2007 Houston Texans

It is obvious that the Houston Texans are still nowhere near ready to compete for a playoff spot. This work in progress is hoping to work better under QB Matt Schaub. The Texans have settled on Schaub to replace former Texans first round draft pick David Carr. If the Texans feel this kid is going to step right in and star, they have got another thing coming. Matt Schaub lacks the one thing that every NFL QB needs to be successful — experience. He has only thrown 161 regular season passes in his NFL career. The Texans made David Carr the scapegoat whether he deserved it or not. I side with those who feel he didn’t deserve to lose his job. Any QB is going to struggle playing behind an offensive line throwing “look out” blocks every other down. And he only had one reliable target. I’m of course referring to Andre Johnson. It won’t take Schaub long to realize he’ll need to cut the field in half to keep his eyes on Johnson more times than not.

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The Texans are making a risky move putting everything into Schaub before knowing exactly what they are going to get. I really can’t see any QB rising to stardom with this terrible excuse for an offensive line. Ex-Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green will try to find a hole to run through somewhere in this patchy line. With his injuries adding up more and more the last few years, don’t be surprised if he is out for part of the season and then out of the league for good. The Texans are at least trying to make something happen, but the moves they are making, for the most part, are ones that will maybe help them win a game or two more, instead of ones that will mold this team into championship caliber.

The Texans offense really can’t get any worse. They finished 28th in total offense last season. Gary Kubiak has shown the adeptness to tailor an offense to fit his personnel. His short passing game helped Carr get rid of the ball more quickly last season to avoid the inevitable pass rush. This offense produced the highest completion percentage in NFL history at just under 70 percent. Really, six wins last season was underachieving for the scheme that Kubiak had going, but much of that falls on the lack of a running game. Until the Texans can bolster their line, they cannot improve enough to compete offensively.

After a horrid start last season, the Texans buckled down and surprised finishing as the 10th best defense in the league over the final 14 weeks of the regular season. Defensive Coordinator Robert Smith has four beats to build a strong defense around if defensive end Amobi Okoye works out. He and Mario Williams have the potential to make up the best pass rushing duo in the NFL.

Linesmakers have set the bar at 6.5 wins for the Texans this season. We’ll take the under without thinking twice as we have these boys chalked up for a disappointing 5-11 season.

By Jeff Alexander – 7/9/2007

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