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Getting away from the running game

TexansSeminole

TexansSeminole

Hall of Fame
At halftime the Texans were up 20-7, and they were enjoying their best running game of the season outside of the Bills game. We ran it 19 times in the first half with alot of success.

The Colts had no idea what we were doing. You got an idea of just how successful and dangerous this offense can be when we can actually run the ball successfully and keep the defense honest.

We come out in the second half and just completely abandon the running game. We ran 3 times in the 3rd quarter and 2 times in the 4th. We even had success in the second half running it but we just quit. The game wasn't to a point where you had to pass the ball on every down until after Schaub got strip sacked.

For years I have been hearing Kubiak say "we just got away from the running game", or "we should have run the ball more late in the game". I understand that Kyle Shanahan is the OC, but if he is getting away from what opened up your offense in the first half than you need to tell him how to do his job.

This falls right down on Kubiak IMO. I have seen this happen so many times that I am just tired of it. There are so many things that have happened that lead me to believe that Kubiak is just not committed to the run game. It's not just the playcalling. He picks OL that can't run block to save their lives. He has never gone out and tried to acquire a capable set of RBs.

I don't think Schaub had a great game, but honestly he is being set up to fail. We have become extremely predictable late in games. We throw on EVERY SINGLE DOWN. Your QB will throw INTs and get stripped if you do that, NFL defenses are too smart.

In the 4th quarter, the Colts weren't even playing the running lanes, they were just rushing the passer. There was 14 minutes left in the 4th and we got the ball. We ran for a nice 12 yard gain on 1st down. We ran again on the next first down for 1 yard and that would be our last run play of the game. At that point in the game, it was 20-14.

Next possession, it is 21-20 and we throw to Leach, then on the next play Schaub gets pressured and throws an INT.

Next possession, still in the ball game. 8 minutes left. 28-20.

1st and 10 at HOU 20 M.Schaub pass short middle to K.Walter to HST 27 for 7 yards (P.Wheeler) [G.Brackett].
2nd and 3 at HOU 27 M.Schaub pass short right to J.Casey to HST 32 for 5 yards (J.Lacey).
1st and 10 at HOU 32 M.Schaub pass short left to V.Leach to HST 36 for 4 yards (P.Wheeler).
2nd and 6 at HOU 36 (Shotgun) M.Schaub pass short left to S.Slaton to HST 44 for 8 yards (C.Session; T.Jennings).
1st and 10 at HOU 44 (Shotgun) M.Schaub pass short middle to J.Casey to IND 44 for 12 yards (M.Bullitt).
1st and 10 at IND 44 (Shotgun) M.Schaub pass short left to A.Davis to IND 37 for 7 yards (J.Powers). PENALTY on HST-E.Winston, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at IND 44 - No Play.
1st and 20 at HOU 46 (Shotgun) M.Schaub pass incomplete short right to D.Anderson.
2nd and 20 at HOU 46 (Shotgun) M.Schaub sacked at HST 46 for 0 yards (R.Mathis). FUMBLES (R.Mathis), RECOVERED by IND-R.Brock at HST 37. R.Brock to HST 37 for no gain (M.Schaub).

Pass on every play!

You cannot win in the NFL if you do not commit and succeed in the running game. Period. Kubiak has shown he will not. He has left us no choice.
 
i think we tried to run in the second half but they were just shutting or run game down

and we just tried to play the cards we are good at passing the ball

things got out of control and before we knew it we were down two TD then we had no choice but to pass
 
I understand and it was a complete mystery to me why our approach to winning this game changed so drastically from one half to the next. This is why Kubiak is not head coach material. He literally gets away from what he will tell you is exactly what they need to do and he does it every single game practically. Now granted Shanahan is calling plays (so we're told, no choice but to accept that) but how can somebody time and again be this far off of what they need to do to win and continue to be allowed to operate without any correction?

This is very similar to Dom Capers, 3-4 "Master Shifu" handing the reigns to the defense over to Vic "I'm a clown" Fangio and then seemingly never again having any input into what they're doing. Why did we have a coach with a defensive reputation like that if he's going to let a stooge DC run the thing into the ground? If Kubiak is this offensive guru from whom people all around the league borrow from then why isn't he running our damned offense? It's not like his game management got any better when he quit running the offense. It's just as bad as it always was. If he's going to pick one side of the ball to say "Here, you got this" then let it be Frank Bush's defense.

Unless he's fine with this in which case he again is screwing up and needs to go.

