Houston Area Leadership Vacuum: Ken Hoffman makes a good point, buries it, and readers miss it entirely.

Reading through Ken Hoffman's recent piece on HISD Graduation parking fees made me realize something......

NRG Parking Fee and Insult at HISD Graduations. Ken Hoffman, HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)

(The linked article is behind the Chron's increasingly expensive paywall. My quote here is very selective but please, if you can, go read the entire column)

This was a public-school graduation at a public facility. It wasn't professional entertainment, like a football game or a concert, where you expect to pay for parking.

The quoted piece, above, is the argument against the NRG complex charging the parking fee. Sure, Hoffman goes on to do what we all do, argue that many of the student's families attending the graduation might not be financially well off, but he needn't do that.  The argument against was in the quoted sentence above.

What Hoffman did, by making economic demographics the central figure of his piece is to politicize it needlessly.  Take the following response from the comments:

Well, I think life is too short to complain about a $12 parking and if you can't afford it, then you shouldn't be driving an uninsured car.

This is why, in the incredibly insipid world of anonymous online commentary, bringing a red herring into the argument such as demographics only serves to distort the argument for into something it is not.  By bringing in issues such as income inequality and demographics Hoffman all but ensured that his central point (this was a public event at a public-owned [albeit privately operated] facility) has been lost in a wave of anti-corporate, and anti-immigrant snark.

There are also a lot of commenters blaming NRG for this mess.  In fact, NRG only has the naming rights for the complex and had nothing to do with the decision to charge for parking.

If you want someone to blame, then look at the Harris County Sports Authority who neglected to carve out a 'public use' exception to the parking fee in the contract with the Texans and the Rodeo. Had Harris County the leadership to negotiate in this manner, issues of this type would not exist. Instead, it often feels like the lease to run the complex was nothing more than a giveaway on behalf of the County to Bob McNair*.

Should the Texans have offered parking for free?  Certainly. But, absent a contractual obligation to do so they were well within their rights to charge full-rate, regardless of the nature of the event. If you want to blame anyone, point your ire directly at the Harris County Sports Authority.











































*On another, tangential, note: Has there been another public figure who has fallen so far, so fast in public perception than Bob McNair?  From savior of football in Houston to nothing more than a greedy, conniving, miser who's doddering management style is not only ruining the Texans, but embarrassing and financially damaging the City of Houston as well.

 

Houston Area Leadership Vacuum: Wi-Fi at NRG Stadium

For all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth over proposed Wi-Fi upgrades at NRG Stadium, I'm surprised our "conservative county leaders" haven't embraced the one, most simple, solution...

NRG Stadium Ponders Joining Wi-Fi World. Gabrielle Banks, HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)

The Chron doesn't want you to read their journalism, so I'll oblige and just quote a very small piece for discussion's sake.

Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack said he believes the county does "not need to go in there and spend money" on the Wi-Fi.

Precinct 4 Commissioner R. Jack Cagle reviewed background materials for the bid and "noted he needs to know the source or sources of funding," said his spokesman, Mark Seegers.

How about trying this on for size?

If the tenants at NRG, and the NFL, feel that Wi-Fi service in and around the complex is a priority then let them pay for it and recoup the cost as part of a "connectivity fee" included in the price of event tickets?

This allows the market to work, only those who feel the service is of value will ultimately be paying for the service, and it removes the thorny political issue of having citizens who can not, or will not, attend functions at NRG paying for the service.

Of course, I get that the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo aren't too keen on this idea. The feeling of entitlement by venue tenants (note to Chris Tomlinson, THIS is what entitlement looks like) is something that was quick to take hold and has been hard to shake. The Texans especially are sensitive to perceived high-ticket prices for a middling product. When you think about the sheer volume of patrons that attend activities at NRG however you're really only looking at a $1-$2 charge per ticket. For the Houston Texans this would equate to $10-$20 per season for the average fan (not counting playoffs *snort*).

Before you get all hot and bothered by that remember that the Houston Chronicle's New Mrs. White and a host of other local politicians often snipe at homeowners in Harris County for being upset about new taxes that will "only" increase the tax burden on the average citizen by $300-$400 per year. In the grand scheme of things this is a fairly small price to pay for having the ability to take a selfie with a Texans Cheerleader and transmit it out over Twitter and Facebook to remind the world that, when normal folks take pictures with cheer leaders, it really just makes them look a little creepy.

Would such a thing like this have a chance at passing?  Probably not. For one thing the Texans have to answer to the NFL, which is never in favor of teams picking up the cost of anything they can pressure local governments to pass on to taxpayers. The HLS&R has never been keen on spending money that can otherwise be directed toward improving their fancy offices in Downtown Houston. Finally, people only REALLY like Wi-Fi service when they think it's free. Having a ticket surcharge for this would probably generate more complaints than would a tax.

And, sadly, they're complaints that the Chronicle, and other news outlets, would take seriously. There would be a ton of stories penned about "World Class(y) Houston" and the things we need to do to keep up with cities in the Northeast (which are looking down the bankruptcy barrel) while encouraging us to go ahead and pay for this through an expansion of the hotel occupancy tax. They would then mean that this means "Houstonians never pay for it" unless you use a local hotel or have relatives in town for the Holidays, then you would.

The solution above is the fairest and most transparent of all proposed solutions, which is why, given Houston's current leadership vacuum, it has a 100% chance of never even being seriously considered.

A short break and (by the way) this Texans team has quit.

I'm going to be taking a short blogging break to attend to some stuff in the real world, and to enjoy the Christmas season with family and friends. No, I will not be having a health care "conversation" with them. Sorry Obama, Christmas is about more than your petty politics.


One quick observation before I focus elsewhere: This Texans team has 100% quit. Yes, they're saying the right things after losses, talk about how gutted they are and how frustrating it is, but the performance on the field is that of a team that just doesn't care. Between a flood of penalties and missed assignments lies a deep streak of who gives a f.......?

