New Front 7

[dalemurphy]

How much different might this season be when our defense is on the field on 3rd and long: Travis Johnson, Wong, Babin, Peek... will likely all be on the field at the same time. That's so much more athleticism rushing the passer and/or dropping into coverage than we had last year. Barring a rash of injuries, I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch our defense this year.

[CoachJim]

One thing about it is we'll either be very bad or very good. Hopefully the latter more than the former.

[cadahnic]

I think we will not be very good or very bad. We will be functional, but will need time to learn how to work together. We also have to hope that we have much more of a pass rush in order to keep our secondary protected.

[TopTexanFan16]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

How much different might this season be when our defense is on the field on 3rd and long: Travis Johnson, Wong, Babin, Peek... will likely all be on the field at the same time. That's so much more athleticism rushing the passer and/or dropping into coverage than we had last year. Barring a rash of injuries, I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch our defense this year.

dont forget greenwood he adds speed to our defense to and im sure he'll be out there on third and long.

[ojthecat]

Originally Posted by CoachJim

One thing about it is we'll either be very bad or very good. Hopefully the latter more than the former.

How can you think that we will not be much improved. The simple fact that we will not be starting any rookies should tell you alot. Babin will be much better. Having Peek in the field for all downs will force the teams to double team him on passing plays that frees up babin or wong on the blitz. Also our team speed has improved. No I like Glenn as much as the next person however the fact is he has lost a step and by the middle of the year teams were going after him rather than Daunte. Look we are faster, meaner and ready to start winning consitantly. This is our year we will beat the Colts at least once and contend for the Division.

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by ojthecat

This is our year we will beat the Colts at least once and contend for the Division.

double

the beauty of this whole sport is that all 32 teams feel they have improved or will be a better football team as well, so even if the Texans show improvement this year it will have to come at the expense of better overall competition. this seasons schedule looks muderous, a .500 season would mean a substantialy more talented & experineced together team & coaching effort.

[ojthecat]

Originally Posted by beerlover

double
this seasons schedule looks muderous, a .500 season would mean a substantialy more talented & experineced together team & coaching effort.

Where do you get this? The teams that we play next year won a total of 129 games and lost a total of 127 games. So that is a .504 winning percentage. And then what is it about the coaching effort? :brickwall
I choose to grade them on the only thing that matters.

2002 3-13
2003 5-11
2004 7-9

2005 hmm I see a trend here looks like we are getting better each year. I see us with a break out year. 11-5

[281]

Originally Posted by ojthecat

2002 3-13
2003 5-11
2004 7-9

We went 4-12 in 2002.

[edo783]

8-8 would be an "OK" year (it's improvement), 9-7 is where I think we should be and 10-6 would be a good year. 11-6 would be playing over our heads, but I would take it.

[ojthecat]

Originally Posted by Texan281

We went 4-12 in 2002.

Sorry about that :brickwall

[F-minus67]

When the front 7 is turnning into what Capers want, speedy LBs and 3 downline men who can tie up the o linemen. Capers has been a called a defensive specialist so I guess this is the year that he has to make an impact will the defense.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by JamieSharper55

and pass rushing only good if babin becomes a sharper

Well that pretty much defines an obtusely pessimistic post. Sure is going to be hard for Wong (note the use of this year's ILB as a comparison rather than an OLB like Babin) to replace Sharper's pass rush which resulted in 2 sacks last year (yes that would be one less sack than the 176 lb CB got).

[ojthecat]

Originally Posted by JamieSharper55

yeah it would but listen sharper was a pass rusher no matter what you say he got only 2 sacks but a run stopper and greenwood missed them so we need a jamie sharper on this team to get anything in this league

What??? Shaper is an average LB he is slow. He did get alot of tackles because that is what the ILB's do in Capers 3-4. He could not cover TE or HB's in pass coverage. We are much better and faster without him. Get over it.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by JamieSharper55

he slow but good and plus what are you talking about get over it tell me how many times did you see him miss a tackle huh

Last year was definitely a down year for Sharper. I was on the Sharper was robbed bandwagon after the 2003 season, but was very surprised last year to see his play decline. Can't put a specific number to it, but there were numerous plays last year that were either pure whiffs or broken arm tackles that in 2003 would have been solid plays. Not saying he won't have a good 2005, but 2004 was definitely a down year.

[ojthecat]

Originally Posted by JamieSharper55

he slow but good and plus what are you talking about get over it tell me how many times did you see him miss a tackle huh

Tell me how many times he tackled a TE? How many times did he even slow the TE in pass coverage? Look we play Manning twice a year and have had to have our safety provide help on the TE's on every passing down!!! If we did not upgrade the position we would be in the same boat next year. We need speed and we got it. All of us here were sorry to see Sharper go but because he is a good person but he is not what we need in a starting LB again we need SPEED.

It just seems to me that you have a problem with the Coaching staff and the GM. I don't understand why? They have done everything that they said they were going to do. When they let popular players go they know that some fans won't understand but they also know that they can't play fan favorites and hope to win in this league. I sleep good at night knowing that Capers and Caserly are running the show.

Look if we don't show improvement this year then you can have a legitimate gripe with the front office but so far they are right on the money.

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by JamieSharper55

he slow but good and plus what are you talking about get over it tell me how many times did you see him miss a tackle huh

I did see him miss tackles last year. However, more to the point, is that he was not able to get into position to make the plays they needed him to.

A baseball analogy works here. Ozzie Smith was a vastly superior SS to Cal Ripken. However, Ripken is the one with the record for conseutive errorless games at SS. The reason: Ripken had limited range and so was unable to get to many of the balls that Ozzie Smith could get to. Therefore, Ozzie made more errors but he also made a lot more plays.

We need someone that can get there and make plays!

[TexansTrueFan]

hmm hard to see until we see them play as a unit , its not long till we get a taste of them, what like 3 more months THATS WAY TO LONG !!!!!

[wags]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

We need someone that can get there and make plays!

Not to totally hate on the guy, but give me Greenwoods history of "making plays."

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by wags

Not to totally hate on the guy, but give me Greenwoods history of "making plays."

tackles are plays. we can argue as to whether greenwood will tackle as well as sharper. however, without any doubt, he has the ability to get in position for more tackles than sharper does. SPEED and ATHLETICISM

[DocBar]

I thought we were over the Sharper debate. The guy is a servicable LB but he needs someone to shine brighter than him so he can overachieve. IMHO, he lacked the leadership ability to take this defensive unit to higher level and wasn't the type of playmaker we need. Heck, I could go in there and make tackles 6 or 7 yrds downfield. Or miss them as Sharper did more than a few times. This defense may have growing pains early in the year but by the middle of the season, they will be a force to be reckoned with. This is the year Indy goes down. I see 2 Texans in double digit sacks this year. And mid-30's for the unit as a whole. Walker is gonna be an animal and Payne is gonna be a pain. All because of a kid named Johnson who has a motor that just won't quit. Remember when Walker had that motor? TJ is gonna push him to 1 more great year. 3 Texans DMEN going to the Pro Bowl. D-ROB, Peek and Walker(maybe Payne). I'm looking forward to this season. The Texans are finally getting a team built like CC and DC want. Not one made from the scrapheap of 31 other teams.