Nobody gives Houston the raspberry!

On the heels of the Texans beating the Cincinnati  Bengals in a 19-13 snooze-fest you could be granted a pardon for thinking that this weekend's tie against the New England Patriots is going to be the last game of the season the Texan's play.  On the heels of a 42-14 throttling at the hands of the same Patriots this Texans team doesn't look like the same team that went 11-1 (versus mostly inferior competition) and they're hardly storming into Foxborough with momentum on their side.  In a way then, the dust-up between Houston media talkers and what appears to be a sixth-grader with a perm is par for the course in the rapidly diminishing in importance world of professional sports journalism.

Journalism, and sports journalists, love a good controversy, and if there's not one to be found between the teams then they'll take it upon themselves to whip one up whether or not they have any factual basis behind their writing.  I've no doubt that Boston Globe bloviator Dan Shaugnessy has watched a lot of Boston-area sports. I've no doubt that he's been writing inflammatory columns for a long time as well.  I also have no doubt that what he is writing is designed to generate page-views in lieu of honest sports analysis.  Finally, I have no doubt that whatever he decides to write will have little effect on the actual game played on the field.

Let's be honest, it's very easy for me to sit behind my keyboard and say that the Texans have a quarterback problem, that their defensive backfield, despite having better numbers on Saturday, still left wide-receivers too-wide open.  It's easy to say that Tom Brady will not miss the openings that Andy Dalton did.  It's also easy for Shaugnessy to say that Kubiak and co. wet themselves when thinking about Belicheck, it's ridiculous on it's face, but it's easy to say.

The reason these things are easy to say is because there are no repercussions are either of us wrong. Our season isn't over, we don't lose out on our playoff bonuses, and we're running no major risk of a career threatening injury by churning out opinion from time to time. Besides, no one is going to care if our analysis is wrong.  The players and the coaches on the teams however are a different story.  They actually have something on the line and are the ones making the sacrifice.

Because of this it seems wise to keep player criticism to the events on the field.  Don't call out someone's manhood because it's going to be infinitely greater than your own.  For all of Shaugnessy's attempts at humor his little piece really boiled down to nothing more than first grade pee jokes and (no matter who you're rooting for) that really doesn't add anything to the conversation at all.  Oh sure, it might fire up Houston's talk radio and sports writers but, and I can promise you this, I doubt JJ Watt is concerned that Shaugnessy (and Keyshawn Johnson) don't think he's worthy of being the defensive player of the year*.

What JJ is worried about is getting more pressure on Tom Brady in Texans vs New England v 2.0. Gary Kubiak isn't soiling himself thinking about Belicheck, he's (hopefully, if you're a Texans fan) scouring game tape trying to figure out what could work against a team that's clearly better than his right now.

There's a larger point to be made here about the downfall of sports journalism over the years that I truthfully believe needs a full vetting.  At one time fans looked to their sports columnists to provide them with the sober view of what's happening, to sort through the team PR and give them the real scoop.  Today's sport's writers typically feel the need to inject themselves into the story.  We see this with John McClain in Houston all the time.  When he's not reminding us he's on the Hall of Fame committee he's reminding us that he's been doing this for 30+ years.  What Shaugnessy's reminded us of is that he's nothing more than a man who can somewhat turn a phrase but who doesn't have any respect for the players he covers.  The result is equivalent to a 6 year old going "nyah nyah nyah".

While that type of taunt might fire up Houston's sport's media and some of the fan base it's not going to move the needle at all with those who matter, The Texans.  Because of this none of the sound and fury you hear over the coming days will do anything to move the line on the game, it will not get the Patriots one additional yard and it will not change the fact that the Texans need to figure out a way to improve massively on both sides of the ball.

In other words, Shaugnessy has done nothing more than stick his tongue out at recess. It's time for the bell to ring.

The Texans won, Kubiak's a genius so let's all just move on.

