Schaub Didn't Play Well

[barrett]

Before you bring up the gorgeous look-off on the Walter TD, hear my point. Did he have some good plays? Yes. Did Jacoby Jones blow it on multiple occasions? Yes. Despite that, this dude can play way better. We could have killed these guys even worse. Kubiak agrees with me. Watch him after the Walter TD. He's immediately in his ear about something. They expect this guy to play at an elite level. He can. We've seen it. He didn't today. He missed two TD's. One to AJ early and the bootleg to Walter as well. I'm not being a negative nancy. I'm just saying think how much better we'll be when he plays the way we all know he can.

Once the euphoria has subsided, try to imagine a Texans team that could have whooped the Colts even worse. This team can be even better. Matt Schaub didn’t play his best game. He hasn’t looked his best several times during the pre-season either. On the first drive #8 nearly through an interception inside the 5 while trying to squeeze one into Open Daniels. If Bob Sanders doesn’t try to take Daniels’ head off but goes for the ball instead, it would be his for the taking. The very next play Schaub missed a wide open Andre Johnson on a crossing route for a touchdown, instead, throwing a difficult ball to Jacoby Jones who dropped it. The Texans ended up settling for a field goal. The very next offensive play he under threw Kevin Walter on a sure touchdown. Walter was running wide open down field on a bootleg.

Despite some near turnovers and a missed opportunity for a touchdown on the opening drive, the Texans were imposing their will against the Colts with momentum firmly on their side. Houston led the Texans 13 – 0 with 8:25 to go in the 2nd quarter. At that point in the game the Colts had barely managed to cross midfield before settling for yet another punt. Three plays later Matt Schaub make a very poor decision throwing to Andre Johnson who is double covered. Melvin Bullitt Intercepts the ball leading to an eventual Peyton Manning touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne.

[HJam72]

He did have some pressure on 'im. Our O-line can run block the Colts D a LOT better than they pass block it--see Duane Brown.

[UK_Texan]

Totally agree with you on that fact that he wasnt performing to the elite level that we know he can do.

But i would much rather him have a slow preseason and first few games and then for him to find his top form back end of the season going through to the playoffs if we get there.

[Scooter]

i'm not going to argue that schaub had a good day, but he didnt have a bad one either. he went 9 of 17 with about 4 drops (one being a touchdown) and a missed PI, against the best pass rush. schaub's been off on his shorter throws and the interception was a terrible decision, but let's not make something out of nothing when we're finally able to run the ball so well.

[hradhak]

I agree he had some off plays, but our wide outs didn't help him much. Fortunately we were able to rely on the running game and didn't need him at the end.

Next week we're gonna face a similar pass rush and a better run defense, so we need a solid game from Schaub

[CDNTexansFan]

Matt definitely didn't have his best game but he also didn't get much of a chance to get back on track after his pick as I believe they only threw about 6 times or so after the interception. Not much chance to get into a groove with such huge stretches between passes.

I will say, the type of INT that Matt threw was typical of his history. I don't expect him to be perfect but he needs to clean up those reads/decisions to take the next step as a quarterback. Andre was never even close to open on his route and those types of plays are potentially backbreaking in the wrong situation as we all know.

Not too worried though. Look for a big game from him next week.

[Grid]

I think its too early to say.

Its obvious we came into this game with a gameplan. Run it down their throat till they choke, then run it down their throat some more.

It worked... and Schaub wasnt ever really in a situation where he could show off his passing skills. Give him a bit.. let him get warmed up. Next week we will probably see a more balanced offense, since we dont want to run Foster into the ground by week 6, and we wont be trying to keep Peyton Manning on the bench.

[Grams]

I watched the game on tv, and after the replay I don't think Schaub saw that guy who intercepted. Looked like he was behind AJ when he threw the ball and only made the move to intercept after it was thrown.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by barrett

Before you bring up the gorgeous look-off on the Walter TD, hear my point. Did he have some good plays? Yes. Did Jacoby Jones blow it on multiple occasions? Yes. Despite that, this dude can play way better. We could have killed these guys even worse. Kubiak agrees with me. Watch him after the Walter TD. He's immediately in his ear about something. They expect this guy to play at an elite level. He can. We've seen it. He didn't today. He missed two TD's. One to AJ early and the bootleg to Walter as well. I'm not being a negative nancy. I'm just saying think how much better we'll be when he plays the way we all know he can.

I've got mixed feelings about this. I was so worried, that our Defense wasn't going to be able to hold up after our offense looked so inept in the first half, but they answered the call, made it to the 2nd half, when First Down Foster took over.

That ball thrown to Walter off the boot leg, severely underthrown, the ball to AJ on the sideline, severely underthrown. He missed/didn't see a wide open Owen Daniels on several occasions.

