Whose Idea Was It?

[NBT]

What an absolutely positively ignorant, outright stupid idea, to put Petey Faggins on 4.3, 6-6, 230 lb Calvin Johnson when we had Detroit backedup into their own endzone? Of course Bennett was in for the next series and was on Johnson from then on.

What does it take to get Kubiak to wakeup to the fact that our defense is never going to play any better than today with Richard Smith as the DC? After the half we just closed up like a clam on defense.

[kravix]

Having Faggins lined up on him didnt bother me so much, it was the fact that there was zero safety support because they bit the run so hard they need to go see the dentist this week.

I dont know what was worse, the fact that Johnson had 150+ yards on us or the fact that he did it with 2 catches.

[coloradodude]

I don't even know why we have safeties. We don't do safety blitzes and that highlight...one lonely corner all by himself.

[nunusguy]

That simply had to be blown coverage by a Texans DB assigned to give Petey some help in that scenario ? I just can't believe a coaching staff would be so incompetant, really so reckless as to not give him help over top ?

[jppaul]

I think one issue I really have is the lack of pressure on Orlosky against an absolute crap detroit line.

[Big Texas]

That simply had to be blown coverage by a Texans DB assigned to give Petey some help in that scenario ? I just can't believe a coaching staff would be so incompetant, really so reckless as to not give him help over top ?

If that were the case (which I dont think it was) R. Smith should have been chewing someone's ass out on the way to the sideline.

Now that I think of it, he should have been chewing people out all season long. But because he hasn't has led me to believe that it truly has been his incompetent play calling.

[barrett]

If that were the case (which I dont think it was) R. Smith should have been chewing someone's ass out on the way to the sideline.

Now that I think of it, he should have been chewing people out all season long. But because he hasn't has led me to believe that it truly has been his incompetent play calling.

It clearly was the case. We doubled him and paid him all of the attention all day long. He had the one long TD and that was it. It seems fairly obvious they came in not wanting to get beat by him and schemed accordingly. That makes it even worse that both the CB and the S bit on the play fake and were out of position on that play. Of course the CB was Faggins and the S was a Houston Texans safety.

[NBT]

It looked to me like Detroit did a hulluva job of adjusting to what we were doing during halftime, whereas Kubiak just went on with the same 'Ol same O. I think Kubiak just took Detroit too much for granted after that first half we had, and thought we could just merrily rock on with the same offense. Wrong. I blame Kubiak and I am getting a little tired of doing that. He is either overconfident or insecure. I can't figure out which. We do seem to be better at coming from behind than we do holding on to a lead.

[cadams]

Not to defend the coaches too much because I think they got too conservative in the second half, but think about your statement for a second.

It looked to me like Detroit did a hulluva job of adjusting to what we were doing during halftime


Detroit had to adjust, they were getting their butts kicked all over the field.

whereas Kubiak just went on with the same 'Ol same O.

the same 'Ol samd O, worked pretty darn good in the first half. Why should they have made any adjustments. detroit never stopped them the entire first half on offense, and if not for a Schaub fumble they would have scored on every drive they had in the first half. The defense had done a pretty good job in the first half as well. They should not have been making many adjustments at all. If anything you should be down on them for adjusting the gameplan. What they did in the first half was clearly working.

[kravix]

i agree with cadams.

Its the post half adustments and conservative play calling that I didnt like. Not half time adjustments.

Maybe it was the half time adjustments that killed them instead of keeping on with what was working?

[Joshua]

All this talk about going conservative in the second half just didn’t jive with my memory of the game so I looked up the drive chart on the game. Here it is –

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/playbyplay?game_id=29625&displayPage=tab_play_by_play&season=2008&week=REG7

1st drive of 2nd half – pass, run, pass (sack)
2nd drive – pass, run, pass, pass, run, run, pass, pass, run, pass, pass, run (4th down sneak), run, run, pass (TD)
3rd drive – run, pass, run, fumbled snap, run, pass
4th drive - pass, run, run, pass
last drive – all runs

By my count, that’s 14 passing plays and 13 running plays, excluding the final drive. I think this shows pretty clearly that the play calling was still pretty aggressive in the 2nd half, at least up until the final drive (which I think was properly conservative). The difference was the execution (sack, fumbled snap, incompletions, etc.). I don’t think the idea that we played it close to the vest in the 2nd half is accurate.

[papabear]

I don’t think the idea that we played it close to the vest in the 2nd half is accurate.

The players might not have been as intense, but I didn't think offensively the play calling was that bad. I actually wondered why we weren't running more...it worked pretty well in the first half. Kubiak mentioned that the coaches need to stay aggersive....he mentioned himself offensively and Smith Defensively. My own little conspiracy theory is that he was putting a little heat on Smith.

It's harder to judge how aggressive a defensive play-call because it's not as easy to know what the defense was trying to do on a certain play. I saw some blitzing in the first half, but wasn't paying as close of attention in the second half because of the big lead....and the beer.

[cadams]

beer always causes me to have to rewatch the second half at home. for some reason it messes with my recollection of the game.

[NBT]

I don't know, but I think you guys are giving Marinelli's defense too much credit. Maybe Cadams is right, as well as Kravix, that Kubiak gets too conservative when we are ahead like we were.

[papabear]

beer always causes me to have to rewatch the second half at home. for some reason it messes with my recollection of the game.

I usually DVR the home games and watch them again, sober. After a good tailgate, a couple of quarters of drinking beer, and being distracted by the scenery I usually lose my focus at half time.

