This Texans Season

Well, as anyone who has kept up with NFL season knows, the Texans did not make the playoffs. While most of the experts agreed at the beginning that this would be the year they made it, it was not to be.

The excitement definitely started with the drafting of Brian Cushing out of USC. This guy was expected to bring a new intensity and attitude to the defensive unit, and he delivered big time. He led the team in tackles this season, had his fair share of interceptions, and won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. That's not bad at all for the 17th overall draft pick. He did make a few rookie mistakes, but all in all he had an excellent season.

One of the biggest early problems Houston had this season was on run defense. Up until the game in Cincinnati, Houston was dead last in the league when it came to run defense. Teams were running at will, and that cost Houston 2 of its first 3 games this season. The rushing defense eventually clamped down as the interior of the line got its act together and the linebackers became more comfortable.

Another early problem, and one that would plague the team the entire season, was the lack of production in the running game. Steve Slaton led all NFL rookies in rushing for 2008-09. This season, however, he could barely get past the line and developed problems with fumbling the ball. He was effective in screens, but in rushing just seemed to lose it. To be fair, the offensive line needs to shoulder some of the blame for the lack of yardage as all the running backs employed this season had problems getting through the line.

This problem became very apparent in short yardage situations. In a couple of instances this season Houston needed short yardage, but failed in the run attempts. A clear example was the game at Arizona. Houston was less than a yard from tying the game in the final seconds and the line could not push back the defense just enough for the score.

Although Steve Slaton had the most fumbles this season, those problems were not his alone. Chris Brown fumbled the ball into the end zone while hosting Jacksonville. Jacksonville recovered for a touchback and was able to hold the ball until the clock ran out. A fumble by Ryan Moats in Indianapolis cost Houston a chance to tie the game before halftime.

Gary Kubiak remained committed to the running game, however, as the play action pass is a big part of the Houston passing game. In a lot of instances this proved to be the right strategy, although the play action would have probably been a lot more effective if Houston's running game was more effective.

Back on defense, last year Houston had a very questionable secondary. This seemed to be the case early on this season as well, but the secondary also began to clamp down. Safety Bernard Pollard was a big factor this season. He is a smart player who can read offenses fairly well. Dunta Robinson, the number 1 corner, did not live up to his franchise tag this year. Last year it was understandable as he missed half the season recovering from a torn ACL, but this year he more often than not got burned. I don't see him getting a new franchise tag anytime soon.

Mario Williams had a subpar season this year. This, however, can be attributed to a couple of different things. He played most of the year with a shoulder problem, which limited his ability to penetrate into the pocket. It is rather difficult to throw off a blocker with only one arm at full strength. Add to this the fact that he was constantly double-teamed as the opponents seemed to be unafraid of the rest of the line. Antonio Smith helped provide a lot of pressure, but not enough to offer a whole lot of help to Williams. That's not to say Williams didn't contribute. More often than not he was at the very least knocking opposing quarterbacks to the ground as the ball was being released, which indicated he was at least getting pressure on the pocket.

Matt Schaub had an outstanding year this year. He led the NFL in passing yards (4770) and was 5th in the NFL in passing touchdowns (29). I've heard the argument made that his numbers were inflated because of the poor running game, but all one has to do is look at Peyton Manning's numbers this season to negate that argument. The Indianapolis running game was the worst in the NFL this season, which necessitated Manning's big numbers. I'm not sure how Schaub feels, but I think it's a shame he wasn't sent to the Pro-Bowl.

Andre Johnson led the NFL in receiving yards for the 2nd straight season and became only the 2nd player in NFL history to have back-to-back 1500+ yard seasons.

Finally we come to the kicking game. Kris Brown has been the kicker for Houston since the beginning of the franchise. Through the years he has been a dependable kicker and for a couple of years was the envy of the league. In the second half of the season this year, however, he struggled mightily. In 2 games he missed field goals that would have at the least sent the games into overtime. In the final game against New England, he missed 2 field goal attempts and and extra-point attempt. I don't count blocked kicks because that is more a line problem. He's only 34 years old, so he still has plenty of life left in the game. For this upcoming season, however, I see Houston bringing in someone to compete for the kicker position.

The 4 game losing streak was hard, especially given that all the games were in the AFC South Division. In fact, the 2 games where Kris Brown cost the overtime were in back-to-back weeks. This is where Houston had the chance to establish itself in the playoff hunt. They were competitive in 3 of the 4 losses and each one could have gone the other way. Had 1 of them gone our way, I could have at the very least put off writing this entry for a week.

Houston finished the season 9-7 for their first winning record in franchise history. In the AFC South they finished 1-5, but placed 2nd in the division due to their overall record. Against the NFC, Houston went 3-1 and against the rest of the AFC they went 5-1. Houston finished 4th in Total Offense at 383.1 yards per game and 13th in Total Defense. The run defense went from 32nd in the beginning of the season all the way to 21st in Total Yards and 10th in Yards per Attempt - both of these placements are great improvements over the course of the season. Of course, finishing 30th in Rushing is not a great achievement, which I'm sure will be addressed in the offseason.

Of course, the changes for next season are happening already. Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan made his intentions clear before the end of the season that if his father, Mike Shanahan, was selected as Washington's next coach, that he would leave to coach with his father. Assistant Head Coach Alex Gibbs also departed Houston to join Pete Carrol's coaching staff in Seattle. This move came as a bit of a shock to both players and fans. Bob McNair, the owner of the Houston Texans, has affirmed that Gary Kubiak will be returning for a 5th season as Houston's Head Coach.

All in all, I'm proud of what Houston has achieved this season. They made mistakes but the winning attitude started to come through toward the end of the season. They remained competitive in all but 2 of their losses this season and in the final game against New England managed to erase a 2 touchdown deficit in the 4th quarter. The clawed their way to at least be knocking on the door to the playoffs, but unfortunately were not in control of their own destiny this season. I find it amusing that the team that beat Houston in Week 1 was the team that controlled Houston's playoff fate in Week 17.