Sure, it's safe to say that Wade Phillips hasn't quit. He's trying everything to eke out a win or two and prove he deserves the head job. Case Keenum hasn't quit, he wants to be the QB of the future, but the evidence is piling up that he's not up to the job. Ben Tate hasn't quit, he's running for his next contract with another team after all, but the O-line in front of him has shipped it in and the rest of the offense seems to be going through the motions. The defense is a shambles, with only JJ Watt really playing but being nullified by double and triple teams, while everyone else is either a penalty or blown assignment waiting to happen. When things do go right it almost feels if it's done by accident.

I didn't watch all of Sunday's game, I decided my day would be better spent doing other things, and I doubt I'll watch another game this year. When the team has quit on you, then I think it's OK, as a fan, to quit on them.

So to all of you, Texans fans and no, enjoy the Christmas and Holiday season and remember to not let it get to you too badly.


After all, there are plenty more important things in life than football.


Merry Christmas all, if I'm not posting before then.

Texans Recap: OK, THIS is rock bottom

Fourteen penalties for one hundred and seventy seven yards. Let me put it a different way: 14 penalties for 177 yards. The Texans had more penalty yards in last night's 27-20 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars than Case Keenum (159) had passing yards. They almost eclipsed Matt Schaub's (198) as well. They had more yards in penalties than Andre Johnson had receiving (154). Just when it seemed that it couldn't get any worse, #BeardedSchaub became a thing on Twitter.

This is how you know the Texans are at rock bottom. This is the low point, when the National media are rhetorically piling on there's not much lower you can go. I'm not talking about radio talk idiots like Travis Rodgers or Pete Prisco, those bottom feeders don't matter anyway. (Note to radio heads: if you think that a team being bad has any reflection on the city in which it's geographically located [and, in the case of Rodgers, where your show was an unmitigated bust] you're doing it wrong.) I'm referring to wise football folks like Rich Eisen, who wondered aloud on Twitter how this team could have fallen so far. I'm referring to game announcer Brad Nessler who, after the third personal foul penalty on DJ Swearinger said "Just say number 36, we know". The sad thing was we all know. We knew while the game was going on and we know this morning. It's time to clean house and fumigate the Texans facility, this era is done.

Now, you might not think that if you're trying to troll the city, as is John McClain of the Chron, who wrote before the game that a Texans housecleaning would be foolish and then tweeted during the game that the Texans should fire everyone before the game was over, that's not journalism, it's trolling. Remember, this is the same McClain that, despite all indications to the contrary, continued to push the "Texans to the Super Bowl" story even after the team was 2-2 and things were starting to unravel. This is the same group of Chron 3 stooges that have repeatedly told Texans fans everything was going to be all right, until things were obviously not all right and it was clear this team had fallen apart.

Last night, after Schaub led the Texans to a touchdown on his first drive of the game, Chron beat writer Brian T. Smith tweeted that Schaub's (single) drive proved that Kubiak and Co. were correct in saying that Keenum's inconsistency was a problem and that "Schaub was the right guy for right now". After that all Schaub did was lead the Texans to a field goal, throw an interception and fetal position into a sack to end the game.

The line on "Mr. Right now?" 17-29 198 1 TD 1 INT. QR 76.5
The line on "Mr. Inconsistent?" 16-29 159 1 TD 1 INT QR 68

Schaub coming back into the game gave the local CheerMedia exactly what they wanted. It was a poke to the eye of a certain portion of the fan base that wanted Case to succeed. It was better than a Texans win, it was a bad loss to a bad team and now, they can gloat that they were "right all along" by saying that Case doesn't have what it takes.

And, to be fair, he probably doesn't. At least not right now, with this coaching staff, running this (limited, predictable) offense behind this offensive line. I tend to agree with NFL Network color analyst Mike Mayock's assessment "Case is a backup NFL quarterback who you'd feel very comfortable having on your roster". He's Chad Henne but a little more mobile and with a little better arm. This is not a bad thing, but it means that the Texans don't have one starting quarterback on their roster because, at this point in his career, Schaub is a backup QB as well.

Even more troubling last night were all of the Texans penalties, especially those committed by DJ Swearinger. What we're seeing now is that DJ Swagg Boi is nothing more than a limited box safety with poor tackling skills and an overinflated sense of self. When you're a 2-11 team, mired in a 10 game losing streak, your ability to trash talk has been revoked. Permanently. If fans are growing weary of JJ Watt's salute, then they're weary of your act DJ. Just stop.

Above all this, the worst thing that the Texans are facing now is 100% fan apathy. The fans are done, finished, reduced to pulling for losses so that the Texans can secure the first selection in the 2014 NFL Draft. The ship be sinking. The bad news is it appears that Bob McNair is seriously considering retaining the services of the ship builder while (possibly) firing the captain. Does anyone have confidence that Rick Smith is the guy to lead the Texans to championship glory? I've made it clear that I don't. I just wonder (outside of McNair) who does?

Houston's CheerMedia must be researching the definition of insanity.

There's a lack of knowledge, and then there's just being knowingly obtuse. I have to think that Chron Three-Stooges CheerMedia columnist John McClain is intentionally trolling the City of Houston this week.


First, he ranks the Texans 32nd, and dead last in his weekly NFL power rankings and then he follows up with today's missive stating that firing Head Coach Gary Kubiak and General Manager Rick Smith would be a dumb move. Granted, the title, and the beginning of his column makes reference to "House-cleaning" or, pretty much getting rid of everyone and starting from scratch, but it's clear in the piece that McClain doesn't think ANYONE should be dismissed for this failure.

That's either the definition of insanity or intentionally anti-Texan. There have been rumors in Houston that the latter is true. Yes, his Twitter feed has become comedy legend over the course of this year. Whether he considers the Texans to be "pathetic", "horrendous" or the "worst he's seen in over 30 years of football" (which indicates that he hasn't been watching all that closely) the angry old man act that McClain puts on has been rumored to be intentional, a poke in the eye to the Houston fan who he has a very real grudge against for not treating (in his mind) Bud Adams right before he spirited the Oilers out of town. In other words, McClain is a Titans fan, and revels in the misery of Houston's team and its fans. In this McClain is not alone. There are many members of the CheerMedia who are known to actively root against Houston's hometown teams, either because it makes for easy sports talk or because they've developed a dislike of the fans over the years. It's much the same with the University of Houston whose fans, to be fair, have brought a lot of that upon themselves.

