Coach Gary Kubiak: 'do-or-die year' for Houston Texans

[Wolf]

By Jim Corbett, USA TODAY
HOUSTON — How do the Houston Texans finally bust open the postseason door after coming within one win of making the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's eight-year existence?

"It starts with beating the (Indianapolis) Colts in our division, a team that's pretty much owned the AFC South the last few years," quarterback Matt Schaub said. "It's time someone else goes out and gets it."

The Texans finished 9-7, losing six of seven games by eight points or fewer. Worse, they stand 1-15 against Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis.

"We were right there knocking on the door, and if it weren't for a yard here or there against (the) Jacksonville (Jaguars) and Arizona (Cardinals), we make the playoffs," says Schaub, the Pro Bowl's reigning MVP. "We've proven we can play week in and week out with anybody. It's about finding a way to make those one or two plays to win a close game."

Coach Gary Kubiak says it's time the Texans exorcise their divisional demons.

"It's a do-or-die year for all of us," he says. "The way I look at it, 15 out of 16 times, we had a legit chance to win. Our biggest thing is closing games. We have to have guys grow up and make plays at the end.

"Your job in this business is to get over the hump to play in January. That's where we need to go."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/footb...Top+Stories%29

[OzzO]

better not be die.

[GP]

Yeah, if you didn't have Chris Brown you probably make the playoffs, Gary Kubiak. And if you had cut Kris Brown and brought in a real kicker, you probably make the playoffs, Gary Kubiak. And if you had not called a halfback pass against the Jaguars, you're probably in the playoffs, Gary Kubiak.

He really should just shut up about this stuff. Honestly, he should.

Having said that, I will worship the ground he stands on if he pulls it off.

[J_R]

Already posted here but oh well http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73976

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

He really should just shut up about this stuff. Honestly, he should.

I would bet he wouldn't bring it up, if they wouldn't.

[Showtime100]

If the Texans don't do, Kubiak "dies" but the Texans will move on.

"We were right there knocking on the door

That analogy has only come to haunt us from when Bum uttered those words. I could live with a different way of putting it.

[stingray]

So what happens to Gary if they go 10-6 and miss the playoffs?

[Showtime100]

Originally Posted by stingray

So what happens to Gary if they go 10-6 and miss the playoffs?

Beats me. If they lose due to letting the two minute warning stopping play so the other team can throw a red flag (one of a few examples) he might be in trouble.

On the other hand a team with Houston's schedule can go 10-6 despite a fine job turned in by Kubiak and his staff. That's certainly up for debate but this is my opinion.

I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out. Obviously I hope Kubes is safe and Houston still has some historic football left to watch come January.

[JB]

Originally Posted by Toan

We needed a big back and Foster was just a undrafted rookie RB last season who obviously wasn't ready since Kubiak had first row seats to every single practice.

Cut Kris Brown and bring in who? It wasn't until halfway through the season when the fans and the team gave up on Kris, and there wasn't any decent kicker out in the market. With the exception of the abysmal 2005 season, Kris Brown hasn't done anything to prove us to have any disbelief in his kicking skills going into the season or that he could turn it any later in the season.

How many times did we attempt the HB pass since Kubiak been here, since we've been in existence in the NFL? It was something to throw the defense off and was executed well... until he threw that hideous pass. If he had lead the WR, it would've been a TD. And don't say that "oh since we never/hardly attempted the play in a game, it must mean we never/hardly attempted the play in practice" because surely you can not be that retarded to believe that Kubiak would actually attempt the play without making sure that the players involved were capable to pulling it off in the first place, and since this is the NFL and it demands perfection and you best believe they practiced it to perfection. It wasn't Kubiak's fault that Brown was the ulimate choke artist on gameday.

And you should shut up on the Kubiak hate, you're just coming off as a stupid redneck. JSing.

I was pretty much agreeing with what you said, but that last comment was uncalled for. Bash the post, not the poster.

[Showtime100]

Originally Posted by Toan

Yea, I apologize. That wasn't necessary. Sometimes I think it's funny to make such insolent comment, but it was really just immature. Maybe it's because we're on a MB and doesn't really affect our real life, but it is still inexcusable.

I gotta rep that.

[GP]

Originally Posted by Toan

We needed a big back and Foster was just a undrafted rookie RB last season who obviously wasn't ready since Kubiak had first row seats to every single practice.

Chris Brown should NOT have been on this roster at all. I put that on Gary Kubiak, and I can find you plenty of quotes this time last year when Kubiak was touting Chris Brown heavily. The hype continued well into the season, and we saw a heavy dose of Chris Brown. This was, perhaps, the last time we would see Kubiak attempt to use an old, beaten down running back. I say this because in the off-season we learned that all three--Kubiak, Smith, and McNair admit that we won't see the Texans pursuing those types of players.

