60 possessions = 7 touchdowns

[Double Barrel]

I just heard this stat on the radio. Going back to the OT game at Detroit, the last 60 possessions by the Texans offense has only led to 7 touchdowns.

We clearly see that all phases of the team are performing below average. Special teams are not so special and needs an overhaul. Defense is missing it's heart with Cushing out and has been unable to scheme that absence or stop giving up big plays. JJ Watt is the only highlight on defense right now.

But, it's an "emperor has no clothes" situation here, because the offense is clearly where this team has been completely blown off course.

Our defense was special when the offense could put points up early in games and let them get blitz happy and protect a lead. When we had points early in games, we did not need special teams to do much except not give up turnovers.

From the coaching prep and play-calling, to the execution by players, there is something fundamentally off about this offense right now.

Can this 6 week slump reverse itself in a matter of days?

I'm not optimistic about it. I think this team peaked earlier in the season and we are witnessing a team in full meltdown right now.

[eriadoc]

There are only two people that touch the ball every single play on offense - Chris Myers and Matt Schaub.

Damn that Myers dude.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

There are only two people that touch the ball every single play on offense - Chris Myers and Matt Schaub.

Damn that Myers dude.

Yep, the symbiotic relationship between head coach and QB can produce greatness (Walsh/Montana, Belichick/Brady, Landry/Staubach) or perpetual mediocrity (list way too long to mention).

The constants are the guy calling every offensive play and the guy taking every snap of every offensive play.

[GP]

I have been saying for several weeks now that the two OT games drained us.

Those two comebacks, the OT battles too, it sapped us of our strength.

Whatever amount of mojo Kubiaub had, they spent all of it in those two OT games. Only the 1st Colts game (which was closer than the score suggests, due to TD off blocked punt) and the Titans game is what has kept us afloat.

The Pats, the Vikings, and the Colts were games where you could tell this Texans team was pleading for the opponent to help out...make their mistakes that would help us...basically our guys were having extra bye weeks.

I'm perfectly OK if we lose either vs Bengals or in the next round. I've seen all I need to see in order to know that Gary and Matt are tapped out. That pony keg is empty.

[Say Watt]

To be quite honest, I thought it would be even less than that.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by GP

I have been saying for several weeks now that the two OT games drained us.

Those two comebacks, the OT battles too, it sapped us of our strength.

Whatever amount of mojo Kubiaub had, they spent all of it in those two OT games. Only the 1st Colts game (which was closer than the score suggests, due to TD off blocked punt) and the Titans game is what has kept us afloat.

The Pats, the Vikings, and the Colts were games where you could tell this Texans team was pleading for the opponent to help out...make their mistakes that would help us...basically our guys were having extra bye weeks.

I'm perfectly OK if we lose either vs Bengals or in the next round. I've seen all I need to see in order to know that Gary and Matt are tapped out. That pony keg is empty.

I'll be honest with you, four games this season really told me about the Texans.

Getting completely dominated by the Packers and Patriots revealed that this team was not even close to being elite.

And the two OT games, while exciting from an entertainment perspective, were indicative of a team that was having a hard time beating two teams with a collective 6 wins between them without some very lucky breaks.

The Bengals are on a mission. They will have vengeance on their minds.

The Texans, based on the past four games, look like they are happy with the best record in franchise history and another AFC South banner for the stadium. It's probably the last one we will see for awhile because the division will be Andrew Luck's for the next decade.

[Mr teX]

ehh..i'm just not sold that Andrew Luck is going to be as dominant a force as Manning was..He wasn't even that in college despite being the consensus best qb his last 2 years and good talent around him.

My guess is we'll be duking it out every year with the Colts for the division title. Some years they'll win it, Some years we'll win it; We've got some pretty good young talent on defense that should be here for years to come giving him hell.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

I'll be honest with you, four games this season really told me about the Texans.

Getting completely dominated by the Packers and Patriots revealed that this team was not even close to being elite.

And the two OT games, while exciting from an entertainment perspective, were indicative of a team that was having a hard time beating two teams with a collective 6 wins between them without some very lucky breaks.

The Bengals are on a mission. They will have vengeance on their minds.

The Texans, based on the past four games, look like they are happy with the best record in franchise history and another AFC South banner for the stadium. It's probably the last one we will see for awhile because the division will be Andrew Luck's for the next decade.

I really don't think they mentally shut it down in the last 4 games because they are happy with the record. That implies they weren't trying. I think they were trying, and just got outplayed. They just are not as good as they were earlier this season, and it's not because don't want to win anymore. They are just not as good as we, and they, thought they were.

