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Latest Lombardi Anti-Texans Comments

m5kwatts

m5kwatts

Veteran
This was Mike Lombardi on Bill Simmons' BS Report on Thursday 7/28

Keep in mind this was before Asomugha signed with the Eagles

Simmons asking Lombardi if signing Asomugha makes Houston a contender:

"No, because I thought the quote of the year was Eric Winston when he found out about the new practice rules he said 'you know, look, we have the leading rusher in the league and we never went in pads' and to me it proves why I don't like Houston as a team, they're not physical."

Simmons chimes in "yeah"

Lombardi continuing:

"...they've got to prove to me they can do some things that can be effective down the line in terms of they're physical toughness, and when I read the Winston quote I was like, this to me would be evidence to prove my point about the Houston Texans."

Simmons then tries to go on to ask him about another topic and Lombardi interrupts:

"They think they're being physical, when in reality they can't get physical because they never practice physical."

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=6813168

I actually think the problem is the exact opposite, it's MENTAL toughness that this team lacks. I think they proved physically they can do it better than anyone, evidenced by leading the league in rushing.

Also, is this even entirely true? I seem to remember them having pads atleast one day a week. Regardless, I don't mind not overworking players during the week. The wear and tear of a 20 game schedule preseason included is too much. And I don't see a correlation between being in pads hitting your own teammates on Wednesday translating to hitting on Sunday.

Also, "hitting" i.e. physicality really wasn't THAT big of an issue with this defense last year. We had hitters, we just didn't have coverers. THAT is the real issue.

To me, the "physical" knock on the Texans is so 2009. Which goes to show how much attention dunce cap Lombardi paid to the Texans last year.
 
m5kwatts said:
This was Mike Lombardi on Bill Simmons' BS Report on Thursday 7/28

Keep in mind this was before Asomugha signed with the Eagles

Simmons asking Lombardi if signing Asomugha makes Houston a contender:

"No, because I thought the quote of the year was Eric Winston when he found out about the new practice rules he said 'you know, look, we have the leading rusher in the league and we never went in pads' and to me it proves why I don't like Houston as a team, they're not physical."

Simmons chimes in "yeah"

Lombardi continuing:

"...they've got to prove to me they can do some things that can be effective down the line in terms of they're physical toughness, and when I read the Winston quote I was like, this to me would be evidence to prove my point about the Houston Texans."

Simmons then tries to go on to ask him about another topic and Lombardi interrupts:

"They think they're being physical, when in reality they can't get physical because they never practice physical."

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=6813168

I actually think the problem is the exact opposite, it's MENTAL toughness that this team lacks. I think they proved physically they can do it better than anyone, evidenced by leading the league in rushing.

Also, is this even entirely true? I seem to remember them having pads atleast one day a week. Regardless, I don't mind not overworking players during the week. The wear and tear of a 20 game schedule preseason included is too much. And I don't see a correlation between being in pads hitting your own teammates on Wednesday translating to hitting on Sunday.

Also, "hitting" i.e. physicality really wasn't THAT big of an issue with this defense last year. We had hitters, we just didn't have coverers. THAT is the real issue.

To me, the "physical" knock on the Texans is so 2009. Which goes to show how much attention dunce cap Lombardi paid to the Texans last year.
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I think this was discussed in another thread last week. Please remember that Mike Lombardi's mom was a tough old dude.
 
m5kwatts said:
This was Mike Lombardi on Bill Simmons' BS Report on Thursday 7/28

Simmons asking Lombardi if signing Asomugha makes Houston a contender:

"No, because I thought the quote of the year was Eric Winston when he found out about the new practice rules he said 'you know, look, we have the leading rusher in the league and we never went in pads' and to me it proves why I don't like Houston as a team, they're not physical."
Click to expand...

Well, you know what they say.

Those that can coach..... those that can't are like Michael Lombardi.

Who gives a **** what he says.