Much of the blame lies with the CheerMedia, because there are still too many journos trotting out the old saw that the Texans are "the most talented 2-10 team in the league" forgetting for a moment that they're the ONLY 2-10 team in the league, the argument is ridiculous at face value. Admittedly, I didn't see a 10 game losing streak, complete and total meltdown coming this year but at least I had the foresight to see that this wasn't a "Super Bowl" year as many in the media predicted. I had them pegged at 9-7, making the playoffs via wild card and losing in the first round. After the first six games it became readily apparent that something was wrong, something that Kubiak and Co had no idea how to fix.

Which brings us to the point. (Finally) If you have a team that's listing and the current coaching staff and football personnel don't seem to have an idea how to fix it, then it's time to clean house. What's happening now are the same mistakes every week. From busted coverage to poor offensive line play to just outright stupid penalties we're not seeing different problems every week, we're seeing the exact same things happen (no halftime adjustments for instance) that are driving fans crazy. All we hear in press conferences from the football leadership is how "frustrated" they are. That's much like a doctor who "feels your pain" but doesn't have a damn clue what to prescribe to end it.

In McClain's world you're just supposed to sit back and endure. Never mind that teams like Kansas City have made a one year turn-around while the Texans fall to the cellar, never mind that, for several years running now, there has been at least one team go from 6-10 to 10-6 or better (while the Texans made slow, incremental progress and ultimately stagnating), what you're supposed to do is just sit down, shut up, and bear another 7 or so years of 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 with an early flame out in the playoffs because changing things around would just be too risky.

As a San Francisco 49ers fan I can tell you that cleaning house is often the way to go. It was done with Harbaugh and, after making the Super Bowl last year and then suffering a rash of injuries, the team seems primed to make a deep playoff run again. A house cleaning for a bad organization is usually needed. The Texans are a bad organization who need both an intellectual and talent infusion immediately.


Unless, that is, you want them to lose. Then you might think that staying the course is the best way to go. It's either that or we have to all agree that McClain, despite 30 plus years of covering the league, really hasn't learned anything about the sport on which he's reporting.

Texans Recap: All's well that ends well

For the first time ever (not counting pre-season) the wife and I attended a Texans game last Sunday. Luther, the co-owner of Black Jack's Bar & Grill in Cypress (our "local" bar of choice) had two tickets that he couldn't use and offered them to us since he knew that we were fans of football in general and that we both followed the team because they were local. If you're up that way I suggest you check out Black Jack's, not only for a decent beer selection (including many Texas beers) but also for some pretty good food. (Try the fried pickles and they have great steak specials from time to time). One word of caution however, this bar is outside the City limits so people can, and do, smoke. If you sit on the restaurant side however you will avoid most of that.


Having said that (Thanks again Luther!) on to the Texans. But first, a word of caution about the day-after media coverage. it's bad. In some cases, mind-numbingly bad, bordering on historically bad in some places and just obviously bad in others. Considering what you saw on the field Sunday there's really just no excuse for stuff like this.


That said, we did learn a few things about the team on Sunday, let's start with the good.


Keenum is improving Sitting in (very good) field level seats it was very evident that Keenum has made progress sitting back in the pocket and identifying blitzes sooner rather than after he has been knocked on his keister. Yes, he made one VERY bad throw for an interception, but overall he stood in the pocket much more confidently and made plays, until the last drive.

DeAndre Hopkins is getting better as well Besides his one long catch (the subject of an entire "doing well article") there were several occasions where Hopkins was streaking down the sideline wide open, only to be missed by Case (more on that later)

The O-line ran-block well They really did. A couple of the holes Tate ran through were massive. They also did a good job, on a couple of occasions, blocking on the edge for Dennis Johnson, the pass blocking was improved as well.


The bad.....

Case is still locking onto, and staring down, receivers. Earlier I stated that Nuk was flashing open down the sideline on a few occasions. Unfortunately Case never looked his way. This was a problem with Schaub as well so I'm assuming this is a lack of coaching that's inherent with Kubiak's staff.

Nuk is still running bad routes Or, the wrong routes, I'm not sure which. There were several occasions where he was running into the exact same area as another Texans receiver rendering them both covered, often by one defender.

Graham is going to be a good player but... I watched Graham on a lot of plays and he runs good routes and seems to be able to find holes in the defense. That was a plus in this game. However, he also quit on a route or two and really needs to work on consistency. He should also be a better player in the red zone.

Andre Johnson is still amazing But the Texans aren't continuing to use the things that work. At the beginning of the game Andre was having much success flashing open on crossing routes. He would be left by Talib and then the Patriots secondary would lose him. For some reason, after the 2nd QTR, this route was nowhere to be seen.


The ugly.....

The offense is terribly predictable While some would say it's not fair to compare any offense to a Belichick offense, I tend to differ. Watching both teams play out there it was painfully obvious that the Patriots route schemes were light years ahead of what the Texans had drawn up. If Kubiak really is an "offensive guru" then I would expect to see some high-level route running. Instead the Texans became more basic as the game progressed. Granted, some of this might be due to young players running wrong routes, but that (again) falls on the coaching staff.

The Patriots weren't spying, The Texans defense is poor. How many issues? Well, Gronkowski lined up uncovered twice, several times (including his TD grab) Brooks Reed drew single coverage and the Patriots, in the second half, had no problems developing schemes that overloaded the Texans defensive backfield, especially when the Texans blitzed. It was so bad that fans in the stands knew what bad things were coming before they came.

Shut down JJ Watt, shut down the Texans defense Watt was double or triple teamed on almost every play. Once the Patriots nullified him the rest of the defense just couldn't get to Brady. Yes, watching Brady throw the ball is an amazing thing, but on their 2nd touchdown Brady had almost 10 seconds standing along in the backfield with no pressure.


