Could Marcus Morris provide spark off the bench like Lamar Odom?  Maybe.  Odom definitly isn't a SF, but he's not a true PF.  For a man with no real position, he still produces as one of the leagues best 6th man players.

They have comparable heights and builds.  6'9"/6'10"  around 230 lbs.  Not an out of this world athlete, but can score the ball in bunches.  They are both aggressive with the ball.

Lamar Odom

Marcus Morris

Other than Lamar Odom being a known quantity, would you trade Marcus Morris for Lamar Odom straight up?  Are there any Kardashian sisters available for Marcus to hang out with?

I don't have any numbers to back this up, but it's seemed to me that while Mario was an edge rusher in the 4-3 he preferred to go outside rather than inside.  I can't remember him developing a strong inside move, a la Dwight Freeny.  In the 3-4 Barwin, Anderson, Von Miller, or whoever will be coming off the edge.  Does Mario have any inside moves to speak of?  At his size, does he get low enough to get leverage?  Will he dominate when he's in position to be blocked by G/T or C/G combinations?  I know there were times that he fought through TE help and getting chipped by FBs, etc. but can he penetrate the way Phillips 3-4 is described?

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4un8h6w

Rockets: the idea hinges on Josh Smith Being able to play the 3.  rockets would get a starting lineup of Lowery / Martin / Smith / Scola / Thabeet.  Not a world beating lineup, but at least one that can get to the playoffs and make some noise.  

Grizzlies: they get out of 2 contracts for 2 guys on their bench.  they get Courtney Lee to replace most of what they lost in OJ Mayo.  the Rockets could send Hill to the Grizzlies if they were asking for another player as well.

Hawks: i don't follow the Hawks much, but I believe they're the dark horse to the Celtics, Heat, Magic & Bulls.  This move would garner them more scoring with Brooks and Mayo and playoff level defense from Battier.  Patterson won't make them forget Smith, but he should be solid.  They're giving up a stud at PF to get the pieces to match up with the rest of the East.  Battier can hold Pierce, James, etc.  Brooks has the speed to stay in front of Rondo, Rose, etc.  Sweeten the pot with draft picks to get the deal done.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=49wtqy3

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http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=49wtqy3

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I know this probably won't happen in a million years, but I think the pieces are there to pull it off.  This whole trade hinges on the idea that the Rockets are already prepared this year to play with rotating players at Center.

The first part of the trade is Rockets/Lakers.  It seems that the Lakers are wanting to move Bynum and are coveting Dwight Howard.  Offering the Lakers Aaron Brooks & Yao Ming for Bynum and either Brown or Fisher to make the money work.  The value for them is that Brooks is a Lakers killer.  They've seen his A-game.  You could sell them the vision of a lineup of Brooks/Bryant/Odom/Gasol/Ming on the best of days.  At worst, knowing that Ming may not play again, they get out from under Bynum's contract and have more  pieces to go after Howard.  The Chinese government would probably let this trade go through since L.A. is an even bigger market that Houston and has the same strong Chinese community there.

The second part of the trade is Rockets/Blazers.  Offer Budinger & Jeffries for Greg Oden.  Oden is practically a bust in Portland and they have Camby, so they might part with Oden.  Budinger could fit nicely somewhere between Roy & Alderidge.  Jefferies would just be an expiring contract.  They would also be getting out of Oden's contract.

The third part of the trade is Rockets/Suns.  Offer whatever comibination of picks and Fisher/Brown/I.Smith/Lee it takes to get Steve Nash.  There have been rumors that he might not be long for the Suns.  The Suns would get a serviceable point guard back and some young talent.

With these 3 trades the Rockets could contend in the West.  The starting lineup would be Nash/Martin/Battier/Scola/Bynum.  Nash would maximize the scoring of Martin & Scola.  Bynum could change shots and Battier would be Battier on defense.  Off the bench would be Lowery/Williams/Patterson/Hill/Oden.  Still largly the same nucleus of players coming off the bench.  Just a little stronger with a legitimate Center.  Because both Bynum and Oden are walking injuries, you would give Hayes & Miller a lot of minutes.  You could have each of the four play one quarter.  The easing of minutes on Bynum & Oden might get them to and even through the playoffs.

With trades like this, the Rockets have size to compete with anyone.  The Rockets were already set to rotate minutes at Center with Yao.  Adding Bynum & Oden gives the Rockets 5 players (Bynum/Oden/Miller/Hayes/Hill) that could play Center.

