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1st preseason evaluation

Can't really blame Posey for making catches if he isn't getting targets.

Now if you look at the tape and he is getting no seperation or running wrong routes, then jump on him, but WR is heavily dependent on QB play.
 
powda said:
Possible but it wont be the skins that do it. Think seahawks instead. Keep in mind he was an undrafted free agent every team had a chance at. Grimes MIGHT be picked up; Forsett has no ps eligibility. No way we keep 4 rbs. I need to see more before I form a concrete opinion, but at this point grimes is a rung (or 2) below forsett even if this game displayed otherwise.
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I think you are wrong to think that the texans are going to base their roster decisions on ps eligibility rather than talent.

If they think grimes can help them more he'll be on the team. Who cares that Forsett doesn't have ps eligibility if he isn't who they deem to be the better player.

Makes no sense that they'd risk potentially losing a guy for nothing that they think is a better player than the one they are keeping.
 
eriadoc said:
Also, I don't take anything out of the score, but I sure as hell did not enjoy seeing the team land on 16 points again. It's been far too common a theme the past few years that they go 1 of 4 and land on 16 points.
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After the buzz of seeing actual football again wore off, I've had time to reflect and I have to agree with this.... Missed opportunities. One TD out of FOUR redzone trips is NOT acceptable for a team with SuperBowl dreams dancing in it's collective head. We need to do better. Turnovers from two of our "team leaders" is not acceptable either.

Ball has one week to get his act togethe or we should look for a replacement... a couple of those calls we're suspect so I'll give Vance Joseph a week to work with him.
 
Sad only to see Holliday on returns, hope next week will feature him a bit at WR too.

All in all we're looking ok, but as many others have stated, there are obvious issues. Good thing is, it's preseason so now is the time to identify & fix those issues.
 
Not impressed with Schaub, but he's still rusty I suspect. Yates did a good job, with more time on the field in pre-season I'm not worried if Schaub is injured again. Case and Beck were decent against the other team's wanna bees.

Foster sucks, cut him! LOL. Foster will be fine and dominate this year, not worried about him. Tate is very good. As to the rest, it would appear Grimes stood out in the lot. It makes you wonder if Forset is going to even make the team. But this is only one pre-season game, we got a bit to go.

Lestar Jean and Keshawn Martin looked good enough to make me calm down just a tad about our WR debth problem. But I'm going to keep worring until proven otherwise.

Holliday looked good. He's going to have to really crank it up to make the team as just a return guy though. However, if he can do BOTH punt returns and kickoffs very well, Kubes might keep him around. I'd like to see him get a turn or two at WR though just to check him out.

Defense was impressive against a team they should have been impressive against. Carolina without Cam Newton is barely an NFL team, so they had better have looked good. Secondary is getting better. Well, except for Ball who sucks horribly. That man has worse control of his hands than a horny teen age boy on a date.

Glad to see Bullock make that 52 yarder. I'm pulling for him to make the team.

Over all, I was impressed by Holliday and the offense being able to move the ball between the 20s, but red zone woes just stank. Defense looks good for their first outing. They were killing their QBs. Ball sucks.
 
darnbni99a said:
Ball sucked.
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Yeah, he sucked balls.
rimshot-3.gif


It was the first game so I wasn't expecting much. I was encouraged by the WR group though.
 
Carr Bombed said:
Grimes >>> Forsett

He's stronger, more physical, plays with better leverage, and runs behind his pads. I'd keep him over Forsett. I thought meggett played better as well
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Liked what I saw in Grimes as well,though I think Kubiak will stick with the Vet as the third back. Wonder if Kubes would carry 4 backs and list Grimes as a "FB" and put Megget on the PS...
 
Carr Bombed said:
I'm sorry, you must be confused, because you think I actually give a flying crap about what you think about my assessment. Try not being a ass again.
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Lighten up Francis.

Ball was worked, ticky tack calls but they were still called. Has to step it up but I'm fearful he makes the roster and we'll get picked on. Mercilus looked good, although when dropping into coverage he looked lost. Has to get a better understanding of coverage if he wants to stay on the field more downs.

Grimes was average, taking advantage of a porous Carolina 3rd string defensive front. Butler got worked a few plays, this concerns me. Yates did a good job keeping plays alive. Schaub I didn't see enough of to evaluate, I think he'll be fine.

Arian... I hope he doesn't make this a trend. Things happen but I expect the best from our best.

Keyshawn Martin impressed. Needs to use his body in the endzone but overall a good day.

Jean looked fairly good too.

Brice McCain was hit or miss. We'll see.

Braman!!! Looked awesome on special teams and pursuing the run.

