Houston Texans 2013 In-season thread (1 Viewer)

Week 1 31-28 chargers (w)

Game day thread

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=689565

Kubiak Weekly Press conference

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Quotes-Coach-Kubiak-Press-Conference/44a32ca6-6d58-4cc9-80e7-b4f5d976f035

http://www.houstontexans.com/team/roster.html

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Age Exp. College 4 Bullock, Randy K 5-9 206 23 2 Texas A&M 7 Keenum, Case QB 6-1 205 25 1 Houston 8 Schaub, Matt QB 6-5 235 32 10 Virginia 9 Lechler, Shane P 6-2 237 37 14 Texas A&M 10 Hopkins, DeAndre WR 6-1 218 R Clemson 11 Posey, DeVier WR 6-1 210 23 R Ohio State 13 Yates, T.J. QB 6-4 217 26 3 North Carolina 18 Jean, Lestar WR 6-3 202 25 3 Florida Atlantic 20 Reed, Ed FS 5-11 205 34 11 Miami (Fla.) 21 McCain, Brice CB 5-9 187 26 5 Utah 23 Foster, Arian RB 6-1 227 27 4 Tennessee 24 Joseph, Johnathan CB 5-11 188 29 8 South Carolina 25 Jackson, Kareem DB 5-10 188 25 4 Alabama 26 Harris, Brandon CB 5-10 189 23 3 Miami (Fla.) 31 Keo, Shiloh S 5-11 208 25 3 Idaho 33 Jones, Greg FB 6-1 251 32 10 Florida State 34 Bouye, A.J. CB 6-0 191 R Central Florida 35 Pleasant, Eddie SS 5-10 210 24 1 Oregon 36 Swearinger, D.J. S 5-10 208 R South Carolina 38 Manning, Danieal S 5-11 212 31 8 Abilene Christian 41 Wood, Cierre RB 5-11 215 R Notre Dame 44 Tate, Ben RB 5-11 217 25 4 Auburn 46 Weeks, Jon LS 5-10 246 27 4 Baylor 50 Braman, Bryan LB 6-5 241 26 3 West Texas A&M 51 Sharpton, Darryl ILB 5-11 235 25 4 Miami (Fla.) 52 Dobbins, Tim LB 6-1 234 30 8 Iowa State 53 Mays, Joe MLB 5-11 244 28 6 North Dakota State 54 Jefferson, Willie OLB 6-5 241 R Stephen F. Austin 55 Myers, Chris C 6-4 286 31 9 Miami (Fla.) 56 Cushing, Brian ILB 6-3 249 26 5 Southern California 57 Montgomery, Sam OLB 6-3 260 23 R LSU 58 Reed, Brooks OLB 6-3 254 26 3 Arizona 59 Mercilus, Whitney LB 6-4 258 23 2 Illinois 60 Jones, Ben C 6-3 308 24 1 Georgia 66 Gardner, Andrew T 6-6 308 27 4 Georgia Tech 67 White, Cody G 6-3 303 25 2 Illinois State 68 Harris, Ryan T 6-5 302 28 6 Notre Dame 74 Smith, Wade G 6-4 295 32 11 Memphis 75 Newton, Derek T 6-6 313 25 3 Arkansas State 76 Brown, Duane T 6-4 303 28 6 Virginia Tech 77 Quessenberry, David T 6-5 306 R San Jose State 79 Brooks, Brandon G 6-5 335 24 2 Miami (Ohio) 80 Johnson, Andre WR 6-3 230 32 11 Miami (Fla.) 81 Daniels, Owen TE 6-3 249 30 8 Wisconsin 82 Martin, Keshawn WR 5-11 194 23 2 Michigan State 84 Griffin, Ryan TE 6-6 254 R Connecticut 88 Graham, Garrett TE 6-3 243 27 4 Wisconsin 92 Mitchell, Earl NT 6-3 300 25 4 Arizona 93 Crick, Jared DE 6-4 285 24 2 Nebraska 95 Tuggle, Justin OLB 6-3 249 R Kansas State 96 Jamison, Tim DE 6-3 287 27 5 Michigan 97 McClain, Terrell NT 6-2 293 25 3 South Florida 99 Watt, J.J. DE 6-5 289 24 3 Wisconsin Reserve/Injured
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Age Exp.

