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Rick Gosselin's NFL rankings: Texans 9th

AcresHomesTexan

No Longer Arlington: Escaped From Jerry's World
Staff member
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...s/061410dnspogosselinnflrankings.3a223bc.html


9. Houston

The Texans have never made the playoffs in their eight years of existence. But Houston has strung together three consecutive nonlosing seasons, highlighted by a 9-7 finish in 2009. The Texans have a Top 5 offense, featuring the game's best WR in Andre Johnson, and some defensive standouts in DE Mario Williams, LBs DeMeco Ryans and Brian Cushing and SS Bernard Pollard.
 
I am a bit surprised he has NO at #8 and NE at #11.
 
With big press, comes big responsibilities. Take care of business.

And for the people, who are saying "its just one journalists opinion" keep in mind that Gosselin is one of the most highly regarded football writers in America.
 
Interesting reading his take on all the teams. Doesn't mean much though.

As to the Texans being ranked 9th (or really the ranking of any team) it's to early. Indy being predicted to take it all this year makes me laugh. The Forehead only has one SB ring. Other than the Colts owning us, I don't believe in the magical powers of Manning anymore until he gets a few more rings.
 
Rick needs to take a closer look at the Texans schedule.

#1 Indianapolis (Twice)
#2 Dallas
#3 Baltimore
#5 San Diego
#10 Jets (who beat Texans badly @ home in last seasons opener, this time in NY)
#13 NY Giants
#14 Tennessee (Twice)
#16 Philadelphia

let's just imagine the Texans sweep the rest of schedule, which is harder than it appears that's six wins & split w/teams #10-#16 thats another couple wins which = 8. to reach 10 W's the Texans must at least split with #1 Colts & beat either Dallas, Baltimore or San Diego.

anything is possible but I don't think its very realistic, hope I'm wrong & he's right :tiphat:
 
As we know the best team in each of their respective conference doesn't necessarily make it to the SB. For example, isn't it accurate to say that most would feel the Vikings were better than the Saints last year but the home-field advantage was the margin for the Saints ? That and the Vikings mistakes, because they practically dominated the game.
Regarding his prediction for the Texans, I sure hope he's right but that seems very generous to me ? Who knows though, maybe some of us Texans
fans have been so use to having a team that does not succeed that we don't recognize a playoff team when it's under our own noses ?
 
The Cowboys will need all of that to survive a schedule that includes games at Indianapolis, Green Bay, Houston and Minnesota.

Yeah we have a tough schedule but we are finally at the point where we are on other teams' oh crap list for tough games.
 
I know this is somewhat unrelated, but i think its a real nice sign that the Texans are being picked for National TV games on the ROAD. It used to be the only reason, primetime games would come here was because of Reliant, now they want us because of the level of competition we play.
 
As we know the best team in each of their respective conference doesn't necessarily make it to the SB. For example, isn't it accurate to say that most would feel the Vikings were better than the Saints last year but the home-field advantage was the margin for the Saints ? That and the Vikings mistakes, because they practically dominated the game.
Regarding his prediction for the Texans, I sure hope he's right but that seems very generous to me ? Who knows though, maybe some of us Texans
fans have been so use to having a team that does not succeed that we don't recognize a playoff team when it's under our own noses ?

Yeah, that!:kingkong:
 
Rick needs to take a closer look at the Texans schedule.

#1 Indianapolis (Twice)
#2 Dallas
#3 Baltimore
#5 San Diego
#10 Jets (who beat Texans badly @ home in last seasons opener, this time in NY)
#13 NY Giants
#14 Tennessee (Twice)
#16 Philadelphia

let's just imagine the Texans sweep the rest of schedule, which is harder than it appears that's six wins & split w/teams #10-#16 thats another couple wins which = 8. to reach 10 W's the Texans must at least split with #1 Colts & beat either Dallas, Baltimore or San Diego.

anything is possible but I don't think its very realistic, hope I'm wrong & he's right :tiphat:

This is confused thinking. He is rating teams from best to worst. That list has nothing to do with scheduling. He's not predicting records. Certainly a team can be the 9th best but finish with the 11th best record. Or, a team with the best record could conceivably not be the best team in the league.
 
