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Week 3 power rankings

This is all nice and everything but we've got a lot of football to play. Like several people have mentioned, we've beaten the Dolphins and the Jaguars -- two teams people aren't expecting to make the play-offs. And while it's great to beat the tar out of the guys you're supposed to beat, let's see what we do when the competition gets stiffer.
 
If we let Manning beat us, then its going to be a while til we get this sort of acclaim again. Conversely, if we can beat Denver... And handle Tenn which we should. Its going to take alot of my productivity to keep up w all of the pub that would be coming our way.
 
http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/stats/

Their rankings had the Texans #1 overall last year, too.

I think the CHFF guys are ahead of their peers. I'm convinced the Texans would've been playing for the Lombardi Trophy last year had Schaub not been injured.

The Texans imo are the most balanced, complete team in the NFL. This team has a solid defense that gets pressure on the quarterback and forces turnovers with an offense that can beat you on the ground or through the air and does it with efficient, time-consuming drives.

Someone pass the party punch!
 
Mailman said:
http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/stats/

Their rankings had the Texans #1 overall last year, too.

I think the CHFF guys are ahead of their peers. I'm convinced the Texans would've been playing for the Lombardi Trophy last year had Schaub not been injured.

The Texans imo are the most balanced, complete team in the NFL. This team has a solid defense that gets pressure on the quarterback and forces turnovers with an offense that can beat you on the ground or through the air and does it with efficient, time-consuming drives.

Someone pass the party punch!
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I love who's at #32 in their rankings.
 
PFT

2. Texans (one first-place vote):* The first two weeks have been like a major-college schedule for the Texans, with Miami and Jacksonville playing the role of Savannah State and Arkansas State.
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The rest of the AFC South.
25. Colts:* Wee wun ar gaim!* TRADES WINDZ STILL BLOWING!!!!!* HATPICKKC!

29. Titans:* Who’s the idiot who picked this team to win the AFC South?

31. Jaguars:* Shahid Khan’s train is still stuck in the station.
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Mike Florio calling his self out.
 
markn said:
I'm not entirely convinced that the colts are going to be the push-over that seems to be universally agreed. We're oh-and-lots still at their place. Let's not get too cocky.
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We play the Colts in weeks 15 and 17. Hopefully these two won't make a bit of difference whether we win or lose
 
markn said:
I'm not entirely convinced that the colts are going to be the push-over that seems to be universally agreed. We're oh-and-lots still at their place. Let's not get too cocky.
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As a Titan fan I look at my team then yours and think you can get cocky. Your team is HEAD and SHOULDERS in this division. Your concern is homefield period. Unless of course Schaub, Foster, Tate, Watt and Barwin all get hurt on Sunday. Then yeah, you got issues.
 
funny that the top 2 teams are built VERY similarly. strong on defense, with the 49'ers leaning more run and the texans more pass. 3 and out as well as turnovers from both defenses. two of the best ground games (texans with the best ground game) and good "safe" quarterbacks who fit the system. i wont call either a game manager, but neither is a slinger like stafford or rodgers. the only real difference is at receiver where we have the top talent, but they have more talent.

easily the most complete teams in football, with the ravens, falcons, broncos and packers in that next tier of having almost everything.
 
In 2005 the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns were rated #1 and #2 respectively the entire season and then met, finally, in the national championship matchup, at which time the #2 rated team beat the #1 rated team.

I would dearly love to watch that scenario unfold here.

Fingers crossed.
 
Scooter said:
funny that the top 2 teams are built VERY similarly. strong on defense, with the 49'ers leaning more run and the texans more pass.
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Actually the Texans rely more on the run than the 49ers.

49ers have run the ball 59 times (48% of their plays)

Texans have run the ball 83 times (55% of their plays). The Texans' 83 rushing attempts is the most in the league at the moment.
 
i meant defensively. the 49'ers have the best run defense and a really good pass defense, texans with the best pass defense and a really good run defense.

you're right though that we're the offensive rushing team, and the best IMO. the 49'ers numbers will be closer as they play some cupcakes, but i doubt many (if any) will run the ball as often as the texans.
 
Scooter said:
i meant defensively. the 49'ers have the best run defense and a really good pass defense, texans with the best pass defense and a really good run defense.

you're right though that we're the offensive rushing team, and the best IMO. the 49'ers numbers will be closer as they play some cupcakes, but i doubt many (if any) will run the ball as often as the texans.
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ahh ok got it.
 
kwayshauntay said:
Actually the Texans rely more on the run than the 49ers.