Keo, take a hike.




That's my assessment.
 
Honestly I feel our red zone will improve when Foster is in there. The difference between Tate and Foster last season in the red zone was significant.

Martin and Jean LOOKED GREAT. I was disappointed that Posey saw no reps with the ones.

Matt looked good he just needs more reps and Yates showed improvement (wish Schaub could take Yates mobility)

The defense (starters) looked great and our depth is a strength. Ball needs to be cut today.

Holliday is a BEAST :smiliedance:
 
Rey said:
I thought Matt was ok. He looked worse than he had in the past, but hopefully he gets better with time. Yates was good. I think if schaub is out for some reason we'd be fine. Not sure what to make if Keenum. Beck did some good things but I don't trust him.

Arian needs to not fumble. Tate ran really well. I thought grimes was better than Forsett and meggett, but I'll admit I'm biased. I like him more than those guys.

I didn't notice the fb, but that can be a good thing. I lime Grahm and I think he's going to be a solid player this year.

O line needs some work. Looked good most running plays, but the straight drop back pass blocking needs work.

I thought the we'd played well. I liked Martin. Didn't notice posey. Jean made some plays.

Defensively Kareem looked good. Really good. Looks like a completely different player out there.

I thought mister Alexander played well. Dobbins played well. Didn't notice Brady james, but honestly I don't expect him to be a playmaker.

I thought Harris showed some skills.

Overall, it was pretty much what I expected.
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I thought Matt looked really good out there. Was patient, was accurate. I think the INT was more of a not really wanting to get hit and risk getting hurt during pre season kind of throw. But overall i though Schaub looked about as good as i have ever seen him !
 
I thought the defense looked as good as it did last year, despite Watt's absence.

The offense looked worse. Schaub looked good before he threw the critical interception at the wrong time. Typical. Foster looked worse. The line looked worse.

There were bright spots among various young players but overall, I sense a 2012 season in which the offense will be less productive, but the defense will keep the games close enough for us to have a chance to win.
 
BullBlitz said:
I thought the defense looked as good as it did last year, despite Watt's absence.

The offense looked worse. Schaub looked good before he threw the critical interception at the wrong time. Typical. Foster looked worse. The line looked worse.

There were bright spots among various young players but overall, I sense a 2012 season in which the offense will be less productive, but the defense will keep the games close enough for us to have a chance to win.
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So wait. Because Schaub threw one pick and the Oline only did okay not great in its first game our offense is not as good. No the offense will be fine. You just never seem to see the good in anything.
 
I won't get negative after the first reason game which the Texans dominated. I'll just comment on some of the positives.

Pass rush - If there are two elements that define this team, they are the ZBS and the pass rush. In a year where the Texans will face many top notch passers, it is crucial that the pass rush shines. It did, and i really like how the rush can come from so many places. Creating turnovers from the pass rush will be the key to taking this team to a championship.

TEs - I was concerned about the depth at the position following the loss of Dreessen. But Graham looks ready to step up and Casey loss more comfortable there. Daniel is Daniels. Still think a blocking Tight End would be beneficial. But you can go into the season with this group as a plus.

Yates - TJ looks so comfortable in the offense now. His play action fakes are similar to Schaub's. He seems to know where to go with the ball. Im excited about his potential.

Coaching - i couldn't help noticing how engaged the coaches were, even late in the 4th quarter with the end of the bench. I think they realize there is something special here.
 
Our RB depth is starting to look like the old Broncos where guys that get the scheme always do well.

Alan Ball is horrible! He was consistently bad on the Cowboys and i love that his play is being exposed during preseason. He cannot sub for Jackson and should never be on the field.

Jackson looked pretty good out there, but i will need to see him defend the deep ball.
 
QB: Matt looks like he's back to his old form, just a lil rusty that's all. I have no worries about him. TJ looks like he's in mid-season form. Beck looked alright. But he's a veteran, so looking alright against 3rd stringers isn't quite what you wanna hear. Keenum looks pretty good, he just needed more protection from his line.

RB: Arian had a lil mishap thats all. He's gonna be alright. Everyone has fumbles now and then. Tate looks like Tate. He's no doubt the best second string running back in the league. Forsett looked pretty good. Grimes was great, so come the final cuts, idk if he or Forsett are gonna be sent to the PS. Megget looked not so good for my opinion.

WR: Kevin Walter looks good. He was good in the run blocking game and had a very good route on that pass that he caught. Keshawn, wow, I really like this dude. Has amazing crisp routes and great hands. Maybe the steal of the draft. Jean looked good as well. Had a nice catch down the middle of the field. I didn't really notice Posey that much. Hope to see more of him next week. Iglesias looked great against those scrubs, but then agian, they're scrubs lol. Where was Bryant Johnson??? Was he inactive??