With big press, comes big responsibilities. Take care of business.

And for the people, who are saying "its just one journalists opinion" keep in mind that Gosselin is one of the most highly regarded football writers in America.

It is way too early to be formulating power rankings, especially ones that have the Texans ahead of the Patriots to the point of taking the Patriots out of the top 10. Really? With this Grusome schedule, and with your DROY suspended for the first 4 games of the season?

The Huge reason why the Texans have not made it to the play-offs is because they have been in one of the knarliest divisions in the league. In the past 5 years only one division has had 3 teams with 10 wins or more, you guessed it the AFC South.

Check out this article

The best division in the NFL
 
We finished 9-7 just like the Jets, Ravens, Steelers, and Falcons.
:kitten:

Just sayin

And have we beaten those teams recently? Nope! As a matter of fact, we had our ass handed to us by those teams.

How many teams with a winning record did we beat this past season?

Just sayin
 
It is way too early to be formulating power rankings, especially ones that have the Texans ahead of the Patriots to the point of taking the Patriots out of the top 10. Really? With this Grusome schedule, and with your DROY suspended for the first 4 games of the season?
The best division in the NFL

My prediction for the first 4 games before the Cushing suspension was 2-2. After Cushing its still 2-2 so even though I'm pissed he can't play I don't think it impacts our record at the end of the day. Obviously I could be wrong and we do worse but I'd say there is opportunity to be 3-1 after those first 4 as well.
 
It is way too early to be formulating power rankings, especially ones that have the Texans ahead of the Patriots to the point of taking the Patriots out of the top 10. Really? With this Grusome schedule, and with your DROY suspended for the first 4 games of the season?

The Huge reason why the Texans have not made it to the play-offs is because they have been in one of the knarliest divisions in the league. In the past 5 years only one division has had 3 teams with 10 wins or more, you guessed it the AFC South.

Check out this article

The best division in the NFL
Uh? The same Patriots that we beat handily in week 17 of last year? I don't see why it's so absurd for us to be ranked ahead of them, considering the trajectory of the two teams.

I know they have the reputation, but reputation doesn't win games for them anymore.
 
Rick needs to take a closer look at the Texans schedule.

#1 Indianapolis (Twice)
#2 Dallas
#3 Baltimore
#5 San Diego
#10 Jets (who beat Texans badly @ home in last seasons opener, this time in NY)
#13 NY Giants
#14 Tennessee (Twice)
#16 Philadelphia

If we come out of that shedule, with 10 wins, would you think the Texans are the 9th best team in the league?

Kick out the two games against Indy, and replace them with two games against Detroit. Kick out the Dallas & Baltimore game, and replace them with Buffalo and San Francisco.

Oakland (x2)
Buffalo
San Francisco
#5 San Diego
#10 Jets (who beat Texans badly @ home in last seasons opener, this time in NY)
#13 NY Giants
#14 Tennessee (Twice)
#16 Philadelphia

If we finish with 10 wins against this group, would that make us the 9th best team in the league?
 
And have we beaten those teams recently? Nope! As a matter of fact, we had our ass handed to us by those teams.

How many teams with a winning record did we beat this past season?

Just sayin

How many teams with a winning record did the Jets beat?
They lost to Miami Twice, they lost to the Jags, they lost to Atlanta, they lost to Buffalo.

Baltimore lost twice to the Bengals,

There's something wrong when teams doing the same thing we are doing are considered better.
 
Uh? The same Patriots that we beat handily in week 17 of last year? I don't see why it's so absurd for us to be ranked ahead of them, considering the trajectory of the two teams.

I know they have the reputation, but reputation doesn't win games for them anymore.

I think the "trajectory" argument is valid. However, I wouldn't throw that "handily beat" argument out there. IMHO, it's kinda like the Jags beating us after Schaub sat for a possession (of two)... not really the same thing.
 
Uh? The same Patriots that we beat handily in week 17 of last year? I don't see why it's so absurd for us to be ranked ahead of them, considering the trajectory of the two teams.