Am I crazy or could a trade scenario like this actually happen?

The 2010 Texans pave their way to Dallas with three new looks:

• The roster is like Night and Day
• Kubiak can finally be the Head Coach
• The man may be finally getting what he wants

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Did anyone notice how the defensive line lined up in this game?  Williams lining up by himself at left end.  Okoye & Smith stacked at about the right end and Connor Barwin standing up like a MLB?  It seems that Frank Bush is trying to take advantage of Barwin's athleticism.  I saw it on a few plays.  Barwin would stunt around the end or drive right up the middle.  I imagine the look made it harder for Palmer to read the defense.  He had to account for a DE in the middle of the field.  I imagine with some work, it will make a four man rush harder for the opposing Olinemen as well.  Any idea what this formation is called?  What do you think Barwin is reading to determine if he goes up the middle or around the end?  Would the same look work with other personnel?  It seemed to be somewhat successful in getting pressure and stopping the run.

It's been a great homestand and a great opportunity to watch some Texans football.  But now our beloved Texans are hitting the road.

We at BRB wanted to organize a get-together to watch one of the road games.  There'll be the game,  some food, and of course knowledgeable and frenzied fans to share it with.

If you are planning on coming to the event, please RSVP to marroncito@yahoo.com with your contact phone number no later than November 13th.  We need to know how many are coming so we can plan adequate space, food, etc.

(images via houstontexans.com)

When the tale of the Texans 2008 season is told, I believe that one of the main threads running through it will be the story of a team that had to get out of its own way.

As the Texans have cleaned up their turnovers and improved their decision-making with the ball, they have started winning.

Week 1 @ Pittsburgh: The Texans did everything wrong.  The Steelers dominated, but the Texans sure poured gasoline on the fire with long drops and having a zone blocking line go man-up with the likes of Casey Hampton and James Harrison.

They were out of it the whole game.

Week 2 vs. Ike: A brief pause for all those who got through this storm and those who are still struggling.

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I won 2 tickets to this Sunday's game against the Bengals.  I won't be able to make it, so I thought it would be fun to give them away here on the blog.

I haven't picked them up yet, so I have no idea where the seats are or if there are parking passes or anything like that.

If you want to see the Texans roll to a 3-game winning streak, then I'll need you to post a comment with the following:

• What is your most memorable Texans moment?
• What is your most painful Texans moment?
• Who is your favorite non-starter on the Texans?

Last but not least, if you get these tickets, I want you to promise to take a camera to the game.  I want you to post some Fan Shots of all the action, whether the seats are nosebleeds or 50 yd. line.

My decision on the 'winner' is going to be completely arbitrary and subjective.  I'm going to try to pick someone that loves the Texans as much as I do and who I think would have fun at the game.

These tickets are in no way guaranteed.  I'll do everything I can to get them to you in a timely manner, but I nor Battle Red Blog make any guarantees about them.

I will update this post with the details once I pick up the tickets from the Sports Radio 610 offices tomorrow.

(special thanks to aatravelguide.com for the images)

UPDATE:

The tickets are for section 607, row M, seats 18 & 19.  Click on the map above and you'll find section 607 at the very top.  They look kinda like nosebleeds, but hey you're still at the Texans game.  No parking passes or anything like that :( 

Sports Radio 610 didn't hook me up all that much, even when I knew that only Clinton Portis had more yards from scrimmage than Andre Johnson.

Thanks for making this an awesome post.  I absolutely loved all the entries.  There's no way I could choose anyone on the merits of their fandom.  So many great fans on this blog. 

I chose one winner and one back-up.  The winner I chose was Southern Lion.  He's been a great contributor to the blog and is a great fan.  I would love to know that BRB was a part of getting him to a live game.  If he can go, the tickets are Southern Lion's. 

If he can't go for some reason, I chose Leein3D as a back-up.  I loved the South Park reference.  Great post.

The only thing I'm sad about is that I don't have tickets for everyone.  However, we at BRB are looking into more things to improve the site and really build the BRB community.  Keep your eyes peeled and your RSS readers locked here.  

Thanks again for participating and as Matt put it, "baring your soul".

Here are some thoughts that I'll try to elaborate on this week.

