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Does the first game change your opinion of how you think the season will go?

Does the first game change your opinion of how you think the season will go?


  • Total voters
    63

gafftop

All Pro
Only reason this team is ever 8-8 or better is because our division sucks.
With BOB and his play calling all games seem to be a coin flip, hence his overall record. If ahead play safe and let the other team catch up.
Games in NFL are very competitive and everything counts. Coaching matters and we will always be on the short end with BOB in charge.
Watson has started his only game this season when he was healthy. As the season goes on he will go downhill health wise thanks to the way this team has been managed.
Did we improve this team any at all this year in the draft? Sure gave up our future for one player but that was in a trade not the draft. Depth is terrible on this team. Maybe make playoffs but then embarrassed in playoffs. No change with current leadership. Such a shame for JJ , Dhop, Watson, and others.
 
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Texansballer74

The Marine
Yes, they are better than last yr and will probably be a 10 win team in yr 2 of a 3 yr rebuild.

Lol I'm sorry but I really don't understand this comment. I mean if we go 8-8 please explain to me, how that's better than 11-5. And please stop with this rebuild stuff. The offense and defense schemes are still the same. The HC/OC and DC are still the same. They are not doing anything remotely different
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
Lol I'm sorry but I really don't understand this comment. I mean if we go 8-8 please explain to me, how that's better than 11-5. And please stop with this rebuild stuff. The offense and defense schemes are still the same. The HC/OC and DC are still the same. They are not doing anything remotely different
Whether you want to admit it or not this team needs to get experience. That's going to take a yr. But they will be a playoff team. I mean This is basically Watson's 2nd season.

I've been consistent throughout.
 

Texansballer74

The Marine
Whether you want to admit it or not this team needs to get experience. That's going to take a yr. But they will be a playoff team. I mean This is basically Watson's 2nd season.

I've been consistent throughout.

Unfortunately that's not how it works. We can try to spin it in whatever direction we dem it to be. But this not a rebuild situation. This team is trying to win right now. The moves we made suggest exactly that. Bill O'Brien is on the hot seat, Crennel seats is on fire and Watt, Joseph and even Hopkins careers are on the line sorta speak. Meaning they wants to win a Superbowl as a Texans right now. But hey keep telling yourself that.
 

Honoring Earl 34

Something Witty !
Unfortunately that's not how it works. We can try to spin it in whatever direction we dem it to be. But this not a rebuild situation. This team is trying to win right now. The moves we made suggest exactly that. Bill O'Brien is on the hot seat, Crennel seats is on fire and Watt, Joseph and even Hopkins careers are on the line sorta speak. Meaning they wants to win a Superbowl as a Texans right now. But hey keep telling yourself that.
You are not being a good teammate right now !

I would think the clear path is doing what the Colts did last year . They started two rookie OL and a rookie LB . By the end of the season the Colts were pretty good . That's what the Texans need to do , IMO .
 

santo

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Unfortunately that's not how it works. We can try to spin it in whatever direction we dem it to be. But this not a rebuild situation. This team is trying to win right now. The moves we made suggest exactly that. Bill O'Brien is on the hot seat, Crennel seats is on fire and Watt, Joseph and even Hopkins careers are on the line sorta speak. Meaning they wants to win a Superbowl as a Texans right now. But hey keep telling yourself that.
If we were in rebuild mode we wouldn't give up the picks we did. I agree that OB wants to win, but what I don't know if Cal has OB on the hot seat. If OB manages to win the division or go 8-8, he'll get another chance when they decide to hire a GM next season.
Crennel may be the scapegoat this time though. lol
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
You are not being a good teammate right now !

I would think the clear path is doing what the Colts did last year . They started two rookie OL and a rookie LB . By the end of the season the Colts were pretty good . That's what the Texans need to do , IMO .
And they would still be a yr away.

Gotta get some experience.
 

gs27

Veteran
After trades I thought we had a 10-6 or 11-5 team and still do. Played one of the top 4 teams in the NFL on the road in one of the toughest places to play. Overall a very well played, disciplined games from both teams. Watson played great, never out of a game with him at QB, but he still holds the ball to long against the blitz. He needs to improve recognizing the blitz and making the adjustments to burn it with hot routes. Offensive line looked better than I anticipated. Huge holes for the running backs and based on the limited time together the pass protection wasn't that awful, more time will improve that. Mercilus had a great game back at playing the jack LB position. If he stays healthy it will be 10+ sack season. I thought defense played decent against the run, had less face palms than the typical game last year. Watt was a non factor but he was at the start of last season also, IMO due to playing very few snaps in preseason. Aaron Colvin was garbage and I'm happy to see him kicked to the curb. I have always thought Phillip Gaines was an underrated corner, may not be a ball hawk but doesn't make mental mistakes.
 