I know they have the reputation, but reputation doesn't win games for them anymore.

Handily beat the Pats? Really? I think you are excercising some revisionist history. The Texans won by 7, had to score the last 21 points of the game in the 4th quarter, faced Brady for only half the game, against a team who really was not trying to win.

On topic - the rankings seem decent to me and Gosselin is a respected writer. I can see how he has Houston ahead of the Pats but it has nothing to do with what happened week 17 of last year.
 
Uh? The same Patriots that we beat handily in week 17 of last year? I don't see why it's so absurd for us to be ranked ahead of them, considering the trajectory of the two teams.

I know they have the reputation, but reputation doesn't win games for them anymore.

"Patriots WR Wes Welker left in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return. ... New England played its starters for most of the game, resting them only at the end of each half." NFL.com

Texans came back from behind at the end of the second half, after Brady was already on the bench for the game. What was the score at one point in the 4th quarter? 27-13 Patriots? It took 20 minutes for the Texans to even score in the second half against the Patriots.

My prediction for the first 4 games before the Cushing suspension was 2-2. After Cushing its still 2-2 so even though I'm pissed he can't play I don't think it impacts our record at the end of the day. Obviously I could be wrong and we do worse but I'd say there is opportunity to be 3-1 after those first 4 as well.

Colts, Redskins, Cowboys and Raiders? WOW these are going to be some awesome games.

So you're not going to miss Dunta Robinson either?
 
Texans All-Time Records

Ravens: 0-3 (Last Game: L 41-13 on Nov 9, 2008 at Houston, TX)
Jets: 0-4 (Last Game: L 24-7 on Sep 13, 2009 at Houston, TX)

Not good :(- Do the Texans have the talent to finally defeat these two teams on the road this year?
 
Texans All-Time Records

Ravens: 0-3 (Last Game: L 41-13 on Nov 9, 2008 at Houston, TX)
Jets: 0-4 (Last Game: L 24-7 on Sep 13, 2009 at Houston, TX)

Not good :(- Do the Texans have the talent to finally defeat these two teams on the road this year?

Good 3-4 teams are our kryptonite. It has nothing to do with talent so much as what beats Kubiak's scheme.

See our games under the Ravens, Jets, and Steelers under Kubiak. Every team has their matchup problems. It's just a matter of making the necessary adjustments to win in spite of our disadvantages. To date we have been unable to do this...
 
Handily beat the Pats? Really? I think you are excercising some revisionist history. The Texans won by 7, had to score the last 21 points of the game in the 4th quarter, faced Brady for only half the game, against a team who really was not trying to win.

On topic - the rankings seem decent to me and Gosselin is a respected writer. I can see how he has Houston ahead of the Pats but it has nothing to do with what happened week 17 of last year.

No idea why Nero would say we "handily" beat the Pats but fyi Brady played way more than a half. Not every team throws in the towel when they have their playoff spot locked up. Just sayin.
 
How many teams with a winning record did the Jets beat?
They lost to Miami Twice, they lost to the Jags, they lost to Atlanta, they lost to Buffalo.

Baltimore lost twice to the Bengals,

There's something wrong when teams doing the same thing we are doing are considered better.

Texans All-Time Records

Ravens: 0-3 (Last Game: L 41-13 on Nov 9, 2008 at Houston, TX)
Jets: 0-4 (Last Game: L 24-7 on Sep 13, 2009 at Houston, TX)

Not good :(- Do the Texans have the talent to finally defeat these two teams on the road this year?

Devo pretty much answered for me. It doesn't matter who those teams lost to. If they easily whoop our asses then I consider them better teams.

Again, to be considered a "big boy" we must compete with them on a regular basis. We've yet to do that.
 
[sarcasm] Finally! Someone gives us some love [/sarcasm].

On a more serious note: Power Rankings are perhaps THE most idiotic piece of filler material. Ever.

I mean, this is essentially someone's way of affixing NCAA Football rankings to the pro game. It makes not one bit of sense. It's a waste of everyone's time. It's as important as the stoopid player ratings on Madden video games. Some person decides upon rankings and ratings. Laughable.

