Official Texans vs. Rams Game Thread, 10/13/2013

[WMH]

Looks like we lost D Manning for 6-8 weeks.

[Arky]

Anybody heard Schaub's status? Out a week? 2 weeks or more?

[WMH]

Originally Posted by Arky

Anybody heard Schaub's status? Out a week? 2 weeks or more?

Haven't seen anything. My guess, and I'm pulling this straight out of my arse, Schaub sits this week an is back after the bye. That would likely be the best case scenario.

[cadams]

i am starting to think that the best case scenario is a top 10 pick and taking a qb

[popanot]

Originally Posted by WMH

Looks like we lost D Manning for 6-8 weeks.

no worries. we have ed reed. oye

[BigBull]

Originally Posted by popanot

no worries. we have ed reed. oye

The thought of that makes me want to throw up. They should have resigned GQ.

[Warren]

Kubiak says they'll make a determination on Schaub later in the week.

[HPF Bob]

Saw this and couldn't resist:

Bob McNair has a bumper sticker that says "My other Carr is a Schaub."

[chuck]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Saw this and couldn't resist:

Bob McNair has a bumper sticker that says "My other Carr is a Schaub."

All of this is obviously totally on McNair. I'm not wishing for a Daniel Snyder, you know, I think all current and former Astros fans have seen what can happen when in the ownership a team trades one piece of slime for another piece of slime. But some accountability would be nice every once in a while. Some indication that the owner is interested in winning rather than cashing checks would be nice every once in a while.

I'm afraid what it comes down to is that McNair is another POS Texas fraud of an owner in a long and storied line of them. The only possible way to stop this bullshit is for people to quit paying for it. I somehow don't see that happening in my lifetime.

[HPF Bob]

So what type of owner are you asking for, Chuck? Robert Kraft? Arte Moreno? Mark Cuban? Woody Johnson? Jerry Jones?

My only real knock on McNair is that he's probably too patient but he made changes after the 2-14 disaster in 2005 and maybe he will again after this year's collapse.

I got jumped on earlier when I said I thought perhaps the game had passed by Kubiak and Phillips but maybe now folks understand better what I mean. Kubiak's system no longer surprises anyone and neither does Wade's 3-4 although it hasn't been that awful other than not generating sacks and turnovers.

Signing Ed Reed was a huge mistake And at what point do we start holding Rick Smith accountable?

[BigBull]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

So what type of owner are you asking for, Chuck? Robert Kraft? Arte Moreno? Mark Cuban? Woody Johnson? Jerry Jones?

My only real knock on McNair is that he's probably too patient but he made changes after the 2-14 disaster in 2005 and maybe he will again after this year's collapse.

I got jumped on earlier when I said I thought perhaps the game had passed by Kubiak and Phillips but maybe now folks understand better what I mean. Kubiak's system no longer surprises anyone and neither does Wade's 3-4 although it hasn't been that awful other than not generating sacks and turnovers.

Signing Ed Reed was a huge mistake And at what point do we start holding Rick Smith accountable?

I think you hit the nail on the head about Kubiak's and Wade's systems.

[WMH]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I got jumped on earlier when I said I thought perhaps the game had passed by Kubiak and Phillips but maybe now folks understand better what I mean. Kubiak's system no longer surprises anyone and neither does Wade's 3-4 although it hasn't been that awful other than not generating sacks and turnovers.

What system surprises anyone anymore? I've heard that alot lately, especially since things aren't going as planned, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. Play selection issues, absolutely, but system issues?

The zone read option was the thing last year. How's Kapernick and Wilson doing with that this year? Thier rushing yards are attributed to scrambles, as we saw first hand, and they were damaging.

NFL coaches are smart enough, and spend enough time on it to catch up with everything eventually.

At the end of the day, it comes down to execution, regardless of system. IMO, with the Texans that starts in the trenches, and this is by far our worst Oline play we have seen in the Kubiak era.

Not saying you're wrong, but I just have a hard time throwing my hands up and saying its a system thing, when on just about every goof we have can be lead to poor execution of the play.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by WMH

What system surprises anyone anymore? I've heard that alot lately, especially since things aren't going as planned, but I'm not sure I'm buying it.

The difference to me is that the best QBs in the league are able to read a defense before the snap, make changes if need be, and execute on the play.

Kubiak is limiting his QB's ability to free-style in this manner. I can understand why he may do that with a backup like Yates or someone with just 1-2 years in his playbook, but Schaub has been here since 2007. This is his SEVENTH freaking season with Kubiak! If Schaub hasn't earned the right to audible in Kubiak's offense, then the Texans will never catch any by surprise.

Hard to believe it has been seven years with Kubiak and Schaub... that is a long long time.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by WMH

What system surprises anyone anymore? I've heard that alot lately, especially since things aren't going as planned, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. Play selection issues, absolutely, but system issues?

