Respect.

[powda]

every year just prior to the season when nfl analyst get together and start forecasting team projections inevitably someone trashes the texans. last year there was a lot made of mike ditka's comments regarding our season. ditka may have learned his lesson ,but someone else will surely take his role...and then i'll have to read posts over and over again about the lack of respect our team recieves. i'm an advocate of "you dont deserve it until you earn it". but aside from winning out how do the texans go about earning respect on a national level? it seems many people still view us as an orphan of the nfl...the whipping child...destined to only be "that expansion team" until another team or 2 is added.

to me there are a few ways to get that respect previous to the post season:

1. win national tv games *
2. beat 04 playoff teams
3. win your bigger market games (ie. beat any ny team etc.)
4. winning streaks (ussualy 3+ seems to garner attention)
5. beat 05 teams headed to the playoffs (late season games)


heres a look at the schedule:

09.11 at Buffalo
09.18 Pittsburgh (04 playoff team)
09.25 Bye
10.02 at Cincinnati
10.09 Tennessee
10.16 at Seattle (national tv - 04 playoff team)
10.23 Indianapolis (04 playoff team)
10.30 Cleveland
11.06 at Jacksonville
11.13 at Indianapolis (04 playoff team)
11.20 Kansas City (national tv)
11.27 St. Louis (04 playoff team)
12.04 at Baltimore
12.11 at Tennessee
12.18 Arizona
12.24 Jacksonville
01.01 at San Francisco

as you can see i've noted to the side the playoff teams as well as the national tv games...overall, however, the schedule dosent look to tough. we play a playoff team 5 times, we play national tv games twice, and we dont play a single "big market" team. the potential for serious winning streaks is there i think...at 2 diffrent times in the season...1st, 9-11 through 10-16 (seattle) or 10-23 (indy) if we can beat the steelers. and secondly the next potential winning streak seems to be 12-11 through 1-1. the end of the schedule looks easy enough now ,but then we thought that last year only to have the browns beat us in the last game.

as far as beating teams in the 05 playoffs the teams with the best chance to be there late in our schedule would seem to be the ravens and the jags. the ravens game however is early in december and they probably wont be so domminant throughout the season to solidify a playoff berth by 12-4. that leaves the jags.

overall i think 9-7 is reasonable ,but not enough to get us in the playoffs...while our bye week would seem unfairly near the begining of the season i do think it will pay bigger dividens then some expect. we have a young team and a few players will still be in transition from other postions (wong-coleman-babin-ol-?). an extra week early in the season to polish dosent sound that bad at all. we also have the benifitt of playing mostly warmer climate teams later in the season which would seem to minimize homefield advantage somewhat (a game in buffalo looks much more winnable in september then it does in a late december blizzard).

i think our most important games of the season from a "respect" standpoint will be :

10-16 seattle
11-20 kc

and ofcourse the indy games...

[The Preacher]

Starting 2-0 would definitely turn some heads. Both run heavy teams hopefully our front 7 will be ready to go. These two bruising games could set the tone for more recognition. They will at least give a wakeup call for how the big boys play I get the feeling they will be glad for that bye week. 2-0 is some optimistic thinking even for myself. I hate to say I'd settle for 1-1 but maybe I would.

[beerlover]

.500 after two games & .500 for the season, a record of 8-8 seems resonable if the Texans do better than that we should all be pleasently surprised & thankfull. the NFL is all about parity

[Texan in Japan]

I think 9-7 is reasonable also, but if injuries stack up it will be difficult to attain.

[THEFUTURE]

Originally Posted by powda

i think our most important games of the season from a "respect" standpoint will be :

10-16 seattle
11-20 kc

and ofcourse the indy games...

the indy games maybe, but seattle? KC?... we beat KC last year at their home, and its not like we were thrown into any spot light... and seattle, they were an avg team last year, either at .500 or barely over it.. so i dont see how those two games would get us any respect....Pittsburg would, Indy would, and Baltimore would.... those are the only games that would push us into a more national view. Just because they are nationaly televised doesnt mean we get a lot more respect for it. Sure people will watch us, and see us play. but its not like any analyst will be raving about the Texans the next day, its not like those nationaly televised games are going to keep us in the national news every day

[El Tejano]

I think by winning a few we shouldn't win and winning all the ones we should win. For example late in the season beating the Jags at home and then beating the 9ers. Inconsistent play wont get us nowhere.

