00:00Arguably the best season they've had in the franchise's history, almost.
00:05I think there's at least a conversation of that.
00:08And with that success, Clint, I don't know.
00:14It seems like they're operating in a space of which they are close.
00:18Like they feel like they may be close.
00:22Maybe almost like a false sense of security of where they actually are in the league.
00:31And it's going to be interesting to see coming into next season if they feel like, hey, we just need
00:39to keep doing what we were doing last year.
00:42Or if they feel like, no, we've got to kind of revamp this thing and do more things with this
00:47team to get us closer to the spot we want to get to.
00:50Yeah, look, I mean, I just, I think the team is close.
00:54I think the organization and the powers that be have done a tremendous job building this organization and getting them
01:00to a point where they're going to be a playoff team every year.
01:04My hope and my fear is that the success that they were able to have last year really solely based
01:13on your defense and your kicker.
01:16My concern is, is that that is leaned into when they're making decisions right now of trying to figure out
01:22how to kick in the door on an AFC championship or a Super Bowl.
01:26My fear is that you look at last year when the top seeds in the AFC were the Denver Broncos,
01:33the New England Patriots, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
01:38You know, those, those, those were your one, two division winners.
01:43Yes, but those are your, your teams that, that hosted playoff games last year in the AFC.
01:49Literally Bo Nix, Trevor Lawrence, Aaron Rodgers, and Drake May.
01:55Literally, you know, those were, were your top four seeds in, in the AFC.
02:00And I, I just, I just hope that that's not leaned into when you're, when you're deciding how, what caliber
02:09moves you need to make this off season to be competitive, right?
02:14I think everybody can look in the, in the same, look at the standings and say, look, man, last year
02:18the AFC was down because Josh damn near didn't get in.
02:23You look at, you look at Pat didn't get in.
02:25Joe Burrow didn't get in.
02:27Lamar didn't get in.
02:28Lamar didn't get in.
02:29Um, you know, you, you look up and Indianapolis was one of the, one of the best teams in, in
02:34football for, uh, a good, a good two thirds of the, of the season and, and their, their starting quarterback
02:40gets hurt.
02:41Um, I mean, hell half of, half of the Los Angeles Chargers offensive line was hurt.
02:46So they went in there and that really hurt them in the playoffs.
02:49And so I just think last year's path, if you will, was significantly less difficult.
02:56Not saying it was easy, but it was less difficult than I think what a typical AFC year is going
03:01to look like.
03:02And so not only are all those teams that you competed with last year going to be better, but you're
03:06also going to get those three big quarterbacks that we mentioned, probably in the mix, if not at the top
03:12of the AFC again for a couple of them.
03:14And so I just hope Ron, that they're not sitting there going like, like Nick Casario said, uh, boy, we
03:20could have beat any team in the NFL.
03:21Like I hope offensively, you don't feel like you could essentially run it back and that's going to be enough
03:27on the offensive side of the ball.
03:28You have a fear that they are, they are approaching the season as if they are running into the AFC
03:36that they ran into.
03:37Absolutely. Absolutely. And the biggest one, it doesn't like, I don't think Nick Casario and Nick Kaley are going to
03:43stray.
03:44I think they are, they are cut from the cloth of trying to do more with less and, and all
03:48the stuff that we've talked about on the offensive side of the football.
03:51The one that, the one that I'm hoping steps in and says, no, we've got to have a playmaker somewhere
03:55on the offensive side of the football outside of Nico Collins.
03:58Like a hit your head on a goalpost type of offensive weapon.
04:01And, and I hope D'Amico steps in and says, look, no, look, this is a move that we've got
04:05to make.
04:06This is, this is a guy that, this is a dynamic that we have to add to this offense, uh,
04:10because I think you're going to need that.
04:11I just, I just, D'Amico's the one that kind of, I think took the step back and kind of
04:16just, to me, clearly let Nick, Nick Casario handle the offense.
04:21And so, you know, it can be very easy for a defensive minded head coach who had already taken a
04:26step back, who, who is, is, you know, basically giving the reins to somebody else and letting them make the
04:31decision on the offensive side of the football to look up and be talked into.
04:35Hey man, we're good.
04:36Hey man, we're, we're solid on the offensive side.
04:38Don't worry about it.
04:39We're solid on the offensive side of the football.
04:40I just hope that the amount of success and really the amount of success versus, versus a very abnormal AFC
04:49playoff picture.
04:50I hope that that, what that's not blinding to this team to where they, they just kind of damn near
04:57run it back offensively without some major moves.
05:00I hope that's not the case.
05:01You know what?
05:02Cause I think it's a problem.
05:03You've said something a couple of times this week where you said, and, and tell me, or help me if
05:09I'm repeating this.
05:11Incorrectly, but that the Texans of all the contenders, and let's even just keep it to the AFC of all
05:19the contenders have the easiest offense to defend, right?
05:23Is that, that that's, I believe that's a hundred percent of the easiest offense to the defense.
05:27Are you saying that even with the additions that they have made adding David Montgomery, changing up the line, the
05:34way they have, even with that, you think it's because when you say it out loud, now, some people may
05:39disagree with immense things,
05:40but they've got to me, depending on what you look at a top 15, top half of the league quarterback,
05:47they've got a, a elite receiver, a, a top 10 receiver.
