2013 Houston Texans Thread

[eagle eye]

There may be something brewing in the Texans camp this week. In one of the articles on Texans.com that Houston doubled up the reps Case Keenum got in practice today in the hurry-up and 2-minute offense drills. Wade Phillips said when he was named the interim coach on Monday that he would do something to tweek the offense in an attempt to break out of their rut. It looks like Phillips wants to run a faster paced offense against the Colts this week.

 

 

[eagle eye]

Here's an article about the 5 things to watch in tomorrow's game vs the Indianapolis Colts in Indy from Texans beat writer Deepi Sidhu.

 

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/5-Things-to-Watch-Texans-at-Colts/3fded752-7e68-453d-b635-2fdb12114ca3

 

I have a feeling with the firing of Gary Kubiak and the shake up of the coaching staff this week there will be greater sense of urgency for the Texans this week. That, and the fact that Indianapolis has been struggling the past 5 weeks losing 3 of their last 5. Despite all this Indy has clinched the AFC South Division title because of the fact that the rest of the division has been pretty bad. Houston will not have Arian Foster and that has really hurt the Texans offense but a new hurry up approach it has been reported to be coming this week along with the aforementioned changes this past week I see Houston winning this game 27-24 to break their 11 game losing streak.

[eagle eye]

Okay, I was wrong. I honestly thought that the Texans would rally together and play well enough to beat the Colts on the road. Must've been gas. The Texans losing streak is going to extend to 13 in a row as they face the Denver Broncos who are still fighting for home field advantage throughout the playoffs as they are neck and neck with a streaking Kansas City team who won't go away despite losing to the Broncos twice in 3 weeks. The Broncos have had ten days off after losing to San Diego last Thursday night to think about who they were going to hang 40+ points on next as revenge. Looks like it's going to be our poor, beleaguered Texans.

By the way, we will be without our starting RB Ben Tate who was put on IR yesterday because of another cracked rib to go with the 4 he cracked earlier in the year. Dennis Johnson will jump into the starting role with Tate out. The Texans will also be without Case Keenum who has a dislocated thumb and Matt Schaub gets his old job back.

Should be a real train wreck for the Texans this week but if you haven't seen Peyton Manning in person this would be a crackerjack opportunity see him play in person.

 

One item of interest that came out today is that the Texans interviewed former Bears head coach, Lovie Smith. Smith did a real nice job in Chicago winning 3 division titles and taking the Bears to their first Super Bowl since the '85 Bears steamrolled the Patriots. Smith is defensive minded coach and he would have to get a good offensive coordinator and possibly draft a franchise QB with the first pick in next year's draft. The Texans will surely have the No 1 pick wrapped up by season's end. Personally, I would love to see JJ Watt at defensive end in 4-3 defense which is the scheme Smith employed in Chicago. If Brian Cushing can come back next year he would be tailor-made for the 'mike' linebacker in the 4-3. So, I guess I'm saying I'm in for Lovie.

[eagle eye]

The Texans put up a pretty good fight against the Broncos yesterday. They went toe-to-toe with the most prolific offense in the NFL and they were still in the game at halftime trailing 16-6 and after forcing a Denver 3-and-out to start the 3rd quarter Houston went on a 9 play 74 yard TD drive to close the gap to 16-13 with a little over 10 minutes left in the 3rd. That was as close as it got and that was the last time Houston scored in the game. The Texans continued to battle through the 3rd quarter but the fourth quarter was a different story. The Broncos scored TD's on their first three possessions of the 4th. First off an interception of Matt Schaub led to a 2 play 28 yard drive capped by a TD pass to Eric Decker. After a Houston Punt Denver travelled 55 yards in 8 plays ending again with a TD pass to Decker. The third possession ended a 4 play 56 yard drive with a 25 yard TD to TE Julius Thomas. One meaningless possession by each team later and it was game over. The biggest news of the game was that the 4 TD passes Peyton Manning threw drove his total for the year up to 51 which is a new NFL record breaking the record 50 TDs Tom Brady set in 2007 which broke Peyton Manning's record of 49 set in 2004. It may be that Manning could extend the record number next week but it remains to be seen since with the Broncos win and the Chiefs loss yesterday Denver clinched the division title and a first round bye once the playoffs begin.

There is one item of note about the Texans since this thread is dedicated to them and not the Denver Broncos. It ain't good folks. Yesterday's loss extends their season losing streak to 13 games. Freaking ouch! The Texans close the season out next week on the road against the Tennessee Titans so it is not inconceivable that Houston will end up 2-14 on the year and will have earned the 1st pick in the 2014 draft. I guess you take a little good out of all this bad.

The good thing about the losing streak continuing after Gary Kubiak was fired is that it's highly unlikely Wade Phillips will get anything more than minor consideration for the head coaching vacancy. It's time owner Bob McNair and GM Rick Smith Clean the coaching closet out. It's clear they will need a franchise QB and more help on the O-line and at RB on the offensive side of the ball and they will need some reenforcements at linebacker and defensive back. It may be time to stop depending on Brian Cushing and Whitney Mercilus. Cushing because he can't stay on the field and Mercilus because he is not effective. In the last 5 weeks Mercilus has a grand total of 10 solo tackles and 5 assisted tackles. See what I mean? If someone like Lovie Smith comes in and brings the 4-3 scheme it may fit Mercilus' style better but, that is only speculation. As for Cushing, I love the guy. He plays his ass off but devastating knee injuries in the last two years and you can't help but question his ability to stay on the field.

The good thing is, the hurting is just about over. One more week and it's time to wrap up this garbage in a big plastic bag and set it out by the street.

