Texans earning respect of their peers at Pro Bowl

[CloakNNNdagger]

Hmmm......Watt at TE?........he is probably joking, but that would definitely be interesting for a couple of plays here and there during a game........a throw back to the 2-way iron man........

Posted on January 26, 2013 at 11:16 pm by Tania Ganguli in Pro Bowl



AIEA, Hawaii — During one Pro Bowl practice, Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph covered Texans receiver Andre Johnson. A few plays later, J.J. Watt lined up on offense.

“I’m trying to get coach (Gary) Kubiak to let me play tight end,” Watt said before putting his finger to his lips in a shushing gesture — can’t give away top-secret elements of a Pro Bowl game plan.

The pass that Denver quarterback Peyton Manning threw for Watt sailed over his head and out of the end zone with Watt unable to make the grab.

“My play was better than Arian’s attempted pass,” Watt countered of Foster.

Texans players have detected a bit of jealousy from others in the Pro Bowl this week.

“You get in the huddle and you look and you have two of your fellow linemen,” left tackle Duane Brown said. “Starting running back, quarterback, receiver in the same huddle. Lot of familiar faces. Lot of guys are jealous of that. They envy it. It’s a great feeling, and it says a lot about our team.”

The “no respect” mantra is one athletes use across the NFL and other sports. It can be a motivating factor for teams, sometimes players work to prove they or their teams are deserving of more respect than they get. Even when the Texans were 11-1, they talked of having to earn respect nationally.

Perception, they said, constantly maligns them.

(Well, not everyone said that: “Another man’s opinion of me is none of my business,” Foster said.)

The Pro Bowl is entirely about perception.

And even with a season that ended before they wanted it to end, and before internal and external expectations needed it to end, the Texans got heaps of respect from peers, coaches and fans.

Kudos to coaching staff
Quarterback Matt Schaub, Brown, Wade Smith and Chris Myers, Foster, Johnson and tight end Owen Daniels, who was an injury replacement, are in Hawaii. Watt and Joseph joined them on defense.

“Offense, it’s seven out of the 11 guys (in a huddle); that’s pretty impressive,” Myers said. “That’s something that’s a form of respect to the team. To both sides with J.J. and (Joseph) here. … Hat’s off to our offensive staff and the whole staff in general to get quality guys and get guys the recognition they deserve.”

REST OF THE STORY

[ESAD2-14]

Feel good story, but if I had the chance to go on an expense paid trip to Hawaii with some of my buds like that I'd take it.

Lot of Negative Nancy running around in the comments section though, you'd think we just came off of 2-14 again.

[bOODRO87]

So many Pro Bowlers on offense. How did we get so bad in the red zone down the stretch? Frustrating.

[Playoffs]

I imagine Peyton's reflex was to throw it over J.J.'s outstretched arms,

And had Peyton thrown it within reach Watt probably sWatts it down!

[rolyat93]

I can think of a better Bowl to earn respect in.

[PapaL]

Yay it's our Super Bowl! FML.

[Vance87]

Just in case people forgot, there are 29 other teams not playing in the Super Bowl this year.

[BullBlitz]

Originally Posted by bOODRO87

So many Pro Bowlers on offense. How did we get so bad in the red zone down the stretch? Frustrating.

I look at it with a different perspective.

We were pretty bad in the red zone. Do these players really deserve to be held out as exceptional? Not really, but someone has to play.

[PapaL]

Originally Posted by Vance87

Just in case people forgot, there are 29 other teams not playing in the Super Bowl this year.

And we care about those teams why? Loser mentality.

Yay we're better than 26 other teams. Lets sing kumbaya and celebrate.

[BullBlitz]

Originally Posted by Vance87

Just in case people forgot, there are 29 other teams not playing in the Super Bowl this year.

Ah. The "misery loves company" approach.

Not working for me. Repeated chances at home field advantage slipped through our fingers.

That sure didn't happen to 29 other teams.

[Vance87]

Originally Posted by PapaL

And we care about those teams why? Loser mentality.

Yay we're better than 26 other teams. Lets sing kumbaya and celebrate.

I suppose if we had HFA and lost in the Divisional like the Broncos you would have put a double barrel in your mouth and pulled the trigger.

That's a shame.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by Vance87

I suppose if we had HFA and lost in the Divisional like the Broncos you would have put a double barrel in your mouth and pulled the trigger.

That's a shame.

