SB Nation - John Busing

Dominique Barber Returns To Starting Lineup

Tim — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:09:01 -0000

Dominique Barber will start at FS for the Texans this week, Texans coach Gary Kubiak just announced.

Given that this development means John Busing is not starting at free safety and makes no mention of Brian Russell somehow making the dreams of Seattle fans come true, I suppose this qualifies as a positive.

Seahawks vs Texans coverage

Texans Five On Five: Week Thirteen

Jake — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:59:49 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Browse more photos »

The Houston Texans go to Jacksonville on Sunday to face the Jaguars. In Week 3, Chris Brown fumbled away a win on the goal line in Houston. Now the Texans will look for revenge. Here are the five matchups I feel are most important in order for that to happen.

1. Tyron Brackenridge vs. Andre Johnson - It's hard enough to contain Johnson with everyone healthy, much less when you're missing your best cover corner, Rashean Mathis. The Jags sport the 26th ranked pass defense this season, of which Mathis was one of the few highlights. Now Brackenridge, how has given up a total of 251 yards and a touchdown in the last two games since taking over the starting role, will try and stop Andre, who will likely play inspired because of the last couple of games.

2. John Busing vs. Maurice Jones-Drew - The Texans run defense has turned a corner since the last time they played the Jaguars, mostly due to improved play from the safety position. Busing hasn't contributed to that improvement though, and had not started since Week 3 until he was forced back into the lineup last week because of a season-ending injury to Eugene Wilson. The reason he lost his job? Poor support to the run. Busing will be dropped in coverage more than Bernard Pollard, but he will still be required to come up to help bring Jones-Drew down.

3. Dunta Robinson vs. Mike Sims-Walker - Anyone who has regularly watched the Texans this year knows that Robinson has been abused regularly. Opposing #1 wide receivers have tallied 50 receptions for 639 yards and 5 TDs, which is slightly deceiving considering it doesn't take into account the many pass interference infractions Dunta's committed. Sims-Walker can claim 6 receptions for 81 yards of that total. I honestly don't understand why teams don't throw Robinson's way more often.

4. Mario Williams vs. Eugene Monroe - This one is a little obvious but pivotal nonetheless. The Jaguars have given up the 6th most sacks and the 88 times that David Garrard has been hit is the most in the NFL. It's been established that Williams is hurting, but he simply needs to be able to beat a rookie in a must win situation, period.

5. Gary Kubiak vs. Wasted Season - To say the season has been disappointing is an understatement, but it's not over yet. The playoffs is almost certainly out of the picture, but the first winning season in franchise history is not. The Texans under Gary Kubiak are ~~11-4~~ 10-5 in the last 5 games of the season over ~~the last 5 years~~ the Kubiak Era. Gary might be coaching for his job though. It will be interesting to see how his coaching demeanor changes, if any, now that his back is against the wall.

Post-Game Breakdown: Colts 15, Texans 1

Tim — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:00:19 -0000

I don't have the slightest bit of positivity in this introduction to the PGB this week. How could I? Your Houston Texans were up 17-0, lost 35-27, and no Houston fan was even remotely surprised.

Think about it: Was there a single moment where you honestly thought the Texans had the game put away? Granted, some of that uneasiness is due to Peyton Manning being the guy on the other sideline, but a great deal of it is simple history. No matter what kind of lead the Texans have, it's never safe. Never. It can be 28 points; it can be 10 points; it can be a single point. No lead is too large for the Texans to blow.

If you're looking for silver linings, I suppose you can celebrate the fact that this latest affront had offenders on the offense, the defense, and the coaching staff. That's teamwork! Let's continue cutting ourselves so we can feel alive, shall we?

1. I wonder whether Rick Smith feels a perverted sense of satisfaction with every pass thrown at or tackle blown by Dunta Robinson. Dunta essentially negotiates against himself every snap. On the increasingly rare occasions Dunta does make a nice play, he still manages to hurt himself and the team. For proof of the accuracy of that last statement, scroll down to the bottom of this post by Lance Zierlein.

