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The bell tolls

Texanmike02

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OK. Let me start this off by saying that was embarrassing. Damn embarrassing. I was sick.


This doesn't fall on Kubes. It doesn't fall on the Coaches. This falls on the players. That was the most lackluster effort I've seen all year. From the matador OL to the QB to the DB's and DL that was the most pathetic display I've seen from this team since the Pittsburgh game. I don't know if they were reading their own press clippings. Maybe they were reading this board.

That said, it was one game. It was an easy trap game and given that we're not going to the playoffs it might be something this team needed. Once you arrive its just that much harder. Teams like the Raiders get up to play you. Yeah we're only 7-7 but we're the upstart team in the league. A team like the Raiders gets up to play us.

Here's the thing. Now we get to see what this team is made of. How do they handle this loss. Do they mail it in again. If they come out and light the world on fire, you're looking for this team to go far next year. If they bomb. Uh oh.

This game wasn't a measuring stick. It was more like a fork in the road. Where do you go from here. We've seen what this team can be. Both good and bad. This last week, you have a chance. you make a choice.

Matt: Do you gather your OL together, smash some heads and then go throw a hundred different passes to each receiver. Do you fall asleep in the film room? Or do you shrug it off as a bad game and go about your way. It better be the first.

AJ: Do you go get in your QBs face and tell him that won't happen again? Do you tell him you aren't going to be held to two catches again. Or do you start looking for another team? Better be the first.

Steve: Do you decide you're going to have to pick up the blitz if no one does?

OD: Do you go ask your coach for tips on how to avoid getting beat?

Mario: Are you happy with Hawaii? Better not be.

Ryans: Do you pull the LB's together? Do you crack some skulls?

Daunta: Seriously. You bring the wood. Are you going to require this of the rest of the guys?

The danger of relying on young leadership? They have to learn to lead. This is the next step. It would be nice to think that you arrive w/o being tested. It would be nice if they could have marched through their last 6 weeks unscathed. Man I would have liked to ride a 6 game winning streak off into the sunset, finish 9-7 and talk about playoffs.

I tell you honestly, if I get to instead talk about the disaster that almost was. If I talk about the maturation of Ryans and Daunta and Mario and Slaton. If I get to talk about Schaub Rallying the troops for one final game. if Kubes brings it and AJ catches it. Then its worth it.

You may disagree. This season has had its share of failures. But the difference between this and last year is this has been about how we've responded. Three years ago, at 0-4, they mailed it in. Three years ago, Green Bay and Tenn games were talks about what could have been. Four years ago, there was an eerily similar game to this one played at Cleveland. This time, we have one last chance to answer.

Come on Kubes... come on Texans. The bell tolls at 3:05 pm Sunday. Your place. Your field.

How do you answer?


Mike
 
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You lost me on the first sentence in the second paragraph.

Knowing that against the rush, the Raiders gave up 157 yds. per game coming into the game, how did we only rush the hottest running back in the NFL only 18 times??

Third and inches with the hottest running back in the NFL against the Raiders run defense??


Fourth and inches against the RAIDERS DEFENSE (remember coach, 157 yds. a game) with one of the hottest running backs in the league??

Andre Johnson 2 catches???

The coach did not play to the Raiders weaknesses. He played them backwards, against their strengths. The team was not put into position to win but we still had a chance when the defense made the play late in the game. Coach Pubes put the brakes on that hope and burned a timeout in the process, just for good measure.
 
Ultimately, I think it does fall on the coaches for not having them ready for a bad team on the road. They've apparently been thinking about the Tennessee game all week, and it's too late to start thinking about Sunday on Saturday morning.

That said, we have only one coach who's job could be in jeopardy, and I hope this one cost him his job. It would be great if we could win a shootout next week and then send him packing. :smiliedance:
 
As much as I would love to pin this on the coaching (*ahem* Richard Smith in particular and Kubes decision to throw on 4th down), this is on the players. These aren't high school or college kids. These guys are paid professionals. Do YOUR FREAKIN jobs, show up and play. Where was Mario? DeMeco? Did anyone on "D" have a 'good' game? How about offensively?
 