It's not all that bad however, because the Texans are now in prime position to grab the first pick in the 2014 NFL draft. That said, unless the team undergoes a major overhaul I've serious concerns whether or not it's going to matter. On Sunday the Texans were not outplayed, they were outcoached and out-schemed. That's not piling on it's just the truth. Wade Phillips defense has an annoying tendency to line up wrong and then no one seems to recognize the problems. When you have two receivers on one side and one DB in coverage (with the LB blitzing) you're bound to have bad results. The offense, despite the coaching issues, played hard and well and the run game was spectacular. Keenum made enough big plays to keep the game close while handing it off to Ben Tate, who is now running for his big contract (with another team). I still think the Texans have a huge talent gap, especially on defense, some of this is due to injury but most of it is due to bad personnel decisions. The offensive line played better, but still needs more talent. Special teams, for all of the attention they're being paid, were hit and miss with every good play (a long Martin return) being negated by a bad play (a long Patriots return).

The most concerning issue to me however remains the issue of coaching. In short: This is a poorly coached team that, surprisingly this late in the season, continues to have obvious busts on both sides of the ball. There are zero signs of improvement, and the team continues to do things that don't appear to be in their best interests. There's no doubt the Texans are playing hard as the coaches continually say, but there's increasing evidence that this is not enough because they're being out-coached from the start, with the coaching gap increasing as the game continues.

There were signs of some improvement, but this is very likely the worst team in the NFL so that's not saying much.

Texans recap: The worst thing is: This is probably NOT rock bottom.

I'm not going to dive into the minutia of the Texans 13-6 Home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars because the truth is, I spent the day at the Texas Renaissance Festival instead. Judging from the media recap, my day of quaffing beer, mead and more beer was much more entertaining.

I will point out that the Chronicle's Three Stooges are now firmly against this mess of a team were all three trumpeting them as Super Bowl contenders at the beginning of the year. Now, to be fair, I don't think anyone reasonably saw this disaster coming (my pre-season pick was 9-7 and a Wild Card entry into the playoffs) but buying the championship contender nonsense was something straight out of fantasy land.

Where to from here? I think there's still a long way to go before the Texans hit rock bottom. Next week the Patriots come to town, and there's no reason to believe that game will be competitive, then the Texans go to Jacksonville, where I'm guessing they'll continue to slide toward first place in the Teddy Bridgewater Sweepstakes. Given what I've seen from Bridgewater this year I can't say that pick fills me with warm-fuzzies. That said, what I've seen from Keenum this season is enough to suggest that he's not the answer either. The worst-case scenario would be Rick Smith (who I think is going to survive this mess amazingly) trying to out-smart everyone and make a bone-head pick like Derrick Carr. Should something like this happen it will just be another unexplainable move by a franchise whose history is filled with the unexplainable and downright bizarre.

The first problem of many that the Texans are facing is horrid play by the offensive line. While it's very clear that Keenum is not picking up blitzes well, neither is the unit that is tasked with keeping pass rushers off of him. It's not fair to blame Keenum for this disaster without dishing out an equal helping toward the O-line and the coaching staff. Whether or not Kubiak is physically sound enough to continue coaching is an open question. I hope for his sake, and the sake of his family, that he at least considers stepping down and getting his ship in order. I've met the man and he is a "good guy", but that doesn't mean that he's fit to be coaching an NFL team currently. I would think that he could benefit from stepping down, and then taking next year off before trying to come back as an offensive coordinator somewhere.

For Wade Smith I think this is the end of the line. His defense is getting worse and worse as the season progresses, and the unit formerly known as "Bulls on Parade" is now "JJ Watt and a group of guys that should be bottom of the roster fill-ins". While it's true that injuries, Brian Cushing the most notable, have played a role in this, the Texans have made a litany of roster decisions that just haven't panned out. The most notable is the Ed Reed debacle, but Joe Mays, Shiloah Keo, Jonathan Joseph, Brooks Reed, et al. don't exactly inspire confidence in the team's ability to evaluate defensive talent.

Finally, bad teams point fingers and it's notable that Ben Tate, Owen Daniels and others have spent a lot of time pointing fingers at the fans for being "wishy-washy" or simply "not-smart". I would argue that "not-smart" fans would be still be spending their time watching this debacle unfold and cheering for a team that, in some part, doesn't value them at all. I would much rather have a fan-base that understands when they're being handed a bowl of crap than one who laps it up without question. Right now the Texans are serving up crap sandwiches to fans and demanding they smile and ask for seconds. Texans fans are well within their rights to say "screw that" and demand better. The Texans that have a problem with that need to be shown the door. (I'm looking at you Tate).

As for next week? Well, it's the last week of the Texas Renaissance Festival so you could do worse.

Closing the book on the 2013 Texans: Let's make this dumpster fire worse.

WOW. Just wow.


Right when you think the Texans have hit rock bottom, Head Coach Gary Kubiak returns to the fray and makes a quarterback change that's so confusing, so unnecessary, the fans booed so loudly that the Texans (reportedly) had to utilize the silent count, at home, in order to get plays off.


That's just one of the storylines percolating up from Sunday's 28-23 loss to the Oakland Raiders, a team that The Three Stooges constantly said the Texans "should" beat in large part due to their superior talent. I'll remind you that I attempted to put that myth to bed in a previous post. I would like to say that I had some crystal ball which told me this result was coming. Unfortunately the reality is that my breakdown was the direct result of a strange paragraph written by CBS Radio's Fred Davis.

Am I surprised the Texans lost? Yes and no. At the beginning of the season I predicted the team would finish 9-7, making the playoffs as a wildcard team. So, yes, I'm surprised that what appeared to me to be a slightly above average team has devolved into one of the league's worst. However, given the situation I'm not surprised now by any loss. While I never believed the trumpeting of talent that streamed from the local CheerMedia, I didn't think they were this bad. I don't think anyone realistically saw 2-8 with 8 straight losses coming. Not even the low-listener, troll-centric sports radio talkers saw this one coming.


