Idle thoughts - The Houston Match up. (Texan fans welcome)

I've learned my lesson, Pats win in the late hours by 8.

If we don't get on them early and hard, there's a lot of time left on the clock for the ball to bounce the wrong way.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Thanks for posting the link -- interesting to read so many different players' quotes. For the most part (not quite all) I think they all said the right thing (spontaneous or scripted framework?). Kubiak's quote: "We understand the challenge that we have. That is what is awesome about this league: it’s the ultimate challenge. We’ve earned our right to go back. We want to go back and play a heck of a lot better than we did."
I realize it doesn't amount to a hill of beans what he or anyone says, however, his comment of the situation (my personal interpretation) 'tough challenge, honored to be in this position, we better play better than we did' is a decent one. And while I was probably one of only a few that actually found entertainment in Rex's big mouthed buffoonery, I have a level of appreciation for a coach that respects the gravity of the situation/the game itself.
Sunday can't come soon enough.......

Click to expand...

Kubiak has always be a good hearted coach. Very calm, cool, and collective. I have never seen him bad mouth another team, player, coach, or referee. Now if only he would grow some cojones and go for it on 4th and inches, I would respect him a great deal more

Kubiak gets a lot of grief, especially in Houston. Ho took over an expansion team that had never really been competitive. But. take a look at his first 7 years vs that of the almighty Belichick. There is no dismissing what BB has done when he has had TB. The Pats have an outstanding record of success since BB and TB have been a duo. But take away Brady, and he's not even Kubiak. And Kubiak has just as good, if not better record as assistant coach. The Houston media wants Kubiak gone....he'd be unemployed for about 5 seconds and we'd probably end up with Chip Kelly or Brian Kelly type - thank God for Bob McNair




Kubiak first 7 years 59-53 - 2 Playoff appearances, 3 winning seasons

Belichick first 7 years 52-60 - 2 playoff appearances 1-1 at Clevland in 4th year after going 20-28 first three years, won Super Bowl 7th year with Tom Brady. Never made a championship game without Brady at QB. 2 winning season out of first 7 – first year at NE Pats went 5-11 with Bledsoe at QB.

Texanman said:

Kubiak gets a lot of grief, especially in Houston. Ho took over an expansion team that had never really been competitive. But. take a look at his first 7 years vs that of the almighty Belichick. There is no dismissing what BB has done when he has had TB. The Pats have an outstanding record of success since BB and TB have been a duo. But take away Brady, and he's not even Kubiak. And Kubiak has just as good, if not better record as assistant coach. The Houston media wants Kubiak gone....he'd be unemployed for about 5 seconds and we'd probably end up with Chip Kelly or Brian Kelly type - thank God for Bob McNair




Kubiak first 7 years 59-53 - 2 Playoff appearances, 3 winning seasons

Belichick first 7 years 52-60 - 2 playoff appearances 1-1 at Clevland in 4th year after going 20-28 first three years, won Super Bowl 7th year with Tom Brady. Never made a championship game without Brady at QB. 2 winning season out of first 7 – first year at NE Pats went 5-11 with Bledsoe at QB.

Click to expand...

are you really comparing kubiak to BB?

LMFAO......put down the pipe

IllegalContact said:

are you really comparing kubiak to BB?

LMFAO......put down the pipe

Click to expand...

Kind of like how every player picked at #199 now gets compared to Brady ...

