That's what you have to call 3 INT's a punt returner who can't return punts, and a cornerback who can't cover a lick.
Say hello to TJ Yates (not his fault, really) Jacoby Jones (Most overrated player on the Texans roster) and Kareem Jackson (falls down).
It's not really fair to lay this on Yates. He really did as well as you can expect a rookie QB drafted in the 5th round to do. You can say that Jackson and Jones should be deep on the depth chart next year, or off the roster all-together, and if the Texans don't make those positions a priority in the upcoming draft then most of the front office needs to be buried on the decision making depth chart as well.
All in all this was a season Texans' fans should be proud of, not as proud as us 49ers fans are of our season, but proud none-the-less.
Now, it's off to the draft for you. Draft wisely.
And go 49ers
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The night the B(c)S killed College Football
I've heard the arguments for:
1. Alabama was the best team (no doubt)
2. It was a defensive battle. (debatable)
3. We have to protect the regular season. (we didn't)
Here are the arguments against:
1. It's ridiculous to try and determine your championship over a month after the regular season with no games in between.
Only in D-1A College football is this acceptable. OF COURSE the game was sloppy, neither team had played a down in over 30 days. At least under the old system the bowl games were better and everything was over on New Year's Day. (Remember that? Hard to believe those were the good ol' days) At least under the old system you could relocate every TV in your house to the living room (or borrow TV's from your neighbors) and then get sick trying to watch 4 games at once. You also knew that, when this was all over, you could focus totally on the NFL playoffs. You can't say that today.
2. The B(c)S polling is a sham.
When Nick Saban (who had a definite skin in the game) voted his main competition fourth in his final poll, arguably pushing them out of the game and placing his team in, then you know this whole thing is a joke. Never mind that there's no bigger joke in College Football than the Coaches Poll (the Harris poll being the second biggest joke) but it's gotten to the point that they're not even pretending to be straight any longer. The main argument for the B(c)S is that it gives us "number one vs. number two", except that in this case, it didn't. (this is independent of the argument that Alabama was the best team.)
3. The regular season doesn't matter any longer.
One of the arguments for the B(c)S is that it protects the integrity of the regular season, a regular season that many (including me) believe to be among the best in sport. Regular season games in College Football "MATTERS" dammit. At least, that's what we're led to believe. The problem with this argument is that, in this case, it didn't matter one iota. Lest you forget, during the sacred regular season, Alabama LOST...AT HOME, to LSU. They lost and they still ended up in the National Championship Game, despite not winning their own conference. In short, the regular season matters, except then the B(c)S (and ESPN, which feeds the beast) decide it doesn't.
It's not that college football will cease to be watched because Alabama won a championship, that's not the point here. The point is that the system is gamed, broken and produced, for the most part, a bevvy of un-watchable dreck that's far worse than what the old system put out, with just as much controversy, and far less excitement on New Year's Day.
Death to the B(c)S!!! (Roll Tide*)
*Nope, not a 'Bama fan, referring instead to a certain commercial. Congrats to Saban & Co. however, they truly were the best team. Best teams don't always win the championship however. Nor should they.
1. Alabama was the best team (no doubt)
2. It was a defensive battle. (debatable)
3. We have to protect the regular season. (we didn't)
Here are the arguments against:
1. It's ridiculous to try and determine your championship over a month after the regular season with no games in between.
Only in D-1A College football is this acceptable. OF COURSE the game was sloppy, neither team had played a down in over 30 days. At least under the old system the bowl games were better and everything was over on New Year's Day. (Remember that? Hard to believe those were the good ol' days) At least under the old system you could relocate every TV in your house to the living room (or borrow TV's from your neighbors) and then get sick trying to watch 4 games at once. You also knew that, when this was all over, you could focus totally on the NFL playoffs. You can't say that today.
2. The B(c)S polling is a sham.
When Nick Saban (who had a definite skin in the game) voted his main competition fourth in his final poll, arguably pushing them out of the game and placing his team in, then you know this whole thing is a joke. Never mind that there's no bigger joke in College Football than the Coaches Poll (the Harris poll being the second biggest joke) but it's gotten to the point that they're not even pretending to be straight any longer. The main argument for the B(c)S is that it gives us "number one vs. number two", except that in this case, it didn't. (this is independent of the argument that Alabama was the best team.)
3. The regular season doesn't matter any longer.
One of the arguments for the B(c)S is that it protects the integrity of the regular season, a regular season that many (including me) believe to be among the best in sport. Regular season games in College Football "MATTERS" dammit. At least, that's what we're led to believe. The problem with this argument is that, in this case, it didn't matter one iota. Lest you forget, during the sacred regular season, Alabama LOST...AT HOME, to LSU. They lost and they still ended up in the National Championship Game, despite not winning their own conference. In short, the regular season matters, except then the B(c)S (and ESPN, which feeds the beast) decide it doesn't.