I actually saw the clip myself.... & I thought... he's got a point.

The worst part of the whole thing, is that the Texans keep saying, "But we are physical... we are!"

I don't hear the Ravens trying to convince people they're a physical football team.

They (Eric Winston included) need to just shut up & win. Then they can say, "no, we aren't "really" physical, but we just whupped your ass."
 
I don't even know if we were mentally soft. We were resilient as **** last year, considering all the holes we put ourselves in. Shitty preparation and execution, but crazy resolve to get back into pretty much every game.
 
When I hear the term "physical toughness" as it pertains to a football team, I tend to think of a team like the Steelers imposing their will on opponents. If they need a yard, they are going to die trying to get that yard. If they need to make a stop on defense, they are going to go through a brick wall to make that stop.

The Texans have never been that kind of team.
 
I don't think we have mental toughness or a physical presence on the field.

The offense has some as they can and often do - march down the field and put the team in scoring position with 2 min left.

But then the defense gets out there and all they have to do is stop the opponent's offense - once. They always seem to fail.

Where is the smash mouth, kick them when they are down attitude? The Steelers, Ravens, Giants, etc always seem to play with much more intensity.The Texans look like high schoolers compared to them.

Hopefully with these "high motor" guys they drafted and a new DC and coaches we will see some of this.

If so - maybe we can win a lot more than we lose for a change.
 
I always site Matt Schaub's first game back after his MCL. Green Bay, freezing cold. The Texans are tough. They didn't finesse that win. They beat the Packers up and took that game home by force.
 
I just think people need to get out of their heads that PHYSICAL=WINNING. The Texans didn't need to be more "physical" last year, they needed to cover better, MUCH better in fact. Like I said, the "get physical and we'll win more" knock is so 2009.

This team led the league in rushing, and that was playing catch-up in a majority of their games. They can move defenses, they haven't even had Schaub-Andre-Foster-OD fully healthy together at once ever. If the Texans could improve their ability to cover, up to being in the top 16, it'll be playoffs and possibly more.
 
barrett said:
I always site Matt Schaub's first game back after his MCL. Green Bay, freezing cold. The Texans are tough. They didn't finesse that win. They beat the Packers up and took that game home by force.
Click to expand...

Too bad they don't play like that each game.
 
thunderkyss said:
Well, you know what they say.

Those that can coach..... those that can't are like Michael Lombardi.

Who gives a **** what he says.

I actually saw the clip myself.... & I thought... he's got a point.

The worst part of the whole thing, is that the Texans keep saying, "But we are physical... we are!"

I don't hear the Ravens trying to convince people they're a physical football team.

They (Eric Winston included) need to just shut up & win. Then they can say, "no, we aren't "really" physical, but we just whupped your ass."
Click to expand...

tough or soft doesn't make a difference. Wins and losses do. Nobody would say Indy is "physical" but they win games.
 
I have to agree with him. Our defense has been soft. They don't impose any kind of will on the opposing team. They appear afraid of driving their helmet into their opponent's chest and burying them into the turf. I would like for them to change that this year and they have the perfect opportunity to do that. A new coach, scheme, and players may give them the confidence to not fall into the same old "here we go again" feeling. Time will tell what they are. They can talk all they want to, but actions speak louder than words. I hope they prove Lombardi and everyone else wrong.
 
Without examples, Lombardi's statement is intellectually dishonest.

The Texans were among the best in the league in short yardage, esp in red zone. You can't do that if you are total wusses.

The primary reason why the Texans sucked last year is that their defense turned every opposing offense but for the Rusty Smith led Titans into an opponent that had a better offense than the Texans.

I don't care physical the Texans practiced. If you have inexperienced corners + significant injuries on defense + unproven coordinator = suckage.
 
