Finally I can get on RealGM again!

[Biggie713]

So the past 4 months or so I've been trying to log in and converse with everyone but for some odd reason, RealGM would 404/Page not found, like 5/6 times i try to goto the site. And sometimes it would only do it to the Forums.

But now that I can get back on. How Bout that Texas Football Team!! And not the Cowboys!

I was pretty confident in how we were going to play but I really wasn't expecting this much from the defense so soon. The first 4 games (barring the last quarter of the Saints game) was just incredible to watch defensively. I've always been a fan of a good defense, but now even more so considering I can actually root for the defense.

But now Schaub is out and Leinart was in. I'm almost starting to think that the Texans really are living out my Dream. Before the season started I was hoping we would get Joseph and that our front 7 would be dominating, and that we'd trade Schaub for anything we can get and give Leinart a chance. If he wasn't able to handle the game like we want, then we value draft a QB at the 15-23 area in the first round and hope he can develop into a AJ friendly Laser cannon.

But I guess the next best thing to find out how much we really don't need Schaub is for him to go under with an injury and Leinart to prove that even a QB that hasn't started in over a year can play up to his level.

BLAH I guess this essay was brought to us all by 404/Page not found. Have fun readin :p

tl;dr - RealGM diarrhea'd on my forum access and now I'm back to root for my Texans

[Kal El]

Welcome back. Yeah too bad the Texans forum is pretty dead, I think Im the only Texans fan consistently in the main forum lol.

Yeah, Wade Phillips is a defensive guru! Say what you want about him as a head coach but as a defensive coordinator he is absolutely a genius. His version of a 3-4 is so aggressive and he has a relentless way of putting pressure on the quarterbacks. I cannot say enough about Coach Phillips. It also does not hurt that we have a revamped roster.

D Line: Antonio Smith is that reliable veteran. He is solid. J.J. Watt is a rookie that plays like he is a seasoned veteran. He plays the run really well and will only get better at rushing the passer. Shaun Cody has done pretty well at the nose, he seems to fit the system well. We have some decent guys in that depht with Jamison and Bulman and Earl Mitchell. I think if there is any upgrade to be had in defense, it would be at DT but its not a pressing need. Cody has done fine at that position.

LB: Brian Cushing is an absolute beast. He fits the mike linebacker position so well and he plays with an edge fit for a linebacker. Demeco Ryans at the moe linebacker has done well, he has been solid, even though he's injured. He is a leader in the field and makes things work out there. Connor Barwin has thrived at his new position whether that be LOLB or ROLB. Mario Williams had also thrived at his new position, 5 sacks in 5 games before going down for the season. Once healthy he adds another dimension in our defense. Brooks Reed has stepped in and fit our defense and his position perfectly. He looks like a Clay Matthews junior out there, 4 sacks in 4 games started. Williams and Reed should start at outside linebacker and if we can keep Barwin at depht and in the rotation, that would be epic. We should draft a solid linebacker or 2 in the later rounds to solidify our depht.

DB: Johnathan Joseph is a shutdown corner. I think Revis is in a class on his own but Joseph is definitely and elite cornerback in the league and I think he makes a case for the 2nd best corner in the league. Not many people might mention him there but people do not know about him as well. But I am so happy to have a shutdown corner in houston. He gets his hands on balls for deflections, makes interceptions, puts himself in positions to prevent a throw towards his direction, or to prevent the ball from the defender, and if all else fails, he will pop you and make you drop it. Danieal Manning is a solid veteran and he makes things happen. He creates turnovers and he is just a solid safety. I can't say enough how much i love having him in the backfield. Troy Nolan his backup has also done very well. What a value as a 7th round pick and he can come in and start and be solid.

Early in the season there was a competition at the 2nd corner spot between Kareem and Jason Allen. Allen and McCain are great depht corner guys, its great to have depht guys like the create turnovers and be solid when they're in the field. Back to Kareem he has really improved as the season goes along. I think he is finally starting to get comfortable out there. Upgrade at Kareems position could be a possibility but it is definitely not a pressing need. I think Kareem can and will continue to improve and solidify that spot. Glover Quin has done well at his new position SS. He has always been a solid tackler, he just wasn't quick or fast enough at CB. and Quinten Demps is a great guy at depth at that position. If there is any upgrades in defense, it would go SS, DT, CB.

[Kal El]

On to the offense, sorry I like to ran myself =P. There's nobody else to talk about the texans too, i really should join a texans forum! anyways...