Hold for possible fantasy preview

:sehorn:

Homers, help me out. I was under the assumption that Andre Johnson was going to be a top tier WR this year, but a lot of the rankings and projections have him much lower than I expected.

What are your predictions? Hopkins taking over the main role soon?

avoiding injuries said:

Homers, help me out. I was under the assumption that Andre Johnson was going to be a top tier WR this year, but a lot of the rankings and projections have him much lower than I expected.

What are your predictions? Hopkins taking over the main role soon?

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I think those are faulty projections. My guesstimation is that three elements involve lower projection Schuab, Hopkins, and age. Schaub is largely who he is at Qb and he has had no issue giving Abndre plenty of attempts with sketchy passing to him in the Redzone. personally, I just glad Hopkins flashes looking like a legitimate starting type Wr. Early for me to talk about him replacing Andre. thinking 55-60 catches from Hopkins with decent YPC. Age is a number and nothing I can tell about his preparation or anything leads me to a fall of for that reason.

The numbers I gave assume that Hopkins takes from Andre Only. that means he is still a 100 catch, 1300-1400 yard WR with lower than normal TD production

I think his most likely range is anywhere from top 3 WR down to the end of the WR1 group, assuming healthy. With more likely around the middle to bottom half.

I would be pretty surprised if Hopkins outperformed him in anything other than perhaps touchdowns. But I do think Hopkins and Posey both will be improved options so will take some targets away from AJ.

I also think the poorer play of the right side of the line also bumped up his targets last year, as he's clearly Schaub's target when in doubt. I think they may see slightly better play from that side of the line this year, which also might cut a few throws out.

I picked up the kicker, Bullock. He should put up last year's Graham numbers, right?

Darryl Talley said:

I picked up the kicker, Bullock. He should put up last year's Graham numbers, right?

Click to expand...

Similar, yes. I could see a couple fewer FGs as Hopkin's presence turns some drives into touchdowns. But Bullock has more leg might get a few that Graham didn't to make up for it. Especially if you get points for long FGs.

News of Andre Johnson's demise are greatly exaggerated.

ProFootballFocus at https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/09/10/refo-hou-sd-week-1/

Houston — Three Performances of Note

[SIZE=small]Duane Brown Got Owned[/SIZE]

I usually like to think of a clever title or pun for these headings, but sometimes you just have to go with the line that sums it up. Duane Brown (-7.6) couldn’t handle Dwight Freeney. At all. He only coughed up a single sack, but he was beaten for two more knockdowns and five additional hurries as well as being flagged for a false start early in the game. To make matters worse, his run blocking – usually excellent – was sub-standard in the game and at one point he positioned himself as if to wall off Larry English only to just be shoved over a pile to the floor as English made the play.

Brown has improved year on year for the Texans since coming out as a relatively raw prospect, and last year was one of the league’s best tackles, but this was the poorest performance we have seen from him in some time and it will take a hell of a run for the remaining season for him to be back at the sharp end of the rankings.

[SIZE=small]Somehow the Man Is Still Underrated [/SIZE]

No matter how regularly he does it, I feel Andre Johnson somehow doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. He is the all-time leader both in receptions per game and yards per game in NFL history (minimum of 100 games), and seems to rack up big plays for fun. In this game he was targeted 15 times and caught 12 passes for 146 yards. As if that wasn’t big enough, look at the play Schaub passes up when hitting Owen Daniels on a crossing route off a rollout early in the game.

Johnson could have passed two-bills comfortably in the game. Good news for Houston was that in addition to the regular sidekick of Owen Daniels (+1.1 receiving), Houston also got good production from DeAndre Hopkins (+1.2 receiving), including a great sliding catch to pick a Schaub pass off the turf.

[SIZE=small]Watt A Quiet Day?[/SIZE]

Stats can often prove things. The absence of stats regularly proves nothing. In this game J.J. Watt didn’t leave with a brace of sacks, and only notched a single batted pass, so some people would like you to think that he had a quiet, non-impactful day at the office, but that is far from the truth. He only had a single tackle for loss, but the other two tackles he had were for no gain, and his swim move beat San Diego linemen with such speed that he blew up five other run plays for other Houston defenders to make the play. DJ Fluker in particular will be having nightmares about Watt’s swim move for weeks to come. Maybe he didn’t get the stats everybody wants to see, but this was Watt at his very best, and his +7.3 grade attests to that.

