So, the Houston Chronicleís Richard Justice is now writing in the San Francisco Chronicle that it was the fault of former Texans GM Charley Casserly and former head coach Dom Capers that former Texans QB David Carr did not develop into a decent NFL quarterback.

Of course, Justice extolled the virtues of that same Texansí management team immediately before their disastrous 2-14 season in Year Four of the franchise (2004):

The Texans have made good use of their honeymoon. They’ve drafted wisely and spent shrewdly on free agents. They’ve assembled a front office admired around the NFL. Their players seem to be quality people. [. . .]

The danger for them is that their greatest strength could become their greatest weakness. They’ve done so many things right and have built such a model operation that it’s impossible not to put expectations on a fast track. [. . .]

So far, it’s impossible not to be impressed with what the Texans have done. They are run as efficiently as any sports franchise I’ve ever been around.

Just before the start of training camp, Casserly gathered his employees and thanked them for all their hard work. Then he went down the list of different departments and explained some little thing each had done that made the team – and the organization – better.

That’s the kind of thing the people who run sports franchises almost never do, and it left every person who was mentioned proud to be associated with the Texans.[. . .]

Capers believes it’s vital to emphasize doing things right because "if you ever slip, you can never get it back."

So far, the Texans haven’t slipped in any significant way.

In fact, look at what Justice was saying about the Casserly-Capers-Carr regime even after it had put up a horrid 1-8 record through nine games of the 2004 season:

The Texans are respectable. They’re coming close. They’ve got four 2-7 teams left on their schedule. They almost won in Jacksonville, and they made a run at the Indianapolis Colts before losing 31-17 Sunday. [.   .  .]

The Texans are a better offensive team since [offensive coordinator Joe] Pendry took over [for the fired Chris Palmer]. David Carr looks like he’s on his way to becoming a first-rate quarterback. He’s quicker and more accurate in his throws, less likely to take a sack.

But then a couple of months later, after Carr and the Texans had cemented a perfectly awful 2-14 season, Justice had changed his tune to something similar to the one he sings now:

What we’ll never know is what would have happened if Carr had gotten with an organization that knew what it was doing. The Texans never protected him or coached him, never put enough talent around him. Shame on you, Charley Casserly. Shame on you, too, Bob McNair. Maybe you guys were wrong about what David Carr could have been, but you never gave him a chance to find out.

Uh, Richard. Five seasons is long enough. Yes, the Texansí offensive line wasnít all that good during that span. But Carr wasnít very good, either, and that didnít help the offensive lineís performance.

The bottom line is that David Carr was a poor NFL quarterback in Houston. Nothing that he has done with two other teams (with decent offensive lines) since his time here has changed that evaluation. The Texans made a big mistake in selecting him as the teamís first draft choice.

It really is that simple, Richard.

If you are interested in really first-rate analysis of the Texans, then check out local bloggers such as Stepanie Stradley, Lance Zerlein and Alan Burge. Their work beats the Chron sportswriters product hands down.

Dave Berri just posted his final NFL quarterback ratings for the 2009 season, which are always interesting.

Schaub moved up into the top quarter of NFL QBís, but he has a ways to go before he is playing on the level that Rivers and Brees played on this past season. Interestingly, there is a big drop off in production between Schaub at no. 8 to  Roethlisberger at no. 9.

Except for the truly great ones, QBís are notoriously inconsistent from season to season, especially in comparison to basketball players and hitters in baseball. For example, Favre went from the 27th ranked QB last season to no. 4 this past season! Thatís due primarily to the more complementary nature of football. Stated another way, itís hard to be a productive QB when laying on oneís back or running for oneís life.

Thus, statistics really donít tell us much about NFL QBís (except when that QB is as bad as David Carr) other than the fact that a particular QB performed well this season does not necessarily mean that he will do so again next season.

Are you listening, Chron cheerleaders? 

Too much is written about the Super Bowl each year, so it is increasingly difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. The following are a few pieces that will provide a good primer for this yearís contest:

This Hank Gola/NY Daily News article provides a wonderful overview of the colorful history of the New Orleans Saints, including the eminently forgettable Charlton Heston flick, Number One.

