Sporting News Q&A with Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub

[Brando]

Sporting News: What do you need to do to close the gap in the division?

SCHAUB: Take care of the ball. Take the ball away. Improve the turnover margin. If we do that, we could have easily won two, three or maybe four more games last season. We were right in some of those games and should have won them there toward the end. But if we take care of the ball better and the defense creates a turnover or two more, hey, we're right there in that hunt.


Read more here


This is the answer I liked the most. We could have won 2-3 more games last year if we held on to the ball and won the turnover battle. If we can hold on to the ball we can be an 11 win team, I really believe that.

[Ole Miss Texan]

Great! This is something that sounds like a theme this offseason. They're really emphasizing holding onto the ball / creating turnovers. Even got those sayings on their shorts (at least they dont say "pink")

I think (hope) that focusing so much on the turnovers all offseason that it really makes a big difference during regular season. I could really see that margin improving (in our favor) and making such a big difference.

[Lucky]

Creating turnovers is sort of a buzz term. Dom Capers used to preach the "turnover battle" ad nauseam. Hey, turnovers are great, but you have to put the team into a position to create them. rarely do they just fall in your lap. At least not since McKinney was snapping to Carr.

Turnovers are created by forcing offenses to become one-dimensional. That's accomplished by a) stopping the run, and b) having your offense put points on the board. When the Texans do a better job of stopping the run and scoring in the 1st quarter, watch the turnovers spike up.

[Specnatz]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Creating turnovers is sort of a buzz term. Dom Capers used to preach the "turnover battle" ad nauseam. Hey, turnovers are great, but you have to put the team into a position to create them. rarely do they just fall in your lap. At least not since McKinney was snapping to Carr.

Turnovers are created by forcing offenses to become one-dimensional. That's accomplished by a) stopping the run, and b) having your offense put points on the board. When the Texans do a better job of stopping the run and scoring in the 1st quarter, watch the turnovers spike up.

You can do a lot to stop from having them. Even though he mentions the defense he did stress the offense needs to stop giving the ball up.

[thunderkyss]

I'm not a Schaub hater.... so let me get that out of the way first.

Some of you know, I was pretty hard on YKW.... but you can look at all my posts, I don't think I was ever wrong about his play. The things I saw, and mentioned right here(& I'm not saying I was the only one) were things that our coaches and players eventually came out and said about the player.

One thing I want you to watch this year, is how Matt leads the reciever. After rewatching the Cleveland game, almost every throw was in the wrong spot. He did fine on the slants.. but it looked like he wasn't in sync with our Receivers speed. Owen Daniels, Andre Johnson, Andre Davis, Kevin Walter, were constantly having to stop for the ball, or turn and make an acrobatic catch.

One such throw, had Owen reaching for the ball, it bounced off his hands, and ended up in a linebacker's hands.

The commentator's were going gaga, about a rookie that "shut AJ down" which was bull, AJ wa...... never mind.

Just saying, keep an eye on Matt, this is one of the things that has to improve.

He's a first time starter, he hadn't had a lot of time to work with our receivers, blah, blah, blah...... doesn't matter, he's got to get better, our running backs need to stay healthy, our DLine needs to bring the pressure with 4, our LBs need to learn how to cover... if we're going to be legit, these things have to get done.

[adam]

Originally Posted by Matt Schaub

You don't have to do too much. Just manage the game, trust your defense and just play the game and take what the other team gives you. Don't try to do too many things, and play smart.

That makes me feel a little shaky. I would rather he be out there fighting hard to get a win than just managing the game and counting on his defense to close out the win, like a certain first round draft bust currently playing for the Titans. Especially when you consider that our defense isn't that good.

I may be reading this wrong, but after 5 years of listening to Carr's horse****: I'm a little anxious for some solid leadership.

I have faith in Schaub though. I look forward to seeing what he can do with a more solid offensive line and (hopefully) fewer injuries around him.

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

I'm not a Schaub hater.... so let me get that out of the way first.

Some of you know, I was pretty hard on YKW.... but you can look at all my posts, I don't think I was ever wrong about his play. The things I saw, and mentioned right here(& I'm not saying I was the only one) were things that our coaches and players eventually came out and said about the player.

One thing I want you to watch this year, is how Matt leads the reciever. After rewatching the Cleveland game, almost every throw was in the wrong spot. He did fine on the slants.. but it looked like he wasn't in sync with our Receivers speed. Owen Daniels, Andre Johnson, Andre Davis, Kevin Walter, were constantly having to stop for the ball, or turn and make an acrobatic catch.

One such throw, had Owen reaching for the ball, it bounced off his hands, and ended up in a linebacker's hands.

The commentator's were going gaga, about a rookie that "shut AJ down" which was bull, AJ wa...... never mind.

Just saying, keep an eye on Matt, this is one of the things that has to improve.

