Grantland's Bill Barnwell's NFL Preview - Texans Will Compete for SB!

[IlliniJen]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...review-part-iv

Grantland has been running it's 4-part NFL preview...the first two parts are the teams that will struggle this year or are on the way down. Part three is improving teams. And part 4...teams that will compete for the SB trophy. And the Texans are in that list of 8 teams!

Yes, the Texans. Don't believe us? Just like you check your pockets for your wallet, keys, and phone before you hop out the front door every morning, we've gotta go through the basic statistical indicators that suggest a team will improve upon its previous record. For the 6-10 Texans, they all fit. Houston was outscored by just 37 points, so its Pythagorean expectation was for a team that should have won 7.1 games. The Texans were a relatively unlucky team, as they were able to maintain only a 3-5 record in games decided by a touchdown or less. And that's not a sign of frequently-confused coach Gary Kubiak, as the Texans were 15-15 in these games under Kubiak before last season. The Texans struggled to stay healthy, as star middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans missed the final 10 games of the season with a torn Achilles, and the team's two best players — then-defensive end Mario Williams and wide receiver Andre Johnson — each missed three games. They also lost tackle Duane Brown and linebacker Brian Cushing to four-game suspensions. Including the suspensions, the Houston starters were unavailable for a combined 38 games last season. That number should fall in 2011.

[rush2112mn]

Lets get to the playoffs....first....then let the chips fall where they may.....

[Ryan]

Let's beat the Colts first.

[nero THE zero]

Worth noting that Barnwell is (was?) of Football Outsiders, who has generally been bearish (and right) on the Texans.

Good to see them singing a different tune. Can't help but feel giddy after reading this kind of stuff from some of the smarter guys in sports analysis.

[ESAD2-14]

Imagine Houston if the Texans could pull it off, I might even cry. If they did, it would be cool to see. Maybe their could be a rally like in 1978, but for a win this time.

Good to see the kool-aid factory is still fully functioning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsjXko9N6B0

^^1978 Rally @ the Dome. Doe not show the people lining the route to the Astrodome though.

[Dutchrudder]

Sweet! I'll start dusting the trophy case...

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

Worth noting that Barnwell is (was?) of Football Outsiders, who has generally been bearish (and right) on the Texans.

Good to see them singing a different tune. Can't help but feel giddy after reading this kind of stuff from some of the smarter guys in sports analysis.

Football Outsiders was previously won over...

LINK

[rush2112mn]

Originally Posted by Ryan

Let's beat the Colts first.

I dont just want to beat the Colts....I want to blow them out.....payback is due....and has been overdue for a while.....
I keep going back to the Jets Colts game 2 years ago when Manning and co were taken out of the game....Jets won and we did not go to the playoffs ....jets did......that pissed me off bigtime.....will never forget that lame crap......

[Txn_in_Oki]

Beat me to it, I was just getting ready to post the link.

I continue to believe that, regardless of the self-inflicted gunshot wounds this team has given itself they are only a few pieces from being major players. Obviously the games still need to be played, but I think the defense will show quite a bit of improvement. I've seen the comparisons to the Saints in their Super Bowl year and it seems like a pretty decent parallel to the Texans. By no means am I saying they will win it all but I think they can definitely shake things up this year.

[Mr. Texan]

texans...super bowl?

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by ESAD2-14

Imagine Houston if the Texans could pull it off...

Imagine winning the Super Bowl in Indy, with Peyton watching. Yummy.

[HJam72]

Let's win our division first.

[IlliniJen]

It's hard to be both hopeful with every year being the "breakthrough" year for the Texans according to pre-season pundits for the last couple of years.

I'm of the "I'll believe it when I see" camp right now. I have had zero faith in Kubiak for the last couple of seasons, but there are a lot of people saying that even he can't screw this up for the Texans with the talent on offense and with Wade Phillips helming the D. If this team comes out flat as it often did last year, I will rage, I'll tell you what. No excuses for that sort of mental unpreparedness. None.

[HJam72]

I think we're going to have some very pleasant surprise wins and record(s) this year (as far as our win/loss at various points of the season), but I think someone predicting a SB for us just shows that we are finally going to put up one HECK of a fight and win our division. It does not actually mean a team with NO playoff experience is going to win the SB this year. Maybe we get a HOME playoff game and win in the first round, but any further this year is asking for help from a higher power...

[Kimmy]

I have a hotel reservation in Indy and a whole lotta room on a credit card. I'm ready!

[TexansFanatic]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

Worth noting that Barnwell is (was?) of Football Outsiders, who has generally been bearish (and right) on the Texans.

Bingo.

My first reaction was: okay, why who is Bill Barwell and why should I give a damn what he thinks?

So I googled his name and saw very quickly that he just left Football Outsiders this past April.

This, coupled with the Football Outsiders piece Texans Chick presented not long ago, is encouraging.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Imagine winning the Super Bowl in Indy, with Peyton watching. Yummy.

Indescribably delicious

[houstonspartan]

I believe in pretty much every thing Football Outsider people say. They're usually fairly close in their predictions. We will see.

I think it's funny that their computer system that figures all this stuff out is called KUBIAK.

[The Third Man]

This is encouraging, but I can't help but think as Houston football fans we are perpetually a flailing Charlie Brown kicking air as Lucy-NFL-Fate pulls the ball away again. Logically, you see the talent versus the rest of division, but I just have to prepare myself for disappointment as I remain hopeful on the outside.