As much as I would love to pin this on the coaching (*ahem* Richard Smith in particular and Kubes decision to throw on 4th down), this is on the players. These aren't high school or college kids. These guys are paid professionals. Do YOUR FREAKIN jobs, show up and play. Where was Mario? DeMeco? Did anyone on "D" have a 'good' game? How about offensively?

I understand that the players make the plays. Please do me a favor and tell me, based on what you saw yesterday, what our game plan was.

Based on the way the Raiders had played all year, what would you think our gameplan would be?
 
This was a classic trap game, and the Texans walked right into it unprepared. Hopefully this game eats at them all offseason & keeps them focused on winning games like this next season. I think there is plenty of blame to go around for this loss. The coaches & players both screwed the pooch on this one. Between the lackluster performance that the players gave & the poor coaching decisions & game plan put forth by the coaches there were still ample opportunities for the Texans to get out of Oakland with a win. What did they do? Squander those opportunities, and just pretty much fail in every phase of the game. They should be ashamed of the way they performed. We'll see how they respond next week, but despite the outcome against the Bears I think we'll still have all the same questions about this team that we did to begin this year. That's not my idea of progress.


Interesting note: The only two teams to defeat the Titans this season have both lost to the Oakland Raiders. The Jets lost to them in OT, and the Texans got pounded by them.
 
IMO, this team hasn't experienced enough success to be in the mindset of a "trap" game. Trap games happen to good teams who are having successful seasons and are in danger of cruising thru a game. If the coaches and/or players had ANY thoughts like that they are sadly disillusioned.

Yes, I'm sorry, the coaching staff, especially Kubes has to take a lot of responsibility for this loss. Yes, the players didn't execute at times and they are to blame, also.
 
This was a classic trap game, and the Texans walked right into it unprepared.

Interesting note: The only two teams to defeat the Titans this season have both lost to the Oakland Raiders. The Jets lost to them in OT, and the Texans got pounded by them.


...... and the Raiders went into Denver and beat the Broncos and Russell has been playing much better lately than he did early in the year ......... and so how in hades can anybody consider this a "trap" game for the Texans?? The Texans are not yet good enough and have not yet experienced enough success to have "trap" games.
 
I understand that the players make the plays. Please do me a favor and tell me, based on what you saw yesterday, what our game plan was.

Based on the way the Raiders had played all year, what would you think our gameplan would be?


Just thinking 'based on the way the Raiders have played all year' is a trap in and of itself. I told 'muscle head' before kick-off yesterday that we were going to lose that game. He didn't believe me and asked why I thought that..... Classic set-up game. One team comes in feeling pretty damn good about themselves and thinks that they can go through the motions to win while the other team (who are professionals too) take a little pride and enjoy playing for their interim head coach. And by the way have more talent than what they are given credit for.

Our game plan was pretty evident on the opening drive. Unfortunately, their defense adjusted well to everything that our offense had any success with. Meantime our defense got used and abused worse than a hooker in Times Square.
 
Yesterday was a weird, weird day in the NFL. Heck, our stink-bomb did not even make the top 3 in a list of horrific performances from the five late-afternoon games yesterday. Philly, Denver and the Jets had everything to play for and barely showed up against teams who are probably getting new coaches in January. Now, all three of them are in the deep stuff regarding their playoff hopes.

We played a terrible game against a terrible team and got what we had coming. Nobody aside from Kris Brown and (perhaps) Owen Daniels gets a pass for this. And it looks to me like we are a poorly constructed team for a muddy track.

But anyone who cannot see the difference between this year's team and the Texans' previous teams (i.e. those who are barking "Same old Texans. They stink as much as ever. 'Nuff said.") either are not paying attention now or weren't back then.
 
Yesterday was a weird, weird day in the NFL. Heck, our stink-bomb did not even make the top 3 in a list of horrific performances from the five late-afternoon games yesterday. Philly, Denver and the Jets had everything to play for and barely showed up against teams who are probably getting new coaches in January. Now, all three of them are in the deep stuff regarding their playoff hopes.