Meanwhile, back on planet earth: Teams in the NFL are on a playoff system, meaning W-L record is what matters, and then in the playoffs it's a friggin' crap shoot as to what happens. So exactly what do we do with these magical power rankings? Oh, I remember: We ***** about how "our team"--which means every fan of every other team is supposed to ***** about this--is getting disrespected because "our team" should be ranked higher than what we are. Then we have the pleasure of saying, "Yeah, but look over at this website where Tom Dingledork has us ranked higher than Joe Gooberstick's website. That Gooberstick has always been a Houston hater, so it doesn't surprise me one bit."

The whole thing is almost as laughable as a Fantasy Football "Guru" who has a weekly "Start 'Em and Sit 'Em" system that we're supposed to heed when we make our roster each Sunday morning. If I had always followed the "Guru's" advice, I would be worse than I am. Because no person can factor in how well a player will do. It's the height of lunacy. But because he's got a name and a website, then he must know what the crap he's talking about. Right?

A very close third place finisher, IMO, is when the TV sports media analysts try to predict who will make the playoffs and who will win the Super Bowl. When will this crap end? I'm only 34 and I'm sick of it.

:ANGER:
 
[continued sarcasm] BTW, I can't stand Rick Gosselin because of how he treated his wife, Kate, and their 13 children on that reality show of theirs. [/continued sarcasm]
 
[sarcasm] Finally! Someone gives us some love [/sarcasm].

So exactly what do we do with these magical power rankings? Oh, I remember: We ***** about how "our team"--which means every fan of every other team is supposed to ***** about this--is getting disrespected because "our team" should be ranked higher than what we are. Then we have the pleasure of saying, "Yeah, but look over at this website where Tom Dingledork has us ranked higher than Joe Gooberstick's website. That Gooberstick has always been a Houston hater, so it doesn't surprise me one bit."

:ANGER:

Gotta disagree with you on this GP, I don't know if this makes us different, or if it does, if being different makes us better, but we have a vocal minority who ***** that we're overrated, haven't fared well against several teams ranked below us, and more informed and educated website have us solidly in the bottom half of the league.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
 
No idea why Nero would say we "handily" beat the Pats but fyi Brady played way more than a half. Not every team throws in the towel when they have their playoff spot locked up. Just sayin.

The Pats did there. I am convinced they wanted the # 4 seed in the playoffs and pulled players because of that. I don't care if Brady played more than a half, the fact is he was not in the game at the end.
 
And have we beaten those teams recently? Nope! As a matter of fact, we had our ass handed to us by those teams.

How many teams with a winning record did we beat this past season?

Just sayin

How many teams with a winning record did the Jets beat?
They lost to Miami Twice, they lost to the Jags, they lost to Atlanta, they lost to Buffalo.

Baltimore lost twice to the Bengals,

There's something wrong when teams doing the same thing we are doing are considered better.

Texans All-Time Records

Ravens: 0-3 (Last Game: L 41-13 on Nov 9, 2008 at Houston, TX)
Jets: 0-4 (Last Game: L 24-7 on Sep 13, 2009 at Houston, TX)

Not good :(- Do the Texans have the talent to finally defeat these two teams on the road this year?


Devo pretty much answered for me. It doesn't matter who those teams lost to. If they easily whoop our asses then I consider them better teams.

Again, to be considered a "big boy" we must compete with them on a regular basis. We've yet to do that.

Since we don't play those teams on a regular basis, I don't know how we can properly gauge how we compare to them, without using the W-L record, and record against common opponents, like Miami, Cincinnati, and the Jags.

I also believe the team that finished the 2009 season is not the same team that lost to the Jets to start the 2009 season. I know for sure, it is a totally different team from the 2008 team.

IMHO, you have to be able to look past "all-time" records, or one season's record, and judge the players & coaches by their performance, before you can say whether the team is any good or not.

The Giants are 2 seasons removed from the SuperBowl, did they get that bad that fast? The Steelers finished 9-7... but were the Super Bowl champs before the season started. The Saints were 8-8 in 2008, but nigh unbeatable in 2009, they won the Super Bowl. If they go 8-8 in 2010, are they a bad team?

