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Do you think 2009 Texans offense will be best in Houston's NFL history

TexansFight

Veteran
Like most of you, I was a diehard Oilers fan who lived and breathed with that team. My family had season tickets and I grew up watching Warren Moon run Glanville's Red Gun (which I always preferred to the Run and Shoot) and then finally the Run and Shoot.

As I am apt to do, in my mind I compare our current team with the Oilers teams that went to the playoffs for 7 straight seasons. The Run and Shoot's best year was 1991 if I recall and the returns after that decreased.

I am not old enough to remember the Luv Ya Blue teams but from what I know they were not a prolific offense and rode Earl. This 2009 Texans team should have the best offense we have EVER seen in Houston. Since I am most famililar with the R&S Oilers era let me compare:

1. QB: It is hard to argue that Schaub is better than Warren Moon who is in the HOF. Both are unfortunately similar in that at times are turnover machines with Moon I think having a record number of fumbles and last year our QBs had most of our TOs. I am a big Schaub fan and think he is going to put up Pro Bowl numbers. Moon threw the prettiest spiral that I have seen to date.

2. RB: The R&S Oilers had a parade of RBs such as Mike Rozier, Allen Pinkett, Gary Brown and Lorenzo White. The Oilers RBs suffered because of the R&S scheme where they never had a fullback or TEs to help with blocking. RB has been a sore spot for the Texans until recently but Slaton is better than any of the Oilers RBs that I mentioned. The R&S Oilers had red zone scoring problems themselves if you recall. The Texans should hopefully greatly improve in red zone efficiency by limiting turnovers and having guys like Leach creates holes for Chris Brown (please stay healthy) to smash the ball in to the endzone.

3. WR: This is where the Texans truly are head and shoulders above those Oilers teams in terms of talent. Those Oilers teams had small, smurfy receivers like Drew Hill, Ernest Givins, Curtis Duncan, Tony Jones, etc. Haywood Jeffires was the tallest and probably the best of the group. None of those guys come close to being as good as Andre Johnson is tall, strong and fast. As a group with Davis and Walter they are clearly superior.

4. TE: Again another huge advantage for this Texans team though this not really a fair comparison since the R&S Oilers did not carry any TEs on the roster! Owen Daniels is a Pro Bowl TE and a very nice target for Schaub. The blocking our TEs provide in the running game and their ability to catch passes makes this team much tougher to stop than the Oilers who were ALWAYS running a 4 wide formation.

5. OL: Those Oilers teams spent a lot of first rounders on OL. That was a clear strength of the team and there is no way that I can legitimately say that the Texans OL of 2009 is better than the Oilers ones with HOF Bruce Matthews, Mike Munchak, Dean Steinkuhler, etc. That being said, the OL which was the bane of our existence as Texans fans has become very solid. Duane Brown is becoming a very good LT, Eric Winston is an excellent RT and I think the kid we drafted from Alabama is going to be our starting C for a long time.

6. K: Another clear advantage for the Texans. Kris Brown is getting better every year and he has hit several game winning FGs. To this day I still despise Ian Howfield for blowing the game against the Redskins and though Al Del Greco was solid he was not nearly as clutch as Kris Brown.

7. Coaching: Finally, this is why the Texans offense of 2009 is clearly better. Running 4 wides ALL THE TIME is much easier to defend than the multitude of looks we can throw out there. The Texans downfield passing is much more potent than the R&S Oilers because defenses adjusted and put their safeties back and would pummel the Oilers smurf receivers and big downfield plays were rare. That is why each year of the R&S the offensive effectiveness was worse.

Anyway, I think this is a fun thing to think about and I think we will be in store for a very exciting year.
 

eriadoc

Texan-American
You really can't compare eras. The LYB Oilers were a very good offense in the same way that the Cowboys teams of the early '90s were good offenses. Yes, they rode the RB, but they also did everything else well.

The only other point I'd make re: your post is the WR corps back in the R&S era was every bit as good, and until these guys prove something, better. AJ is better, but honestly, Jeffires would have been a good WR in any era, IMO. He was 6'2" 200+ lbs, had good hands, and could leap very well. He made the Pro Bowl a few times and was All Pro one year. I think if he played today, he'd be a prolific pass catcher.
 

Thorn

Dirty Old Man
Can you imagine our offense if the present Texans had an Earl Cambell? That would be deadly. I also think Jeffries would make a fine WR in today's league.

Comparing the eras is always fun for a football fan, so there's nothing wrong with that. How about this for a question. Do you think the present Houston Texans could beat the run an shoot era Oilers?
 

