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    Ben Tate To Cleveland?

    Ben Tate headed to Cleveland? Arian Foster needs to be more the Texans worry

    Chris Baldwin
    Sep 24, 2013 | 2:38 pm

    Arian Foster was on his way to having one of his typical big games against the Baltimore Ravens. And then, he wasn't.

    Foster looked like vintage Foster (which isn't exactly a dated, ancient thing) as the Texans marched up and down the field on the defending Super Bowl champs in the first quarter. He stood on pace for 172 yards after 15 minutes.

    Unsustainable? Perhaps. But when DeMarco Murray can rip off 175 yards for the Dallas Cowboys anything is possible.

    At the least, with that kind of start you expect one of the best running backs in football to finish a lot closer to that type of giant number than 54. That's how many yards the Texans offensive lifeline ended up with at the end of the Baltimore Ravens' commanding 30-9 victory.

    Foster only received 12 carries against the Ravens — four after the first quarter. Four.

    ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Trent Richardson-trading Browns are already focusing on signing Texans backup tailback and free agent to be Ben Tate in the offseason. That's more good for Tate than alarming, who'd be wise to use this season to accept the media attention that will come with him being someone's No. 1.

    The Texans' concern isn't Tate, who knows he needs to be a good solider and make the most of his carries for at least 13 more games to get that big payday.

    What everyone involved in Houston's organization should be fretting over is the fact that Gary Kubiak and Matt Schaub still don't seem to be quite sure how to best use one of the most lethal offensive weapons in the NFL.

    "We did not play well," Foster said in Baltimore. "We did not play well at all. I felt like we ran the ball OK, but we didn't put ourselves in situations where we could run it."

    Foster always brings it against the better, more physical teams. Give No. 23 his carries and he'll get the yards. He only received 12 of them against the Ravens — four after the first quarter. Four.

    Please don't note how the Ravens went up 24-9 after the first possession of the third quarter. That's a two-score game with enough time left in it to hold an Emmy telecast.

    The truth is Kubiak and Schaub have both become much too Andre Johnson dependent. Notice how DeAndre Hopkins (four of his six catches after halftime) and Keshawn Martin (both of his after intermission) didn't start getting the ball thrown to them until No. 80 left the game, removing an increasingly double-edged security blanket.

    No one's suggesting the Texans stop trying to get the ball to Andre Johnson. But even the Detroit Lions of Matthew Stafford are starting to learn not to force feed Calvin Johnson every play.

    Andre Johnson is the greatest Texan of all time — and he's earned plenty of chances. How dominant he remains at age 32 is one of the great feats in the modern NFL.

    But he can't be the only focus. Sometimes you need to force feed Arian Foster the football too.

    Hurry Up, Offense

    Kubiak noted how two missed third-down plays in Baltimore — plays that could have made a 6-0 lead much more — went for Andre Johnson.

    This came when Foster was running well, making the Ravens defenders think they had another tough day in front of them.

    Whether it's by picking up the pace — something that paid huge dividends for the Texans in Weeks 1 and 2 — or changing the calls, Foster needs to be given more chances.

    "We were slow in and out of the huddle," Kubiak said of the Duane Brown-less offense. "That kind of bothered us.

    "We struggled getting some calls in and the communications system went down for a period of time. We’ve got to work through that. But just the tempo in what we’re doing."

    Even the Detroit Lions of Matthew Stafford are starting to learn not to force feed Calvin Johnson every play.

    With the 3-0 Seattle Seahawks and what's looking more and more like the most fearsome defense in the NFL coming into Reliant Stadium Sunday, not to mention a trip to face a fighting-mad San Francisco team in a national TV showcase the following week, the urgency certainly should be there for Kubiak's offense.

    If things go wrong, the Texans could have virtually played themselves out of the running for the No. 1 seed in the AFC by Week 6.

    Foster can help run them back into this thing. If he's given half a chance.

    He got a quarter of one in Baltimore. Keeping Foster fresh for the end of the regular season and the playoffs is an intelligent, long-range goal (even if all those carries never seemed to bother him the last two postseasons).

    But this is getting ridiculous.

    Ben Tate could be Cleveland bound by March. But that's still not the Texans' real running back issue.

    Arian Foster needs to zoom back into the forefront of the Houston Texans offense.

