Another Richard Justice fiasco on Mario!!

August 09, 2010
Super Mario still trying to achieve greatness, but the Texans need him
To write about Mario Williams is to invite trouble. There are still many fans who believe the Texans took the wrong guy. Some still think Vince Young would have been a better pick. Or Reggie Bush.

Let's begin with that part of the story. The Texans got it right. Mario hasn't been the dominant pass rusher the Texans envisioned him being, but they're far better off with him than they would have been with any of the other top picks.

His selection forced them to go after a quarterback a year later, and Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak got it right again by trading for Matt Schaub. How many quarterbacks would you rather have than Schaub? Peyton Manning? Tom Brady? Drew Brees? There aren't many.

Schaub has been absolutely everything the Texans hoped he'd be, from production on the field to work ethic and leadership off it. If he goes the distance again this season, the Texans have a very good chance of making the playoffs.

Now about Mario Williams. It's the first significant bump in the road that his sore hip has forced him to the sideline, and it has prompted him to seek the opinion of a specialist. Kubiak said this morning that Williams got good news and should be back on the field soon. That's exactly what the Texans wanted to hear.

If the Texans don't have either Mario Williams or Brian Cushing on the field for the opener against the Colts, it would make the challenge way more difficult, and the challenge was difficult enough even with those two.

But the harsh truth is that losing Williams isn't as critical as losing Cushing or perhaps even DeMeco Ryans or Antonio Smith. As Williams begins his fifth season, the Texans are still waiting for him to become a game-wrecking pass rusher.

There have been flashes of greatness along the way. Late last season when I wrote that he didn't deserve to play in the Pro Bowl, someone whispered, ''You just guaranteed he'll get two sacks this week.''

Almost. He broke a two-week shutout streak with a sack that helped the Texans upset the Patriots and finish with their first winning season.

His peers respect him enough to have voted him to a pair of Pro Bowls. Since finishing third in the league with 14 sacks his second season, he has fallen off to 12 in 2008 and nine last season.

He doesn't play in a vacuum. Until Smith emerged last season, the Texans didn't have another real dominant pass-rushing threat. Also, Williams was slowed by a shoulder issue last season.

For Williams, being a No. 1 overall pick puts the bar in a different place. Aaron Schobel had just one more sack than Williams last season. In the last three seasons when both have been on the field - Schobel missed 11 games in 2008 - Williams had 27.5 sacks, Schobel 30.5

Let's not mistake him for a dog. Even in a 2009 season when he wasn't great, his numbers were still impressive: 9.0 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 20 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Still, the Texans want more. Gary Kubiak said it at the end of last season, and Bob McNair said it a few weeks ago.

He has never consistently attracted the double-team blocks that Reggie White and Lawrence Taylor got in their prime. He has never been instinctive in his pass-rushing moves.

There's plenty of time for him to get there. He has physical skills most other players can only dream of. He works hard and seems to be a good teammate. But the Texans keep hoping there's more there.

Now there are concerns about his health. He was limited by a shoulder injury last year. Now it's the hip.

The Texans have spent so much time and money trying to find a presence on the other side of the defensive line. Now the guy they thought they could count on is questionable.

NFL seasons are journeys of attrition. The Texans would have hoped the attrition would begin once the real contact started.

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Mari-OWNED! said:

Normally I don't agree with Richard Justice, but in this case I do.

I don't see what's the big deal. Mario has high expectations, and he's not meeting them.

Mario is great for the Texans, but you would think he could be greater. That's all RJ is saying.

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Mari-OWNED! said:

Normally I don't agree with Richard Justice, but in this case I do.

I don't see what's the big deal. Mario has high expectations, and he's not meeting them.

Mario is great for the Texans, but you would think he could be greater. That's all RJ is saying.

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Since finishing third in the league with 14 sacks his second season, he has fallen off to 12 in 2008 and nine last season.

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Let's not mistake him for a dog. Even in a 2009 season when he wasn't great, his numbers were still impressive: 9.0 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 20 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

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m5kwatts said:

I can't read any Justice slop without thinking its another VY stroke.

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HuttoKarl said:

I can't stand people who judge a DE on sack numbers alone. Mario does so much on the field that doesn't always show up on a stat sheet. Given some nice secondary help he could get stupid sack numbers to finally shut the haters up.

(Kareem Jackson...ball's in your court, rook.)

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HuttoKarl said:

I can't stand people who judge a DE on sack numbers alone. Mario does so much on the field that doesn't always show up on a stat sheet. Given some nice secondary help he could get stupid sack numbers to finally shut the haters up.

(Kareem Jackson...ball's in your court, rook.)

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Ole Miss Texan said:

Yup. Nnamdi Asomugha has only gotten 1 interception in each of the past 3 seasons.
It's a shame that guy isn't any good...

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Texanmike said:

He plays Manning, the hardest QB to sack in the league. Keep in mind that teams don't run to his side successfully. When people say "he doesn't just attack the QB" they are exactly right. He's not a sack specialist. Kudos to him for NOT attacking the QB on every play. I'll take 10-15 sacks and excellent run support over 21 sacks and a bunch of wiffs on stretch plays any day. He definitely has room for improvement but the man doesn't have a real weakness in his game.

Sure I'd love to see him with a little more agression but lets keep in mind that we aren't collapsing the pocket forcing the QB out like some teams do....

There are essentially two ways to increase his sacks. Teach him to think pass 80% of the time and live with 8-12 yard runs to his side of the field OR get pressure up the middle in the QB's lap...

Overall, he's bruce matthews on the DL. A phenominal player who nobody will notice how good he is until we start winning over and over. He does things nobody really notices or pays attention to, but there is no real reason to anticipate his career will slow down for the next 8-10 years. At some point we'll look back and think wow... he statistically he wasn't out of this world but he held down the DE position for over a decade. Ok so maybe not quite bruce matthews... but that man wasn't appreciated till well into his second decade in the league.

Mike

His run defence is kind of the equivelant to pass blocking for a RB. It gets talked about a lot, but nobody notices when he does it and so it gets over looked.

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chaptexan said:

@ certain plays Mario gets double teamed creating enough opportunities for the LB's to create pressure!! What else do you expect from a DE.. I believe he and Jarred Allen are the best available in their position in the league.

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