OL: The whole line looked good on run blocking. Where they looked suspect was pass blocking. 1st string o-line had a misshap when they let two guys blow past them on that would be sack but turned interception on Matt Schaub. The second and third string o-line looked horrible on pass protection but good on run protection.

DL: They were just beasting all game. It didn't matter who it was, 1st string, 2nd string, 3rd string. They were just flat out good. I can't really point out someone in particular because they were all good. But if I had to, I would pick DJ Bryant. Dude looked like he was hungry for a spot in 53 man roster. I dont think he will but he'll definetly be PS.

OLB: Man oh man were just down right scary at this position. This position is our strength of the team. The depth is ridiculous. I mean you have a 1st round rookie as your backup! That's crazy! They were just too good for the panthers. Amazing.

ILB: Bradie looked alright. Not really great just alright. He can run and tackle, that's for sure. Mister Alexander looked ok with the 1st string defense. Dobbins was amazing with the second stringers. He was all over the place. I didn't really see that much of that 90 kid.

CB: Joseph was just Joseph. He was locking his receiver like he's suppose to do. Great veteran player and great playmaker as well. Kareem was outstanding in this game. He had a great read on that short pass play which he deflected. McCain was awesome at covering the slot. Ball.....sigh. Let's just say he ain't making the team. Brandon Harris was great. He was knocking balls down and covering pretty good. McMannis was meh. But it's alright, its just the 1st pre-season game.

S: Quinn and Manning were great. They know where to go and where to look. Great safeties. Demps and Keo were great as well and Nolan was great too. All the safeties played great. :)
 
The Medic01 said:
So wait. Because Schaub threw one pick and the Oline only did okay not great in its first game our offense is not as good. No the offense will be fine. You just never seem to see the good in anything.
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The very first thing I noted was that the defense looked good, even without Watt.

If you are going to be critical of others' posts, please improve your comprehension skills.
 
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I know it's preseason, but we are still having issues with our red zone. I'm surprised not that many people are concerned.
 
Lucky said:
I won't get negative after the first reason game which the Texans dominated. I'll just comment on some of the positives.

Pass rush - If there are two elements that define this team, they are the ZBS and the pass rush. In a year where the Texans will face many top notch passers, it is crucial that the pass rush shines. It did, and i really like how the rush can come from so many places. Creating turnovers from the pass rush will be the key to taking this team to a championship.

TEs - I was concerned about the depth at the position following the loss of Dreessen. But Graham looks ready to step up and Casey loss more comfortable there. Daniel is Daniels. Still think a blocking Tight End would be beneficial. But you can go into the season with this group as a plus.

Yates - TJ looks so comfortable in the offense now. His play action fakes are similar to Schaub's. He seems to know where to go with the ball. Im excited about his potential.

Coaching - i couldn't help noticing how engaged the coaches were, even late in the 4th quarter with the end of the bench. I think they realize there is something special here.
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And all of this was without all of our advanced blitz packages. Sure we blitzed but they were fairly simple blitzes at that. And this was without Watt and Cushing, man our D is gonna tear some teams up this season.
 
My thoughts on the red zone woes:

Remember that we had a TD with Yates/Martin but the CB for the Panthers barely nicked the ball (fluke play, actually). That was 6 points right there, but the ball was just an inch too close to the inside and gets deflected.

Red zone issues come and go. One game we struggle with it, the next game we score TDs and blow a team out. One game, a guy like Holliday has a huge TD return and helps out the offense. Every game, someone or some unit out there has to stand out and deliver for us.

We are never out of games, IMO. This offense has a suddenness about it that while it might not always translate into Red Zone production game after game...you can always count on the team to get the job done before the final whistle. Two years ago in Washington is the prime example--We were getting hammered by Donovan McNabb's Redskins and we came back and won the game by forcing OT via a Schaub-AJ hookup on one of the last plays of the 4th quarter. We almost clutched it out in the playoffs vs. Ravens too this past year.

Hell, the Raiders beat us last year on nothing but long-ass field goals by The Janitor. We got nickel and dimed by The Janitor that game, and it still counts as a "W" in the Win-Loss column for the Raiders. However you can get it done is what counts.