We've got to figure out how to win games, I'm not denying that. But when I say the 2009 squad was as good as any team in the NFL, I mean it.

I think it is totally plausible to say one team is better than another, and actually rank them based off that opinion.

But I also know the better team doesn't always win. If that was the case, St Louis wouldn't have won a game, & Detroit wouldn't have won 2, and Tampa Bay couldn't have won 3, or Kansas City won 4.
 
If we come out of that shedule, with 10 wins, would you think the Texans are the 9th best team in the league?

Kick out the two games against Indy, and replace them with two games against Detroit. Kick out the Dallas & Baltimore game, and replace them with Buffalo and San Francisco.

Oakland (x2)
Buffalo
San Francisco
#5 San Diego
#10 Jets (who beat Texans badly @ home in last seasons opener, this time in NY)
#13 NY Giants
#14 Tennessee (Twice)
#16 Philadelphia

If we finish with 10 wins against this group, would that make us the 9th best team in the league?

last season in the NFL 10 teams had 10 wins or more so based off those numbers its close. New England 10-6 Cincinnati 10-6 & Arizona 10-6 tied & those teams finished #8 -#10 all three of which the Texans faced beating Patriots & Bengals but losing to Cardinals so based off last years wins vs. losses its not that hard to project the Texans #9 with a 10 win record.

except that strength of schedule needs to be accounted for which I don't believe Rick Gosselin factored in his formula?
 
The Pats did there. I am convinced they wanted the # 4 seed in the playoffs and pulled players because of that. I don't care if Brady played more than a half, the fact is he was not in the game at the end.

Well I'm convinced Sage Rosenfels didn't want to win that game against you guys either but a win is a win. Brady threw twice as many passes as Hoyer and its probably a good thing for us that he did because Hoyer outplayed him. I can see its going to be next to impossible to change an Indy fans mind about this game though so I'm dropping it.
 
Since we don't play those teams on a regular basis, I don't know how we can properly gauge how we compare to them, without using the W-L record, and record against common opponents, like Miami, Cincinnati, and the Jags.

I also believe the team that finished the 2009 season is not the same team that lost to the Jets to start the 2009 season. I know for sure, it is a totally different team from the 2008 team.

IMHO, you have to be able to look past "all-time" records, or one season's record, and judge the players & coaches by their performance, before you can say whether the team is any good or not.

The Giants are 2 seasons removed from the SuperBowl, did they get that bad that fast? The Steelers finished 9-7... but were the Super Bowl champs before the season started. The Saints were 8-8 in 2008, but nigh unbeatable in 2009, they won the Super Bowl. If they go 8-8 in 2010, are they a bad team?

We've got to figure out how to win games, I'm not denying that. But when I say the 2009 squad was as good as any team in the NFL, I mean it.

I think it is totally plausible to say one team is better than another, and actually rank them based off that opinion.

But I also know the better team doesn't always win. If that was the case, St Louis wouldn't have won a game, & Detroit wouldn't have won 2, and Tampa Bay couldn't have won 3, or Kansas City won 4.

I want proof, not excuses. I'm done reaching for excuses as to why, I want them to prove to me they can hang with the top tier teams. They've yet to do so no matter what theories you come up with.
 
last season in the NFL 10 teams had 10 wins or more so based off those numbers its close. New England 10-6 Cincinnati 10-6 & Arizona 10-6 tied & those teams finished #8 -#10 all three of which the Texans faced beating Patriots & Bengals but losing to Cardinals so based off last years wins vs. losses its not that hard to project the Texans #9 with a 10 win record.

except that strength of schedule needs to be accounted for which I don't believe Rick Gosselin factored in his formula?

No.

My point is the team is as good as it is. The best team in the league may only have 10 wins in 2010... based on S.O.S.

If we are the 9th best team in the league, it shouldn't matter who is on our schedule.

I think you're confusing "best team" with "best record"

In Gosselin's summation, he thinks the Texans are the 9th best team in the league. He's making no assumption about how many wins we will have.
 