Click to expand...

A lot to be excited about and a lot to be worried about last night (this morning.) I'll just leave it at it's nice to see them battle back after such an awful start.

Gonna be a long season of ups and downs I think. I still think we will get to 10 wins but its going to be tough sledding with this schedule.

Whew.

Will too-loyal, too-long Gary keep his fellow Aggie around to keep shanking FGs longer than 41 yards?????? Seriously. Why try to make an attempt at a Super Bowl run with what's essentially a rookie, inexperienced kicker?? (Although Tucker might've been a rookie last year, but that's besides the point).

Not pleased with the offense most of the game. Didn't like some of the play calling. Typical Kubes. Tate needs more carries. Foster needs his groove back. Those backs should be combining for 30-35 carries a game. Not ideal for fantasy, but in real life that's our best chance.

While I cursed Schaub for his picks today (even if Hopkins was responsible for the 2nd), any hater HAS to give him props for not folding up his tent and going home after the pick6. He stayed calm, despite a huge drop by Lestar Jean, and brought the team back! While it was only against the Titans, I think that team has improved and will be a threat this season to try to take the AFC south. They might be better than Indy. Anyway, Schaub deserves praise TODAY. But I guess it won't matter if he can't do it vs the Baltimores, Seattles, San Frans, New Englands and Denvers of the league.

Outside Linebackers are ineffective so far. Still no pass rush I feel like. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Cut Bullock. I know they won't. Rick Smith doesn't give up on picks. But...we could've had LEGATRON!

Bullock was terrible, but its not like there are awesome kickers on the free agent market. Foster looked great, and I imagine he will continue to get the lion's share of touches. I was afraid of the right side of the oline in the offseason, but its actually the left side that has played horrible these first two games. Its definitely concerning. I also think Reed and Mercilus are average OLBs, I wouldn't be surprised if Cushing leads the LB group in sacks. Schaub is, well Schaub. He will play terrible all game before finally getting his chit together at the end. Unfortunately that won't always work when you play the good teams.

When Schaub was sacked at the 9 and the Texans had to punt down by 8 with about 4:30 left, the Titans win probability from advancednflstats.com was 99%.

http://live.advancednflstats.com/index.php?gameid1=2013091505

Sounds about right, I know I didn't think there was a chance in hell of winning after that, letting alone scoring in less than a minute of clock time.

Duane Brown has turf toe.

According to McClain, it is an injury that can get worse from playing on it, so it may not be something he can just play through.

Ed Reed starting against the Ravens

Not excited about Reed. Never liked the signing of him. Cool story that he's playing, but I'm keeping my expectations low.

I'd rather they saved the cash and re-signed Eric Winston.

Speaking of tackles, Duane Brown definitely out. Expect the Texans to want to run the ball as Ryan Harris is a better run blocker than pass blocker.

Andre active!

Fire everyone! So mad at the play calling and Schaubs pick 6's. Special Teams is still horrible. Marciano needed to go years ago.

I've given up. Can't remember the last time this team out together a solid 4quarters. Now Andre is getting hurt again. Duane Brown won't be healthy all year. Outside linebackers suck. The colts look inspired and hungry. The trade for Richardson might've helped on several levels. That team looks Inspired. The front office basically told them "we believe in you. Don't worry about the future. Go win NOW!" Meanwhile, 8 seasons in, Kubiak and Schaub are still talking about trying to "get better. We gotta get better." WHEN ARE YOU GONNA FINALLY GET BETTER!?!?

I'm sick. We'll lose to Seattle, San Fran and probably KC. We'll be lucky to be 3-4 at the bye. This season smells like the 2010 season to me. We were a fraud 2-0 then too. Geez. Houston fans deserve better than this conservative ### playcalling/QB combo. And I felt like I was one of their last defenders. But no more. 9 points in Baltimore?! Unacceptable.

I'm hardly ready to jump over that bridge with you, but I don't think Schaub is good enough long term.

