Given that
A Case for Defense and a Win in Kansas City, Fred Davis, CBS Radio Houston
Now, a lot of folks are pointing out the fact the Chiefs defense is leading the lead in takeaways – +12 and sacks -31 – and are coming off a performance in which they sacked Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor 10 times. And he’s a mobile quarterback.
And sure, if you planned on having any QB, mobile or not, sit back in the pocked with a suspect offensive line and no legit weapons running or catching the ball, yeah, he’s going to get beat up.
Luckily for the Texans, they’re not the Raiders. See, lost in all this debacle of a four-game losing streak is this team still has good players. The defense still has guys that can get the job done, they’re just not. The offense still has guys that can get the job done, they’re just not. I’d like to think this team has coaches that can get the job done – and you guessed it – they’re just not.
Emphasis mine.
Thinking your team has superior talent/coaching/organization in comparison to the rest of the league is a folly made by many fans. In College Football we call them Pollyannas, people who always have an over-optimistic outlook despite facts to the contrary. It's not wrong to say that this Texans team has some talent. It does. But to say that they are markedly higher than the Raiders in terms of overall talent is laughable.
Make no mistake, the Texans best players are a step higher than the Raiders best. JJ Watt is one of the best, if not the best, defensive linemen in the game, Andre Johnson (even though he's declining) is still better than any receiver the Raiders can trot out every Sunday and Arian Foster is a better back than Darren McFadden however, if the latter could stay healthy I'd wager it was a much more even proposition.
As proof of case Fred Davis highlights the struggles of Terrelle Pryor last week against the Chiefs. The problem with this is, we haven't seen the Texans play the Chiefs as of yet and there's little reason to believe this untalented and deteriorating offensive line is going to fare much better against what is turning out to be one of the better defenses in the League. I would argue that the Raiders are only slightly behind the Texans in several areas, and possibly better off (mainly due to youth) in others.
Quarterback: Say what you will about Terrelle Pryor, he's at least showing development while MattSchaub/TJYates/CaseKeenum are really just carbon copies of the same guy. Yes, Yates has a better arm and Keenum is more mobile, but none of them are, now, considered to be a franchise quarterback. As a matter of fact, it's probable that the Raiders have found their QB of the future while the Texans are probably going to be getting theirs in next year's draft. Advantage: Raiders
Running Back: Arian Foster has been a serviceable NFL running back with flashes of greatness. Unfortunately, until last week, his production has been declining since its peak during the 10- 6 2011 season. Darren McFadden is a talented back who can't stay healthy. Ben Tate is a young backup (who will be leaving the team as a FA after this season) with a hard running style and a fumbling problem, Rashad Jennings is a veteran with speed. At fullback Marcel Reece is far superior to Jones Advantage: Texans
Wide Receiver: The Texans have a declining Andre Johnson, who is still a quality #1, an unproven Hopkins and....not much. The Raider's receivers are young, and have some talent but haven't proven anything as of yet. Advantage: Texans (but not by much)
Tight End: Even with the injury of Owen Daniels the Texans win here by default. The Raiders don't use the TE much because they're not that good. Advantage: Texans
Offensive Line: The Texans have LT Duane Brown, the Raiders have LT Jared Veldheer. You haven't heard much from Veldheer but he's one of the League's best young LT's. The Raiders also have young LG Bergstrom and the talented Lucas Nix backing him up. Wade Smith for the Texans is a competent LG. At Center the Raiders have Stefan Wisniewski, who is one of the premier young Centers in the League, the Texans have Chris Meyers, who is serviceable, but undersized and getting long in the tooth. On the right side of the OL the Raiders take the advantage with former Texan Mike Brisel starting and the aforementioned Nix backing him up the Texans have the blah combo of Brandon and Cody White. At LT the Raiders have the clear advantage, with veteran Khalif Barnes and rookie Menalik Watson being far superior to the Texans mess of Derek Newton and Andrew Gardner. Advantage: Raiders
Defensive Line: The Raiders have a solid quartet of Lamarr Houston, Andre Carter, Vance Walker and Pat Sims although their depth is questionable at best. The Texans have the incredible JJ Watt and two guys, Earl Mitchell and Antonio Smith. They have almost zero depth at this position, although Jared Crick has shown some promise. Advantage: Texans (only because of Watt)
Linebackers: This area is a need for both teams, although the Raiders have good OLB's in their 4-3 in Kevin Burnett (very underrated) and Sio Moore (very talented). Nick Roach at Middle LB is just a fill in until they can find their long-term solution. The Texans have Brian Cushing, and a bunch of guys. Whitney Mercilus is talked up by the Rah! Rah! HSM but has yet to perform, Brooks Reed is a space filler, and Joe Mays was brought in because no one on the remaining roster is really an NFL caliber starter. Advantage: Raiders
Defensive Backs: DJ Hayden and Tracy Porter are a serviceable tandem as are Jonathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson. The back-ups are a push, nothing special. At safety Tyvon Branch and Charles Woodson are far superior to a declining Daniel Manning and a totally spent Ed Reed. Usamah Young and Brandian Ross are far superior in the backup roles to Shiloah Keo (who shouldn't be on an NFL two-deep at S and Eddie Pleasant. Advantage: Raiders
Special Teams: Quickly, Sea-Bass is better than Bullock, Lechler is better than Marquette. The Raiders(by default) have a better kick return and coverage team. Advantage: Raiders
My point here is, when you look at the talent across the board, the Texans are not head and shoulders above other teams whose records indicate they're at the same level. The holes in talent for this Texans team have been apparent since the end of the 2011 season. Each of the last two seasons the Texans have gotten worse, not better in terms of overall talent on their roster, there’s no escaping that fact. The right side of their offensive line is a shambles, the QB position needs to be revamped, and most of their good players (with the notable exception of JJ Watt) are either in decline (Manning, Joseph, Schaub, and Johnson) or inconsistent (Cushing who, if he continues to have a bad season, will have more bad [3] than good [2]). It's one thing to have optimism, but it's another thing to misrepresent the talent level of the team entirely. I understand that you're around these guys and crave access, but you still have a job to do and that job is accurately reporting the current state of the team to the fan base.
The fact is that GM Rick Smith has done a terrible job navigating the modern salary cap, has overpaid for positions where you don't need to overpay, has been hit-or-miss on draft day, and has made some questionable free agent decisions given a limited budget.
This is not to say that it’s wrong to suggest that the Texans can go into Arrowhead and win the game. But it’s dishonest to say that the Texans have some type of talent advantage over a team that just got manhandled by what is turning into one of the league’s best defenses. Can the Texans win? Yes, if they execute, stop turning the ball over and find some plays to replace the play-action and bootleg plays that are no longer working in their offense. Should they walk in there thinking that they’re going to out-talent the Chiefs? Uhh…No.
And that’s what’s wrong with the Rah! Rah! Houston Sports Media, for some reason they’re reporting on this team like it’s something it was, only briefly, in 2011 before Schaub went down: a Super Bowl contender. Until they prove otherwise it would be wise to question some of the talent decisions. That’s not going to happen in this town.
