First, let me get these two things out of the way.
1. Yes, the “pass interference” call on Kevin Walter was terrible, but in no way, shape, or form did the referees cost this team a win today.
2. Yes, the Chris Brown fumble was costly, but what reason do we have to believe that the Texans defense would have stopped Jacksonville when they got the ball back? Neither the referees nor Chris Brown cost us this game.
Now that that’s out of the way, does anyone have any answers here? Is it just me, or did the Texans seem lax and maybe even a little overconfident? If so - WHAT IN THE HELL did they have to be overconfident about going into this game? That’s not a rhetorical question. I’d actually like some feedback on that. Did anyone else get that vibe?
Officially, this defense is worse. Could it be significantly worse?
As much as I want to blame defensive coordinator Frank Bush, the more time that goes by, the more I realize - this defense just doesn’t have any talent outside of a couple of guys. The defensive tackle play is abhorrent. At this point, it honestly won’t surprise me if the Texans use their first TWO picks on DT’s in the next draft… oh, right. Our secondary is awful too. Sigh.
Fred Bennett continues to be terrible.
Only his horrible play can make us pine for Jacques Reeves to return. I don’t know what happened to Fred, but - it happened. I risk getting verbally slapped around by other bloggers and fans here, but I thought we got rid of Petey Faggins.
Nice forced turnover by Dunta Robinson!
Too bad his coverage is still awful, and he was also (still) missing tackles. If only he had some training camp and preseason under his belt.
Pass rush? Bahahahaha!
The Jaguars starting offensive tackles are rookies… but did the Texans even lay a finger on David Garrard today? Opposing teams continue to be able to double and triple-team Mario Williams, because they can literally block the rest of the defensive line with empty paper sacks. I’m just about done rolling my eyes when I hear people call Amobi Okoye a bust. Jethro Franklin couldn’t get much out of him after a strong rookie season, and now renowned D-line coach Bill Kollar can’t get anything out of him (so far). I wouldn’t hire Amobi as a bouncer right now, much less a defensive tackle.
I’m not exactly ready to say “I’m sorry Richard Smith,” but three games in, if the Richard Smith defense looked like crap, the Frank Bush defense looks like garbage. I like that Bush is more aggressive, but so far the result is EVEN WORSE than what we had before.
Something I don’t want to hear anymore:
“If it wasn’t for (insert big play made by the opposition) the defense actually looked pretty good!” The big plays aren’t the exception, they’re the rule. It’s happened three weeks in a row - and it’s happened against three teams that are average-at-best on offense.
What’s with the missed tackles?
This “Swiss Miss” Defense is beyond tiresome… and we haven’t even played a good offensive team yet! Even the hapless (on offense) Raiders have to be licking their chops. Does anyone think the Texans won’t make JaMarcus Russell (the WORST quarterback in the NFL) look like JoeMarcus Montana next week?
So much for the Texans being a great home team.
The Texans haven’t won a game at Reliant since December. After going 6-2 each of the last two years at home, they’ve started 0-2, and if you’re thinking they’ll roll over Oakland, you don’t understand how awful our defense is.
The only thing I can come up with - aside from the obvious ATROCIOUS defense - is that God hates the Houston Texans because Halliburton was the sponsor of Battle Red Day. Is that anything? Who’s going to sponsor the Raiders game? Enron? Al Qaeda?
The obligatory positives…
Steve Slaton looked much better. Matt Schaub looked great for the second game in a row. Jacoby Jones made another big play, and though he’s not getting any chances on returns, he is looking like a legitimate wide receiver. Gary Kubiak managed to win a challenge. Um…
That’s it. That effort isn’t worth another minute of my time.
Loading ...
Sep 27, 2009 at 17:52:40
I thought the defense was incredible. They owned this game from the beginning. Anything we wanted to do, we did. Oh wait, that was the Longhorns….
Sep 27, 2009 at 18:28:56
Again, I agree with ya. I kept saying– What the __ was that? Man, all that red and we are still bleeding!
Sep 27, 2009 at 21:10:45
This is probably completely unfounded, but do you think Dunta might be trying to
“make a play” in order to get a big contract from another team? It’s looking much
more likely he’ll be let go after this season, so he might be saying “screw it” and
trying to add more to his highlight reel.
Sep 27, 2009 at 21:30:21
That was the Red Carpet defense for sure. We wore Battle Red and they danced all
over us. Thank god the zebras stop MJD on the one play or it could have been worse.
