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Michael Lombardi on the Texans
- Thread starter Hookem Horns
- Start date
Señor Stan
El Guapo
fify
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
I'm beginning to think that Kubiak now spews any positives on his players not on merit but solely to maintain player support.........and any little chance of hanging onto his job.
Setting aside the issue of "toughness" for a moment, one thing that made me nervous about Kubiak from the very start was his reluctance to remain with the Texans base-defense of the 3-4 when he first arrived here.
Why would he even care if we went with a 3-4 instead of 4-3, he's not an offensive guy, and initially he didn't know who his DC was gonna be ? But instead he announced from the beginning that we'd go 4-3 and I think it was just because he's a guy that's very set in his ways, or put another way lacks flexibility or adaptability.
Why would he even care if we went with a 3-4 instead of 4-3, he's not an offensive guy, and initially he didn't know who his DC was gonna be ? But instead he announced from the beginning that we'd go 4-3 and I think it was just because he's a guy that's very set in his ways, or put another way lacks flexibility or adaptability.
You would have been one of the lew people say we needed to stay the 3-4. For all the wringing of the hands about the QB then, the defense was worse and like now fans think changing the scheme is the be all to end all to changing the fortunes of the defense.
At times he sounds very :wadepalm: to me.
TheCD
Rookie
I'm one of the few that wants to stick with the 4-3 (unless the right guy comes in to change it). We're too late on switching to the 3-4 and there's a lot of talent to be had for the 4-3 defense in future drafts since few teams are running it anymore. Proper execution of a well-planned scheme is what we need (see the Eagles' 4-3 defense last night), regardless of what defense we're running.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Lombardi's been saying that for two years now. He actually changed his tone at the beginning of the season when we were winning, but quickly jumped off when we lost.
I think Lombardi's a moron, but he's 100% correct. This team has no spine and it begins with the coaches. I want Kubiak out as much as the rest of y'all, but I don't think it's hoing to happen this year. However, this organization would take a huge hit if there was nothing done about the defense. I totally expect a new DC in the off-season and I expect him to be experienced with having coached defenses that had sack.
I think Lombardi's a moron, but he's 100% correct. This team has no spine and it begins with the coaches. I want Kubiak out as much as the rest of y'all, but I don't think it's hoing to happen this year. However, this organization would take a huge hit if there was nothing done about the defense. I totally expect a new DC in the off-season and I expect him to be experienced with having coached defenses that had sack.
b0ng
Bad Hombre
Any media person who says "I'm done paying attention to Houston" needs to remember that **** during the offseason. I know I get more than annoyed when I hear (And this will be like season 3 or 4 in a row that I've heard) "Texans, darkhorse, lol". It never materializes and I would just rather them be a team that surprises people with it's good play, and not disappoints with it's terrible play.
What I'm wondering is, if we ever had a defense as good as our offense has been in previous seasons, if people would ride our jock as hard before the season begins.
What I'm wondering is, if we ever had a defense as good as our offense has been in previous seasons, if people would ride our jock as hard before the season begins.
So many talking heads have been saying that the Texans are missing something. This comment is spot on, I think. We simply don't have that air of toughness- mental or physical. Unfortunately, I don't see that magically appearing this season, and frankly I'm not looking forward to the games against the Jets, Ravens, Eagles, and Titans. It isn't looking pretty for the rest of the season.
badboy
Hall of Fame
I disagree with you 100 %. Other folks on other threads have broken down the current Texans defense to show most of our players would convert well to the 3-4. The focus would move off the Dline to linebacker where we have better players in my opinion. The defensive backs, especially our corners would do much better. We do not have the perfect Nose, but this season is going down the drain so let's start the switch now and begin giving our players some hope.
In the draft picking apprx 8-10:
1. CB shut down http://walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2011pamukamara.php OR Brandon Harris*, CB, Miami
Height: 5-11. Weight: 195.
Projected 40 Time: 4.41.
