Where is Barwin?
 

Where the hell is Barwin? Dude is costing himself some serious coin.

Still early, but I sure hope he gets it going soon.

Real soon.

I agree, but Barwin pointed out that last year he only had 1 sack in the first 5 games. He also said that sacks usually come in bunches and that all he can do is to continue to work hard.

As long as the D is producing and the team is winning who cares where Barwin is? I like Barwin the person and player, but costing himself some coin while the team is still winning is good for the team/cap overall, no?

Barwin costing himself money doesn't concern me, him not showing up does. At some point, we are going to need an outside pass rush. He has been tagged "the guy". Whether he is or not, remains to be seen.

Yes, the D is playing great. But I'd sure like to see some production from either he or Reed.

Barwin has 6 tackles, no sacks in 3 games. You were expecting more? ;)

Seriously, he has been awfully quiet. The Texans don't have a top 100 tackler on the team. JJ Watt leads with 15 tackles followed by Cush with 14. The remaining tackle totals are spread very evenly among the rest of the defense.

I suppose part of it is that the defense is not on the field as much in these first three games due to the offense's good time of possession.... Makes for weak numbers on the defense....

It's just three games, though.....if it continues for another three games, then I would think it would be a legitimate concern....

While I too want all the players to play great, it's probably not going to happen all the time. Antonio Smith hasn't really been seen or noticed all that much either. Nor has Reed, Manning or pretty much anyone not named Watt. However, save for an ill-timed fumble setting up great field position and ridiculously horrible officiating in the 4th Qtr yesterday, the D overall has been lights-out.

The biggest concern I had defensively yesterday was with the lack of pressure up the middle and we also seemed to get away from any sort blitz packages later in the game. How many times did Manning just step up into the pocket and have a clean throwing lane? Thank god his WRs suck at running routes and kept dropping the ball.

Split this out from the Bronco thread... I had a similar thought about Barwin. It isn't just that he isn't getting sacks, but rarely have we seen him even disrupt the pocket or be in many stops (albeit early into the 2012 season). I think three games in is a good time to start wondering what's up though. Reed, Antonio, etc aren't piling up big stats either, but at least they are doing things to get them noticed (by me at least).

Barwin added a little weight this season... can't tell if that's really a factor though. He burst on for the team last year largely due to one big game against the Jaguars. One big game this weekend against the Titans could render this thread dead.

He remains part of a unit that overall is excelling, and he has been lined up against a couple really good left tackles already too. That said, he sure seems to be making himself appear expendable this upcoming offseason.

Barwin is an effort guy and that means sacks are going to come and go. Some days guys will get flushed out of the pocket and run into him, he'll get in on half sacks, he chases guys down attempting to scramble, etc...

He is not and has never been a superior 1-on-1 pass rusher. He didn't get most of his sacks last year by blowing by guys and getting to the QB.

We are have a great team-pass rush and amazing defensive effort on every play, but no superior individual pass rusher.

It is starting to get a little worrisome. Watt is going to get blocked one of these days. Barwin and Reed both have seemed out of it so far. The odd part is with the leads, you would expect the OLBs to do better as they are less worried about the run.

I don't want to pay him that much money if he's going to disappear like this. Three weeks in and it's almost as if he's not even on this team.

Has our first round pick been on the field? I thought he'd be in a rotation with Reed & barwin. Just sayin.

I noticed him in on one play in a passing situation against Miami. He's been playing a lot on special teams.

Mercilus has been on STs and seen some defensive snaps in garbage time. That tells me either he's behind in the learning curve or Wade is so pleased with his OLBs that he's willing to let Mercilus be groomed slowly.

A clip from here:

http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans...day-will-come/

You know, if the other 3/4ths of his season look like the first 1/4th, we may wind up signing him for less than the offer we gave him.

Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) tweeted:
No need to panic, but Connor Barwin has 6 tackles in four games with 0 sacks, 0 INTs, 0 FFs, 0 Fums recovered and very few pressures

Panic is a little strong, but his lack of production is concerning to me for someone who's supposed to be "the guy". Maybe he was prematurely anointed that title. Time will tell, but its something to continue to watch.

