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Originally Posted by OILFAN #81
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Give me a break.
Kubiak runs one of the best offences in the NFL. He designs the plays, calls the plays and leaves the defence to the "experts" on that side of the ball (Frank Bush & Co.). Clearly the defensive unit as a whole was pitiful, David Gibbs in particular did an awful job with the secondary (being called one of the worst coaching performances ever witnessed by a few of the Texans beat writers).
The Texans go out and sign one of the better defensive minds in the league. Someone who has a proven track record in the NFL as a coordinator and somehow that is a bad thing?
From a recent John McClain article at
www.chron.com...
"Phillips has had that position for 22 years, including 12 playoff teams. During that 22-year period, his defenses finished among the top 15 11 times and the top 10 eight times. His defenses never finished out of the top 20.
In his last three jobs as defensive coordinator — San Diego, Atlanta and Buffalo — Phillips' teams were 75-52. In those eight seasons, the teams won at least 10 games four times and at least nine games two other times."
Pretty good track record.
If the Phillips can put together a D that finishes within the top 15, the Texans will be right there at the end fighting for a playoff spot. Say what you want about Kubiak, adding Phillips makes them a MUCH better football team.
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Originally Posted by transplant99
Philips has been a pretty good DC for a long time in the NFL...and the D is where the Texans weakness was this year (specifically their pass defense..worst ever), so I wouldnt be so quick to say they will never make the playoffs because of those two.
More interesting is that he will be completely revamping the texans philosophy and going to a 3-4. Not sure they have the personel for that right now and more importantly im not sure Mario Williams is suited for it whatsoever.
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It will be interesting to see how the current personnel fits.
Antonio Smith started at defensive end for the Cardinals when they went to the Super Bowl so you know he'll be a valuable asset for Phillips when it comes to on-field leadership. Mario is one of the best in the business when he's healthy (key word being WHEN) and he should be fine. Phillips has already said he'll play his ends out wider and wants them to attack which will be good for Williams. The Texans lack a prototypical nose tackle at the moment which needs to be looked at. They have some decent athletic tackles like Earl Mitchell/Amobi Okoye who are ok on passing downs but would get worn down against the run. The nice thing about the Phillips system is the nose only has responsibility for one gap depending on play call so an athletic player could possibly do a serviceable job until a better option is found. More bulk is definitely needed tho.
I'm really excited about what this means for the Texans LBs. Demeco Ryans will stay inside obviously, he'll probably end up back in the Pro Bowl next year if he stays healthy. His tackle numbers will be huge. Connor Barwin is a young guy not many know of, he was a DE/OLB tweener coming out of college and managed to finish third in 2009 rookie sacks as a DE. Texans fans were excited to see what would happen to him this year but he dislocated his ankle in Week 1 and was lost for the season. He'll start at OLB and could be a very strong player in a year or two. At the very least, Barwin will make life difficult for opposing QBs. Cushing can play inside or out which offers some flexibility. As long as he's on the field, he'll make plays regardless of where he lines up. The fourth spot will be up for grabs depending on where Cushing ends up playing. If he goes outside, Darryl Sharpton will likely have the inside track from the current personnel at the second MLB spot. He was decent as a rookie and had a nice camp, the potential is there. I'm not too sure who would start on the outside if Cushing goes inside.
I won't even touch on the secondary, that's a rant in itself that I have managed to hold back from this thread. I will say that I don't believe Kareem Jackson is nearly as bad as the press he got. He showed noticeable improvement over the course of the year but was repeatedly put in situations that rookies simply should be not put in. He was a victim of coaching and I hope he's able to bounce back from such a traumatic season because he has many of the necessary tools to be a solid NFL corner.
The draft can't come soon enough.