• The first half of this game is the team I have been talking about since Week 2.  The Texans are a team that can take it to anyone in the NFL like that.  The 2nd half is the team that everyone has been complaining about.
• Dunta Robinson being on the field is far more invaluable than his 2 tackles today.  He brings an energy and a leadership to the defenese.  There was a time last season, before his injury, that he was making the calls for the secondary from his CB position.  It's good to have that kind of leadership and enthusiam back on the field.
• More thoughts to come.
  

Offensive Rookie of Week

 

Steve Slaton, RB, Texans

16 carries, 93 yards, 2 TD; 1 reception, 3 yards

 

In what is a star-studded group of running backs, Slaton is becoming the elite big-play back.  His two-touchdown performance against the Colts showed his ability to break a big play and to be a dangerous all-purpose weapon.  Slaton’s vision and footwork have stood out in the Texans’ zone-based running scheme.  He has shown good patience and trust in his blockers.  Slaton’s value as a blocker is starting to show also

 

Best of the Rest

2. Duane Brown, OT, Texans - Both of Slaton’s touchdown runs were to the left side, where Brown was doing a solid job all day against a weaker Colts defensive line.  His one blemish was allowing a sack to Dwight Freeney.

Both Steve Slaton and Duane Brown were recognized by New Era Scouting as top rookies.

This cool little thing here to the left is a Wordle.  It takes writing and changes it into a graphical representation.  The more times a word is mentioned, the bigger the word appears inside the Wordle.  This Wordle is a combination of Mike Brisiel and Tim Bulman's interviews.  Take a moment to glance over it.  Click on it to make it bigger.

I asked them specific questions to show everyone what kind of heart the Texans players have.  Words like these don't come from the heart of a losing team.  The Texans are on the way up.

So how about some other reasons to be confident in the Texans...

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I was just glancing down the side bar and noticed that Duane Brown was listed as Questionable with an ankle injury.  I haven't noticed this anywhere else.  It says that he was injured yesterday.  Any news?

For the last 3 weeks, the Texans have been a trap game for the Jags and Colts before finally finding triumph against the Dolphins.  Now it's the Lions that are hungry and the Texans that have something to prove.  Specifically, can they build momentum to roll with the rest of the season?  A two game win streak would be great to celebrate.  How do the Texans get there this Sunday?

Tim Bulman and the Texans' defense played a great game.  He took some of his valuable time today to do an interview for Battle Red Blog.  We know it will get you fired up about the Texans.

See the full interview after the jump.

(Special thanks to texansbullpen.com for images)

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Mike Brisiel and the Texans' offense played a great game.  He took some of his valuable time today to do an interview for Battle Red Blog.  We know it will get you fired up about the Texans.

See the full interview after the jump.

(Special thanks to texansbullpen.com for images)

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There are way too many Texans fans out there singing the Steel Blues.  I've been keeping a finger on the pulse of the Texans' play since Week 2, saying that the Texans are better than they've been playing. 

The Texans are on an upswing.  They have been grinding it out for 4 straight weeks against the Titans, Jags, Colts and finally breaking through against the Dolphins.  And the Dolphins were no paper bag.  It took Andre Johnson's ninja skills and the waterboy giving Schaub ice water on that last drive for the Texans to turn 4 weeks of battling into a win.

So let's take a look back at history.

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The Texans pulled it out...Finally!  Huge emotional win.  Celebrate for now.  Lots to go over.  Good and bad.  Go Texans!  Bulls over Cat-Fish!

What do These 3 Things Have In Common?

(Special thanks to blogcdn.com, templewingchun.com, cheyne.co.nz and z.about.com for images)

They're all part of a formation the Dolphins are calling "Wildcat".  Its early success is not based on magical alignments or genius play design.  Rather, it's early triumph comes from the execution of a few sound principles. 

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A lot of people were, shall we say, disappointed with my recap of the Texans 31-12 loss on Sunday.  People said that I was looking at the game through Vandermeer-colored glasses.  After all, the Texans just lost by 19.  How can you say it was a good game?  I'm glad you asked.

Yes, the Texans lost and yes, the Texans had some bad plays in there.  Despite all that, I saw a world of awesome plays and even better, a winning game plan.

Let's look at the numbers.

The Texans' offense ran 65 plays.  Even with the frantic passing attempts at the end of the game, they still came away with 57% passing/43% running.  That's an incredibly balanced offensive attack.  These plays were run out of 19 different formations.  That means the Titans' defense saw a new look at least every 3.4 plays.  It was far more often than that on most drives.