05:54They've got an above average tight end who had a really good season last year.
05:58This is the second year in the system.
06:01And I mean, you can look at David Montgomery as a real back in this league.
06:05And then Woody Marks showed some things last year as a, as a one, two punch.
06:10When I say that out loud, like I'm thinking about contenders.
06:14If Pittsburgh is a contender, that feels like, oh, they should like, when you say some of the stuff out
06:19loud, it feels like, and I'm not saying that you're wrong, but you say that out loud.
06:23It should not.
06:25That doesn't sound like it should equal up to the, the potentially the, the worst or the easiest contending offense
06:33to defend.
06:34Yeah.
06:34Look, I think it's just, it's the reality of the situation.
06:36I think it's twofold.
06:38I think it has a lot to do with the offense itself.
06:40Schematically.
06:42I think they leave a lot to be desired.
06:44And from a movement standpoint, from a, a, a scheme standpoint, from a, from a, a creativity standpoint, from a,
06:51uh, using, using my, my, my game changing players in a way that I I'm definitely going to get them
06:58touches.
06:59I think they leave a lot to be desired there.
07:00And then I think if you just look at the roster in general, I think beyond Nico, you don't have
07:04a, you don't have a soul on this offense that scares anybody beyond Nico Collins.
07:08You don't have a soul on this offense that scares anybody.
07:10You think about it.
07:11You, you've got Nico Collins, one of the best receivers in football, and they have, they don't, you don't take
07:17this from me.
07:17They have literally said it themselves of if, if Nico's not open, we're going to throw the football to whoever
07:23is open, right?
07:24They, they have literally said themselves that they're not going to move Nico to try to get Nico touches creative
07:30creatively and things of that nature.
07:32They're going to throw the ball to whoever's open.
07:34And so you've got one of the best receivers in football and you do, you do very little to make
07:39sure he gets touches much, much, much less.
07:41You should be doing things to make sure he gets targets, touches, and easy touches, like for sure touches throughout
07:47a game.
07:47And they, they do none of that, right?
07:49You got a quarterback that has proven to be one of the best talent wise, one of the best quarterbacks
07:53in football.
07:54And you're asking him to fit inside the box and really to, to operate left-handed as a right-handed
07:59quarterback.
07:59It just, that's, that's what you're asking this guy to do.
08:03You got Woody Marks who really is, I mean, coming into this thing, everybody talked about, if you, if the
08:08first thing that you didn't, wasn't mentioned, it was a second.
08:10Woody Marks is great catching a football out of the backfield.
08:13How many designed routes did Woody Marks catch in, in his, in his first year with the Texans?
08:18You see, that's what is my thing is, that's why I said, when I say it out loud, I, now
08:23the offensive line is a, is a different part of it, right?
08:28But it doesn't seem like a, a player thing.
08:31Like, I think they could have some, I think there could have some more talent.
08:34Oh, I think, I can't let the players off.
08:36I can't, the lack of that, the lack of explosiveness, I can't let that off the hook.
08:40I think it's both.
08:40I agree.
08:41I agree with that.
08:42But when you say it out loud, like what they have, like they should, it, it shouldn't be the last
08:49of the contenders, right?
08:51Like, I can, I can go up and down and I mean, the, the, the, the Patriots don't have a
08:56receiver.
08:57They can hold, they're right down there with them and hold a candle to Nico, right?
09:00Like the, the, the bills don't even with DJ Moore, they don't have a receiver that can hand and hold
09:07a candle to, to, to, to Nico.
09:11The chiefs don't, the chargers don't, the Broncos don't, right?
09:14Like I, it's CJ and CJ, we know can throw the football and can, and can do things.
09:19I don't know, it just, it seems as much of, for me, I'm not going to let the players, the
09:24players off the hook, but it feels like a system coaching thing.
09:30Oh, I, I think it's, I think it's both, Ron, in a big way.
09:33Now you can say it's a systems coaching thing because the scheme one way, and then it's the lack of
09:38explosive players on the offense on the other side.
09:41But the, the reality of it is, is, is, I mean, you've, you, this is one of the, the, the
09:46easiest offenses to defend.
09:47I mean, if, if, if you know how to line up pre-snap, the odds are there's not going to
09:52be a creative formation and there's not going to be some level of motion that's going to put you in
09:55a bind when you got to communicate and adjust.
09:57They just don't do it.
09:59They just flat out don't do it.
10:00Right.
10:01When you look at, when you're defending this team, there's not one player that when he goes in the, in
10:05motion and we snap the football when, when he's in the backfield that you worry about a jet sweep.
10:09There's not one.
10:10Right.
10:11So whether you're talking about a line and a sign simple versus the Texans, if you talk about reacting to
10:16motions and movements, pre-snap, very simple.
10:18They jog across the football half the time.
10:20They don't even, they're not even running full speed the majority of the time.
10:23Right.
10:24And so when you talk about how easy they are to defend, I mean, it's, it's several layers of ease,
10:30relatively speaking.
10:32And again, the pressures on the quarterback and the pressures on the play caller to be right.
10:35We'll see.