2. A text I never thought I'd send out during a Texans game, but one I sent out repeatedly yesterday: "Dunta Faggins."

3. Final Dunta-related blast, I promise. We've reached a point where you can basically call a completion to Dunta's man before it happens whenever a safety is not rolled over to his side. Virtually automatic.

4. I want to like John Busing. Really, I do. It's easy to root for the last guy to make the roster. It is not easy to root for players who seem to be so totally outclassed by no fault of their own. It's nauseating to think that Frank Bush and/or David Gibbs looked at their available safeties after Eugene Wilson went down and said, "Yup, Busing's the best of the lot."

5. Absurd pass interference penalty aside, Jacques Reeves played his worst game of the season yesterday. Back when Petey Faggins was turning me into a candidate for psychiatric confinement every Sunday from August to January, I used to have nightmares that the Texans featured a secondary comprised of nothing but Petey Faggins. Petey at CB, Petey at SS, Petey at FS. It was horrifying. Yesterday, it felt like that nightmare became reality. It truly was a Houston secondary full of Peteys.

6. I'll break up the depression with a positive. Kris Brown did not miss a field goal. Huzzah!

7. One more bit of happiness before I drain the fun out of the internet again. Brian Cushing continues to find new ways to make me look like an idiot. While his interception was awesome, I was even more impressed with his return after the pick.

8. Cushing's amazing return was, of course, negated by Antonio Smith's penalty for unnecessary roughness. There it is...the familiar stench of reality.

9. You knew Matt Schaub would have to atone for his turnover-less performance on Monday Night Football. And he did, in grand fashion. I'm not sure which was more horrid--the pick-six or the fumble. Oh, who can choose?

10. More words I never thought I'd be typing: Chris Brown played a really good football game. For the Texans, even.

11. Not sure if it was due more to the run-blocking or the cuts of Brown and Steve Slaton, but I think the Texans had, all things considered, their best rushing effort of the season.

12. In light of the aforementioned point, I will never understand why Kyle Shanahan called a pass on third and one from the IND 15 with slightly more than a minute to go in the first half. Why do you not run there? If the Colts stuff you, you're getting the same three points you would've had anyway, probably with the luxury of forcing the Colts to burn a timeout. If the Colts don't stuff you, you get a fresh set of downs and another couple of shots at the end zone. What's the rationale for passing there? Seems to me like a classic case of trying to outsmart the opposition when there's absolutely no need for it.

13. Despite leaving a potential four points on the board thanks to his playcalling, K. Shanahan should buy Brice McCain a bottle of Dom for bailing him out with that pick on the final Colts drive of the first half. That had potential to be a disaster. You know, like the second half.

14. Once the Colts took the lead 21-20 with more than eight minutes left, do you know how many running plays the Texans ran during the remainder of the game? ZERO. Not a one. Instead, the offense reeled off twenty-one (21!) consecutive passing plays. Balance, thy name is not Kyle Shanahan (or Gary Kubiak, because [clears throat] "it starts with [him]").

15. Seriously...21 straight passing plays, occurring as the deficit fluctuates between one point and fifteen points. If that's not calling a game with one's hands firmly around one's neck, I don't know what is.

Want to know the most disgusting part? I have every confidence that the Texans are going to do something ridiculous like reel off wins in their next four games, just to suck us all back in. Sure, we're all ready to drink antifreeze now, but it's nothing a few wins in a row can't cure. And then, after imbuing us with new hope, your Houston Texans will poke us in the eye, knee us in the groin, and leave us in a heap on the pavement. You can make book on it.

Colts vs Texans coverage
Texans vs Jaguars coverage

Bernard Pollard: One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure

Mike Kerns — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:05:18 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

Browse more photos »

Safety has been a position of need pretty much since the Texans inception in 2002. Eric Brown, Glenn Earl, Jason Simmons, C.C. Brown, Nick Ferguson, Dominique Barber and John Busing are just some of the names who came and didn't work out at the spot. But something odd has happened this season. Houston seems to have finally found someone who has shored up the Strong Safety position well. Extremely well.