Schaub was shaky at times in the passing game, but he still put the ball where it needed to go more often than not.  The "not" hurt with 3 interceptions and a few critical incompletes, but he's doing his job.  With more practice, he'll do it better. 

Also, there were numerous deep passes called.  Kubiak had Schaub throwing to the flats, to the middle of the field, and deep down the side lines.  As the game progressed, the Titans pass rush picked up in intensity.  Kubiak had Schaub switch to 3 step drops as well as throw 2 great screens to slow down the pass rush.

The things that excited me most about the passing game were the play actions and bootlegs that were called.  The Titans' defense was stacking 8-9 men in the box, and Kubiak started calling play actions and bootlegs against it.  The Titans' defense backed up real quick.  I'm excited because Kubiak made extensive use of some of his favorite tools in the passing game.

The running game itself was very even.  With the exception of when it went directly behind the combination of Chris Myers and Mike Brisiel (RG) the running plays were called in every direction.  I suspect that not as many running plays were called to go off right guard both because of a lack of power in that offensive line combination and as most runs off RG are straight at Albert Haynesworth.

Which brings me to a point I made in earlier posts: The Texans' offense played a very physical game.  They moved all over the place in zone blocking for rushes and in pass protection.  I reiterate that it was a great achievement to make Fat Albert run until he had to come off the field for a part of the game after having such a bad game against another fatty, Casey Hampton.  This time Kubiak made the fat men run, and it had an effect.  This will only improve with each game.

Most importantly, and I stress most importantly, Kubiak played the whole game from start to finish to win.  He wasn't trying to keep it close.  This game was a dog fight, and Kubiak had the Texans fighting the whole game.  Rather than hope the Titans were going to slip up somewhere and have the Texans steal a win, Kubiak took it to them.  He called 11 plays that were designed specifically to put the ball in the end zone.  He took shots at the end zone from the 16 all the way out to the 35.  They didn't pan out this game, but he took his shots.  He went down in a blaze of glory.  We know we have a coach who is playing to win.  After years of a coach who played not to lose, I'm excited that we have a coach that knows how to win.

The scoring in this game was not as lopsided as the final score makes it appear.  Examine the graph above and you'll see actual scoring on each drive, as well as the 11 attempts at the end zone.  Despite all the mistakes along the way, it wasn't until midway through the 4th quarter that the game was out of reach.  For the whole second half, a touchdown would have drastically changed the makeup of the game and Kubiak went for the TD over and over.

This game was a tale of 2 teams going all out.  Take a look at the game book.  First Downs: TEX 18 / TIT 19, 3rd Down Eff: TEX 20% / TIT 38%, Total Net Yds: TEX 317 / TIT 343, Total Off Plays: TEX 68 TIT 62, Average Gain: TEX 4.7 / TIT 5.5, Net Pass Yds: TEX 171 / TIT 189, Gross Pass Yds: TEX 188 / TIT 189.  Even Net Punt Avg: TEX 38.8 / TIT 37.2. 

There is only one stat that killed the Texans.  Red Zone: TEX 1-6 17% / TIT 4-4 100%

That said, there are 3 things the Texans need to work on and games like this could turn into a 40+ point rout of the opponent. 

Red Zone - The Texans are driving the ball down the field and not finishing.  This has been a problem all along for the Texans, but now they're so close.  Kubiak called 11 plays that were designed to specifiaclly put the ball in the endzone. That's a possible 77 points.  Coming away with 1 TD and 12 total points says that when the Texans improve in the red zone, and when they do, they'll be hanging 30+ on opponents regularly. 

Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson - Something is broken here.  They are not in sync.  I would make them stay after ever practice and throw every route imaginable until they are scoring TDs.  Kubiak called AJ's number 12 times in the game.  Of those 12 times, 5 of those plays had AJ in the endzone and he had 0 TD receptions.  Of those 12 targets, he only had 2 receptions for 29 yards. 

Running Game - The running game showed some life, especially with Steve Slaton going 18/116 1TD and an amazing 6.4 YPC.  Yet, there were several running plays that managed to only pick up 3 or less yards.  As the OL keeps working, I believe that the running game is going to be solid and churn out yards.

I'll look at the individual drives tomorrow and the defense later this week.

