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    Keenum Shows Belichick

    Case Keenum shows Bill Belichick he's an NFL force: Now the Texans need to buy in

    Chris Baldwin
    Dec 1, 2013 | 10:24 pm

    It's almost like Case Keenum doesn't know any better. Or refuses to accept reality.

    He'll just keep heaving darts down the field. He'll just keep firing back at Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Maybe, if he refuses to blink in the face of the scariest tandem in recent NFL history, he can keep the horror at bay. Maybe if he refuses to acknowledge the fact that Brady and Belichick are sure to make those halftime adjustments that so mystify longtime Houston Texans like Antonio Smith, he'll be able to put enough points up after all.

    So Case Keenum doesn't accept reality. He just keeps running around like he's in the happiest place in the world, screaming his face off in joy for any Texan who will listen.

    This is the time of Case Keenum's quarterback life, the time that should determine whether he gets more time next season. Damn, if he's not going to make the most of it. Even if it's all bound to turn out as New England 34, Houston 31 in the end.

    He's a work in progress and he just dropped 31 points on Belichick and the Patriots. How much more quarterback promise do you need?

    "His attitude, his approach to the game is great," veteran Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson says. "It’s not the mentality of a young player. When things are going bad, he’s in the huddle saying things to keep everybody up. He’s not just thinking about himself.

    "He’s a fiery guy, he loves the game and I think that's the great thing about him."

    What's also pretty great about him? Thirty one points against Belichick's ever-shifting defensive schemes. The Hoodie is supposed to slurp up and spit out rookie quarterbacks. Instead Keenum guides the Texans to their highest point total of the season (they also scored 31 against the Chargers in that frantic Week One comeback).

    What Keenum is doing with an otherwise dead and dinged up Texans team can no longer be ignored.

    Yes, Keenum is now 0-6 as a starting quarterback with three losses by three points, one loss by one point and one loss by seven points. But maybe, the miracle is he's somehow keeping these ultra-flawed, dispirited Texans this close. You'd have to be Tom Brady to win any games with these Texans.

    After all, it doesn't get any more comic than defensive end Antonio Smith standing in the middle of the locker room, still in uniform, insisting that Belichick and the Patriots must be spying on the Texans defensive plans (sorry, Belichick cheats, but he doesn't need to cheat to beat these Texans). It's like the veteran Smith never heard of spot-on halftime adjustments.

    Then again, he does play for the Houston Texans.

    That's not really fair with Keenum in the equation though. For Gary Kubiak and Keenum come up with the play that most Texans fans will remember from this game — that 66-yard completion to DeAndre Hopkins packed full of promise — on the sideline. In the middle of the game. With the pressure of Tom Brady's second-half offensive onslaught mounting.

    "We saw something in their defense, and felt that DeAndre could make a play for us," Keenum says. "Honestly, we just drew it up in the dirt and it turned out exactly how we wanted it to."

    With Keenum looking off the safety and ensuring Hopkins finds himself one-on-one with cornerback Kyle Arrington. It's one of Keenum's more confident moves of the game. And one of four completions of more than 25 yards in his 272-yard passing day.

    Case Keenum clearly possesses the talent to play quarterback at a high level in the NFL.

    How much more does Keenum need to show now? This game and the Sunday nighter against Indianapolis and Andrew Luck scream out his potential.

    Case Keenum clearly possesses the talent to play quarterback at a high level in the NFL. This game reinforces how desperately the Texans need another impact player on defense. Why reach for a quarterback in the NFL Draft when you can grab a game-changer to complement J.J. Watt and Brian Cushing? Rip Wade Phillips' schemes all you want, the Texans clearly don't have enough star-level defensive players.

    They let Brady roll all over them in the second half, score five times in five possessions. The adjustments from the Patriots coaches may be fantastic. But the talent gap is larger.

    What more do you need to see from Keenum or these rather tame Bulls On Parade at this point? Thirty one points against Belichick. When isn't that enough. These 2-10 Texans have earned the worst record in all of the NFL. They need to be smart and make that No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft work for them.

    They already have a quarterback working for them.

    "He’s an athletic guy back there," Belichick says of Keenum. "Made some good throws. Scored 31 points. I mean they obviously gave us trouble."

    Patriot Rules

    Keenum's giving the Texans a chance against the NFL's very best. Under some near impossible circumstances, he continues to show a flair for making plays. Whether with his feet (Kubiak deserves credit for calling the designed quarterback run that produces one of the Texans' four touchdown), his arm — or his head.

    "Made some good throws. Scored 31 points. I mean they obviously gave us trouble."

    "I thought he did a great job with his pocket presence today," left tackle Duane Brown says. "Being able to sit in there, and trust us up front, and still extend plays a little bit longer . . . and make some big plays down the field. He was great all day."

    Against the best. When is that going to be enough?

    Keenum needs to work on his pro completion percentage. He comes in at 50 percent on this day (15 for 30). He needs more easy completions to go with his go-for-it bombs. But considering Keenum completed 71 percent of his passes his senior year at the University of Houston, this is something he and Kubiak should be able to improve.

    Keenum has the skill set. He just needs to hone it. He's a work in progress and he just dropped 31 points on Belichick and the Patriots. Do you really think a No. 1 draft pick QB is going to blitz the Patriots for 31?

    How much more quarterback promise do you need?

    Case Keenum stood tall against the New England Patriots.

    Case Keenum Texans Pats
      
    Photo by © Michelle Watson CultureMapSNAP.com
    Case Keenum stood tall against the New England Patriots.
    unspecified
    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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