My feeling (as a fan, since you and I are FANS) is that it was a grievous mistake to have Chris Brown on this roster at all. Notice the absence of Chris Brown on this year's roster. Yay for one year too late! Roster control is on Kubiak. I would have taken Glen Coffee a round earlier than Kubiak tried to, and some on here think Coffee would have had just as poor of a season with us as he did with the 9ers, but I disagree with that--In this offense, he would have been better than Chris Brown.

Cut Kris Brown and bring in who? It wasn't until halfway through the season when the fans and the team gave up on Kris, and there wasn't any decent kicker out in the market. With the exception of the abysmal 2005 season, Kris Brown hasn't done anything to prove us to have any disbelief in his kicking skills going into the season or that he couldn't turn it around later in the season.

This is where, IMO, you take a bad angle. There is a poster on here who can speak in-depth about the averageness of Kris Brown and how he was not exactly a stud kicker or even a good one, for that matter. I'm tired and I'm not going to track it down for you, but hopefully the guy will step up and re-post his analysis and even stats vs. other kickers for you. I don't know if there is a website out there dedicated to posting out-of-work kickers and what's available, but I would wager that there is a whole slew of out-of-workers that neither you nor I know about. They exist. They are itching to get a workout for someone in just this sort of situation. More than anything, the "There wasn't anybody else out there" excuse is halfway plausible for the reason Chris Brown was on the roster. Once the KRIS Brown tragedy began to spiral out of control, the "There wasn't anybody else out there" excuse is nowhere near being plausible. They ARE out there. I promise you.

How many times did we attempt the HB pass since Kubiak been here, since we've been in existence in the NFL? It was something to throw the defense off and was executed well... until he threw that hideous pass. If he had lead the WR, it would've been a TD. And don't say that "oh since we never/hardly attempted the play in a game, it must mean we never/hardly attempted the play in practice" because surely you can not be that unaware to believe that Kubiak would actually attempt the play without making sure that the players involved were capable to pulling it off in the first place, and since this is the NFL and it demands perfection and you best believe they practiced it to perfection. It wasn't Kubiak's fault that Brown was the ulimate choke artist on gameday.

Do you remember what down that play was called? 1st & Goal from the 5. That play was called on FIRST DOWN with only five yards to go. Boo for even calling that play. Boo, boo, boo. This was the perfect storm: A guy who shouldn't be on that roster getting a play that should never have been called in that down and distance situation. We're NOT the team that needs to try that gimmick. We have Andre Johnson. Matt Schaub. David Anderson. Kevin Walter. We have guys on this team who were far more able to get five yards in four tries than all that mess I just described.

Chris Brown and Kris Brown were a couple of the more tragic roster decisions made last year. And those two players were kept in their positions by the head coach. Gary absolutely made his own life and coaching situation more difficult by not making some roster decisions that, to me, were very obvious on many occasions. It was not an isolated incident. There were multiple times he could have shaken up the status quo.

But now? Oh, we're going to see shake-ups on a pretty steady basis. Everybody knows what Gary is communicating. He knows the days of playing footsie with roster spots is over.

Don't worry about the redneck barb you threw my way. I have taken plenty flack and have dished plenty of it out. You were just throwing some whipping cream and a cherry on top of your reply to my post.

I don't normally like to second-guess everything the coach does. But I was the guy who thought everyone but David Carr was wrong with the Capers-era Texans. Oops. It was a coach problem AND a player problem. Early on, I thought Kubiak could do no wrong. Then I began to see roster moves (such as Ahman Green) that made me cringe immediately. I could go on, but the point is that we've all arrived at a point where no single person should escape the microscope. Especially the guy who has control of the roster.

Thankfully, he has seen to it that one Brown is for sure not coming back, the other Brown is being challenged, and Jacoby Jones is being given a shot at being a true every-down WR in his system (which I pointed out last season he was being slighted and held back for reasons I felt was bizarre when compared to choke artists like Brown & Brown and how they continued to chug right along for so long).

Lastly, remember that I said I am open to once again worshipping Kubiak if he indeed pulls everything out of his hat this year. As a fan, I see the value in being able to be pissed one second and rejoicing the next. No true fan has ever given his full 100% blessing on everything the team does or doesn't do.

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by GP

There is a poster on here who can speak in-depth about the averageness of Kris Brown and how he was not exactly a stud kicker or even a good one, for that matter. I'm tired and I'm not going to track it down for you, but hopefully the guy will step up and re-post his analysis and even stats vs. other kickers for you.

I believe eriadoc is the poster you are referring to.