Speedy

Former Yeller Dweller
After trades I thought we had a 10-6 or 11-5 team and still do. Played one of the top 4 teams in the NFL on the road in one of the toughest places to play. Overall a very well played, disciplined games from both teams. Watson played great, never out of a game with him at QB, but he still holds the ball to long against the blitz. He needs to improve recognizing the blitz and making the adjustments to burn it with hot routes. Offensive line looked better than I anticipated. Huge holes for the running backs and based on the limited time together the pass protection wasn't that awful, more time will improve that. Mercilus had a great game back at playing the jack LB position. If he stays healthy it will be 10+ sack season. I thought defense played decent against the run, had less face palms than the typical game last year. Watt was a non factor but he was at the start of last season also, IMO due to playing very few snaps in preseason. Aaron Colvin was garbage and I'm happy to see him kicked to the curb. I have always thought Phillip Gaines was an underrated corner, may not be a ball hawk but doesn't make mental mistakes.

And against a team who has been notoriously bad in their 1st game of the season for the better part of a decade. What do you think Bucs fans were thinking after week 1 last year?

Look, there were positives in this game. One being the quick strike ability they displayed when they retook the lead. Another was though they only made 2 trips to the red zone, they converted both times. The run game showed promise. Nuk is the best in the business.

But at the end of the day, they lose. Some of it is because of issues that have been plaguing them for a while, the OL. The secondary has been on the down trend for a while now, and the pass rush has disappeared. TEs are still not involved in this offense, nor anyone else for that matter. Aside from Nuk (13) and Duke (5), no one else was targeted more than 3 times. And Stills only had that many because of 2 flips to him that went nowhere. And then just the 2 trips to the red zone.

As far as Watson hanging onto the ball, I think that gets a little over hyped as well. Yeah, there are certainly times when Watson doesn't see the whole field and a wide open guy is missed, but there are just as many times when there is absolutely nowhere to go with the ball. Some of these route designs are horrible. For instance, on one sack there were 4 receivers in the pattern. 2 were in close proximity outside the numbers on 1 side of the field, 2 were the same outside the numbers on the other side. Not a single white jersey was between the numbers.

Now Watson should just go ahead and throw the ball away and live for another play a lot of times, but because he's as mobile and elusive as he is, he tries to make something happen with his legs. I'm actually OK with most of those sacks. It's the ones where he has no chance at all because the line gets destroyed that are the problem.

So it's just one game, and losing that game does not give any indication of how that season will go, just as playing tough against a New Orleans on the road is no indication of anything.
 

banned1976

sleeper mode
What is this team's identity under O'Brien? Sixth season and I'm still left wondering what, exactly, O'Brien is trying to build.

#4 is a franchise QB, no doubt about it. Thank Rick Smith for that one.

But what I saw with the lack of consistent protection is just an extension of 2018. Watson is going to get killed every week, and his size/frame will likely not hold up.

And when he's gone, this is maybe a 4-12 team. Maybe.

I'll give it the so-called "benefit of the doubt". First game, great competition, new players. . .but it's got to improve quickly (i.e. coaching!) if this team really wants to contend this season.

And with yet another glaring weakness in the secondary, we will need Watson to win some shootouts. I expect a lot of late game wins & losses.

I thought this was a mediocre team after the Indy playoff blowout, and I still think it's the same now. Hopefully I'm wrong.
They’re the “Almost Team”. That’s what Bill O’Brien said they were when he got here, and what did they do, first game of his 30th season here? They almost beat New Orleans. They almost had a signature win. They almost became the darlings of the NFL.

Is anyone else tired of this? I’d like my team to be the team that overcomes the almost label. Get past mediocrity.
 
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powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
A lot of people thought we had a chance because the Saints dont play well in openers.

What if that was the Saints not playing well and we still lost?
I thought we were doomed to bomb it. I am encouraged. A loss like that could be devastating or galvanizing. I think we'll see the real character of this team rebounding off such a game.

If nothing else I am sold on one thing, Watson.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
A lot of people thought we had a chance because the Saints dont play well in openers.

What if that was the Saints not playing well and we still lost?
A lot of people thought we didn't have a chance because we don't play well in openers.

What if that was us not playing well & we're better in every game this year?
 
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thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
A lot of people thought we had a chance because the Saints dont play well in openers.

What if that was the Saints not playing well and we still lost?
But seriously. I think BO'b & Payton are friends & Payton agreed to spot him 14.
 
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beerlover

Hall of Fame
Ownership doesn’t have winning football pedigree to select best possible talent to run football operations. This a rich family, built company in business world but simply out of their league in entertainment business. Think that’s why more they change more things stay the same.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Ownership doesn’t have winning football pedigree to select best possible talent to run football operations. This a rich family, built company in business world but simply out of their league in entertainment business. Think that’s why more they change more things stay the same.
I don't know.