OL: we have a solid offensive line. They might not make the probowl but they sure deserve it. Their run blocking and pass blocking and ability to move out into the open is such an advantage to have. I would not trade our O-line for anybody elses in the league, I am very happy with them. I don't know too much about our depht there, they haven't seem much action if any. But I trust the Texans have solidify or are solidifying that.

FB: James Casey is such a versatile guy at that position. I remember the Saints game he had like 100 yards receiving and he also carried the ball once. He is a tough nosed guy and is a great blocker. I actually think they do not involve him enough in the offense. In the off season they should work on incorporating him because he can be a dangerous weapon. Lawrence Vickers is not much as having the ball in his hands but as far as a blocker goes he is a solid veteran.

RB: WE HAVE THE BEST TANDEM RUNNING BACK IN THE LEAGUE. Arian Foster is such a dymanic player in the running game and in the passing game. Any given play he can take it to the house and he is consistent and so reliable. He is an elite running back in the league. Then Ben Tate comes in and he can start of basically any team in the league. He is such as hard runner, he has the speed and he can run you over. He will get every inch of the yard he can get on every play. Draft comes we'll probably need a 7th round or undrafted 3rd back just as security and possibly special teams. Ward will probably be gone although if it wasn't for Tate's emergence, he would have been a solid back up.

TE: Owen Daniels is so versatile. He finds the open spots and he has reliable hands. Joel Dressen is a pretty solid back up. I don't think upgrade at the position is necessary, Dressen can step in that starting lineup if he has to and be effective.

WR: Lets get it out the way. In Andre Johnson's 8 years with Houston, not one time have they every paired him with a reliable 2nd receiver on the other side. It's about that time. We need another threat on the other side and we need a guy that can be #1 if AJ is unavailable... point. blank. period. Walter and Jones are decent but they are 3rd and 4th receivers, they would be great depht guys because Walter has reliable hands but he doesn't beat many people, Jones is not a solid route runner but he has the speed to break some big ones and he'll get open here and there. Derrick Mason is a decent veteran to have in the slot. We need that #2 guy and we will probably have to trade up in the 1st round to get him. I have a plan for that later.

QB: Matt Shaub to be honest has not been all that great this season. I think he has looked efficient because of some big plays and he has really relied on his running game and defense to win games and he has relied on leads to win games. I like Shauby but I'm skeptical on him being the guy to win a superbowl for us. Well we will see how Leinert does.

Here's my scenario. Leinart needs to play well into the system. Limit turnovers and make good decision and I think he is capable of that. Basically he needs to look good. There's no question he wants to start somewhere so what do we do? We find a team that needs a quarterback with a high draft pick (probably would have to not be in the position to get a Landry Jones, a Barkley, or Griffin). We trade Leinart our 1st round pick and our 2nd round pick for their higher 1st round pick and higher 2nd round pick. 1st round we get our much need #2 receiver which I believe is the Texans highest need. Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd, etc... there's some guys out there. and with the high 2nd round pick possibly SS Mark Barron out of Alabama. Then on the off season bring home the Houston guy to compete at quarterback, Im talking about Vince Young. We need mobile guys in our system and not only is he mobile, he can take off and makes things happen with his feet.

I think it would be an interesting scenario to have Shaub and Young as our quarterbacks. You know they're sticking with Shaub, Leinart would have to have one hell of a 6 games and playoffs for the Texans to trade him. More realistically, Leinart can have a pretty good audition at quarterback and we can use him to trade up. But I do think eventually we might have to draft a quarterback because Shauby might not be our guy. Maybe if Griffin? and well just draft a WR in the 2nd round. Maybe Griffin slides in the 2nd round and we sit him for 1 or 2 seasons. We'll see.

All I know is we are 7-3 and we should be 9-1, we could have easily beaten the Saints and the Raiders we are at the goal line. If Arian didn't have his early problems with his hamstring early in the season, he would have taken care of that no problem. Here's to the last 6 games of the season with Matt Leinert!

[RaoulDuke79]

In Yates I trust.

[RaoulDuke79]

I mean, until he too gets hurt anyways.

[Kal El]

so much for my Leinart plan... it lasted like 2 quarters

[Biggie713]

Omg Yes, Leinart was playing great for us until that "hit"

I don't honestly know how he got hurt so easily but I can't really talk (6'1 160 pounds, i would die).

Yates even played pretty well, and with some first team reps maybe he'll even play better.

As for long term, I think Schaub needs to go. We could get just as far with him as we could without him. Trading Schaub for a top 10 pick would be ideal, that would get us the #2 WR and then we could save our #1 draft pick to get either a QB, Safety, or DT.