Normally, a 19-13 win over the 6th seed in the AFC playoffs would have a team scrambling  to find the answers to what went wrong.  However, these are the 2012-2013 Houston Texans that we're talking about so coming out on the up side of the ugliest playoff game in recent memory is considered a positive. For the fans (who are increasingly booing) and the New England Patriots however the Texans aren't someone to be feared, but just another insignificant something to step over on their journey to the Super Bowl.

If you're a Houston Texans fan(atic) then you're absolutely certain this is the game in which the Texans turn the corner and return to the form that had them at 11-1, and not a signal that we're seeing the same team that lost 3 out of 4 down the stretch to fall from the 1 seed to the 3 seed thus losing the much needed bye week.

If, as am I, you're an interested, although not particularly vested, observer, you see that there are still several problems that need to be answered.

1. Quarterback:  It's becoming increasingly clear that Matt Schaub is an average quarterback instead of the good but not great signal caller that he's been identified as by Houston media. It's pretty clear that the Texans have the defensive talent to make a deep run into the playoffs, but they'll never go very far with Schaub calling the signals.

2. O-line:  Yes, I realize that the line did a good job in this game but the Texans right now are a one-handed rushing team, running only to the left and almost never to the right.  Against fringe playoff teams like the Bengals this is OK, against teams like New England and Denver this is going to be a glaring issue.

3. Kubiak:  The Bengals are a team the Texans should have routed.  That they didn't is testimony to some bad head coaching and play-calling by the Head Coach.  To me, Kubiak is a good to great OC, but a below average head coach.  This will be exposed next week as Belicheck and Co. out-coach him  again.

None of this means that the Texans can't win next week in New England, but it does mean that they have several deficiencies heading into the game that place them at a disadvantage before the game even starts. The fact is there's a bigger talent gap between New England and the Texans than there is between say...the Colts and the Texans.  Too many in the media have a habit of overestimating the talent the Texans do have on the roster.  It's not a conversation that Houston's cheer-leading media handle well.

For now however, all is well and there will be a lot of talk about how a "win is a win" and that all Texans fans need to look forward to New England.  For me, it's early but I'm guessing that the 49ers will be matched up with the Packers in an offensive shoot-out.  Gulp.

Bowl results don't matter (unless they do)

I have to admit.  I told people yesterday (but did not blog it) that a healthy Teddy Bridgewater gave Louisville a chance to be competitive against the Florida Gators however, I did not see the Cardinals, under any circumstance, dominating Florida as they did.  It's tempting to write this one off to Florida being "flat" as often happens in bowl games when teams play what is considered to be a lesser opponent or they were aiming higher and didn't make it.  The problem with that analysis is that Florida was genuinely fired up for this game.  At least, their defense was.  On several occasions they laid the wood to Louisville and they played fast and with conviction.

What happened then is that the Cardinals were just better than the Gators, which raises some questions about the quality of play in the SEC.

This, of course, has aTm fans and Tim Brando  very angry right now. Angry enough that they're either calling bowls 'meaningless' or going back to old habits of mocking University of Houston fans about their pathetic play this year.  Of course, there's always going to be the UT-Austin mocking and that's fine, but picking on Houston?  That's like the varsity beating up on the Jr. varsity and then doing a victory dance in the lunch-room.

We all know that CBS College Football coverage is bought and paid for by the Southeastern Conference.  If this surprises you then you just haven't been paying attention.  Right now, in an unfortunate world where ESPN dominates college football coverage, CBS is a one-conference company and that conference is the SEC.  How else do you explain Brando & Co. immediately coming out after the Alabama loss to aTm and arguing forcefully that 'Bama was not dead? They did this despite the fact that no-one was seriously saying they were.

After Alabama lost pretty much everyone in the country understood that the likelihood of two teams ending the season undefeated was remote and that, being viewed as the best 1-loss team, 'Bama was likely to back into the B(C)S Championship game provided they took care of business.  It's because of silliness like this that people pile on to Brando et al with "SEC hate" which is really "bad punditry on CBS" hate viewed as directed toward the conference because that's all CBS does.

