Have all the repairs been made?

[prostock101]

I was just reminiscing about Texan teams in the past and all the excuses for the bad year they were having at the time.

Has it all been repaired and are we good to go? The list is in no particular order with some overlap as expected.

1. Our QB sucks and we need a new one.

2. Our O line can't pass protect or run block.

3. We need a running game to win.

4. If we could stop the turnovers we could win.

5. If we could score in the red zone we could win.

6. If our 4 down lineman could pressure the QB we can win.

7. If we could start faster we could win.

8. If we had a better defense we could win.

9. If our QB wasn't injury prone we could win.

I'm sure there's a number 10 or maybe it's left blank for this year.......ST's anyone?

Sorry, if I'm eaten up with Debbie Downer Syndrome but I go back way too far with this team to get excited. Heck, I remember watching the Oilers at Rice Stadium. Go Texans!!!......please?

[El Tejano]

I don't know but even if we do got it fixed, we wont get anywhere if we don't just go out and take it. We could have the playoffs giftwrapped for us but it is always the team that takes it vs. the team that waits for it that gets to the playoffs.

[FirstTexansFan]

10. We need to start faster/finish the game, play four full quarters, etc.

[Yankee_In_TX]

Originally Posted by prostock101

I was just reminiscing about Texan teams in the past and all the excuses for the bad year they were having at the time.

Has it all been repaired and are we good to go? The list is in no particular order with some overlap as expected.

7. If we could start faster we could win.

I'm sure there's a number 10 or maybe it's left blank for this year.......ST's anyone?

Sorry, if I'm eaten up with Debbie Downer Syndrome but I go back way too far with this team to get excited. Heck, I remember watching the Oilers at Rice Stadium. Go Texans!!!......please?

Remains to be seen.

[Showtime100]

10. Our Head Coach is our weakest link. Fail, but hopefully not fatal.

Disclaimer: I don't say that with malice, it is an honest opinion.

[badboy]

My concerns:
Will our Nose Tackle work as Wade Phillips insists it will?
Will our ILBs be able to help shut down the run & are Cush and Ryans "back".
Will Mario succeed at his new position?
Do we have a plug at CB2?
Are we stable at WRs 3 &4?
Is our punter issue finally resolved?
Will Oline be healthy? Butler can play LT & RT but who is OG backup?
If Schaub is hurt can Leinert hand off to Foster/Tate/Ward?

Other than those, we might go pretty deep this season.

[Ole Miss Texan]

My goodness, this is easily the best team we have every fielded. Sure, technically it remains to be seen how these guys perform in REAL games but I love this team. I think we're still a little weak defensively in the middle, teams should be able to run on us this year.

But honestly, I think the only reason why we might not make the playoffs are potential injuries. People will whine about Kubiak or WR #2 or Kareem Jackson... but I think the stars have aligned for us this season. I think we can win the division how we are right now. Injuries to key players though would really hurt. It's not an excuse but it is a reason, plain and simple. All teams have injuries and guess what, most teams don't make the playoffs.

This is our year and it's ours to lose. Let's go win it... and win it all.

[Blake]

I still think we have a leaky secondary. Plumber went to Philly so lets hope the pipes dont burst and put our team under water.

[cj5776]

IMO, #10 is can this team finish games.

Every game is dogfight in the NFL, championship teams find a way to get the job dones. Yes the defense was amazingly poor and pathetic, but I have doubts about the mental sharpness of Schaub and Kubes in crunch time. The baltimore and SD games last year were classic examples of Schaub choking in the final minutes of the game. I am hoping the team can depend on the defense more and feel less desperate to do it all on their own but still, closing out games has been a problem and the only cure is winning.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by cj5776

IMO, #10 is can this team finish games.

Every game is dogfight in the NFL, championship teams find a way to get the job dones. Yes the defense was amazingly poor and pathetic, but I have doubts about the mental sharpness of Schaub and Kubes in crunch time. The baltimore and SD games last year were classic examples of Schaub choking in the final minutes of the game. I am hoping the team can depend on the defense more and feel less desperate to do it all on their own but still, closing out games has been a problem and the only cure is winning.

I am going to disagree with you POV as I think closing is not the issue. Heck our two minute drill is great. We were not beaten by more than 7 points in most of our losses. I think the focus should be on starting faster as others have posted. Too many games we do not get O rolling until 3rd quarter. I have often wondered what Kubiak said at half time that he did not say before game started.