How Bob McNair can sit through this I will never know.
 
Norg said:
i think we tried to run in the second half but they were just shutting or run game down

and we just tried to play the cards we are good at passing the ball

things got out of control and before we knew it we were down two TD then we had no choice but to pass
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Nope.

3rd quarter. 1st possession.

1st and 10 at HOU 17 S.Slaton left tackle to HST 20 for 3 yards (A.Johnson).
2nd and 7 at HOU 20 S.Slaton right end to HST 32 for 12 yards (M.Bullitt).
1st and 10 at HOU 32 M.Schaub pass deep middle intended for A.Johnson INTERCEPTED by A.Bethea at IND 17. A.Bethea to IND 17 for no gain (A.Johnson).

We were running effectively and we take a deep shot where Schaub and Johnson weren't on the same page.

3rd quarter. 2nd possession.

We run Chris Brown once for 4 yards.

4th quarter. 1st possession.

1st and 10 at HOU 22 C.Brown left tackle to HST 34 for 12 yards (A.Johnson). IND-R.Mathis was injured during the play.
1st and 10 at HOU 34 C.Brown left tackle to HST 35 for 1 yard (G.Brackett, A.Johnson).

As I said earlier, this is our last run play of the game. They didn't shut our run game down at any point of the game.

Go here and look at the play-by-play. We ran the ball very well throughout the day.
 
it was our last run play becasue 4 and 1 yard gains isnt going to cut it and keep pace with mannings scoring

running is all good and stuff in the 2nd half when u have are good lead i still think our o line would have cooled off anywayz if we continued to run the ball

thoes 4 and 1 yard games would have turned into 0 and 2 yrd gains then that stat sheet would have really looked dumb
 
Norg said:
with our soft O line

i wouldnt run the ball either TBH
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Usually, I would agree with you but in this game we were dominating them with our running game when we actually ran the ball. Consistently, we were getting 6 yards, 9 yards, 3 yards, 4 yards. I think we had two 2 yard gains, and one 1 yard gain in the whole game.

Norg said:
it was our last run play becasue 4 and 1 yard gains isnt going to cut it and keep pace with mannings scoring

running is all good and stuff in the 2nd half when u have are good lead i still think our o line would have cooled off anywayz if we continued to run the ball

thoes 4 and 1 yard games would have turned into 0 and 2 yrd gains then that stat sheet would have really looked dumb
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Are you even reading the play-by-play I am posting? We ran for 12 yards on first down on our second to last run play.

Your not grasping what I am trying to show.
 
also u got to account running the ball would have eaten up some clock and in the 2nd half we needed all the time we could get

Look iam for running the ball but when u have Brown getting losts of touches which ill go on the record i hate brown

and your down buy 14+ points ill be the first to tell u Screw running the ball gunsling it

i dont care if we have 4+ yards average per carry
 
Norg said:
also u got to account running the ball would have eaten up some clock and in the 2nd half we needed all the time we could get

Look iam for running the ball but when u have Brown getting losts of touches which ill go on the record i hate brown

and your down buy 14+ points ill be the first to tell u Screw running the ball gunsling it

i dont care if we have 4+ yards average per carry
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Ok, agree to disagree.

8 minutes left and we are down by 8 points. Best scenario is that we run the ball effectively and drive down the field, eat the clock, score a TD, and get the 2 point conversion.

Passing the ball on every play does not give you the chance to do that at all. Even if we do pass it every down and score a TD, then get the 2 point conversion, we would have given Peyton the ball late in a tied game.
 
There were games earlier in the year where Andre was effective at the start and then languished as not much more than a decoy for the rest of the game. I don't know if the Texans coaches over-analyze things and outsmart themselves, but they certainly play a role in shutting down their own offense.

Kubiak: We will run the ball.
Shanahan: They know we will run the ball.
Kubiak: But we know they know we will run the ball.
Shanahan: But they know we know they know we will run the ball.
Kubiak: But we know they know we know they know we will run the ball.
Shanahan: But they know we know they know we know they know we will run the ball.

Kubiak: Better call a pass.
 
Norg said:
also u got to account running the ball would have eaten up some clock and in the 2nd half we needed all the time we could get

Look iam for running the ball but when u have Brown getting losts of touches which ill go on the record i hate brown

and your down buy 14+ points ill be the first to tell u Screw running the ball gunsling it

i dont care if we have 4+ yards average per carry
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We were leading going into the 4th quarter. Running the ball keeps the ball out of Manning's hands. We absolutely screwed the pooch by not running the ball. Heck, we probably should have run the ball more in the first half.
 