In local media terms, it's time for the Texans to get their tombstone. Not only is this season done, but when your best player in franchise history gets so frustrated that he walks off the field before the game is finished the coaching and management staff are done as well. Given the confusion surrounding Schaub's insertion to the game, the question of whether or not Kubiak is healthy enough to coach the team is valid as well. This is nothing against Gary Kubiak. I've met the man, he's a very nice guy. But being a nice guy and being a good NFL coach are two different things. Just as a lot of local media are rooting for Schaub because he's a "nice guy" is the wrong move, so is having the same affections for Gary Kubiak the NFL coach. We all should want Matt Schaub and Gary Kubiak the men to have healthy, productive careers, wherever they should land.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing, as a Texans fan, is the focus of the players on fan behavior, rather than focusing on what you can do to make this team better. From Ben Tate challenging fans on Twitter to Wade Smith begrudging fans the right to boo, this Texans team has become an undisciplined, unfocused mess. That Kubiak thought it was a good idea to bring in Schaub speaks volumes. Yes, Case Keenum has had difficulties picking up the blitz, and teams have figured him out to some extent, but the play calling (and the O-line blocking) are factors as well. If you have a quarterback who is struggling with blitz pick up then why do you continually call 7-9 step drop pass plays that take forever to develop down the field? Why not do some quick 3-step drop stuff and let your athletes like Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins make some plays in the open field? How about incorporating some bubble screens out of the Pistol formation (a formation where it's said that Keenum is most comfortable?)

I'm not suggesting that Keenum is the long-term answer. But I'm also not saying that you should close the book on him either. Kubiak and Co. have continually placed him in horrible positions and expected him to come out smelling like a rose. Remember, this is a team coached by Gary Kubiak, supposed QB "guru", a man who said he could win with David Carr. What we've seen, to date, has been something quite the opposite. We're all witnessing a coach who is showing an infuriating inability to adjust to the opposing team's game plan, a coach who is increasingly determined to make the same failing play calls, and then wondering why it's not working out as planned. This is a big problem for the team, and it's one that is only going to be resolved by cutting the cord and making wholesale changes in the off-season.


Until then, your question as a Texans fan is: What now?

As a non-Texans "fan" and just someone who pulls for the team because I happen to live in Houston, my answer is that there are better things for me to do for three hours on Sunday then watch the team add fuel to a dumpster fire. We're in the time of the year in Houston where the weather in conducive to being outdoors. That's where I'm going to be and where you should probably be as well. Unless that is you like watching dumpster fires, or enjoy the camaraderie at the game itself. To each their own, but I'm tuning out, especially if Matt Schaub is named the starter for the remainder. I'll be ignoring talk radio as well. We know fans are mad and there's only so many ways of saying it. Spare yourself the heartache and listen to some music instead.

Texans Fans: Ignore the CheerMedia, this ship cannot be salvaged.

Finding silver (or deep steel blue) linings in Sunday's 27-24 loss by the Texans to the Arizona Cardinals is a tough thing to do. If you watched the game you saw an offense that's sputtering, a defense that, unless JJ Watt makes a play, struggles to do much of anything and special teams that are anything but special. From a pre-season filled with anticipation and a (shaky) 2-0 start to a 2-7 record that includes a team-record 7 game losing streak this Texans team will go down as one of the most disappointing in franchise history.


So you wake up this morning and you think "Let's have some sober analysis on this team". So you turn to the former newspaper of record and you find: Randy "Larry" Harvey wasting several inches of copy space saying nothing, Jerome "Curly" Solomon telling us five things that we learned (but really didn't) and John "Moe" McClain pathetically telling us how pathetic and horrific the Texans are. Unfortunately, for the fan, not one of the Three Stooges have a clue and neither does the rest of Houston's CheerMedia. The reality is, this team needs an overhaul and it needs it now. Not later, right now. It should start against the Raiders.


That's not to say there's all that much you can (initially) do for the product on the field. The Texans are a bad team with a few good players; nothing is going to change that for the remainder of this year. As is commonplace in Houston, our media overstates the team’s talent and, for the most part, gives the front office a pass. The first thing that needs to happen is letting Rick Smith go. Not at the end of the season, now. Fire the GM who put the team in this mess (and in an impossible salary cap position), name an interim GM and start the search for the next guy. At this point it's better to get a new guy in place (and his talent evaluation staff) to get a jump on the next draft.

The 2014 NFL Draft is going to be pivotal. If the Texans want to compete any time soon then they're going to have to nail it. By "nail" it I mean that the first 4 round selections need to make meaningful contributions next year, and rounds 5 & 6 need to have potential. They also need to make some impactful free agent signings, probably to shore up a horrendous linebacking core. There's little evidence out there to suggest that Rick Smith is the guy to get this done.


Finally, quarterback. I'm not convinced that Case Keenum is the long-term solution, but he might be worth keeping around as a quality back-up, and short-term starter should the Texans be able to find their next QB in the draft. However, I do believe that they should wait until later in the draft to make this selection, offensive line is too much of a priority right now. No matter who is taking the snaps they're going to struggle unless you shore up this unit, and fast.

The way I see it there are only two players that are untouchable on this roster: JJ Watt and Andre Johnson. Everyone else is expendable. That includes Keenum, it includes Arian Foster (whose career might be finished anyway if what I'm hearing about his back injury is true) and the oft-injured Brian Cushing. Watt is the best defensive player in the league and should be considered the cornerstone of any rebuilding plan, and Johnson is still an elite receiver who will likely be the first Texans enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Keep those two, evaluate everything else, and start the rebuilding process now.

The good news is that there are several recent examples in the NFL of teams going from bad to good in one year, and that should be the expectation of Texans fans everywhere. Sadly, I have little expectation that any of this is going to happen. Bob McNair lacks the constitution to make wholesale changes of this sort, so we're going to hear a lot about "patience" and "building it the right way".

This is disappointing, because I've a feeling it means more of the same next year, and probably the year after that.