His numbers are very Marioish......

Those numbers aren't like Mario at all. Mario was never a dominating force but he always produced here.

The broadcasters last night were slobbering over Jason Pierre-Paul and then got into a discussion over which if any DE one might take if not JPP. One of them said that age must play a role in the decision, yes, the other wisely concurred. Was Watt mentioned at all? I'll let you guess.

The local radio guys spent all afternoon yesterday gloating over the fact that the Texans are recognized by many as the best team in the NFL. Let me say that I am not at all sure that is the case and even if it is week four is not the time to start in with a case of Bieber fever over it. But it was sort of odd to hear these LA jackoffs last night gloss over the guy who might be the best defensive player in the league.

It seems JJ Watt is getting plenty recognition to me, atleast where I was listening. Did miss the Sunday night game due to Bonnie Raitt concert.

I agree a little early to say Texans are no. 1 team around, yes we are balanced, consistent, no weak points, plenty of play makers, but, honestly the competition hasn't been the top teams yet. next 4 games will tell a lot more, @Jets(Mon), Packers(late Sun), Ravens, Bye, Bills ( 3 home games).

Connor Barwin, while I watched he doesn't seem to be as aggressive as he was last year coming past the tackles for some reason, as an uneducated observer. Maybe that is his assignment to protect an area, I don't know.

I think the defensive scheme has something to do with it, plus Barwin is often lined up against the other team's best pass blocker. Whereas Watt lines up against a RG or RT most often, Barwin draws the LT. He also has containment duties in his role, as opposed to Watt who maybe just controls a gap.

Can't say I'm a guru with this defense, but it is possible a good pass rushing 3-4 DE has more opportunity than the 3-4 OLB. That said, Barwin is still making little noise ...on the stat sheet at least. The team is 4-0, and maybe this weaken's Barwin stance at the bargaining table, which is really a win for the team and its fans if it means Barwin re-signs at a lower than previously offered rate.

Kubiak echoed much of this on the radio earlier today, might have been his press conference or his show on 610 am, don't remember.

Also said that the other teams appear to be running away from him.

Maybe, but that also sounds like typical Kubiak protecting his guy and trying to cover up a guy who's just not producing much. I recall people always calling BS when he did this with Mario and would say in his press conference after Mario didn't show up in the stat sheet that he was playing great and getting double-teamed all the time.

And to stay with Mario, as best I can recall, when the topic was moving Mario to OLB, everyone talked about how Wade's defense was designed to allow the OLBs to rush the passer nonstop and that they were the primary beneficiaries of the scheme and pointed to the ridiculous numbers Ware is able to put up in Dallas as proof of how Wade creates a bunch of opportunities for his OLBs.

When you have a Mario or a Ware or a Cornelius Bennett, you rush them 95 percent of the time. When you have two guys that are mirrors like Reed and Barwin, both guys being more complete defenders you then have to ability to send either one and drop the other on any given play. Our defense is more unpredictable with the current OLB starters then it was when Wade got here and was looking at how to bring Mario against a TE or a RB.

I say that Wade has more tools available and he keeps the opposing OL men guessing more as to who is dropping and who is coming. And a split second of indecisiveness is all that is need in the NFL.

Wade is using the tools that are laid before him, and Watt and Smith are the guys creating havoc for opposing QBs, the OLBs are relentless they will get theirs.

And besides, the only person that Barwin is hurting right now is him, and maybe his agent. He should of taken the bird in the hand when it was offered.

I'm not concerned about Conner as long as our defense is playing the way it's playing right now. The team is on a role and I hope that this can be maintained until February.

And I am not looking for the Texans to go undefeated, so I am enjoying the current run.

The big difference in Kubiak protecting his guys before and now, is before he was protecting members of a losing team, and now he is saying a member of the best defense in the NFL is playing well.

I saw a quote from Barwin that all the defensive guys are joking about how it's a race to try to beat Watt to the QB. So if Watt wins that race every time and he finishes with 30 sacks (his current pace) and the team gets 52 (current pace) on the top rated defense, I'll defend Barwin all season long.

