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Thread: 2017 Houston Texans Season

  
  1. #16
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    What can I say, the Texans season is over. Without Deshaun Watson the Texans went from scoring 30 points or more per game to a single touchdown. Tom Savage actually had a chance to pull out last week's game against Indianapolis but between Tom Savage's poor execution and Bill O'Brien's poor play calling they let the opportunity to win slip through their fingers. The notion that Tom Savage is no Deshaun Watson is painfully obvious and Houston may not win another game if he can't raise his game up a few notches. The Texans are currently in 3rd place in the AFC South, 2 games behind the Titans and Jags who are both 5-3 and without what used to be the NFL's #1 offense to lead the way it's going to be a long 2 months in Houston. So here's an example of what it's like to be a fan in Houston Texas, your Astros win their first ever World Championship in baseball with a parade and everything. You are on top of the world and life is grand. Then, you turn around and somebody kicks you right in the nuts. Obviously, the kick in the nuts serves as the symbolic loss of Deshaun Watson and such is life for a Houston sports fan. I'm serious, the other pro sports teams in Houston should immediately go to confession and saying countless Hail Mary's to ward off the bad luck headed their way. Houston lost Deshaun Watson for goodness sake. What will happen next is anyone's guess but I venture to say it can't be good. You'd think the bad Karma began and ended with Harvey but that is obviously not the case. Lock up your kids, board up your windows because the disasters may not be over yet. Will it be the Dynamo? Or maybe the Rockets? Perhaps team tennis is going to be taking a hit. I wonder if it will hit semi-pro leagues like the Skeeters baseball team? No, they have been done playing since September unless of course this Judas goat plays forward into 2018. Oh man!!!!! Hail Mary full of grace............................................. .......................................

  2. #17
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    Same song different verse, Texans offense sucks without Deshaun Watson. You have to give the defense a bit of a pass because when your offense gives up 4 turnovers in a game and your back is against the wall constantly it’s hard to fault them too much. That said, I don’t think it’s too much to ask to expect the defense to hold the other team to a field goal once in a while. I’m just saying.
    Tom Savage was responsible for 4 turnovers in the game, 2 INT’s and 2 fumbles, plus the fact that he can’t seem to make a throw to save his life. I think you can safely say you can stick a fork in this Texans team’s chances to make the playoffs.
    There is just not that much good you can say about being pummeled 33-7, there’s just not.

  3. #18
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    What is going on here? Do you mean to tell me Houston actually won a game? Are you saying the offense actually scored more than 7 points? Yep. That’s what they are all saying. Houston defeated the Arizona Cardinals 31-21 at NRG Stadium yesterday. Tom Savage didn’t suck (even though he did throw a pick) the defense was solid even though they did give up 21 points to the Blaine Gabbert-led Cardinals. Arizona, just a couple of short years ago was in the conversation about what teams were legit contenders for a Super Bowl and now they are just a middling ball club. Really all Housto did was to prove they are a little less idling than Arizona but after 2 straight losses since losing Deshaun Watson I’ll definitely take it. Houston is 4-6 on the season now and if they can actually build on yesterday’s success they have an outside shot at a playoff spot. Think I’m crazy? Check this out. Aside from division leaders New England, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Jacksonville the best records at the 6-4 Tennessee Titans, the 5-5 Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens and 6 teams including the Houston Texans at 4-6. Mathematically Houston has a better shot at making the playoffs than Dallas. You figure that one out if you can. The road won’t be easy but Houston's next 6 games have 4 playoff contenders. All 4 of those games are on the road. If Houston can manage to go 3-1 in those games and 5-1 overall they have at shot at yet another 9-7 playoff season.

