Anyone think we need a new head coach???

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by rhc564

"have the team sink into the NFL basement again"

I don't want this project to become a long term one that never reaches
the point of winning, always lacking 'this' or 'that.' It does no one any
good to turn this team into a perpetual revolving door of 'we're almost
there, just wait until next year'.....

I'm perfectly content to let Caper's tenure as head coach play itself out.
Eventually, he'll either lead us to the 'promise land' or he won't. I'm hoping
we're on the right track and get there sooner than later...time--that,to
me, is the key to differing opinions.

we both agree. My view is it takes 4-5 years to get a team built from scratch.(I.e. depth) ... with injuries it has slowed our progress (all teams have them,but with our lack of depth it is more noticable)

[TexansTrueFan]

this team will be a contender for the SB in its 5th year, i see us becoming a play off team in year 4 as a wild card, and we win one play off game. I think the 03 injuries helped this team more than they hurt it, it gave us a chance to put young players in there and see what they had and also gave them playing time !

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by rhc564

The point is that they all made it and the Ravens, Jags, Panthers are
looking pretty good though some of you are stuck on the Browns. And,
just think if Romeo works his magic in Cleveland and turns them around
quick. I can hear the excuses now!!

Among those teams everyone of them had a core of players to upgrade/exchange except for the Browns...who like ourselves is/was an expansion team....like us.

[Dannyboy81]

I love the way Casserly and the front office put the team together but just don't think Capers' is the right captain for the ship. But you have to say we are probably the best TALENTED expansion team every assembled in recent nfl history. With that being said we have set ourselves up for having a real good play-off caliber team for years to come.

Just one problem though . . . . those years will probably be later than sooner. I agree with other people saying we should keep Capers as a DC or a assistant coach but NOT as a head coach.

[brickmantexanfan]

NO! Leave it alone for now

[hound]

I think our play calling at times is as bad as I've ever seen.

You remember the game last season, maybe Greenbay, where late in the fourth the game is tight and the cameras showed Carr on the sideline giving the offense a pep talk and saying, "we're going to go in there and use up the clock and drive down the field". Then the team goes in and the play calling is DD into the middle of the line on first and second down for no gain hardly... and then with the Texans needing seven or eight yards the Texans next play is a one yard crossing pass to AJ... where he catches the ball in the middle of the field, surrounded by the other team and is tackled instantly. The Texans punt and the other team comes in and drives down to win the game.

You don't make the playoffs with play calling like that. If Capers likes that play calling he needs to go. If he doesn't like the play calling he needs to change it.

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by Dannyboy81

I love the way Casserly and the front office put the team together but just don't think Capers' is the right captain for the ship. But you have to say we are probably the best TALENTED expansion team every assembled in recent nfl history. With that being said we have set ourselves up for having a real good play-off caliber team for years to come.

Just one problem though . . . . those years will probably be later than sooner. I agree with other people saying we should keep Capers as a DC or a assistant coach but NOT as a head coach.

yeah on paper, but if you remember. No boselli, No Young. and a bunch of street FA's and rookies on offense in the 1st year...Hard to be a good coach when you don't have the talent or the talent is injured. And who would have known Jermaine Lewis was a bust.

those were 2 probowl guys and supposively a very solid RT. That set the franchise back a year on building.
IMO

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by hound

I think our play calling at times is as bad as I've ever seen.

You remember the game last season, maybe Greenbay, where late in the fourth the game is tight and the cameras showed Carr on the sideline giving the offense a pep talk and saying, "we're going to go in there and use up the clock and drive down the field". Then the team goes in and the play calling is DD into the middle of the line on first and second down for no gain hardly... and then with the Texans needing seven or eight yards the Texans next play is a one yard crossing pass to AJ... where he catches the ball in the middle of the field, surrounded by the other team and is tackled instantly. The Texans punt and the other team comes in and drives down to win the game.

You don't make the playoffs with play calling like that. If Capers likes that play calling he needs to go. If he doesn't like the play calling he needs to change it.