I remember watching NFL Network right near the end of preseason for the names of all the final roster cuts for every team. There were obviously several names that I immediately put on my "Texans Wish List." One of those names was former Kansas City Chief, Bernard Pollard.

By the end of Week 1 of the 2008 season, almost everyone knew who Bernard Pollard was. While it wasn’t necessarily for his play on the field. It was more for being known as the man who ended the season of Patriots QB Tom Brady. Not that his play on the field was lackluster.

I have several co-workers at my office who are Purdue alumni, and I remember one of them mentioning Bernard Pollard while he was still playing for the Boilermakers. He was referred to as "The Bonecrusher" for his really physical play and devastating hits in college. Something that earned him honors as a first day draft pick, going in the 2^ndround and #54 overall to Kansas City.

After starting every game and leading The Chiefs with 98 tackles in 2008, I think it surprised almost everyone when his name was on the final cuts list at the end of camp this year. Especially Chiefs fans.

With us staring a year of Dominique Barber and John Busing at safety in the face, I hoped Houston would take a flyer on him. And that they did. So far, it seems to have been one of the smartest in-season pickups the Smithiak regime has ever had. Since being inserted as a starter, Houston is No. 1 in the league against the rush.

By this point, everyone is scratching their heads and wondering why Kansas City let him go. When asked about it, Pollard simply says that he was just as confused and surprised as everyone else:

"It was very difficult," he said. "You don't know what's going on. You don't know who said what about you. You don't know how they labeled you. When you don't know, that's the worst thing."

When credited for Houston’s defensive revival, Pollard is humble and gives his teammates credit by saying that he is just another piece to an already great defense.

Another Purdue alum, Jacques Reeves, says that he isn’t at all surprised about Pollard’s huge impact on the defense:

"I knew what kind of player he was and I figured he would come in here and make an impact," Reeves said. "I don't know what else went along with him being cut, but I do know he is a good player and he's playing good for us."

A month ago this guy was looking for a job. Someone to give him a shot. Most agree that he is making the most of the opportunity.

"I just want to play football," he said. "I want to be able to show management or teammates what I'm able to do. You know what they say; one man's trash is another man's treasure. I'm thankful for where I'm at."

And most Texans fans are thankful to have him here.

However, as always, there are detractors. There are some who say he will give up the big play to try to make a big hit. In fact, I even remember him on 790 AM here in Houston saying:

"You just got to establish yourself....let them know that I'm going to hit the ever-loving **** out of them. Sorry to say that, but that's how I feel, that’s how I play."

Sorry, but what fan isn’t going to like hearing a player for their team say that? Along with Brian Cushing, Pollard has given the Texans defense a swagger and a mean streak that we have never seen out of this team before.

I say lock the guy up. He is only 24 (25 in about a month and a half) and in his prime. I know there are many who are worried he is just another Will Demps. And that could be true. But you don’t want to have the fix in your hands and let him walk next season. Pollard talks about how much he likes it here and the direction the team is headed. Unfortunately, there are going to be many other contract renewals and extensions to worry about this offseason. But let Rick Smith worry about that. It’s his job, not ours. Just like Pollard’s is to keep knocking the ever-loving **** out of ‘em, and the contract will take care of itself.

Texans Safety Bernard Pollard Out With Flu-Like Symptoms

Mike Kerns — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:08:24 -0000

Remember the trainwreck the Texans defense was with Dominique Barber and John Busing starting at Safety? Well, that's the first thing that popped into my head when I heard that Bernard Pollard was sent home from practice today with flu-like symptoms.

Gary Kubiak commented on the issue that he was "optimistic" that Pollard would play this Sunday against the 49ers. Let's hope so.

UPDATE: Nick Scurfield updated via his Twitter account that Pollard returned to practice today and appears to be fine. Whew!