The zone read option was the thing last year. How's Kapernick and Wilson doing with that this year? Thier rushing yards are attributed to scrambles, as we saw first hand, and they were damaging.

NFL coaches are smart enough, and spend enough time on it to catch up with everything eventually.

At the end of the day, it comes down to execution, regardless of system. IMO, with the Texans that starts in the trenches, and this is by far our worst Oline play we have seen in the Kubiak era.

Not saying you're wrong, but I just have a hard time throwing my hands up and saying its a system thing, when on just about every goof we have can be lead to poor execution of the play.

You answered your own question. You acknowledged that the zone read was a surprise used with success last year. The fact that it isn't successful until the end of time doesn't mean that those teams didn't greatly benefit from it last season.

And I don't generally re-watch the games but it seems like teams are having their backside DEs stay home and play the boot and we don't have an answer for that. So, what was one of our most successful plays and one of the staples of our offense is now rarely called and when it is, it's a disaster (see Seattle). That's a huge system issue when one of the things you predicate your offense around disappears and there's nothing to take its place.

[chuck]

I would take any owner who cares more about winning than anything else and whose mistakes happen because he is trying to win.

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I got jumped on earlier when I said I thought perhaps the game had passed by Kubiak and Phillips but maybe now folks understand better what I mean.

I understood what you meant and agreed totally. Otherwise do you really think I would forfeit an opportunity to give you a hard time about something? My Texans-induced apathy does have its limits, you know.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

My only real knock on McNair is that he's probably too patient but he made changes after the 2-14 disaster in 2005 and maybe he will again after this year's collapse.

Bob, I'm right there with you on your comments about McNair. I still think he's one of the best owners in the NFL and I'm still very grateful that he brought that sports league back to Houston. And eventually when Kubiak needs to go whenever that is, McNair might be a bit too deliberate getting it done but he'll probably make the right move when it happens.

[barrett]

I'd rather have McNair than an owner who wanted to be involved. McNair makes a decision that affects the team once or twice a decade (HC/GM hire/fire). That means a guy with no real football background and no professional training makes a decision twice a decade. Compare that to the Cowboys, Jets, Redskins, etc... where an unqualified guy meddles constantly. Where Woody Johnson sinks a whole season to get a piece of the Tebow media coverage. Where Jerry Jones runs the franchise like its John Madden and dumps obscene contracts on skill positions and never has adequate line play because he is an amateur play acting at GM. Or Washington where the owner will do anything to win except be patient so the team is always re-uppin on the fly and looking for short cuts rather than building.

We may not like the professional decision makers in Houston, but it is better than having some guy with a business sense acting out his whims as a fan because his bank account lets him.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by barrett

We may not like the professional decision makers in Houston, but it is better than having some guy with a business sense acting out his whims as a fan because his bank account lets him.

I don't view it as an either/or proposition.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

I don't view it as an either/or proposition.

I agree with you that they are not entirely mutually exclusive. But I do think owners who value winning first do not truly exist. These are guys who are all about money. That is how they got where they are. They do not throw away money in the name of ideals. They might be willing to spend short term to secure a superbowl, but every owner in the NFL is self serving and business first. They use public money to build stadiums, and then they charge the public for the right to buy tickets in public funded stadiums (PSLs). Owning an NFL team is basically a right to print money (at taxpayer expense).

Now some owners are content to own a franchise and be a part of the club. Clearly Bob McNair values being a "well respected" member of the owners fraternity more than the W/L record of the Texans. I am fine with that. I don't think Bob Kraft is any different. He just made 1 really good hire a decade into his ownership. Same thing with any of the other generally quiet owners who have won superbowls. They keep their head down, collect mountains of cash, and enjoy the perks of being filthy rich.

NFL owners as a group know very little about the game of football and should have nothing to do with game of football decisions. I like the ones who are content to fleece the paying customers on the business end, and not play amateur football "genius".

I don't know of a single NFL owner who is proactive about winning first, but smart enough to let actual professionals make the decisions.

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by Joshua

And I don't generally re-watch the games but it seems like teams are having their backside DEs stay home and play the boot and we don't have an answer for that. So, what was one of our most successful plays and one of the staples of our offense is now rarely called and when it is, it's a disaster (see Seattle). That's a huge system issue when one of the things you predicate your offense around disappears and there's nothing to take its place.

Perhaps teams have made the conscious decision that they would rather have the backside DE or OLB key the bootleg and give Foster/Tate some bigger cutback lanes believeing a 10-yd gallup by the RB is more desirable than a 20-yd pass to AJ crossing against the flow of the play. That sure seems to explain what the Rams were doing. And if any coach has experience defending Kubiak's offense, it's Jeff Fisher.