Hervoyel

BUENO!
I think it's early for the question because the Texans have only been a "prolific" offense for one season and even then they showed an alarming propensity to self destruct with turnovers. If they can come back and generate the kind of offense they did last year then that's starting something. Right now we have a couple of players who need to prove that they weren't just a flash in the pan. Steve Slaton needs to do it again. Kevin Walter & Owen Daniels need to do it again. Matt Schaub needs to just do it at least once (16 games please).

I'm seriously optimistic but we have a lot to prove before we can even begin comparing this team to the offensive juggernaut that was the R&S Oilers.
 

Dan B.

Hall of Fame
The wideouts are not even close IMO. I loved that old WR corps. Drew Hill, Givens, Jefferies, Duncan, Slaughter... I would agree that AJ is probably the best individual WR we have ever seen here, but I don't think this WR corps is to that level yet. They don't have the depth. I think RB is the only offensive area that this team may be better off, and even there I've always thought Lorenzo White was a better back than his numbers showed (for the reasons you mentioned). If Brown stays healthy this may be a better tandem but I wold argue that, as at so many other positions, today's Texans team is inferior even though the guy at the top of the depth chart is better because the depth isn't there. I would also agree that Kris Brown is better than the old parade of Zendejases and DelGrecos. The OL on that old team was so much better than the '09 Texans I have a hard time comparing them. We've got some good pieces, but nothing remotely close to what we had in the days of the R&S. Personally I do think Kubiak is a better coach than Pardee or Glanville, but to be quite blunt he has yet to prove it. As bad as those coaches choked in the playoffs, they at least made the playoffs.

Bottom line the current incarnation of Houston NFL players has yet to show that they belong among our best offensive teams. They are young and rapidly improving, but the mid '90's Oiler teams had a sustained level of offensive output that we have not even come close to scratching. I have high hopes, but I haven't seen it yet.
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
I think it's early for the question because the Texans have only been a "prolific" offense for one season and even then they showed an alarming propensity to self destruct with turnovers. If they can come back and generate the kind of offense they did last year then that's starting something. Right now we have a couple of players who need to prove that they weren't just a flash in the pan. Steve Slaton needs to do it again. Kevin Walter & Owen Daniels need to do it again. Matt Schaub needs to just do it at least once (16 games please).

I'm seriously optimistic but we have a lot to prove before we can even begin comparing this team to the offensive juggernaut that was the R&S Oilers.
If this offense performs near its potential, I think it will be much more effective than any of those Oiler offenses. Of course, I don't have a lot of respect for offenses that don't have a TE and are so limited in what they can do. One only needs to point to the Buffalo wild card game to highlight the inherent defeciencies of that offense. I just think offense is about more than explosiveness, yardage, and scoring. A truly great offense, needs to be able to execute better situationally.

Some of those Bill Walsh 49er offenses and even the Dallas Cowboy offenses of the early 1990s, are the best examples of what great offenses are, IMO. This team has that kind of potential to be proficient in all areas of offensive football: the ability to make explosive plays, to run a 2 minute offense, to control the clock by running the ball or with a short passing game, to exploit matchup advantages from all points of the field, etc... Clearly, a team that finishes with 8 wins and in the middle of the pack in scoring offense hasn't come close to reaching that potential, but I believe it can.
 

GuerillaBlack

Hall of Fame
Can you imagine our offense if the present Texans had an Earl Cambell? That would be deadly. I also think Jeffries would make a fine WR in today's league.

Comparing the eras is always fun for a football fan, so there's nothing wrong with that. How about this for a question. Do you think the present Houston Texans could beat the run an shoot era Oilers?
Hmmm....replace Slaton with AP and we'd be unstoppable.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Like others, I pick WR corps of then over now. Moon is HOF but notice his TD to INT for first three years 1984 12 to 14; 1985 15 to 19 and 1986 13 to 26. In 1987 reversed to 21 TDs to 18 INT which is not a very good percentage. I was a huge Moon fan but Schaub could end up being the better QB imo.

http://www.footballdb.com/players/warren-moon-moonwa01

Moon's best passing was 3489 in 5 years. Schaub last year threw for 3,043 15 TD 10 INTs. I think what will benefit Schaub is the ZBS and the corps of RBs we now have. I am projecting and I realize that but if Brown stays reasonably healthy and Foster is what I think he is and Moats runs in regular season like he did against Chiefs? Wow. Lookout. Also, our tight ends give this team a edge.

In short this team could be really, really something.

Our defense is going to improve the offense also. I see more turn overs giving the O more chances as well as 3 downs and kick the ball back to us.
 
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