I'm still just kind of too punch-in-the-gut reeling to think about it much. Loss I can live with. Hated how inconsistent they were. Defense looked good early, but offense and special teams gave up so much.

jsharlan said:

I'm hardly ready to jump over that bridge with you, but I don't think Schaub is good enough long term.

Click to expand...

I don't think anything has changed here in my mind. I thought the Texans need to look for a QB of the future next offseason, whether the team flames out or wins the SB. Maybe someone in a mid round who develops, but they need to start in.

Thanks Matt. Added another chapter to Houston's "Book of Choking."

I had a feeling we were gonna blow it. I'm ill. I have no words. Schaub jerseys were being burned outside of Reliant Stadium after the game. 3 straight games with a pick 6. We played so well in the first half. Defense was great. Sucks that Russell Wilson is pretty darn special. He eluded so many tackles down the stretch. Wish we had drafted him instead is Devier posey. UGH!!!

I'm probably the biggest Schaub apologist around. Huge fan and I think he's very underrated as an NFL passer.

No question though, this is all on him. As much as I like the dude, the fact is he's a choker.

JJ Watt once again played out of his mind. I felt intimidated watching him play and I'm 350 miles away safely behind a television.

this team is almost as frustrating as the Oilers....I'm ready to be done with Schaub and Kubiak

We have a top 5 defensive unit, possibly the best running back duo in the league, one of the best WR groups in the league, a solid TE, and an all pro LT. Who else can you blame? Schaub has to have a perfect team around him to not lose games and Kubiak won't hold him accountable. When Tate fumbled, he got benched for the rest of the game. Why is Schaub not held to the same standard?

I'm been pro Kubiak since the beginning, but if he sticks it out with Schaub and this team doesn't win the division, its time for a house cleaning.

jsharlan said:

We have a top 5 defensive unit, possibly the best running back duo in the league, one of the best WR groups in the league, a solid TE, and an all pro LT. Who else can you blame? Schaub has to have a perfect team around him to not lose games and Kubiak won't hold him accountable. When Tate fumbled, he got benched for the rest of the game. Why is Schaub not held to the same standard?

I'm been pro Kubiak since the beginning, but if he sticks it out with Schaub and this team doesn't win the division, its time for a house cleaning.

Click to expand...

I was pro Kubiak for a long time, but the guy is just a crappy coach. I love his playbook, but he is absolutely atrocious at clock management and challenges. But more importantly, he is way too quick to get conservative. It's like he's got no confidence in his QB or something...

Speaking of Schaub, the game never would've come down to that horrible throw if we'd kept playing. Should've been up 3-4 TDs, but instead Kubes reeled it in after we were up 17. You can't nurse a 17 point lead for 2 quarters in today's NFL, but Kubiak doesn't realize this.

I don't think he reeled it in, our running game was working very well and you have a lead, it is perfectly natural to keep running and eat clock. The problem was, Schaub couldn't convert 3rd downs.and bootlegs weren't working on this defense. The play call on that pick 6 wasn't great, but honestly you take the sack or throw it away, then punt and let your defense win the game. That is all on Schaub. It was 3rd and 4, honestly not many try to run on that. A pass play was fine, it was the bootleg I didn't like.

How can you say that? He always reels it in. It wasn't just this game. I get that the run game was looking decent, but you have to use that to set up the play action pass and really stick it to them. You aren't going to drive it 80 yards on Seattle just by running it. We scored zero points in the last two quarters and OT. Inexcusable.

I'm not sure the play calling was why they didn't score points. They turned the ball over twice and Schaub wasn't making any throws on 3rd down in that stretch. I'm not sure what you can call if your QB simply isn't executing. Lets not forget Seattle has a good defense and obviously made some adjustments at half time.

We needed that one. Would have preferred a beat down as I was expecting to blowing a win, then we would have gone in to San Fran angry. Instead Wilson ran all over us giving some nice film for Kaep & SF to study with their long week to get ready for us.