What I notice about our playcalling is that given the fact that our OL is not very good, the Texans do run the ball in certain situations when I think normally we wouldn't be so conservative.. Is it frustrating to me? YES!!! but I understand why they do it. Due to the lack of experience on the OL, they are trying to keep David out of the certain passing situations (3rd and 7) to help him not get pummeled... I don't have stats in front of me and I can probably be proved wrong, but when it is 2nd and 7 or so, more times than not, we run the ball straight ahead.... yes, I hate it,but I also hate it when it is 3rd and 7 (because we passed on 2nd and 7 and it was incomplete) and our OL can't stop the rush....Now when we get an upgrade at center and TE and gell as a unit, well of course playcalling will look better, because the play actually got executed right. (before this thread takes a fork in the road, I am NOT saying use our 13th pick on a TE or C..that would be way to high)

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by hound

I think our play calling at times is as bad as I've ever seen.

You remember the game last season, maybe Greenbay, where late in the fourth the game is tight and the cameras showed Carr on the sideline giving the offense a pep talk and saying, "we're going to go in there and use up the clock and drive down the field". Then the team goes in and the play calling is DD into the middle of the line on first and second down for no gain hardly... and then with the Texans needing seven or eight yards the Texans next play is a one yard crossing pass to AJ... where he catches the ball in the middle of the field, surrounded by the other team and is tackled instantly. The Texans punt and the other team comes in and drives down to win the game.

You don't make the playoffs with play calling like that. If Capers likes that play calling he needs to go. If he doesn't like the play calling he needs to change it.

Nope, don't remember that at all. Want to know why?--because it didn't happen that way. The last possession of the Texans was three straight passes and then a punt--funny how the "we always run on 1st and 2nd down" folks never remember those possessions. Green Bay then proceeded down the field to kick the game winning field goal. The series you are thinking about was the next to last and resulted in zip points for Green Bay as Dunta Robinson picked off Favre.

[rhc564]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Nope, don't remember that at all. Want to know why?--because it didn't happen that way. The last possession of the Texans was three straight passes and then a punt--funny how the "we always run on 1st and 2nd down" folks never remember those possessions. Green Bay then proceeded down the field to kick the game winning field goal. The series you are thinking about was the next to last and resulted in zip points for Green Bay as Dunta Robinson picked off Favre.

...looking forward to the day when the Texans don't pass so much when
everbody in the stadium knows they're going to throw, like the last drive
against the Packers. Too, the best down to throw on to minimize failure
is first down. But, as we all know, the Texans rarely throw on this down
which certainly figures into the game planning of the opponent. Maybe,
when we reach that perfect scenario of players,great turf, no injuries,etc.,
we won't be the easiest team in the NFL to game plan against.

[rhc564]

...for confirmation of the above, ask the Cleveland Browns

[aj.]

looking forward to the day when the Texans don't pass so much when everbody in the stadium knows they're going to throw, like the last drive
against the Packers. Too, the best down to throw on to minimize failure
is first down. But, as we all know, the Texans rarely throw on this down

Not to confuse the issue with facts but in the second half of the Packers game the Texans passed (or called pass) 6 times on first down and ran 4 times on first down.

[Wolf]

tough crowd on this board.. signs of a young team.. inconsistancy..
for every cleveland game there is a carolina game (which we beat the team that would represent the NFC in a superbowl) and we lose at the last minute to the other super bowl team (patriots)

then we lose to a cleveland team(this year) and a cincy team (last year)

[TexanExile]

And steamroll a media darling like Jacksonville...but also nearly gag against Chicago, a team Houston should've absolutely crushed at that point in the year. Yup....stuff happens.

This team isn't just going through "growing pains." It's also part of being in the NFL that ALL teams have bad weeks, and ALL teams have exceptional weeks. Did the Patriots quit after getting rolled by the lowly Dolphins?

It's still too early to call for Capers' head. It IS time to call for Carr's head. Not for it on a plate, but for it to enter the game. He's had enough experience now to be held accountable, and now needs to make decisions that complement his great physical skills. Until he does that more consistently, no coach in the world will make this team better than 7-9.

On that note, it'd be nice if we had something at left tackle other than a large traffic cone wearing a Texans uniform. QBs probably get smarter in a hurry when they're not looking through their helmet's earhole to see what just hit them. I continue to see this as the team's most glaring weakness.

[TexansTrueFan]

Originally Posted by TexanExile

And steamroll a media darling like Jacksonville...but also nearly gag against Chicago, a team Houston should've absolutely crushed at that point in the year. Yup....stuff happens.

This team isn't just going through "growing pains." It's also part of being in the NFL that ALL teams have bad weeks, and ALL teams have exceptional weeks. Did the Patriots quit after getting rolled by the lowly Dolphins?