Jackie Chiles said:
We were leading going into the 4th quarter. Running the ball keeps the ball out of Manning's hands. We absolutely screwed the pooch by not running the ball. Heck, we probably should have run the ball more in the first half.
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we were i thought it was tied or near getting tired

either way we played poorly the entire 2nd half maybe we could have ran the ball we didnt ge a chance 2 not when drives were cut short by Mattys 2 INT and one fumble in the 2nd half
 
Norg said:
we were i thought it was tied or near getting tired

either way we played poorly the entire 2nd half maybe we could have ran the ball we didnt ge a chance 2 not when drives were cut short by Mattys 2 INT and one fumble in the 2nd half
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...but the Texans could have been running on those plays...
 
Kubiak plays not to lose and since the running game had produced fumbles in the past, Kubiak got scared and didn't show any trust in his players to run the ball...thus, we got pass happy and thus we lost the game making turnovers in the passing game anyway as we went along. Kubiak isn't my coach anymore and he needs to go because he has no confidence in his players.
 
New_Texans said:
Kubiak plays not to lose and since the running game had produced fumbles in the past, Kubiak got scared and didn't show any trust in his players to run the ball...thus, we got pass happy and thus we lost the game making turnovers in the passing game anyway as we went along. Kubiak isn't my coach anymore and he needs to go because he has no confidence in his players.
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I don't think that is why. We were running effectively in THAT game, and there is probably a higher probability of throwing a pick or fumbling when you throw it every down, compared to running the ball.
 
We got one dimensional in the second half and it played right into the Colts' best asset on defense which is getting pressure and forcing mistakes. Even without Freeney, if you don't give the Colts a reason to think you're gonna run they WILL pin their ears back and they WILL force your QB to make mistakes.

Its beyond me as to why the coaches who always harp on the running game decide to abandon it when its working at its best...
 
TheRealJoker said:
We got one dimensional in the second half and it played right into the Colts' best asset on defense which is getting pressure and forcing mistakes. Even without Freeney, if you don't give the Colts a reason to think you're gonna run they WILL pin their ears back and they WILL force your QB to make mistakes.

Its beyond me as to why the coaches who always harp on the running game decide to abandon it when its working at its best...
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It's a Kubiak Monday Presser Classic don't you know. "We should have run the ball more" gets a lot of play.
 
New_Texans said:
Kubiak plays not to lose and since the running game had produced fumbles in the past, Kubiak got scared and didn't show any trust in his players to run the ball...thus, we got pass happy and thus we lost the game making turnovers in the passing game anyway as we went along. Kubiak isn't my coach anymore and he needs to go because he has no confidence in his players.
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TexansSeminole is right. We ran the ball well enough to keep the Colts guessing. Any body who didn't see that yesterday shouldn't critic game plans.

The same thing happened agains the Titans. Except we ran it better against the Colts.

Against the Titans, we were getting them for 5 & 7 yards, staying on schedule, and converting easy third downs.

Against the Colts, Chris Brown broke one for 12 yards.

After the pic 6, we were only down by 8, & they abandon the only game plan that works against the Colts.

Up until then, it was turn-overs & penalties that took us from manageable third downs to definite passing situations.

an INT to end our first possession of the second half.

a False Start by Chris White to take us from 3-6 to 3-11 on our second possession.

two incomplete passes (after 2 runs for a total of 13 yards) to end our third possesion.

We give the ball back to Manning here, 11:04 left in the 4th Qtr, and we're still up by 6.

We get the ball back with 8:24 minutes to go, down by 1. Two plays into this possession, Matt throws the Ball to Sessions for an easy touch down.

Still we get the ball back with 8:04 left in the game, we're down by 8. There is no reason why we shouldn't have tried to run the ball at least once in the next 8 plays.

If we caught them in some goofy defense that we wanted to take advantage of, I could see it. But then, we'd have to go no huddle, and we didn't.

We just blew it right here, because of the sidelines..... not the running game, or any percieved lack there of. We ran the ball well in this game.

91 yards in the first half.

5 run plays in the second half for 32 yards, do the math.
 
Many times, they stick with the running game even when they shouldn't. This time, they needed to run and didn't. I suspect that Kubiak and his staff see things waaaay too late and act on them way after the fact. They probably just now reacted to how we stuck with the run when it wasn't working some time early in the season.

