Quote:
Originally Posted by chuck
I'm not sure how I got brought into any of this but in the NFL a win is a win. This isn't college where some asshole somewhere is trying to decide which win is prettier or more meaningful or whatever. If you end up winning the worst division in the NFL, whichever one that may be, you go to the playoffs. Period. I've been watching football a long time and I eventually concluded that making the playoffs is an important first step towards Super Bowl success.
The Texans clearly are not a Super Bowl team right now and almost certainly will not grow into one this year. But I would much rather be trying to make the playoffs and see what happens (you get your ass kicked by the Chargers in the first round is what happens, probably) than be talking about what we're going to do with our picks. I just double-checked, and it appears that for some reason the Texans are currently in possession of a 2019 first round pick. (I'll share a little joke I heard that most of you may also have seen - the Raiders are eventually going to accumulate enough first round picks to be able to trade for Khalil Mack.)
Which brings me to the quarterback fkwittery of the Jaguars. Astonishing, I think is about the only word necessary. When they brought that other guy in the other day, I don't even remember what the hell his name is or where he came from or even if he actually is a quarterback, but the team immediately looked better and was obviously less likely to turn the ball over at inopportune times. And they gave Bortles 800 million dollars. Astonishing.
I guess my over-arching point is that despite all of the familiar flaws and problems, the Texans are not that far away from being able to think about a Super Bowl without being laughed out of the room. OL, CB, maybe get lucky with a late round DL, OLB, RB, then put the pads on and go out and see if you can find a way to keep up with KC.
It's a bit of a drag to see Deshaun go from magical last year to pedestrian this year, but as has been mentioned, if he can learn how to play the NFL position, that is a huge step forward, a crucial step forward. I think that may be what impresses me most about Mahomes, is that he seems to understand that while, sure, he can run, it is best not to. He has a far more nuanced understanding of what he should be doing than someone in his second year should.
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In college Mahomes ran for 800 yards in 3 seasons. Watson ran for 2000 in 3 seasons. Mahomes didn't have to learn he can't run because running was never a huge part of his game. It was for Watson.
With that said, Watson is great at keeping his eyes down field and looking to throw when he scrambles. His problems are...
(1) what happens in the first 3 seconds after the snap. This is new this year and may be about how much pressure he's faced both years. He is taking the snap and immediately looking to scramble the play. There isn't even an attempt most times to get it out on time. He wants the off schedule play.
(2) His willingness to take hits. He needs to pattern himself after Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers. Both guys run around and then slide/step out of bounds/throw it away at the last second. Because of this defenders chase them for 40 yards of scrambling and never get a hit in. It must be the most frustrating thing ever. Watson needs to do this. Instead he models after Cam Newton and tries to run guys over and be tough. Cam Newton was described today as a fast dinosaur by an opposing defender he's about to face. Nobody relishes hitting Cam because he's HUGE. Defenders relish hitting Watson. The hits on scrambles are why he can't get in an airplane right now. Our OL is bad but hits in the pocket aren't killing him. Lowering his shoulder for no reason is killing him.
These are 2 relatively small things that are not unexpected for a guy who has played 13 NFL games. And these problems are offset by otherworldly talent so I remain optimistic about the present and pie in the sky optimistic about the future.
10-24-2018, 03:52 PM
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