The NFL has been perfecting football for a very long time. For a group to come in & start competing out of nowhere... I don't know if it could be done better than the Texans have.

Best comparison imo are the last three teams to enter the NFL; Jaguars, Panthers, Browns. Still not as bad as the Browns, still shy of what the Jags & Panthers have achieved.

I'm not saying we should be happy with where the franchise is or that we shouldn't expect better. Only that I don't know that another group of less business savvy, more football oriented people would have done better.

I mean we're basically where every other team who hasn't won a Super Bowl is. Since Jj Watt's been here we've been a perennial play-off team. Just trying to make the next step.
 

TexansBull

Hall of Fame
Ownership doesn’t have winning football pedigree to select best possible talent to run football operations. This a rich family, built company in business world but simply out of their league in entertainment business. Think that’s why more they change more things stay the same.
Meh.

The whole pedigree thing is overstated in my opinion.

When was the last time Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, or Jets won a Super Bowl? Pretty much only the Steelers would have that ownership pedigree. Even the cowboys haven’t been in over 2 decades.

The only constant the last decade and a half has been Brady and Belicheck. Before that the Patriots were fumbling (pun intended) around too.

This is a game of chance and luck sometimes. You may have the right pieces but it doesn’t always fall into place.
 

beerlover

Hall of Fame
my expectations are tempered by ownership. Is that more acceptable, as it relates to this thread and poll results?
 

Corrosion

Idealist
Staff member
my expectations are tempered by ownership. Is that more acceptable, as it relates to this thread and poll results?

If you ask me …. The problem with ownership is that they don't move on from a bad situation until its painfully obvious to everyone and their dog that the situation is untenable and then they wait … another year.

Rick Smith is a good example of that …. it was long since past time for him to go. That guy had a philosophy at QB contrary to the entire league - good enough is good enough. He fought Gary tooth and nail about it , he took how many years and how many Just a guy QB's thru the carousel before he finally broke down and gave us Watson ?

All while the rest of the league knew how important the position was …. and were doing all the could to fix the position.

Its pretty obvious to most that OB isn't the second coming of BeleCheat , or even from the same planet. But Watson keeps pulling enough rabbits out of his hat to end up 9-7 and in the playoffs , saving OB's job and ownership appears content as long as the seats are full.

Year 6 of a 3 year rebuild .... again.
 

Corrosion

Idealist
Staff member
A deep playoff run should save his job. Nothing less.

What's your definition of a deep playoff run ?!

Beat the wildcard team and bow out to either KC or NE in the second round ?

Beat the WC team , beat one of KC / NE in the second round and fall short in the AFC Champ game ?


I don't give an OB coached team much chance of beating KC / NE at their place in the playoffs.
Best case I see is beating a WC team in the opening round and losing in the second round.
That's better than last year , losing to the Dolts in the first round at home …. but not better enough.
 
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powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
What's your definition of a deep playoff run ?!

Beat the wildcard team and bow out to either KC or NE in the second round ?

Beat the WC team , beat one of KC / NE in the second round and fall short in the AFC Champ game ?


I don't give an OB coached team much chance of beating KC / NE at their place in the playoffs.
Best case I see is beating a WC team in the opening round and losing in the second round.
That's better than last year , losing to the Dolts in the first round at home …. but not better enough.
For me it's AFC championship game or bust.
 

sandman

Brexit Advisor
What's your definition of a deep playoff run ?!

Beat the wildcard team and bow out to either KC or NE in the second round ?

Beat the WC team , beat one of KC / NE in the second round and fall short in the AFC Champ game ?


I don't give an OB coached team much chance of beating KC / NE at their place in the playoffs.
Best case I see is beating a WC team in the opening round and losing in the second round.
That's better than last year , losing to the Dolts in the first round at home …. but not better enough.
So if we know that they can’t beat either NE or KC this year on the road, and if they get in the playoffs they will most certainly be faced with one scenario or the other, what does post season success look like this year? Based on what you said above there doesn’t seem to be any success case.
 

powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
So if we know that they can’t beat either NE or KC this year on the road, and if they get in the playoffs they will most certainly be faced with one scenario or the other, what does post season success look like this year? Based on what you said above there doesn’t seem to be any success case.
So what's YOUR definition of success?
 

Corrosion

Idealist
Staff member
So if we know that they can’t beat either NE or KC this year on the road, and if they get in the playoffs they will most certainly be faced with one scenario or the other, what does post season success look like this year? Based on what you said above there doesn’t seem to be any success case.

That's just my opinion …. but a likely outcome and not a terrible one for most teams. But our expectations are higher than that …. we've been there and done that multiple times with this regime.
And doing it again this year seems to lead to doing it again next year.
 
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