Nope, but I'd still be negative about it here. The expectations were high (see 9 pro bowlers) and they did not meet expectations. It was a failed season in my book. They didn't just choke in every big game this season, they got blown out. Last season was a successful season, because they finally won their division, reached the playoffs for the first time, and won their first playoff game (and did it all with a 3rd string rookie QB). This season was all about taking advantage of that experience and taking the next step... they ended up falling down the stairs. There's no way to put a positive spin on what happened this season. It was a complete failure, instead of trying to sugar coat it, just call it what it was.

And I don't think it'll get better anytime soon.. not until we replace Schaub. I put red zone effectiveness squarely on the shoulders of a QB. We've struggled in the red zone during the majority of Schaub's tenure here. He's the reason why we can't cash in down there unless the running game carries him and he's the reason why we have a HOF caliber WR who has never ever had a double digit TD season. What upsets me the most is knowing nothing is going to change anytime soon.. our wagon is hitched to Schaub

[rolyat93]

Originally Posted by Vance87

I suppose if we had HFA and lost in the Divisional like the Broncos you would have put a double barrel in your mouth and pulled the trigger.

That's a shame.

Yeah, I guess we should never raise expectations for the Texans.

Hey guys, maybe we'll be over .500 next year.

[Vance87]

Man, it must suck to be you guys.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by Vance87

Man, it must suck to be you guys.

Not really, I prefer to be honest with myself.


I have already lowered my expectations for next season though. I just don't think Schaub is the guy who's going to take us where we all want to go.

[Hervoyel]

Nevermind.

[dream_team]

Originally Posted by Carr Bombed

And I don't think it'll get better anytime soon.. not until we replace Schaub. I red zone effectiveness squarely on the shoulders of a QB. We've struggled in the red zone during the majority of Schaub's tenure here. He's the reason why we can't cash in down there unless the running game carries him and he's the reason why we have a HOF caliber WR who has never ever had a double digit TD season. What upsets me the most is knowing nothing is going to change anytime soon.. our wagon is hitched to Schaub

We were actually not as bad in the red zone as I originally thought. We scored a TD 54.69% of the time, which is up from last season, and also good enough for 14th in the NFL. In 2010, we were ranked 5th in red zone TD efficiency at 62.26%. This past season, we were probably an average red zone team. But 2010 proves that Schaub can lead an effective red zone offense.

http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat...ne-scoring-pct

Sorry, I'm one of those guys that tries to twist a positive spin on everything.

[dream_team]

Originally Posted by ESAD2-14

Feel good story, but if I had the chance to go on an expense paid trip to Hawaii with some of my buds like that I'd take it.

Lot of Negative Nancy running around in the comments section though, you'd think we just came off of 2-14 again.

I think there are some people that would actually prefer it, if it led to getting rid of Kubiak & Schaub.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by dream_team

We were actually not as bad in the red zone as I originally thought. We scored a TD 54.69% of the time, which is up from last season, and also good enough for 14th in the NFL. In 2010, we were ranked 5th in red zone TD efficiency at 62.26%. This past season, we were probably an average red zone team. But 2010 proves that Schaub can lead an effective red zone offense.

http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat...ne-scoring-pct

Sorry, I'm one of those guys that tries to twist a positive spin on everything.

2010 doesn't prove anything for Schaub.. Schaub was just on the wagon that was being pulled by the work horses. 2010 was when we still had Vonta Leach and was the season of Foster Debut where he had 1,616 rushing yards and 18 TDs

Scoring TDs only 54.9% of the time in the red zone is mediocre and not good enough.. it needs to go up if we're going to end up playing after the probowl... and as of right now in Schaub's tenure here we've only had one season were we were a top red zone team, when Foster was having one of the greatest rushing seasons for a RB. If that's what it's going to take for this team and Schaub to have more success in the red zone, then we need to start looking for his replacement.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by dream_team

I think there are some people that would actually prefer it, if it led to getting rid of Kubiak & Schaub.

I'm still up in the air with Kubiak so I'll leave him out of this..

However, I would prefer a step back if it led to a bigger step forward. The worst thing that can ever happen in sports is being stuck in mediocrity dying a slow agonizing death. That was the Rockets for the longest time and it killed me, but they made a big move with the James Harden trade and hopefully it'll be the big move that starts to pull them out of the mediocrity zone.

The Astros flat out suck, that's something nobody will argue about, but it doesn't bother me. I'm willing to let them suck and hopefully all that sucking will lead to us drafting some future star players (See Wash. Nats) and we can restock our farm system.

So in short, if we had a wheel fail off the wagon season that made us start looking for another QB, I wouldn't be cheering (I never cheer for my teams to lose), but I wouldn't exactly shed a tear either. Hell look what the Colts got out of their fall on their face season.