…was said about Mario in preseason two years ago. Mario didn’t look great in those preseason games by any stretch of the imagination. Lucky for us, something clicked with him. Amobi may not be the physical freak that Mario is, but he’s still very athletic for his position. It’s entirely conceivable that Amobi could make a similar leap to the one Mario made. It may not happen, but it’s hardly unheard of. Sounds like he’s working hard and really trying to improve. If that is the case, given his physical skills he can be a very effective player in the right system.

As I’ve said elsewhere, both he and Okam are young. Young players are inconsistent. In this sense, the 25 year-old James Casey has a big advantage over those two because he’s more emotionally mature.

Also, you gotta give Dickie some credit. At least he’s finally acknowledged Mario’s greatness. And if I recall correctly, he did right a positive column about the Texans the other day.

He’s focusing on the insufficient defensive line. While that unit certainly deserves it after their performance last week, I think people are making too much of Okoye’s failures and too little of Kubiak’s and the coaching staff, including Kollar and Bush’s and Kubiak’s choice of Kollar.

When drafted, as Jerome Solomon points out, Okoye was 19 and it will take him until the age of, probably, 24 before he can possibly start to dominate the big boys. He’s a long term project who was drafted highly with the logic of “if he can beat 20, 21 and 22 year-olds in college at the age of 19, imagine what he’ll be able to do at the age of 24 in the NFL” – extreme upside for a team that was planning to spend another 2 to 3 three years rebuilding the right way and had the time to wait. If Okoye still sucks after next season, the Texans may have to go in a different direction, but this is the situation the front office created and said they wanted. The expectation is that, as he matures, he’ll make the big leap that tehGrindCrusher is referring to. It’s a gamble that’ll take some time to evaluate.

While Okoye’s entering his third season in the NFL, Kubiak is entering his fourth as a head coach and, unlike Okoye, he’s had extensive experience in the NFL as a QB and coach for the Broncos. Yet, Kubiak and his staff still don’t seem to show that much improvement in game planning, adjustments, in-game challenges and time management. Before, it was acceptable to say that Kubiak was a new head coach and would need time to learn. I think it’s time to expect more from Kubiak in these areas. As the personnel on the field continues to improve, performance in those coaching areas is going to become more critical as the games become more important. Teams that win the Super Bowl have good coaching. If you want to make the playoffs, much less win in the playoffs, the coaching must be good, and certainly better than Kubiak has shown thus far.

In fact, the couple of times I’ve had interactions with him, he’s been extremely cordial and engaging. Having said that, he has no journalistic integrity and I rarely, if ever, read his stuff. There’s just no point.

As for Amobi, the age excuse is irrelevant at this point. He needs to be showing something, which he hasn’t. Maybe something clicks for him this year, but it’s looking more and more like he’s just not the guy.

Man, I must’ve seen a different Texans/Saints game than most of you. With words like “embarrassment” and phrases like “a step backward” being thrown about, and Kurt already calling out Kubes for being a shitty coach, I honestly didn’t see too much that concerned me in that one. Granted, the backups and third stringers didn’t have too great a showing, but I wouldn’t even call that an embarrassment. Tap the brakes a bit, gentlemen, and watch with your eyes and not through Pancakes/Justice’s recaps.
I haven’t even read through any of the other posts, but I’m sure I’ll hear more of the same talk.
You guys give me sad-face sometimes.

Then Amobi Okoye and the rest of the Texans defense can succeed. Here’s the way I see it: The Saints were the most prolific offense in the NFL last season, so there is no shame in getting scored on by them. If the Saints offense plays its best ball and the Texans defense plays its best ball, the Saints offense is gonna win. Period. Now what was shameful was how they scored – by cramming the ball down our throats! That is embarassing. Still, you have to assume that Frank Bush game-planned for an aerial attack, but instead got the bulldozer. When you go after the passer with reckless abandon you also tend to leave some running lanes wide open. That’s why the draw play is so successful on third and long. We paid so much respect to the passing game of Brees that the running game became an afterthought. Hopefully in a real game adjustments would have been made at halftime. This was a lesson for Frank Bush, because Indy is capable of doing the exact same thing.

Ultimately, we don’t defend the run very well. Sadly, that’s a fact. A healthy Cushing will help, but only a little. For us to win games we need the lead. We have to force teams to come from behind and throw the ball. I know with our secondary that seems like a scary proposition, but at least that gives Mario a chance to do his thing. If a team can just pound the rock on us all day long we’re in trouble.

He spoke the truth. He listed some facts about draft choices, contracts, playing time and all of them were right on the money. He said Okoye has not performed to the level expected of the 10th pick of a draft, true. The team should be concerned. I am sure Okoye is not swimming under anyone’s radar. But what are the options? Cut him? No. Bench him? if there was someone better. This season, the team will have to play him, continue to coach him and compensate for his weaknesses, as they had to do last year. Maybe he will respond and maybe he won’t. Come the end of this season, if Okoye does not produce and it costs the team wins then their options will be to find a replacement through the draft, a trade or free agency. Those are the facts. That is the situation. I am a spectator in all of this, as is everyone here, including Justice, who will read this and wonder why I am not hanging him. Okoye is a member of the Texans and we are stuck with him. The team is stuck with him. If he doesn’t improve he will become the butt of much criticism on Texans sportsblogs. If the team wins and goes to the playoffs, because of Okoye or in spite of Okoye, we will all be watching and hoping for the best. I think the consensus is that he is a detriment the way he is playing now. Defense is a team effort and doesn’t fall on one player. When Mike Bell gets 10 or 20 yards, we can’t just point the finger at Okoye. It takes eleven!

we have a team that has shown dramatic improvement over the last few years. Support ‘em! Talking about their weaknesses is fine, but why harp on them instead of tryin’ to bring some excitement? Have a little faith, would ‘ya?
 Look at it this way, the are a lot more exciting to watch nowadays compared to when they packing up to leave town. I was an Oilers fan since I was like 5 (I’m 40 now), I’m so amped that we have the Texans now! They have such promise now – a short history – but a promise of great things to come. The last thing we need is the LOCAL press baggin’ on ’em.