Can Daniels help cure Texans' red-zone ills?

[Wolf]

Owen Daniels has proved a very effective piece of a very productive offense.

Now can he be part of the cure for one of the Houston Texans' biggest ills?

The third-ranked offense in the NFL scored a touchdown only 45.9 percent of the time it crossed beyond its opponent's 20-yard line last year. The six teams that were worse posted a combined winning percentage of .358 and Minnesota was the only playoff participant.

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth/pos...-red-zone-ills

[eriadoc]

He doesn't exactly have a stellar red zone record.

[Jackie Chiles]

Someone likes his chances:

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog..._eric_football

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

He doesn't exactly have a stellar red zone record.

He's got to have somebody throw him the ball when he gets there though. Our QBs have done a horrible job in the redzone at finding their targets, it's one of the reasons why Andre's TD to reception ratio is so low.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Carr Bombed

He's got to have somebody throw him the ball when he gets there though. Our QBs have done a horrible job in the redzone at finding their targets, it's one of the reasons why Andre's TD to reception ratio is so low.

A good part of the problems was not the QB or the receivers, but the fact that we have light mobile Olinemen. When you get close to the goal line, the blocking scheme cannot be the "deflecting" zone blocking movement. It requires more head on, hold your own type of blocking. In those situations, in the past, our lineman usually could not hold their own and got pushed back by a man for man larger, stronger D.

[mexican_texan]

I think AJ pointed out last year he seldom gets to run fade routes.

[thunderkyss]

If OD can help cure our ills in the RedZone, why hasen't he?

I've got to believe the problem is beyond OD.

[Jackie Chiles]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

If OD can help cure our ills in the RedZone, why hasen't he?

I've got to believe the problem is beyond OD.

I don't know, he scored 5 his rookie year and he has done nothing but improve since then. I just think that some guys on offense (maybe coaches as well) have a case of mysterious shrinking sphincter when we get inside that 20 yard line. I like what I saw from the Bears game last year and I am optimistic that we improve in this area.

[GuerillaBlack]

His TDs dropped since his rookie year, but his yards and receptions have went up. Definitely not OD's fault about not getting enough TDs.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

His TDs dropped since his rookie year, but his yards and receptions have went up. Definitely not OD's fault about not getting enough TDs.

Like I said, beyond Owen Daniels.

[Clamp]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

His TDs dropped since his rookie year, but his yards and receptions have went up. Definitely not OD's fault about not getting enough TDs.

I think when he said "its beyond OD" he didnt mean it was beyond his ability, but rather beyond his control, and I agree. He didnt do much this preseason but really when it comes down to it im not upset bc if he doesnt have the ball he isnt gonna be hit as much, thus lowering his risk of incidental injury before the season even starts.

[ChampionTexan]

No, but he can make it so you don't care about them anymore.

[mattieuk]

OD will do a LOT better in terms of TDs this year. With the offseason additions, I think we're going to have a much more impressive red-zone setup (to be honest, we can't get much worse!). I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of two TE sets with Casey/Hill coming in to try and throw the opposition, which should give OD a chance to get free more, and hopefully help us out in that sense.

[Scooter]

i think the biggest point in that article is how poor our run game has been in the redzone. to open up those routes as lil shanny mentioned requires pulling a safety out of coverage. obviously with the short field the defense gets easier, and if our ineffective run game is allowing teams to back off into a short zone, our passing game is very limited in what it can do without overly risking a turnover.

this is exactly what matthews talked about during the offseason in regards to the line and the confidence we havent had before. the big uglies and hopefully a healthy chris brown have to take the step in believing that the defense is stepping into our line's power base instead of the other way around (there's a sun tzu quote in there somewhere). making that happen is going to free up a lot of opportunities for daniels as well as our receivers. matt has one of if not the best play fakes in football, but it's null if we arent a threat to pound it in.

[ATXtexanfan]

Lack of run game and play calling

[Vinny]

Daniels is an excellet TE between the 20's but he isn't overwhelming in short space, whether it be as a blocker or an end zone threat (he hasn't really shown it yet). That's one reason I think Daniels is more expendable than some seem to think and why we shouldn't overpay him to keep him. He's an excellent possession receiver, no doubt about it.

[HoustonFrog]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Daniels is an excellet TE between the 20's but he isn't overwhelming in short space, whether it be as a blocker or an end zone threat (he hasn't really shown it yet). That's one reason I think Daniels is more expendable than some seem to think and why we shouldn't overpay him to keep him. He's an excellent possession receiver, no doubt about it.

Agree. They seem to run him alot on the corners too and not up the seam just inside the 20. I always think that on at least one play where the field is shotened you need a great play action play where the TE releases. I'm not sure why that has never been a staple. I'm assuming he gets caught up in traffic and thus, so far, hasn't been effective.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by Jackie Chiles

I don't know, he scored 5 his rookie year and he has done nothing but improve since then. I just think that some guys on offense (maybe coaches as well) have a case of mysterious shrinking sphincter when we get inside that 20 yard line. I like what I saw from the Bears game last year and I am optimistic that we improve in this area.

Yeah, we need to find more guys with huge, gaping sphincters! That'll help our "red zone scoring" for sure!

I just grossed myself out. Eewwwww

No, Daniels isn't much of a threat in scoring positions. I don't know if he just doesn't get open, isn't called into good positions to make plays or doesn't get noticed...whatever the case may be, he isn't effective like his other production numbers seem to indicate. From where I sit, I say "No but prove me wrong" and hope that he does.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Yeah, we need to find more guys with huge, gaping sphincters! That'll help our "red zone scoring" for sure!

I just grossed myself out. Eewwwww

Unsee! Unsee!

[HOU-TEX]

IMO, redzone success is determined by the Oline and the run game. It seemed like our line was beaten more in the redzone where defenses begin loading the box. Watching Slaton get blown up in the backfield got to be tiresome.

I think giving Leach more opportunities on short downs and tossing more fades to AJ will also help, but it all plays off who wins in the trenches....as always.