This loss is squarely on Kubiak!

[kingh99]

It is not on Kubiak. Close your eyes and imagine this coming from David Carr's lips:

"Coach called the quick out to Andre but when I saw he was covered and I had single coverage on Owen, I pump faked my throw to Andre and hit Owen wide open on the crossing route. It was beautiful."

You'll never read that because David Carr is a pampered yes man who never had to check off in his life much less a football game. And he would have pulled the ball and run before stepping up in the pocket and make a play with his arm and brain.

 

[TK_Gamer]

What do you mean it was a stupid play call? Everyone in the world was expecting the run, and to try to trick and pass, it was a good try. If it would have worked, you wouldnt be saying crap. God i hate people that second guess a play call AFTER the fact. Carr had been doing good all day and he threw A bad pass.

come on dude I know you know footblall better than that, it was a lame call, any coach in the league would say run the ball and force them to burn there time out. you know it. if we were in a drive down the field when the game wasnt on the line, yes, then a pass would have been a good call, but not with 1:48 left and the other team with one time out remaining. I really get tired of people kissing up to kubiak no matter what he does. he is a good coach he has done wonders with carr and the team, but he makes bad play calls because he has never been a head coach and it shows.

 

[TexansFanatic]

This game was so heartbreaking because it revealed something very worrisome about our new head coach.

I really like Kubiak and I was really happy when he was hired. And even though we've lost a lot of games this year, things were beginning to look like they were improving. The new head coach had a great first draft. And even though there have been some dismal displays of football on the field this year, one could still point to positive signs of change.

But this loss does lie squarely on the new head coach and the dreadful playcalling---especially the pass on 3rd and two at the bitter end. And the really sickening thing about it is that it could happen again and again and again.

If the head coach is so obviously the cause of a loss, how can the fans or the players maintain faith that things will every improve under him?

 

[hollywood_texan]

First things first, I am not a West Coast Offense guy.

Having said that, that 3-2 play to seal the game was a classic West Coast Offense play that is high percentage is if you have the right players and there is execution.

I think you guys don't understand the offense. Kubiak ran a play that involves it's two best players in a classis West Coast Offense situation and they didn't come through. By the way, this is why I don't like the West Coast Offense style. But, I don't want to digress into my philosophy.

Back to point though, maybe Kubiak's failure was thinking it could be successful after watching hours and hours of these two practicing that play.

I feel pretty confident that Kubiak labeled that play as a go to play for weeks in that situation. And, I am pretty sure Carr and Johnson weren't surprised when it was called. Furthermore, I suspect Kubiak has sat down with both Carr and Johnson about their opportunity and the failure that resulted.

Clearly, Carr and Johnson do not seem to be on the same page for them to live up to all the money and expectations.

 

[Honoring Earl 34]

It is my opinion that Kubiak put the ball in Carr's hands to win the game . I know running the ball would be the smart move but I guess this was some sort of test . I have to think that Kubiak told Carr to look at AJ ... if its not there look elsewhere , fall down , slide , run , anything , but don't throw a bad pass , keep the clock moving .

Hey Losman and 1st year 6th rd. pick Gradkowski won for their teams ... I guess in time it'll be our day .

 

[TexansFanatic]

I don't mind a quick slant to AJ on third and 2 in the first 58min of the game.....but in the fourth qtr. with the game on the line and the opposing team with only one time out w/under 2min remaining you JUST RUN the freakin ball.8 year old kids playing Madden football know what to do in that situation but our genius of a head coach didn't?I don't care how high of a percentage play that is in the WCO, that 1% chance of failure happened and cost us a hard fought game!!I hope he doesn't make any excuses today and takes some blame on that playcall!!

Right. I understand the concept of the WCO and its high percentage pass plays. Very similar to the Run N Shoot in that regard. But clock management is Football 101. An incomplete pass stops the clock. A run that picks up only 1 yard, or even results in a net loss, keeps the clock running and puts a stranglehold on the opponent.

GETTING THE FIRST DOWN WAS LESS IMPORTANT THAN RUNNING THE CLOCK!!!! HELLOOOOO????

 

[Double Barrel]

We had 188 rushing yards yesterday, so gaining two yards shouldn't have been all that difficult. And even if the Bills stopped us and we had to punt, they'd either lose a bunch of clock or use their last timeout. That's basic clock management.

Putting the game in Carr's hands might have been a test, but I certainly hope that wasn't the case. Seemed more like a coaching brain fart more than anything else to me. Considering Kubiak didn't think our offense could run a two minute drill at the end of the first half just weeks ago, I find the call very odd. I look forward to his answers about this situation.