Moving on, and in the spirit of this thread's title, couple of idle thoughts:
- Heard an interesting point last night listening to 98.5 on the way home: Host (Jones I think) was citing some ESPN stats saying that the '10 Jets and '11 Ravens all brought extra pass rushers in their regular season losses to the Pats. We all know the story with Brady vs blitzes, etc. (Think John Candy/buffet table.) But in their playoff games later that year, Jets/Ravens sent fewer people, got pressure still, and flustered Brady. Seems to be a classic tactic (you know, those last two Super Bowls and all). The main point was that the Texans apparently brought extra rushers in December. So you have to wonder whether Phillips and the Texans can and will adjust. Does the return of Brooks Reed make this type of adjustment more do-able? And if so, does the enhanced running game of this year's Patriots counter that tactic?
- Looking over the injury list, so good to see Solder and especially Vollmer off of it. Seems like forever that Vollmer has had the back injury. Personally I don't expect him to be 100%, but just to have him healthy enough to be off the list is very nice.
- Of the names still on the list, the two I think they most need to be well for Sunday and beyond are Talib and Dennard. Would also be nice to see AHern better; he's kind of the Fred Lynn of this team.
- Keep hearing how if Schaub had thrown to Foster on that end zone pick last game, it would have been an easy six. Gotta think the Pats have a plan for taking care of that a bit better. Still, that passing option to Foster can be dangerous.

Texanman said:

Kubiak gets a lot of grief, especially in Houston. Ho took over an expansion team that had never really been competitive. But. take a look at his first 7 years vs that of the almighty Belichick. There is no dismissing what BB has done when he has had TB. The Pats have an outstanding record of success since BB and TB have been a duo. But take away Brady, and he's not even Kubiak. And Kubiak has just as good, if not better record as assistant coach. The Houston media wants Kubiak gone....he'd be unemployed for about 5 seconds and we'd probably end up with Chip Kelly or Brian Kelly type - thank God for Bob McNair




Kubiak first 7 years 59-53 - 2 Playoff appearances, 3 winning seasons

Belichick first 7 years 52-60 - 2 playoff appearances 1-1 at Clevland in 4th year after going 20-28 first three years, won Super Bowl 7th year with Tom Brady. Never made a championship game without Brady at QB. 2 winning season out of first 7 – first year at NE Pats went 5-11 with Bledsoe at QB.

Click to expand...

And yet over BB's first 5 years, an apples to apples comparison, he went 36-44 vs 37-43 for Kubiak, so he had one less win for an org that makes expansion teams look like a godsend coaching job wise. Oh and BB did this thing called making the POs going 1-1, which Kubiak failed to do in his first 5.

the biggest difference between the jets and ravens in comparing them to the texans is the situation at the inside LB positions.

2009 ravens - ray lewis/tavares gooden
2010 jets - david harris/bart scott
2012 texans - bradie james/barrett ruud

the first 2 are either capable or very good in coverage......james/ruud not so much.

there are other big differences.......

ravens game: an 80 yard td run by rice plus 3 brady turnovers.......BTW, the raves were bringing it since ray lewis got one of the 1st quarter sacks. the pats weren't that good in 2009 anyway

jets game: outside of mediocre execution, this loss can be chalked up to a botched 4th down by chung and 2 big throws by sanchez.

alot of players cut their teeth on those losses as well as the near loss in the AFCC against the ravens last year......that was one of those games....the ball simply bounced for the pats

Uncle Rico said:

Kind of like how every player picked at #199 now gets compared to Brady ...

Moving on, and in the spirit of this thread's title, couple of idle thoughts:
- Heard an interesting point last night listening to 98.5 on the way home: Host (Jones I think) was citing some ESPN stats saying that the '10 Jets and '11 Ravens all brought extra pass rushers in their regular season losses to the Pats. We all know the story with Brady vs blitzes, etc. (Think John Candy/buffet table.) But in their playoff games later that year, Jets/Ravens sent fewer people, got pressure still, and flustered Brady. Seems to be a classic tactic (you know, those last two Super Bowls and all). The main point was that the Texans apparently brought extra rushers in December. So you have to wonder whether Phillips and the Texans can and will adjust. Does the return of Brooks Reed make this type of adjustment more do-able? And if so, does the enhanced running game of this year's Patriots counter that tactic?
- Looking over the injury list, so good to see Solder and especially Vollmer off of it. Seems like forever that Vollmer has had the back injury. Personally I don't expect him to be 100%, but just to have him healthy enough to be off the list is very nice.
- Of the names still on the list, the two I think they most need to be well for Sunday and beyond are Talib and Dennard. Would also be nice to see AHern better; he's kind of the Fred Lynn of this team.
- Keep hearing how if Schaub had thrown to Foster on that end zone pick last game, it would have been an easy six. Gotta think the Pats have a plan for taking care of that a bit better. Still, that passing option to Foster can be dangerous.

