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.
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.