Cushing making progress!

[Texan in Japan]

Wow, it's nice to have a first round pick come in and make a difference so quickly. Despite missing most of the preseason he looked good in game #1, but today he was all over the field blowing up Titans' screens and runs.

I'm really liking what I see from him so far. How about everyone else?

 

[PapaL]

Yes.

 

[281]

i was impressed with several plays of his. let's just hope he can stay healthy...

 

[Marcus]

Considering that he missed the entire preseason and this is only his second game, I can completely forgive his overrunning a couple of tackles, and the bad technique covering the tight end on one play.

He's going to be a stud. I loved his speed.

Actually, I very excited by the entire linebacker corp. Zac Diles is playing great for a 7th round pick.

 

[edo783]

He's going to be a stud. I loved his speed.

He is very fast for a SLB. In fact he seems to be faster than our WLB. That's very unusual.

 

[ObsiWan]

Wow, it's nice to have a first round pick come in and make a difference so quickly. Despite missing most of the preseason he looked good in game #1, but today he was all over the field blowing up Titans' screens and runs.

I'm really liking what I see from him so far. How about everyone else?

After watching the game a second time, he looked better and better with each play. And the kid has a onery streak that I really like. When he tackles, like Lombardi said, "he arrives in an angry mood".

 

[GP]

Considering that he missed the entire preseason and this is only his second game, I can completely forgive his overrunning a couple of tackles, and the bad technique covering the tight end on one play.

He's going to be a stud. I loved his speed.

Actually, I very excited by the entire linebacker corp. Zac Diles is playing great for a 7th round pick.

LOL. I typed the same thing in another thread.

If we can get a big run stuffer or two in the middle of the line...that LB unit will be one of the best in the league, IMO.

 

[silvrhand]

I have to say I didn't like the pick early on, and then he got hurt I was even more doubtful of the pick. If he continues to improve on his play today I will like this pick.

Good things from him today and Demeco.

 

[Second Honeymoon]

Cushing has looked promising especially when you consider its only his 2nd game in the league but the defense gave up too many big plays and he was partly to blame for some of those plays.

Thankfully, the football gods smiled upon us and fortune fell in our favor. That fair catch ruling (correctly ruling btw) then Collins getting stripped of the football by an invisible defender....it was just too much.

I can't wait till the Titans have to come to Reliant. That is going to be a grudge match for both teams. Finnegan needs to be taken down a peg. I see a crackback block in his future...just sayin.

Cushing let his play on the field do the talking and I liked how he pulled a veteran Antonio Smith away from a possible unsportsmanlike conduct call. He wasn't afraid to pull the veteran and tell him to shut the hell up. That showed me more than just about anything I saw on the field athletically. Smith was a split second away from a 15 yard penalty and Cushing yanks him back to the huddle..priceless.

 

[Jackie Chiles]

"I love this kind of environment," Cushing said. "I love getting booed. I actually like getting booed better than being at home and being cheered. It just makes you feel like you need to stick together as a unit. I think the team gets closer. You have to fight and you have your backs against each other."

That is great to hear, we need some more road warriors.

 

[El Tejano]

I was thinking about the booing when Tenn fans started booing. I was thinking either they are booing us or the titans and either way it's good and I am sure The Texans are glad to hear those boos vs. the ones they heard last week.

 

[Texan in Japan]

After watching the game a second time, he looked better and better with each play. And the kid has a onery streak that I really like. When he tackles, like Lombardi said, "he arrives in an angry mood".

One play reminds me of your quote. Johnson took a hand-off and was weaving through some traffic in the backfield. Cushing came around the right side from nowhere like he was shot out of a cannon. He nailed Johnson and stopped another __ yard run.

 

[m5kwatts]

Just flipping through highlights the past 2 weeks... I'm thinking Cushing will get ROTY consideration here soon if he keeps this up

 

[Goatcheese]

Just flipping through highlights the past 2 weeks... I'm thinking Cushing will get ROTY consideration here soon if he keeps this up

Quite possibly. He's just 4 tackles behind Laurinaitis in rookie tackles.

 

[jppaul]

You know outside of three or four plays our defense played pretty well. Unfortunately, those three or four went for huge plays. I really like the more aggressive nature of this defense, but you still have to stay disciplined in your gaps.

