I've now seen the game live, and watched the DVR replay, and here are my comments on what I saw. Would love to hear other comments after many of you others have also had a chance to watch the tape.
1. Our secondary is awful, awful, awful. The safeties in particular, but our cornerbacks made mistake after mistake after mistake. They're never around the ball, and they can't tackle when the ball runs to THEM. Dunta Robinson flew all over the field, but he flew PAST plays and was on the ground when anything that mattered happened. An unacceptable performance from someone who wants Rick to pay him.
2. Steve Slaton may be a talented player, but he still doesn't seem to have learned the ZBS. He still follows blockers rather than splits the blockers. He dances around instead of making his one cut. He's great on screens and sweeps, though. Maybe Dominique Barber could switch to RB. He made a nice one-cut on his fumble recovery run.
3. Chris Brown is still a very good running back. Personally, I think HE should start and Slaton should be the 3rd down back unless Brown gets hurt and forces Slaton back into the starting role.
4. Shanahan and the offense need to figure out new ways to get Andre Johnson involved. Without Kevin Walter, AJ is the only receiver that can make plays. OD has reliable hands, but if you're having to rely on your tight end to carry your offense, then you're not going to rack up many yards.
5. Kubiak HAS to figure out ways to protect his quarterbacks, especially early on. Teams are blitzing early and often, and yet he insists on sticking to "the plan". Screen plays and short passes - especially slants over the middle, which I don't think are included in our arsenal - keep blitzing defenses honest. Yet the offensive plan still seems to always be run up the gut and then try a 15+ yard pass play. Repeat until you score or punt.
6. DeMeco Ryans is a stellar middle linebacker. Brian Cushing had a very good first game. Mario Williams is an absolute beast. Our front 4 did their jobs. Everyone else on the defense needs to learn how to tackle.
7. Kyle Shanahan forgot that we had Owen Daniels and Andre Johnson on our team.
8. Kubiak needs to allow his quarterbacks more flexibility. Allow them to read defenses and audible in reaction. I don't think I've ever seen a Texans quarterback make an audible in the Kubiak era. If they can't hear the play in the headset, they call timeouts. This IS a West Coast style offense, after all. Call a double slant or a crossing route when you see the blitz coming. Same with the receivers. When a play gets busted or covered well, nobody seems to be able to improvise and make something happen. Instead, the quarterback gets sacked. Don't these guys work on this in practice?
9. Frank Bush promised to get aggressive, but he got almost no pressure on Sanchez up the middle. At the game, it felt like they never even got close to him. Watching the replay, we actually got a LOT of pressure on him, but all of that pressure came from the outside. Flushing a mobile quarterback out of the pocket makes them dangerous. This strategy may work against, say Collins or Favre, but not against strong mobile guys like Flacco or McNabb. Or Sanchez. Our defense is good for two downs, and terrible on third downs.
10. The Jets defense is good. Very good.
1. Our secondary is awful, awful, awful. The safeties in particular, but our cornerbacks made mistake after mistake after mistake. They're never around the ball, and they can't tackle when the ball runs to THEM. Dunta Robinson flew all over the field, but he flew PAST plays and was on the ground when anything that mattered happened. An unacceptable performance from someone who wants Rick to pay him.
2. Steve Slaton may be a talented player, but he still doesn't seem to have learned the ZBS. He still follows blockers rather than splits the blockers. He dances around instead of making his one cut. He's great on screens and sweeps, though. Maybe Dominique Barber could switch to RB. He made a nice one-cut on his fumble recovery run.
3. Chris Brown is still a very good running back. Personally, I think HE should start and Slaton should be the 3rd down back unless Brown gets hurt and forces Slaton back into the starting role.
4. Shanahan and the offense need to figure out new ways to get Andre Johnson involved. Without Kevin Walter, AJ is the only receiver that can make plays. OD has reliable hands, but if you're having to rely on your tight end to carry your offense, then you're not going to rack up many yards.
5. Kubiak HAS to figure out ways to protect his quarterbacks, especially early on. Teams are blitzing early and often, and yet he insists on sticking to "the plan". Screen plays and short passes - especially slants over the middle, which I don't think are included in our arsenal - keep blitzing defenses honest. Yet the offensive plan still seems to always be run up the gut and then try a 15+ yard pass play. Repeat until you score or punt.
6. DeMeco Ryans is a stellar middle linebacker. Brian Cushing had a very good first game. Mario Williams is an absolute beast. Our front 4 did their jobs. Everyone else on the defense needs to learn how to tackle.
7. Kyle Shanahan forgot that we had Owen Daniels and Andre Johnson on our team.
8. Kubiak needs to allow his quarterbacks more flexibility. Allow them to read defenses and audible in reaction. I don't think I've ever seen a Texans quarterback make an audible in the Kubiak era. If they can't hear the play in the headset, they call timeouts. This IS a West Coast style offense, after all. Call a double slant or a crossing route when you see the blitz coming. Same with the receivers. When a play gets busted or covered well, nobody seems to be able to improvise and make something happen. Instead, the quarterback gets sacked. Don't these guys work on this in practice?
9. Frank Bush promised to get aggressive, but he got almost no pressure on Sanchez up the middle. At the game, it felt like they never even got close to him. Watching the replay, we actually got a LOT of pressure on him, but all of that pressure came from the outside. Flushing a mobile quarterback out of the pocket makes them dangerous. This strategy may work against, say Collins or Favre, but not against strong mobile guys like Flacco or McNabb. Or Sanchez. Our defense is good for two downs, and terrible on third downs.
10. The Jets defense is good. Very good.