Problems in Houston
Well fellow Texans, it has been a season of ups and downs. Sadly the downs are weighing heavy on our hearts right now. The Rams game was about as incomplete of a team effort as we have seen in quite some time. Hopefully the pick 6 by Yates opened eyes enough to see that this team is not better off with him as our leader. I have never been a fan of Yates, even in his playoff win against Cincy. I feel that he is nothing more than a game manager who hopes to not make a mistake. He is too comfortable with 2-3 yards passes all game long and will never take a shot down field. Can Keenum do any better? Only time will tell.I always felt that if this team moved on from Schaub, that Case should be the one to take over. I just like that he is not afraid to look beyond 5 yards to find an open receiver down field. At least in preseason that was what we saw. We all know that regular season is a totally different game with unique blitzes and coverage that is not showcased in preseason. I still would like to see him get an honest shot to play. This week, however, is not the week to judge.
not judge Keenum by what happens this week if he gets his chance. For those that are simply "Texans Fans" and not honest football fans, going to Kansas City and expecting points is an incredibly high expectation. Kansas City holds the #1 position in defense and has the loudest stadium in the world! Really, it does. Just last week Kansas City broke the Guinness World Record for most crowd noise at 137.5 decibels. This lead to repeated penalties and 10 sacks of Terrelle Pryor, who is 10 times more mobile than any QB on the Texans roster. No matter who takes snaps this week will be a sitting duck who won't even be able to hear themselves think. If Keenum takes charge, don't judge his performance from this game alone.
The downside for Keenum and Schaub haters is the fact that Matt's injury doesn't seem as bad as we all thought. He will probably be available for the game following Kansas City. It would take an amazing game and probably a victory of the 6-0 Chiefs to keep Schaub from playing. Me personally, I am fine with that. As much as I like Keenum, I do think we are better off with Matt. Many forget that he is a Pro Bowl MVP and passing yards leader just a few years ago. Does that mean he doesn't have it anymore? I don't think so. If you really pay attention, I don't see QB as our issue as much as I see coaching as our issue. I see our defense as overrated. I see our special teams as a non factor.
JJ Watt held without a tackle. He is far less a factor this year. Coaches see things like this all the time. What do they do? They game plan. Same reason that Cam Newton, RG3 and Kapernick are non effective running the ball this year. Coaches saw it all year last year, and they game plan the following season to not fall victim to those same mistake. The "SWATT" is now a swing and a miss. What happened to the blitz? I was at the Rams game and saw play after play of the LB's dropping back in coverage while rushing only the front line. Bradford had all day to step up in the pocket and throw. Secondary guys can only hold coverage for so long until some one gets open. When there is no pressure on the QB, you're leaving your secondary hanging. Jacoby and Holliday are making plays for other teams while we have no playmakers on special teams. Can anyone tell me what happened to the play action pass?
Schaub was THE BEST play action passer in football, hands down. Over the past few years he has made the play action roll out a staple of his game. I saw Foster gashing the Rams on every run, and I sat there waiting and waiting and waiting.......and then waiting to see Schaub take that roll out and take a shot. Then it never happened. Its beginning to look a lot like the David Carr days when we threw 3 yard passes and had 7 yard runs. Why has something so effective been taken away from our team. We used to run to throw. Now we run to run some more, then throw a 3 yard dump off. Then I see the fresh, young legs of DeAndre Hopkins running 5 yard routes while Andre Johnson is running 30 yards go routes...WHY? Andre is a future hall of fame player, but he is advanced in football years. His skill set and hands make him dangerous over the middle between 7-15 yards. Hopkins in young with leaping ability and huge hands. Why isn't he running the deep routes on a play action? Why aren't we taking down field shots with him?
There are plenty of questions to ask of this coaching staff and I think that is where all of our issues begin. Its not time to player blame, it time to look at the real leadership. Who's calling the plays? Who's drawing up the plays? Who is not maximizing our talent? Hate Schaub all you want. Soon you will hate Yates, then Keenum, and then you will see that they were never the problem. You play base defense and allow opposing teams to build double digit leads. Then force your QB to throw 45-50 passes trying to play catch up and any QB will throw INT's. Get a 10 point lead and stop your entire game plan in hopes that you can hold a lead for 2 more quarters instead of just playing 4 quarters and building your lead. These are the positions our current coach puts our team in. Then we blame them for following Conservative Kub's plan. Take whatever side you want, but I've seen this episode with Conservative Kubiak before, and I don't like this re-run.
