Actually, this is a great point. Our offense was also better last year. What went wrong? Kubiak mistake after Kubiak mistake. Kris Brown and refusing to replace him. Chris Brown and continuing to give him the ball. Those two players lost at least 3 games for us and it is 100% on Kubiak, not on the offense or the defense. Kubiak finds ways to lose even when the O and the D are running on all cylinders.
I wouldn't say we were running on all cylinders. We couldn't run the ball for squat, we couldn't score in the red zone, & we couldn't pick up 3rd & 1.
But your overall point is correct. How in the world, can we have a top 5 offense, the year's best QB, best receiver, a top 10 rushing defense (13th overall) & win only 9 games?
Then there were 4 teams in the AFC that finished 9-7 in 2009. The Pittsburgh Steelers, The New York Jets, The Baltimore Ravens, & yes the Houston Texans.
The Steelers & Ravens are 11-4, one of those teams will win their division, they've both clinched a play-off spot. The Jets are 10-5 & clinched a Wild-Card berth. The Texans are 5-10.... last place in the AFC South.
At the end of last season, I thought GK did such a good job assembling this team, that any coach could have came in here & get us to double digit wins. Even with injuries, even against our schedule, because I knew not all the teams on our schedule would be as good as they were in 2009, because I knew those teams would have to deal with injuries as well. I never thought we would lose to teams like the Cowboys (who were in disarray when we played them), the Giants (who were in disarray when we played them), the Colts & the Chargers (who were injury stricken when we played them) & Denver starting a rookie QB for the first time.
The team is good enough, there's no doubt in my mind about that. You don't come from behind, 24+ deficits erased, against the teams we did just that against, with guys we picked up off the street in some cases..... if the team isn't any good. You can't do it if the coaches aren't any good either, but if your coaches were worth their salt, you'd never have gotten in those situations to begin with, at least not as frequently....
I can't for the life of me think of a reason for McNair to bring Kubiak back for another season. Not one.
So I refuse to believe the rumors.