Anyone worried about our defensive coaching?

[Errant Hothy]

Originally Posted by real

Anyone not worried about our defensive coaching ?

Kinda. I'm defiantly on the fence when it comes to Smith. Currently the D is playing like crap that cannot be denied, but neither can the fact that Smith turned this defense around the last 10 weeks of the 06 season. So I'm not usre if he is the problem or not.

But I get the feeling that I am the only one who fells this way.

[Fox]

I was thinking about why we always seem to get killed by screen passes and dump offs especially it seems on third downs. MJD had 59 yds on 4 catches against us, and Ronnie Brown had 40 on 5 catches. Does it have anything to do with playing so much man coverage? Our secondary is all watching their respective receiver running down field leaving the back in single coverage with one man to beat, and by the time our corners/safeties realize the pass was dumped off they're 15 yards down field and the back is moving upfield with blockers.

So I guess my question is, is man coverage vulnerable to screens/dumpoffs and if so do you think teams are trying to exploit that against us since we run so much man or is it just players like MJD and Brown are just being themselves when they get the ball. That's just been frustrating me the past couple weeks when they need to go 10 or 15 yards and we're not forcing them to throw lower percentage passes down field.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by Fox

I was thinking about why we always seem to get killed by screen passes and dump offs especially it seems on third downs. MJD had 59 yds on 4 catches against us, and Ronnie Brown had 40 on 5 catches. Does it have anything to do with playing so much man coverage? Our secondary is all watching their respective receiver running down field leaving the back in single coverage with one man to beat, and by the time our corners/safeties realize the pass was dumped off they're 15 yards down field and the back is moving upfield with blockers.

So I guess my question is, is man coverage vulnerable to screens/dumpoffs and if so do you think teams are trying to exploit that against us since we run so much man or is it just players like MJD and Brown are just being themselves when they get the ball. That's just been frustrating me the past couple weeks when they need to go 10 or 15 yards and we're not forcing them to throw lower percentage passes down field.

I think it is part scheme and part a lack of quality in our outside linebackers.

It has to do with having outside LB's with no range....

If the play isn't directly in front of our OLB's the chances that they make a good play on the ball carrier is slim...

Demeco is the only LB that makes plays all over the field...

[GP]

Originally Posted by Hoth-Boy

So if Richard Smith sucks so much how did the Texans D make the huge turnaround that they did last season?

Because he sucked so bad the first 6 games of the season that he had to actually start taking (drum roll, please.....) a few RISKS every now and then.

We're in year 2 of Richard Smith, and it looks like last year: Plain vanilla defensive playcalling, with little or no risk, and getting torched all game long.

Only difference this year is this: We have a QB who is capable of bailing out the defense (See "Carolina Panthers game" for more information).

First game of the season is the only game in which all facets of the team seemed to be on the same page and rolling with confidence.

It's been a steady decline since then, even on the offensive side of the ball.

[GP]

Originally Posted by Fox

I was thinking about why we always seem to get killed by screen passes and dump offs especially it seems on third downs. MJD had 59 yds on 4 catches against us, and Ronnie Brown had 40 on 5 catches. Does it have anything to do with playing so much man coverage? Our secondary is all watching their respective receiver running down field leaving the back in single coverage with one man to beat, and by the time our corners/safeties realize the pass was dumped off they're 15 yards down field and the back is moving upfield with blockers.

So I guess my question is, is man coverage vulnerable to screens/dumpoffs and if so do you think teams are trying to exploit that against us since we run so much man or is it just players like MJD and Brown are just being themselves when they get the ball. That's just been frustrating me the past couple weeks when they need to go 10 or 15 yards and we're not forcing them to throw lower percentage passes down field.

I chalk it up to a singular failure of NOT shadowing the running back. All you have to do is dedicate a LB to the RB...his only job is to track and shadow the RB all game long.

Getting beat on so many screen passes and little RB check-downs is embarrassing if you ask me. This is the NFL, not 2-A High School football.

Then again, I have seen some High School football teams actually score after having the ball 1st and goal at the 2.........so what do I know.

This team is confoosing.

[Fox]

Originally Posted by GP

I chalk it up to a singular failure of NOT shadowing the running back. All you have to do is dedicate a LB to the RB...his only job is to track and shadow the RB all game long.

Getting beat on so many screen passes and little RB check-downs is embarrassing if you ask me. This is the NFL, not 2-A High School football.

Then again, I have seen some High School football teams actually score after having the ball 1st and goal at the 2.........so what do I know.

This team is confoosing.

lol, Kris Brown starts warming up for a field goal try anytime we get tackled inside the five. Our power run blocking is pretty pathetic.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Fox

lol, Kris Brown starts warming up for a field goal try anytime we get tackled inside the five. Our power run blocking is pretty pathetic.

LOL--Kris Brown starts limbering up anytime we cross the 50 and has done so for 5 seasons. Nothing there to comment on other than him being a professional.

