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McClain is applying the heat!!

Ibar_Harry

Ibar_Harry

All Pro
Texans should win 7 or else!! 1st time I have seen him on the band wagon. Kind of interesting to see his take on things. He's after someone's xxx. For the 1st time someone from the chronicle is beginning to see the light. They certainly want to put pressure on David, but we will have to see what the good lord brings us. Seems to imply that SD is a certain win or we have some explaining to do.
 
Overall, seems accurate & to the point no excuses just wins. No more moral victories, no more complaints about injurys the Texans need to win their third straight home opener then follow up with a win in Detroit. Yeah I can't disagree with McClain this time, I've listened to him on 610 also. He's taken time to warm up but has become impressed with the Texans just forget about those other NFL teams including the Cowboys & Titans. :thumbup
 
 
If we do happen to lose to the Chargers, I think there's gonna be alot of "there goes the season" sentiments floating around the board. I definitely think our team SHOULD beat the Chargers, but keep things in perspective, it's the first game of the season. If we gameplan for LT and somehow manage to contain him then I think we'll come out with the W. What I'm looking for is for the Texans to finally pull one out without keeping their fans biting their nails to the final second.
 
A4toZ said:
Pretty much sums up what's been said on these boards all off season.
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Not only that, but it reads as a post on the message board (no offense to anyone here). I guess they didn't go over transition sentences at Baylor. McClain has been around forever and has a lot of contacts. As a reporter of news, he's fine. As a feature writer, he's almost unreadable.

I don't know about Capers job being on the line, but I also expect a minimum of 7 wins. Really, 8 wins should be the benchmark. The Texans should finish the '04 season with a winning record at home. I say that because their homefield advantage is among the best in the league. The Texans came up with 2 road victories in each of their 1st 2 seasons. I don't think that 3 wins outside of Reliant is too much to ask for in year 3.

I think the Texans may be better than a .500 team because Dom Capers has been able to get teams to overachieve. And I don't really care if John McClain thinks the Texans have no shot at the playoffs. I'm certain the Capers does and he'll be able to instill that confidence in his team. But regardless of how this season turns out, I don't think this organization gets blown up. That just doesn't seem like Bob McNair's style.
 
Bottle-O-Bud said:
No, but Palmer's job is on the line. Were a third year team and we can't finish near the buttom of the barrel once again.
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If the Texans finish "near the bottom of the barrel" in defense, does Fangio get the hook? I don't care where the team finishes on the yardage list, I just want them to play football to the best of their abilities and win as many games possible. As far as I'm concerned, Palmer gets a clean slate starting the season.
 
Lucky said:
But regardless of how this season turns out, I don't think this organization gets blown up. That just doesn't seem like Bob McNair's style.
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I agree with this. Like Lucky, I also give the players and coaches a clean slate of sorts. Being an expansion team is not easy and they did a fine job with their various limitations. I think that our core is in place and we have been building a scheme for two years now. One bad year is not going to make Casserly want to gut the offensive or defensive schemes.
 
I dont think that Mc Clain has put on too much heat. Win the opener and say 6 or 7 more games and not make the playoffs is not exactly overwhelming. As for always wanting to bag Palmer for the Teams lack of execution based on talent is a cop out. Palmer can mix it up with the best of 'em when he has the talent on the field to execute the (entire) playbook. Those that say Palmer is a conservative play caller are right. (over the last 2yrs.) but look what he has had to work with. Carr hasn't had the time in the pocket to run a wide open offense. You wan't to see Palmers aggresive side look at his run-and-shoot days. The point is Palmer is one of the most expierenced O-coordinators in the league and play calling is always a point of contention among armchair QB's.
 
blockhead83 said:
If we do happen to lose to the Chargers, I think there's gonna be alot of "there goes the season" sentiments floating around the board. I definitely think our team SHOULD beat the Chargers.
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You know whats funny? The same things are being said on the Chargers boards.
From BOLTFAN4LIFE:
Texan won't/can't stop L.T. and that will open up the passing game.They are not that much better than the last time we played and beat them so I don't see them beating us this time round.I see this game as the weakest team we play all season and we better win it
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Check out the full thread at:Chargers Message Board


lol: :rofl:
 
What, you didn't know every team has homers? idonno: If I were a chargers fan I would probably be siding with them as well. Something about knowing the Texans roster so well, and watching them play so often gives me a sense of confidence going into every game, I assume that's the same for some fans of the other teams. After looking at some of the threads on their board, I think there's valid points why each team should win. I still think we're gonna pull this one out though. :)
 
I expect them to think that. But I'd suggest they look a few weeks down the road when they play the Falcons, if they're looking for easy. It's after week 2, so Grant Hill---OOPS, I mean Mike Vick--should be finished for the season by then.

If this team can't stop San Diego's one-horse offense, there WILL be trouble all year. But I think they can and will, if Payne's close to 100 percent and Walker gives it his best. However, I do NOT think this will be a blowout.
 