I should add that I'm simply engaging in the conversation for the fun of it and have no problems with the Texans' defense. This the D is playing great, and that's good enough for me. Whether one particular guy is having a great year means little to me. Like someone else said, this may work to the Texans' advantage when it comes to contract negotiations. Just wanted to offer my 2 cents on the OLB's role in this scheme and Kubiak's inclination to defend his guys to the death (which I understand and I'm fairly sure was one of the reasons he never lost the team during the down years).

As we have seen, you can't keep everyone. If Barwin isn't going to produce, I'd just assume re-up Cush and Quin.

We've gone up against three below-average offenses (thankfully two in our own division who we'll meet again) so the defense is playing well but I want to see them tested first by a real offensive juggernaut like the Packers or Patriots before I want to give them full props as the best defense in the league.

I'm really not worried that Barwin is off to a slow start because the rest of the defense is doing well. Perhaps when some of the other guys wear down, Barwin will be fresh enough to go on a tear, so it's all good.

Now, if we're in Week 10 and he's still producing the same, it might be cause for concern. It should be noted that Barwin is a converted TE that was still learning defense when we drafted him and now he's had two position shifts so there may still be some technique stuff he has to work on, much like Mercilus.

So after they prove they are a top defense in the league (for the 2nd straight year) you'll go out on a limb and say they are a top defense in the league?

I have a problem with the Texans' defense. They are not scoring enough points!

Go back and re-read my post. There's a difference between the words "the" and "a".

"The" is the definitive article as in "the best defense in the league".

You substituted "the" for "a" as in "one of several". I wasn't debating whether the Texans had "a" top defense in the league, I was debating whether they had "the" top defense in the league, which is an open question when the season is only four weeks old and three of the teams they've played were not very good offensively, featuring young quarterbacks with weak supporting casts.

[QUOTE=idymoe;31741]I have a problem with the Texans' defense. They are not scoring enough points![/QUOTE]

It may be a problem but not the problem or is it . I think its because our offense posseses the ball too long not giving the other teams offense enough time to make more mistakes.

You're right Bob, I slightly changed your argument with that word change. Your statement was fair, it just wasn't much more than saying "I'll wait and see and then make a claim only when there is irrefutable proof." Declaring any defense (texans, 49ers, cardinals, etc...) the best right now would be a guess. Declaring one best after the season would be reading the stat sheet.

I actually think Barwins "double-digit" sack year in 2011 was a bit of a fluke because he got 4 sacks in a single game against a rookie who was also probably the most inept QB in the entire NFL last year.

I took one of those personality quizzes yesterday and it said one of my "strengths" was being able to coldly analyze statements and weigh their veracity. It can be seen (particularly on the internet) as being hypercritical when, in reality, it is the personality that examines for every possible flaw before proceeding with a plan. I'm the guy that splashes the cold water of reality on other's wild-eyed optimism.

I guess I should have been a QA tester.

or auditor

Meanwhile....In Buffalo
 

The NFL is investigating whether Buffalo Bills defensive end Mario Williams has an injured left wrist.

Williams has not been on the Bills' injury report this season despite what he claims has been a wrist injury that has bothered him all season. But the team says he has not missed any practices or game time.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Sunday that "the club says he is not injured. We will follow up this week to obtain a formal explanation."

Williams is the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, signing a $100 million contract as a free agent in the offseason. He has not played well for Buffalo and has just 1½ sacks.

I said I wasn't concerned about Barwin as long as the D overall was performing and we were winning. However, now I'm concerned. There were times last night where JJ was TRIPLE teamed and still no one could get to Sanchez. Barwin made bascially one play (tipped pass). Now that Cush is likely lost for the season, we need everyone not named Watt to step up their game and start producing. Obviously the coaches know this team far better than us, but it would nice to see Mercilus, Braman and Nading to step it up and get into the regular rotation.

Who did more of a disappearing act in Jersey last night, Barwin or Andre Johnson ? Two big producers for the Texans who were both AWOL last night.

While I was definitely disappointed with some of what I saw on defense, the jets routinely had 6 linemen in the game blocking.

5 games in, Barwin is just a guy.....