Projected Round (2011): Top 20 Pick.
10/9/10: Harris is a baller - period. On tape, he produces and plays with the swagger and confidence you want to see out of a cornerback. He's a missle in run support and shows the ability to take on a block. In coverage, receivers really struggle to separate and offensive coordinators have stopped calling plays his way this season.
5/13/10: Brandon Harris broke up a whopping 15 passes last year and also had six TFL.
2. NT Jerrell Powe, NT, Ole Miss
Height: 6-2. Weight: 330.
Projected 40 Time: 5.35.
Projected Round (2011): 1-2.
10/8/10: Powe's stock is on the decline this season. He's trying to prove he is a gap-shooting 3-technique. Instead, his coaching staff should let him be an immoveable object at the line of scrimmage. Powe needs to play with more power and be an anchor on the line.
5/8/10: The top nose tackle in the 2011 NFL Draft, Jerrell Powe collected 12 TFL and two sacks in 2009, earning All-SEC Second Team honors.
3. Free safety: your choice
Do this draft and add Franklin from SF or Pat Williams from Minny and this team would be tougher immediately and the secondary could use a vet CB like Champ Bailey to help out the young CB's.
This defense would automatically look better.
It would also stop teams from calling QB sneaks on 4th and 1. From there own 38 yd line with 8 mins left in the game. It was sad to see Garrard gain 4 yds on the sneak.
This is just another sign that the quick penetrating type DT that Kubes loves doesn't work in the NFL. Where's the beef on the interior DL?
The Texans have NEVER done anything worthy of gaining respect from the national media.
Talking heads pick them at the beginning of seasons because of stats, but not because the franchise has actually accomplished anything noteworthy on the gridiron. ONE friggin' winning season in 8 years is nothing to hang a hat on, and to be quiet honest, it is sad and pathetic.
It is time to see things for what they really are, not what we want or wish them to be. Our team is "that" team in the NFL now, the one that the Saints and Bucs used to be years ago. Year after year of mediocrity and what ifs, but not much else.
Talking heads pick them at the beginning of seasons because of stats, but not because the franchise has actually accomplished anything noteworthy on the gridiron. ONE friggin' winning season in 8 years is nothing to hang a hat on, and to be quiet honest, it is sad and pathetic.
It is time to see things for what they really are, not what we want or wish them to be. Our team is "that" team in the NFL now, the one that the Saints and Bucs used to be years ago. Year after year of mediocrity and what ifs, but not much else.
houstonspartan
All Pro
Thing is, there is WAAAAAAAY too much parity in the NFL for any team to be THAT team year after year. No excuses.
I agree completely. When you see a team like the Saints get the no. 2 overall pick after the Texans in 2006, and then not only make the playoffs but win a championship, it is obvious that all kinds of wrongs are going down in Houston. We should be a much better team than the one that we are trying to root for right now.
houstonspartan
All Pro
Not to mention that the Saints hired their coach at the same time as we did, have a crappy stadium, have a sneaky, backstabbing owner that was making deals to move the team in secret, a broke-ass city with no jobs and no economy and have had their city destroyed by a massive hurricane.
And yet, amid all of that mess, they STILL managed to consistently make the playoffs and win the Super Bowl.
Over the last few years multiple systems have won at the highelst level a quick review
Saints Aggressive 4-3
Steelers Stunting 3-4 with zone blitz
Giants Aggressive 4-3
Colts 4-3 simple cover 2
Patriots power 3-4
The key is matching personnel and scheme, getting players in the best position to play to execute and play to their strengths and cover the weaknesses as much as possible.
Texas T
Veteran
That's nothing wait until they meet the Texans!!
Mr. White
Retired OLine Coach
Seems like McNair and Casserly were talking about switching to a 4-3 right after Capers got fired. I'm not sure Kubiak had much choice in the matter.
