Even
Kubiak is poo-poo'ing Mario's performance....
In other words, a TE handled Mario Williams...but yet Mario won the battle because he pushed the TE back into Brees. Pfffttt....OK.
Everybody's doing the Spin Dance on Mario. He'll have a game where his man falls down and he gets a sack, and everyone will say "THAT is the Mario we know and love! Hooray! Hooray! Told you so!"
When your HC has to come out and say "Just because he didn't get a sack doesn't mean he's not good" or "He pushed his man back" or "He's getting better each day, he's taking to what they are teaching him" smells of rationalizing.
He doesn't have to be All-World right now, but it would be nice if he wasn't poo-poo'd either. I think every player in the Texans front 7, except Mario and Barwin, have touched or sacked a QB thus far (hyperbole, but go ahead and research it you stat junkies! LOL).
To me, I just don't think Mario is a thinker out there. He's not even a reactor, either. He's going to use his athleticism and try to out-athleticize his man, instead of making his own luck out there like others do. When Antonio Smith was interviewed on the sideline, he broke down every second of that play where he caused Brees to fumble...he set up his blocker, set the dude up to fail, and abused his man mentally and then physically assaulted Brees.
I don't remember seeing Mario take better angles, or figure out a way to out-think his blocker. It's like he uses his athleticism and often benefits from a blocker's blown assignment or some other circumstance (blockers double-teaming the wrong Texans defender, leaving Mario wide open for the sack).
Watch when Mario makes his first play in WP's 3-4 defense...it's going to be like when the USA Women's Soccer Team scored a game-winner off a Wambach header. People will be crying and hugging strangers in the street outside the sports bar. LOL.