  4. #19
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    It's hard to imagine that it's been two weeks since I last posted on this thread. To be honest, there isn't much to write about. After an unexpected 30+ point outburst against the Arizona Cardinals 3 weeks ago the offense fell right back into that ineptitude hole in losses to Baltimore and Tennessee. They might get another win when they play the San Francisco 49ers tomorrow but, then again, they might not. The Niners now have Jimmy Garoppolo starting, he won his first start last week in a narrow victory over the Chicago Bears, so it will be interesting to see HIS progression. On the Texans side I have zero confidence in Tom Savage. I wanted to see him get a real shot to prove himself but all I can see he proved is he's really not even backup material. So, the Texans will be playing at 12 o'clock tomorrow at NRG Stadium and it might be the Texans best shot out of their last 4 games to get to 5 wins unless they figure out how to beat the Colts in their place in the season finale. Realistically, the Texans will be lucky to notch 5 wins but on the flip side it should get them a top ten pick in next year's draft.

    Dear God, all I want for Christmas is for Deshaun Watson to never be hurt again. Or JJ Watt just because he's probably the new millennium Captain America.

  5. #20
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    What can be said about the 2017 Houston Texans season that hasn’t been said before. Last week with TJ Yates the Texans showed that maybe Tom Savage wasn’t the whole problem with the Texans offense. Or maybe it’s that there isn’t a franchise caliber QB on the Texans roster. Like the Cowboys 2015 season when Tony Romo went down and the Cowboys went through 4 different QBs and they won just one game out of 12 tries because Dallas lost their franchise caliber singal caller. Same team that went 12-4 in 2014 with the only difference being the QB was gone.
    Next year Deshaun Watson, JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus will be back. Given the so-so success of the Texans we might wonder about whether Rick Smith or Bill O’Brien will still have job when the season ends. O’Brien has never won more than 9 games in a season but this will be the first year he’s lost less than those same 9 games.
    Bob McNair is a pretty tolerant man but how long will he put up with mediocrity? Who knows. Right now, with two games left I don’t care.
    It doesn’t mean the players are just going through the motions. A lot of guys are playing for their jobs so the games should still be competitive. Assuming you have a tv to watch them on.

  6. #21
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    There is no reason to worry about what will take place in Houston's final two games. Honestly, it would be in their best interest to lose them both. There is no advantage at all to winning either or both games but there is a big disadvantage to winning. It will cost them a draft spot. Right now Houston is standing with a big group of teams with a 4-10 record. The Browns are unleading the pack at 0-14. They will be getting the #1 pick in 2018's draft unless they trade it away again. The Browns have amassed a crap-load of draft picks with all their wheeling and dealing the past couple of drafts but so far nothing has come of it. The next team in line would be the NY Giants at 2-12 followed by the 3-11 Colts. Then comes the logjam at 4-10. The 4-10 teams are;
    1. Houston
    2. San Francisco
    3. Chicago
    4. Tampa Bay
    They also have 3 teams right behind this group at 5-9, the Jets, Bengals and the Broncos.
    My point is Houston to have a top 5 draft pick needs to go 0-2 in their final two games. They will be playing the Steelers this Sunday at home and conclude their season playing the Colts in Indianapolis. If Houston does lose both games and Indy loses Sunday but beats the Texans in Week 17 the Colts will own the tie-breaker over Houston and the Texans could potentially earn (?) the 3rd pick in the draft.
    Reaching for silver linings here, work with me.

  7. #22
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    Houston is continuing its march to a good draft pick after being pummeled by the Pittsburgh Steelers, at home, yesterday afternoon. Going in they already knew they got help in the draft position sweepstakes because San Francisco and Chicago both won. Thank you Jimmy Garoppolo and Mitch Trubisky. Tampa Bay continues its futility with a loss keeping them tied with Houston for the 3rd worst record in the NFL. The fact that Tampa can actually score points gives you hope that the Bucs can actually pull out a win in their season finale this week against New Orleans but it's not likely. Houston travels to Indy this week and you hope the Colts close out their season with a win. If the Colts win they will have swept the Texans in both games meaning Houston would end up with the 2nd or 3rd pick in the draft depending on how the tie-breakers between Houston and Tampa go. This is a helluva thing to have to talk about with the season not even over with.