It's not that college football will cease to be watched because Alabama won a championship, that's not the point here. The point is that the system is gamed, broken and produced, for the most part, a bevvy of un-watchable dreck that's far worse than what the old system put out, with just as much controversy, and far less excitement on New Year's Day.
Death to the B(c)S!!! (Roll Tide*)
*Nope, not a 'Bama fan, referring instead to a certain commercial. Congrats to Saban & Co. however, they truly were the best team. Best teams don't always win the championship however. Nor should they.
Friday, January 06, 2012
It's more than just the record....
I get that the Chronicle can't help itself. When it comes to pulling for local teams they're the tops. If gushing, not-based-in-reality reporting on local entities (Metro, City Hall, Texans, Astros, Rockets. etc.) was a catagory for a Pulitzer prize then the Chron would lead the nation (instead of, as we all know, holding the dubious honor of being the largest daily to have never won the award*).
That's why this post from Jerome Solomon is so understandable. The Chron HAS to put in that Phillips the Younger would be a good HC, that's what they do. And while it is true that Phillips has an overall winning record as an HC (21 games above .500 at that) the burning image of his HC tenure is the Dallas Cowboys flat out quitting on him in 2009. Add that to the fact that Phillips hasn't performed well in the playoffs, and you have the (accurate) makings of a meme that he's a coach along the lines of Norv Turner. The only difference is, Wade has done a better job of getting to the playoffs, he just seems to not know what to do when he gets there.
Wade has also had the luxury (recently) of taking over teams that were pretty good, and not making them any better, something he CAN do as a Defensive Coordinator. Something he should keep doing as a DC. I do understand the emotional pull for Wade for Bum's sake. That doesn't mean that he's going to be successful in the pilot's chair however, and believe me, there's nothing wrong with the role of head of security for an NFL franchise.
Where I do agree with Solomon is in the curious case of Jeff Fischer. Why this man, who's lifetime coaching record is hovering around .500 is garnering so much attention while good, competent coordinators are left hustling is beyond me. Take Charles Pagano for instance, or Vic Fangio of the 49ers?
What Wade, another DC who's had a good year, needs to remember is this: There's nothing wrong with ending up in the same class as Dick LeBeau. Nothing at all.
That's why this post from Jerome Solomon is so understandable. The Chron HAS to put in that Phillips the Younger would be a good HC, that's what they do. And while it is true that Phillips has an overall winning record as an HC (21 games above .500 at that) the burning image of his HC tenure is the Dallas Cowboys flat out quitting on him in 2009. Add that to the fact that Phillips hasn't performed well in the playoffs, and you have the (accurate) makings of a meme that he's a coach along the lines of Norv Turner. The only difference is, Wade has done a better job of getting to the playoffs, he just seems to not know what to do when he gets there.
Wade has also had the luxury (recently) of taking over teams that were pretty good, and not making them any better, something he CAN do as a Defensive Coordinator. Something he should keep doing as a DC. I do understand the emotional pull for Wade for Bum's sake. That doesn't mean that he's going to be successful in the pilot's chair however, and believe me, there's nothing wrong with the role of head of security for an NFL franchise.
Where I do agree with Solomon is in the curious case of Jeff Fischer. Why this man, who's lifetime coaching record is hovering around .500 is garnering so much attention while good, competent coordinators are left hustling is beyond me. Take Charles Pagano for instance, or Vic Fangio of the 49ers?
What Wade, another DC who's had a good year, needs to remember is this: There's nothing wrong with ending up in the same class as Dick LeBeau. Nothing at all.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
It's official: College Football defense is dead.
Let's have a moment of silence for the dearly departed defenses of College football. At least, any College football outside of the SEC....
(West Virginia routs Clemson in record-setting Orange Bowl, AP via ESPN.com)
The temptation is to take a look at the offenses and simply declare them to be more advanced, with better athletes, but a closer look reveals that defensive fundamentals are poor. The basic skill of tackling is almost non-exsistent these days. There's a temptation to blame ESPN, and SportsCenter, for glorifying the big hit on their amped-up nightly highlight shows, but that's only part of the problem. The real issue is that, in an effort to slow down these hyper-fast offenses, coaches spend more time on scheme then they do on fundamentals. The idea that the players should have learned how to tackle in High School. If you've watched any High School football at all you realize this is a fallacy.
The good news is that there are still teams out there playing good defense. Granted, with the sagging of the OU defense of late, they're mostly in the SEC, but they are there. The bad news is, when these teams square-off, the fans grouse that the score is 9-6, and not 99-66.