I want proof, not excuses. I'm done reaching for excuses as to why, I want them to prove to me they can hang with the top tier teams. They've yet to do so no matter what theories you come up with.

I guess it depends on what you mean by hang. You seem to mean win. I consider playing down to the wire against Indy twice hanging with a top tier team. They could have gone 16-0 last year if they had chosen. I consider hanging to be within a realistic position to win mid fourth quarter. We were in pretty much every game but the Jets last year. At the same time it is time for them to transform hanging in there to wins.
 
I want proof, not excuses. I'm done reaching for excuses as to why, I want them to prove to me they can hang with the top tier teams. They've yet to do so no matter what theories you come up with.

I'm not making excuses. And I'm not putting them with the top tier teams, that would be San Diego, Indy, New England.

I'm putting them with the teams that are slightly above average. The 9-7 teams of 2009.

NY Jets & Baltimore being 2 of them.

The Jets, haven't done anything but go 9-7 the last two years. They added some talent for 2010, but you're not asking them to prove anything. You're just anointing them for some odd reason.
 
I guess it depends on what you mean by hang. You seem to mean win. I consider playing down to the wire against Indy twice hanging with a top tier team. They could have gone 16-0 last year if they had chosen. I consider hanging to be within a realistic position to win mid fourth quarter. We were in pretty much every game but the Jets last year. At the same time it is time for them to transform hanging in there to wins.

Totally agree with this when dealing with Indy and other division foe. But, we haven't shown we can consistently compete against upper echelon teams outside of the division. We were beaten handedly by Pitt and Balt. Sure, it was in 08, but until we beat them (or even hang with them) it's unproven that we fit with the "big boys".

I'm not making excuses. And I'm not putting them with the top tier teams, that would be San Diego, Indy, New England.

I'm putting them with the teams that are slightly above average. The 9-7 teams of 2009.

NY Jets & Baltimore being 2 of them.

The Jets, haven't done anything but go 9-7 the last two years. They added some talent for 2010, but you're not asking them to prove anything. You're just anointing them for some odd reason.

I'm not annointing anyone. They whooped our ass. To me, that means they're better than us until proven otherwise.
 
Well I'm convinced Sage Rosenfels didn't want to win that game against you guys either but a win is a win. Brady threw twice as many passes as Hoyer and its probably a good thing for us that he did because Hoyer outplayed him. I can see its going to be next to impossible to change an Indy fans mind about this game though so I'm dropping it.

Agree - a win is a win. But you don't really believe that Houston was better off with Brady in the game, do you?

Like you said, no sense in trying to change my mind because I know what I know and what I know is the Pats did not give their best effort to win that game. Arguing otherwise is pointless.
 
Agree - a win is a win. But you don't really believe that Houston was better off with Brady in the game, do you?

Like you said, no sense in trying to change my mind because I know what I know and what I know is the Pats did not give their best effort to win that game. Arguing otherwise is pointless.

Maybe not, but we were when Mario knocked the piss out of him which ending up gettin his pass picked off.
 
I'm not annointing anyone. They whooped our ass. To me, that means they're better than us until proven otherwise.

Oh... they beat up on the Houston Texans (who you have very little respect for) and they are a top tier team.

Makes much more sense now.
 
Totally agree with this when dealing with Indy and other division foe. But, we haven't shown we can consistently compete against upper echelon teams outside of the division. We were beaten handedly by Pitt and Balt. Sure, it was in 08, but until we beat them (or even hang with them) it's unproven that we fit with the "big boys".



I'm not annointing anyone. They whooped our ass. To me, that means they're better than us until proven otherwise.

So who's better - us or Tennessee?
 
Oh... they beat up on the Houston Texans (who you have very little respect for) and they are a top tier team.

Makes much more sense now.

I have little respect for the Texans now? Wanting them to prove they can consistently compete against the best is considered a lack of respect? Good grief! Let's say it is, what have they done to earn that respect?

It was the last game of the season. I'm pretty sure Brady and a few others would've played a complete game if it was a must have situation.
 
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