Cjeremy635 said:
I have to agree with him. Our defense has been soft. They don't impose any kind of will on the opposing team. They appear afraid of driving their helmet into their opponent's chest and burying them into the turf. I would like for them to change that this year and they have the perfect opportunity to do that. A new coach, scheme, and players may give them the confidence to not fall into the same old "here we go again" feeling. Time will tell what they are. They can talk all they want to, but actions speak louder than words. I hope they prove Lombardi and everyone else wrong.
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Bad doesn't equal soft. Bad equals bad. That was just bad defense. They were bad on first, second, third down.
 
Double Barrel said:
When I hear the term "physical toughness" as it pertains to a football team, I tend to think of a team like the Steelers imposing their will on opponents. If they need a yard, they are going to die trying to get that yard. If they need to make a stop on defense, they are going to go through a brick wall to make that stop.

The Texans have never been that kind of team.
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How many teams can you think of in the history of the NFL that had that kind of toughness ?


Those 70's Steeler teams , the Shula Dolphins and maybe the Gibbs coached Redskins. Other than that , I think you have to go back to the Lombardi coached Packers to find a team that had that identity over a period of multiple years. I'd almost throw the recent Ravens teams into that group.

The few other teams that put together multiple championships were more finesse teams .... Cowboys & 49ers twice , Patriots , Rams and even the Dolts of today even tho they have only won one title.
 
m5kwatts said:
I just think people need to get out of their heads that PHYSICAL=WINNING. The Texans didn't need to be more "physical" last year, they needed to cover better, MUCH better in fact. Like I said, the "get physical and we'll win more" knock is so 2009.

This team led the league in rushing, and that was playing catch-up in a majority of their games. They can move defenses, they haven't even had Schaub-Andre-Foster-OD fully healthy together at once ever. If the Texans could improve their ability to cover, up to being in the top 16, it'll be playoffs and possibly more.
Click to expand...

Thank you.

Wuss teams don't lead the league in rushing.

The only non-physical part of the Texans were the secondary, and that's because they were usually too far from the receivers to even get physical so they never even had a chance.
 
fiasco west said:
Thank you.

Wuss teams don't lead the league in rushing.

The only non-physical part of the Texans were the secondary, and that's because they were usually too far from the receivers to even get physical so they never even had a chance.
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Not exactly true. They run a system that is built on cut blocks ands is more system blocking than smash mouth. They can do well in short yardage but that doesn't mean teams think they are physical. Look at the teams that have beat them down the last 2-3 years...physical teams...and when the Texans do comeback it is chucking it 30 times in a half. So I can kind of see where he is coming from on both sides of the ball. Even Rex Ryan said that was their thought process against the Texans 2 years back.
 
thunderkyss said:
Well, you know what they say.

Those that can coach..... those that can't are like Michael Lombardi.

Who gives a **** what he says.

I actually saw the clip myself.... & I thought... he's got a point.

The worst part of the whole thing, is that the Texans keep saying, "But we are physical... we are!"

I don't hear the Ravens trying to convince people they're a physical football team.

They (Eric Winston included) need to just shut up & win. Then they can say, "no, we aren't "really" physical, but we just whupped your ass."
Click to expand...

lol!!! Totally agree with you.
 
HoustonFrog said:
Not exactly true. They run a system that is built on cut blocks ands is more system blocking than smash mouth. They can do well in short yardage but that doesn't mean teams think they are physical. Look at the teams that have beat them down the last 2-3 years...physical teams...and when the Texans do comeback it is chucking it 30 times in a half. So I can kind of see where he is coming from on both sides of the ball. Even Rex Ryan said that was their thought process against the Texans 2 years back.
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While true, Myers is the only player that probably would not prefer to play smash mouth drive them back football. I am not a big fan of the ZBS but it has been working.

The O should be even better with OD closer to 100%, Schaub's knowledge that Foster can also catch the ball, Tate to spell the other two & hopefully either Walter or JJ to have a better year.