Cushing really impressed me, his ability to dip his inside shoulder and get around blockers was something that I hadn't seen of him on the college level.

Very impressive.

 

[SteveSlaton20]

Dude is greatness.

 

[Scooter]

i really like the way cushing's played these first two games. he's out there as 260lbs of bad intentions and it's about time we got such an angry man on defense. if cushing stays on the field he's going to be an absolute monster for many years.

 

[m5kwatts]

He took a few bad angles to the ball at times but he's never gonna miss a tackle and he hits hard. The turnovers will come soon enough for him.

 

[Ckw]

Yeah, the guy is legit. Even the announcers were commenting on just how much speed we have a LB now. Demeco can move, Diles is pretty quick, and Cush is like a cannon. I'm lovin' the pick.

 

[texansdrummer]

BC is a welcomed addition, for sure. His intensity and effort is something that we haven't exactly had the luxury of experiencing before......along with DeMeco, hopefully this can become contagious. Peer pressure rules.

 

[4Texans]

He did fine the first game, and you could see improvement in his play against the Titan's. So you've got to love that. I like his nasty attitude, and he's got lots of upside still.

 

[drewmar74]

One play reminds me of your quote. Johnson took a hand-off and was weaving through some traffic in the backfield. Cushing came around the right side from nowhere like he was shot out of a cannon. He nailed Johnson and stopped another __ yard run.

Saw that. Looked at the wife on the replay and said "Where the heck did he come from?!" Great move in traffic to stuff Johnson.

I had tivo'd this game and went back and watched it again. Cushing's play really stuck out.

 

[blitz90]

Did you see BC put that lick on the fullback knocking his helmet off?
I didn't record this game but wish I had so I could go back and watch some things.

 

[Porky]

Considering he is a rookie and missed the entire pre-season, he is very impressive. Ten tackles, 7 solo. And these weren't Jay Foreman tackles as a general rule. He is a play maker from the SLB position - a first for this team. Cushing > Diles, and Diles > Greenwood. I see him potentially contending for ROY if he keeps improving.

This D is maddening, because if you take out 5% of the plays, they are clearly light years ahead of last year. They are faster, quicker, more agressive, nastier and more talented - yet since the preseason they have had a trend of going absouletely brain dead for at least a half dozen plays a game, and it's costing them huge plays. If they can clean those up, this D can keep us in games all year. They won't be great, but they don't need to be. They just need to be decent, and if they can clean things up, they'll at least be decent. But, if that trend continues of going brain dead, Bush's head needs to be on the chopping block.

 

[hradhak]

I like Cushing's play for sure. He's got good vision which is not really teachable. If he can learn to take better angles he will be a great defender. I'd like to see him get a little better on pass coverage. He's got some work to do, but I think reps will improve that. I think we can finally say that LB is not an issue for our defense.

 

[hookinreds]

One thing I’ve noticed (and expected it to carry over from USC) is that Cushing does not “miss” tackles. If he gets a hand on you, you are going down, no trying to make the “big hit”, he makes the “big tackle”. Our DBs and S could use some coaching on this. Form tackling is a lost art. Ryans, Diles and Cushing are going to make a huge difference in the way teams approach their game planning. There is no weakness.

 

[76Texan]

One thing I’ve noticed (and expected it to carry over from USC) is that Cushing does not “miss” tackles. If he gets a hand on you, you are going down, no trying to make the “big hit”, he makes the “big tackle”. Our DBs and S could use some coaching on this. Form tackling is a lost art. Ryans, Diles and Cushing are going to make a huge difference in the way teams approach their game planning. There is no weakness.

Sorry, but Cushing missed a bunch of tackles at USC!
(And I mean a great bunch).

 

[beerlover]

I would love to see him stay healthy, that was the knock on him

 

[HoustonFrog]

He would look more like a bad-a on the field if they let him keep his hair. You need a long haired guy running sidelines to sidelines...just saying.

 

[Marcus]

How's Clay Matthews doing, BTW?

 

[hookinreds]

Sorry, but Cushing missed a bunch of tackles at USC!
(And I mean a great bunch).

The other thing I noticed is I guess I need to go review more USC tape (not focused on Cushing becuase those would be highlights) becuase my memory must be off.