We played a terrible game against a terrible team and got what we had coming. Nobody aside from Kris Brown and (perhaps) Owen Daniels gets a pass for this. And it looks to me like we are a poorly constructed team for a muddy track.

But anyone who cannot see the difference between this year's team and the Texans' previous teams (i.e. those who are barking "Same old Texans. They stink as much as ever. 'Nuff said.") either are not paying attention now or weren't back then.
It wasn't weird...all the teams in the league have talent as proven by yesterday, once again.
This was a classic trap game, and the Texans walked right into it unprepared. Hopefully this game eats at them all offseason & keeps them focused on winning games like this next season. I think there is plenty of blame to go around for this loss. The coaches & players both screwed the pooch on this one. Between the lackluster performance that the players gave & the poor coaching decisions & game plan put forth by the coaches there were still ample opportunities for the Texans to get out of Oakland with a win. What did they do? Squander those opportunities, and just pretty much fail in every phase of the game. They should be ashamed of the way they performed. We'll see how they respond next week, but despite the outcome against the Bears I think we'll still have all the same questions about this team that we did to begin this year. That's not my idea of progress.


Interesting note: The only two teams to defeat the Titans this season have both lost to the Oakland Raiders. The Jets lost to them in OT, and the Texans got pounded by them.
only good teams have trap games pards...sorry, but we are 100+ games into our franchise and never had a winning season...there are no trap games for that kind of a franchise. You have to be a winner to have a trap game.
 

Skin the bears. Skin as in flay.

flay

Main Entry: flay
Pronunciation: \ˈflā\
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English flen, from Old English flēan; akin to Old Norse flā to flay, Lithuanian plėšti to tear
Date: before 12th century
1 : to strip off the skin or surface of : skin
2 : to criticize harshly : excoriate
3 : lash 1b <the wind whipped up to gale fury, flaying his face — Richard Kent>
 
NOT the coaches fault???!! LMFAO! AGAIN we were not only out coached, our guys were totally UNprepared for what the Raiders had to dish out. Unacceptable!!!
 
NOT the coaches fault???!! LMFAO! AGAIN we were not only out coached, our guys were totally UNprepared for what the Raiders had to dish out. Unacceptable!!!

Sorry but when are the players going to be held accountable for their poor performances on the field?? Where was Mario yesterday? Where was DeMeco? Jacoby muffs another one. Schaub threw some horrible passes and should be lucky that he actually only threw 1 pick. Coaching can't stop players from getting punched in the mouth. You (as a player) take the a$$ whoopin, or you start punching back. It's obvious what the Texans did yesterday and now they have bloody lips and black eyes.

This isn't college or high school for that matter. These players shouldn't need all the rah-rah stuff to be ready to play. Their paychecks should be enough. All tey did yesterday was go through the motions. They knew what was at stake and stunk the place up with their play anyway...
 
Sorry but when are the players going to be held accountable for their poor performances on the field?? Where was Mario yesterday? Where was DeMeco? Jacoby muffs another one. Schaub threw some horrible passes and should be lucky that he actually only threw 1 pick. Coaching can't stop players from getting punched in the mouth. You (as a player) take the a$$ whoopin, or you start punching back. It's obvious what the Texans did yesterday and now they have bloody lips and black eyes.

This isn't college or high school for that matter. These players shouldn't need all the rah-rah stuff to be ready to play. Their paychecks should be enough. All tey did yesterday was go through the motions. They knew what was at stake and stunk the place up with their play anyway...

:goodpost:


The only thing that I put on Kubes is the 4th and 1/2 that we should have kicked the FG and made it a one score game. The offensive line play was horrible. WTF was with Chester "Clubber Lang" Pitts? That didn't help matters when we were so close to the goal line. 15 yard penalty is unacceptable in that situation. Kubes wasn't there to tell him not to give a left cross.

chesterclubberlangpittsbox.gif
 
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This was a classic trap game, and the Texans walked right into it unprepared. Hopefully this game eats at them all offseason & keeps them focused on winning games like this next season. I think there is plenty of blame to go around for this loss. The coaches & players both screwed the pooch on this one. Between the lackluster performance that the players gave & the poor coaching decisions & game plan put forth by the coaches there were still ample opportunities for the Texans to get out of Oakland with a win. What did they do? Squander those opportunities, and just pretty much fail in every phase of the game. They should be ashamed of the way they performed. We'll see how they respond next week, but despite the outcome against the Bears I think we'll still have all the same questions about this team that we did to begin this year. That's not my idea of progress.


