We're 3-5 now so what's it going to take?

[Hervoyel]

Ok, so I was very much annoyed not to see the Texans step up and make themselves 4-4 last week. The reasons why that happened are ones we are all familiar with and there's no point in going over them again. What I want to know though is what does it take to get everyone back on the positive-vibe bandwagon?

We play the Ravens and a quick look at their season tells me that they are just as likely to come in here and lay an egg as they are to beat the snot out of us. It really could go either way. If we can't beat the Ravens at home then we're 3-6 and talking about draft position.

But what if it goes our way?

Then we're 4-5 and one game away from .500 again. We start hearing about the next game being "make or break" from all the talking heads. We start looking past the next one and trying to figure out what it will take to get into the playoffs. We start talking about how some rag or fool commentator disrespected the Texans who are clearly on the rise now.

At 4-5 we're going to Indianapolis with the Rosencopter looking for redemption and the Colts still aren't really "THE Colts". I think it makes for interesting NFL type drama. That game at Indy is really the game of the year (but only if we can beat the Ravens at Reliant Sunday). A win pulls us even on the season and I think has a very real chance to start us on a roll. At 5-5 we have the following left.

@Cleveland
Jacksonville
@Green Bay
Tennessee
@Oakland
Chicago

That's an interesting collection of games right there. Going into Cleveland we'd be facing at best another .500 team. They're completely beatable. Then we'd have Jacksonville at home and I think it's fair to say that they're no better than we are and maybe worse. At our house that could easily be a win. We could be going to Green Bay a 7-5 team and I can say that without my head exploding because it's not just Texans Kool-Aid talking. It's a reasonable scenario IF we get by the Ravens Sunday and then pull the upset at Indy.

Of course we lose the Green Bay game because there's no way in the world the Texans are going to win 5 in a row or beat Green Bay in December this year. It ain't happening.

So we fall to 7-6 and that's when the most interesting stretch of our season begins. We have 3 games left and two of them are at home. We get the Titans at Reliant and I've got to think that the Texans can give them a game in Reliant Stadium. Sure they're likely to beat us again. I can't deny it and we might very well find ourselves 7-7 but I think we have a chance against them at home.

That leaves the last two games. The one road game is against the Raiders and they've been done for three weeks. We have literally never lost to the Raiders. Upsets can always happen but I don't think I'm crazy to predict a win here. Call us 8-7 (or, if we get lucky against Tennessee maybe even 9-6).

That leaves Chicago at home on December 28th. The Bears are 5-3 right now and might not even need this game by the time it's played. I could see them sitting starters and the Texans ending the year 9-7 or if the stars line up just right 10-6.

That could happen people.

[Double Barrel]

Good read, man, and filled with potential for optimism. There is certainly nothing wrong with that perspective.

Unfortunately, I do not share your enthusiasm. Our defense sucks so bad...and now we lose Diles for the year...I just don't see it mounting much consistent opposition to our opponents.

I will be rooting my butt off this Sunday, per standard operating procedure, but I think Flacco could have a field day against our secondary and weak pass rush. And Ray Lewis' defense is what it is, and without a consistent running game, I don't think we get the respect for our play action and our QB is likely to take some (more) brutal hits.

We seem to play well at home, though, so I guess anything is possible. At 4-5, we'd definitely be given some room to hope that the light is the end of the tunnel and not an oncoming train.

[gtexan02]

It all comes down to whether believe we are a good team with a few bad games or a bad team with a few wins against horrible teams.

[Hervoyel]

I don't think so. I think we are without a doubt a bad team with a few wins against bad teams. What makes me optimistic is that every year a few teams just like us get on a roll and win a few that we aren't supposed to. We aren't arguably worse than the team that wiped out Denver last year and beat the snot out of Tampa Bay. We have the same crappy defense and arguably a better offense. We'll be playing a late game where the opponent might not be interested in mixing it up just like last year against the Jags.

I think that the great teams win a lot of games and the really lousy teams lose a lot of games. How everybody in the middle ends up comes down to injuries, scheduling, and a few lucky (or unlucky) breaks. Sometimes very average teams get on little streaks and find themselves in the playoffs. Sure it wouldn't accomplish much more than hurting our draft position but hey, I'm hard up for some wins. I'll take that in a heartbeat.

[imatexan]

Well it all starts this Sunday against the Ravens, lets hop we can squeak out a win!

[Rex King]

Under Kubiak, the Texans have finished stronger than they've started. Eric Winston said he thinks they're stronger in December because of their training scheme - light hitting in practice and Dan Riley's weightlifting regimen. But I think there are other factors
- For some reason it takes Smith's defense at least two games to get their heads out of their a$$es
- They started out with a brutal schedule
- Perhaps most importantly, in previous years, they benefited from a schedule weighted more heavily to home games

This team hasn't shown it can win on the road against an average team. I hope to heck they can break that duck against Indy.

[Silver Oak]

Herv, I like your optimism, but as tough as the Ravens defense is, we're equally soft everywhere.

I like our chances to score some, but our o-line is crap. People can defend all day long, but Baltimore will look at that Minny film and be licking their chops to repeat it against us.

I may get very drunk before the game.

[brakos82]

Originally Posted by Silver Oak

Herv, I like your optimism, but as tough as the Ravens defense is, we're equally soft everywhere.

I like our chances to score some, but our o-line is crap. People can defend all day long, but Baltimore will look at that Minny film and be licking their chops to repeat it against us.

I may get very drunk before the game.

I would get drunk, but I have to get on the plane to Seattle at 8 the next morning...