He was definitely off, glad it didn't hurt us, and it shows we can win with Orlovsky.

good/bad, six in one hand, etc.. etc... etc..

[hradhak]

I'm not going to make excuses for Schaub, but he didn't have a chance to redeem himself. I'm hoping that the reason he didn't get the ball to OD when he was wide open was because they haven't played much together for nearly a season. I hope that OD comes back on the radar as a viable target.

[Señor Stan]

Schaub posted a "Vince Young Stat Line". All he does is win.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by barrett

Before you bring up the gorgeous look-off on the Walter TD, hear my point. Did he have some good plays? Yes. Did Jacoby Jones blow it on multiple occasions? Yes. Despite that, this dude can play way better. We could have killed these guys even worse. Kubiak agrees with me. Watch him after the Walter TD. He's immediately in his ear about something. They expect this guy to play at an elite level. He can. We've seen it. He didn't today. He missed two TD's. One to AJ early and the bootleg to Walter as well. I'm not being a negative nancy. I'm just saying think how much better we'll be when he plays the way we all know he can.

Oh I agree with you. He left at least the two TDs you mentioned out there on the field. Maybe more. The attempt to A.J. that ended up as an INT should have never been thrown; with #80 doubled like that, someone should have had single coverage. In a closer game, we'd all be on his case.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Schaub was not showing great vision this game. What concerns me more is his show of a weak arm on too many passes. To his credit, there were several KEY drops of totally catchable balls by JJ, OD AND even AJ. We were lucky that our running game afforded overcompensation. And as for the comment of questionable pass protection, esp. by Brown, I have this to say. We always point out in these cases that "it was because of the performance of an elite Freeney." Well, must I point out that today there are too many Dwight Freeneys in the league to casually point to that as an explanation for borderline protection."

[TimeKiller]

Obviously, he wasn't "Slingin Matty Schaub" but I think the gameplan probably took he and Andre out of a big day. I mean I don't hear any Jarraud Power/Darrelle Revis comparisons for CB v. AJ. With the wild success of Foster, they took a step down and let the kid beat the Colts for them. No doubt about it, AJ and Matty don't give two ****s about any numbers other than 1 and 0.

[beerlover]

I must be getting soft cause I thought Schaub played not a perfect game but a solid game. His maturation along with a much improved OL & run game can only spell good things for Schaub going forward

[hradhak]

I just saw the throw down the sideline to AJ at the beginning of the 4th quarter on 3rd down. AJ had his receiver beat by at least 2 steps and Schaub way underthrew it. He's gonna have to complete those passes, especially when you have the run working so well that you can work with the play action.

[DexmanC]

The way I saw it, was that Schaub started the game believing the
win/loss rested on his shoulders. Sure, Arian had an excellent camp
and preseason, but there's no way to know for sure until the bullets
start flying in real games.

When the first half was over, I wondered why we hadn't run the ball
hardly at all. Well, so did most of the Texans' linemen. The second half
showed the team, without a shadow of doubt, that the Texans' offense
no longer is determined solely by what Schaub and the receivers do.

I believe this offense, just realized how potent they can be by sharing
the load.

[badboy]

I think Schaub managed the game well and did not get spooked as game progressed. He seemed to be in control and in touch with the game plan. It was not the Schaub type performance we got last year but then it did not have to be. For once, the entire team stepped up despite blown plays or blocks. I saw much better tackling and both Oline and the Dline played much better than I expected. My hopes at predicting a win over Colts were well founded. More than anything this was a fun game to watch.

[otisbean]

Its easy to say he left TDs on the field when you are watching replays on TV. During the game, he doesn't have a ton of time to scan the field as Freeney and Mathis are one of the top pass rushing tandems in the league. You also have to consider what he could see based on the pocket on the given play.

He hit JJ in the hands for what should have been a TD, the under thrown pass to AJ should have been caught (yes he should have lead AJ a bit more), and JJ had a couple other drops. I thought he played well but it wasn't his best game. I don't think the under thrown passes were due to lack of arm strength I think he tried to guide the ball as the WRs were open for big plays. Game time pressure can do funny things to people. I guarantee Schuab would hit those route in stride 99 out of 100 times in practice.

The pass to AJ looked terrible, but again, whose knows what he saw in the pocket. Perhaps AJ was blocking the defender from Schaub's view.

[Kaiser Toro]

Schaub did not not need to play well as we saw a mature team having fun yesterday.

Just as we can nitpick Schaub's performance when he was not called upon to make play after play (such as Manning), we can do it to others as well - which I may be doing after a second review of the game.

If this team is going places get used to other players and units stepping up at the expense of others stat lines.