[THEFUTURE]

as long as we are above .500 and in a position to possibly make the playoffs, then we will be talked of more, but the second we start off horribly, and are not contenders, no one will talk about us

[powda]

Originally Posted by THEFUTURE

its not like any analyst will be raving about the Texans the next day, its not like those nationaly televised games are going to keep us in the national news every day

seattle was a playoff team and its a national game

kc had probably one of the more dissapointing seasons last year considering their offense.

both teams are fullfledged contenders for the playoffs and both games will be in a national spotlight. if you wanna lose respect you lose bad when the nation is watching. these games may not have the potential to propel us into "upperteir" consideration ,but they do have the potential to be unbearably embarassing.

one of the reasons i choose not to include the steelers was because its so early in the season...and its a game i expect to be very slow and low scoring...and i know a win is a win but i expect by the end of the season we'll find pitt's season last year was more of an anomally rather than a true indication of what they'll do this year.

seattle might be on par with last year but i expect kc to be much better then what they were.

[THEFUTURE]

Seattle limped into the playoffs only because the NFC West is garbage, KC offense is getting old, their receivers, Morton and Kennison have 12 and 10 years in the NFl and are not getting better, and yeah they added some defense, but not enough, their LBs for the most part cant stay healthy, Derrick Johnson i never really thought was something to write home about, and most likely wont start over kendrell bell. with the exception of P. surtain, their cornerback are not much... they have warfield, but he plays left CB, the same as surtain. the right CB, bartee, is avg at best, and thats stretching it... Tony Gonzalez is their best receiver... Priest Holmes is talented but going into his 10th year, and only played 8 games last year due to injury.... this team will be in trouble this year again... and since when does beating seattle propel anyone into an uppertier team, thats ludicrous

[OzzO]

Ah, we'll always be known as "that expansion team"... well, for a while anyway - at least till another comes into the league (doubt it) or a relocation of another.

As for the recognition, not worried about what the talking heads say, in addition to the games we SHOULD win - I'd like to see a win against Indy (due for one), Cincinnati and Cleveland - payback, and St. Louis... just because. The TEXANS should search for the recognition / respect from their homefield fans and other teams, not what some wanna-be / has-been states.

So with my "should wins" of 9 games and the 4 mentioned earlier... 13 win season? Wow, that's a bit homeristic. I'll be good for the range of 9 to 11 wins.

[Texan Dave]

If the Texans make the playoffs, they'll get the respect. That's the only way, Jacksonville and Carolina got it early, but the also went to the playoffs early.

[powda]

Originally Posted by THEFUTURE

and seattle, they were an avg team last year, either at .500 or barely over it..

seattle finished 9-7 last year.

Originally Posted by THEFUTURE

Seattle limped into the playoffs

"they didnt make the playoffs...oh wait they did, but it was by default." playoffs are playoffs...you either make it there or you dont...if ya dont the season is over. i'm pretty sure most people around here wouldnt mind the texans making the playoffs no matter how they did it.

Originally Posted by THEFUTURE

(kc) this team will be in trouble this year again...

-kc had the number one total offense in 04
-kc had the number 2 scoring offense in 04
-last year the team was readjusting to d coordinator gunther cunningham's return.
-this offseason the kc defense got : sammy knight, kendrell bell, patrick surtain ,and derrick johnson.