Come to think of it, they will probably make half time adjustments for this game later this month.
 
As much blame as there is to go around for everyone, this is clearly on the coaching staff. Stay with what is working. In this case, Slaton averaged 5.7 yards a carry. Hell, Chris Brown averaged 5.01 yards per carry.

Combined they rushed 21 times for 113 yards at an average of 5.4 ypc.

I don't know how some people define success, but that ^^^^ looks pretty freakin' good to me.
 
I don't understand how you don't run more after that when you have a lead on the freaking Colts.
 
Norg said:
with our soft O line

i wouldnt run the ball either TBH
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The "soft" oline was pushing the Colts all over the field in the 1st half. We were grinding them down and then said, oh well time to throw. Makes me sick. We had 2nd and two up 14-0 and we throw 2 strait passes en route to a field goal. I knew then, game over.
 
Kubes and Shanny are outsmarting themselves, doing exactly what they think their opponents won't think they're stupid enough to do. Part of th e problem is....their opponents do know at this point.
 
Texan_Bill said:
As much blame as there is to go around for everyone, this is clearly on the coaching staff. Stay with what is working. In this case, Slaton averaged 5.7 yards a carry. Hell, Chris Brown averaged 5.01 yards per carry.

Combined they rushed 21 times for 113 yards at an average of 5.4 ypc.

I don't know how some people define success, but that ^^^^ looks pretty freakin' good to me.
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HJam72 said:
I don't understand how you don't run more after that when you have a lead on the freaking Colts.
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In this game, I don't think there was a conscious decision to get away from the running game. We didn't have the ball long enough in the second half to establish a running game.

We threw an interception on our first possession (which did include 2 running plays),

2nd possession a penalty put us in 3rd & 11 for our first 3 & out of the game (we also ran on the first play of this possession).

Our third possesion included 4 plays, 2 were running plays.

Our 4th possession was 2 plays long, and ended on an interception.

Our 5th possession, we did get away from the run for some inexplicable reason. 8 passes, ending once again in an interception.

By the time it got to 35-20, there was so little time left in the game that running was not an option.
 
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Texan_Bill said:
As much blame as there is to go around for everyone, this is clearly on the coaching staff. Stay with what is working. In this case, Slaton averaged 5.7 yards a carry. Hell, Chris Brown averaged 5.01 yards per carry.

Combined they rushed 21 times for 113 yards at an average of 5.4 ypc.

I don't know how some people define success, but that ^^^^ looks pretty freakin' good to me.
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Upon further review:

The Texans only ran 7 total plays during the third quarter. 3 were runs.

In the fourth quarter, the Texans ran 4 plays prior to the interception. 2 runs 2 pass.

Score after interception 28-20 Colts.

Houston gets the ball back with 8:09. While there would still be time to run the ball, it's time to start throwing. I know the crowd would've booed at that point if we were running the ball. 3:34 elapsed before the fumble.

Colts score 35-20

Houston gets the ball back with 2:52. Are we passing? I guess so. 12 plays 75 yards TD.

On-side kick goes out of bounds.

Game over :gamer:
 
Texan_Bill said:
Upon further review:

The Texans only ran 7 total plays during the third quarter. 3 were runs.

In the fourth quarter, the Texans ran 4 plays prior to the interception. 2 runs 2 pass.

Score after interception 28-20 Colts.

Houston gets the ball back with 8:09. While there would still be time to run the ball, it's time to start throwing. I know the crowd would've booed at that point if we were running the ball. 3:34 elapsed before the fumble.

Colts score 35-20

Houston gets the ball back with 2:52. Are we passing? I guess so. 12 plays 75 yards TD.

On-side kick goes out of bounds.

Game over :gamer:
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We didn't get away from the running game, but we sure as heck didn't stick with it while it worked.

We could have ran at least another play weak side on that INT to Bethea, or a quick pass to Slaton; but we were a little greedy.
We thought we were smart trying to go long there!

They came back to 14-20 and we wanted to play the outscoring-them game still.
They only took 3:40 to score to open the half; hell we needed to show them who's boss!

The way the teams lined up, I don't see why we can't sock it to them with the short game, whether with a run or a short pass. The left side was such virgin territory; there's no doubt Billy would'nt have loved it! :runaway:
 
76Texan said:
We didn't get away from the running game, but we sure as heck didn't stick with it while it worked.

