Texans 'new' defense needs to work, and right away

The pressure is on Frank Bush to bring immediate improvement to the Texans defense

I remember back in April 1981 when NASA launched the space shuttle for the first time. 

I recall seeing this strikingly magnificent and futuristic looking vehicle standing tall on the pad, all pearly white and looking like a cross between something out of Buck Rogers and the Taj Mahal.

I recall the feeling I had when John Young and Bob Crippen climbed aboard a vehicle that had never been flown before, sitting atop 8 million pounds of thrust from engines that had never been fired in unison. 

There were thousands of things that needed to work amid thousands of other things that could go terribly wrong during that extremely ballsy mission.  There was no way to test the vehicle as an integrated system other than to light that puppy and cross your fingers and hope that all the engineering was right. 

There wouldn't be any second chances.  It had to work the first time.

I realize this is a bit of an odd comparison and yes I'm going way out there with a less than perfect analogy, because after all we're here to talk about a game and not human lives and billions of dollars in national assets.

But to the point, Frank Bush's defense needs to work - and it needs to work right away if the Texans are going to finish with their first winning season in franchise history.  There aren't going to be any second chances, or 'give it time's.

Gary Kubiak is in his 4th season as head coach and there's a good chance he won't be back for a 5th if his team can't post a winning season for the first time.

Most of the pressure to get there will be on Bush to deliver a defense that hasn't finished better than 22nd in the league in yards and points allowed during Kubiak's tenure. 

But unfortunately for Bush, even as a first time coordinator and considering he's brought in a new line coach, a new secondary coach, and new personnel, he's not going to get the benefit of time.

But let me clarify what I mean by not wanting to hear the "give it time" lament for the defense. 

Back in '93, Buddy Ryan came in here with much fanfare but his defense struggled mightily out of the gate, allowing 28 or more points in three of the first five games as the team struggled to a 1-4 start.

But then things got rolling and the team rattled off 11 wins in a row.

While I'm not advocating such patience if the Texans start out 1-4 this season [I can't imagine what I'll be writing in this space if that happens] I am saying that as long as the defense is respectable coming out of the gate, I will 'give it time' through the course of the season as long as I see continual improvement and the team wins games.

With as much emphasis the Texans will be putting on the defense in the draft this year and with the new coordinators, position coaches and personnel, it may take a few games to get everything gelling.  But that's about all the time they will have.

And no, I'm not going to let the offense off the hook because they need to improve in their own way.

Everything I've read over the past several weeks - in the context of the draft at least - talks about the Texans offense being 'set' or 'high powered.'  Stuff like that.

Well that's because everyone is focused on one stat: yards gained.

Yes, it's true that the Texans were 3rd in the NFL in yards gained last year with 382 yards per game, and 5th in the league in time of possession at over 32 minutes per game, but they were also 4th worst in the league in turnovers with a minus 10 margin, and only 17th in the league in scoring despite the yards gained and time of possession.

The Texans offense was also 7th worst in the league in touchdowns scored inside the red zone with a paltry 45.9% of their trips inside the opponents 20 resulting in TDs.  The turnovers had a lot to do with that.  So did the offensive line performance and the fact that the Texans have no power back option in their arsenal.

Does that make them the #3 offense in the league?  Not by my standards.  But they are way closer to where they need to be than the defense.  Cutting out the turnovers would take care of most of the offense's problems.

The red zone stats were even worse for the Texans defense in 2008.  The Texans defense was 4th worst in the league in red zone defense, allowing opponents touchdowns a whopping 63.8% of the time they penetrated the Texans 20 yard line.

I've seen a lot of talk among Texans fans on how excited they are about this new 'aggressive' style that Frank Bush and Bill Kollar are supposed to bring, but I'm not buying any of it yet.  I'll wait to see it on the field.  Talk is cheap.

I am doing a lot of hoping and finger crossing though, because I want this coaching staff to succeed.