Houston is THAT bad...

[jsarno]

The question is always posed, do we look that good, or do they look THAT bad...I think they looked that bad.
Don't get me wrong, I saw significant improvement in the call playing on D, and the offensive line, however a HUGE issue for us was that Brunell could not see downfield and was afraid to open the offense. I feel that issue is still a major issue. We beat them with the same offensive scheme we employed vs Dallas and the Vikes. ie: screen passes and dink dumps. That theory proved not to work vs Dallas and Minnesota so why did we stick with it today?
We face the Jags next week and a stout defense, yet I don't feel our offense is actually clicking. (yes, I do realize the amount of yards we put up) Our secondary still looked amazingly weak too. Hopefully we gained a lot of confidence though...you can't put a price tag on that.
Positives: what a running game!!! That was impressive. The dirt bags controlled the line of scrimmage, and having Portis back was outstanding.
Better play calling on defense, especially better penetration by d-line. So there is a lot to build on, but I feel we faced a weak team more than we came together.
What do you guys think?

[EternalEnigma21]

We'll see next week. I enjoyed it. I'm drunk. Seeing portis run around and betts and seeing the ball get out there in the hands in some of our players was nice... yeas texas stinks, but I hope we started gelling again today.

[Longtimefan]

Would be nice if we had a Houston on our schedule every week, but unfortunately there's not a lot of them around.

[MightyJoeGibbs]

I think whenever are O-Line has the size advantage no team will win against us, they did a great job pushing them back and was a whole team effort. It also helps that we played the Texans.

[mheisig]

I'd tend to say Houston looked "THAT" bad as well - except that Brunell set an NFL record for consecutive completions. Sure, the bad Houston Texans helped in that, but plenty of great teams have pounded the Texans without the passing efficiency that Brunell chalked up.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by mheisig

I'd tend to say Houston looked "THAT" bad as well - except that Brunell set an NFL record for consecutive completions. Sure, the bad Houston Texans helped in that, but plenty of great teams have pounded the Texans without the passing efficiency that Brunell chalked up.

Exactly, and as I've said before during week one they had the Eagles on the ropes for a half or better. So while they aren't a good team, we'll take it. Every one of us!

[EternalEnigma21]

Originally Posted by mheisig

I'd tend to say Houston looked "THAT" bad as well - except that Brunell set an NFL record for consecutive completions. Sure, the bad Houston Texans helped in that, but plenty of great teams have pounded the Texans without the passing efficiency that Brunell chalked up.

yeah, I wonder if we set a record for minimal yards per completion. And if we didnt it wasn't brunell's accuracy, but the playmakers runs...

WAY TO GO BRUNELL FOR NOT SHORT-HOPPING A BUNCH OF SCREENS AND SHOVEL PASSES!!! WOOOHOOOO

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by jsarno

The question is always posed, do we look that good, or do they look THAT bad...I think they looked that bad.
Don't get me wrong, I saw significant improvement in the call playing on D, and the offensive line, however a HUGE issue for us was that Brunell could not see downfield and was afraid to open the offense. What do you guys think?

I disagree. This is exactly what we should've been doing all along. BALL CONTROLLED OFFENSE. Brunell didn't have to go down field, and I'd rather see him throw those little passes and keep the offense going, rather than to bomb it down field. Sure, it's exciting to see the QB go deep, and there was a play where he threw to his check down guy too quickly, but you can't knock the coaches for letting Brunell run the offense with high percentage pass plays.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

I disagree. This is exactly what we should've been doing all along. BALL CONTROLLED OFFENSE. Brunell didn't have to go down field, and I'd rather see him throw those little passes and keep the offense going, rather than to bomb it down field. Sure, it's exciting to see the QB go deep, and there was a play where he threw to his check down guy too quickly, but you can't knock the coaches for letting Brunell run the offense with high percentage pass plays.

I don't care how we win, so long as we win. However, I think that it is difficult to run a ball-control offense if you don't occasionally go deep. A good ball-control offense runs it, runs it, runs it, and throws deep balls to keep defenders off balance. I do not think it will be possible to run the kind of offense we ran today next week against JAX.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I don't care how we win, so long as we win. However, I think that it is difficult to run a ball-control offense if you don't occasionally go deep. A good ball-control offense runs it, runs it, runs it, and throws deep balls to keep defenders off balance. I do not think it will be possible to run the kind of offense we ran today next week against JAX.

Exactly my point. I totally agree.

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I don't care how we win, so long as we win. However, I think that it is difficult to run a ball-control offense if you don't occasionally go deep. A good ball-control offense runs it, runs it, runs it, and throws deep balls to keep defenders off balance. I do not think it will be possible to run the kind of offense we ran today next week against JAX.

I agree that eventually we do need to go deep, but I also believe we keep running it like we did today, and we keep building Brunell up with those smaller, high percentage passes, and eventually receivers are going to get open deep. Today was about getting some confidence back into Mark Brunell and the rest of the offense. Hopefully they will build from there.

[GoSkins!]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

I agree that eventually we do need to go deep, but I also believe we keep running it like we did today, and we keep building Brunell up with those smaller, high percentage passes, and eventually receivers are going to get open deep. Today was about getting some confidence back into Mark Brunell and the rest of the offense. Hopefully they will build from there.

I think that the receivers were open deep, more than once. Don't get me wrong, Saunders called a conservative short game today that the skins executed very, very well. I still would like to see Brunnel start seeing the field better, but I think that will come as he becomes more comfortable in the offense. When that happens, the long passes will start happening.

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by GoSkins!

I think that the receivers were open deep, more than once.

Unless you were there, it's darn near impossible to see that on tv.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

I disagree. This is exactly what we should've been doing all along. BALL CONTROLLED OFFENSE. Brunell didn't have to go down field, and I'd rather see him throw those little passes and keep the offense going, rather than to bomb it down field. Sure, it's exciting to see the QB go deep, and there was a play where he threw to his check down guy too quickly, but you can't knock the coaches for letting Brunell run the offense with high percentage pass plays.

I am not saying we should have bombed away on offense. But I was concerned that our longest pass play was about 15 yards.
In our previous 2 games the defenses were all up on the line of scrimmage, meaning they did not respect our passing game. Anyone watching the films of today's game would not respect the passing game either. We did a salutable job on making them fear our run though. The Texans did an absolutely horrendous job of adjusting on defense. We took advantage. There are plenty of positives to take out of this game, but the 22 straight completions doesn't take away from the fact that our passing game is still not clicking.

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by jsarno

I am not saying we should have bombed away on offense. But I was concerned that our longest pass play was about 15 yards.
In our previous 2 games the defenses were all up on the line of scrimmage, meaning they did not respect our passing game. Anyone watching the films of today's game would not respect the passing game either. We did a salutable job on making them fear our run though. The Texans did an absolutely horrendous job of adjusting on defense. We took advantage. There are plenty of positives to take out of this game, but the 22 straight completions doesn't take away from the fact that our passing game is still not clicking.

Right, BUT you have to start somewhere, and I think how the play calling today, and the passes that Brunell chose to throw today, is exactly what Brunell needs in order to get himself playing better. This is what you have to do...play with your players' strengths, and eventually the offense is going to open up so we will see some deep passes. Defenders are going to start crowding the line to stop the short passes and the running, and that is when you start throwing it deep. We just have to be patient.