I thought people were unduly harsh on Schaub last year but there's no defending the mistakes made the first four games. I disagree about Kubiak though, he has not been playing it all that conservative anymore. He dialed up a pass on 3rd down with less than 30 seconds left in 2nd quarter when he used to just run a draw play to the center to line up a FG. They ran the fake punt just a few games ago. They actually took a shot to the endzobe with Andre (that they never do.) It's not Kube's fault Tate coughed it up inside our 20 or Schaub didn't take that sack and lobbed the ball.

But I do think it was obvious they should have dropped the bootleg play fron the script, it was obvious Sea had that play figured out from the first series on.

Unless we can pull off an upset with KC or SF which I don't have much confidence in, we'll probably be looking at 3-4 going into the Bye.

jsharlan said:

We have a top 5 defensive unit, possibly the best running back duo in the league, one of the best WR groups in the league, a solid TE, and an all pro LT. Who else can you blame? Schaub has to have a perfect team around him to not lose games and Kubiak won't hold him accountable. When Tate fumbled, he got benched for the rest of the game. Why is Schaub not held to the same standard?

I'm been pro Kubiak since the beginning, but if he sticks it out with Schaub and this team doesn't win the division, its time for a house cleaning.

Click to expand...

It didn't take me long to see that Kubiak has no balls and no killer instinct. He's already a dinosaur. The days of playing great D, kicking FG's and trying to win it in the 4th Q (Herm Edwards reference) are long gone.

Matt Schaub has thrown pick sixes in 4 of the last 6 games. He has thrown an interception in 7 straight games. He has thrown 11 TD's and 11 ints in his last 10 games. Add in the fact

that he is pretty immobile, and will take a sack at the drop of a hat, and he is a pretty mediocre QB right now. He is affecting your ability to win games, especially against good teams.

For Kubiak to have any credibility with his team, I think he should bench Schaub and give Yates a chance. Do I think Yates is a great QB? No, but if you are going to bench Ben Tate for fumbling, you

have to hold Schaub accountable for bad interceptions. You know there is some non-public grumblings going on in the Texans lockerroom after yesterday's loss. If Yates comes in and does a good job you stick with him. If he plays lousy, you go back to Schaub.

Will this ever happen? No, because Kubiak is too loyal to "his" guys. Matt Schaub is one of "his" guys. That is why Kubiak will never be a championship winning coach. His loyalty gets in the way

of him doing what's best for his team.

dhockster said:

Matt Schaub has thrown pick sixes in 4 of the last 6 games. He has thrown an interception in 7 straight games. He has thrown 11 TD's and 11 ints in his last 10 games. Add in the fact

that he is pretty immobile, and will take a sack at the drop of a hat, and he is a pretty mediocre QB right now. He is affecting your ability to win games, especially against good teams.

For Kubiak to have any credibility with his team, I think he should bench Schaub and give Yates a chance. Do I think Yates is a great QB? No, but if you are going to bench Ben Tate for fumbling, you

have to hold Schaub accountable for bad interceptions. You know there is some non-public grumblings going on in the Texans lockerroom after yesterday's loss. If Yates comes in and does a good job you stick with him. If he plays lousy, you go back to Schaub.

Will this ever happen? No, because Kubiak is too loyal to "his" guys. Matt Schaub is one of "his" guys. That is why Kubiak will never be a championship winning coach. His loyalty gets in the way

of him doing what's best for his team.

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I agree with this.

The only reason we've had a bit of success the last 2 years is because owner Bob McNair forced Wade Phillips onto the staff. If he hadn't done that, we'd still be mediocre since Gary liked to be LOYAL to his old coaching buddies and would've hired another crappy DC like Richard Smith and Frank Bush. We've peaked. It's time to change QB, Head Coach or BOTH.

TheFly06 said:

The only reason we've had a bit of success the last 2 years is because owner Bob McNair forced Wade Phillips onto the staff. If he hadn't done that, we'd still be mediocre since Gary liked to be LOYAL to his old coaching buddies and would've hired another crappy DC like Richard Smith and Frank Bush. We've peaked. It's time to change QB, Head Coach or BOTH.

Click to expand...

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Sticking with Schaub should decide Kubiak's future imo. If he flames out, Kubiak needs to go down with him. I like Kubiak but he runs it like a family and not like the business that it is.