    Arian Foster Texans Titans run
      
    Photo by Michelle Watson CultureMapSnap
    Arian Foster needs to zoom back into the forefront of the Houston Texans offense.
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    O'Brien Talks Tough

    Tough new sheriff: Bill O'Brien sounds like the anti Kubiak, vows to be hard on Texans players

    Chris Baldwin
    Jan 3, 2014 | 1:43 pm
    Tough new sheriff: Bill O'Brien sounds like the anti Kubiak, vows to be hard on Texans players
    Photo by Rob Carr Getty Images
    Bill O'Brien admits he missed the NFL.

    Bill O'Brien certainly hasn't walked timidly into his new job as the head coach/franchise savior of the Houston Texans.

    With large posters of J.J. Watt and Andre Johnson flanking him on either side of an elaborate press conference stage, O'Brien didn't pay homage as much as he demanded a new standard.

    "To me it's about accountability," O'Brien said. "It's about demanding. It's about putting together a fast, physical football team."

    In other words, Mr. Nice Guy went out the window with former Texans coach Gary Kubiak. O'Brien mentioned "accountability" and "demanding" several times in his introductory press conference Friday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. And you can bet the chorus sounded like sweet music to Texans owner Bob McNair.

    CultureMap was the first news outlet anywhere to report that O'Brien was the Texans' top choice to be the team's new coach way back on Dec. 18. This was a McNair driven pick from the beginning and it is the 44-year-old O'Brien's toughness that drew the owner to the former Penn State coach and Bill Belichick assistant.

    "To me it's about accountability. It's about demanding."

    And McNair himself certainly talked tough on introduction day.

    "I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door," McNair said. "Not acceptable. Not what we're going to do in the future."

    McNair went on to talk about O'Brien having shown he's willing to make the hard decisions — something he clearly felt was lacking as the Texans spiraled from Super Bowl schemers into a 2-14 death march in 2013.

    "Some coaches who have been players still think of themselves as players rather than the head of an organization," McNair said. "And have trouble making difficult decisions."

    Kubiak, of course, played quarterback for the Denver Broncos. As for an inability to make tough calls? Just look at how long Kubiak stuck with a flat-lined Matt Schaub and how he kept trying to go back to Schaub even after the Case Keenum call was made.

    O'Brien noted that "there are a lot of good football players on this team." He also declined to take any pressure off himself and describe this makeover of a team with the worst record in the NFL as a rebuilding job.

    "There are a lot of pieces in place here," he said. "It's all about hard work . . . Quick turnaround, rebuilding are labels. I'm not into all that."

    Tom Brady Tough?

    All in all, it's an impressive opening performance for a first-time NFL head coach. O'Brien knows how to command the stage. Texans general manager Rick Smith talked about the new coach's "charisma."

    O'Brien even makes sure to work in the obligatory Texas joke about the cowboy life.

    "Right after this, I'm going to go out and buy my first pair of cowboy boots," he said.

    It's already becoming clear there will be one cowboy in charge of these Texans. One who happens to be a hard-nosed Northeast guy who's probably still most famous for getting into a sideline screaming match with New England Patriots golden boy quarterback Tom Brady.

    "I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door."

    O'Brien downplayed the incident, but it's clearly helped burnish his taskmaster image.

    "You know it's a competitive sports," O'Brien said. "Tom Brady's a great friend. These things happen. The thing that people don't understand is that 30 seconds after it was over, we were sitting together and going over pictures (of game action)."

    The Texans players are clearly intrigued by O'Brien. Veteran center Chris Myers sat amongst the press at the stadium and listened to the new head man.

    There will be a lot more change coming to the stadium. Smith hinted at as much when he noted how the Texans needed a coach who can guide young players.

    It's hard to imagine O'Brien tip toeing around that change. He plans to meet with all the remaining Texans coaches Saturday (as with any head coaching change, it's unlikely many of the current assistants will be kept by O'Brien). He'll tackle the quarterback question later, though it's clear Keenum is still in the picture.

    Almost every new NFL head coach sounds good on introduction day. Especially when the team brings out a marching band for the occasion. But O'Brien sounds tough and no nonsense.

    Just what Bob McNair wanted. This is his call. His makeover. His tough guy.

    Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.

    Bill O'Brien presser
      
    Photo by Scott Halleran Getty Images
    Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.
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