    Houston found out that Tom Savage wasn't the answer. They have since found that TJ Yates isn't either. Yesterday the Texans turned to rookie from Old Dominion Taylor Heinicke. We won't ever know if he would've made a difference as he threw one pass for ten yards and was subsequently concussed and was out for the rest of the game. Maybe he'll get his chance in Indy. What's clear is aside from Deshaun Watson nobody playing QB for Houston could put up enough points to win a game. The Texans over the last 8 games without Watson are averaging 13.5 PPG and you throw out an anomaly game in which Houston scored 31 in a win against Arizona the Texans would be averaging 11.2 PPG. You can't win in the NFL scoring 11 points in a game. Even if the Texans defense was the same dominating unit it was in 2016, which it most certainly isn't, the Texans would still be a sub .500 team.

    All it boils down to is this, on December 31st I am an Indianapolis Colts fan. I won't be able to watch the game any more than I will be able to stomach watching Dallas get the hell kicked out of them by Philadelphia Sunday. This whole football season has been like watching a horror move in which the heroes are all bested by the bad guy. For my money, this horror show can't end soon enough. Good riddance 2017. I hate your guts except for the Astros and they won in spite of you're hateful self.

  8. #23
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    The Texans gave me a scare by taking a 13-7 lead into halftime in the season finale in Indianapolis but they managed a second half collapse to eventually lose 22-13. For some reason, the Colts despite owning the tie-breaker by sweeping the Texans are getting the 3rd pick in the draft. What's even worse is Houston won't be getting the 4th pick. No, they traded that away to Cleveland for the right to pick Deshuan Watson. The Browns also got the Texans 25th pick in the second round in the same deal. What that means is Houston will not have a first or a second round draft pick in 2018 and the Browns will have 3 extra picks, including the first and fourth picks in the first round, they will either trade away or screw up. Based on past performance the Browns will squander the picks. They passed on taking either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz in the 2016 draft when they had the first pick and they ended up with Deshone Kizer. The Browns are making sequels to the movie Draft Day on an annual basis but all their wheeling and dealing has netted them nada, squat, nothing. It is quite possible the Browns will use their pick on Baker Mayfield and it will be a sad day for Mayfield to have to go into the dawg pound from hell.
    The Texans, on the other hand, have a legit franchise QB in Watson. They need O-line help bad but a quality lineman may need to come via free agency and will be very expensive.
    Speaking of offensive lineman, the feel good story of the year has to be centered around David Quessenberry the offensive tackle from San Jose State drafted by the Texans in the 6th round of the 2013 draft. During training camp his rookie season he injured his foot badly enough to be placed on IR. In June of 2014 he was diagnosed with lymphoma and immediately underwent treatment for the cancer. Over the next two years Quessenberry received treatment for, and ended up being cured, of the cancer. To the Texans credit DQ was kept on the Texans practice squad during treatment and rehab. This past season he didn't make the final 53 but he was again on the practice squad. On December 19th DQ was elevated to the 53 man roster and he was, after a 4 year ordeal, active for his first NFL game on Christmas Day against the Steelers. Congratulations to Quessenberry and a big shout out to the Texans for showing such loyalty to Quessenberry during his difficult times.
    On the other hand, Texans Rick Smith is taking an indefinite leave of absence to be with his wife who has been diagnosed with cancer. The Texans have assured him he will not be relieved of his job while he is at his wife's side during her cancer treatment. The Texans, i.e. Bob McNair, has hired an independent firm to locate a temporary replacement for Smith as the Texans prepare for the draft this April. This also probably means Bill O'Brien will not be quitting or being fired so he will be back in 2018. I think this is a good thing for him and the team.

    Last post on this thread. So long 2017 I'm not sorry to see you go!