Regarding Schaub, I am done with him, and if Kubiak wants to stay married to him, then I'm done with him also. If he's happy with Schaub constantly under throwing his receivers, and throwing the ball away 99% of the time whenever he's flushed out of the pocket, then that's it for me.

What I find frightening, is that McNair will be happy "with the best record in franchise history". This year's team reminds me of 93 Oilers, and I can't tell you much that royally disgusts me.

[fiasco west]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

ehh..i'm just not sold that Andrew Luck is going to be as dominant a force as Manning was..He wasn't even that in college despite being the consensus best qb his last 2 years and good talent around him.

My guess is we'll be duking it out every year with the Colts for the division title. Some years they'll win it, Some years we'll win it; We've got some pretty good young talent on defense that should be here for years to come giving him hell.

People seem to forget that Manning was/is one of the best QBs to EVER play in the NFL.

To say that Luck will be that or close to that is being extremely generous. I'll believe it when I see it. Lets be careful about crowning guys in one year, we see where that has gotten Cam Newton.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

ehh..i'm just not sold that Andrew Luck is going to be as dominant a force as Manning was..He wasn't even that in college despite being the consensus best qb his last 2 years and good talent around him.

My guess is we'll be duking it out every year with the Colts for the division title. Some years they'll win it, Some years we'll win it; We've got some pretty good young talent on defense that should be here for years to come giving him hell.

Luck just set the rookie passing record and has won games with clutch play this season. They were a 2-14 team coming into this season and they made the playoffs in his first year.

He's not going to be Manning, and nobody is ever going to be Manning. But, he will be a great QB for many years and I guess we'll see the Watt vs. Luck battle for awhile until JJ gets tired of playing here.

Originally Posted by Marcus

I really don't think they mentally shut it down in the last 4 games because they are happy with the record. That implies they weren't trying. I think they were trying, and just got outplayed. They just are not as good as they were earlier this season, and it's not because don't want to win anymore. They are just not as good as we, and they, thought they were.

I think they were trying, so it's not a matter of coasting.

But I do think it's a matter of relaxing a little and losing a lot of focus and intensity.

It's the penalties. It's the dropped passes. It's the lame throws. It's missing blocking assignments.

Yeah, they got out-played, but how much of that was due to playing better talent or how much was due to not having their heads in the right place?

Originally Posted by Marcus

Regarding Schaub, I am done with him, and if Kubiak wants to stay married to him, then I'm done with him also. If he's happy with Schaub constantly under throwing his receivers, and throwing the ball away 99% of the time whenever he's flushed out of the pocket, then that's it for me.

Schaub is Warren Moon 2.0. Lots of nice regular season statistics, but never could live up to the hype for big, high pressure games.

Originally Posted by Marcus

What I find frightening, is that McNair will be happy "with the best record in franchise history". This year's team reminds me of 93 Oilers, and I can't tell you much that royally disgusts me.

I agree. I think McNair is not going to rock the boat. I have no idea what is most important to him, but as a investment, going to the playoffs and selling merchandise is good for business.

"There's always next year" and all that jazz. Just don't forget to renew your season tickets next month.

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

Schaub is Warren Moon 2.0. Lots of nice regular season statistics, but never could live up to the hype for big, high pressure games.

Not that I don't get your point, but Schaub's not in the same neighborhood as Moon. Moon had all the tools. And Moon was part of a team that choked away big games, yes, but he put points on the board to get ahead. That team just couldn't preserve a lead. Matt Schaub can't get TDs at all. He's just totally inept.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

There are only two people that touch the ball every single play on offense - Chris Myers and Matt Schaub.

Damn that Myers dude.

You have got to be kidding me. You guys amaze me at how all of you are supposed to know how this offense runs and can literally watch the running game fall apart which is the main part of our offense and watch the Oline crumble, but consistently put this all on Schaub.

He deserves some blame, but I can't even begin to understand how you guys just block out all of these other problems.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by GP

I have been saying for several weeks now that the two OT games drained us.

Those two comebacks, the OT battles too, it sapped us of our strength.

Whatever amount of mojo Kubiaub had, they spent all of it in those two OT games. Only the 1st Colts game (which was closer than the score suggests, due to TD off blocked punt) and the Titans game is what has kept us afloat.

The Pats, the Vikings, and the Colts were games where you could tell this Texans team was pleading for the opponent to help out...make their mistakes that would help us...basically our guys were having extra bye weeks.