Tom Brady came to the sideline this past preseason game vs. the Saints and slammed his helmet down and was entirely put out with his offense. Guys or units have bad outings whether it's preseason or reg season or playoffs.
 
foo82 said:
I know it's preseason, but we are still having issues with our red zone. I'm surprised not that many people are concerned.
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Seems we always have a little trouble with red zone and short yardage situations. I blame the zone blocking system. Not that I would change it(we have to much success between the 20's). When you draft guys for the zone blocking scheme then you spend most of your practices working on zone blocking your going to have some trouble when you just need to pound the ball in short yardage or the field shrinks inside the 10.
 
Lucky said:
Pass rush - If there are two elements that define this team, they are the ZBS and the pass rush. In a year where the Texans will face many top notch passers, it is crucial that the pass rush shines. It did, and i really like how the rush can come from so many places. Creating turnovers from the pass rush will be the key to taking this team to a championship.
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Its pretty obvious the defense is way ahead of the offense (as if you couldnt tell that by practice) but this defense is downright scarry with the depth along the DL and the OLB's. Hard to say which unit is better ... After watching that , Im a bit less concerned about the list of QB's they will have to face ...

Ball should be a gonner in the first round of cuts .... he looked like Petey Faggins out there , had no clue where the ball was on any play in his direction even tho he had decent coverage on most plays.


Martin and Jean both had good games much to our relief .... Posey only had one ball thrown his way that was well off target (by Keenum). I think that was more a product of the team running the ball so often by the time he got on the field , he gets an incomplete.
If they can give that type of production thruout the season , the offense will be fine.

Tate was in beast mode ...

Not worried about Schaub other than him getting hurt. He looked solid enough .... Yates looked really good too. Seemed to go thru his progressions much better than last year tho that wasnt near the calibur defense he was facing late last season and in the playoffs.
 
Lucky said:
Yates - TJ looks so comfortable in the offense now. His play action fakes are similar to Schaub's. He seems to know where to go with the ball. Im excited about his potential.

Coaching - i couldn't help noticing how engaged the coaches were, even late in the 4th quarter with the end of the bench. I think they realize there is something special here.
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Just to follow up on these points a little bit, you can tell how much emphasis the coaching staff puts on footwork when Yates jukes out a referee. Keenum also had a PA rollout that the DE bit on harder than I have ever seen, the guy was following the RB halfway down the field before he realized the play was in another zip code. Partial disclaimer that both the DE and the ref are noobs but its that kind of attention to detail that gives me a lot of confidence in this coaching staff.
 
The Medic01 said:
So wait. Because Schaub threw one pick and the Oline only did okay not great in its first game our offense is not as good. No the offense will be fine. You just never seem to see the good in anything.
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I'm a little more worried about Schaub than I figured I'd be. I didn't like his decision to throw that ball under pressure and when did Gary start smoking crack?
gary said:
I'd think about playing Holiday at RB for a play or two.
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Along the same line, and I'm not sure if a seperate thread is needed for this, but what did yall think of our division rivals play? I was not at all impressed with either the Titans or Kittens in their first game. The Dolts are on TV in about 20 minutes. I expect them to suck even worse.
 
Vinny said:
I'm a little more worried about Schaub than I figured I'd be. I didn't like his decision to throw that ball under pressure and when did Gary start smoking crack?
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Yeah gary needs to step away from the pipe.

I'm going to go the opposite way on Schaub only because of the specific circumstances. Yes it would have been smarter to pull that ball down but the last thing you want is a QB who is scared to let a play develop or take a hit. Seeing him hang in there for the hit after a significant injury shows his attitude is fine. Now he needs to develop the smarts to Manning flop when the play is hopeless.
 
Thorn said:
Along the same line, and I'm not sure if a seperate thread is needed for this, but what did yall think of our division rivals play? I was not at all impressed with either the Titans or Kittens in their first game. The Dolts are on TV in about 20 minutes. I expect them to suck even worse.
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I was surprised at how bad the Titans looked. CJ looked totally spent. Hasselbeck was making some crazy decisions.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
I was surprised at how bad the Titans looked. CJ looked totally spent. Hasselbeck was making some crazy decisions.
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CJ looks done. He got his contract and he will never be the same (perhaps this is wishful thinking...but he doesn't strike me as a high character dude). Titan wr's are awful and their QB play was weak. They looked like an expansion team.
 
speaking of goofy stuff, I hate, HATE, hate the new rule that every turnover is reviewed. They are stopping the flow of the game and reviewing stuff that nobody would question, ever. I've seen fans all over the league booing every time this happens. Fixing stuff that doesn't need fixing is one trait of Commish Roger
 
EllisUnit said:
I thought Matt looked really good out there. Was patient, was accurate. I think the INT was more of a not really wanting to get hit and risk getting hurt during pre season kind of throw. But overall i though Schaub looked about as good as i have ever seen him !
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Gonna disagree with that.

