The Coach Gary Kubiak watch is officially on in Houston. Sure, the Houston Texans lost a hard fought battle to the perennially good Indianapolis Colts. The problem, however sad it is, is not that they lost; but the way that Houston is going about their special brand of losing.
The Texans did have the ball late with a chance to drive and get a game tying field goal. In the NFL, having the ball and being down 3 points with under two minutes to go is usually a great situation. Not only is it a great situation, but a realistic "plan" to win the game. Did Kubiak really think that they would blow out a team that had beaten the Texans in 12 of the last 13 that they have played? So, the keep-the-game-close-and-try-to-win-it-in-the-fourth-quarter "plan" seemed realistic. But short on timeouts, and with a back-up quarterback that has a penchant for late game mistakes, the Texans were unable to produce.
Coach Kubiak, the team, the quarterback, it doesn't matter who you blame but ultimately its the head coach's responsibility. As usual, the Texans had wasted time-outs. For coaches, the use of time-outs is a fundamental skill. They wasted one because quarterback Sage Rosenfels couldn't hear the play call through his helmet speaker and the Texans have no plan for that possibility. Most teams have hand signals that are used in this situation. Come on its technology, which means its great; but bound to fail along the lines of the Peter Principal. So Rosenfels called a time-out. That's one down the toilet. Another was wasted because the Texans had 13, yes, 13 defensive players on the field! The worst part, Kubiak said that this was a good use of a time-out. Huh?
So, this is his vision of time-outs? It appears that Kubiak doesn't think that the primary use of time-outs is to stop the clock. Instead he feels that they are to be used to cover up the fact that his team isn't prepared and organized.
This comes on the heels of last week's penalty for the punter being offsides. And, earlier in the season, they felt the need to go for it on fourth down repeatedly to play themselves out of a game.
On the bright side, the Houston Texans have accumulated a good deal of talent and execute a scheme that has put them in position to win most games. They have, however, repeatedly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Historically, it has been said that a great coach can win with his players; and, if you switched teams, he could win with yours. Somehow it seems that Coach Kubiak is the antithesis of this- he can lose with his players, and if switched, he could lose with yours.
The offense has put up some good numbers, but the clock management and untimely turnovers has been its downfall. Meanwhile, the defense has been horrific. The Texans have given up an AFC worst 287 points. In fact, if you throw out the games versus the embarrassments that are the Detroit Lions and the Cincinnati Bengals, they have not given up less than 28 points all season. This does not bode well for a multi-year head coach in a league that has already sent three head coaches packing this season.