Jacoby used to go fast from the get go, now he runs up the middle and slooooows
waaaay doooown on kick offs, which we got to see a lot of by the way. Schaub took
off the 3rd and part of the 4th quarters, right when we needed him. Busing and
Cushing were around the ball, no matter how down field it was, but they were the one
constant factor on defense. go team, .. yea..
Sep 27, 2009 at 21:39:30
@Stevie: Yeah, I think so. It’s far more worth it for him to gamble than to
actually play sound defense. At best, his play has been execrable, which, coupled
with his gambling, will exacerbate his poor showing.
Sep 28, 2009 at 00:01:53
Dude on espn just said
“so the texans win last week at Tennessee, but can’t beat the jags at home….. Go
figure”
I just started laughing. So so sad
Sep 28, 2009 at 00:18:06
Looking back at the draft, you now have to wonder why the Texans would take Connor
Barwin in the second round when he isn’t a starter on the last place Houston Texans
defense. I think the Cushing draft pick was good and he is a starter and he is
contributing. However, why would a team that needs a starting strong safety and
starting nose tackle not make one of those positions a priority instead choosing a
situational pass rusher who at best is two years away from starting. Why would you
take two Tight Ends in the 4th and 5th round when you already have two capable tight
ends in Daniels and Dreessen. Those two rounds could have been the opportunity to
take a speed rushing defensive end who could play on situational passing downs. With
the team lacking defensive talent, you would think the Texans would try to load up
on that side of the ball.
I also think the main problem with the team is lack of discipline from the coaches
and the fact that players aren’t being held accountable for their mistakes on the
field. I thought the hire of Gary Kubiak was a good choice but now I think the
Texans need a coach that is going to discipline and hold the players and coaching
staff accountable and not the players and coaches to get out played and out coached.
I think were getting to the point where a change does need to happen for the
betterment of the team.
Sep 28, 2009 at 00:39:25
Bennett looked good in coverage, but I was watching the game in fits and starts. He
looked terrible tackling, but we’ve always known that was the case.
I think “Battle Red Carpet defense” should just be truncated to “red carpet defense”
or “the red carpet.”
I think we got decent pressure on Garrard, although of course there were no sacks.
Perhaps the run defense is so god-awful that I just say “meh” to complaints about
the pass rush.
Sep 28, 2009 at 00:54:22
@ StevieWonder - I think you’re probably very right on that. I’ve seen him go for
interceptions and rely on the safeties to clean up after him a few times. Granted,
that’s standard practice in some coverages, but it’s pretty risky given who we have
at safety.
JRock - I did the exact same thing last week (looking at the Barwin pick in the
context of the draft). Matt and I were chatting about it, and I pointed out that his
man-crush Sean Smith was still on the board at that time. Smith is now starting CB
for the Dolphins (over Vontae Davis), but even if he didn’t make it at corner, he
had to be a decent safety, right? He’s huge, y’know.
It’s pretty easy to go back and point out things about the draft; three games into
the 2006 season, people were screaming about the Mario Williams pick. So I’d
exercise some caution on the Barwin thing for now, even though it is a somewhat
different case: Kubiak has admitted from jump street that Barwin would be a
situational player.
I’m starting to see more people whose views I find credible calling for Kubiak’s
head. I’m not there yet; for now, my view is that Bush needs to figure out how to
work the clutch on this beast, so to speak. But it’s pretty obvious where the
problems are: the run defense and tackling. That, and Bush isn’t exactly new around
these parts.
MJD also makes a lot of people look like terrible tacklers, for what it’s worth.
Sep 28, 2009 at 01:40:58
I can’t watch Bennett at CB anymore. He is horrendous. He’s getting beat by bad #2 receivers. We need to try him at safety or trade him. He might be good at safety because he was good in that soft zone his rookie year. If we don’t see progress then then we trade/cut him and our other South Carolina CB, Dunta. Then draft a CB and S in the 1st 2 rounds.