The problem that CBS, and the SEC, now have is this:  If losses by then 10-2 LSU to then 10-2 Clemson and then 10-2 Louisville to then 11-1 Florida don't mean that the SEC is losing it's grip as the nation's premier conference due to them being "meaningless bowl games" then there's no way you can argue that a win by then 10-2 South Carolina over then 8-4 Michigan proves the reverse. 

In college football, speed and power are king.

I wish I didn't have to be at work later this morning (I'm writing this early in the morning but will schedule it to publish later in the day) because, after Michigan's loss to South Carolina I'd like to sleep in, and wake up pleasantly hungover.

Instead, I had to watch the game (mostly) sober.

That said, even had I tied one on I'd probably be feeling better this morning than Vincent Smith.  You remember Smith, the Michigan running back that got destroyed by SC defensive lineman Jadeveon Clowney?  Yeah, him. I feel really sorry for him. Not as sorry as I'm feeling for Michigan right now, a team that is losing their marquee player and is in the middle of yet another retooling.  Fortunately, I do believe that Brady Hoke is the long term solution, but it's going to have to be long term because the Wolverines have a long way to go.

Too bad for Northern Illinois as well. Sure there were plenty of people who were rooting against them, including the Orange Bowl committee itself but, for a lot of us, those B(C)S busters serve as proof of case that the system is flawed.  For those that support "college football elitism" this is just another data point in their argument that some schools just shouldn't try to play with the big boys.

What everyone forgets however is that the problems that plague Michigan and NIU are very, very similar.  In both games each team was lacking in overall team speed, and power.  It's easy to point at NIU and laugh at their ineptitude last night against FSU but the fact is the Seminoles are the ones that should be mocked.  With all of the talent, speed and power on their roster it's they that shouldn't have been in that bowl.  They should have taken care of business and been in the National title game.

But they weren't, because they apparently don't have very good coaching at the position level and (especially at QB) they have talented players who can't consistently produce.  Contrast this to NIU, who has less talent, but who gets every last inch out of it and you had the makings of what could have been a pretty good game.  However, NIU lost their coach and that was probably too much to take for a team that needed everything to go right.

There's a reason college football on Saturday's is often a much more entertaining product than what you see on the NFL on Sundays.  It has a lot to do with speed and power mis-matches all over the field that teams can take advantage of.  When you add-in modern offensive schemes (the NFL is 20 years behind the College game in offense) and coaches who aren't 100% risk averse you get a better product for entertainment, despite the fact that the quality of talent is uneven and lower than that of the professional league. If the NFL is about schemes and systems, then college football is about speed, power and passion.

In that respect, give me the college game any day of the week when it's available, except for any bowl game played before Christmas Day.  To succeed in today's college football market however Michigan is going to have to take care of a couple of things:  They're going to have to get faster and they're going to have to get stronger.  For teams like NIU (read: Non B(C)S conference teams) the answer is speed.  If you can get enough athletes to run with the big dogs you can beat them in bowl games with large payouts.  In the coming environment, it could be possible that you could win two games and a championship, unlikely, but possible.  Until we expand to 5 sixteen team super-conferences that is, then you're all getting a demotion anyway so that will be that.

Ugly, but not tragic

That's how I feel about the New England Patriots 42-14 drubbing of the Texans last night on the increasingly irrelevant Monday Night Football.  There's no way to sugar-coat it for Texans fans: Your team looked awful.  Inept in almost every area of the game.

Some thoughts:

 - This Texans team is not quite as good as everyone thought they might be.  Looking at their schedule their best win was over Denver, in Week 2 BEFORE Peyton Manning's arm was back to full strength.  Chicago is probably not even going to be in the playoffs as fast as they're falling.