[eagle eye]

Okay, the significance of this week's game is pretty high. Why? Because the No 1 pick in the 2014 draft is up in the air. So far Houston has the No 1 pick but all that could change if the 2-13 Texans beat Tennessee and the 3-12 Redskins lose to the Giants then the Redskins win the right to the No 1 pick by virtue of a weaker strength of schedule. Now, the biggest caveat to this story is the fact that by winning the No 1 pick is that Washington won't even get the pick. Why? Because they traded their 1st round pick for 2014 as part of the deal with the St Louis Rams when Washington moved up in the 2012 draft to get RGIII. As it is after the Redskins made the playoffs last season the Rams had no reason to believe that they would get anything but a mid to late round draft pick. It is just a bonus that they will get no worse than the 2nd pick in 2014. That said, Houston could sure use that No 1 pick. Heck, if Houston does what St Louis did and trade down to stockpile picks for 2014 and 2015 it could pay huge dividends long term for Houston assuming they draft well.

Another nice bit of info came out on Mike and Mike this morning because they were talking with Tim Hasselbeck about which head coaching jobs are the most attractive coming up and Hasselbeck singled out Houston as a prime job. Why? Because there is a good nucleus of players on the roster meaning this is not a complete rebuilding effort. He also said that Houston's owner Bob McNair is a great owner because he isn't meddlesome like Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder and he is willing to spend money to help the team succeed.

Some are saying former Arizona Cardinals head coach and current offensive coordinator of San Diego, Ken Whisenhunt, is a candidate for the Houston job. I know that every name in the book will get thrown out there but I'm skeptical about him after the way the Cardinals imploded after Kurt Warner retired. I still like Lovie Smith IF he gets a good OC to run the offense AND they are able to get a true franchise QB with their first pick in the draft.

[eagle eye]

NFL.com is reporting that Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien has agreed to interview for the Texans job. O'Brien has done a marvelous job leading the Nittany Lions the past two years despite the NCAA sanctions placed on the school as a result of the Jerry Sandusky case. Prior to his hiring at Penn State O'Brien was the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots.

O'Brien took over a scandal racked program and in his first season of 2012 he had very few players elect to leave the school despite the fact that players were allowed to leave without penalty. He led the Nittany Lions to a rather remarkable 8-4 record overall and they went 6-2 in the Big Ten. O'Brien was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, The Maxwell Coach of the Year and the AT&T-ESPN Coach of the Year in 2012. This past season Penn State went 7-5 for the season and 4-4 in conference play.

O'Brien was considered a candidate for NFL coaching positions that were open in 2013. He interviewed for jobs in Philadelphia and Cleveland but he declined saying, "I’m not a one-and-done guy. I made a commitment to these players at Penn State and that’s what I am going to do. I’m not gonna cut and run after one year, that’s for sure." With that said he has been very quiet and his agreement to interview at Houston could mean that if the right deal comes up he could leave Penn State.

[eagle eye]

Houston took care of business yesterday losing to the Tennessee Titans after leading through most of the first half. By extending their losing streak to 14 straight the Texans win the No 1 pick in the 2014 draft. The pressure was on because the Redskins were well on the way to losing their 13th game of the season to the NY Giants and a Houston win would have given the Redskins the first pick. Or rather the St Louis Rams who got the 'Skins 1st round pick as part of the deal that gave the Redskins the chance to draft RGIII. Anyway, the first pick is wrapped up and waiting for May 8th to be used. The only question left to answer is, will Houston take Johnny Football with that No 1 pick?

 

NFL.com reporter Ian Rappaport said yesterday he has it on good information that Houston will name their new head coach tomorrow! The Texans have already completed interviews with former Bears head coach Lovie Smith, Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien and interim coach Wade Phillips. Rappaport said the Texans will interview one more candidate, probably San Diego offensive coordinator and former Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt, today and they will announce the hire tomorrow. No word as yet about any interviews. It's obvious that the Texans front office hasn't been sitting on their hands the past 3 weeks since Gary Kubiak was fired. They made their wish list, albeit a short list, and they are pursuing the next head coach at all speed. Any-hoo, if Rappaport is correct we'll know who will be guiding the ship tomorrow. Happy New Year, Texans fans.

[eagle eye]

Houston made good on Ian Rappaport's report that the Texans would name their next head coach on Tuesday. I saw the crawl during the Chick-Fil-A Bowl last night where ESPN reported Bill O'Brien and the Texans agreed to terms earlier in the evening. It was reported that Houston had one last interview on Monday before making their decision. It was reported that Ken Whisenhunt would be the guy interviewed on Monday but when San Diego won their game against Kansas City and thus getting San Diego into the playoffs Houston could not speak to Whisenhunt per NFL league rules.

 

O'Brien, of course, comes from Penn State where he was head coach for the past two years. By all accounts O'Brien has done a remarkable job righting the Nittany Lions ship after it was rocked by the Jerry Sandusky scandal which included exposing former Penn State icon Joe Paterno as complicit in covering up the activities of Sandusky. O'Brien went 8-4 in 2012 including a respectable 6-2 in conference as Penn State began dealing with NCAA sanctions which were very harsh for the football program. His Nittany Lions were less successful in 2013 but he had successfully weathered the storm and was bringing respectability back to State College. Here is a link to an NFL.com article on how Penn State fans should be thanking O'Brien, not hating him for leaving after only two years.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000307907/article/bill-obrien-deserves-credit-for-his-2-years-at-penn-state

 

For me, I want wish Texan fans and BRI'ers a Happy New Year. Hopefully, O'Brien can make a difference in Houston. The Texans job is considered by many as a primo job because of an owner who is not afraid spend money and doesn't meddle in day-to-day affairs. This closes the book on this thread for me. The Texans 2013 season is over and it surely wasn't what we all expected. With a new year, a new coach we can only hope we have a different story to tell this time next year.