Sep 28, 2009 at 07:35:00
i had a feeling they would come out and lose.
it seems like throughout their entire history, they lose after a “big” game.
starting in 2002 with the 19-10 cowboys game, next week they looked horrible. at the end of the 2004 season with a chance at the first 8-8 record, we have a clunker against the browns that started the 2-14 slide in 2005.
it just seems like a given that they always lose after a big win and they always make rookie/backup QBs look like hall of famers when they play us (fitzpatrick of the rams).
i’m really scared about the raiders this week
Sep 28, 2009 at 07:56:09
I knew things were bad when the website was down yesterday… I figured you got so mad that you shut the site down temporarily in anger. :/
Texans are almost as bad as the Redskins…
Sep 28, 2009 at 14:03:42
Our secondary is killing us. The D-line isn’t getting pressure. The team as a whole can’t tackle. We will not be a quality team until we can correct or atleas improve some of these problems. The offense is not the problem. For all the crazies that think Schaub is the problem, you are wrong. Its all defense here.
Sep 28, 2009 at 14:22:01
If the Texans were overconfident against Jax I would say that their problem is not being overconfident but being delusional. They have nothing to be overconfident about. Bennett is atrocious, why he has regressed so much from his rookie season is a mystery. Maybe him and Okoye drank from the same cup or something.
D. Robinson has not played up to his paycheck, hell he has not even played up to 1/2 of his paycheck. He looks as bad as all the others when it comes to tackling.
You know your defense is bad when the opposing teams formula for winning = hand ball to any RB.
Sep 28, 2009 at 22:39:28
Weren’t there a ton of comments on here already? What happened to them? At least one of mine disappeared, haha.
Sep 28, 2009 at 23:20:18
@socctty
Whoa, you’re right. About 7-8 comments disappeared. Thanks for the heads-up. I just copy-pasted them from the confirm emails and changed the author name… should all be there now. Thanks again.
Sep 28, 2009 at 23:21:04
Agree on all your points Chris. We have multiple issues here. Soft and weak don’t come close to capturing the height of our defensive ineptitude.
It was sad to see us get torched time and again on 3rd and passing situations. Even sadder yet is getting burned by running plays on 3rd and long too. On paper our defensive talent is better than last year’s squad so I have a hard time believing that we will be this pathetic for the next 13 games. I keep expecting to see signs of improvement but if they don’t come soon, the point will be moot for this season.
While I wish Schaub were a little quicker on his feet, and our offense has some holes, by far the defense is the biggest concern. To already be speculating on next year’s draft picks is truly depressing. I agree Chris that we need DT over DB but maybe go for one of each with our 1st 2 picks depending on the player pool.
I hope we are preparing for a tough, physical game vs the Raiders because I’m sure that is what they are doing.
Sep 28, 2009 at 23:31:56
I was really hoping that even though it was battle red day I wasn’t going to end up ’seeing red’. I definitely got the overconfidance vibe Chris. Even though Schuab is looking better than last year, that is not making up for the horrible D! There has certainly been enough time to work on this in the offseason. so sad.
Sep 29, 2009 at 05:39:16
I’d buy overconfidence more if this team hadn’t already been “soft” in week 1.
You can emotocast whatever sort of excuse you want on that defense; it’s just not any good. The scheme is brutal and the overall talent to execute it is not there.
Sep 29, 2009 at 10:27:56
“the flannel curtain defense”
we cant lose to oakland, can we…?
Sep 29, 2009 at 12:12:47
Need some rb help in fantasy in exchange for wr
I’m willing to part with v jax, Harvin or Kevin Walter. Also have aad Bradshaw and lj at rb. I know someone could use wr help.
Sep 29, 2009 at 12:25:02
First of all, we probably won’t lose to Oakland. I know everyone assumes that a team with a strong running game will crush us, but walterfootball.com made a very strong point about the reasons for Oakland’s atrociousness: instead of using the best players they have (Michael Bush, Johnny Lee Higgins, Louis Murphy), Al Davis is insisting on flagrant overuse of his recent high draft picks. McFadden has been awful this year but still gets the most touches, and many of JaMarcus Russell’s worst passes have been intended for Darius Heyward-Bey.
If Russell and McFadden combine for 3/4 or more of the team’s offensive touches, then it doesn’t matter how well Richard Seymour plays, we will beat Oakland.
However, I still think this team has taken a step back. Frank Bush does not have the self-confidence to implement a drastically new scheme. It stands to reason that if we don’t have a nose tackle, we should not be shifting our 4-3 defense, and instead should play a traditional front with two 3-techniques. Okam could come in as a nose on three-man rush situations, and I really think it would help our d-line performance as opposed to forcing undersized players to take two blocks and get washed away against the run.