The lighter Dline shut me up last two years as they were able to control the run pretty well & Phillips seems confident the 3-4 he utilizes can hold the scrimmage line while LBs clog the run & "disturb" the QB. IMO, the DBs should be better if only by having another year behind them. They were very young @ most positions. Manning and JJ? Bring it on!:thisbig:
 
Someone on here last year was talking about Lombardi's infatuation with talking trash on the Texans, and how it was not exactly unbiased analysis.

Was he ever seeking our GM job? Or was it because he was a bad GM himself or something? There was something there that made a person state that Lombardi is not being completely level.

Is he completely wrong? Maybe not. But is he completely right? No. So what is his beef with us? I mean, the guy gets noticeably angry when talking about how bad the Texans are.

He makes Herv look like Thunderkyss.
 
You have to be tough to play in the league. What this team is missing are the true blue collar workhorse type of players that just want to be out there bleeding and knocking the piss out of people. Wade drafted 3 of them this year in Watt, Reed and Keo. We have Cushing and Barwin that are like that. We need the hard nosed Detroit and New Jersey type of guys that eat a bowl of nails every morning for breakfast. That's the defense I like. That's the kind of O-line I like.
 
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Ole Miss Texan said:
You have to be tough to play in the league. What this team is missing are the true blue collar workhourse type of players that just want to be out there bleeding and knocking the piss out of people. Wade drafted 3 of them this year in Watt, Reed and Keo. We have Cushing and Barwin that are like that. We need the hard nosed Detroit and New Jersey type of guys that eat a bowl of nails every morning for breakfast. That's the defense I like. That's the kind of O-line I like.
Click to expand...

Vickers would be a nice addition.
 
Keo looked awful getting his neck ran through on the goal line by Boise states rb.

Good players get ran over sometimes but man. . .not like that. Not when you are set up and see the guy coming. Maybe he underestimated the guy.

I don't know what year it was from, but hopefully he left that junk on college.
 
I don't think he's really talking about toughness or being physical.
Probably the most successful franchise of the current period, the Patriots,
has never been described as a physical team but nobody criticizes them for not being so, and neither do they criticize them for being a finesse team, which is what they probably are. But they win, so everyone just calls them winners.
 
Someone on the Texans organization needs to print out these quotes and make them wall paper in the Texans Facilities.
 
Did some televangelist channel Vince Lombardi in a seance?? If not, eho gives a rats ass what this guy thinks?
 
Doppelganger said:
tough or soft doesn't make a difference. Wins and losses do. Nobody would say Indy is "physical" but they win games.
Click to expand...
Right. So that makes the Texans both soft and losers.

I don't particularly care for Lombardi. I don't know if he's clued into the Texans or has even watched them play more than a handful of times the past couple of years. But, he's been nails on his evaluation of the Texans. The Texans don't compete with good teams. Under Kubiak, the Texans are 10-27 versus teams with a winning record.

Maybe other teams have won by playing a finesse style. The Colts, the Dolphins in the Marino era, The Niners with Montana and Rice. But, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice aren't walking through that door. ANd if they were, they'd still need physical players like Lott, Romanowski, And Haley on the defensive side. Don't tell me the Texans can win by playing a finesse style, because they have yet to win playing this style.

Maybe that can change this year. Maybe Wade can instill that toughness. But after watching the Texans lose their most physical player on offense, I'm beginning to believe in what Lombardi is saying. He's been right before.
 
JimBaker488 said:
I don't think he's really talking about toughness or being physical.
Probably the most successful franchise of the current period, the Patriots,
has never been described as a physical team but nobody criticizes them for not being so, and neither do they criticize them for being a finesse team, which is what they probably are. But they win, so everyone just calls them winners.
Click to expand...

The patriots are physical.
 
Rey said:
The patriots are physical.
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They are? I think they are probably the only team in the league that can do it all on any given Sunday. Out-physical them, they'll out finesse you and win. Take away the finesse, they'll out tough you and run the ball down your throat. The Pats have the luxury of the best damn HC in the business, by far.
 
