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    Why not Case Keenum?

    Why not Case Keenum? Gary Kubiak must go bold to save Texans season, Schaub's time is sadly gone

    Chris Baldwin
    Sep 30, 2013 | 7:04 am

    Matt Schaub gets a police escort to the interview room. He's the only Houston Texan who will be put on the dais this lost afternoon. He'll go there flanked by the Texans favorite cop — the guy who brings head coach Gary Kubiak to the interview room after every home game — and the team's senior director of communications Kevin Cooper.

    But Schaub is very much alone. And he knows it.

    There are few lonelier feelings in the world than being a veteran NFL quarterback who's thrown away a game. At least, not in sports. Matt Schaub is a good man down. There's no denying that part of the equation either. The 32-year-old Schaub is one of the great stand-up guys in all of sports. He never makes excuses, never tosses anyone else under the bus. Schaub always, willingly, takes the public hit.

    He puts on his sports coat over his jeans and resolutely marches to that interview room.

    Call it crazy all you want, but this Texans team could desperately use a little crazy right now.

    This is an ultra-admirable approach, a sign of outstanding character. It's something that should ashame the few idiots who actually burn Schaub's jersey in the parking lot after this 23-20 giveaway overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

    But it doesn't mean that Matt Schaub should remain the Houston Texans starting quarterback. There comes a time when things simply reach a breaking point, when one cannot continue to do the same thing and expect different results.

    That time's come for the Texans and Kubiak. The coach must be bolder than he's ever been before to save a season of Super expectations that is slipping out the door. One Pick-6 at a time. Kubiak must bench Schaub and go with someone else. He needs to look to . . . Case Keenum.

    Oh, it'd be easy to shout down the idea as ridiculous. Especially considering Kubiak would have to bypass T.J. Yates, the man he named the No. 2 quarterback, to go with Keenum, who's watched the first four games in street clothes. Then again, it was ridiculous for Pete Carroll to name Russell Wilson his starting quarterback going into last season. And it was even more ridiculous for 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to refuse to go back to the Alex Smith and his NFL-leading passer rating and stick with Colin Kaepernick instead midway through last season.

    The Texans saw what T.J. Yates can do under regular season pressure late in the 2011 season when Yates held control of what's looking more and more like the most talented Texans team ever. They've certainly seen what Matt Schaub can and can't do.

    Case Keenum is the talent who hasn't had his chance. Call it crazy all you want — and the fiercely determined Houston band of Case Keenum media haters surely will — but this Texans team could desperately use a little crazy right now.

    It's too easy to chalk this game up as near miss that showcased the Texans' vast potential. That's what players like Antonio Smith and Owen Daniels try to do it.

    "I know most people won't agree with me and they'll think it's strange, but I feel better about my team now than I have all year," Smith swears, standing in the middle of the locker room still dressed in his full uniform. ". . . We've got the formula, we've got the blueprint. We know how to do it now."

    It's an understandable reaction from shocked, hurting, prideful players. And with the Texans out gaining the unbeaten 4-0 Seahawks by more than 200 yards (476 to 270) and holding control of the game until Schaub threw that Pick-6 with less than three minutes remaining on this Sunday, there seems to be some logic behind it.

    "There's no reason we should have lost this game," Smith continues. "No way, no how. None whatsoever."

    This brings up the fatal flaw in the "logic." The Texans lost because they have the wrong man playing quarterback in Gary Kubiak's offense. And that's not going to change unless Kubiak goes bold.

    Matt Schaub's Fatal Feet

    Schaub is not mobile enough, not enough of even a minor running threat, to run the type of effective offense Kubiak is intent on deploying. Keenum is. That much became more than clear in the preseason when the former University of Houston NCAA record breaker seized his chances and showed some nifty footwork — and a good arm.

    Criticizing the call Kubiak makes on the third-and-4 that turns into the Seahawks not buying the roll fake for even an instant and Schaub forcing the ball toward Daniels while throwing under pressure and off balance is a loser's play. Kubiak does it, insisting he put Schaub in a "a bad situation." And Daniels all but does it, admitting to being "surprised" that the call isn't a run in that situation.

    Hogwash.

    There are few lonelier feelings in the world than being a veteran NFL quarterback who's thrown away a game.

    Kubiak's call is right. He's being aggressive. He's trying to put the game away. Heck, the Texans are on the Seahawks' 40-yard line. If you can't take even a little chance there . . . well, then you've got the wrong guy playing quarterback.

    How can you fault Gary Kubiak for being proactive? You want him to meekly concede and punt the ball away in that situation?

    "I don't ever second guess our head," tailback Arian Foster says. "That's our coach. We should have all executed the play better."

    It says here that Case Keenum would have. Wade Phillips' Bulls On Parade defense is playing as dominate as it did in 2011 again (at least when Brian Cushing is on the field). This team is too good, too talented, too determined not to take a chance on a quarterback who could give them a real chance at a different destiny.

    There's J.J. Watt standing in the locker room in blood-splattered white game pants, his nose split open and his heart bruised too.

    "I'm pissed off," Watt says firmly. "This sucks. Nobody likes to lose — especially like this in your own building. This isn't fun. I was sick of it after one loss."

    It's two straight Pick-6 Powered losses now, a 2-2 record and a place behind two other teams in their own division.

    When is enough going to be enough?

    Maybe Matt Schaub will enjoy an Alex Smith-type Kansas City rebirth in another NFL city someday. He's certainly talented enough and still young enough to pull it off. But do you really think he's ever winning big in Houston? Now?

    "If you look at the stats, we kicked their butts," Daniels says.

    But the Texans didn't have the quarterback.

    Think Case Keenum is a crazy idea? What's truly insane is to surrender to the same, to decide that nothing can be better than a broken, tired status quo.

    Matt Schaub has thrown a Pick-6 in three straight games. He's more than under pressure.

    Matt Schaub Texans grasp
      
    Photo by © Michelle Watson CultureMapSNAP.com
    Matt Schaub has thrown a Pick-6 in three straight games. He's more than under pressure.
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    series/htx-super-season-2013
    news/sports

    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.
    unspecified
    series/htx-super-season-2013
    news/sports
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