Using the bulk of our speak in the books, I decided to ask one last overarching question to Texans general manager Rick Smith, as he got ready to take care of some family company. His answer to this one -- How confident are you currently that your team is built to withstand the loss of Matt Schaub? -- left me scrambling back more than my notes to determine that, yes, he was very clear in his beliefs.
"If you cannot tell that based on what we've talked about, then I don't know what to tell you," Smith confidently and politely shot back. "If we were ever built to cope with a thing like this, we're correct now. Using the way we're playing on defense, the weapons we have on offense, what we do offensively, this team's confidence level has actually grown. What's most impressive to me about this team is how it works, how it stays focused. I'd anticipate that'll remain exactly the same with this." The Texans lost Schaub for 5 games in his very first year in Houston, and 5 games in his second year. This certain team has dealt using the losses of its two best talents already, with Mario Williams out for the year and Andre Johnson shelved considering that the initial Sunday in October.
This, naturally, is distinct. The Texans were below .500 entering every of the four stretches they lost Schaub in the past, twice in 2007 and twice in 2008, and they're 7-3 now. And as excellent as Williams and Johnson are, it is that much tougher to overcome attrition at Schaub's position. Smith understands all that. He believes sufficient in the roster he and Gary Kubiak have spent the past six seasons building to look past the circumstances. "I believe our football team is capable of responding," Smith stated. "We lost Mario, and we're still great defensively. We lost Andre, along with the offense continues to become productive. Matt's a superb player, but this really is the nature of the game, and if guys are not in a position to play, the other people must respond. What our team has shown could be the resolve and depth to react to these situations." Apart from the intangible "resolve," Smith points to two factors in his belief that the Texans are still capable of playing with everyone within the AFC: The players that had been around Schaub, and the one who will replace him. We'll get to Matt Leinart in a minute. Go back to Schaub's very first three years as a Texan. In those respective seasons, the defense ranked 24th, 22nd, and 13th (and bottomed out at 30th last year), and also the operating game checked in at 22nd, 13th, and 30th. In 2010, behind Arian Foster, they got the operating game up to Kubiak-in-Denver standards. This year, with Wade Phillips taking over and also the personnel tweaked to fit his 3-4, the defense has caught up. The Texans' running game (3rd within the NFL) now outranks its passing game (15th), and the defense is ranked atop the league, although it's been with out Williams the past 5 games. Is Schaub important? Sure. But he also threw no far more than 30 passes in any of the Texans' seven wins, and slung it much less than 25 occasions in 5 of those victories.
That is a result, needless to say, of the team's newfound balance -- he averaged 36 passes a game in each and every of the past two years. And that brings us to Leinart's capability to complete enough with those 20-30 probabilities to throw the ball for the Texans to help keep what they've built going. 1 excellent sign: Leinart signed with Houston in September 2010, following becoming cut in Arizona, and hit the free agent market place this summer, with the Texans having observed sufficient to bring him back. "We saw significant progress last year," Smith explained. "He learned our method, how we prepare, how we ask guys to get themselves ready in those spots. And one factor that we decided at the end of the season was that it'd be a priority to re-sign Matt, and have him come back as a backup. We have all of the confidence within the globe he can get this carried out." NFL.com Energy Poll, Week 12 Where do Gary Kubiak's Texans rank among the NFL's elite? Our nine professionals share their ballots in this week's energy poll. Much more ... The reputation Leinart had in Arizona wasn't precisely stellar. As I detailed last week, word circulated widely in the league that the former Heisman winner was a "pretty boy" who did not invest sufficient time at his craft, carrying a sense of entitlement from his days of collegiate superstardom.
The Texans have noticed a thing else from the former first-round choose, whose talent has never ever been seen as the problem. Regardless of whether or not Leinart saw the light, or was simply judged differently behind Kurt Warner using the Cardinals, isn't altogether clear. But Houston hasn't had the same concerns, according to the GM. "Ever because he's been here, from a preparation standpoint, the guy has come in and worked very hard," Smith said. "Every practice, following practice, he's operating with the quarterbacks coach along with the young receivers. That's what I've observed from him, and it's why we expect him to play nicely. He's put inside the perform. "I do not know exactly where (the reputation) came from.
But this guy's been operating here, he's been inside the developing with (Schaub) at 6 a.m. He's there early and out late. I'm not here to judge what he was just before, but I know what he's been whilst he's been here, and I'm excited for him." So can it work? A 3-3 split down the stretch would probably be enough to get the Texans the AFC South title. Winning 4 or five could put Houston in position for a bye. And as for what happens if the Texans can qualify for the massive dance for the very first time in their decade inside the NFL, that is where Smith feels actually very good about his new quarterback, who played for national championships in every of his three years as USC's starter.
The bright lights, you'd surmise, will not be too bright for this 1. "Where that is apparent is when he walks in the huddle. He's calm, he's confident, he's the leader," Smith mentioned. "His teammates pick up on that. That is exactly where you see the benefit of his experiences at SC." And also the way this Texans team is built must, in turn, be to Leinart's benefit. What will he do using the chance? Smith and those about Houston seem to have quite small doubt that Leinart will do plenty. Follow Albert Breer on Twitter @AlbertBreer
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