Official Texans @ Patriots Divisional Playoff Game Thread, 1/13/2013

[Keith]

Yes, I think the Texans pick 27th.

Arky, not sure why you are flummoxed... looks like you nailed it. A good QB can pick apart the blitz. The Pats O-line did a nice job keeping Brady upright. Perhaps as much as any team in the league, the Patriots are just a tough matchup for the Texans' schemes.

Can't take away the QB since he is the game's most critical player, but the Texans seem to have better overall talent than the Patriots minus the combo of QB+coaching. It is a decisive advantage for the other guys.

Have to question the coverage decision on Wes Welker, especially in the first half. Way too much Brandon Harris and not enough of either Kareem Jackson or Johnathan Joseph. And the other coaching flaws exposed in this game - namely hurry-up offense and redzone efficiency - have been discussed.

Special teams weren't nearly the problem they could have been, aside from a poor punt at one point, but "saving" Daniel Manning for kickoff returns in the playoffs makes me wonder. The Texans obviously lack depth at safety (hello Shiloh Keo!), but it is not like Manning played a phenomenal season this year, either. If he is the best KOR on the roster, I don't think I would have waited until the playoffs to take the bubble wrap off of him. Getting him returns in any (and really all) of those Decemeber regular season games, at least until homefield was secured, might have been helpful.

[HPF Bob]

Baltimore had a worse record and if they somehow made it to the Super Bowl, their draft position would move down to 31st or 32nd which would cause Houston to move up one.

The mistake is that the tiebreaker for playoffs is different than the tiebreaker for draft order. IIRC, the weaker your opponent's record, the stronger your draft position and I don't know how we match up with other 12-4 teams.

[Keith]

Thanks for clarifying.

One more thought... I think we all can look back on the decision to outright release Eric Winston as being problematic. The right side of the offensive line was an issue all season. Not that Winston was a Pro Bowler there, but one has to wonder why they team didn't try to get him to take a pay cut or renegotiate.

The other key release was DeMeco Ryans... before the injuries at ILB, I doubt this one really had an impact on the season, but in the final analysis, it would have been nice to have both him and Winston on the roster. Cap management probably forced Winston out whereas cap management was blamed for Ryans' departure when in reality he probably wasn't living up to his salary. Bottom line though is that both of these veteran leaders would have been nice to have this season had money not been an issue.