Originally Posted by THEFUTURE

and since when does beating seattle propel anyone into an uppertier team, thats ludicrous

Originally Posted by powda

these games may not have the potential to propel us into "upperteir" consideration ,but they do have the potential to be unbearably embarassing.

i guess your not following me...?

we dont exactly play the pats or the eagles...feel free to argue in favor of teams like the steelers or the ravens. no serious dispute there...but to tell me you cant gain national respect by winning 1 of the 2 most watched games of the week against a good team is......ludicrous.

your in the spotlight...you have a lot to gain and even more to lose if we get blownout. thats why i place the emphasis on these games i do.

i think both kc and seattle will make the playoffs...and i think thats a reasonable assumption.

[THEFUTURE]

Originally Posted by powda

seattle finished 9-7 last year.



"they didnt make the playoffs...oh wait they did, but it was by default." playoffs are playoffs...you either make it there or you dont...if ya dont the season is over. i'm pretty sure most people around here wouldnt mind the texans making the playoffs no matter how they did it.



-kc had the number one total offense in 04
-kc had the number 2 scoring offense in 04
-last year the team was readjusting to d coordinator gunther cunningham's return.
-this offseason the kc defense got : sammy knight, kendrell bell, patrick surtain ,and derrick johnson.

i guess your not following me...?

we dont exactly play the pats or the eagles...feel free to argue in favor of teams like the steelers or the ravens. no serious dispute there...but to tell me you cant gain national respect by winning 1 of the 2 most watched games of the week against a good team is......ludicrous.

your in the spotlight...you have a lot to gain and even more to lose if we get blownout. thats why i place the emphasis on these games i do.

i think both kc and seattle will make the playoffs...and i think thats a reasonable assumption.

my bad on the seattle thing about uppertier, me and you agree on that part, i read your statement wrong...yeah national television is a good thing, but seattle wont make the playoffs this year, Arizona could have gone to the playoffs if they hadnt p[layed musical quarterback midway through the season, St Louis will be better then Seattle. Im not saying playoffs are not playoffs, but to make the playoffs, in argueably the worst conference in football is not as great of an accomplishment, as you make it to be, they play 6 games against worse teams then themselves... given i said AZ was better, but with them rotating QBs that made them worse then Seattle, if they had stayed with one QB, they would have been better than Seattle.... seattle also had wins against poor teams like New Orleans, Tamba Bay, Carolina (before they got hot), and miami. with a division record of 3-3. so its not like seattle was playing the hardest teams in the nfl, yeah they played Pats, Flacons, and Jets, but that was basically all the competition they really got... and Kansas city was a good offensive team, but how long can that last with the age they have there... Sammy knight is avg, nothin great. Surtain is a pro bowler, Kendrell Bell cant stay healthy, and DJ isnt that great

[Hervoyel]

09.11 at Buffalo: W

New starting QB and the Texans remembering what happened against San Diego in the 2004 opener. I think the team takes this one seriously and we go 1-0

09.18 Pittsburgh (04 playoff team): W

I believe Pittsburgh is going to start slow in 2005. The Cinderella season is over for the Steelers, they're coming back down to earth in 2005 and the game is played in Reliant. The Texans win their home opener for a 2-0 record

09.25 Bye: W

The bye puts up a heck of a fight (as always) but the Texans hang in there and win in overtime to preserve their perfect start.

10.02 at Cincinnati: W

Can the NFL please show us some mercy with the Bengals and get them off our schedule? Sometimes it feels like we're still in the AFC Central because we play these bums in their clown suits ever year. Maybe it just seems that way because so far they always beat us which really needs to stop if we're going to be seeing them almost every year. Finally we're going to turn that around. Yes, I'm predicting a 3-0 start to the season. I know how messed up that is but, well there you go.

10.09 Tennessee: L

The sweep isn't in the cards this year and when young teams who've never won start the season 3-0 they tend to let down. This is when it happens. The Texans fall to 3-1 here.

On a side note however I predict that if the team manages to again lose to the Bengals (please no) then we rebound to win this game. Regardless we're going to be 3-1 on the Monday following this game.

10.16 at Seattle (national tv - 04 playoff team): W

Maybe this is a bad, homer like prediction based on the simple fact that I have no respect for Holmgren or the Seahawks. So be it. I think we're going to be 4-1 after this game and the talk of the NFL.