Gary Kubiak Says Changes Are Coming

Mike Kerns — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:39:43 -0000

View full size photo »

Looks like enough is enough for Coach Kubes. After watching CB Fred Bennett get burned worse than someone camping out on the sun over and over again, it appears that rookie CB Brice McCain will be starting opposite Dunta Robinson this Sunday against Oakland.

Injured CB Jacques Reeves was supposed to be back this Sunday, but he apparently has a jammed finger or wrist or something they were saying on the radio this morning. He did not practice yesterday. So it isn't likely that he wil be starting Sunday.

Another change being made is the recently acquired Bernard Pollard (the guy who ended Tom Brady's season last year) will start over John Busing this week at safety. If the guy is a hard hitter, he has to be an immediate upgrade. I like Busing, but it isn't like he is setting the world on fire so far.

Of course, with Oakland being the running team they are with former college studs Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, who knows how many long runs are going to be forced down the Texans throats on defense? And if that happens, I can think of some other changes that might be coming to the coaching staff.

The Perfect Stereotypical Texans Game

bigfatdrunk — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:06:55 -0000

Alternate picture: Sally Field as Sybil Dorsett.

Two stat lines tell about 95% of the game. First:

Houston	Comp	Att	Yds	Pct	Y/A	Sack	YdsL	TD	INT	Rating
M. Schaub	25	39	357	64.1	9.2	0	0	4	0	127.8

I took the liberty of highlighting what I believe are the most important stats up there. Second:

Tennessee	Rush	Yds	Avg.	Lng	TD	FumL
C. Johnson	16	197	12.3	91	2	0

I'm going to leave off Chris Johnson's 87 yards receiving.

The difference between our spanking last week and a win this week was simply Matt Schaub staying upright. Nothing else was different.

Defensively, we are a nightmare. We gave up 449 yards today a week after allowing the Jets to pound us for 462. Last year, the Jets averaged 331 yards/game and the BE-SFs 314. Yes, we have been abused by two poor offenses. The Jets hung a more expected 254 on the Pats today.

We won today despite our defense, not because of what they accomplished. Even Vodka Collins' fumble was accidental, not because of a great hit (if you didn't see, Collins attempted to dribble the ball downfield a la Matt Nordgren). Our defense is still vagina soft, and we even lacked the blitzing aggressiveness we at least tried against the Jets. Not only is the defense still sorry, but we seem to be regressing under Frank Bush. Fred Bennett, especially, has become a pathetic shell of himself. Two pieces of good news on defense.

John Busing seems to have become the man at strong safety, which is also kinda scary considering he couldn't find playing time for three years with the Bungles. BUT, he's still an upgrade over Dominique Barber, and Busing was all over the field in the second half. Barber appears to be the one who blew the coverage on the "Chris Johnson is invisible!" play.

And Brian Cushing is improving, especially his tackling. However, as well as he plays against the run, the problematic reverse corollary is he's equally bad against the pass. He had a tough time covering Alge Crumpler, which is just mind boggling.

462, 449, and we have one sack all year...by Super Mario, of course. Just three turnovers (and, really, only two created). So much for our new and improved defense.

Offensively, our run game is worrisome, though we have faced two good run defenses in the Jets and BE-SFs. Steve Slaton's Reggie Bush-esque numbers are painful to see. Outside of this, our offense looks like a JUGGERNAUT. Today, Schaub reminded me of the time I watched Dr. DeBakey perform open heart surgery. The offensive line did a solid job keeping Schaub's uniform clean, and Owen Daniels and, of course, Andre Johnson both stepped up with huge games. Jacoby Jones is now averaging 31 yards/catch over the last two years (too bad it's just five receptions), but his touchdown (and it was, Steve Tasker, you little bitch) catch was a thing of beauty.

On special teams, Kris Brown was perfect (as usual) and the aforementioned Jacoby, after not dropping a damn thing all year, decided to botch a punt. We got mighty damn lucky on the call.

This game was a perfectly played Texans game. It was a stereotype. Piss-poor defense, dominating offense, and a "fumble" by Jacoby. It's your 2008 Texans in 2009.