49ers have run the ball 59 times (48% of their plays)

Texans have run the ball 83 times (55% of their plays). The Texans' 83 rushing attempts is the most in the league at the moment.
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Those stats are somewhat flawed because of the small sample size and the closeness of the games. A better stat would be the percentage of plays in the first half. Because the Texans were ahead by 21 and 17 points in both of their games at half time its only natural that we would be run heavy in the second half. I'd guess its far more balanced in the 1st half. Probably would lean a little more towards the pass.
 
Texn4life said:
Those stats are somewhat flawed because of the small sample size and the closeness of the games. A better stat would be the percentage of plays in the first half. Because the Texans were ahead by 21 and 17 points in both of their games at half time its only natural that we would be run heavy in the second half. I'd guess its far more balanced in the 1st half. Probably would lean a little more towards the pass.
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Yes but we also led the league in rushing attempts last year, tied with the Denver Tebows.

Percentage wise, the Tebows had the highest run/pass ratio in the league--we were second place.

With Tebow's exile to NY, we are now the most old-school, throwback, smash-mouth team in the league.
 
kwayshauntay said:
Yes but we also led the league in rushing attempts last year, tied with the Denver Tebows.

Percentage wise, the Tebows had the highest run/pass ratio in the league--we were second place.

With Tebow's exile to NY, we are now the most old-school, throwback, smash-mouth team in the league.
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We also had TJ Yates at the helm for the last few games. It'll be interesting this next game against the Broncos (if the game stays close) what our balance is between the rush/pass.
 
kwayshauntay said:
Yes but we also led the league in rushing attempts last year, tied with the Denver Tebows.

Percentage wise, the Tebows had the highest run/pass ratio in the league--we were second place.

With Tebow's exile to NY, we are now the most old-school, throwback, smash-mouth team in the league.
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As Buddy Boy said we played 6 games with a rookie 5th round pick. Our rushing numbers wouldn't have been anywhere close to that if Schaub was the QB for a full season. We'll still be top 5 in total rushes though. We're a more balanced team as compared to San Fran. I would say they exude old, school smash mouth football. Those guys will line up in a goalline jumbo package at their own 40 on 1st and 10 in any game situation. We like to jump out on teams early, pass heavy usually on the first drive, and then start to really pound teams and establish the run with a lead. The 49ers come out looking to pound the ball on you and impose their will.
 
noxiousdog said:
Even if we had a 90% chance to win each of those games, there's only a roughly 45% chance to win all 6. (Though since there's only 5 left, we are up to a 55% chance.)
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If the Texans have a top two seed in the AFC playoffs locked up late in the season (first-round bye), it wouldn't shock me if they rested players in two of those final three games, which happen to be against the Colts.
 
Texn4life said:
As Buddy Boy said we played 6 games with a rookie 5th round pick. Our rushing numbers wouldn't have been anywhere close to that if Schaub was the QB for a full season. We'll still be top 5 in total rushes though. We're a more balanced team as compared to San Fran. I would say they exude old, school smash mouth football. Those guys will line up in a goalline jumbo package at their own 40 on 1st and 10 in any game situation. We like to jump out on teams early, pass heavy usually on the first drive, and then start to really pound teams and establish the run with a lead. The 49ers come out looking to pound the ball on you and impose their will.
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When your quarterback can actually get first downs, and threatens the defense down field, your rushing game improves.

Texans Rushing W/ Schaub (1st 10 games) - 158.1 YPG
Texans Rushing W/ Yates (Last 6 games) - 144.5 YPG

Don't forget, some of those numbers Schaub did that without a healthy Arian and Andre to stretch the defense.
 
HollaIFyaHEMI said:
When your quarterback can actually get first downs, and threatens the defense down field, your rushing game improves.

Texans Rushing W/ Schaub (1st 10 games) - 158.1 YPG
Texans Rushing W/ Yates (Last 6 games) - 144.5 YPG

Don't forget, some of those numbers Schaub did that without a healthy Arian and Andre to stretch the defense.
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That goes back to the actual games as well and I'm talking more about balance than total numbers. Schaub converts more third downs, hence more plays, hence more rushes. Keep in mind we played in about 4 blowouts while Schaub was healthy and then played the game against the Steelers almost scared to throw the ball after AJ got hurt. Most teams are going to run the ball a lot in those situations so the YPG and rushes are going to be up. Just look at the Cleveland and Tampa games last year. We barely put the ball in the air in the second half of those games.

Like I said in my first post a better stat is the ratio in the first half. I'm on my phone and can't check, but 76 had a post in another thread showing just how balanced we were.
There were times when we were almost even and some time when we were more pass heavy.
 