10.23 Indianapolis (04 playoff team): W

First win over the Colts. Make a point of being at this one. Texans are 5-1 and people are packing that bandwagon.

10.30 Cleveland: W

Yes, I'm actually thinking that we beat the Browns to go 6-1. I understand that this is starting to look like a pipe dream type prediction but I think this a very winnable game. We owe these guys so bad for last season and they're going through some serious changes this off season. I think we win this one. 6-1 and people are talking about our first trip to the playoffs.

11.06 at Jacksonville: L

The wheels are literally going to fall off the team this week. Just like the Browns have it coming the previous week the Texans are due one smack in the head from the Jags this week. We drop to 6-2 and this game will not look pretty. I bet we get our butts kicked here.

11.13 at Indianapolis (04 playoff team): L

The extreme fair weather fans start hopping off right here because the Colts are going to do exactly what Jacksonville did to us the week before. Beat us badly. Record is 6-3 now.

11.20 Kansas City (national tv): W

Again, like the Bengals this is getting old. It seems like we're always playing the Chiefs. Anyway we're what? .500 against them? We win this one because the Chiefs are going to have a down year IMO and we're going to be part of it. 7-3 as we tie our previous high in wins. No way we can not improve over 2004 with 6 games left.

11.27 St. Louis (04 playoff team): W

This is going to be a tough game but the Texans can do it. Orlando Pace played the Texans this year so he could get more money out of the Rams. He'll be wishing he was on our team after this game. Pace will do his job but he won't be the problem and he won't be able to prevent the loss. Texans are 8-3 now.

12.04 at Baltimore: L

I don't know why, I just think the Ravens will win this game. I guess it could go our way but we're going to lose a couple more and I suspect it'll be here and against Jacksonville. Call it 8-4

12.11 at Tennessee: W

At this point the Titans are out of it and we get the split for the year. 9-4

12.18 Arizona: W

Another young team learning how to win consistently. I really think this could go either way. If the Cards have lost a bunch before this game (say two or three in a row) then I'm more worried then if they come in on a roll. I think we win though and hit 10-4

12.24 Jacksonville: L

Nothing like the first game where I think the Jags will beat us bad but we're not going to win this one. The Jags finally sweep us. It was bound to happen. 10-5

01.01 at San Francisco: W

We finish the year beating the stuffing out of the 49'rs new franchise QB. It'll be fun and we're going to the playoffs with an 11-5 record.

If this happens exactly as I've described I will be accepting cold beer as "tribute" for my predictions.

[ojthecat]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

We finish the year beating the stuffing out of the 49'rs new franchise QB. It'll be fun and we're going to the playoffs with an 11-5 record.

If this happens exactly as I've described I will be accepting cold beer as "tribute" for my predictions.

There is no way we loose to the Jags twice. So 12-4 and you owe me a beer.

[THEFUTURE]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

09.11 at Buffalo: W

New starting QB and the Texans remembering what happened against San Diego in the 2004 opener. I think the team takes this one seriously and we go 1-0

09.18 Pittsburgh (04 playoff team): W

I believe Pittsburgh is going to start slow in 2005. The Cinderella season is over for the Steelers, they're coming back down to earth in 2005 and the game is played in Reliant. The Texans win their home opener for a 2-0 record

09.25 Bye: W

The bye puts up a heck of a fight (as always) but the Texans hang in there and win in overtime to preserve their perfect start.

10.02 at Cincinnati: W

Can the NFL please show us some mercy with the Bengals and get them off our schedule? Sometimes it feels like we're still in the AFC Central because we play these bums in their clown suits ever year. Maybe it just seems that way because so far they always beat us which really needs to stop if we're going to be seeing them almost every year. Finally we're going to turn that around. Yes, I'm predicting a 3-0 start to the season. I know how messed up that is but, well there you go.

10.09 Tennessee: L

The sweep isn't in the cards this year and when young teams who've never won start the season 3-0 they tend to let down. This is when it happens. The Texans fall to 3-1 here.