Also, as far as the Connor Barwin signing: that was a value pick, as was James Casey in the fifth. We didn’t draft a starter-caliber safety because Kubiak believed in D-Barb. Turns out that was a huge mistake, but hindsight is 20-20.
The bottom line is that Gary Kubiak and Frank Bush will almost definitely remain for the 2010 season. Kubiak’s contract expires that year, and I have heard that Bob McNair doesn’t like to fire people early. So, once we finish limping through this season with a 6-9 win season, hope that Kubiak tries to make a drastic play to win in ‘10. Or in other words: TRADE UP AND DRAFT ERIC BERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
okay I’m better now.
Sep 29, 2009 at 13:23:34
JoeMarcus Montana - that’s funny.
We owe Richard Smith an apology. He did more with less.
I have always liked Kubiak, because he’s been the best OC this team has ever had. So I won’t say fire him, but he bought one more season by canning Smith. He’d better do something with it.
Sep 29, 2009 at 13:44:20
I swear I have not been drinking
but Warner has a bye and therefore I am forced to start joemarcus Montana against the texans this week in fantasy
lucky you sad schaub
Sep 29, 2009 at 14:13:48
Allen tonight sometime after work I will post a FF thread for us to talk about trades and such. Maybe we can work something out.
Sep 29, 2009 at 16:42:36
Our def. is horrible and somthing needs to be done quick. 1st year head coach w/ a rookie QB. 0 sacks and got run all over. Tenn. is… well Tenn., they are going to get C.Johnson the ball no matter what. I can let that slide. Jax. is another story. A crappy team w/ no players other than MJD, w/ 2 rookie OT and at home. 0 sacks and got run all over. All we had to do is focus on MJD and make them beat us w/ the passing game and we couldn’t even do that. Man we are just snake bit as Houston fans.
Sep 29, 2009 at 22:50:42
I say the Texans should go and trade for shaun rogers. When Motivated he is one of the best nose’s in the game; I would put him in the top 5 in the league. Add the fact that he is unhappy with the browns and the browns being in rebuilding mode. We need a nose tackle to push the pocket. If we do this then we can trade up for berry or mays which would have me and Kyle salivating. I do not know what Kyle thinks about mays but I think both are going to be great players in the NFL. It is sad that we are already talking about the nfl draft, but until the Texans improve the product on the field we have no choice.
Sep 30, 2009 at 11:15:42
According to his review on nfldraftscout.com, Taylor Mays should be a fantastic addition to our secondary. His strength is open-field tackling, closing speed, and run defense (the comparison was to Sean Taylor, who made the Pro Bowl prior to his death mainly by beating the crap out of people in the open field).
A lot of people are down on him for stats, saying why can a 6-2, 230 guy with possible sub-4.3 speed not make more INTs and such, and the site said it was because Pete Carroll has been misusing him as an Ed Reed-like centerfielder. Mays is not Ed Reed. Eric Berry might be Ed Reed, but Mays is not. Mays is more like Polamalu, I think.
However, truth, I don’t know how I feel about Shaun Rogers. The position of 4-3 Nose only requires a guy to be in the 300-310 range if he can actually play as strong as he is. A traditional 0-technique’s job is mainly to clog lanes, not to penetrate to the backfield. This was the problem with Travis Johnson. He was the size of a 4-3 Nose, but played like a 3-4 nose, and so he was terrible.
(Note: This is also why we should under no circumstances draft Terrence Cody, and, if we do, I’m going to clog John McClain’s inbox until he gives up Smith’s e-mail, and then clog HIS inbox with “you dumba–!!!” over and over again)
Sep 30, 2009 at 23:50:55
@Kyle
The only part I kind of disagree with is the 4-3 being 300-310 pounds because it seems like the ones that are successful at it have a fat boy that can collapse the pocket and put heat on the QB. Pat Williams of Minnesota and Albert Haynesworth when he was with Tennessee come to mind as evidence for my conclusion that we need a fat guy. The reason I am against cody is I really think out of all the d tackles he has the most bust potential. As I mentioned before the players that you and I both want will make the most impact for our team.I know suh is not the fat boy that I want and I put Shaun Rogers in the discussion because I think he is the fat guy we need and that will allow us to focus on safety with our first pick. I am glad that there is somebody that has the same man crushes as me, especially you because you up your game for the draft and you are knowledgeable.