I forgot to set it this week, and I doubt it is going to be one of the chosen "replay" games.

[Keith]

Maybe Cadams is right, as well as Kravix, that Kubiak gets too conservative when we are ahead like we were.

I'm not sure they got too conservative. Here is the PBP of the Texans' two drives after going up 28-10.

1-10-HOU 33 (:13) 30-A.Green left guard to HOU 35 for 2 yards (55-R.Nece).
END QUARTER 3
2-8-HOU 35 (15:00) 8-M.Schaub pass incomplete short left to 80-A.Johnson (25-B.Kelly).
3-8-HOU 35 (14:55) (Shotgun) 30-A.Green up the middle to HOU 49 for 14 yards (50-E.Sims, 27-D.Bullocks).
1-10-HOU 49 (14:10) 8-M.Schaub FUMBLES (Aborted) at HOU 47, and recovers at HOU 47. 8-M.Schaub to HOU 47 for no gain (75-S.Cody).
2-12-HOU 47 (13:33) 20-S.Slaton left tackle to HOU 46 for -1 yards (75-S.Cody, 99-D.White).
3-13-HOU 46 (12:48) 8-M.Schaub pass short left to 83-K.Walter to 50 for 4 yards (38-R.Robinson, 25-B.Kelly).
4-9- (12:07) 1-M.Turk punts 46 yards to DET 4, Center-48-B.Pittman, downed by HOU-11-A.Davis. (Punt hang time is 4.8 seconds.)

1-10-HOU 22 (11:39) 8-M.Schaub pass deep left to 80-A.Johnson to HOU 40 for 18 yards (28-L.Bodden).
1-10-HOU 40 (10:52) 20-S.Slaton right guard to HOU 45 for 5 yards (78-C.Redding).
2-5-HOU 45 (10:08) 20-S.Slaton right end to HOU 43 for -2 yards (75-S.Cody). DET-78-C.Redding was injured during the play.
3-7-HOU 43 (9:28) (Shotgun) 8-M.Schaub pass incomplete short right to 83-K.Walter.
4-7-HOU 43 (9:20) 1-M.Turk punts 54 yards to DET 3, Center-48-B.Pittman, downed by HOU-28-A.Molden. Penalty on DET-59-A.Lewis, Running Into the Kicker, declined. (Punt hang time is 4.4 seconds.)


I don't see much there overly conservative, other than the (yes, effective) handoff on third down out of the shotgun to Green.

The third and final drive was predictability conservative as they were trying to eat up the clock with Ahman Green runs.


1-10-HOU 26 (4:10) 30-A.Green right guard to HOU 35 for 9 yards (99-D.White, 27-D.Bullocks).
2-1-HOU 35 (3:24) 30-A.Green right guard to HOU 35 for no gain (99-D.White, 55-R.Nece).
3-1-HOU 35 (2:40) 30-A.Green left tackle to HOU 36 for 1 yard (99-D.White, 95-J.DeVries).
Two-Minute Warning
1-10-HOU 36 (2:00) 30-A.Green left tackle to HOU 37 for 1 yard (78-C.Redding).
Timeout #3 by DET at 01:55.
2-9-HOU 37 (1:55) 30-A.Green left tackle to HOU 44 for 7 yards (24-K.Pearson, 35-L.Hicks).
3-2-HOU 44 (1:09) PENALTY on HOU-74-E.Salaam, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at HOU 44 - No Play.
3-7-HOU 39 (1:06) 30-A.Green up the middle to HOU 39 for no gain (50-E.Sims, 79-L.Moore).
Timeout #1 by HOU at 00:20.
4-7-HOU 39 (:20) 1-M.Turk punts 59 yards to DET 2, Center-48-B.Pittman, downed by HOU-11-A.Davis.


Given they ran the clock all the way down to 20 seconds from 4:10, it seems like the conservative approach paid off here, perhaps even moreso had Salaam not been called for the foul start.

The Lions came back mostly because of a lapse in defense (coughCalvinJohnsonisafreakingstudcough), not because the offensive playcalling went into a shell.

[popanot]

Whoever was at fault for not having S help over the top on that play hopefully got a tongue lashing - or worse. I can see a DB getting beat by CJ in that situation, but it was inexcusable for there not to be a Safety in close proximity to tackle or not knock him out of bounds. I mean the Lions were at 2yd line and had to go the whole damn field in order to score. For a coach or player to get fooled or to 'bite' on the run in that instance is just insane. How badly is a running play going to hurt you in that situation? Dumb football, indeed.

[papabear]

Whoever was at fault for not having S help over the top on that play hopefully got a tongue lashing - or worse. I can see a DB getting beat by CJ in that situation, but it was inexcusable for there not to be a Safety in close proximity to tackle or not knock him out of bounds. I mean the Lions were at 2yd line and had to go the whole damn field in order to score. For a coach or player to get fooled or to 'bite' on the run in that instance is just insane. How badly is a running play going to hurt you in that situation? Dumb football, indeed.


Supposedly we were in quarter quarter half coverage...which means he was all Petey's down the sideline. Check the discussion in the comments here...

http://www.atexansblog.com/2008/10/22/richard-smith-and-the-mystery-of-pass-coverage/#comments

[NBT]

If Keith is correct and he probably is, then coach Gibbs needs to get more out of the Olinemen and the RBs during crunch time if we are going to run the clock out. Maybe that is what we are all alluding to.