Interesting note: The only two teams to defeat the Titans this season have both lost to the Oakland Raiders. The Jets lost to them in OT, and the Texans got pounded by them.

I love how people try putting on the "SPIN FACTOR" in situations trying to make excuses for their teams calling them "TRAP GAMES".

There is no such thing as a trap game. That is about the most ridiculous thing I've heard.

You either show up on Sunday and execute your game plan better than the other team does no matter who you are playing. The Texans are not some great team and never have been, so there is absolutely no reason to be over confident against any team in the NFL when you're attempting to make your first run at a season over 500 and the Raiders are one of the teams that are in your path to do that. This team couldn't have had an easier match up for that. They should have been focused and ready to tear them apart, and the coaching staff should have had them in position to be successful more than they were.

You either show up on Sunday or you don't and if you don't you lose. Ask Billicheck if he believes in TRAP GAMES. No matter what happens with his his teams, he always has them prepared and focused. He doesn't make excuses and call them Trap Games and soak it up to that. That is the kind of mentality that winning teams have. They don't believe in trap games. That is ridiculous. You either show up to play and execute or have the other team execute better than your team.
 
NOT the coaches fault???!! LMFAO! AGAIN we were not only out coached, our guys were totally UNprepared for what the Raiders had to dish out. Unacceptable!!!

How do the coaches not use Slaton in space against the 31st defense against the run in the Raiders?

Players can fail, but this was a game where the coaches CLEARLY put the players in the position to fail, in not preparing for this game mentally and not calling good plays.

Heads need to roll. Keep making bad decisions and where does that take us? Infinite mediocrity for the next couple of years? Next season will just be like "Groundhog Day." It will begin with plenty of hope and playoff talk and end in 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7. Rinse and repeat.
 
With the Raiders being 31st in the league against the run the offensive line should be ashamed at how they were man handled by Oakland's defensive line.
 
Sorry but when are the players going to be held accountable for their poor performances on the field?? Where was Mario yesterday? Where was DeMeco? Jacoby muffs another one. Schaub threw some horrible passes and should be lucky that he actually only threw 1 pick. Coaching can't stop players from getting punched in the mouth. You (as a player) take the a$$ whoopin, or you start punching back. It's obvious what the Texans did yesterday and now they have bloody lips and black eyes.

This isn't college or high school for that matter. These players shouldn't need all the rah-rah stuff to be ready to play. Their paychecks should be enough. All tey did yesterday was go through the motions. They knew what was at stake and stunk the place up with their play anyway...

With the Raiders being 31st in the league against the run the offensive line should be ashamed at how they were man handled by Oakland's defensive line.

Agreed on all accounts.
 
MS had a bad game and the passing game was not all there today. Steve Slaton did not show up to play today like he always does every Sunday. Doesn't he? Not today though with only 66 yards rushing not good at all. That is about all that showed up today for our Texans not much in our passing game either today IMO. One TD in the redzone just is not going to get us a win. Both fazes of the Oak O game was working for the most part rushing and passing for sure. They did a great job of covering the number one WR in the NFL today AJ. I am sure he will be back next Sunday against the Bears. They were in Matt's face often. Gary K. was out coached just on that one fourth down play he should have ran the football or done a QB sneak I that we all agree on that pretty much. This team still needs a Big RB to pound the football up the gut. I don't think that Leach is that type of guy like some folks do. When AJ is the number one WR in the league you find ways to get the football in his hands no excuses about it. Why don't we hear JJ and AD name in passing game as much as we should be hearing their names called IMO? They need to work on their passing game this offseason so when AJ has a bad game they should pick up the slack for him. You always hear about AJ, Kevin Walter, OD, and sometimes David Anderson you do not hear about AD and JJ as much as you hear about the four names that I listed I think that this is especially true about JJ.
 