A lot of NFL power ratings around the Internet have the Houston Texans on top after two big wins to start the season. The Football Outsiders DVOA ratings are in agreement there: Houston ranks third in offense and first in defense, although the Texans are just 30th in special teams. Below the Texans, the DVOA ratings probably look a lot different from ratings elsewhere.
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link
 
buddyboy said:
We also had TJ Yates at the helm for the last few games. It'll be interesting this next game against the Broncos (if the game stays close) what our balance is between the rush/pass.
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Texn4life said:
As Buddy Boy said we played 6 games with a rookie 5th round pick. Our rushing numbers wouldn't have been anywhere close to that if Schaub was the QB for a full season. We'll still be top 5 in total rushes though. We're a more balanced team as compared to San Fran. I would say they exude old, school smash mouth football. Those guys will line up in a goalline jumbo package at their own 40 on 1st and 10 in any game situation. We like to jump out on teams early, pass heavy usually on the first drive, and then start to really pound teams and establish the run with a lead. The 49ers come out looking to pound the ball on you and impose their will.
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We didn't all of a sudden start pounding the ball more when Schaub went down.

Our run/pass ratio actually decreased after Schaub went down.

With Schaub, we ran 54% of the time.

After Schaub got hurt, we ran 50% of the time.
 
kwayshauntay said:
We didn't all of a sudden start pounding the ball more when Schaub went down.

Our run/pass ratio actually decreased after Schaub went down.

With Schaub, we ran 54% of the time.

After Schaub got hurt, we ran 50% of the time.
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We played with a lead most of the time with Schaub healthy. Look at the 1st half stats and you'll see the difference. If you're up big, why would you throw the ball? This is a situation where stats don't show the whole story. You have to look at the big picture.
 
Texn4life said:
We played with a lead most of the time with Schaub healthy. Look at the 1st half stats and you'll see the difference. If you're up big, why would you throw the ball? This is a situation where stats don't show the whole story. You have to look at the big picture.
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We aren't the only team in the league that sat on big leads. Yet we still ended up #1 in rushing attempts. You have to look at the bigger picture.
 
kwayshauntay said:
We aren't the only team in the league that sat on big leads. Yet we still ended up #1 in rushing attempts. You have to look at the bigger picture.
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I'm looking at the bigger picture, but apparently you aren't. We have 2 of the best backs in the league, played with big leads with our starting QB early in the year, were missing our #1 receiver most of the year, played with a 5th round rookie for 6 games, and you're still confused why we would have the most rushes in the league?

Look Schaub has 43 pass attempts in the first half this year compared to 23 in the second half. He has a Grand total of 5 attempts in the 4th qtr. 5!!!!!! You think that has anything to do with the fact we were up by 21 and 17 points at the half? Of course the numbers are going to be skewed when we're not even trying to throw the ball. If you don't understand that I don't know what to tell you.
 
Texn4life said:
I'm looking at the bigger picture, but apparently you aren't. We have 2 of the best backs in the league, played with big leads with our starting QB early in the year, were missing our #1 receiver most of the year, played with a 5th round rookie for 6 games, and you're still confused why would have the most rushes in the league?

Look Schaub has 43 pass attempts in the first half this year compared to 23 in the second half. He has a Grand total of 5 attempts in the 4th qtr. 5!!!!!! Of course the numbers are going to be skewed when we're not even trying to throw the ball. If you don't understand that I don't know what to tell you.
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Are you saying the Texans are the only team in the league that could afford to sit on leads by running the ball? Is that what happened last year? Nobody else in the league had as many leads as the Texans, hence why the rest of the league was so pass happy?
 
Rex Ryan can talk about ground and pound all he wants.

The Jets talk the talk, while we walk the walk.

We are the true ground and pounders.

Old school football ftmfw.
 
kwayshauntay said:
Are you saying the Texans are the only team in the league that could afford to sit on leads by running the ball? Is that what happened last year? Nobody else in the league had as many leads as the Texans, hence why the rest of the league was so pass happy?
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I'm saying that when you have 2 great backs and one of the best lines in the league you can afford to hand the ball off to those guys in the 2nd half of games and still move the ball. New England uses their Tight Ends more than the Texans in the passing game, but it can be equally effective when running clock with the lead if you're completing passes. We have a luxury most teams don't have with 2 great backs.

You look at teams that played with leads last year most of the time and most of them are pass happy teams that don't have the talent we have at running back. If the game is close in the 4th qtr against the Broncos and we need to move the ball do you think Schaub is only going to throw the ball 2 times? Because that's about what he is averaging in the 4th qtr of games this year.
 