On a side note however I predict that if the team manages to again lose to the Bengals (please no) then we rebound to win this game. Regardless we're going to be 3-1 on the Monday following this game.

10.16 at Seattle (national tv - 04 playoff team): W

Maybe this is a bad, homer like prediction based on the simple fact that I have no respect for Holmgren or the Seahawks. So be it. I think we're going to be 4-1 after this game and the talk of the NFL.

10.23 Indianapolis (04 playoff team): W

First win over the Colts. Make a point of being at this one. Texans are 5-1 and people are packing that bandwagon.

10.30 Cleveland: W

Yes, I'm actually thinking that we beat the Browns to go 6-1. I understand that this is starting to look like a pipe dream type prediction but I think this a very winnable game. We owe these guys so bad for last season and they're going through some serious changes this off season. I think we win this one. 6-1 and people are talking about our first trip to the playoffs.

11.06 at Jacksonville: L

The wheels are literally going to fall off the team this week. Just like the Browns have it coming the previous week the Texans are due one smack in the head from the Jags this week. We drop to 6-2 and this game will not look pretty. I bet we get our butts kicked here.

11.13 at Indianapolis (04 playoff team): L

The extreme fair weather fans start hopping off right here because the Colts are going to do exactly what Jacksonville did to us the week before. Beat us badly. Record is 6-3 now.

11.20 Kansas City (national tv): W

Again, like the Bengals this is getting old. It seems like we're always playing the Chiefs. Anyway we're what? .500 against them? We win this one because the Chiefs are going to have a down year IMO and we're going to be part of it. 7-3 as we tie our previous high in wins. No way we can not improve over 2004 with 6 games left.

11.27 St. Louis (04 playoff team): W

This is going to be a tough game but the Texans can do it. Orlando Pace played the Texans this year so he could get more money out of the Rams. He'll be wishing he was on our team after this game. Pace will do his job but he won't be the problem and he won't be able to prevent the loss. Texans are 8-3 now.

12.04 at Baltimore: L

I don't know why, I just think the Ravens will win this game. I guess it could go our way but we're going to lose a couple more and I suspect it'll be here and against Jacksonville. Call it 8-4

12.11 at Tennessee: W

At this point the Titans are out of it and we get the split for the year. 9-4

12.18 Arizona: W

Another young team learning how to win consistently. I really think this could go either way. If the Cards have lost a bunch before this game (say two or three in a row) then I'm more worried then if they come in on a roll. I think we win though and hit 10-4

12.24 Jacksonville: L

Nothing like the first game where I think the Jags will beat us bad but we're not going to win this one. The Jags finally sweep us. It was bound to happen. 10-5

01.01 at San Francisco: W

We finish the year beating the stuffing out of the 49'rs new franchise QB. It'll be fun and we're going to the playoffs with an 11-5 record.

If this happens exactly as I've described I will be accepting cold beer as "tribute" for my predictions.

uh oh the mods are starting to break down the season already, someone bored? i actually like everything you said, except one thing... i dont see a us getting swept by the jags... with them being our rival, especially if we get our butts kicked in the first game, i think we would come to play this game

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by ojthecat

There is no way we loose to the Jags twice. So 12-4 and you owe me a beer.

Hope I have to buy you a beer then. Hey I'll buy you a case of beer if they get #12.

[TexansTrueFan]

we;ll get respect when we earn it, and we wont get it by "shutting out the jags, and then losing to cleveland" we need some consistency !!!

[THEFUTURE]

im gonna love that niner game, my whole family are niner fans, but my dad thinks david carr is gonna be a star... im going to have such bragging rights then... i will be talking about that win everyday

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by TexansTrueFan

we need some consistency !!!

The hands-down hardest thing for a young team to do is turn the corner and become consistent. Going from being a loser to a .500 or so team is a relatively simple matter. You draft talent, you sign talent, and when you've got enough of it you have the chance of winning against anyone.

It's the next step that's hard. Remember Glanville's Oilers. That was awful, 7-9. 8-8. 9-7, 9-7 (or something like that).