  9. #24
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    There is a lot to discuss in Texan-land but it’s hard because the information is sketchy at best.
    What we do know is Bill O’Brien has been given a contract extension that will pay him through the 2022 season. You guys can debate that deal around the water cooler or you can give your opinion here. I love to see what you all think about keeping O’Brien around.
    Another thing we know is current/former GM Rick Smith has taken an extended leave of absence to be with his wife as she battles breast cancer. It should be noted that O’Brien’s extension came after Smith bowed out of the picture.
    We also know that Texans owner Bob McNair has hired Brian Gaine to be the new GM. He is also signed through the 2022 season. We also know that Bill O’Brien was going to asked to be released from his contract if he had to continue to try to work with Rick Smith. It seems the two don’t get along very well. This came before Smith announced his leave of absence.
    What we don’t know is anything about Brian Gaine. As usual the Texans website gives nothing but the announcement of his hire and the extension of O’Brien’s contract. No details, no background, nada. I’ll say right now that the Texans website is a LOT less informative than the Cowboys site and it’s frustrating as hell. The Bleacher Report doesn’t do much better in regard to any info on Brian Gaine so I turned to my old standby -- Google -- to find out about the man who will be guiding the Texans upcoming draft and free agent signings and possible replacements in the coaching staff (more on that later). So, what I found is a mini bio of Gaine on NFL.com. Gaine comes from the Bill Parcells tree as Parcells hired Gaine 3 different times. In 1999, after spending 4 years in the NFL as a practice squad player, Parcells hired Gaine to be a scout when Parcells was Head Coach of the NY Jets. In 2005 when Parcells was hired as HC of the Cowboys Gaine came along as Director of Pro Scouting. His term ended in 2007 but Parcells again hire Gaine as his Assistant Director of Pro Personnel through the 2010 season and he was promoted to Director of Pro Personnel for the Dolphins for the 2011 season. He was again promoted by the Dolphins to Assistant GM and held that post in 2012 and 2013. Gaine came to Houston and was the Director of Player Personnel from 2014 to 2016. In 2017 Gaine worked for the Buffalo Bills as their Vice President of Player Personnel. Of course, he is back in Houston now and apparently since both Gaine and O’Brien are from the Parcells coaching tree (remember Bill Belichick was a Parcells assistant) they think alike which led O’Brien to agree to a contract extension instead of handing in his resignation. It has to be noted that the Texans talent upgrades between 2014 and 2016 were pretty significant. During this time Houston added Jadeveon Clowney, Alfred Blue, Xavier Su-o’filo, Jay Prosch and Andre Hal among others in 2014. In 2015 the Texans added Christian Covington, Kevin Johnson and Bernadrick McKinney and others to the roster and in 2016 among the players added to the roster were Will Fuller, Braxton Miller, KJ Dillon, DJ Reader, Tyler Ervin, and Nick Martin. All six were draft picks and all contributed to the team over the last two seasons. Don’t forget about adding Lamar Miller as a free agent in 2016. Now, you have to mention the Brock Osweiler signing but as we all now know Osweiler was signed over the objections of Bill O’Brien and by proxy against the advice of Gaine.
    What all this means is there is stability in the Texans chain of command and it will behoove Bill O’Brien to take all the players injured in 2017, JJ Watt, Whitney Mercilus, DeSean Watson among others and lead the team to a successful season. Oh yeah, the AFC South is no long the pushover it has been with the emergence of Jacksonville and Tennessee there won’t be anyone winning the division with a paltry 9-7 record any time soon. The pressure is on Bill O’Brien now. No excuses mister. It’s win or you’re out the gate.