I tend toward being a stathead, so this Football Outsiders post provided the requisite statistical analysis of the matchup between the Saints and the Colts. The bottom line ñ itís a pretty darn even matchup.

If reading that post chloroformed you, Larry Ribstein lucidly explains why he doesnít even watch the Super Bowl.

Iíve noted before that we tend not to appreciate the fact that Colts QB Peyton Manning may be the all-time greatest NFL quarterback and certainly is one of the top three. This Judy Batista/NY Times article updates Manningís superb legacy while noting that his excellence is more a product of preparation, discipline and insight than physical tools. Also, check out this cool graphic on how Manning makes a split second read of the defense.

Finally, this equally interesting Greg Bishop/NY Times piece notes the not well-known fact that under-sized Saints QB Drew Brees ñ who has had one of the best four-season runs of any QB in NFL history ñ is actually one of the best athletes in the NFL. Brees explains in the video below how his San Diego-based personal trainer put together a fitness protocol that helped Brees recover from a devastating shoulder injury and prepares him for the grueling NFL season:

(Previous weekly reviews for this season are here).

Alabama 37 Texas Longhorns 21

Unless you have been living under a rock, you already know that the Horns (13-1) lost the national championship game to Alabama (14-0) after losing star QB Colt McCoy to what looked like a severe pinched nerve in the first five minutes of the game.

Itís really a shame McCoy wasnít able to play because, as I thought going into the game, the Tide looked as if it could have been had. The Horns could only parley two turnovers in Bamaís first two possessions into six points and, frankly, neither backup QB Garrett Gilbert nor the Hornsí coaching staff was ready when Gilbert was called upon to play in the first half (Gilbert had on thrown .

As a result, the second quarter was a disaster for the Horns, as Bama used short fields to ring up 17 points and then punctuated its dominance with a gift defensive TD off of an ill-advised shovel pass on the last play of the first half.

The Horns staff and Gilbert re-grouped at halftime and gamely made a game of it in the second half, pulling to within three with six minutes left to go using a well-designed short passing offense that did not give Bamaís ubiquitous blitz packages time to confuse and pummel Gilbert. 

But forced to take risks late in the game to get back in scoring position, the Horns coughed up the ball a couple of times in the closing minutes to give Bama a two cheap, but clinching, TDís.

The disappointing finish detracted from an another otherwise successful season for the Horns. Moreover, the future is bright. Although Texas loses such stars as QB McCoy, WR Jordan Shipley and Safety Earl Thomas, Garrett and several other young Longhorns look to be ready to step up so that there will not be a big drop-off in performance next season. In particular, the defense this season became the dominant unit that has been the missing element of consistent national championship contention during Mack Brownís tenure.

However, not all is well in the Longhorn Nation. Stated simply, this season has established with certainty that Texas has lost the capacity to pound the rock.

With increasing reliance on the spread offense, the Horns no long have an effective power running game that they can turn to when defenses put 7 and 8 players in coverage and allow their safeties to forget about run support. That deficiency was painfully apparent in the Hornsí three biggest games this season, this one, the OU game, and the Big 12 Championship game that they should have lost to Nebraska.

There are many reasons for the demise of UTís rushing attack, but the primary cause has been a steep decline in the performance of the offensive line. Although Texas routinely has its pick of the litter of Texas high school football prospects, offensive linemen are notoriously difficult to project from high school to big-time college football. Thus, sound development in that particular area is essential to a well-balanced offensive attack. For whatever reason, it appears that UTís coaching staff is having problems in that key development area.

With the better defenses making it increasingly difficult for spread offenses to throw the ball down the field, Coach Brown is going to have to figure out a way to re-establish a power rushing game or the Horns are at high risk of falling off from the top tier of big-time college football (see LSU). Itís going to be difficult at first and there are going to be some hiccups along the way. But the chances of the Horns returning to the BCS National Championship game in the near future are far higher with a balanced offense than the current version.

As if on cue, Houston Chronicle sportswriters Richard Justice and John McClain are all jolly about the Texans first winning season and Texans owner Bob McNair’s decision to retain head coach Gary Kubiak for at least another season.

Of course, Justice is utterly oblivious to the fact that he was calling for McNair to fire Kubiak a little over a month ago. Does he not read his own posts?