To me he looked like a guy with zero mobility and he knew it. To me it looked like he panicked a little at the slightest sign of pressure.

Now I noted that the o line needs some work on the straight drop back pass pro, but I thought it was clear that Matt was not playing at the same level that he had in the past.

But that's to be expected and I think he will get better as we go a long.

But to me he looked even less mobile in the pocket avoiding pressure and on his roll outs. But it's a little confusing because it also seemed like his balls had more velocity on them than last year.

I'm not concerned with his decision making as much as I am with what looked like to me was even less mobility. He looked like the proverbial "statue in the pocket" to me.

O line is going to need to block better, marts gonna have to learn to go fetal and always be aware of who is coming.
 
Vinny said:
speaking of goofy stuff, I hate, HATE, hate the new rule that every turnover is reviewed. They are stopping the flow of the game and reviewing stuff that nobody would question, ever. I've seen fans all over the league booing every time this happens. Fixing stuff that doesn't need fixing is one trait of Commish Roger
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I agree. I can understand controversial calls but having a review on every turnover is overkill. If there is no question on the turnover then there is no need to review it.
 
GP said:
My thoughts on the red zone woes:

Remember that we had a TD with Yates/Martin but the CB for the Panthers barely nicked the ball (fluke play, actually). That was 6 points right there, but the ball was just an inch too close to the inside and gets deflected.
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Yates also hit Casey on a sweet (albeit risky) throw. That's a pass that Casey can and probably would normally catch.

I'm not worried about red zone offense.

Arian wasn't out there much and he is Mr. Red zone.
 
Rey said:
Yates also hit Casey on a sweet (albeit risky) throw. That's a pass that Casey can and probably would normally catch.

I'm not worried about red zone offense.

Arian wasn't out there much and he is Mr. Red zone.
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You can't always rely on your RB in the RZ.......18 yds vs 9 yds vs 3yds. Somehow, someone is going to have to learn to run and work the fade.........successfully. Last several years, too many forced down the middle (of the EZ) scarey TD attempts.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
You can't always rely on your RB in the RZ.......18 yds vs 9 yds vs 3yds. Somehow, someone is going to have to learn to run and work the fade.........successfully. Last several years, too many forced down the middle (of the EZ) scarey TD attempts.
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Honestly that would be preferable, but I don't think schaub has the arm to be a consistently good red zone passer.

But we've had this red zone problem in the past, but it was before Arian was the rb. I think Arian is good running the ball down there but I also believe he opens up those over the middle passes you don't like because those lb's crowd the LOS to stop him which opens up space behind them.
 
I don't know how good or bad the Ram defense is, but the Colts offense in the first pre-season game of the year looks likes old days when Manning just took them up and down the field. I'm not liking this at all. Frickin' Luck looks good, considering all the dropped balls by his recievers.
 
wolf123 said:
Colts may have 2-3 years in a 25 year period where they don't have an elite QB.... :kitten:
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They got rewarded for being so bad at making a team. They have Payton Manning who single handedly gets them to the playoffs for 10 years straight. Then he leaves then they suck then they just somehow manage to the number 1 overall pick in a year with the best QB prospect since get this. The last QB they picked #1. Some franchises just get lucky. (pun intended)With our two number 1 picks we got David Carr and Mario Williams. One who sucked and the other just a slightly above average player.
 
Rey said:
Honestly that would be preferable, but I don't think schaub has the arm to be a consistently good red zone passer.

But we've had this red zone problem in the past, but it was before Arian was the rb. I think Arian is good running the ball down there but I also believe he opens up those over the middle passes you don't like because those lb's crowd the LOS to stop him which opens up space behind them.
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I certainly can see your point. But those middle EZ passes have had their share of consequences.:handshake:
 
I bet Wade Phillips is scared of Andrew Luck. I can see Wade now, crying and worrying about our matchup problems.

JJ Watt, likewise, is a nervous wreck. His confidence will take a big hit when he lines up opposite Luck.

The whole defense cringes at the idea of trying to stop Andrew Luck.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth...our defense will play hard, and will play especially hard against Andrew Luck. He will not score easily. He will not have a perfect day. The overreaction squad should calm down, IMO.

We have an offense too. We're going to score points too. And all things equal, the Texans defense has the right stuff to rise to the challenge.

Facing a good QB makes you work hard in the reg season because we're going to face great QBs in the post season. It's better than trouncing your divisional foes and then wondering why we crap out in the first or second round of the playoffs.

Challenges make bad teams crumble.

Challenges make good teams better.
 
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