Your hair's on fire Texans fan, and that's OK

In prior weeks I've advised Texans fans to hold on, to breathe, to all come together and sing Kum-bai-yah while we all watched your team fall to pieces around you. Now, granted, I've also advised you that your talent wasn't near as good as you've been led to believe, that your coaching was below average and that your team's General Manager has done a horrible job managing the salary cap. Yes, things were bad, but it called for a dose of reality, not a case of the screaming meanies.

Reading the news this week on the heels of the Texans 17-16 loss to the Chiefs, I'd say the time for panic is now.

It's not because the team is 2-6. While I didn't think they'd be this bad I did have them at 3-5 right now (wins in the first 2 games, loss of 4 straight, win over the Chiefs) finishing 9-7 with a shot at the Wild Card. Clearly now, all of that has changed. With games remaining against New England, Denver and Indianapolis (twice) I'm feeling more of a 7-9 vibe in place of 9-7. I don't see any way the Texans can make the playoffs and I would argue that 6-10 (or worse) is more likely than a third consecutive playoff run. Still, that's not the reason that I would panic.


I'd panic because I see the Texans panicking shuffling roster spots around as Gary Kubiak did in his first few years in an attempt to shore-up depth and the bottom of the roster. Although they won't admit it, this is what teams who are rebuilding do. Not teams that are running face-forward into the rest of the season looking to make the tournament.

It's also a sign that the organization has lost faith in some of their current personnel. Which means (I would imagine) that they've lost, at least some, faith in the ability of Rick Smith to do a quality job going forward.


As I said earlier. Your hair's on fire Texans fan, and that's OK.

Everything wrong with the Texans coverage by Houston's Rah! Rah! Sports Media in one paragraph.

If you pay attention to my Pinboard feed or follow me on Twitter then you know that I've long not been a fan of the coverage that the local sports media provides for Houston consumers. Often it's a mixture of poorly thought out opinion mixed with some nagging and an underlying sense that the people writing the stories just don't like their customer base all that much. These truths are most blatantly seen in the sports pages of ChronBlog, where the Three Stooges frequently hold court. Whether it's John "Moe" McClain openly trolling fans with his "pathetic" tweets and grouchy-old uncle nature, or Jerome "Curly" Solomon reverting to lecture mode, or even Randy "Larry" Harvey providing you local sports news from a New York or Los Angeles perspective you always get the feeling that they are at their most comfortable when they don't have to talk to you, but AT you.


Given that Texans "Sports" Radio 610 has the Texans radio contract I've come to not expect much from them in the way of meaningful analysis. And remember, it was one of theirs who first mis-reported the Matt Schaub/fans at his home incident leading me to wonder who fed that story to them, and why. As a follow up today, that same writer (Fred Davis) writes what I believe to be the perfect paragraph summarizing everything that's wrong with Houston reporting on the local sports teams.


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.

Texans Fan: Sit Down, breathe, relax, let's take stock of this situation.

On the heels of Sunday's 38-13 shellacking by the Rams Texans' fans can be forgiving for feeling a little put-upon right about now. This team, hyped by Houston's Rah! Rah! Sports media as a Super Bowl contender at the beginning of the year has failed to live up to many fans expectations and offensive play, particularly at the quarterback position, has been abysmal. Add to that the fact that Matt Schaub's injury has led to a outpouring of scorn from both Texans players, local and National media are portraying them as the worst people in the world....ever, and you might be forgiven for feeling that you've been handed a crap sandwich and been asked to eat it with a smile.

Instead of dumping on the whole for the actions of the few (unlike the Chron staffers, I don't have any hate for normal Houstonians or (seemingly) a charge to insult them at every turn) let's take a minute and look at the Texans team, and the media coverage surrounding it, holistically. Here are the facts. This team has never been either as good as the local media has portrayed them or as bad as they seem right now. What they are, have been, is mediocre, a fringe playoff team that took advantage of some downturns and beneficial scheduling to seem better than they are.


1 - 2012 was Fool's Gold. - We all remember 11-1. The joy and optimism that was in the air before the reality check that was the New England Patriots? The problem is that the Texans ran up that record against fairly easy opposition. Yes, they beat Baltimore and Indianapolis in that run, but that was before Baltimore figured out that Cam Cameron doesn't belong as an NFL coordinator and before Andrew Luck really got it going at the end of the year. Had the Texans played Denver at any other time than when they did, the result would have been different. The fact is, any 'elite' team that the Texans played in 2012 beat the dog mess out of them.

2 - The "best" team was probably fielded in 2011 - That was the year the Texans finished 10-6 and might have made the AFC Championship game until Schaub got hurt. Now the problem, or one of the problems, is that post-injury Schaub is a statue of a QB, the offensive line has been gutted, and the defensive backfield isn't anywhere near what it was back then. Rick Smith has been horrible managing the salary cap and the team has diminished greatly since this high-point.

3 - This year's Texans are what we've seen - It's time to put away the hype and hyperbole surrounding Ed Reed, the offensive line and Bulls on Parade. This Texans team is flawed, and it doesn't appear that the coaching staff has any answers how to fix it. Ed Reed is a shell of his former self, the Texans overpaid for damaged goods. The offensive line has an entire right side that shouldn't be starting in the NFL. And the defense has one player (JJ Watt) who's playing up to expectations.

4 - The good(sorta) news, the schedule gets (somewhat) easier from here - When I picked the Texans to go 9-7 this year in a work pool (making the playoffs as a wildcard) I predicted, at this point in the schedule, that they would be 2-4. Unfortunately, I also predicted the upcoming Kansas City game would be a win so that's problematic. As a matter of fact, looking forward I only see 5 wins remaining. You can't assume a win over Indianapolis under any scenario right now, New England is strong, and it's possible that Denver might beat you worse than they beat Jacksonville considering they'll take the Texans more seriously. 7-9 could be the ceiling for this team. However, 4-5 losses in a row doesn't seem to be in the offering so there's that.

5 - This year's team has reverted to the mean - I realize that this post has been a lot of gloom-and-doom and for that I apologize but it's the truth. However, part of coming to grips with the situation is having a clear understanding of it. You're not getting that clear picture from the local media, who are continuing to insist that this team is loaded with talent and is just underperforming. It's high time the Texans fan base took a breath and started looking at the situation as it is, not as you're being told it is by a group of media who don't like you all that much in the first place.