Both Justice and McClain change their view of the Texans based on the vagaries of each game rather than any meaningful analysis of the team’s personnel and management relative to their competition. Apparently, that latter task takes to much work.

Just another of the increasing number of reasons to ignore the Chronicle and rely on the far superior analysis on the Texans that bloggers such as such as Stepanie Stradley, Lance Zerlein and Alan Burge provide.

(AP Photo/Dave Einsel; previous weekly reviews for this season are here).

Texans 34 Patriots 27

The Texans (9-7) finished off their eighth season in grand style by beating the mostly-trying Patriots (10-6) with an impressive 21 point 4th quarter comeback.

The win wasn’t enough to propel the Texans into the playoffs, but it was enough to give the franchise it’s first winning record. In Texansland, that’s a major accomplishment.

There was much to like about the Texans’ performance in this game. WR Jacoby Jones showed heretofore unexhibited resilience by making several key plays down the stretch after muffing a pass that was returned by the Patriots for a TD. The Texans’ defense forced the interception that set up the go ahead TD by applying pressure on Brady and scored another TD on a Patriots’ fumble in the end zone after the Texans offense failed to score in close. The Texans’ nascent rushing attack again looked good as previously fourth-team RB Arian Foster reeled off 120 yds on 20 carries and 2 TD’s. And QB Matt Schaub completed his first injury-free season in three seasons with the Texans by emerging as one of the most productive passers in the NFL.

Texans’ owner Bob McNair will almost certainly retain head coach Gary Kubiak, although he is the only coach in the NFL who has not made the playoffs or been fired during the four seasons he has served as head coach of the Texans. Nevertheless, the Texans have steadily improved under Kubiak and the players clearly play hard for him, as Sunday’s 21-point comeback reflected.

Moreover, McNair is unlikely to break the bank to hire one of the "free agent" coaches in waiting, particularly given the uncertain nature of the stalled collective bargaining negotiations between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association.

So, expect more of the same from the Texans. Although major improvement is unlikely in 2010, improvement on the level of what occurred between last season and this one would likely propel the Texans into the AFC playoffs. At this juncture, that seems reasonably likely to occur.

But a suggestion for Coach Kubiak — bring in a few more placekickers for training camp next season.

Air Force 47 Houston Cougars 20

The Air Force (8-5) version of Paul Johnson’s triple-option offense ground Houston (10-4) into the turf at the Bell Helicopter Armed Services Bowl at Ft. Worth on New Year’s Eve afternoon, while the Falcons’ defense harassed Cougars QB Case Keenum into an uncharacteristic 6 interceptions (Keenum only had 9 interceptions against 42 TD’s in 450 attempts coming into the game).

That, plus the damp mid-30’s temperature and windy weather, was enough to make this bowl experience a particularly forgettable one for the Cougars.

However, I can’t really blame the Cougars for their uninspired play. They were at a psychological disadvantage playing in the same bowl game against the same team that it had beaten in last year’s game. That Houston had to do so is a travesty of the current bowl system and the inequitable current demarcation between the BCS and non-BCS conferences in big-time college football.

The Cougars were one of the best non-BCS conference teams in the country this past season. They beat three BCS conference teams, two of which (Texas Tech and Oklahoma State) went on to play in more prestigious bowls than the Cougars despite not having as good a record. Given Conference USA’s anemic bowl alliances, even had the Cougars won the conference championship game, the best they could have hoped for was a trip to Memphis to play in the Liberty Bowl.

No offense to either Memphis or Ft. Worth, but no one ever mistook them for Pasadena, Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix or even San Antonio during college football bowl season.

So, UH is clearly at a crossroads. Head Coach Kevin Sumlin, his coaching staff, Keenum, and most of the offensive and defensive personnel return next season. Moreover, another solid recruiting class is on deck that emphasizes the defensive players that the previous coaching staff ignored. Accordingly, the Cougars appear on course for another stellar season in 2010.

But Houston clearly aspires for success in a BCS Conference membership, not the outback of a non-BCS conference such as Conference USA. Such a membership will require a major financial investment in upgrading or rebuilding the UH football stadium, plus securing Sumlin and his coaching staff with BCS conference-level compensation.

