our timid coaches in big games.... Think about it, Kubes can't even watch an end of game field goal so how in the world is he and Wade 'Milk Toast' Phillips going to get someone prepared to play aggressive, championship-style football when it counts.

[handswarmer]

Originally Posted by Daravenator

I think it really boils down to this: there tends to be one or two teams that your team plays well against every time that others struggle to beat. One team the Ravens always play tough, in victory or defeat, is the New England Patriots.

Why is hard to say. There are many intangibles you can't always explain. Personally, I think the Ravens defense has gotten into Brady's head over the years, and he does things in games against Baltimore that he doesn't do when matched up against other teams.

Trust me- in defeat you always look for the worst v. the best. I certainly did after we lost in the AFCC last year against the Pats, in a close game they should have won, or at least tied. The Texans have a very good team. Be upset over their loss, but remember that they are very competitive and will be back strong again next season. Bank on that.

Two things that John Harbaugh did that pushed this team to the wins:

-fired Cam Caeron with three games left in the season andessentially turned over the keys to offensive car to Joe Flacco and let him loose....

-finally let Bryant McKinnie out of his doghouse, allowing him to start at Left Tackle pushing Micheal Oher to the Right Tackle position where he is better suited.

Ballsy moves this late in the season...and winners.

Texans will be there soon- they need some playoff seasoning- been in what 4 games so far? Wns will come for them but Schaub needs to play with more confidence- he seems skittish under pressure. When the pocket is clean he is money though....

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by CeeQue

It all boils down to leadership and preparation... and both of those start and end with our coaches.

I have not seen a team play New England as well as Baltimore did last night... on both sides of the ball. The offense was focused and attacked New England defense... and Baltimore's defense PUNISHED New England's offense and was not caught off-guard once! It was a thing of beauty...

And mind you, Baltimore did this with a bunch of former Texans... Vonta Leach, Bernardo Pollard, and Jacoby 'Blockhead' Jones. Their coaching staff turned our scrubs into AFC Champs.

Our team has put on the mental fortitude of our timid coaches in big games.... Think about it, Kubes can't even watch an end of game field goal so how in the world is he and Wade 'Milk Toast' Phillips going to get someone prepared to play aggressive, championship-style football when it counts.

They did get caught off-guard at least a couple of times.
Once on the 4th down conversion where Brady fooled them by pretending to bark out orders while the play was being ran without him.
The other time on the TD pass where the two DBs were not in sync.

There were other times, too, but either Brady miss the target or the receivers didn't make plays.

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I have rewatched this game a couple of times already.

It's similar to the Jets win over the Pats a few years back.
It took a lot of things to go right to beat the Pats, all have been mentioned before we met them and some are reiterated here.

We can win with a defense that showed up late last year and early this year.
Cushing is more important to this team than some knows it.
He's the enforcer that we lacked, the guy that raises the level of intensity up another notch.

Correct, but we need more than just Cush back at LB... We need another stud in this unit.

Another factor is how well the Raven O-line is playing right now. They are dominating in the playoffs and the Colts, Broncos, and Pats have barely even touched Flacco. Such a huge piece of thier success that should not go unnoticed.

[handswarmer]

Originally Posted by CeeQue

And mind you, Baltimore did this with a bunch of former Texans... Vonta Leach, Bernardo Pollard, and Jacoby 'Blockhead' Jones. Their coaching staff turned our scrubs into AFC Champs.

Really? All three made the Pro Bowl and you call them scrubs?

Thts sme god stuff yer smokin.....

[dream_team]

Originally Posted by Texanmike02

I can't believe I read this thread. I can't believe that people are comparing schaub and flacco. Newsflash, both qbs put up the same number of points. The difference is our defense. Anyone that blames schaub is an idiot. Bottom line, if you score 28 pts and lose it is your defense.

Mike

It's just mind boggling how some people can watch this game and still blame Schaub for the loss??? IMO, Wade had a horrible game plan, and that's the #1 reason we lost (there are others, but that's tops on my list). Sure, it would be nice to have a QB that can go toe-to-toe with Brady and match him point for point. But guess what, there's probably only two other QBs in this league that can do that.

[klockWork]

Folks here in Houston are so grateful for how Wade turned this once horrific D around last year that they are willing to give him a free pass for his declining D performances. I say forget that and let's look at the bigger picture here. When every analyst and every stats suggests that blitzing elite QB like Brady and Rogers greatly decrease your chances of beating them and you still blitz them is unforgivable and incomprehensible.

This is no longer a great defensive team. With or without Cushing this is a solid defense at best. The Chad Henne game is the most incriminating evidence of Wade debacle of this team. Avg qb like that just don't accidently have elite performances against great D. If you want to start somewhere start with that Miami game and end it with NE.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by GNTLEWOLF

I haven't read through all the psts so I don't know if someone has pointed this out.
The Ravens beat the patriots by making game plan adjustments at halftime that essentially put the offense in Flacco's hands. They came out and ran hurry-up offenses, and they found the Patriot's weakness in the middle of the field. Also they abandoned the run-first philosophy for a pass oriented philosophy that allowed the run to become effective. All this caught the patriot's off guard and prevented them from making defensive substitutions when they needed. I think the Jim harbaugh showed the world who the real offensive guru is.

