In an effort to compete with the Aggies for the most uninspired effort of the holiday season, the Texans laid an egg against the hapless Browns in the final game of the 2004 season. The loss prevented the Texans from achieving an 8-8 record in their third NFL season and left a sour aftertaste to a season of undeniable progress for the Texans.
The main flaws in the Texans’ squad were on full display in this one. The Browns’ pass rush manhandled the Texans’ offensive line, so Texans QB David Carr (15-25 for 114 yards; 1 TD; 0 Int) was running for his life most of the day. Moreover, inasmuch as Carr has below average recognition skills, the Texans could not combat the Browns’ fierce pass rush with short drops and passes to hot receivers. Consequently, the Texans’ passing game was rendered utterly ineffective in this game, averaging a full yard less per play than the Texans’ rushing attack.
Frankly, the Texans’ problems in the offensive line are not surprising given that the Texans’ management has made some particularly bad choices in this personnel area. The Tony Boselli deal was a bust, and then the Texans wasted a high draft choice in their second draft on tight end Bennie Joppru, who has not played a down for the Texans.
Partly as a result of these questionable decisions, the Texans are playing Seth Wand — an inexperienced second year player from a small college program — at the key left offensive tackle position. Although the Texans have veteran offensive linemen Steve McKinney (7 yrs), Todd Wade (5 yrs), and Zack Wiegert (10 yrs) playing regularly, a football team is only as strong as its weakest links in this area. And the Texans’ key offensive line draft picks — Wand, Chester Pitts and Fred Weary — have been weak links to date.
If the Texans had a top flight QB, at least some of the problems in the offensive line would probably not be so apparent. However, through three seasons now, Carr has established that he is only an average NFL QB at best. Carr is not a bust such as Tim Couch or Ryan Leaf, but he is simply not good enough to overcome the current limitations in the Texans’ offensive line.
Interestingly, the rest of the Texans’ personnel areas are in reasonably good shape. Oh, they could use a dominant defensive lineman (couldn’t every team?) along the lines of the Oilers’ Curly Culp from a generation ago. Similarly, another big wide receiver to take pressure off of the talented but underutilized Andre Johnson would also be helpful. But none of these other holes are as big as the ones on the offensive line. So, assuming that the Texans’ management can plug those, the Texans appear to be on track to be a playoff contender by their fifth season in the NFL.
By the way, I know that the Texans’ loss to the Browns was bad, but is that really a reason for this, particularly after this a couple of weeks ago?
In an absolutely appropriate ending to a miserable season, the Cowboys snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as they scored with 1:49 to play to take a 24-21 lead, and then allowed the Giants to march down the field and score the winning TD with 11 seconds left. The rebuilding job at Dallas looks to be so extensive at this point that I cannot see the Big Tuna lasting much longer as coach of the Pokes. Good thing that vote on the new stadium occurred in early November rather than early January.
Texas Longhorns 38 Michigan 37
In a hugely entertaining Rose Bowl game, the Horns’ Vince Young put on a show for the ages as UT kicker Dusty Mangum‘s 38 yard field goal as the clock expired won it for Texas. The win was the first for Texas in a BCS Bowl game, and at least loosened the hold of that big monkey on UT Coach Mack Brown‘s back that was mentioned in this previous post.
Michigan’s offense performed admirably against the Horns’ quick defense, efficiently using their 355 yards of total offense to score 37 points. Freshman Michigan QB Chad Henne (18-34 for 227 yds, 0 int) was very good, throwing four TD passes, including three to All-World WR Braylon Edwards.
Nevertheless, the Michigan defense simply could not contain Young, who glided like a gazelle through and around the Michigan defenders while scoring 4 TD’s, rushing for almost 200 yards, and generating just under 400 of Texas’ 444 yards of total offense. Young is simply the type of rare athlete who looks like he could dominate a basketball game or a track meet just as readily as a football game.
By the way, the videotape of this game is almost certainly destined to become one of the most effective tools in coaching circles for teaching how not to cover kickoffs. Between Michigan’s Steve Breaston and Texas’ Ramonce Taylor, the teams combined for over 420 yards on kickoff returns, averaging a remarkable 32.5 yards per return. Texas’ kickoff coverage was so bad that, by the fourth quarter, I was urging Coach Brown to direct his kicker simply to kick the ball out of bounds on kickoffs so that Michigan would be “backed up” to its 35 to start their next drive.
Also, the Iowa-LSU Capital One Citrus Bowl game that was on ABC immediately before the Rose Bowl game had an even more incredible ending as Iowa QB Drew Tate (from Baytown, just east of Houston on I-10) threw a 55 yard TD pass as time expired to pull it out for the Hawkeyes. Between that game and the Rose Bowl, ABC had an incredibly engaging eight hours of college football on this New Year’s Day.
In a game that was not as close as the final score indicates, the Volunteers had a 21-0 lead over the hapless Aggies with over 13 minutes to go in the second quarter of the 2005 Cotton Bowl. As with the Texans’ loss to the Browns, this was a disappointing ending to a season of decided overall progress for the Aggies.
Although the Aggies performed surprisingly well this season while playing one of the nation’s most difficult schedules, the last two games against Texas and Tennessee exposed the Aggies’ weakness vividly. Both Texas and Tennessee’s defenses were quick and strong enough to shut down A&M’s rushing attack while bringing pressure on A&M QB Reggie McNeal in a manner that kept him in the pocket while passing. Without an effective rushing attack and McNeal’s scrambling outside the pocket, A&M’s offense was rendered largely ineffective in their final two games this season. Eventually, turnovers in both games wore the Aggies’ defense down, and the Aggies were unable to make much of a game out of either contest.
Accordingly, as with the Texans, the Aggies need to make considerable off-season upgrades in their offensive line in order to continue this season’s progress against an equally difficult schedule next season.