That's probably fair. Divisive was a poor choice of words.
I guess it is more holistic than that. I guess O'Brien is the divisive one and Watson is a proxy pawn in the argument.
Admittedly, I'm far less knowledgeable than you guys, so I can't really see what you people see.
I think the Texans are still good. I'm not sure much has changed since before the Baltimore game. People were still picking either Lamar or Russ for MVP while recognizing DW4 had an outside shot. A lot of people thought Baltimore was going to win, and was the better team. Which I think we're both accurate. Nobody foresaw what happened, but realistically speaking, not much has changed.
The Texans probably still win the division, DW4 is still outstanding, the three seed can still happen, so it does not seem all gloom and Doom to me. The Texans are still a good football team who if DW4 gets rolling can beat almost anybody.
To be a champion in football it takes more than just a franchise QB. It takes more than just all pro players. It takes more than X's and O's. In football the head coach is directly responsible to the winning and losing of a team. In no other sport is communication and understanding more vital. Even lady luck will pop in to see how everyone is doing- she's part of the game too!, your last championship run was filled with those type of moments yeah? You guys have a phenomenal coach, who isn't afraid to shake things up and do what is best FOR THE TEAM, and that included scrapping the old offensive system and players, with a new approach that is more suited to the modern game and which will continue to make that team relevant for the foreseeable future. We have a coach who will get mad and emotional and send away one of the best defensive players on the team because they couldn't agree on figures FOR NEXT YEAR!!! How bad does that look now? Just dumped Clowney because he was mad. He'll waste the next 2 drafts building up his current offense, then he'll throw Romeo Crennel a bone with reclamation projects and players with "untapped potential" but in reality they are just JAGS and everyone wonders why the defense is so bad.
See you guys also had an outstanding (and IMO probably the best GMs in football while he was on staff) with Ozzie. Harbaugh and Newsome worked great together and built the foundation of the current team and it has continued with DeCosta, and its noticeable with the product they put on the field (only 7 losing seasons in the 22 year team history). The Baltimore Ravens have a culture. Bill O'Brien got his buddy Brian Gaine hired, only to get him fired a few months later and assume the GM role himself. Players bad mouth OBrien on their way out, I don't seem to hear too much about that when it involves Baltimore. They treat their players well, and they put them in situations to be successful so that everybody thrives and flourishes.
O'Brien thinks he has a "system", but I fail to understand what the identity of his team is after 6 years. Proponents will say he was hamstrung with a rogue GM, and that he never had any talent in the first place to be successful and that all the mistakes he makes during a game are commonplace throughout the league and basically Texan fans should be happy with what they have, you know celebrating division titles and moral victories and that our system "is just like the Patriots" but nothing could be further from the truth.
"Hope springs eternal" and I can totally see being a Raven fan, having the pieces in place to make noise and having the requisite managers in place to turn a vision into a reality. Its a constantly morphing ideology that changes and changes until you settle in on what works with the players and coaches you have. OBriens system does not change. It doesn't mold and adapt to constantly changing defensive tendency, it wants the defense to adapt to it! Problem is nobody is really scared of the Houston offense are they? I mean not until Deshaun Watson came along, and most of that stems from the unknown X FACTOR quality he brings, and how many of the highlights he creates come from unscripted and broken plays.
You can shut down a Bill O'Brien offense by running a 4 shell since most of the passing will be attempted downfield, they hardly incorporate the TE's or RBs into the game plan and don't know what to do when a defense blitzes apparently - its just a clunky, artifact of a system. An infusion of talent on the offensive line has created some more opportunity for increased output in the run game, for an increased ability to keep the QB upright and it doesn't take an air raid or EP or WCO or anything to be successful if your QB can analyze the field and deliver appropriately. O'Brien has been tabbed in several categories as having developed a pattern for certain running plays on certain downs, certain passing plays on certain downs, and I'm not sure he's embraced the analytics movement and how it can help you fashion and tailor a better method of execution and information distribution to all the division heads. I know that Harbaugh and the Ravens place a good deal of value and importance to the analytics side of things.
Watson has his warts, he has a hero gene that needs to be stroked a few times a game, sometimes he does things that makes you wonder if he's human, sometimes he does things that make you wonder if he has a brain. I'll take the hope that HE brings when he's on the field.
we MIGHT make the playoffs again, we MIGHT win the first game, but that is the extent of the expectations here, Obriens fans will say its because he doesn't have enough talent, or the injury bug or this or that, but at the end of the game Bill O'Brien just isn't built to be a champion coach. He fades on the sidelines, his authoritative style of coaching isnt for everyone and he mortgaged the future of the team to save his own ass and had the nerve to say it was an "all in year". While you guys nab players like Marcus Peters for 5th round picks, O'Brien thinks he can turn Gareon Conley into a similar player and doesnt mind giving up a 3rd rounder for him. See the disconnect there?
Its time Texan fans. Its time.