It's still too early to call for Capers' head. It IS time to call for Carr's head. Not for it on a plate, but for it to enter the game. He's had enough experience now to be held accountable, and now needs to make decisions that complement his great physical skills. Until he does that more consistently, no coach in the world will make this team better than 7-9.

On that note, it'd be nice if we had something at left tackle other than a large traffic cone wearing a Texans uniform. QBs probably get smarter in a hurry when they're not looking through their helmet's earhole to see what just hit them. I continue to see this as the team's most glaring weakness.

i agree with all that except the portion on Carr, he does have great physical skills like you said, but what more do you expect him to do when he only has 2.3 sec to get rid of the football, most recievers are still tied up with a CB and havent broke free at that point.

[rhc564]

:woot

Originally Posted by aj.

Not to confuse the issue with facts but in the second half of the Packers game the Texans passed (or called pass) 6 times on first down and ran 4 times on first down.

You must be one of the few who believe they throw more than run most
of the time on first down and are not predictable---that's ok, your'e
entitled to your opinion and I won't clog up the board with specifics to
back my point--- besides, I don't think there would be enough bandwith!!

[rhc564]

"carolina game (which we beat the team that would represent the NFC in a superbowl) and we lose at the last minute to the other super bowl team (patriots)"

IMO, these 2 games hit 'the nail on the head.' Against the Panthers, we
had an agressive attack in the 4th quarter that got first downs,scored
points, and ate up the clock. This was against a team that is noted for
its defense and we put it to them. But, the team seldom takes it to a
team in those situations...Against the Patriots, we flat out blew this game.
They punt and we get the ball back on THEIR 35 yardline---all we need is
about 5 yds to be in field goal range----5 yds! So, on 1st down we pitch
out to our slowest back (Mack) and send him outside, losing yardage.
On 2nd down, we still run and lose more yardage. With 4th and a "mile"
we throw a bomb...

[aj.]

Originally Posted by rhc564

:woot

You must be one of the few who believe they throw more than run most
of the time on first down and are not predictable---that's ok, your'e
entitled to your opinion and I won't clog up the board with specifics to
back my point--- besides, I don't think there would be enough bandwith!!

You're reading way too much into my post. You said the Texans "rarely" throw on first down, and since the end of the GB game was being used as a bad example by some, I went back and looked just for the heck of it and found that the Texans threw (or attempted to throw) 60% of the time on first down in the second half of that game. No opinion, just fact.

Here's an opinion: Many people have selective memory when it comes to play calling. If it works, it's a great call or it's forgotten (in the context of play calling) because it's what we expect. If it doesn't work, it's a poor call - especially if it's a running play or a dump off - regardless of how many passes fell incomplete or sacks were given up or blocks/assignments were missed or penalties committed before that. If I had a nickel for every time run-run-pass was debunked on this board over the past two seasons, I could buy a new flat screen monitor to replace this antiquated pos I'm staring at now.

To answer the original question in this thread, no, it's not time for a new head coach - yet.

And for those who will hide behind "I told ya so" after Capers gets fired or is not renewed after '06, I'll leave you with this: Since the advent of Super Bowls, only 14% of the men who ever had the title of NFL head coach made it to a Super Bowl as a head coach. So it's a pretty safe bet to say that Coach X won't get us there - because history says there's better than an 8 in 10 chance that he won't regardless of who it is.

[DBLR1]

Originally Posted by Gilly

Capers is not the problem. we need a new play caller more than we need anything. I remember getting sick to my stomach in the forth quarter everyweek when play calling lost the game. I say give Capers more time and see what happens.

I agree with you. Palmer is my question mark. You have to adapt to what you have and I feel he didn't do a good job of that. Capers is a good coach, very motivational for the team---a great defensive mind. A few more pieces and a better playcaller and we are a playoff team for a while.

[bckey]

Originally Posted by DBLR1

I agree with you. Palmer is my question mark. You have to adapt to what you have and I feel he didn't do a good job of that. Capers is a good coach, very motivational for the team---a great defensive mind. A few more pieces and a better playcaller and we are a playoff team for a while.

You're kidding right. How is Capers motivating this team? With stats?

Palmer and Fangio are both problems but it is more noticeable with Palmer because Fangio has Capers to rely on because of his defensive past. Capers is an defensive cordinator wearing a head coaching hat. Without an outstanding oc that hat will never fit. Capers is clueless about offense (except how to stop one) and that leaves Palmer to continue making bonehead play calls.