[silvrhand]

Originally Posted by badboy

I am going to disagree with you POV as I think closing is not the issue. Heck our two minute drill is great. We were not beaten by more than 7 points in most of our losses. I think the focus should be on starting faster as others have posted. Too many games we do not get O rolling until 3rd quarter. I have often wondered what Kubiak said at half time that he did not say before game started.

Originally Posted by cj5776

IMO, #10 is can this team finish games.

Every game is dogfight in the NFL, championship teams find a way to get the job dones. Yes the defense was amazingly poor and pathetic, but I have doubts about the mental sharpness of Schaub and Kubes in crunch time. The baltimore and SD games last year were classic examples of Schaub choking in the final minutes of the game. I am hoping the team can depend on the defense more and feel less desperate to do it all on their own but still, closing out games has been a problem and the only cure is winning.

I think this is best said as "Killer Instinct", don't let your foot off the gas when you are miles ahead, I don't care if we put up 60+ on someone, keep your foot on the gas and never let up.

[ChampionTexan]

The crappy defense was obvious, but my two biggest needs to fix beyond that general area were turnover ratio (Specifically the lack of takeaways), and starting field position (for both the offense and defense).

I think most of the repairs have been made to the defense, but just like every time I get my car back from the shop, we'll have to see if they were made well. I don't expect it to be top 5, but I do expect them to be top half - and I expect takeaways to increase.

My only concern lies with special teams. Preseason games 3 & 4 were slight improvements over the first two games, but I don't know if you can believe anything you saw in game 4 - probably not.

I felt like they should have brought in a new ST coach, and the fact that they wanted to talk with Matt Turk, but he went ahead and signed with Jacksonville leads me to question the dedication to fixing special teams (or perhaps even whether they believed they needed fixing).

[hradhak]

The thing I'm most worried about is our ability to play 60 minutes on both sides on the ball. The defense had too many games where they played most of the game at an average level and then gave it up on the last few plays / drives. Ditto the offense

[DexmanC]

Kubiak is still the biggest "wild card" on this team.

The weaponry at his disposal has steadily increased every
year he's been here, yet his results have not improved at
the same rate.

This year, he has the very BEST of talent and coaching around him.


Will this team excel DESPITE Kubiak's coaching?

Will Kubiak's coaching TAKE this team to the next level?

Will Kubiak's coaching be THE FALL of this team?


THOSE are the questions this season will answer for me.

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by DexmanC

Kubiak is still the biggest "wild card" on this team.

The weaponry at his disposal has steadily increased every
year he's been here, yet his results have not improved at
the same rate.

This year, he has the very BEST of talent and coaching around him.


Will this team excel DESPITE Kubiak's coaching?

Will Kubiak's coaching TAKE this team to the next level?

Will Kubiak's coaching be THE FALL of this team?


THOSE are the questions this season will answer for me.

So who do you give credit to for the bolded?

[hradhak]

Originally Posted by DexmanC

Kubiak is still the biggest "wild card" on this team.

The weaponry at his disposal has steadily increased every
year he's been here, yet his results have not improved at
the same rate.

This year, he has the very BEST of talent and coaching around him.


Will this team excel DESPITE Kubiak's coaching?

Will Kubiak's coaching TAKE this team to the next level?

Will Kubiak's coaching be THE FALL of this team?


THOSE are the questions this season will answer for me.

Having Wade in at D coordinator will certainly help mitigate some of Kubiak's failings at managing the defense. I'm hoping that even though he's head coach it really becomes a 2 head coach system with Wade running the D (and not worrying about the offense) and Kubiak running the O.

[prostock101]

Originally Posted by hradhak

Having Wade in at D coordinator will certainly help mitigate some of Kubiak's failings at managing the defense. I'm hoping that even though he's head coach it really becomes a 2 head coach system with Wade running the D (and not worrying about the offense) and Kubiak running the O.

I'm betting it's that way already. Unlike Bush or any other DC we've had, Wade comes in with an extensive background as a HC so I'm sure Kub just lets him do his thing. And honestly, I think that's the way it should be......

[DexmanC]

Originally Posted by ChampionTexan

So who do you give credit to for the bolded?

You're right. He'd make a hell of a GM/President of Football Operations.

As a head coach so far, he's SUCKED AZZ!!

[Pantherstang84]

IMO

10. Whiny fans.

This looks it is still an issue going into the season.

[DexmanC]

Originally Posted by Pantherstang84

IMO

10. Whiny fans.

This looks it is still an issue going into the season.

Until you change the common denominator (Kubiak / Kubiak's
penchant for mediocrity) that will remain the case.