 - It's easy to blame Schaub, but the offensive game plan was weak and that offensive line might as well be playing touch football.  Not that Schaub doesn't share some of the blame.  Good quarterbacks do well under pressure, average QB's struggle.  Schaub struggled.

 - The Texans run game is struggling right now.  I think that's partly due to poor O-line play, and Arian Foster channeling a little bit of CJ2K in his running style, trying to over-lean and cut everything back. I've made jokes about his diet dragging him down.  I don't really think it's his diet, but I do think something is wrong.

 - The Texans team spends too much time worrying about things that really don't matter.  From Connor Barwin driving a Prius, to the design of letter jackets to a host of other things, while the Texans are playing around it's pretty clear that the Patriots were studying film. This needs to change if the Texans want to be an elite team going forward.

 - The New England Patriots' plan for dealing with the Texans' pass blocking was basically to hold the Texans' D as they jumped up in the air. It was funny listening to everyone on the MNF broadcast call the Patriots' plan brilliant while the footage was clearly showing Patriot O-linemen grabbing fist fulls of Texan jersey.

 - What this loss does do is make next week's game against Indy very crucial. If the Texans win out, they receive home field throughout the playoffs no matter what.  If they lose another game (assuming the Patriots win out) then they fall to the 2nd or 3rd seed, or worse.  It's certainly not panic time, but Texans fans would be forgiven if they decide to grip just a bit in the coming weeks.

Class

Spotted this on Yahoo! sports:

Texans WR Andre Johnson drops 19K on toy shopping spree for charity. Jay Busbee, Yahoo! Sports

Johnson's Foundation, the Andre Johnson Charitable Foundation, funded the spree, in which 12 children selected by Child Protective Services had 80 seconds to fill up their carts with as many toys as they could. And oh, could they fill those carts.
"You hear a minute and twenty seconds, and you don't think that's a long time, but you'd be surprised by what these kids can put into their buckets," Johnson said afterward. You can see his gargantuan receipt in the photo at right.

Never mind his on the field performance, which is great, the simple fact is Andre Johnson is one of the best men in the Texans organization period.

Amazingly, this didn't hit the radar for the Texans beat reporters at the former newspaper of record in Houston.  Far more important to try and rehabilitate Bud Adam's reputation here I guess.

3CB Center (12/04/2012)

Musings from the waiver wire.

Texans sign Routt - A few years ago, when he was a UH Cougar, I summed Routt's game up as follows:  "Great speed, can't cover if you handed him a blanket."  That said John McClain's persistent criticism of an 11-1 team is getting tiresome.

Bielema to Arkansas, the coaching wheel continues to spin. - I don't like this hire for the Razorbacks, but it probably means that Mike Gundy is staying put at OSU.  In my mind Charlie Strong is still the top prize.

Nothern Illinois making the best of a bad situation. - Yes, I agree that their on-the-field performance is lackluster for a B(C)S bid, but arguing against the system only when it produces an outcome you don't like is even more ridiculous (I'm looking at you Herbstreet)

Snyder wins AP Big XII Coach of the Year. Klein wins Unitas award - After their best season in years, the awards are starting to pile up for the Wildcats.

Very happy to see that Javorskie Lane has figured it out.

Houston has 4 players named to C-USA 1st team and the Rice Owls get 2 - Rice is heading to a bowl, UH is not.  If you're being out coached by David Bailiff you're probably not qualified for the FBS.  It appears that the Cougars are keeping Levine, and AD Mack Rhoades, so they're content with a declining athletic program it seems.

Speaking of declining. - UH basketball is unwatchable.  Dickey fits right in with Rhoades scorched earth style it seems.

Remember, Pau Gasol was the player Morey wanted most of all. It's now fair to question this man's player evaluation skills.

Some good news from this year's sorry bowl season: 5 bowls you might actually want to watch.

And finally....

I give you the Astros biggest free-agent loss of this off-season. - Good luck Jim.