  10. #25
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    Houston will have to find a new DC because their current DC, Mike Vrabel has a new job, as head coach of the Tennessee Titans replacing now former head coach Mike Mularkey who went 20-21 in parts of 3 seasons as the head coach of the Titans. The Titans made a return to the playoffs this season but after being blown out by the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs Mularkey’s services were no longer deemed needed by the Titans brain trust.
    As Texans fans, we all know Vrabel. Stellar 14-year career as a player including 3 SB wins with New England. Vrabel was an assistant coach under Urban Meyer from 2011-2013. He was the Texans linebackers coach from 2014-2016 and the DC for the Texans in 2017. It seems Vrabel has been on an upward trajectory since he became a coach after his playing days were over.
    The Texans have made Romeo Crennel the DC. He was given the title assistant head coach after spending 3 years as the DC for the Texans and he got to oversee Vrabel who was promoted to DC last year.
    Also, in Tennessee long time NFL player, coach and defensive guru Dick LeBeau was let go after the announcement of the hiring of Vrabel. LeBeau is 80 years old and he said he’s fine with retirement if the situation in Tennessee didn’t work out. It hasn’t worked out but LeBeau is one of the great defensive minds in NFL history and he sure would be a big asset to any team that would hire him.
    Last week the Texans hired a new special teams coach, Brad Seely who was let go after Oakland head man Jack Del Rio was fired after the season. Last Friday the Texans hired Seely’s assistant ST coach from Oakland Tracy Smith. The Texans also hired former Dolphins RB coach Danny Barrett who replaced Charles London who was fired. The team also promoted Anthony Midget, who was the assistant secondary coach under John Butler who was also fired after the season ended. It kind of looks like Bill O’Brien is restocking the coaching shelves with his guys.

  11. #26
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    Re: 2017 Houston Texans Season

    The Texans made it official by naming Romeo Crennel the new DC after Mike Vrabel accepted the head coaching position with Tennessee. It sort of lends credence to the old saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Crennel had been the Texans DC from 2014-2016 in Bill O'Brien's first 3 seasons as head coach. Crennel was named Assistant head coach last year as Vrabel was named the DC. Crennel's return means the Texans will retain continuity as they look to rebound from a disappointing season in 2017 marked by the loss of several key players including JJ Watt, Whitney Mercilus and Brian Cushing due to injuries or suspensions. The coaching staff has seen a good many changes so far since the Texans season ended. There has been a lot of movement on the Texans coaching staff since GM Rick Smith announced his indefinite leave of absence due to his wife's battle with breast cancer. It began with Bill O'Brien agreeing to a contract extension rather than tendering his resignation had Smith continued in his GM role. Several moves have been made with the appearance being O'Brien was hired "his guys" so there would be a unified voice in the locker room by the coaching staff. Not that there was a lot of rumblings before but it's seems unlikely Smith stepping down and a total revamp of the coaching staff coming right on the heels of Smith's departure is a coincidence.


    This revamped coaching staff has been in Mobile Alabama this past week as they prepare to coach the south squad in the Senior Bowl today. The Broncos staff will be coaching the north squad. Getting to coach the senior bowl is a big advantage to the staffs involved because they get an up-close-and-personal look at a big chunk of the prospects in the upcoming draft. When Dallas' staff coached the Senior Bowl prior to the 2016 draft they were able to identify several prospects including one in particular, Dak Prescott, that they got to know in the week of practice leading up to the game. The NFL teams have reps in the stands watching the practices but it's no substitute for close interaction with the players on the practice field, meeting rooms and all the surrounding activities. The Texans are going to have no draft picks in the 1st and 2nd rounds because of the moves Houston involving their QB situation. First, they gave up their 1st round draft pick in this year's draft to Cleveland for the right to move up in the 2017 draft to get future franchise QB Desean Watson. Then they gave up their second round pick to Cleveland because the Browns took Brock Osweiler off their hands including his salary. Small price to pay for the mistake of signing Osweiler in the first place. What this means is the Texans have to make the most of this up close opportunity so they can get good value when they begin making their picks beginning in the 3rd round of the draft.

    From the One good thing department; Bill O'Brien announced this week that Desean Watson is ahead of schedule in the rehab from his torn ACL. Good news for sure! It's unlikely Watson will be in the offseason workout program with the team as he will continue to rehab his knee but it's quite possible, maybe even probable, he will be ready to go for training camp. Very good news!

    Enjoy the Senior Bowl or at least part of it before you go to the Montagne to seen LU take on McNeese in basketball late this afternoon.

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