He's a first time starter, he hadn't had a lot of time to work with our receivers, blah, blah, blah...... doesn't matter, he's got to get better, our running backs need to stay healthy, our DLine needs to bring the pressure with 4, our LBs need to learn how to cover... if we're going to be legit, these things have to get done.

despite some denial out of sense of loyalty, I've got to agree with you (as mentioned in another thread already). Schaub does seem to miss some easy throws, especially early on in the season in the red zone. after all we've gone through as Texans fans it was just a breath of fresh air to have another look behind Center, but film does not lie. I'm betting Gibbs will improve line protection & running lanes so Matt has more time to set his feet & follow through on his passing attempts. make better decisions & don't force the ball into high risk (turnover) situations.

[Bigbots_02]

One thing I believe schaub should improve in is giving the ball some zipp... To me there always alittle air underneath his ball, I cant reacll to many bullets.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by Brando

Sporting News: What do you need to do to close the gap in the division?

SCHAUB: Take care of the ball. Take the ball away. Improve the turnover margin. If we do that, we could have easily won two, three or maybe four more games last season. We were right in some of those games and should have won them there toward the end. But if we take care of the ball better and the defense creates a turnover or two more, hey, we're right there in that hunt.


Read more here


This is the answer I liked the most. We could have won 2-3 more games last year if we held on to the ball and won the turnover battle. If we can hold on to the ball we can be an 11 win team, I really believe that.

Me too. Been preachin' the stop the turnover madness all off-season. 38 turnovers!! No team is good enough to give the ball away that much and still be successful.

[Thorn]

Eh....I've gone from Schaub hater, to Schaub lover, and now I sitting at neutral as far as Schaub is concerned. He shown flashes of goodness, but in my mind, he still has yet to prove he can be a full time starting QB in the NFL.

One way or the other, we'll find out this season what's what with Schaub.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

I'm not a Schaub hater.... so let me get that out of the way first.

Some of you know, I was pretty hard on YKW.... but you can look at all my posts, I don't think I was ever wrong about his play. The things I saw, and mentioned right here(& I'm not saying I was the only one) were things that our coaches and players eventually came out and said about the player.

One thing I want you to watch this year, is how Matt leads the reciever. After rewatching the Cleveland game, almost every throw was in the wrong spot. He did fine on the slants.. but it looked like he wasn't in sync with our Receivers speed. Owen Daniels, Andre Johnson, Andre Davis, Kevin Walter, were constantly having to stop for the ball, or turn and make an acrobatic catch.

One such throw, had Owen reaching for the ball, it bounced off his hands, and ended up in a linebacker's hands.

The commentator's were going gaga, about a rookie that "shut AJ down" which was bull, AJ wa...... never mind.

Just saying, keep an eye on Matt, this is one of the things that has to improve.

He's a first time starter, he hadn't had a lot of time to work with our receivers, blah, blah, blah...... doesn't matter, he's got to get better, our running backs need to stay healthy, our DLine needs to bring the pressure with 4, our LBs need to learn how to cover... if we're going to be legit, these things have to get done.

you aren't the only one who noticed that about Schaub. there was another thread, something about what would you like to see improved... or maybe it was "the Texans will make the playoffs IF...."
Anyway, in that thread my "IF" was (one of them anyway) that Matt needs to improve his arm strength. He under threw receivers many times and left points on the field because guys had to wait on the ball (giving the DB time to recover) instead of catching it in stride.

I ain't sayin' that Schaub's as bad as Chad Pennington or anything, but there's definitely room for improvement.

[Maddict5]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Turnovers are created by forcing offenses to become one-dimensional. That's accomplished by a) stopping the run, and b) having your offense put points on the board. When the Texans do a better job of stopping the run and scoring in the 1st quarter, watch the turnovers spike up.

i havent looked it up but we seemed to start off fast in alot of games last season.. especially on the first drive

[Bigbots_02]

Originally Posted by Brando

Sporting News: What do you need to do to close the gap in the division?

SCHAUB: Take care of the ball. Take the ball away. Improve the turnover margin. If we do that, we could have easily won two, three or maybe four more games last season. We were right in some of those games and should have won them there toward the end. But if we take care of the ball better and the defense creates a turnover or two more, hey, we're right there in that hunt.


Read more here


This is the answer I liked the most. We could have won 2-3 more games last year if we held on to the ball and won the turnover battle. If we can hold on to the ball we can be an 11 win team, I really believe that.

Its kinda funny... When I talk about how good the texans CAN BE people cant see it. Its as if all anyone really see is the wins and losses. We were in alot of games and turnovers killed us. We had talent and injury issues at RB and I believe if we had that fixed last year we would have been in the playoffs. With a run game, schaub gets sacked less and WR catch more passes.

[Bigbots_02]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

i havent looked it up but we seemed to start off fast in alot of games last season.. especially on the first drive

I can agree to that with the exception of us playing the chargers.