While I would have liked to see OSU play LSU in the B(c)S championship, at least you know that there are a couple of schools in this game who understand what it means to wrap-up and tackle. We haven't seen that much anywhere else this bowl season. (As a matter of fact, in the few cases where the scores have been low it's been more about bad offensive play by bad teams than any stellar defensive performances.)
I'm not sure what the answer is totally (better coaching for one, not allowing defenses to watch SportsCenter for two) but until it's found by the rest of America the SEC is going to laugh it's way to championships every year.
Oh, wait...they already are....
(West Virginia routs Clemson in record-setting Orange Bowl, AP via ESPN.com)
The West Virginia Mountaineers were tough to slow down, and only the Discover Orange Bowl mascot could stop Darwin Cook.You read that right. 70-33. Nevermind the 70, there was a time that giving up 33 pts in a bowl game was embarrassing, not to mention a fireable offense for a defensive coordinator.
Geno Smith tied the record for any bowl game with six touchdown passes, and the Mountaineers set a bowl scoring record Wednesday night with their high-powered offense. But safety Cook made the pivotal play by returning a fumble 99 yards for a touchdown to break the game open and help rout Clemson 70-33.
The temptation is to take a look at the offenses and simply declare them to be more advanced, with better athletes, but a closer look reveals that defensive fundamentals are poor. The basic skill of tackling is almost non-exsistent these days. There's a temptation to blame ESPN, and SportsCenter, for glorifying the big hit on their amped-up nightly highlight shows, but that's only part of the problem. The real issue is that, in an effort to slow down these hyper-fast offenses, coaches spend more time on scheme then they do on fundamentals. The idea that the players should have learned how to tackle in High School. If you've watched any High School football at all you realize this is a fallacy.
The good news is that there are still teams out there playing good defense. Granted, with the sagging of the OU defense of late, they're mostly in the SEC, but they are there. The bad news is, when these teams square-off, the fans grouse that the score is 9-6, and not 99-66.
While I would have liked to see OSU play LSU in the B(c)S championship, at least you know that there are a couple of schools in this game who understand what it means to wrap-up and tackle. We haven't seen that much anywhere else this bowl season. (As a matter of fact, in the few cases where the scores have been low it's been more about bad offensive play by bad teams than any stellar defensive performances.)
I'm not sure what the answer is totally (better coaching for one, not allowing defenses to watch SportsCenter for two) but until it's found by the rest of America the SEC is going to laugh it's way to championships every year.
Oh, wait...they already are....
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Hello Bengals....
Since you're coming to Houston....
1. Almost every pundit, talker, blogger (including this one) is going to pick you to win. This is not because we feel you're a better team than the Texans, it's because the Texans have been devastated by injuries at key positions.
2. Yes, everything is bigger in Texas. Order light in restaurants.
3. No, we really don't know what the weather is going to be like. Fortunately, there's a 99.999% chance our expensive retractable roof will be closed.
4. Yes, the turf at Reliant IS that bad. Bring extra tape.
5. No, we don't like John McClain all that much either.
Good luck, you're probably going to beat the Texans, and then lose the next week so there's that.
1. Almost every pundit, talker, blogger (including this one) is going to pick you to win. This is not because we feel you're a better team than the Texans, it's because the Texans have been devastated by injuries at key positions.
2. Yes, everything is bigger in Texas. Order light in restaurants.
3. No, we really don't know what the weather is going to be like. Fortunately, there's a 99.999% chance our expensive retractable roof will be closed.
4. Yes, the turf at Reliant IS that bad. Bring extra tape.
5. No, we don't like John McClain all that much either.
Good luck, you're probably going to beat the Texans, and then lose the next week so there's that.
Texans playoff scenarios
Not who they're going to play, but who they should play in game 1.
Should Yates be the starter? Or should Delhomme?
Do you bench Kareem Jackson?
Who should be the 3rd WR? From what I've seen Jacoby Jones is not the answer.
Was it a mistake by the coaching staff to not try harder to win the last game? Going into the playoffs on. 3 game losing streak is rarely a good idea. A few weeks ago I predicted that the Texans would not win another game this year to finish 10-7 for the year. If they want to prove that prediction wrong I think that how they address the above questions will determine whether they can or no.
Should Yates be the starter? Or should Delhomme?
Do you bench Kareem Jackson?
Who should be the 3rd WR? From what I've seen Jacoby Jones is not the answer.
Was it a mistake by the coaching staff to not try harder to win the last game? Going into the playoffs on. 3 game losing streak is rarely a good idea. A few weeks ago I predicted that the Texans would not win another game this year to finish 10-7 for the year. If they want to prove that prediction wrong I think that how they address the above questions will determine whether they can or no.
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