 

[Ibar_Harry]

You don't stop the clock in this situation.

Football is a strategy game and every action has an equal and opposite reaction...use some FRIGGIN' SOUND FOOTBALL STRATEGY KUBIAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What have I been saying for weeks, Vinny? It really hurts to watch a team play so well and loose it on bone head plays at the end. Some people are gifted when it comes to performing under pressure and some are not. I'm afraid Kubiak, at least right now, doesn't seem to be able to act under pressure. Some would say just like Carr others would say just like Capers. All I know is I have been screaming about poor game management for some time now and being lambasted by a lot of people. Kubiak is a great teacher of the game, but he is not a great game time manager.

 

[Texan_Bill]

What have I been saying for weeks, Vinny? It really hurts to watch a team play so well and loose it on bone head plays at the end. Some people are gifted when it comes to performing under pressure and some are not. I'm afraid Kubiak, at least right now, doesn't seem to be able to act under pressure. Some would say just like Carr others would say just like Capers. All I know is I have been screaming about poor game management for some time now and being lambasted by a lot of people. Kubiak is a great teacher of the game, but he is not a great game time manager.

For the most part I like what Kubaik has done so far, however, we needed to run the ball in that particular situation...... Kubes' bad for sure.

Just curious... I wonder how much responsibility he had as an O coordinator for similar situations. In other words, was yesterday a rookie coaching mistake or can he not get the grasp? I guess we'll find out.

 

[HJam72]

3rd and 2. You have the ball and the lead with under 2 minutes to go (I think it was). This is where you think to yourself:

I have told these guys these times would happen and they knew it anyway. Everybody in the building knows we're going to run it and my players know that too. No tricks. No OUTSMARTING OURSELVES. This is where that word "methodical" comes in. We'll run it whereever we like, but we will run it.

 

[Homer]

Agreed. As far as the call itself, It looked to me that Moulds was open half a step. Not to feed the Carr bashers, just saying. With the three step drop, kinda hard to fault Carr with the choice. A.J is the league leader isn't he ? Don't you want to give the bell cow a chance to redeem his day ? Buffalo corner just had a pro bowl day against us. Seems to be a reoccouring theme though. We go into half time and our offense cannot even generate a feild goal try. I think the rest of the season we can pretty much expect an '05 preformance. The same group equals the same production. And to that thought, it just might be the brain trust realizes this and glad to be up at the half figured our best chance to win was to gaurd the lead. We may not agree with this. But the fact is they know and we don't. We just don't have a very tallented football team right now. Kubes and the coaches gave the players their best chance to win. They can't execute for them.

You can fault Carr with the choice because AJ was covered well all day and if he was going to pass they knew it was going to AJ. Bad play call, should have run.

 

[hollywood_texan]

3rd and 2. You have the ball and the lead with under 2 minutes to go (I think it was). This is where you think to yourself:

I have told these guys these times would happen and they knew it anyway. Everybody in the building knows we're going to run it and my players know that too. No tricks. No OUTSMARTING OURSELVES. This is where that word "methodical" comes in. We'll run it whereever we like, but we will run it.

I have been saying this over and over. It wasn't a bad call considering Kubiak is running the West Coast Offense. Which was one of the points of keeping Carr because he could run that type of offense!

There wasn't a better time to see if the personnel could execute! It was a simple play that should have been automatic between Carr and Johnson.

I feel pretty confident that Carr and AJ have worked on that play since day 1 when Kubiak came in. Furthermore, since they were tearing them up on the ground, it should have led to an easier passing game. I have heard so many times that we do not have a strong passing game because we don't have a strong running game.

As for you comment of running the ball whenever we like to, I don't think that it is the West Coast Offense. It is a balanced attack using a short passing game to take the place of a certain amount of running plays.

The way you guys are railing on this play, I am thinking you liked Caper's play calling, because that is what you are talking about. But, isn't that what the Texans are trying to get away from?

Maybe Kubiak's mistake was thinking Carr and Johnson could get that easy play done. I don't know how many times they run it practice and how well they do it, but I am sure Kubiak had a pretty good idea. This was to see where the offense is and can it be successful running the West Coast Offense. It looks like the answer is no for right now.

 

[Honoring Earl 34]

Would it have been a bad call if Montana was the QB and Rice was the WR ? Carr was picked higher than Joe and AJ was picked higher than Rice .
It was a bad call in a stratigec sense but you have got to find out who wins games .