On offense, the run game did enough to help taking the pressure off Flacco.
Rice made something out of nothing on a few occasions.
Leach was huge in all facets, from blocking for the run, to running the ball himself, to catching the ball, and blocking for the passing game.

When Alib went out, Harbaugh could have gone deep earlier, but he waited until after the half. Without Alib (who had made a couple of plays early in the game), the Pats pass defense reverted to its old way.
They are not very good.

They don't have the personal to cover Boldin, T Smith and the TEs alltogether.

The Oline gave Flacco plenty of times on those important stretches.
The receivers got open; and even when they weren't that open, they made plays.

Even the TE didn't drop a pass in the end zone like ours.

You add everything together and it's obvious why it was a win.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Tailgate

Correct, but we need more than just Cush back at LB... We need another stud in this unit.

Another factor is how well the Raven O-line is playing right now. They are dominating in the playoffs and the Colts, Broncos, and Pats have barely even touched Flacco. Such a huge piece of thier success that should not go unnoticed.

Cushing can help making a semi-stud out of a few guys.
When he came in on a blitz or a zone dog, he can overpower a blocking back or he can be too quick/fast for most linemen.

Even if he doesn't get there, he gives another push up the middle; somebody else like Watt or Smith or Jamison or Mitchell can benefit from it; and our secondary, too.

In the run game, he's the enforcer, it's hard to run at him; you put Watt on the strong side and Cushing on the weakside, you have a pretty stout run D.
And those QBs that try to escape the pocket, they will start to slide a step or two or three earlier. I can't wait to introduce him to Mr. Luck.

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Cushing can help making a semi-stud out of a few guys.
When he came in on a blitz or a zone dog, he can overpower a blocking back or he can be too quick/fast for most linemen.

Even if he doesn't get there, he gives another push up the middle; somebody else like Watt or Smith or Jamison or Mitchell can benefit from it; and our secondary, too.

In the run game, he's the enforcer, it's hard to run at him; you put Watt on the strong side and Cushing on the weakside, you have a pretty stout run D.
And those QBs that try to escape the pocket, they will start to slide a step or two or three earlier. I can't wait to introduce him to Mr. Luck.

I can dream about having our Bowman next to Cush cant I???

I have said it all along, improved ILB play and with O-Line would be the two most glaring needs this team must figure out before next year. I miss Foster breaking the long runs, as opposed to breaking them for something out of nothing.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Tailgate

I can dream about having our Bowman next to Cush cant I???

I have said it all along, improved ILB play and with O-Line would be the two most glaring needs this team must figure out before next year. I miss Foster breaking the long runs, as opposed to breaking them for something out of nothing.

That will be bloody murderous.

[BigBull17]

There is one thing that stands out to me. We looked scared. New England was completely in our heads. We don't have a tough mental make up. We have the tools to be physical, but not the will and desire to do so. Baltimore has that mental make up. They embrace it. Starts with leadership.

[Honoring Earl 34]

Originally Posted by dream_team

It's just mind boggling how some people can watch this game and still blame Schaub for the loss??? IMO, Wade had a horrible game plan, and that's the #1 reason we lost (there are others, but that's tops on my list). Sure, it would be nice to have a QB that can go toe-to-toe with Brady and match him point for point. But guess what, there's probably only two other QBs in this league that can do that.

The Texans scored 15 points in the 4th quarter , after the game was over . The defense was bad and there was dropped balls but in the end , we're limited .

[2012Champs]

Originally Posted by Textan

They won that Super Bowl in their fourth year of existence.
What were you saying about dumb?

Dumb? Doh lol

[Mr. Texan]

Originally Posted by BigBull17

There is one thing that stands out to me. We looked scared. New England was completely in our heads. We don't have a tough mental make up. We have the tools to be physical, but not the will and desire to do so. Baltimore has that mental make up. They embrace it. Starts with leadership.

the texans are just a bunch of bullies

they're a team that beats up on lesser teams but doesn't know what to do when they get punched in the mouth by a bigger bully.

at first i almost entertained the thought it was all schaub but it's really everyone. the offense. the defense. the coaching staff. everybody.

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by Honoring Earl 34

The Texans scored 15 points in the 4th quarter , after the game was over . The defense was bad and there was dropped balls but in the end , we're limited .

The Ravens did not start clicking on O like they needed until Talib went out. The Ravens O-line was already dominating, then you take away the CB that started the resurgence of the Pats D in 2012... and you saw Baltimores passing game start to take over. We did not have either luxury.

And 41 points vs 13 points is really all one needs to bring up. We were stuck with James and Ruud as our starting LBs... Lulz.

[2012Champs]

Gary needs to go or open up the offense and let Schaub have at it. Then you really find out where Schaub is and where the offense is. I think we too often look bottled up and keep pushing the run no matter what. When we go hurry up/2 min drill where it seems there is less thinking and more doing and free flowing sometimes it works. If this change bombs then move on.


Wade needs to step it up and learn to adjust intragame