I don't think it's the scheme so much as it is the philosophy. The undersized DT's just don't work. There's plenty of teams that run 4-3's that get a lot better results than ours. The Titans, Eagles, and Giants come to mind.
Also seems like a pretty steep learning curve for switching schemes. The only guy I can think of that was recently successful at it within 1 season is Capers in GB.
Mr. White
Retired OLine Coach
I don't think the defense really needs an overhaul. There's plenty of talented players on that side of the ball.
They just need a DC that knows what the hell he's doing.
Hagar
Drink up yall, its the Texans!
The point people were trying to make was that we shouldn't limit our future coaching possibilities because the prospect comes from a 3-4.
b0ng
Bad Hombre
Broncos in 2009 went from a 4-3 to a 3-4 I think. 2008 was Shanahan as HC and some guy named Slowik as the DC and were dead last running a 4-3. Shanahan was fired, and McDaniels brought in Mike Nolan to install a 3-4 and they were middle of the pack.
I think when the Dolphins switched from Cam Cameron in 2007 to Parcells/Sporano in 2008 they went from a 4-3 to a 3-4.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Tennessee's DT's go 276 lbs and 305 lbs. Philly's are 300 and 322 lbs. The Giants' go 306 and 304 lbs. The Texans are at 285 and 305 lbs. So one "bigger" DT out of eight on the teams mentioned and even he isn't that much bigger.
b0ng
Bad Hombre
If we aren't going to bring in players that are tools, I would certainly hope we don't bring in media personalities with roughly the same qualities.
BattleRedToro
Thread Killer
It also matters where they carry the weight. A guy that is "big in the britches" is harder to move than one that is top heavy.
beerlover
Hall of Fame
Michael Lombardi headed the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns personnel departments and also worked with the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. So what if he is a frequent contributor to NFL Total Access on NFL Network, just waiting for a call I'll bet
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Agreed! Did you happen to watch the Pats Steelers game Sunday night? The Pats showed a 4-3 scheme with Wilfork and Wright and they demolished the Steelers interior a few times. We all know how big Wilfork is and he had no problem pushing the pocket and getting to the QB. I don't buy the "smaller DT's have more speed" crap. Especially this day and age where players are faster and stronger than ever before.
That's for dadgum sure! Heck, every off-season you'd think any DC would research every team in the league on their defensive scheme and come up with different ways to attack an offense. Nah, we just keep rolling the same BS out there every week and say we need to keep working on getting better. Pffft!
nero THE zero
All Pro
What's a "power 3-4"? The only distinction between 3-4 schemes that I'm aware of is the more aggressive LeBeau 3-4 and the less aggressive 3-4 employed by the likes of Wade Phillips and Dom Capers.
Also, I thought the Pats used more of a hybrid scheme?
The Hybrid might be fair, but these differ from Phillips. NE system generally has both really big DLmen and big LBs and with two-gap responsibility from all the linemen.
Phillips uses quite bit of one-gap allowing the lineman to shoot the gaps more where a small NT like Jay Ratcliff can be successful versus having to be the huge Vince Wolfork dude.
Mr. White
Retired OLine Coach
I knew that would happen.
Last year, when people were complaining about how small our O-Line is, they compared TN's O-Line as being bigger. Then someone else posted the weights of their linemen compared to ours and they came out even.
I'll bet it was you.
TexansFanatic
Extremist
I'm with Lombardi.
Somebody please wake me when the Texans become a real NFL franchise and not just some milquetoast facsimile of one.
Somebody please wake me when the Texans become a real NFL franchise and not just some milquetoast facsimile of one.
Porky
Hall of Fame
Seems to me that they have tried to emulate the Colts D as much as any other, and they have failed miserably. Mario is no Freeney. He's probably a better all around DE whereas Freeney is a pass rusher only and is weak against the run, but truth be told when you are talking about playing some of the elite QB's in the game such as Manning twice per year, give me Freeney 10 out of 10 times.