[Thorn]

The optimism is great, and I think the Texans will someday be not just a good team, but a great team. Just not this year, and quite possibly next year either. The Texans still have to prove they can consistently win on the road AND beat teams other than crappy ones worse than they are. At most I see four wins in our final eight, but I predict only three.

[steelbtexan]

Any team that has no pass rush & Petey & Reeves @ CB is going to stink.

Add to that Richard Smith & his lackof creativity itis enough to bring the whole team down to mediocity

Next year we need a new DC, two new OLB, one new CB & a pass rushing DE.

I hope Mr. McNair puts KUBES on notice & we do whatever needs to be done to aquire these players in the draft & FA

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by brakos82

I would get drunk, but I have to get on the plane to Seattle at 8 the next morning...

DO ITTTT.

That's a rather optimistic post so I'd have to say that really we could drop that one to Baltimore at home and it be real disappointing, and follow that up with another egg at Indy.

Really and truly at 3 - 5, I can see us going 8 - 8 or maybe 9 - 7 if we catch a lot of breaks. I think that the defense has been completely figured out by the NFL, and that almost every team seems to be able to attack us effectively at some element of the game. It seems only the truly pathetic teams really get smothered by how our defense plays (Except for that breakout game by Mario last year). So pretty much it's all on the offense, and I really think that we shouldn't be surprised that our line gives up a bunch of sacks. Most of the Gibbs coached teams relied on the run to carry the offense MUCH more than what we are doing. Also, I was always under the idea that his offensive lines tended to do mediocre in pass blocking but were monsters against the run, because they were so light? So when we're not executing fully on the run (And really, 16th in yards per games) and we pass more, it wears the line out.

It's great when it works, so we need to either see Sage stay healthy and somehow protect the ball, even when his mind tells him to "Favre" it, or the rushing averages go up. Otherwise we're looking at some other part of the offense getting overused and getting injured.

Having said all that, I think we can somehow keep it together enough to beat JAX, @CLE (Although this is one of those games that'll have us biting our nails) and @OAK. That's 6 - 5, then you've got tough games @IND, @GB, CHI and TEN (They may be resting starters here, etc) that could go either way in my mind. Split the difference and that's 8-7. I think the BAL game is where we drop our first home game this season.

That's where we get that. We need to have a lot of luck to get there in my mind because we have to win 5 more games, and we've looked pretty inept at times.

[steelbtexan]

I notice yhat I drink more when the game is close & Richard Smith's defense is on the field.

[Joe Texan]

It is gonna take Bob deciding of he really wants to be a contender,
He has got to give Gary the ultimatum that we need to win these games.
Then he has got to let a head roll if we are unproductive. be it Richard Smith or Jaques Reeves.

Why are the Cowboys always a contender from day one, Cause Jerry Demands perfection. I do not think Bob needs to be so arrogant but he does need to let everyone on the team know they are expendable.

[sakebomb]

They will be a .500 team until they learn to eliminate all the turnovers.

[Texans_Chick]

Punch em in the mouth.

Punch em all in the mouth.

And then stomp on them.

[TexanSam]

The Texans beat the Ravens. We go to Indy trying to prove ourselves before the NFL (as well as trying to actually win on the road). We fail. Then the whole cycle starts over again. I need the Texans to actually prove it before my pessimism goes away on this team.

[Buffi2]

I love optimism!

I'm trying to take this one game at a time so as not to get my little heart broken yet again.

I'm not real sure of a win against Baltimore. Flacco is getting better with each game and then there is that pesky Ray Rice dude who did quite well last week. Add to that Baltimore's defense is pretty good - in the top 5, I think, but am too lazy to go look it up. The only plus is that their offense is only good against the likes of Oakland and Cleveland. All things are possible and I trust Hervoyel's assessments more than most.

What the hayull - I'll buy it given a home field advantage. I've had faith for this long - why give up now. I thought Miami was a pivotal win - but I agree that this is yet another must win. As Yoda would say, "On this, all else depends."

[IlliniJen]

IMHO, it's going to take an attitude transplant from a much meaner, more competitive team.

[Runner]

I usually don't project games too far into the future, but the original was a good post so I'll give my view of a few of them.

I think the Ravens will beat the Texans rather handily. The Texans have not proven they can play effectively against a defense such as theirs. I think they will stuff the run rather easily, concentrate on stopping Dre, and bring what pressure they can against Sage. Without Slaton and Dre the rest of the offense will struggle. I think their offense is good enough to score just enough points on the Texans defense to keep it a two score lead most of the way. L

Indy is a tough one. Experience has shown the Colts should beat the Texans at home, but this is just the type of game the Texans win on occasion that gets the hopes of the fans up. I wouldn't be surprised to see either a Texans win or an Indy blow-out. ?

Cleveland is the game I think is the next "statement game". It is a fairly even match, but the Texans should win. W

After that is the next "statement" game with Jacksonville. As with Cleveland, it is an even match but the Texans should win. W

After that it is too dim for me to say in much detail. Call it a win against Oakland. Probably a win versus Chicago in a massive disinterest game. Losses to Green Bay and the Titans.

6-10 if they lose to Indy and Chicago, 7-9 if they split, 8-8 if they beat those two.

I already know that my projections are going to be obliterated by reality. I'm not good at this kind of thing, especially when I start giving details.

I think the Texans are the cream of the bad teams trying to become the cream of the average teams. I don't think they are consistent enough to build any sort of momentum to get "on a roll" and beat the better teams because of it.

[ATXtexanfan]

very nice post runner, agree totally. i'm pulling for another 8-8 year now