I'm perfectly OK if we lose either vs Bengals or in the next round. I've seen all I need to see in order to know that Gary and Matt are tapped out. That pony keg is empty.

That only happened because of who the HC is.


Normally games like that totally make a team better and give them more confidence. The team took on the personality of their HC as they have in other seasons. I never trusted Kubiak's leadership no matter how good we looked. I trusted some of the players to do it on their own, but I'll never trust Kubiak under any circumstances. This is the kind of meltdown that normally would get most HC's fired.

[chicagotexan2]

Damn these wheels fell off really fast. Schaub is not the qb to lead this team. I don't think know If Yates is any better but we all know now that schaub does not have what it takes to be a closer.

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

Yep, the symbiotic relationship between head coach and QB can produce greatness (Walsh/Montana, Belichick/Brady, Landry/Staubach) or perpetual mediocrity (list way too long to mention).

The constants are the guy calling every offensive play and the guy taking every snap of every offensive play.

I went back and watched this game again .... there were plays to be made. Schaub simply didnt capitalize upon the opportunities , and there were at least a 9 plays where Schaub made critical errors ..... overthrown , underthrown , missing an open reciever and throwing into coverage.

It wasnt the playcalling , it wasnt the coaching , it was Schaub missing open reads or flat out throwing bad balls.

No , the OL didnt do him any favors against the Dolts backup DL .... but again , the plays were there to be made. The fact that the Dolts backup's were able to ruin the Texans day should go along way in telling us what has to be fixed going forward .... since we are stuck with Schaub for at least two more seasons.

In a league where games are decided by one play , your QB cant leave 9 of them on the field.

[powda]

I'd love to see an honest quarterback competition between schaub and yates next season. I dont think yates would win the starting job, but we'd get a better ideal of what he really is and maybe light a fire under schaub's asz.

No tex, it's not all schaub but surely you can admit he's not playing at the level he was. His flaws are more and more apparent by the minute. Maybe people here are quicker to pull the trigger then you'd like because of the David Carr drama. Or maybe schaub just sucks.

[hradhak]

Originally Posted by Texecutioner

That only happened because of who the HC is.


Normally games like that totally make a team better and give them more confidence. The team took on the personality of their HC as they have in other seasons. I never trusted Kubiak's leadership no matter how good we looked. I trusted some of the players to do it on their own, but I'll never trust Kubiak under any circumstances. This is the kind of meltdown that normally would get most HC's fired.

My problem with the setup we have now is that firing Kubiak and replacing him changes the dynamic completely. Our o line is built for the ZBS and our QB for that scheme as well. If we bring in someone else, we need to find a ZBS coordinator and a coach who will delegate completely the offense (which will be hard to do I imagine)

[hradhak]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

ehh..i'm just not sold that Andrew Luck is going to be as dominant a force as Manning was..He wasn't even that in college despite being the consensus best qb his last 2 years and good talent around him.

My guess is we'll be duking it out every year with the Colts for the division title. Some years they'll win it, Some years we'll win it; We've got some pretty good young talent on defense that should be here for years to come giving him hell.

I think Luck will be good but not great. His completion percentage is 54% right now and teams have a full season of film on him with an offseason to identify his strengths and weaknesses. Sure, he's a rookie, but he is given a lot of credit for things that other players have done. He certainly didn't run back that kickoff for a TD to take the lead against us.

Also, all the hits he has taken this season are going to come back to hurt him. If the Indy line doesn't get better quickly, he's at risk for the chronic concussion syndrome.

[TexansFanatic]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

The Texans, based on the past four games, look like they are happy with the best record in franchise history and another AFC South banner for the stadium. It's probably the last one we will see for awhile because the division will be Andrew Luck's for the next decade.

EXACTLY. The Texans were handed the keys to the division crown in the transitional period between Manning and Luck.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

I'll be honest with you, four games this season really told me about the Texans.

Getting completely dominated by the Packers and Patriots revealed that this team was not even close to being elite.

And the two OT games, while exciting from an entertainment perspective, were indicative of a team that was having a hard time beating two teams with a collective 6 wins between them without some very lucky breaks.

The Bengals are on a mission. They will have vengeance on their minds.

The Texans, based on the past four games, look like they are happy with the best record in franchise history and another AFC South banner for the stadium. It's probably the last one we will see for awhile because the division will be Andrew Luck's for the next decade.

Could you see Bill Belichick or Bill Parcells trying to avoid segways around his facility while strutting around with letterman jackets for winning the AFC East with a month left in the season?

probably not I'd guess.