Texn4life said:
I'm saying that when you have 2 great backs and one of the best lines in the league you can afford to hand the ball off to those guys in the 2nd half of games and still move the ball. New England uses their Tight Ends more than the Texans in the passing game, but it can be equally effective when running clock with the lead if you're completing passes. We have a luxury most teams don't have with 2 great backs.

You look at teams that played with leads last year most of the time and most of them are pass happy teams that don't have the talent we have at running back. If the game is close in the 4th qtr against the Broncos and we need to move the ball do you think Schaub is only going to throw the ball 2 times? Because that's about what he is averaging in the 4th qtr of games this year.
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Well, that just makes my point. We have a RB rotation that nobody else has, hence it only makes sense that we are a ground and pound running team.

Why you are averse to the idea I won't venture to guess. Embrace the truth.
 
kwayshauntay said:
Well, that just makes my point. We have a RB rotation that nobody else has, hence it only makes sense that we are a ground and pound running team.

Why you are averse to the idea I won't venture to guess. Embrace the truth.
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You are not getting it, and I refuse to repeat myself. Go back to my past posts and you'll understand we're a balanced team. If a running back runs 19 times for 0 yards each time the first 19 times, but then breaks off a 99 yard TD his last carry that doesn't mean he had a great game. You can look at the final numbers if you'd like, but that is narrow minded way to look at things.

The first half numbers indicate what Kubiak is looking to accomplish balance wise. But continue to look at "fantasy" final numbers if that makes you feel better.
 
Texn4life said:
You are not getting it, and I refuse to repeat myself. Go back to my past posts and you'll understand we're a balanced team. If a running back runs 19 times for 0 yards each time the first 19 times, but then breaks off a 99 yard TD his last carry that doesn't mean he had a great game. You can look at the final numbers if you'd like, but that is narrow minded way to look at things.

The first half numbers indicate what Kubiak is looking to accomplish balance wise. But continue to look at "fantasy" final numbers if that makes you feel better.
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Ok we were balanced. So what does that make all the other teams in the NFL? Please name the teams last year that were more run happy than us.
 
kwayshauntay said:
Ok we were balanced. So what does that make all the other teams in the NFL? Please name the teams last year that were more run happy than us.
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Broncos, Jets, Jags, Minnesota, Titans, 49ers, Carolina, and that is just to name a few.

Now, if I know your argument by now you'll pull up some "fantasy" football stats and say well they didn't run the ball more than the Texans and their percentage was lower. Now understand we had a top defense that was among the leaders in 3 and outs giving us the ball right back, played with leads regularly, and with the exception of San Fran the other teams were playing from behind. They have to throw the ball to get back in games and are running less plays because their offense isn't sustaining drives and the defense isn't getting them the ball back as quick. There is a much bigger world than the one you see my friend.
 
We could run the ball 100 times in every game this season, and would still be a "balanced" team.

That may sound silly..but it is kinda a "do as I say, not as I do" scenario. Our philosophy, or identity, is balance. We can pass the ball just as well as we can run the ball. But running the ball is usually a better option for us because we have the lead, and running it is both safer, and runs the clock out.

The reason we are a balanced team is not because we strictly adhere to having an equal amount of running and passing plays every game. We are balanced because we will either run it, or pass it, and do either one equally well. It all depends on what is more strategically viable in that game.
 
1st half stats this year

Schaub: 43 pass attempts (This doesn't include any sacks which would be 2 more attempts)
Foster/Tate: 32 combined carries

I would say a 43 to 32 ratio doesn't indicate that we're a "running" team.
 
Grid said:
We could run the ball 100 times in every game this season, and would still be a "balanced" team.

That may sound silly..but it is kinda a "do as I say, not as I do" scenario. Our philosophy, or identity, is balance. We can pass the ball just as well as we can run the ball. But running the ball is usually a better option for us because we have the lead, and running it is both safer, and runs the clock out.

The reason we are a balanced team is not because we strictly adhere to having an equal amount of running and passing plays every game. We are balanced because we will either run it, or pass it, and do either one equally well. It all depends on what is more strategically viable in that game.
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Bingo.
 
Grid said:
We could run the ball 100 times in every game this season, and would still be a "balanced" team.

That may sound silly..but it is kinda a "do as I say, not as I do" scenario. Our philosophy, or identity, is balance. We can pass the ball just as well as we can run the ball. But running the ball is usually a better option for us because we have the lead, and running it is both safer, and runs the clock out.

The reason we are a balanced team is not because we strictly adhere to having an equal amount of running and passing plays every game. We are balanced because we will either run it, or pass it, and do either one equally well. It all depends on what is more strategically viable in that game.
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Everyone, please read this. Then go on to argue some other nonsense and have a wonderful day!
 
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