Why don’t the Texans get it?

By Os Davis  |   Sunday, May 13, 2007  |  Comments( 23 )

Houston Texans
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What is it that Rick Smith doesn't get about the Houston Texans?

After inheriting a team essentially built by former General Manager Charley Casserly and including No. 1 overall pick Mario Williams, Smith saw the Texans give up 43 sacks; this represents about 2.7 per game, but a marked improvement over the disastrous 4.25 per contest allowed in 2005.

David Carr did what he could at quarterback, struggling to a sub-1:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio but completing 68.3 percent of passes; ultimately, Carr's rating was higher than that of guys named Hasselbeck, Favre, Vick and Alex Smith.

The defense, meanwhile, ranked middle of the pack against the run while finishing a mere 30th in interceptions.

So how does Smith, the current G.M., address these issues in a free-agent period when everyone -- including Houston -- has lots of bucks to blow? By signing Ahman Green? And Shawn Barber? Huh?

Only with the Texans -- steadily gaining a reputation as a Draft-Day choker -- could the first-round selection of Amobi Okoye be questioned. You've gotta wonder, though, why Houston sat back so passively. The Texans must have known Joe Thomas and Levi Brown wouldn't be on the board by pick No. 10, right?

Houston finally made a feeble attempt to address the offensive line "issues" with picks No. 163 and 183, going with Brandon Frye and Kasey Studdard. The latter may actually be a perceptive choice here, though he's low on the depth charts right now, to be sure. Frye is essentially a huge gamble.

Even would-be apologists are having trouble defending the Texans' later picks, with the only bright spot in some sportswriters' minds the acquisition of Matt Schaub. (More on this to come.)

What is it that former Casserly didn't get about the Texans?

The statistics are amazing and glaring. Stuff like 41½ sacks allowed per season over the history of the franchise. The mind-boggling 76 sacks given up in 2002. The only marginally saner 68 sacks surrendered in 2005.

Going into the 2006 draft, Casserly constructed an offensive line of Chester Pitts, Todd Wade, Steve McKinney, Zach Wiegert and Mike Flanagan, thereby allowing him to essentially stand pat on Draft Day. You've gotta ask, why, if Casserly and Co. didn't like Reggie Bush, couldn't they have taken D'Brickashaw Ferguson?

Only Pitts and Flanagan are projected as starters for 2007. Wade wasn't with the Texans on Opening Day, and Wiegert was twice knocked out of games in the second half of the season.

Oh, and Casserly departed the scene shortly after the draft, thereby drawing suspicion that the Texans' 2006 offseason was a torpedo job.

Finally, what is it that owner Bob McNair doesn't get about the Houston Texans?

The team's 6-10 record was actually an improvement over the average Texans season. Houston is 24-56 -- a winning percentage of exactly .300 -- and, subtracting games against teams named the Jacksonville Jaguars, they're a pathetic 18-52 for a winning percentage of .257.

The Texans' solution? To rid themselves of the only quarterback the franchise has ever had.

"This is another exciting moment in the history of the Texans," McNair said upon announcing the Schaub deal. (By "exciting," McNair must mean "heart-stopping," as in the Williams selection.) "Winning is all about getting better every day, and that's what we're trying to do."

(Pause while rampant guffawing settles to an undercurrent of giggling.)

In exchange for Carr, Houston gets a perpetual backup with a career completion percentage of just over 52 percent (against Carr's 60). Behind this year's mix-and-match O-line will be a guy just slightly more immobile than Drew Bledsoe with 24 carries to his name. Here's guessing that Houston will miss the guy who carried the ball almost 54 times per season for over 4.5 yards per attempt once Schaub suffers his 30th sack as a Texan.

And as those Texans lose again to go 0-5 on the way to a, say, 3-13 season, NFL fans everywhere will be buoyed by the assurance that they, in fact, do know something that a certain team's brain trust is apparently utterly oblivious to.

Seriously, guys. It's the offensive line, isn't it?

Forever unraveling the mystery of the Houston Texans at RealFootball365.com.

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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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