And to be honest, I wouldn't mind an OL being taken with our pick. You can get some good OL value at ~15-40th picks. And if he starts his first year, great. If not, then atleast our offensive line will still have it's chemistry and keep dominating.

[Kal El]

Well Leinart was doing good enough not to mess up. Basically he was checking down plenty, not bad but it wasn't going to be good in the long run. (although he would have probably gotten comfortable the longer he played)

Yates imo played better than leinart. He looked comfortable out there and he was making good decisions in his limited time throwing the rock. I think he can be decent with the Texans.

As far as trading Shaub goes... in one season even with the injury to Mario, Wade Phillips has made the Texans into the #1 defesive in yards and #2 in points, just last season they were literally one of the worst defense in NFL history. We have the best tandem runnin backs in the league, the best WR in the league, a pretty good tandem at tight end and an ok receiving core. We are just missing a legit #2 wide receiver.

Shaub is not elite, he is not Rodgers, or Brady but with our defense and our running game and hopefully an improved receiving core and our offensive system, Matt Shaub should be good enough to win a superbowl. Yes bold statement. If we trade shaub who are we supposed to have at quarterback? Which is unfortunate he went down. We have to give Shaub a chance and see him in the playoffs. I think we should really go after Vince Young, i think he would do well in this system. Its hard to find a hidden gem at quarterback in the draft and its not like we are rebuilding, we are ready to win it now. Just a couple pieces missing to the puzzle. We have the makings of a superbowl team with our defense and our run game. We have a dynamic passing game, we have seen it in the past. My perfect situation would be to have Shaub and Young in the squad, the better one starts and we have a back up more than capable.

[Kal El]

well not too sure about vince young. i would think he learned to be a better pro at philly the way vick did last season, but he is still struggling with his awareness. but his skill set i think he would benefit in our system. its just a matter of if he will put in the work for it.

[RaoulDuke79]

Hell no to Vince Young, and Schaub played pretty damn well during the stretch of games that Andre was hurt and has been a pretty solid QB for the Texans when he's healthy. Obviously he's not on the level of Rodgers or Brady but he's a perfectly good starting QB so I'd like to see him stick around with Yates as his backup.

They really need to get a legit #2 WR(as you said already) to play opposite of Andre(or to fill in for the inevitable 5-6 games Andre misses every year it seems). That and continue to build depth on the OL/DL would be my first priorities in the offseason.

Of course, we can worry about all that after the Superbowl.



Let's all just hope they can finish out the season without any more devastating injuries and win the division for the first time ever. It's crazy to think how good they could be without so many guys getting hurt every week.

[RaoulDuke79]

Yates looked very good, so it's only a matter of time until he gets hurt. Other than that I think they escaped the game today with only two key injuries(Andre and Hartmann).

The win is what matters though I suppose, so let's hope they can keep it going. Oh, and maybe we can have a few games without losing some of our best players too. That would be pretty fantastic.

[Kal El]

All the hate and all the doubters... all the overlookers... they said we would be one and done, all the mockery at houston fans... here we are, we won our very first playoff game 31-10 leaving little doubt, leaving no excuses for haters to find, to call the game lucky. Even with all the injuries, starters, pro bowlers, our superstars, our key players, next man up, and we just keep playing hard and trying our best.

Next up @ Baltimore, a very tough matchup. One of the best running backs in the league, accompanied by one of the best defenses in the league who year by year are at the top of the league. A very similar team to Houston. Our biggest difference, we have a rookie 5th round quarterback in Yates, and they have a veteran quarterback in Flacco that has a lot to prove in the playoffs. Earlier in the year we were beaten 29-14, they were able to move the ball through the air on us but we were also without Andre Johnson. It will be tough to beat the Ravens but I believe in the guys we have now, back ups, 3rd stringers, now starters, everybody, even though nobody believes in Houston its ok... we only need the Houston texans players and Houston fans.

[RaoulDuke79]

Apparently Houston has already lost next week's game, isn't that weird? At least everything I've read and heard it makes it seem as if Houston has no chance. That's okay though, they can continue to overlook the Texans if they want to. Personally, while I am not predicting a win, I certainly believe they have a very good chance and it should be a great matchup.

[PhilipJFry]

The final score of the first meeting wasn't as bad as people make it look. The first game was close and a few mistakes down the stretch exposed the lack of experience from the Texans. The defense got tired towards the end and got carved up by Joe Flacco (can't believe I just said that...).

Different QB, Andre Johnson will play this time around and it's going to be a lot closer and could come down to a field goal.

Opening line was at -8.5 for the Ravens...Again I think it'll come down to a field goal...Hopefully bad Joe Flacco rears his ugly head on Sunday.