 

[Runner]

You can fault Carr with the choice because AJ was covered well all day and if he was going to pass they knew it was going to AJ. Bad play call, should have run.

According to Carr's radio show last Monday, the play was double slant routes. The first option was Moulds on the opposite side, but the linebacker filled that lane and Carr went to Dre.

 

[wolfscar]

The highest percentage play was to simply run it for the first. That accomplishes two goals: 1. gives us a reasonable shot at a 1st down... 2. Forces Buffalo to use the final timeout if we don't make it.
The Texans know that and so does Buffalo. Kubiak played against the tendencies thinking they could take advantage of the situation. Unfortunately it didn't work. Let's move on!

Thankyou.

I think 99% of people would agree that 9 times out of 10 you run the ball in that situation, but that's the best time to go the unexpected route. If it works we can run down the clock and we win. If it doesn't work, they have one more timeout to work with. It's not a stonewall bonehead call - it was a play to close out the game and not give them a chance to bring it back down the field. It just didn't work is all.

It wasn't a perfect playcalling game from Kubiak, but how many games see every play working out perfectly? Overall, his calls scored us points, stopped them getting anywhere through 90% of the game and left us within 9 seconds of winning with a team that has two badly beaten-up lines, no FS, crappy OLBs, two inexperienced backup RBs and one CB. If you take out those two long TDs to Evans we were all over them.

That's not bad, all in all.

 

[HJam72]

The biggest issue here is time management. You gain something (making them use their last time-out) by running, even if you fail at getting the first down. You gain nothing if an incompletion is thrown. Sometimes, you have to run the ball, even if the D is expecting it. If we'd had 5 minutes left in the game, I'd have loved that call, or especially if it was 3rd qtr. or something, but we didn't and we needed to burn the clock. It always comes down to "execution", I know, but who wants to hear that word these days?

 

[Roughnecks]

At lease he owned up to it and took the blame who knows maybe he had confidence in the D to step up like the O did the week before.

 

[Maddict5]

The biggest issue here is time management. You gain something (making them use their last time-out) by running, even if you fail at getting the first down. You gain nothing if an incompletion is thrown. Sometimes, you have to run the ball, even if the D is expecting it. If we'd had 5 minutes left in the game, I'd have loved that call, or especially if it was 3rd qtr. or something, but we didn't and we needed to burn the clock. It always comes down to "execution", I know, but who wants to hear that word these days?

we're all geniuses after the event

 

[Maddict5]

You don't stop the clock in this situation.

Football is a strategy game and every action has an equal and opposite reaction...use some FRIGGIN' SOUND FOOTBALL STRATEGY KUBIAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

see above....

you make it sound like kubiak called a spike

ps- if we had run and were stopped im pretty sure you wouldve been whining and making a sarcastic 'great playcalling there' etc...like you always do


you guys are pathetic- ive heard ye ***** sooooo many times about capers predictable, playing not to lose, playcalling but when kubiak plays to win its the same story..... just because it didnt work doesnt mean it was a bad playcall...

 

[NATHANHALE]

At lease he owned up to it and took the blame who knows maybe he had confidence in the D to step up like the O did the week before.

Kubiak doesn't have a problem accepting blame--keeping promises is a different story.

 

[HJam72]

we're all geniuses after the event

Most of us don't need to wait until after.

 

[GNTLEWOLF]

I have to agree that the pass on 3rd and two with that short of time left was a bonehead call. It was a time management mistake.

 

[NATHANHALE]

According to Carr's radio show last Monday, the play was double slant routes. The first option was Moulds on the opposite side, but the linebacker filled that lane and Carr went to Dre.

I may be wrong but didn't AJ have 3 Bills around him? If so, how many Bills would have been on Moulds?

Were we in max protect mode, with both TE's pass blocking along with the RB, leaving just the wide outs in the pattern?

Too, Carr threw 'high' to AJ on the short pass, like he expected AJ to go up after it like a down field jump ball--Kubiak mentioned it was a bad throw, so I'm assuming it should have been a 'laser' type throw.

IMO, this play was an 'accident' waiting to happen--just needing 2 yds, I can't imagine needing to be in max protect and only having 2 choices to throw to--no TE or RB in the pattern?

Like I said earlier, I may be totally 'off base' here--any help?

 

[Bamaborn-Texasbred]

Yeah, Kubiak's dropped balls and fumbles are killing us.

And he can't play corner or safety to save his life.