Solutions? Well, for one, the Texans could stick with the status quo, draft a QB in next year's draft to groom as Schaub's replacement. This would mean keeping an even keel and trusting in Kubiak & Smith to fix what they've broken. Given Bob McNair's disposition this would have to be the favorite in the clubhouse. Were I the Texans owner however I think I'd be tempted to end this experiment sooner rather than later. Should the Texans lose the Kansas City game (and have a record of 2-5) I'd fire Kubiak, replace him with Wade Phillips on an interim basis and begin the search for my next head coach now. I'd also fire Rick Smith, who's done a terrible job managing the salary cap, and replace him with someone who has a working relationship with the coach of my dreams. Who would I look to long term? Bill Cowher for one, John Gruden, possibly even Nick Saban (who we all know is eyeing the NFL next, NOT the UT-Austin job). One thing I would NOT do is let Kubiak and Co. anywhere near the decision making process for the next Texans QB. They've already whiffed on that twice, I see no reason to give them another cut.


One thing to remember, all is not lost long-term. Look at Indianapolis and Kansas City as proof of that. In today's NFL there are several examples of teams turning from losers to winners in one or two seasons. Every year (this is Charile Pallilo's favorite stat) there is a team that rebounds from 6-10 or worse to go 10-6 or better. The Texans haven't done this because Kubiak and Co. are too conservative, too risk-averse. For the Texans to get where they (and their fans) want to be they need to start taking some risks.


The sooner the better, because time has run out on this version of the team.

It's going to take more than Ed Reed to fix this.

Anyone with a good set of eyes, or the correct prescription on their corrective lenses, saw a Texans defensive backfield on Sunday that is taking on water. For the Chron however, things are all systems go.


Long time readers of the Chronicle will not be surprised by this. Despite the fact that the Three Stooges (McClain, Harvey and Solomon) enjoy access to the team (or maybe because of it) they fail to add any decent criticism other than the occasional "pathetic" or "awful" or "worst I've ever seen" blather on Twitter. Most Sports coverage on the Chron then is limited to Rah! Rah! stuff and typically fails to address substantive issues if they put the local folks in a negative light. Because of this we're fed the party line that "Ed Reed is the savior we've been waiting for" and somehow his presence is going to increase the man coverage ability of a fading Jonathan Joseph.


It's easy to take a look at the Texans defensive backfield and make the assumption that the weakness is the safety position. Too easy because that doesn't really tell the whole story.


1. Corner is a concern. - As stated previously, Joseph's cover ability has fallen off since his first year. Last year the excuse was injuries, this year the excuse is "it's just pre-season". Amazingly, the best cover corner that I see on the Texans' roster right now is Kareem Jackson. Once you get past the starting two however things start to degenerate fairly quickly. Brice McCain is a servicable back-up, but Brandon Harris has been sub-par. I can't see any scenario where Roc Carmichael makes the team. A.J. Bouye is just a guy. Maybe Joseph picks up his game. If not?


2. Safety. - Take away Daniel Manning, and what you're left with is a pile of below average. I realize that Ed Reed is going to be viewed as the second coming but, so far, we've yet to see him in anything other than street clothes. D.J. Swearinger can't unseat Shiloh Keo as the first string starter in Reed's absence. Think about that.


3. Linebacker - On paper, the starting 4 of Mercilus, Mays, Cushing and Reed is pretty sound, and Braman, Dobbins, Sharpton and Jefferson are fairly solid back-ups. You just hope that injuries don't plague this unit because the margin for error is pretty slim.


4. D-Line. - Watt, Watt, Watt. That's the key. If he's healthy the D-line is solid. Mitchell is servicable at the NT position and Antonio Smith is good when he's not having a mental melt-down. The problem is Smith is usually good for one or two of those per game. Why the Texans spent money on him is beyond me. They should have cut him and picked up someone in the $2-3 Million range in free agency.


In most cases the defense should be OK barring injury, but the same can be said for most defenses in the NFL. If the injury bug bites any team it's going to hurt. For the secondary however it's a very real possibility that the defensive backfield isn't going to be very good regardless of health. The Texans have not distinguished themselves when it comes to identifying good corner or safety talent. They got in a mess during the off-season and ended up buying damaged goods in the form of Ed Reed. Now they're stuck with it, for better or for worse.

Whistling while Reliant Burns

Given the disastrous start to the Texans free-agency season, you'd think the analysis would be a little more measured than this.

Don't get me wrong, I like Ed Reed as a potential short-term replacement for Glover Quin, but I don't like the roster of wide receivers, I don't like the returning offensive line (and don't give me the "three pro bowl" players crap. The o-line was barely average last year), I don't like the depth at cornerback, I don't like the current linebacker situation, I don't like the special teams at all, I don't like the fact that the Texans are looking at an rapidly aging defensive backfield with no depth, I don't like that Arian Foster has been declining in production every year and I don't like Matt Schaub at quarterback.

It doesn't matter whether or not the Texans have a plan in place or not($$$) if that plan is a bad one. And, despite McClain's obvious fealty to the Texans PR line, whatever plan they claim to have is reactionary at best.

As Houston lawyer, and author of the blog Houston's Clear Thinkers Tom Kirkendall recently reminded me: McClain and the Chron scribes were singing this exact same "everything is OK, these guys know what they're doing" tune right before the disastrous 2-14 season.

I don't think the Texans will go 2-14 next year, but I don't think they're on a path to win the division either. I think Indianapolis now is the front-runner with the Texans battling for Wild Card scraps.  Last year I underestimated how easy their early schedule would be, and figured they'd go 8-8.  They beat that guess by four games, but played sub-.500 ball in the last quarter of the season and the playoffs (1-3 to finish the year and 1-1 in the playoffs)

Next season, although the schedule isn't set, we know who they're playing at home and on the road.

Home:
Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Denver, Oakland, St. Louis, Seattle, New England

Road:
Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Kansas City, San Diego, Arizona, San Francisco, Baltimore

It's not beyond the pale to see this team finishing 4-4 at home and 5-3 on the road.

