Oilers: From one extreme to the to other...let's not repeat the past! Our offense during the Campbell years were just that, "Campbell years." In hindsight, its quite easy to see why a running ONLY offense didn't work. Sure, we had some success. Because Earl was so dog-gone dominating at the RB position. But when you have a "hammer," everything is NOT a nail. We were mesmerized by Earls running to the extreme we never utilized the WR or TE talent to complement him. Sure, we used them. But the game plan was still predominantly: Give the ball to Earl. Remember that thing called "team?" I have to believe that even if we did bring in other WR/TE talent, we'd still run the ball most of the time (untapped). Now how predictable is that? During the playoffs, we'd always meet a team that WAS able to stop the run. And that's where the 78 - 80 Oilers attacked ended. The from 87 to 94 the Oilers went to the other end of the spectrum. The Run-and-Shoot was the opposite of the Run-ONLY offense. So, we went from one extreme to the other. With the Moon era, we passed too much! During the Oiler history, we always ended up going up against playoff teams (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Denver, Buffalo, Kansas City) that exploited our current weakness. So, if you build a team that is running dominated, or passing dominated. That in itself, it a "weakness" that is easily exploited by our opponents. Here was the game plan during the "Campbell" years: Run the ball. Here was the opponents game plan to defend the Oilers: Defend the run. Easy...(to predict)... Here was the game plan during the "Moon" years: Pass the ball. Here was the opponents game plan to defend the Oilers: Defend the pass. Easy...(to predict)... The key issue here is: predictability. And if you are predictable, you are essentially handing your game book to your opponents. The best record the Oilers have ever had was 12-4 in 93-94. The rest of the "decent" seasons were respectable (9-7, 11-5, 7-9, 10-6, 8-8), but when compared to the rest of the league, merely average. I would hate it if we did the same thing with the Texans we did with the Oilers of the 70/80/90's! I sooooo glad we found a very good RB in D. Davis to help Carr and Andre out. But must remember not to get mesmerized or pacified by a "good thing." Use him as "weapon," but not at the expense of the rest of the team; WR, TE, FB, QB...etc... Next on the list we need to find a very good TE that can help us out on the play-action or short routes. Is Billy Miller that guy? Not sure... Billy is mentioned in both of these articles... Not everyone can get a Shannon Sharpe, but we can try... http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=overthehumpplayingthetem&prov=tsn&type=lgns http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=howthecoveraffectsyou&prov=tsn&type=lgns
If it were not for the obvious weaknesses of the Texans' defense this year the team would be in prime position to get that premier TE in next year's draft... Kellen Winslow Jr. out of Miami.
Of course, Pastorini was quite possibly the worst QB in the entire history of mankind. The Oilers had to give it to Earl because Pastorini was that bad. The Snake came in for a year, but he was way past his prime to be effective. They also won one moer playoff game in three years than the "Run 'N Shoot yourself in the foot when you get to the red-zone" offense did. It's called playing to your strengths. Right now, the Texans have no strengths. Their strength used to be their defense, but they only seem to play two quarters a game these days. A lot of myopic fans like to believe that Carr is the best thing since BBQ Baked Lays, but the truth is that he's just not a very good QB right now. He's been protected pretty well this year, but his rating is still in the toilet and he has more interceptions than TDs. He also has a tendency to zone in on one receiver, a mistake typical of young quarterbacks. Johnson is good, but a wide receiver is only as good as the guy throwing it to him. The passing game this year, as compared to last year, is about the same. The running game is about 10X better than last year, so why not start running the ball more and see how it develops?
Hmmm, Kellen Winslow, Jr. is listed on the Texan War Room board here: http://www.houstonprofootball.com/draft/prospects/winslowk.html ...along with four other prospects. What's with the name "Ben?" Heh.. Jeff Dugan Ben Troupe Ben Utecht Ben Watson
LOL!!! That used to drive me crazy! We'd drive 90 yards in the air; Moon to Givins, Moon to Jeffieres, Moon to Slaughter, Moon to Duncan.... Then, we'd get stuck on the 10 yard line with no room to throw. Enter Al Decreco! 3 points. Ha!
