Hasty on Cold Pizza

[The Pencil Neck]

On Cold Pizza in his Winners & Losers bit, James Hasty pointed out that the Denver Bronco's Offense is suffering and David Carr is doing surprisingly well. He said that if the Texans get a couple more wins, Kubiak is a name people are going to have to start talking about for Coach of the Year.

I think it's a bit premature for that but...

:bananasplit:

[Texans Horror]

Coach K, or "Kubes," should be a contender, but I think his effect will be in the long-haul, and can't be judged in just one season.

[Reddevil63]

I dont think even Denver knew how valuable Kubes is. My dad lives in Denver and they are calling for Jake Plummer's head like crazy there. Seems he went back to being Jake Mistake rather quickly.

[TexansBull]

If Coach K really turns this team around, lets say 6 or 7 wins, i dont know, he should be seriously considered. A rookie coach with a train wreck of a team, and turns it around. Thats an accomplishment for the first year. He will get it sooner or later, but I would rather see it sooner.

The guy from New Orleans might be his competition, ironically. He is doing good there. He had a better team to build on, but there is still all that devestation in the city. If they make the playoffs, he will be considered.

I guess you can somewhat say that Kubiak leaving the offense of the Broncos had more impact on them then anything. That says a lot, but Kubiak still is going through some growing pains as a Head Coach, which is understandable.

[Porky]

Sean Payton, Eric Mangini, and Scott Linehan (in that order imo) are all ahead of Kubes for coach of the year at this point in my view. But the season isn't 6 games long either. Let's see how things pan out over the next 10 weeks. I'm more encouraged after yesterday than I have been in 2 years, but coach of the yr talk is extremely premature at this point.

[ansuz118]

dos it really matter if he is coach of the year this year what really matters is that we keep playing like we did sunday i think we will now that somebody is running the ball it opens a lot for the offence

[kubs-elway]

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW...ocki102306.htm
www.profootballweekly.com

Scout's Eye

Kubiak's offense brings out the best in Carr, Johnson

By Nolan Nawrocki
Oct. 23, 2006


Texans QB
David Carr

When Gary Kubiak took over as head coach in Houston, he went out and found two receivers (Eric Moulds and Kevin Walter) and a tight end (Jeb Putzier) who fit the mold his West Coast offense desired. But he did not need a No. 1 receiver — Andre Johnson was tailor-made for his offense. In the West Coast system, there is a premium on big, physical receivers who can create after the catch, and there are few in the league bigger, more physical or stronger after the catch than Johnson.

Nor did Kubiak need a quarterback — David Carr had the athleticism and mobility to roll out, bootleg and throw on the run. He had everything Kubiak desired. Vince Young, Houston’s native son, was available in last year’s draft, and Kubiak could have chosen to start from scratch. But he knew what he had and saw no reason to set the franchise back further.

Not all league evaluators were convinced he had what he thought he had in Carr. After four years, Carr should have been more than a 58-percent passer who had thrown more interceptions (53) than touchdowns (48), or so it was rationalized. However, even in the NFL, the playing field is not level when making evaluations. No evaluation is ever made in a vacuum, and the very best can evaluate what players can do as it relates to their system.

In the Texans’ former offense, Carr was taught to drop back in the pocket and make his reads regardless of how much pressure was bearing down on him. There were few designed plays to allow Carr to use his athleticism to escape the pressure and continue looking downfield, and because the offense often employed max protection, Carr was left with few options. With pressure constantly in his face, he was a sitting duck, going down 208 times through four years, not to include the countless times he was hurried and hit.

Under Kubiak, the line has not changed much, but Carr is completing more than 70 percent of his passes, tops among the league through seven weeks. And Johnson is on track to have a career year, receiving numberous nominations from league evaluators for midseason All-Pro honors.

The biggest difference under center is that Carr now has more options, and if he does not find a receiver uncovering in a few seconds, he is coached to move, buy time with his feet, continue looking downfield or get upfield and run — anything to create a positive play. The progress Carr has made is very encouraging, and given that Kubiak helped mold John Elway, Steve Young, Brian Griese and Jake Plummer into Pro Bowl performers, Carr’s future could not look brighter.

Ask any coach and they will tell you they cannot win without good talent, but without good coaching, talent will take you nowhere. Even more importantly, as the re-energized, emerging young stars are beginning to prove — for a coach to be effective, he needs to be able to evaluate. It sounds elementary, but it is often what separates the men from the boys at any level of coaching.

Kubiak, who has developed a reputation for spending an inordinate amount of time grinding in the film room and has been highly commended by the NFL coaching fraternity for his evaluation ability, clearly deserves high marks based on early returns.

[TexanBearkat]

I think to this point Mangini is doing a hell of a job in New York. That was not a good team at all coming into the season and lose Curtis Martin for the year. Payton has done well in N.O. but he has a few weapons there with Brees, McAllister, Horn and Bush.

[Wharton]

It also speaks volumes about the Mike Shanahan. Obviously, Kubes was a big part of the offense, which is now gone. But the Broncos are still winning.

[Vinny]

To me, in a secondary way, the article points to the value of good quarterback play in the NFL. Last year the Jets without Penninton were awful. This year he came back and has been key to their winning games and looking respecable when everyone picked them for a top 3 pick at the start of the year when he was a question mark. Plummer without Kubiak is a clearly different QB. Carr with better coaching has been a good student and more is sticking than not for him. I hear people devalue the worth of a QB on a football team but I think it is more important than having good pitching on a baseball team. Sure you can win without good QB play, but you better have record setting defenses. Carr + Kubiak has been a good thing so far. Too bad for Jake...not.

[noxiousdog]

Originally Posted by Vinny

To me, in a secondary way, the article points to the value of good quarterback play in the NFL. Last year the Jets without Penninton were awful. This year he came back and has been key to their winning games and looking respecable when everyone picked them for a top 3 pick at the start of the year when he was a question mark. Plummer without Kubiak is a clearly different QB. Carr with better coaching has been a good student and more is sticking than not for him. I hear people devalue the worth of a QB on a football team but I think it is more important than having good pitching on a baseball team. Sure you can win without good QB play, but you better have record setting defenses. Carr + Kubiak has been a good thing so far. Too bad for Jake...not.

Doesn't that make it more about coaching and gameplan than about actually QB talent though?

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by noxiousdog

Doesn't that make it more about coaching and gameplan than about actually QB talent though?

I think you're right, essentially. It isn't the tangible talents of a QB that make a team successful or not. It is the QBs ability to operate within the system and make plays within that system. It's the symbiotic meeting of the right coaching with the right QB. Montana would've failed with the Raiders in the 80's and Doug Williams would've been an utter failure in San Fran.

Troy Aikman correctly credits Norv Turner with turning his career around. He was going to fail under David Shula.

I believe the great coaches adapt their systems to allow the talent on the team, especially QB, to succeed. I think Kubiak is that kind of coach.