Mr. Dunsmore linked to it in today's Newswire, but if anyone deserves to have his work highlighted on BRB in a separate post, it's Rivers McCown. Rivers, as longtime readers of BRB will recall, once plied his considerable trade at this very corner of the internet. Then he hit the big time with Football Outsiders and now even contributes to ESPN.com. His latest piece should be of particular interest to Texans fans, as Rivers--who no one will ever call a homer--writes that he expects the 2014 Houston Texans to be much improved this season.
Why? Rivers explains.
Houston's rebound potential banks on three factors: Jadeveon Clowney, poor luck in 2013 and a terrific schedule in 2014. As Bill Barnwell pointed out for Grantland, the Texans fared poorly in a number of luck-based statistics in 2013. By point differential, they should've won four games rather than two. They went 2-9 in one-touchdown games. They had a league-worst minus-20 turnover margin -- the last two teams to have a ratio that high, the 2012 Eagles and 2012 Chiefs, finished at plus-14 and plus-19, respectively, the year after. Erase all those Matt Schaub pick-sixes and the Texans might have been pedestrian rather than awful last season. Mix in better luck with an improved pass rush, plus the schedule we have projected as the easiest in the league, and Houston should hover closer to six or seven wins in 2014. Yes, even with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center. (The Texans will improve even if Andre Johnson goes elsewhere … technically, 3-13 is an improvement on 2-14, right?)
Improved luck of the non-Andrew variety, a schedule that appears to be the weakest in the league, and an improved pass rush. Is that enough to get you to believe the 2014 Houston Texans will win four to five more games than the 2013 incarnation did? Do you think the team's outlook is even brighter than that this season? State your case below.