Coaching philosophy/approach.
Kubiak promised us many things when he became HC, and one of those was finding ways to put players in situations they could excel at. IMO, he is not doing that. Why?
First, Gary has to coach the Texans from a 'development' stand point and not 'maintenance,' like he would if in Denver. In Denver, the offensive/defensive/special teams schemes were in place so they only required a 'tweak' or two here or there--not so in Houston. Here, we are still in the beginning stages of putting everything together, including schemes/player selection'player development/etc. In other words, we are a long way from being at the 'end' of the playbook like Denver.
Staying that,though, IMO the coaches are teaching more like we were in Denver's 'comfort zone,' and not the 'newbie' the Texans are. Mario is the best example of this--why in the world was he (or anyone else for that matter) thrown 'into the fire' and expected to-not only learn several positions at the same time, but do it with all-pro results. His demeanor on the field reflects that of someone who has been told several different ways to do things in the same scenario, depending on this or that...give me a break, let him learn/excel at one position before expecting him to become 'Superman."...geeezzzzzzzz
Many posters on the board have mentioned 'gelling,' so I don't have to define everything it means. Briefly, though, it is picking a group of starters to play together over a period of time to develope a 'chemistry' that translates into an effective unit on the field. Our issues on this 'concept' in the past were primarily related to the 'how much' time issue, not that playing together was not important.
Now, we have a 'revolving door' approach with the team alternating players and this is most 'telling' with the defensive line--though other positions,IMO, are affected,as well. How does this constant changing of lineman help to develop a 'cohesive' effective unit? It doesn't, and it surely doesn't help a players 'psyching,' and it just creates frustration. Now, if this were a 'veteran' unit, it might work but-obviously-it's not working here.
Cart before the horse? Is that what's happening here? Are the coaches expecting an end result that worked some where else for them, without putting in the time first?
Mental state. Attitude. Our players are human and know how bad their results on the field are, despite 'all' the work they've put in. IMO, it's time for Kubiak to use whatever 'talents' he has to 'find' ways to put our players in 'strength positions,' something he promised to do from the beginning.....
The fans know this is not going to be a 'quick' process to winning but-at the very least- the coaches need to step back and take it one game at a time, with a real 'focus' on player strength at this 'moment'-not 2 or 3 yrs 'down the road.'