Click to expand...

The Texans chances were already very slim at best. But TE Garrett Graham is now listed officially w another concussion, meaning he most likely wont clear protocol before this game. Now, we dont have a chanc in hell. I cannot stress how important he is to our team in terms of run blocking, play action, and opening up Owen Daniels in the passing game. Our playbook will be cut in half.

Texanman said:

Kubiak gets a lot of grief, especially in Houston. Ho took over an expansion team that had never really been competitive. But. take a look at his first 7 years vs that of the almighty Belichick. There is no dismissing what BB has done when he has had TB. The Pats have an outstanding record of success since BB and TB have been a duo. But take away Brady, and he's not even Kubiak. And Kubiak has just as good, if not better record as assistant coach. The Houston media wants Kubiak gone....he'd be unemployed for about 5 seconds and we'd probably end up with Chip Kelly or Brian Kelly type - thank God for Bob McNair




Kubiak first 7 years 59-53 - 2 Playoff appearances, 3 winning seasons

Belichick first 7 years 52-60 - 2 playoff appearances 1-1 at Clevland in 4th year after going 20-28 first three years, won Super Bowl 7th year with Tom Brady. Never made a championship game without Brady at QB. 2 winning season out of first 7 – first year at NE Pats went 5-11 with Bledsoe at QB.

Click to expand...

It's not exactly apples for apples since Bill built a winner in Cleveland and then Modell undermined him with the move to Baltimore. They were 3-1 before the news came out and the one loss was @NE by 3 points and NE was a playoff team who the Browns beat the previous year. Then he had to rebuild in NE. So that's two rebuilds to only one.

I think Kubiak is a solid coach but he's nothing special. He does what he does and he's never going to think outside the box. I think Marty Shottenheimer is probably a fair comparison. But he's not in that like BB is. Yes BB needed Tom Brady to win SB but what head coach didn't? The best argument is Joe Gibbs but while none of those QBs had HOF careers they did have HOF seasons.

I still think people are taking Houston a little lightly this week. Really every break went the Pats way the first meeting. I think the Pats win but I think this is more like the 2007 Chargers than the 2010 Jets. The Pats smoked the Chargers in the regular season but then had their hands full with them in the post season. I see this game being similar to that game and very low scoring.

TexasTradition said:

The Texans chances were already very slim at best. But TE Garrett Graham is now listed officially w another concussion, meaning he most likely wont clear protocol before this game. Now, we dont have a chanc in hell. I cannot stress how important he is to our team in terms of run blocking, play action, and opening up Owen Daniels in the passing game. Our playbook will be cut in half.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your guy. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a career impacting thing. TBH I don't think it'll have as large an impact as you think since Houston was unlike to win in a shootout. The Texans' best chance is if the scoreboard looks something like 19-17, which they can still manage absent Graham.

ThatllMoveTheChains!!! said:

Sorry to hear about your guy. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a career impacting thing. TBH I don't think it'll have as large an impact as you think since Houston was unlike to win in a shootout. The Texans' best chance is if the scoreboard looks something like 19-17, which they can still manage absent Graham.

Click to expand...

Yeah, we trade Demeco Ryans, replace right side of line, and let Dresseen go to Denver. And almost predictably, those 3 areas have been hit the hardest with injuries this year. F you Lady Luck.

While I agree its more so limiting your offense, and we can score 19 points with out him, but he gives us a better chance at keeping our O on the field. We need long sustaining chew the clock drives in order to even think about cutting into your ppg. And with our redzone woes as of late, not being able to utilize our 2 TE sets it limits our play calling in this crucial area. Its a huge blow. But you guys were never probably going to lose this game anyway. I just want to see a competitive game damnit!