I finally got to watch and think about every minute of this weeks game and I am nothing but excited.  Sure the score says it was 31-12, but that's not what I saw on the field.  I saw a solid exciting football team playing their hearts out.

The Texans have faced 2 of the nastiest challenges possible back to back and have gotten better each week.  They to Pittsburgh and got buried, but gave them a few good licks.  And then the Texans got battered by Hurricane Ike before taking the field on the road again to battle the Titans.

And battle they did.  I don't think I saw a single play where I wondered "what in the hell are they doing".  I was cheering into the final seconds.

Gary Kubiak

Many congratulations are deserved this week.  First and foremost, Gary Kubiak for having the balls to go for it on 4th down 6 times.  This was an all out dog fight.  What better way to show your players that you have confidence in them than to let them make a play.  The Texans didn't catch as many breaks as they needed, but they still made huge plays, especially on 4th down.  Keep calling them Kubiak.

Richard Smith

Whatever it was that got him to call this game the way he did, please, please let it happen again.  Our defense blitzed and pressured all game.  Yes, we didn't have any huge game changing plays this week, but there was real life there.  There was a real defense on the field.  Most plays 5-6 guys were crossing the line of scrimmage.  The Texans gave up some coverage and Collins found some holes, but they kept battering him.  By the second quarter, he was sweating profusely and breathing heavily.  Several of his throws were off target and several plays, both runs and passes, were blown up.  That's the kind of Texans defense I want to see. 

Kyle Shanahan

Whether it was Kubiak or Shanahan calling the offense, they did worlds better this week.  They got Schaub moving and it showed in the line play.  The offensive line was much better in their protection.  Most importantly, especially with our undersized mobile line, we had the Titans big fat men, running around laboring for breath.  At one point we even chased Albert Haynesworth off the field. 

Another thing they did well was adjust the play calling.  For some reason they started Schaub with 5-7 step drops and the Titans were getting to him.  By the second quarter they had switched to 3 step drops and screens which was really tearing up the Titans defense.

Third, they tried several different things and stuck with what worked.  There were no vanilla formations for the Texans.  They showed several different looks and both ran and passed out of them.  The Titans defense was noticeably slowed until the 4th quarter when they could pin their ears back. 

Fourth, Kubiak's philosophy is starting to get traction.  Schaub had several good bootlegs.  The running game actually worked this week and Kubiak was able to execute a few of his favorite plays off of it.

Lastly, They absolutely attacked the end zone.  They ran plays attacking the end zone from all over the field.  If any of those plays and scored, this would be an entirely different game.  None the less, they attacked over and over again.  The Texans will score on these plays.

Offense and defense both played a great game.  A loss to a division opponent sucks, but I've never been happier about where an 0-2 team is.

More on some individual players after the jump.

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With all the havock that Hurricane Ike wrecked on our fair city, a lot of people are a little frazzled.  The Texans stayed home with their families through the storm.  Now, the Texans are taking the field against their division rivals, the Tennessee Titans, with the home opener weeks away.

Football is an emotional game, and momentum can mean everything.  When they take the field against the Titans next Sunday, how are they going to come out?  It should be an emotion-filled game against a hated division rival.  Will Houston come out on fire after all this mess or will they be deflated after watching their friends and family struggle with things like electricity and water?

I'm really hoping that the Texans come out fired up.  What kind of emotion do you think they will take the field with?

The Texans have always been a high-character organization.  So when Hurricane Ike blew threw town, Texans players opted to stay with their families and loved ones rather than leave town to play the Ravens.

PFT reports:

Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports that the Houston Texans didn’t want to play their Week Two game against the Ravens at a neutral site because they didn’t want to leave their families in the zone of the hurricane damage while they went to another town, such as New Orleans or Atlanta, to play the game.

Personally, I think this speaks a lot to their character.  When everything else in their world is swallowed up by playing this game professionally, it's nice to see that this team has their priorities in order. 

Everyone at BRB hopes that you and yours made it through Hurricane Ike okay.

Gregg Easterbrook of Tuesday Morning Quarterback writes:

Scouts Notes: Houston's Matt Schaub throws pretty well to his left -- but man does he telegraph passes when he throws right. The Steelers have obviously noticed this -- how long until every team does?

Can anyone confirm this?  I'm going to go back to my DVR and see if I can find this in the Pittsburgh game. 

Please check it out and post if this is at all the case.