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Sorry but when are the players going to be held accountable for their poor performances on the field?? Where was Mario yesterday? Where was DeMeco? Jacoby muffs another one. Schaub threw some horrible passes and should be lucky that he actually only threw 1 pick. Coaching can't stop players from getting punched in the mouth. You (as a player) take the a$$ whoopin, or you start punching back. It's obvious what the Texans did yesterday and now they have bloody lips and black eyes.

This isn't college or high school for that matter. These players shouldn't need all the rah-rah stuff to be ready to play. Their paychecks should be enough. All tey did yesterday was go through the motions. They knew what was at stake and stunk the place up with their play anyway...

It is Kubiak's JOB to get his team MENTALLY prepared for a game!! It's just not acceptable for a team to play DEAD for 4 friggin quarters! As many have pointed out, WHERE was Mario, Demeco, AJ, Slaton, and even KW? Crappy called game IMHO, and that will bring a teams momentum down. WHY does he keep playing JJ when the boy couldn't hold on to a ball if it was glued to his damn fingers!! If those HIGH PAID players are not performing up to par, get on their ass, pop the whip, do whatever it takes to get the fight back, the postivie attitude, whatever! I'm tired of Kubiaks passive attitude. Get on with it or leave!! Don't play a killer game one week and then just lay down and die the next! Just pathetic, IMO!!
 
It is Kubiak's JOB to get his team MENTALLY prepared for a game!! It's just not acceptable for a team to play DEAD for 4 friggin quarters! As many have pointed out, WHERE was Mario, Demeco, AJ, Slaton, and even KW? Crappy called game IMHO, and that will bring a teams momentum down. WHY does he keep playing JJ when the boy couldn't hold on to a ball if it was glued to his damn fingers!! If those HIGH PAID players are not performing up to par, get on their ass, pop the whip, do whatever it takes to get the fight back, the postivie attitude, whatever! I'm tired of Kubiaks passive attitude. Get on with it or leave!! Don't play a killer game one week and then just lay down and die the next! Just pathetic, IMO!!

That's like saying its a teacher's JOB to make every student they teach a genius. All the teacher can do it present the material and encourage students to learn it just like all the coach can to is call the plays and encourage the team to execute properly. If you checked HT.com last week, you'll know that Kubiak climbed everyone's @ss after the Thursday session because they had a sucky practice.

(on any injuries) “No, we’re good. Like I said, those two players were limited. I think they will — I shouldn’t say that. They’ll be limited. They’ll be game-time decisions. But everyone else is ready to go. (G) Chester (Pitts) is fine, he’s ready to go. And we practiced well today. I did not like practice yesterday, but we locked in today and practiced well.”

Blaming the coach is letting the players off the hook. Sorry, they don't get off the hook. They're the ones on the field, not the coaches. They should be ashamed to have let a 3-11 team manhandle them all day.
I'm with Texan_Bill. This loss is on the players.
 
face it dude this team is tired batterd and beaten

who knows if some of our stars are even going to be back next year esp dunta

i think the team is already looking towards next year there is nothing to play for anymore this year even if we beat or loss to CHI big woop IMO
 
Seriously?

Kubes has done a good job getting this team ready for every game since the Pitt game. And honestly. Hey are just that good. This game was an abbaration. Look at the Indy game. Kubes had them up to play. Sage forgot his roll for about 30 seconds at a time.

Teams will come out flat from time to time. That was the case and that was the problem. Did Kubes screw up the 3rd and 4th down calls. He gambled and lost. Would I do it differently? Yeah. But should the game have been anywhere near close to that? The OL got whipped. Schaub was off. But Schaub was extending plays all game. With the receivers and how precise they run routes the conditions certainly didn't help. He made some bad decisions but he kept plays alive consistantly.