I talked about this with texanmike today all we need is the guy who steps up. It's not normally the same guy every week, but every week it needs to be somebody other than the stars. I expect dre and schaub and foster to bring it every week on O. But we also need Jones or daniels or dickerson to step up too. That is how you win, when ur stars are having a tough time because every one expects them and gameplans for them someone needs to take the load. The big question is who will that person be every week? Or will it be anyone. On D well in the past I would say mario and ryans and cushing but who knows now .... we need the every week stars and the unexpected guy that's it we need guys they never see coming.
 
badboy said:
While true, Myers is the only player that probably would not prefer to play smash mouth drive them back football. I am not a big fan of the ZBS but it has been working.

The O should be even better with OD closer to 100%, Schaub's knowledge that Foster can also catch the ball, Tate to spell the other two & hopefully either Walter or JJ to have a better year.

The lighter Dline shut me up last two years as they were able to control the run pretty well & Phillips seems confident the 3-4 he utilizes can hold the scrimmage line while LBs clog the run & "disturb" the QB. IMO, the DBs should be better if only by having another year behind them. They were very young @ most positions. Manning and JJ? Bring it on!:thisbig:
Click to expand...

Too add to my comments I think that people like Lombardi also see "soft" as a team who doesn't bring it to other teams. Most people here, if honest, know one of the Texans biggest downfalls is not showing up every week or for a minimal amount of quarters. They showed up probably 1 game last season..2 most and usually they were getting out hit until and played until they decided to play run and shoot. JMO
 
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The Texans have been soft. The Texans have been slow.

These are part of our problems. I hate seeing our team manhandled and out hustled.

The offense is better, but the defense has been putrid. I hope Wade brings a needed level of toughness.

And when we need 1 yard, I want 3!
 
Yeah right. Their losses stupefy me as much as they will anyone but I'm not going to make **** up about them. Winning heals all wounds I suppose but it's not like there aren't a few examples of PHYSICAL toughness, despite the lack of mental toughness. Because their techniques don't rely on brawn, power doesn't mean they aren't big, fast, stronger than an ox proffessional athletes. They lost and in obscene fashion. Soft? Nope. There were some years where it seemed like one thing went wrong and dominos would follow, those were soft teams. This team fights (literally) for every point on the board. Winners? No. Weak? Certainly not.
 
Um...I think the Texans are plenty physical under Kubiak. I even had to sue them because I didn't like how we went full contact without pads sometimes.

Signed,

Jordan Black former OT that really sucked.
 
I don't know what Lombardi is looking at but I thought Eric Winston was plenty physical.

Signed,

Kyle Vanden Bosch

And let me add that Andre punked me pretty hard.

Signed,

Cortland Finnegan
 
Who's ever said the Colts were a physical team, or one of the greatest and most successful franchises of the leagues history, the 49ers. Show me where those great Montana/Rice San Fran teams were described as physical by anybody ?
Texans just gotta win, then Lombardi and ever one else will get off of their butts. Till they do, they are fair game for the critics.
 
Corrosion said:
How many teams can you think of in the history of the NFL that had that kind of toughness ?


Those 70's Steeler teams , the Shula Dolphins and maybe the Gibbs coached Redskins. Other than that , I think you have to go back to the Lombardi coached Packers to find a team that had that identity over a period of multiple years. I'd almost throw the recent Ravens teams into that group.

The few other teams that put together multiple championships were more finesse teams .... Cowboys & 49ers twice , Patriots , Rams and even the Dolts of today even tho they have only won one title.
Click to expand...

The Buddy Ryan Eagles a few years back was one of those teams, the Giants when LT was playing.
 
I only point out that Lombardi seems to have extra piss and vinegar when he starts talking about us. I mean, he transforms into an animated and rage-filled guy when he gets going on it.