So in the offseason thread we were talking about Schaub's contract and its not the albatross most think it is. Even I was wrong about 2014 as I was unaware of this tidbit I read this week:

"Per a source with knowledge of the contract, the cap hit becomes somewhat manageable after the 2013 season. If the Texans designate Schaub as a post-June 1 cut, the cap charge in 2014 would be $3.5 million. In 2015, $7 million in dead money would apply."

Schaub's base for 2014 is $10m plus a $1M roster bonus and none of that is guaranteed. So that'd be a nice cap savings in 2014 if (probably "when" after tonight's showing) he's cut. Of course the bigger question is how & who do we replace him with? The rest of the team is good enough even with Yates or Keenum that we are probably looking at 6-8 wins taking us out of franchise QB draft range. Plus there's a pretty big chance Kube's will be gone too at this point which could mean retooling the offense. Do we see Wade take over as head coach?

I imagine we'll let Kareem Jackson walk after the bonehead penalties and I'm betting Ed Reed and i'm hoping McCain are cut. Leaves holes at DB and Antonio Smith is a FA which leaves another hole at DE across from Watt. Still, there are a lot of good young pieces, if we can find a QB somehow, we'll be right back in the thick of things.

2010 Season all over again. I'm not even angry. Pure disappointment. Schaub is cooked and at this rate Gary might be gone as well. Guess it all depends on Mr. McNair. Tonight was an embarrassment, as most primetime games are for us Texans.

These are some early names I want interviewed for the potential vacant head coaching position. Any thoughts? Tell me if I'm wrong.

Pete Carmichael Jr. - Saints

Kyle Shannahan - Redskins

Ray Horton - Browns

Mike Zimmer - Bengals

Kevin Sumlin - Texas A&M

Not saying hire these guys. But definitely should get an interview right?? No retreads. Need new blood. Not a "good ol boy" coach. Appreciate the human being Gary is, but this ain't a family. It's a business. His results suck. He Needs to go

Only players I want in my foxhole at this point are Watt, Cushing, Foster and Lechler. Everyone else on the team has not played up to their potential, some more than others obviously. Not sure if I would fire Rick Smith and Wade Philips alongside Kubiak, but at this point I wouldn't shed tears if they left. The Colts will rule the AFC South once again for 10+ years. We need to assemble a team AND coaching staff that can beat Andrew Luck.

The team has plenty of talent on the roster. New coach and QB does not mean a rebuild. There has got to be someone out there that can win with our players and a QB who doesn't score for the other team.

For all of you guys who think Kubiak is gone after the season if they don't make the playoffs, I think you are wrong. Bob McNair is a very loyal owner, which is part of the reason he likes Kubiak so much, because he is a very loyal coach. I think there is a good chance Schaub is gone after this season, but I wouldn't guarantee it. I think it is more likely that McNair makes Gary cut Schaub then Kubiak coming to the decision on his own. I think there is a small possibility however, that both Kubiak and Schaub are back next year.

This is why it is frustrating to be a Texans fan.

I think you'll have to see a dramatic improvement the rest of the season in Schaub for them not to heavily consider cutting ties with him next year. Since none of his remaining contract is guaranteed a rework with a paycut could be possible while they bring some competition.

There's still a lot of football to be played so we'll have to see how they respond to this adversity. I see at least 5 games on the schedule left I think we will be favored in and then the other 6 that we could split on IF they play at least somewhat up to their potential. We haven't lost to a "bad" team yet so there is that going for Kubiak & Co but if they lay an egg against Stl then it will be dark days ahead.

Honestly I don't think Kubiak will be fired unless they just collapse the rest of the way. I don't think Yates is any good but I think they could plug him in for Schaub and play defense and ground and pound and still end up around .500 for the season. That would be enough to get Kube's 1 more season IMO.

Schaub will cost 11 million in salary if he is on the roster next season. There is no way he is worth that kind of cap hit. You are probably right about Kubiak, which I am not sure if that is a good thing. There are enough winnable games on the schedule that McNair just won't quit him. I love McNair, but he's too soft as an owner.

Sigh....

Maybe we'll have a high enough draft pick for a franchise QB???

2010 all over again. Disappointed in this team. The entire coaching staff needs to go. I will throw a mini-parade if they finally canned joe Marciano tomorrow morning.

What a horrible day.