The D played horrible. That again starts with the DL. NO push from the middle. Let Russel step up and slide out between the Guard and Tackle as the DE can't get an angle on him. Tackling was piss poor. You can't tell me these guys don't know how to tackle. We've seen they know HOW. They aren't kids and honestly I think its bush league to blame the coaches at this point. How big of a difference did Adibi make? I didn't think that an OLB made THAT big of a difference but now I'm going to advocate getting another LB in the offseason. Greenwood is GONE. He's getting worse and worse.

Mike
 
Seriously?

Kubes has done a good job getting this team ready for every game since the Pitt game. And honestly. Hey are just that good. This game was an abbaration. Look at the Indy game. Kubes had them up to play. Sage forgot his roll for about 30 seconds at a time.

Teams will come out flat from time to time. That was the case and that was the problem. Did Kubes screw up the 3rd and 4th down calls. He gambled and lost. Would I do it differently? Yeah. But should the game have been anywhere near close to that? The OL got whipped. Schaub was off. But Schaub was extending plays all game. With the receivers and how precise they run routes the conditions certainly didn't help. He made some bad decisions but he kept plays alive consistantly.

The D played horrible. That again starts with the DL. NO push from the middle. Let Russel step up and slide out between the Guard and Tackle as the DE can't get an angle on him. Tackling was piss poor. You can't tell me these guys don't know how to tackle. We've seen they know HOW. They aren't kids and honestly I think its bush league to blame the coaches at this point. How big of a difference did Adibi make? I didn't think that an OLB made THAT big of a difference but now I'm going to advocate getting another LB in the offseason. Greenwood is GONE. He's getting worse and worse.

Mike

The defense played yesterday?? I was under the impression that they collectively missed the flight.
 
How do the coaches not use Slaton in space against the 31st defense against the run in the Raiders?

I don't know. If you read some of the posters here, it was Slaton's fault for not gaining more than 3.6 yds a carry on 18 carries. It was Johnson's fault for not getting the ball thrown to him more than twice. It was the player's fault for deciding to not run the ball more than 18 times against a 31st ranked defense against the rush. The players didn't have a solid game plan.
 
Didn't Slaton get 100 yards in the game?

No, Slaton rushed 18 times for only 66 yards. The team as a whole didn't even rush for 100. I think we totalled around 90.

It just wasn't a very good day at the office for any of the Texans, Gary.
 
Foregive me for saying that SS showed up to play. I do not know what I saw.

He was about the only one that showed up. He fought his butt off for everyone of those yards too. That 66 yard production is on the O-line fer getting whooped..
 
Steve Slaton is a stud and I don't doubt that if the Texans would have run the ball on third and/or fourth down that we would have gotten a TD. The defense sucked all day but did give us a chance to win with the turnover (many people forget that).

Had we made the TD on a pass play, I still would have said it was the wrong decision.
 
Steve Slaton is a stud and I don't doubt that if the Texans would have run the ball on third and/or fourth down that we would have gotten a TD. The defense sucked all day but did give us a chance to win with the turnover (many people forget that).

Had we made the TD on a pass play, I still would have said it was the wrong decision.

Slaton very well could've scored, but I went and took a look at each of his runs and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't have been easy.

Slaton ran for 3 yards twice, 2 yards 5 times, 1 yard 3 times and 0 or less 3times. That's 13 out of his 18 attempts. That's not a very percentage.

We should've given the ball to Leach and let'em eat. :cool:
 
Slaton very well could've scored, but I went and took a look at each of his runs and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't have been easy.

Slaton ran for 3 yards twice, 2 yards 5 times, 1 yard 3 times and 0 or less 3times. That's 13 out of his 18 attempts. That's not a very percentage.

We should've given the ball to Leach and let'em eat. :cool:

The one criticism I do have of Kubiak in those goal line situations is why he doesn't use the proverbial "Jumbo" package. Line someone else up back there with Slaton and Leach... Let all the big dogs eat....
 
The one criticism I do have of Kubiak in those goal line situations is why he doesn't use the proverbial "Jumbo" package. Line someone else up back there with Slaton and Leach... Let all the big dogs eat....

You mean like the wishbone?
 
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