That's 9-7, and I'm betting that won't win the division next year.  It might not even make the playoffs.

In answer to Mr. Harvey's question.

With the 27th pick.....why not Te'o for Texans? Randy Harvey, HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)


Answer:  Because he's slow (4.82 in the 40) not near as big as advertised (6'1 1/4 244lbs instead of the 6'2" 255 lb linebacker ND pretended he was) not especially strong, not all that quick or sure of foot (he fell down during the pass rush drill) and his game tape against Alabama (the closest he came in college to playing against NFL level talent) was abysmal.


Next question.

Replacing Schaub will not fix this Texans' mess.

Don't get me wrong, it won't hurt to replace Schaub, as a matter of fact it would probably help, but replacing him is not going to fix all that is wrong with this team.

The day after the Foxborough massacre v 2.0 there's much hand-wringing and soul-searching being conducted by the Houston Chronicle's terrible trifecta of sports columnists: John McClain, Jerome Solomon & Randy Harvey (mercifully hidden behind the pay wall)

Their analysis takes the easy road, blaming Kubiak and the play-calling, Matt Schaub for just about everything, the Texans toughness, local sports history with only passing mention of the sub-par defense (They gave up 42 & 41 points in two games against the Patriots) and almost no mention of how lacking in talent the team was proven to be in the last half of the season.

In some ways I have a different perspective of the Texans because I'm not a fan.  I'm a 49ers fan and all is well in the land Joe Montana built.  For the Texans however there are several issues that need to be addressed.

What happened to the defense?  I realize that the easy thing to do is look at this Texans team and blame Matt Schaub, and we'll get to him in a moment.  But in what world can you be expected to win a playoff game when the defense gives up 41?  This entire season has been built around #bullsonparade when really the Texans had a #bullsoncharade defense that came up severely lacking against playoff caliber teams.  Outside of JJ Watt there is no pass rush (If the team re-signs Conor Barwin for any money at all you have my permission to scream) the linebackers were worthless without Cushing in the line-up, and the defensive backfield depth chart includes Shiloh Keo.  The Texans' d needs a talent infusion and some depth, and despite all of the belief in Wade Phillips they're not going to be very good without it.

Oh that O-line.  You can talk all you want about the Texans' anemic (at times) run game and the poor play of their QB (more on that in a minute) but it all starts (and ends) with a very pedestrian offensive line.  Before you start screaming "Pro-Bowl" at me realize that the voting for that is a sham.  In all the Texans have 2 pro-caliber O-linemen on the roster: Brown and Myers.  The remaining rotational players (and yes, I'm including Wade Smith) need to be shuffled down the depth chart immediately.  Either through the draft or through free agency the Texans need to totally remake the guys up front.  Until they do there's going to be a lot more heartbreak in Texans' fans future than there is now.

Kubiak.  Some say he's too conservative, some say he can't make in-game adjustments, some say he's tone-deaf when it comes to how to use the NFL's challenge system.  I think all of these apply (somewhat) although he did, finally, muster up a successful challenge on Sunday.  The problem with Kubiak is that it seems the modern NFL game has passed him by.  In an age where even his mentor, Washington coach Mike Shanahan, has adopted a mobile quarterback Kubiak still seems stuck in an age where an immobile guy with below-average arm-strength can get you to a Superbowl.  In today's NFL you either need a mobile quarterback (Kaepernick) or a nimble QB with good arm-strength who, although not a scrambler, can move in the pocket and extend plays (Brady and to a lesser extent Ryan) or a guy who can utilize a strong run game and take a shot deep (That's right, Flacco) Kubiak doesn't seem to get this and he doesn't understand the need to audible. For Kubiak, the script is the key, but when the script gets figured out by opposing teams he doesn't have a plan B, or C, or 1-A for that matter.

OK, Schaub.  First off, I like Matt Schaub.  He seems like a decent, nice guy who's making the most of his limited tools. That said, he's not fleet of foot, and he's lost all confidence in his ability to throw the deep ball (this doesn't mean that he can't throw the deep ball).  Schaub's idea of evading a blitz means to either throw the ball away, or fall down and take a sack.  He's the ultimate quarterback for Kubiak's brand of ball.  On-schedule?  Schaub will (usually) make the play.  When the Texans offense gets off-schedule though he's a turnover or badly thrown pass waiting to happen.  Maybe, if the Texans get their defense back, he can win you some games behind a strong running game and timely passing, but since that's not looking like it's going to happen the Texans have probably been taken by him as far as they're going to go.  He's got a long contract in place, so their best bet is probably to draft someone and have them learn how to QB by carrying a clipboard for a year.

Finally, WR talent.  Currently the Texans receiving core is Andre Johnson, Owen Daniels and......nothing. Kevin Walter is a good WR if you want someone who will block for the running game, Keyshawn Johnson is nothing special, and DeVier Posey might be the unluckiest player on the Texans roster.  It's time for the Texans to get serious about bringing in some real players to up the talent level in the receiving corps.  A first start would be a pair of big, pass-catching tight ends that are being used with great effect throughout the lead. The second step would be to get a slot receiver who runs good routes and is constantly open in the Wes Welker vein (Ryan Swopes?) and a stretch-the-field 2nd receiver who can take some of the deep-field pressure off of Andre (a poor man's Torrey Smith).

Despite all of the holes in talent the Texans were good enough to finish the regular season 12-4.  That most of the 12 wins were against bad teams went unnoticed until the 42-14 shellacking in the Foxborough Massacre v1.0.  They beat a not-ready-for-prime-time Bengals team before flaming out against that same Patriots team. After the hot start, this season felt like one long march down the road to eventual elimination short of even the NFC Championship game.  Texans fans are right to say "wait until next year" but for this to have any steam behind it the team needs to make several personnel upgrades before they even think about addressing the QB situation.  Schaub's number 8 at the end of the season may have more closely resembled David Carr's number 8 than say, Troy Aikman's but, it'd be OK if he didn't have to score 42 points against the Patriots to advance.

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.

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.