[quicksilver]

From what I've seen and read last season and this season, it is Kubiak holding back Richard Smith's defense. Kubiak says we want to get our pressure from the front four when the opposing offense passes. Kubiak says we're using Robinson exactly the way we want to use him.

It was when Kubiak realized his plan for our defense wasn't working 3-6 games into last season that he loosened the reins on Richard Smith and we began applying pressure with varying blitzes. What surprises me is that after the coaching staff did their first quarterly self-assessment for this season, Kubiak didn't come to the same conclusions he did last year.

[TexansLucky13]

Originally Posted by quicksilver

From what I've seen and read last season and this season, it is Kubiak holding back Richard Smith's defense. Kubiak says we want to get our pressure from the front four when the opposing offense passes. Kubiak says we're using Robinson exactly the way we want to use him.

It was when Kubiak realized his plan for our defense wasn't working 3-6 games into last season that he loosened the reins on Richard Smith and we began applying pressure with varying blitzes. What surprises me is that after the coaching staff did their first quarterly self-assessment for this season, Kubiak didn't come to the same conclusions he did last year.

Yea, that is pretty interesting. Kubiak is on to something when he focuses on allowing the front four to do the pass rushing.... but the guys just aren't there yet. A team that can generate a good pass rush from their front four will be dominate. That's what Kubiak is looking for.

Unfortunately, our guys just haven't lived up to their potential to this point. I'm not sure when the "make or break" time comes for these guys... but I doubt it is three seasons from now. They need to get to work.

[Texanmike02]

Well if you ask me its a combination. Rick Smith is no genius but he's not working with top level talent either. Our OLBs are weak, and our secondary is way below average... other than Dante. I'm not sure what more you can ask of a DC when the only thing he has to work with is a DL, 1lb and 1db.

We knew coming into the season that our DBs were awful. The fact that CC looks better at SS shouldn't fool us into thinking our DB's are even close to average. If there are two things you can't hide in this league it is slow CBs and mistake prone FSs. Throw in the fact that we are weak at OLB and I'm not sure what you expect out of this defense. They stop the run better than average.. save the Jags game. And that's the foundation for a good defense. I mean if Smith goes.. I won't be heartbroken... but if he stays AND we add some talent I'm ok with that.

Basically I'm not ok with the current situation. I think that adding talent will do more than adding a DC right now. If you have to change one or the other I say get talent first.

Mike

[GrandeDavid]

I agree with you. I'm viewing today as a critical juncture in the legitimacy of this defense as, at the very least, a rising defense, especially the pass rush. I'm looking for big results from Mario Williams today and if I don't see them, I'll really start to questions the schematics, coaching and not just the players' hearts and talent.

[Vinny]

We've tuned the entire roster over since he came here....it's been pretty remarkable really. I think we only have 15 players from when he got here still left on the squad. It's going to take us two more drafts to really have a top roster from starters to key reserves, but next year we should be on the cusp of being a team to deal with year in-year out.

I'm a little worried about our ability to stop the run today...if we can't stop the run we are going to lose....got my fingers crossed. Some good news though...the Titans have not run the ball well the last two weeks and Brown is out.

[BattleRedToro]

I'd say the buck stops at Kubiak. We don't know whether Richard Smith is over his head or being held back, but either way the fault lies with Kubiak. If Smith is over his head then he shouldn't have been hired in the first place. Despite Kubiak not being able to get his first choice before settling on Smith there were still many good Defensive Coordinators available not only when Smith was hired but before this season started as well. If Smith is being held back by Kubiak, then I think the problem is even worse because who's to say that Kubiak won't do the same thing to the next DC, so I hope that Smith is just over his head.

[dickieb]

WTF - can I get a blitz at the end of the game. It worked earlier in the game with Demeco's TD. Absolute bullsh*t playcalling. Makes me want to puke. You have to make the QB make a quick rushed decision - not give him all day. It's not like our front four had been putting a lot of pressure on Collins. It just makes me sick. He will find the one on one coverage and burn you anyways - why not man up and send everyone to the QB. Our chances would be better if we had blitzed maybe the QB gets sacked, makes a poor throw, throws a pick, or worst case he burns you but that happened anyway. I would rather bring the heat and make them burn us than give them all day to throw I fu^&ing absolutley hate this vanilla playcalling it is bull$hit and we deserved to lose this game anyway, but it really stings to give it up like this!

[joedinkle]

We did blitz...they picked it up.

[Maddict5]

and collins got rid of it in 3 seconds- if he had held onto it for a tiny bit longer, mario would've nearly bullrushed the lt into him

[Honoring Earl 34]

Originally Posted by joedinkle

We did blitz...they picked it up.

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d803788ac

[dickieb]

Yeah, my bad. I did see the replay. I wished they would have sent them straight through the gaps instead of pulling. During the live game it looked as if Collins had the ball forever, but he got rid of the ball quick. We just got burned.