We could have ran at least another play weak side on that INT to Bethea, or a quick pass to Slaton; but we were a little greedy.
We thought we were smart trying to go long there!

They came back to 14-20 and we wanted to play the outscoring-them game still.
They only took 3:40 to score to open the half; hell we needed to show them who's boss!

The way the teams lined up, I don't see why we can't sock it to them with the short game, whether with a run or a short pass. The left side was such virgin territory; there's no doubt Billy would'nt have loved it! :runaway:
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:rolleyes: :gun:
 
I started this thread a year ago when we refused to use the running game against the Colts as we should have.

This year we do the same thing.
 
nice resurrection. there simply is no more simple game in football than against the colts ...

RUN. THE. BALL!

dont think. dont create. dont do anything from a coaching standpoint. run the ball. maybe on second down and inches you try play action max protect to andre ... maybe. dont draw on 3rd and 8, put leach in there and pound it. dont throw short on 4th down, run it yet again.

run, run, run, run, run, play-action andre, run, run, run, run, daniels post, run, run, run, run.
 
I have a bad habit of being fiercely loyal to some Texans, even in the face of great incompetence. As embarrassing as it is to admit now, I was a little disappointed when we cut David Carr.

I've been in Kubiak's corner from day 1. There have been many games where he made blunders, and it annoyed me, but I shrugged it off quickly. There was always some blame to spread around.

But now I have had enough. The mishandling of tonight's game is inexcusable. I can't possibly defend the guy now. It's time to break out the pink soap.
 
Runner said:
Kubiak: We will run the ball.
Shanahan: They know we will run the ball.
Kubiak: But we know they know we will run the ball.
Shanahan: But they know we know they know we will run the ball.
Kubiak: But we know they know we know they know we will run the ball.
Shanahan: But they know we know they know we know they know we will run the ball.

Kubiak: Better call a pass.
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And this post has never been more true.
 
BigBull17 said:
The "soft" oline was pushing the Colts all over the field in the 1st half. We were grinding them down and then said, oh well time to throw. Makes me sick. We had 2nd and two up 14-0 and we throw 2 strait passes en route to a field goal. I knew then, game over.
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Look how similar that game last year was to this game.

Last year: 2nd and 2? We've been running the ball well when we try. Better call two pass plays.

This year: 3rd and 2? We've been running the ball well when we try. Better call two pass plays.

Schaub threw a pick 6 in that game and in this game. Schaub got strip sacked in that game and in this game.

:kubepalm:
 
Scooter said:
nice resurrection. there simply is no more simple game in football than against the colts ...

RUN. THE. BALL!

dont think. dont create. dont do anything from a coaching standpoint. run the ball. maybe on second down and inches you try play action max protect to andre ... maybe. dont draw on 3rd and 8, put leach in there and pound it. dont throw short on 4th down, run it yet again.

run, run, run, run, run, play-action andre, run, run, run, run, daniels post, run, run, run, run.
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And you know, if you aren't just knocking it out of the park running the ball (though you'll probably be doing fine against the Colts) you don't abandon it. The thing about running the ball and run blocking is that it's your line beating up their line and not the other way around. The Colts are light and fast and even our collection of namby-pamby land faeries can give them the road-grader treatment. You just keep popping the snot out of them until they wear down and then you feast in the second half.
 
No More 8-8's said:
We were running the ball really well, even with limited carries. Can we all agree that Arian Foster is a stud.
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It's not even about Arian Foster IMO. Last year we were tearing them up with STEVE SLATON and KRIS BROWN. We can run the ball on this team. It's been that way for 3 years! Just run it. With Foster, Ward, hell even Slaton. Just run it until they stop it. The Colts never stopped it. Simple as that.

The offensive gameplan for this game is not rocket science. It's very simple. I can't speak for other games, but this game should have been easy to prepare for offensively. Run the ball as much as possible, try to avoid obvious passing situations. Simple as pie. If Gary Kubiak can't figure out the gameplan for this game then I have 0 confidence he will be able to gameplan for other good teams. Period.

It's been proven that when we run it well and stick to it we beat the Colts. When we decide to get pass happy we turn the ball over, lose, and get injured.

It's been PROVEN over and over!
 
And again. Arian Foster has a great day, yet we run it twice in the fourth quarter.

5 minutes left in the game, down by 6? Hurry up offense and passes on every play of course.

Run the ball in the fourth quarter? Is that allowed?
 
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