I can't see the games (in Maryland), so I can't tell. But that would be a good stat to look up... I'd figured that Carr's confidence and timing has improved and the addition of Johnston as a "goto guy" has also helped greatly. Mccaffery, and Bradford seem to do it as a tandem last year. Andre Johnson can do it alone this year. He's a true All-Pro player.
Well his completion percentage is up over last year. His yards per attempt are up over last year. His rating is up. He's on pace for more TD passes, but he's also way up in interceptions (which is really what's holding his rating down so low. If not for the INTs, he'd be 10th in the League, QB rating-wise. But he is throwing a lot of interceptions, so that costs him 17 or so points in QB rating). I don't think you can honestly say that the passing game hasn't gotten at least a little better. Heck, even if you just give credit to the O-Line for keeping Carr from getting sacked (on pace for something like 27 sacks this year vs. 76 last season). The offense has certainly not been good enough. It's had moments of very good play followed by a lot of moments of poor play. It's inconsistent, but it's still better than it was last season. For the record, the running game is better than last year, up to 113 ypg vs. 85 ypg last season. The Texans offense ended its first season in 32nd place. They currently sit in 15th place. Personally, I think they've improved. Having the 31st ranked defense after finishing the 2002 season with the 16th ranked defense is hurting.
I think everyone needs to get over it, the Texans showed up for only one half of football , that is why we lost. We should be so lucky to have the players we have now plus a back we could feed like Earl. The playcalling was ultr-conservative in the second half but that appears to be the mantra so far, we are not good enough yet to put teams away. Signed, Still patient and loving the direction this team is heading
Hell yeah! To have Carr, Johnson, Bradford, and Campbell! Wow! Talk about a team to build on! By the way, I'm happy to have D. Davis. He's seems like he has a good head on his shoulders. Did you hear this interviews? He takes nothing for granted, and always sees room for improvement on his game. Great attitude!
As I was coming home I was thinking of starting a thread about Winslow and now here it is so Ill chime in here. We need him even if Miller is good and heres how,why: My ideal offense would be this: wr- Johnson te-miller ol ol ol ol ol te-Winslow wr- gaffney carr davis Thats 11 guys. The defense would have to zone deep to protect from Andre and Gaffneys speed. But then we can KILL them with the short yardage passing to Winslow/Miller. If the linebackers try to stop our 2 TE"S then carr can pass deep. Plus this gives 7 guys up front to protect carr,and make a hole for davis. Its the PERFECT plan. I sure hope we draft winslow. Im the only texan fan hoping we lose so that we can pick high enough.(darn bengals) Defense is another matter. But I think you have to go with the best playmaker instead of filling a specific position in defense that can be filled later years with a lower first round pick.(most defensive players are picked later than 8th.)
plus this would give dre a friend. Dre is soooo quiet Im almost thinking he is unhappy. Bring another cane in and he will stay here forever.
Isn't that why we got Joppru AND Holloway, so they could lineup on the opposite side of Miller? I wouldn't mind having Winslow, but he hasn't shown that he is the best player available in this draft, plus the fact we have many many different areas to address. As for the play-calling, I don't know why we're calling everything so close to the vest. We're not supposed to be as good as our record shows; everyone had us pegged for another 4, 5 win season. So why not go there and play the wild-card, spoiler role? Air it out a few times, call some trick plays, etc. Calling everything strictly by the book is ok, but I think we need to surprise the league a LOT more.
Shhhhhh....me too. We need more picks. But it's nice to get a win here or there to gauge our progress. By the way, I'm surpised you picked Gaffney over Bradford? It it age related/potential related?
Man, I don't think we need to pick any offensive players in the draft next year. We need DB's, D linemen, and linebackers. Other than that, our defense is set for years. I'd be happy if we used every single pick on defense next year. Maybe a couple of O linemen and a RB via free agency, but we have no depth on defense right now.