Next week, we get the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that failed to stop the juggernaut that is the Kurt Warner experience. Warner didn't take a single sack. If the Jaguars are equally unable to pressure Schaub, another shoot-out is in the works.

Post-Game Breakdown: Jets v. Texans (Part II)

Tim — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:44:14 -0000

If you haven't read it yet, here's Part I. On to Part II:

1. Lots of talk about Matt Schaub, and it seems to be of the chicken-egg variety. Did Schaub look bad because the offensive line couldn't keep the Jets off of him? Or was Schaub at least party responsible for the hits he took due to a lack of mobility, which could be attributed to the sprained ankle (although Schaub's never going to be mistaken for Fran Tarkenton)? None of us can say with any certainty, but this much is for sure: Matt Schaub is not equipped to shrug off the Titans' pressure like Ben Roethlisberger did last week. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I've ever seen Schaub slip out of or shrug off a sack. Have you? If Tennessee, albeit from a 4-3, manages to get in Schaub's kitchen like the Jets did, we're screwed on Sunday.

2. This brings us back to Kubes and Kyle Shanahan. If Schaub was truly still feeling the effects of that ankle sprain, it makes their offensive game plan even more inexplicable. It makes the almost complete lack of screens and slants that much more galling.

3. Your secondary's in a very bad way when its singular highlight is an interception and subsequent fumble by a player who very well may have been the last guy to make the team. That observation isn't meant to disparage John Busing; it's meant to underscore how awful Brice McCain, Glover Quin, Fred Bennett, Dominique Barber, Nick Ferguson, and Dunta Robinson were. Not only in coverage, mind you (where they were horrific), but also in wrapping up. I find it hard to fathom that David Gibbs is coaching his defensive backs to dive at ankles, yet that's all we saw on Sunday.

4. Every game that Nick Ferguson starts at FS is a game that the Texans are sending ten men instead of eleven onto the field.

5. Which brings us to Dunta Robinson. I'm hesitant to waste too much time on the guy, as I've reached the bitter conclusion that I cannot fathom a scenario where he's a Texan next year. His laughably poor read of his market value had already ensured he wasn't getting a long-term deal in Houston, and that was before he upped the idiocy quotient by writing "Pay Me, Rick" on his cleats for Sunday's game. He'd have to make a quantum leap in productivity over the next few months to warrant consideration of applying the franchise tag to him again, and that's making the very large assumption that Bob McNair would sign off on bringing a "disrespected" (read: ungrateful) Dunta back at all in 2010. Most importantly, Dunta didn't look like a player worth the almost $10,000,000.00 salary he's banking in '09. Dunta's strength has always been his tackling and run support, and neither of those traits were visible on Sunday. If the Texans weren't so awful at DB, I'd demote Dunta to the nickel. As such, I'm writing "Stop Stealing, Dunta" on the back of my sneakers on Sunday.

6. We've read and heard a lot of different opinions about how the Texans fared against the run. I was actually somewhat impressed with how they stood up against the run in the first half, but I think that's solely because I had such minimal expectations.

7. I'll leave the Brian Cushing grade to the rest of you, as I'm admittedly biased. All I will say is that I hope Cushing's place on the sidelines on third down was more a result of easing him back from the knee sprain than a testament to how he'll be used during the season.

8. Thoughts on Frank Bush's first foray into regular season defensive coordinating? Personally, I thought it was darn refreshing to see actual blitzing, although it wasn't nearly as effective as it needs to be. All the blitzing in the world is worthless if you don't actually touch the QB. And while the Texans' defense was totally carved up by a rookie QB on third and long throughout the afternoon, it probably says a whole lot about how gun-shy I am from the Richard Smith Era that I can even attempt to find a silver lining by noticing that actually getting the opposition into third and long could be considered an improvement in some circles.