Ok...so far in his brief NFL career, it appears that when he makes a tackle, he really wraps up the player and doesn't just try and put a shoulder on 'em.

 

[76Texan]

How's Clay Matthews doing, BTW?

He has as many sack(s) as the entire Texans team combined!

Side note - I'm not a huge fan of Matthews, but the guy ain't bad.
I rated Cushing around #22-28, Matthews #35-45 in the draft.

(I have to edit to take out one of the S in sacks, LOL!)

 

[76Texan]

The other thing I noticed is I guess I need to go review more USC tape (not focused on Cushing becuase those would be highlights) becuase my memory must be off.

Ok...so far in his brief NFL career, it appears that when he makes a tackle, he really wraps up the player and doesn't just try and put a shoulder on 'em.

It's a good start for him and I hope he continues to improve.

He's like Dunta, very aggressive. And when you're aggressive, sometimes you will miss a tackle. But you will also make great plays.
The thing with Dunta is he can miss a tackle around the LOS, but more often than not, he would slow down the opponent for a LB or safety to come in and clean up. (Obviously, he also missed some tackles at the second level, but those were fewer. He knew when to take the risk - most of the times).

I hope Cushing will remember that ... don't try to be a hero all the time.
If you're the one of the last resort, don't go for broke (unless you have no other choice!)

But I have all the confidence that Cushing will turn out to be a fine player (barring injury, of course!)

 

[TimeKiller]

Cushing let his play on the field do the talking and I liked how he pulled a veteran Antonio Smith away from a possible unsportsmanlike conduct call. He wasn't afraid to pull the veteran and tell him to shut the hell up. That showed me more than just about anything I saw on the field athletically. Smith was a split second away from a 15 yard penalty and Cushing yanks him back to the huddle..priceless.

I was about to say that but I didn't think too many people would notice something like that but just to add on top, ASmith didn't have anything to say back to Cushing which tells me (if only me) that Cush has the respect of the locker room. Impressive for a team with established leaders, a crybaby, big name players, well paid free agents and so on playing on D.

 

[Second Honeymoon]

How's Clay Matthews doing, BTW?

I don't know how much playing time he is getting but he is part of Dom Capers revival of Green Bay's defense. He has made plays but I am unsure if he is starter or just situational OLB. They made the move from 4-3 to 3-4 and it didn't even take Capers half of training camp to get his system in and the players buying into it.

 

[Second Honeymoon]

I was about to say that but I didn't think too many people would notice something like that but just to add on top, ASmith didn't have anything to say back to Cushing which tells me (if only me) that Cush has the respect of the locker room. Impressive for a team with established leaders, a crybaby, big name players, well paid free agents and so on playing on D.

yeah, that is that USC pedigree shining through. no one player is bigger than the team and stupid plays just aren't tolerated. he took some bad angles but this is Chris Johnson we are talking about. He makes a lot of people take bad angles. Supreme athlete ala Andre Johnson. I gotta admit I was really wrong about him. Thought it was a bit of a stretch to take him in that mid-to-late first round area. Boy, was I wrong.

smith has been pretty underwhelming if you ask me, anyways. he is better than Weaver though but that isn't exactly saying much.

 

[Vinny]

I'm very encouraged by Cushing's play but on CJ's first long run he was responsible for turning the back to the inside of the field where he can get some help but he got caught up on the G and let CJ get to the edge...and on to a TD. On balance I see more good than bad but I pin that run on him.

 

[Texan in Japan]

Cushing's safety today and geniune nastiness helped set the tone for some really good Texans defense. I'm hoping his first sack is next week...he was so close today.

 

[jppaul]

On another note, not worthy of starting a thread or anything, but Glover Quin looked really good today.

BTW, where did they line him up? Was he the nickel?

 

[gtexan02]

Cushing's safety today and geniune nastiness helped set the tone for some really good Texans defense. I'm hoping his first sack is next week...he was so close today.

About 2 or 3 times too

 

[mussop]

I have been holding back praise for Cushing untill he showed me he was worthy of his draft slot. Well today he showed it. If he can consistently play like he did today, he was a great pickup. Lets hope he keeps getting better and continues playing every game like he did today.