[Maddict5]

Originally Posted by adam

That makes me feel a little shaky. I would rather he be out there fighting hard to get a win than just managing the game and counting on his defense to close out the win, like a certain first round draft bust currently playing for the Titans. Especially when you consider that our defense isn't that good.

I may be reading this wrong, but after 5 years of listening to Carr's horse****: I'm a little anxious for some solid leadership.

I have faith in Schaub though. I look forward to seeing what he can do with a more solid offensive line and (hopefully) fewer injuries around him.

i think you are reading it wrong.. he was asked about what he learned from seeing eli manning win the SB- eli used to try and do too much and lost games by making bad decisions etc.

schaub hasnt played like somebody who's afraid to carry the load offensively (he threw quite a bit last year).. leadership is the last thing you have to worry about with schaub

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Creating turnovers is sort of a buzz term. Dom Capers used to preach the "turnover battle" ad nauseam. Hey, turnovers are great, but you have to put the team into a position to create them. rarely do they just fall in your lap. At least not since McKinney was snapping to Carr.

Turnovers are created by forcing offenses to become one-dimensional. That's accomplished by a) stopping the run, and b) having your offense put points on the board. When the Texans do a better job of stopping the run and scoring in the 1st quarter, watch the turnovers spike up.

Great points, man. Coaches always preach winning the turnover battle, but they have to result in points on the board to make a difference.

At least they are paying attention to this fundamental aspect of the game. That is a positive sign, because it seems like some teams take these things for granted sometimes.

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

One thing I want you to watch this year, is how Matt leads the reciever. After rewatching the Cleveland game, almost every throw was in the wrong spot. He did fine on the slants.. but it looked like he wasn't in sync with our Receivers speed. Owen Daniels, Andre Johnson, Andre Davis, Kevin Walter, were constantly having to stop for the ball, or turn and make an acrobatic catch.

Good post, and I agree about this tendency to under throw his receivers. I think some of those red zone interceptions were the result of this, as well.

MS did hit some in stride, with the long AJ touchdown coming to mind. If Schaub can improve any aspect of his game, I think this one will make the biggest impact on our offence.

[Hervoyel]

Doesn't this really boil down to what kind of growth we see out of Schaub this year. It's his second season in the system. It's his second training camp with these coaches and these teammates. Last season everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) saw some things to like about Matt Schaub and some things to keep them awake at night about Matt Schaub. What we didn't get to see was the late season development that would have maybe told us how he was progressing. His injuries got in the way of our seeing whether we should feel good about how he was doing or bad.

I expect him to take a few steps forward this year and I hope he puts the injury bug questions behind him. If he plays all of the games then we should see some second year improvement and if we don't then it's time to get worried. He'll have a running game like no Texans QB has ever had (in theory), the best coaching staff that any Texans QB has ever had, and the best receiving corps that any Texans QB has ever had.

Results should be visible.

[adam]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

i think you are reading it wrong.. he was asked about what he learned from seeing eli manning win the SB- eli used to try and do too much and lost games by making bad decisions etc.

schaub hasnt played like somebody who's afraid to carry the load offensively (he threw quite a bit last year).. leadership is the last thing you have to worry about with schaub

I sincerely hope you're right. We gave up a lot for Schaub, I'd really like to see him succeed.

[Hooston Texan]

Originally Posted by Bigbots_02

I can agree to that with the exception of us playing the chargers.

Actually, we came out of the gates against the Chargers in competitive fashion on offense. We had two decent drives in our first three possessions: the first moved the ball from inside our own 20 to their side of the field; the third resulted in a field goal. Unfortunately, by the time of that field goal, we were already down 14-0 due to a quick-strike TD by the Bolts and then that miserable snap/botched recovery by our punt team.

But after that FG early in the second quarter, the wheels really came off: another easy TD by the Charger offense, a pick-6 to Cromartie and then another pick/long-runback that set up another TD and the game was quickly over.

[Hooston Texan]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Doesn't this really boil down to what kind of growth we see out of Schaub this year. It's his second season in the system. It's his second training camp with these coaches and these teammates. Last season everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) saw some things to like about Matt Schaub and some things to keep them awake at night about Matt Schaub. What we didn't get to see was the late season development that would have maybe told us how he was progressing. His injuries got in the way of our seeing whether we should feel good about how he was doing or bad.

I expect him to take a few steps forward this year and I hope he puts the injury bug questions behind him. If he plays all of the games then we should see some second year improvement and if we don't then it's time to get worried. He'll have a running game like no Texans QB has ever had (in theory), the best coaching staff that any Texans QB has ever had, and the best receiving corps that any Texans QB has ever had.

Results should be visible.

Schaub made a quantum leap forward between his first and second seasons as a starter at UVA. At the end of his sophomore season, he was only a part-starter who had not particularly distinguished himself. At the end of his junior season, he was the ACC player of the year and on alot of Heisman watch lists.

That said, I agree that his progress will be measured in TDs and wins next year. He's going to get it done.