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Decent NFL kickers consistently kick in the low-to-mid 80s percentile. Good NFL kickers consistently kick in the mid-to-high 80s percentile. Kickers will have a season here or there that is an outlier, either in the 90s or in the 70s, maybe even low 70s. Here's a reminder of Kris Brown in seasons past:

2002: 70.8%
2003: 81.8%
2004: 70.8%
2005: 76.5%
2006: 76.0%
2007: 86.2%
2008: 87.9%
2009: 65.6%

This year was not an aberration; the last two years were. Kris Brown has a career average of 77.3%, which is bottom 25% of NFL kickers, and six of the past nine seasons, he hasn't even achieved that lowly percentage.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

Chris Brown should NOT have been on this roster at all. I put that on Gary Kubiak, and I can find you plenty of quotes this time last year when Kubiak was touting Chris Brown heavily. The hype continued well into the season, and we saw a heavy dose of Chris Brown. This was, perhaps, the last time we would see Kubiak attempt to use an old, beaten down running back. I say this because in the off-season we learned that all three--Kubiak, Smith, and McNair admit that we won't see the Texans pursuing those types of players.

My feeling (as a fan, since you and I are FANS) is that it was a grievous mistake to have Chris Brown on this roster at all. Notice the absence of Chris Brown on this year's roster. Yay for one year too late! Roster control is on Kubiak. I would have taken Glen Coffee a round earlier than Kubiak tried to, and some on here think Coffee would have had just as poor of a season with us as he did with the 9ers, but I disagree with that--In this offense, he would have been better than Chris Brown.

I don't know that I can agree with any of this. To say Brown didn't belong on the roster at all... I will agree he never should have been elevated to the spot he was (starter, primary back) but that's a different story.

Brown wasn't supposed to get more than 10 (or so) carries a game, if that much.

Then you extrapolate Coffee's stats out of nowhere...

I understand your frustration, but you're using more hindsight in this response than you're letting on.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

Do you remember what down that play was called? 1st & Goal from the 5. That play was called on FIRST DOWN with only five yards to go. Boo for even calling that play. Boo, boo, boo.

Again, I've got to disagree with you here. 1st & Goal from the five is exactly the situation I would try this play. It's a throwaway down.

I've got 3 more downs if this doesn't work.

They are going to be thinking I'm running the ball. I've got my "big" back in.

It worked perfectly until Brown threw the ball. If he would have ate it, I'm still five yards or so from the endzone, and I've got 3 more downs to put points on the board.

If he throws it away, I lose nothing but a down.

Why Chris Brown felt he had to force the ball in that situation, I don't know.

If we are going to blame Kubiak for this game, I think we should blame him for this defense giving up 31 points to a team that averaged 18 all season long.

Yeah, new defense and everything, but if you've got the game on tape, watch it again. We're still experimenting with formations to start this game. It's like he feels we know this team well enough that we can spot them a few points, and still win.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

I don't normally like to second-guess everything the coach does. But I was the guy who thought everyone but David Carr was wrong with the Capers-era Texans. Oops. It was a coach problem AND a player problem. Early on, I thought Kubiak could do no wrong. Then I began to see roster moves (such as Ahman Green) that made me cringe immediately. I could go on, but the point is that we've all arrived at a point where no single person should escape the microscope. Especially the guy who has control of the roster.

It's not that I think Kubiak is beyond reproach. He's goofed up several times... so has many other coaches. It's part of the game.

In this situation, he hasn't done anything differently than any other coach has done.

Bellichick had to rely on Fred Taylor for a few games. Rex Ryan signed Ladanian Tomlinson, Lary Johnson got a job in Cincinnati and he's in Washington now, who will continue to lean on Clinton Portis.

Coaches just like Veterans in the backfield...

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

Coaches just like Veterans in the backfield...

Coaches like veterans in the backfield because they should know how to block. In today's NFL a RB needs to be a solid blocker. With all the crazy blitzes the defenses use the OL is often overrun and the RB is the guy that has to keep the QB from getting killed.

And Chris Brown was the best blocking RB we had last season. I saw Schaub get on Slaton more than a few times for his missed blocks last season. That was why they used Brown.

It took Foster most of the season get his head around the passing game in the NFL. The running game the Texans used last season only had 8 plays. So the RB can get that pretty quick, it's the passing game that makes the playbook so big.

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Coaches like veterans in the backfield because they should know how to block. In today's NFL a RB needs to be a solid blocker. With all the crazy blitzes the defenses use the OL is often overrun and the RB is the guy that has to keep the QB from getting killed.

Ahh...memories of "G-- D--- It Donald" jump to mind.

LINK

[steelbtexan]

Originally Posted by Toan

Yea, I apologize. That wasn't necessary. Sometimes I think it's funny to make such insolent comment, but it was really just immature. Maybe it's because we're on a MB and doesn't really affect our real life, but it is still inexcusable.

Glad you realize your faults.

I'm not going to get into all of Kubes faults.

I will point out that the playoffs are just an unrealized dream under the Smithiak regime.

[Blake]

Do or die for Houston Texans? Or do or die for Gary Kubiak.

The boys are playing for his job here.

[Thorn]

At least we get to see the 1st string and what they can do this Saturday. Even if it's only for a series or two. Can't wait.

And yeah, it's do or die time. But then that's pretty much the case for every team every year, so big deal. For me personally, it's most certainly do or die for Kubes this year. We should have been in the play offs last year.