The Colts do give up plenty of yardage and they won't be a top ten scoring D, but they do make big plays with plenty of sacks, and when you think of the Colts D you know their identity - built with extreme speed with high pass rush and disruptivness potential.
What do you think of (besides charmin) when it comes to the Texans D? They are a complete mismash of unidentifable and incompatible parts whose sum is less than the total of the individual components.
I mean if you are going to be a speed defense, go all out and draft guys like Stanford Routt on the back end. Who among the secondary has elite speed? Who among the LB core has elite speed? Sure, we have some instinctivness there, but not blazing speed. OTOH, on the line we have pretty good speed but not enough power.
It's all a freaking mismash of junk. It's like trying to build a corvette using a corvette engine, a rear end from a 73 Pinto and a transmission from an 85 Grand Am and expecting to have it finish first at the speedway.
It has failed miserably as you say, except for the season opener when it succeeded gloriously. What happened to that defense, that effort, those players ?
Actually Freeney isn't that bad against the run, but yea his real strength is as an edge rusher. But some players are outstanding just because they're so great in a single aspect of their game even though the rest of their play is average or even inferior. At corner back, Deon's a Hall-of-Famer because of his extraordianry cover skills in spite of being notoriously aversive to tackling runners.
And what this team needs is Deon-type Dline, that is ones that can really rush the passer even if they're lacking as run-stoppers. I don't know, how much do we miss Barwin or even Bulman ?
I think it's more like building a sherman tank, then taking it to Daytona....It's all a freaking mismash of junk. It's like trying to build a corvette using a corvette engine, a rear end from a 73 Pinto and a transmission from an 85 Grand Am and expecting to have it finish first at the speedway.
This team was built with the express purpose of stopping the run, playing down hill, & getting after the QB. Defensively, the line is built to create gaps for the line backers to flow through & play in the backfield. Mario, Cushing, & our corners were drafted to turn the run back into our LBs.
We need to get back to the aggressive, attacking defense Frank Bush put together last season. Let these guys do what they were brought here to do. Cushing, Pollard, Quin, Jackson, Diles...... they should be running over the RBs on their way to the QB.
Put Wilson to pasture, get Nolan back there, or Allen, keep your CBs facing the QB, let them jump routes, let them make a play, we're getting beat anyway.
Right now, we're backing our LBs up & focusing on stopping the passing game.
I think this is a large part of our problem now. The CBs are playing run first, and then watching the qb and they lost contact with the WR.
I would like to see the CBs play the pass first, and adjust to the run.
What they have been doing is not working. Let the CBs & FS play the pass and the LBs & SS play the run. And Attack! Attack! Attack!!!
Mix things up for Gods sake! Blitz a CB time to time. Send 6 from time to time. More zone run blitzing. Be aggressive and dominate like they did at times last year.
This team just doesn't have the trust in each other this year imo.
But that is not how they were drafted. We drafted Quin & Jackson because of their physicality & their ability, like Dunta, to play the run.
They are not cover corners, they do not have elite speed.
We need to make sure we get pressure on the QB, we did fine last year sending 5 or 6...... we did fine in the second half of the Giants game sending 5 or 6 & the second half of the Skins game.
When we are expecting a short route, a slant, let them play close coverage. If we're sending 5 or 6, let them play close to the line, let them get their hands on the receivers, let them disrupt the timing of the play.
But when they are in long situations, You've got to play them off the line, to cover for their speed. They have to watch the QB, anticipate the routes.... make a play on the ball. The LBs/Safeties who don't go after the QB have got to do the same thing, watch the QB, fill their lanes, play the routes...
Ignore the short routes, and watch the vertical's..... use peripheral vision to watch the route behind you, & adjust to the routes..... make the QB account for you, don't let him throw a streamlined bullet to a receiver, make them use touch, make them wait for a route to open, make them wonder if you can/cannot make a play on the ball.
But they are not doing that, and they are not getting the help over the top they need.