Texans Cancel The O.C.
Don't riot, teenyboppers - Seth Cohen will still be dropping his clever one-liners once a week on Fox. But the Texans may have averted a riot in southeast Texas by sacrificing offensive coordinator Chris Palmer on Monday morning, replacing him with O-line coach Joe Pendry. Whether or not this will make any difference whatsoever will not be clear for at least two weeks, as the Texans mercifully do not have a game scheduled for this coming Sunday. I have heard plenty of monosyllabic Texans' "fans" volunteer their expertise in assigning the blame for the Texans' offensive woes, and any moron can do that. What is needed are solutions, so here are one man's ideas:
(1) Instill confidence back in David Carr
- Whether or not you like Carr as the QB of the Texans, there is no alternative. Tony Banks is a career backup, and Dave Ragone is still trying to prove that he is capable of being an NFL backup. As Traitor Rick would say (at least in an analogy), Warren Moon is not about to walk through that door. Carr has to believe that staying in the pocket is more likely to be productive than running for the sidelines. The Texans' WR do not have the speed or ability to separate themselves down the field (other than Johnson) from their defenders, which severely limits Carr's options no matter how good the blocking is. The best answer is some form of a short, timing-based passing game involving slants and crossing patterns which would allow Carr to get into a rhythm and give the WR a better chance of getting open.
(2) Play Derrick Armstrong
- I am not concerned with his 40-yard dash time or his collegiate resume. He catches the ball when it is thrown to him. Find ways to get him open and throw the ball to him. Put Bradford in only as a 4th WR to stretch the field vertically.
(3) Attack the defense on 1st down
- A struggling passing game is being handicapped even more by having to perform consistently in 3rd-and-long situations. Throw the ball on first down to avoid the deep zone and heavy blitzes that only serve to accentuate the offensive problems.
(4) Attack on defense
- A bend-but-don't-break defense is effective if your offense is able to put some points on the board, but when your offense is struggling to find the end zone, your defense must attempt to shoulder some of the offensive load. I imagine that the Texans' offense looks much better in practice than in games since it gets to face the Texans' defense, whose pass rush is completely non-existent. Vic Fangio needs to figure out watch tapes of the Texans' offense for ideas on how to collapse the pocket, and if Philip Buchanon is going to continue to cover like a wet paper sack, then Petey Faggins needs to start.
(5) Do not panic
- Buffalo and Pittsburgh are both excellent teams who presented worst-case scenarios for the opening of the Texans' season. Despite absolutely terrible performances, the Texans had opportunities in each game to remain close down the stretch but failed to capitalize. If every aspect of the Texans' team improves its own play by a reasonable amount, the Texans can still have a very successful season without blowing up the roster or the front office, both of which are impractical and not certain to provide any significant improvement.
(1) Instill confidence back in David Carr
- Whether or not you like Carr as the QB of the Texans, there is no alternative. Tony Banks is a career backup, and Dave Ragone is still trying to prove that he is capable of being an NFL backup. As Traitor Rick would say (at least in an analogy), Warren Moon is not about to walk through that door. Carr has to believe that staying in the pocket is more likely to be productive than running for the sidelines. The Texans' WR do not have the speed or ability to separate themselves down the field (other than Johnson) from their defenders, which severely limits Carr's options no matter how good the blocking is. The best answer is some form of a short, timing-based passing game involving slants and crossing patterns which would allow Carr to get into a rhythm and give the WR a better chance of getting open.
(2) Play Derrick Armstrong
- I am not concerned with his 40-yard dash time or his collegiate resume. He catches the ball when it is thrown to him. Find ways to get him open and throw the ball to him. Put Bradford in only as a 4th WR to stretch the field vertically.
(3) Attack the defense on 1st down
- A struggling passing game is being handicapped even more by having to perform consistently in 3rd-and-long situations. Throw the ball on first down to avoid the deep zone and heavy blitzes that only serve to accentuate the offensive problems.
(4) Attack on defense
- A bend-but-don't-break defense is effective if your offense is able to put some points on the board, but when your offense is struggling to find the end zone, your defense must attempt to shoulder some of the offensive load. I imagine that the Texans' offense looks much better in practice than in games since it gets to face the Texans' defense, whose pass rush is completely non-existent. Vic Fangio needs to figure out watch tapes of the Texans' offense for ideas on how to collapse the pocket, and if Philip Buchanon is going to continue to cover like a wet paper sack, then Petey Faggins needs to start.
(5) Do not panic
- Buffalo and Pittsburgh are both excellent teams who presented worst-case scenarios for the opening of the Texans' season. Despite absolutely terrible performances, the Texans had opportunities in each game to remain close down the stretch but failed to capitalize. If every aspect of the Texans' team improves its own play by a reasonable amount, the Texans can still have a very successful season without blowing up the roster or the front office, both of which are impractical and not certain to provide any significant improvement.
posted by Scott | 1:10 PM
1 Comments:
Damn straight but you could've pointed out some of the ass-awful transactions the Texans have made. They gave up way too much for Buchanon (a speedy yet instinctless and weak locker room cancer), got Victor Riley(who?) as the blind-side tackle, traded up for and drafted Jason Babin, Jabar Gaffney, put Marcus Coleman at safety, and passed on Alex Barron, Jammal Brown, and some pretty good receivers. How is Charley Casserly not responsible?
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