The University of Houston has received the lowest amount of financial subsidy from the state of any major university in Texas, so UH cannot expect much funding help from the state in its effort to move into a BCS conference. Will the Houston community and UH alumni pitch in what it will take to make the Cougars an attractive candidate for a BCS conference membership?

We will soon find out.

Georgia 44 Texas Aggies 20

The Bulldogs (8-5) broke open a close game early in the fourth quarter and cruised to an easy victory over the Aggies (6-7) in Shreveport’s Independence Bowl last week.

The game was basically a replay of many of the Aggies’ losses this past season. The offense was generally productive, but was forced into taking too many risks by the Aggies’ porous defense and poor special teams play. Thus, even though the Aggies had a sizable advantage in total offense, Georgia controlled the ball and the second half with over a hundred more yards rushing than the Aggies.

As with UH, the Aggies find themselves at a crossroads leading into next season. The potent offensive personnel returns virtually intact next season, but young and mostly horrible defense loses both its best player (DE Von Miller) and its coordinator, the retiring Joe Kines. The Aggies are lining up another solid recruiting class, but it will mean very little unless head coach Mike Sherman hires a new defensive coordinator who can generate rapid improvement in the defensive unit.

As a result, Sherman’s decision on a new defensive coordinator is very likely to make or break his tenure as head coach of the Aggies.

I have no idea who Sherman is considering as candidates for the Aggies defensive coordinator position. But if I were in his shoes, I’d take a look at hard look at Air Force’s Tim DeRuyter, whose Air Force unit was one of the top defenses in the nation this past season and was magnificent in the Falcons’ bowl victory over Houston.

(Doug Benc/Getty Images photo; previous weekly reviews for this season are here).

Texans 27 Dolphins 20

The Texans (8-7) continue to have a remote chance of gaining an AFC playoff spot with their 27-20 victory over the Dolphins (7-8), but the way in which they won reflected why many folks are skeptical that Gary Kubiak has what it takes as a head coach to propel the club to success in the playoffs.

The Texans need to win next Sunday against the Patriots (10-5) at Reliant Stadium (a distinct possibility because the Patriots locked up the AFC East title on Sunday) and for two of the three other 8-7 teams — the Ravens, Jets or Broncos — have to lose for the Texans to achieve an AFC wild card playoff spot.

Nevertheless, the Texans playoff chances are not all that great. The Jets play the Bengals (10-5), who have clinched the AFC North, so that looks like a probable win for the Jets. The Ravens go on the road to play the Raiders (5-10), so who knows what will happen there. But the Broncos host the Chiefs (3-12), so that’s not looking good from the Texans standpoint. I don’t see two losses for the 8-7 teams coming out of those three games

After playing their best half of football all season, the Texans led 27-3 at the half. The first half was so lopsided that, at one point, the Texans had outgained the Dolphins 310-46 in total offense and 15-2 in first downs. A field goal immediately before the half was all that kept the Dolphins from being skunked.

But if the rest of the game was easy, this wouldn’t be the Texans.

As has inexplicably occurred on multiple occasions during Kubiak’s tenure as head coach, the opposition made routine adjustments at halftime and the Texans appeared to make none. The result? Not surprisingly, the Dolphins dominated the second half and probably would have at least tied the Texans in the fourth quarter but for a leg whip penalty that negated a long TD pass play.

Now, who knows what really is going on with the Texans? Perhaps Kubiak and his staff make adjustments and the players don’t execute them.

But whatever the reason, anyone could tell that something was wrong with the Texans during the third quarter of this game. They looked as unprepared to play that quarter as the Dolphins looked during the first two.

And that should worry Bob McNair about continuing to hitch the Texans’ future to Kubiak and his staff.

Oh well, a win is a win, right? The Texans did finally show the semblance of a rushing attack (126 yards) with previous practice squad RB Arian Foster and backup Ryan Moats showing the quickness at the point of attack that has been missing the entire season for the Texans.

Although their playoff hopes are slim, a win over the Patriots would give the Texans a winning record for the first time in the franchise’s eight seasons.

In the Texans’ mostly woebegone world, that’s decided progress.