Since this is the only thread seemingly discussing the rematch matchup, I thought Tedy's take fit here. He has some interesting observations from a former player standpoint as well as insight as to how he thinks this team may or better approach this rematch.

Tedy Bruschi's Breakdown of New England Patriots-Houston Texans divisional playoff game - ESPN Boston

In the end he thinks it will come down to Brady is just better than Schaub who is facing this level of relative competition (QB vs. QB performance) for the first time in his career and is pressing to match up.

Tedy has some serious concerns about Gronk based on his return performance. Says he has never seen a player that seemingly determined to play one armed to protect an injury...

MoLewisrocks said:

Tedy has some serious concerns about Gronk based on his return performance. Says he has never seen a player that seemingly determined to play one armed to protect an injury...

Click to expand...

I feel like this one is overblown. The original time table was 4-8 weeks and reports had him ahead of schedule. Gronk's arm had 6 weeks going into the Dolphins game, it will now have a full 8 weeks.

I think his dangling arm was purely a matter of protecting it in what evolved into a meaningless blowout. When he needed to use it out of instinct (catching the ball), he showed no hesitation.

TexasTradition said:

The Texans chances were already very slim at best. But TE Garrett Graham is now listed officially w another concussion, meaning he most likely wont clear protocol before this game. Now, we dont have a chanc in hell. I cannot stress how important he is to our team in terms of run blocking, play action, and opening up Owen Daniels in the passing game. Our playbook will be cut in half.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about Graham's concussion. Hope it isn't career threatening but coming so soon after his last one it is worrisome.

For his own sake I hope the Texans shut him down until next season.

We Pats fans had to say goodbye to our best interior pass rusher last year in Mike Wright due to continuing concussions and symptoms.

He didn't want to quit, but in the end I think most Pats fans were wishing he'd retire or that the Pats would force the issue.

It's just part of the price these guys pay keeping us all entertained playing this collision sport.

Football Outsiders film room take on re-match matchups and opportunities. They like Woodhead in this one. And they think the NEP should utilize some power running.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Film Room: AFC Divisional Round

Double TE said:

Yes but the Pats were the only unanimous selection. Some dude picked the Ravens (Really?).

Click to expand...

I got them in an upset. My reasoning is in the Ravens-Broncos thread. Denver is the better team, but to many variables that typically go against Manning in the playoffs.

The Gr8est said:

Sorry to hear about Graham's concussion. Hope it isn't career threatening but coming so soon after his last one it is worrisome.

For his own sake I hope the Texans shut him down until next season.

We Pats fans had to say goodbye to our best interior pass rusher last year in Mike Wright due to continuing concussions and symptoms.

He didn't want to quit, but in the end I think most Pats fans were wishing he'd retire or that the Pats would force the issue.

It's just part of the price these guys pay keeping us all entertained playing this collision sport.

Click to expand...

I agree to a point...but I think it's more about the money than entertaining fans. it's the price they pay for getting paid so well. NFL player definitely earn their money

letekro said:

Ravens are a bit of a wildcard because if Flacco connects on a few of his rainbow balls/draws PI on them, they can beat anyone, including the Broncos and Pats.

Click to expand...

I agree with this. The Ravens are a very dangerous team. Most teams have a few breaks go their way and a few go the other way. If the Ravens get just a couple extra breaks they can beat ANYbody.

Dragda said:

I agree with this. The Ravens are a very dangerous team. Most teams have a few breaks go their way and a few go the other way. If the Ravens get just a couple extra breaks they can beat ANYbody.

Click to expand...

cept maybe the Oregon Ducks?

Well, here we go:

Nick Underhill ‏@Nick_Underhill
ESPN asked Wade Phillips if Joseph is gonna cover Welker: "“Ah, Welker’s not (A.J.) Green … he’s not that big or a real athletic guy."

As SMY of the Globe points out, this is from a coach, not a columnist.

Note to Phillips: Make sure you cover Welker first series. Just a hunch.