9. With all that said, you're really circling the bowl when you're trying to sell "Hey, we got 'em to third down!" as a positive. Truth be told, there weren't any positives I can really glean from the disaster against the Jets. The Texans got their arses handed to them, at home, by a rookie QB and a rookie head coach, in every facet of the game. The Texans looked completely unprepared and were an unfettered embarrassment to the organization, the city, and the fan base. It's only one game, but this ain't baseball; Smithiak doesn't have another 161 to straighten things out. It's put up or shut up time in Nashville on Sunday. If we see another effort like we saw two days ago, it's gonna get ugly around here.

Jets @ Texans Semi-Drunken Thoughts: 462 - 183

bigfatdrunk — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:53:59 -0000

I've taken a lot of shit on this here blog for not drinking the Frank Bush kool-aid as I've been worried we never addressed the real problem of our shitty defense. Sure, we blitzed more, but we never put real and consistent pressure on the QB...a QB making his first NFL start as a rookie on the fucking road.

The unfortunate fact is: we do not have the defensive talent to compete, a problem on obvious display today.

We can change the scheme, we can change the defensive coordinator, but we never addressed our serious talent issues. Sure, Brian Cushing helps. He was worthless in the first quarter, but he played better the rest of the game. Connor Barwin was horrible, completely absorbed by either tackle to disappear on every snap he took. Glover Quin and Brice McCain all saw plenty of time on the field, and McCain's performance was especially sucky. Them's the rookies. The older dudes played little better.

Mario Williams led the team in tackles today. Our pass-rushing LDE. Let that sink in for a moment. The rest of our d-line was almost utterly worthless. Okoye wound up with four tackles, but several were down field (at least he was active). Shaun Cody flashed talent. Antonio Smith? What are you even doing on the field? Didn't we pay Anthony Weaver for the same fucking thing?

I saw several people say they were happy with our run defense performance, but we still gave up 4.5/carry.

Our defensive secondary? Wow, what can I possibly say? We were consistently torched by Mark Sanchez who lit us up like a Christmas tree? 3rd down? No problem! Nick Ferguson was beyond atrocious all game, but he was followed closely in scrubiness by Dominique Barber and Dunta Robinson, who has become a horrible defensive liability. If I saw correctly, he didn't see many snaps in the second half. John Busing, as nice as that pick was, is just not ready.

We never addressed our core problems defensively. We put more pressure on the QB, sure, but we didn't record a single sack. Our run defense sucks, our pass defense is worse, and I have absolutely no faith we have a defensive coaching staff capable of making necessary adjustments.

I know I'm going to hear: but it's the first game! Chill out! No, I will not. We made the same mistakes under Richard Smith, and we still lack the necessary talent to address our biggest problems. Going into today, I started thinking we were another 8-8 team. Now, I don't know if we're that good.

462 yards against. In-fucking-credible.

Final Cuts: Down To 53

Jake — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:38:25 -0000

Here are the 20 cuts and 2 injury waivers that did not make the final 53 man roster:

- Alex Brink: QB

- Arian Foster: RB

- Jonathan Evans: FB

- Clark Harris: TE

- Darnell Jenkins: WR

- Mark Simmons: WR

- Brett Helms: C

- Adrian Jones: G

- Adam Stenavich: OT

- Brandon Torrey: OT

- Cliff Washburn: OT

- Josh Leonard: DT

- Tim Jamison: DE

- Jesse Nading: DE

- Khary Campbell: LB

- Buster Davis: LB

- Toddrick Verdell: LB (Injury Waiver)

- A.J. Davis: CB (Injury Waiver)

- Deltha O'Neal: CB

- Mark Parson: CB

- Matterral Richardson: CB

- Brandon Harrison: FS

To me, the most surprising cuts are Arian Foster and Brandon Harrison. I know that John Busing has had a good preseason, but I still had a sneaking suspicion that Harrison would win that spot. Also, even though Moats has shown more this training camp, Arian Foster showed more upside, which I thought would win him a spot especially given his similarity to the oft injured Chris Brown. Lastly, I'm a little surprised that Chaun Thompson beat out Buster Davis, although I think tht is of little consequence either way.

What do you think of the final roster, BRB?