Can the Texans Win More Than One Way?

KILT-AM / SportsRadio 610

ITL digs into whether the Texans actually have multiple formulas to win on offense

Transcript

00:00One of the things I've been thinking about with this Texans team

00:02is we've talked about the recipe, which is what, John Lopez?

00:08Well, obviously, run the ball.

00:11Just don't screw it up is what I think their new mantra should be.

00:15And let the defense cook.

00:17Yeah.

00:18Do you at all have any – struggle is not the right word.

00:23Qualms is not the right word.

00:24But how do you balance, I guess, the way I will ask you,

00:26the fact that the Texans have decided, like they very much made this decision

00:31for themselves, that they're not going to give themselves many ways to win,

00:35but they're going to be really good, at least one facet of that singular way to win.

00:40How do you balance that?

00:40Because one of the things I personally think about is in competitive sports

00:46in America or anywhere, right, giving yourself multiple ways to win

00:50seems like something that you would want to do.

00:53Yes.

00:53Right?

00:53That's – in fact, I think all of the best teams that we can think of

00:56oftentimes have multiple ways to get it done.

00:59Yeah.

01:00And I don't think you can say that about this Texans team.

01:01No.

01:02There is one formula and only one formula, unless they change their colors.

01:07You know, unless they say –

01:08Literally?

01:08Yeah, yeah.

01:09If they wear the battle reds?

01:10Well, actually, now that you mention it, that game with the battle reds

01:15against Buffalo, that wasn't a fun-looking game.

01:18Yeah, but, you know, unless they decide, you know what, let's not run the ball

01:23even if it's for three yards because we're going to get a nine-yarder here and there

01:25and we're going to have some play action.

01:28Let's not throw safe passes and only take one or two shots if the opportunity presents itself.

01:33Let's sling it around the joint.

01:36You know, they're not going to do that.

01:37You still talking about the drive-in movie?

01:39There was.

01:40All right.

01:41It did happen.

01:44But, you know, they're not going to do that.

01:46They are just not going to do that.

01:48So, no, there is one formula to win.

01:51You could argue, and I think it's a fair argument, they're kind of constraining C.J. Stroud.

01:58You know, there's an analogy that I use, I've used over the years quite often.

02:03If you have a diamond in a paper bag, does anybody know you have a diamond?

02:09Did you just repurpose if a tree falls in the woods and no one's around here?

02:13No.

02:13What I'm saying is, like, if you have...

02:15You heard that, right?

02:16Oh, yeah.

02:17Oh, yeah.

02:18Like, C.J. Stroud could be a guy that is throwing it everywhere, running more,

02:23RPOs, on the edges, rollouts, all these other things.

02:28That's not what he is on this squad, Reggie.

02:30We know that.

02:31I feel like he's a diamond, but you got him in a paper bag.

02:35You know what, though?

02:35It's working.

02:36So, at least it's been working the last four weeks.

02:39So, I wish they could just let him go, you know, and go 2023 C.J. Stroud.

02:47But they're not going to do that.

02:48I think it's interesting, though, because I think that there's a small window for that to happen.

02:51I really and truly believe it's small, at least for this season.

02:54Can I take you...

02:55Can you give me the Seth Wickersham audio?

02:56I actually didn't even think that this would be the place where this connects.

02:59I just found it to be interesting.

03:00Now, you're familiar with the Niners of the time where they had Joe Montana, Steve Young,

03:05and when they were in that inflection point of Steve Young, Seth Wickersham was telling

03:09a story about that time period.

03:11And the offensive coordinator there, obviously Shanahan, the elder in that moment.

03:16And a conversation that he had with Joe Montana about that Bill Walsh system where there's

03:21true quarterback progression, right?

03:23Where you go one to two to three.

03:25This was an interesting story that he told.

03:26Then he asked Joe Montana to come back.

03:29And he says, Joe, you look at the offense differently than everybody.

03:34I need to understand this.

03:37And Joe's like, oh, man, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't notice that.

03:40Because everybody...

03:42Joe thought that everyone in the building wanted him gone.

03:44And he still wanted a chance to compete.

03:47So...

03:48He says, look, I don't do what Walsh said to do.

03:52Like, at this point, I've played in the offense for 10 years.

03:55And what I do is, I...

03:57And I think all the great quarterbacks do this.

04:00I radically simplify my options.

04:03And I go...

04:04I know ahead of time who I think is going to be my top...

04:07My primary receiver on a given play.

04:11And if it's number three, as Walsh drew it up in the progression, I don't care.

04:16I'm going straight to three.

04:18If he's covered, I'm going to my outlet.

04:20If he's covered, I'm throwing it away.

04:21Yeah.

04:21And Steve was doing it according to how Walsh drew it up.

04:26Interesting.

04:26So he was going one through five.

04:28And as a result, he was holding the ball too long.

04:31He was getting hit.

04:32Sometimes the ball would come out.

04:34And that's what Montana saw as his edge.

04:37So Mike Shanahan says, you know, I promise I won't say anything.

04:41Anyway, that offseason, Montana is traded to the Chiefs.

04:46And Shanahan calls in Steve Young.

04:48And he says, we're never going one through five again.

04:51So that's the full story there.

04:53Obviously, I know that you can appreciate that, Tom.

04:55I actually remember that very well.

04:56But does that not sound like something that could be something for CJ if he finds that edge?

05:00We want CJ to go rogue is what we're saying?

05:02I've been asking...

05:03I'm not saying that, you know, facetiously.

05:06Have I not been asking that delicately for a little while?

05:08It's like, I wonder at what point he does the thing where he's like, I understand this enough

05:12to say, F the rules, I can get to this thing.

05:15I don't know if, especially seeing as, it feels like just last week he was still doing

05:19some embracing what they were doing.

05:20I don't know if that happens this year.

05:21And that, again, brings us to the idea of, I think that could happen in the future if

05:24the system remains in place.

05:26But as of right now, it still feels like there's a very narrow path of the way for them to get

05:31things done.

05:31I agree.

05:32And I don't know how to square that with the fact that it works really well, especially

05:35when you look at the defense.

05:36It's funny because at once you feel kind of frustrated because, again, you've got a

05:43diamond in a paper bag.

05:44Why don't you open the paper bag and let it go?

05:46Let people see it.

05:47That's the frustration.

05:48On the other, it's kind of hard to argue when you think about this team right now and where

05:53they are in the AFC and the opportunities that they have in front of them playing like

05:56this.

05:56But also, I think that this texter makes a good point from the 7-1-3, right?

05:59If you do, or if you are a team that has an ability to win multiple ways, which this

06:05person believes that they actually might be, it comes with increased risks, whether it's

06:09like, you know, sacks.

06:09That's why they do it this way.

06:10Exactly.

06:11D'Amico has told us.

06:12Yeah.

06:12He's flat out told us.

06:13You know, he said it.

06:14We played the audio yesterday.

06:16You know, why do all these crazy things?

06:19All I want is 20.

06:20You know, why?

06:21I get it.

06:22Yeah.

06:22So that's been something that's sitting with me, even as we're looking at a team that

06:26is, you know, on a four-game win streak.

06:28If you look at all the playoff simulators, have a very good chance of making the playoffs

06:32and still have a pretty solid chance of winning their division.

06:35It still sits within me like, hey, if you really want to get that ultimate goal, it

06:39feels like it's very narrow.

06:40And when you make things narrow, it's definitely more difficult.

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