It's like Steve Tasker when he calls our games. He can only praise us and what we're doing out there when we are solidly kicking someone's ass and it's apparent beyond the shadow of a doubt that we look golden out there from start to finish. But if not, he's dogging us and he's even finding things to rag on us about...things that are B.S.

He'll side with the refs when they make a bad call that goes against us. He'll say he disagrees with the ref when they make a call that benefits us. Only when he knows his bias would truly be revealed does he tone it down and call it fairly.

Paul MaGuire, back when he covered Oilers games on NBC, did that same **** all the time too. I dreaded MaGuire's pre-game commentary when he'd be up in the booth while the Oilers and their opponents were prepping for opening kickoff. He would just rag out the Oilers and find ticky tack stuff to trash them out with. I was a teenager back then and saw it. I'm 35 now and I see it with some TV guys. It's there.

Not a coincidence that both those guys (Tasker and MaGuire) were Bills players at one time.

I just want to know what Lombardi's beef is with us. Did the Texans blow a game and lose him a lot of money? Did he want the GM job and got passed up for it? Is he tired of picking the Texans as a "sleeper" and so he's venting about being duped every year for three years?

He has an axe to grind. It's plain to see.
 
GP said:
I only point out that Lombardi seems to have extra piss and vinegar when he starts talking about us. I mean, he transforms into an animated and rage-filled guy when he gets going on it.

It's like Steve Tasker when he calls our games. He can only praise us and what we're doing out there when we are solidly kicking someone's ass and it's apparent beyond the shadow of a doubt that we look golden out there from start to finish. But if not, he's dogging us and he's even finding things to rag on us about...things that are B.S.

He'll side with the refs when they make a bad call that goes against us. He'll say he disagrees with the ref when they make a call that benefits us. Only when he knows his bias would truly be revealed does he tone it down and call it fairly.

Paul MaGuire, back when he covered Oilers games on NBC, did that same **** all the time too. I dreaded MaGuire's pre-game commentary when he'd be up in the booth while the Oilers and their opponents were prepping for opening kickoff. He would just rag out the Oilers and find ticky tack stuff to trash them out with. I was a teenager back then and saw it. I'm 35 now and I see it with some TV guys. It's there.

Not a coincidence that both those guys (Tasker and MaGuire) were Bills players at one time.

I just want to know what Lombardi's beef is with us. Did the Texans blow a game and lose him a lot of money? Did he want the GM job and got passed up for it? Is he tired of picking the Texans as a "sleeper" and so he's venting about being duped every year for three years?

He has an axe to grind. It's plain to see.
Click to expand...
Don't forget Chris Collingsworth. I swear that guy is related to Richard Justice...
 
TheMatrix31 said:
I don't even know if we were mentally soft. We were resilient as **** last year,
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Yeah, we just went 6-10 and lost all of these games at the end in totally embarrassing ways. The word resilient has never been an adjective to describe the Texans in any way, shape, or form.

HoustonFrog said:
Too add to my comments I think that people like Lombardi also see "soft" as a team who doesn't bring it to other teams. Most people here, if honest, know one of the Texans biggest downfalls is not showing up every week or for a minimal amount of quarters. They showed up probably 1 game last season..2 most and usually they were getting out hit until and played until they decided to play run and shoot. JMO
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Why is it that people get so upset at writers and analysts who aren't confident in a team that has been awful for 9 years straight? Guys like Lombardi who are writing this stuff have history on their side and they're not going to start having all of this confidence in the Texans until the Texans go out there and prove something and give them reasons to instead of being annual underachievers.
 
Texecutioner said:
Yeah, we just went 6-10 and lost all of these games at the end in totally embarrassing ways. The word resilient has never been an adjective to describe the Texans in any way, shape, or form.
Click to expand...

We fought our way back out of the holes we'd dug for ourselves several times last year. Even though we lost those games, I always felt like we were in them. If we weren't resilient, we would have thrown up our hands and not even been in those games.
 
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