I disagree with a lot of things John McLain says, but I'll point out only two. John starts his article with: "Now is the time for the longest honeymoon since Jackie Gleason's to end. The Texans should be out of the alibi business."

The Texans have only been in existence (playing games) for two seasons. They are entering the third year of what has widely been reported as a four year plan towards contention. While I expect the Texans to exceed expectations, how in the world could you promote saying the time is NOW. Longest honeymoon? John's C'boys just had 3 years of 5-11. They wasted all that opportunity developing Quincy Carter. They are starting a 41-year-old quarterback (Testeverde), a fired WR (Keyshawn) and a discarded RB (George). If the timetable is NOW for the Texans, it must be yesterday for the C'boys. I hope he is promoting a C'boy fan revolt in Dallas.

Secondly, John McLain ends his article with "After taking baby steps for two seasons ..." Baby steps?

When the Texans beat the C'boys in their first ever game (the first expansion team to do it in approx 40 years, I think), it wasn't baby steps. It was a statement. How did the Browns do in their inaugral, rival game?

When the Texans beat the Dolphins in Miami, to be the first ever expansion team to win it's first two opening games, IN MIAMI, who hadn't lost there in September in ___ (many) years, it wasn't a baby step. It was a statement.

When the Texans went undefeated against all four NFC opponents to come to Reliant (C'boys, Giants, Falcons and Panthers (one of who went to the Superbowl)), it wasn't baby steps. It was a statement.

And when last year the Texans became the first franchise in the history of the NFL to have two rookies (Johnson and Davis) with more than 972 yards (approx?) each, it wasn't baby steps. It was a statement.

No, if the Texans have taken baby steps, I hope that John McLain will clear the STARdust out of his eyes and point out to his readers the bankrupt strategies of the C'boys over their 5-11 'building' years.
 
What does John McClain really know about the Texans? He's too busy following the Titans and the 'boys. ( Oh, he can give his opinion for what it's worth.)
 
They certainly want to put pressure on David
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I wouldn't call "win 7 or else" pressure. I'm sure the players and coaches have their sights set higher than that. With a wink and a nod to the "fire x" goofballs, the pressure inside the locker room is still greater than outside.

btw, I thought the NFL 2004 section in the Chronicle yesterday was very good overall.
 
aj. said:
btw, I thought the NFL 2004 section in the Chronicle yesterday was very good overall.
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Again, I felt John McLain's observations on the Texans were unduly negative. Specifically, under each team, he lists "key departures." For the Titans, that means Eddie George, Jevon Kearse, etc. For San Francisco, it's Terrell Owens, etc. For the Rams, it's Curt Warner, etc. Significant players to the franchise.

In regard to the Texans, I believe the fair way to report the departures is to say "they didn't lose anyone," but added Wade, The Baire, Bruener. Instead, he lists as the first two players, players we picked up during the season, as UFA, to replace injured players and another who (I believe) is out of football.

I think he has an obligation to do more than list additions and deletions, implying it all evens out. He needs to add Texans added more than they lost, not the case with many teams.
 
One thing to keep in mind too about this whole "No more excuses about injuries" thing McLain said is that if (And please don't let this happen again this season) the Texans place another league high number of players on IR then that's simply not an excuse. It's a reality. I have high hopes for the Texans this year just like many of you but I'm not going to ignore reality when I look back over the 2004 season and try to figure out where I think the Texans are in the building process.

This season is the year I start counting their win-loss record as a major factor in how well I think they're doing. For the past two years I've said that starting in 2004 I'm going to be judging them more by wins and losses than moral victorys. If they are one of the teams that gets the injury bug that's the only thing that counters that. If they're playing without their starting defensive line and DD is out getting treatment every week then that's a completely different story. If everyone stays healthy then it's time to start beating people at least 50% of the time.
 
I went back and read McClain's article again and he is pretty much on the mark IMO. He didn't write the headline.

He's saying things that have been said by the majoroty of posters on this board for months. i.e., if they stay healthy there's no reason for them not to win 7 or 8 games, and don't expect playoffs this year. Asked another way, I think the vast majority would agree that 6-10 would be a disappointment if everyone stayed healthy.
 
I agree with McClain. I think the "honeymoon" will be over if we don't win at least 7 games this year.

I also agree that 7-8 wins are realistic and 2005 is the year to expect playoff contention.

As for all of the Palmer bashers, you obviously don't realize that Capers tied his hands to give us a fighting chance in most games. With the front 7 we had on defense last year, we would have had a lot more blowout losses if we had "opened up the playbook". This is pretty much year 1 to evaluate both coordinators IMO. Start evaluating Palmer now and don't hold years 1 and 2 against him. He had a fantastic track record with the Oilers, Patriots and Jaguars.

In all likelihood, if our offense faulters this year it will have a lot more to do with execution since we have all of the elements in place for a successful offense (well except a true #2 WR) .
 
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