Koob's Corner

[Tredici]

Yes. That actually is what one of the local Houston channels has dubbed their Texan updates.

It was pretty amazing to hear how much love Kubiak is getting. The players, press and fans are all in love with him right now.

This week's game was being hailed as the "biggest pre-season game ever". Kubes just said he hopes he walks to the right sideline.

To a man, the players are praising him. How about this one - Coach Kubiak said it doesn't matter who gets paid the most or who gets paid the least. The guy who plays the best is going to be on the field. (Sound at all familiar?)

David Carr is beyond enthusiatic. If anyone can revive his career it will be old number 8.

Everyone in Houston is seemingly trying to temper their expectations but the enthusiam created by two pre season wins is evident.

So, best of luck to Kubes. (Okay, one sportswriter went far enough to say Kubiak has always been the braintrust of the Broncos.) But I think the Mastermind better beat the Braintrust back to reality.

[ludo21]

awesome stuff.

I really never realized how blessed we are to have a guy like Shanny who plays the best players. Its like that doesnt happen everywhere?

[BroncoBuff]

He seems so laid-back, almost shy to me ... but he definitely worked for this. I sure hope it works for him. There's basically nowhere to go but up.

[Smiling Assassin27]

If Kubes stays true to what he learned under Shanny and management shows some patience, he'll get that franchise to be a consistent winner.

[Rock Chalk]

John McClain cant say enough good things abut Gary and he is one of the best football writers in the nation IMO. When they hired him, I told everyone down here "You are going to see a lot of misdirection and bootleg plays" and sure enough, thats EXACTLY what has transpired. The result: 0 sacks this pre-season thus far for David Carr.

I dont think the poor guy has gone a single game without being sacked and that includes all previous pre-season games. With some up and coming receivers, and Andre Johnson and a decent stable of RBs, their offense should be in the top half this year.

Defensively they still need to improve but from what I can tell so far, they are going in the right direction. Their division is not a cakewalk however but I suspect that Houston is going to have their first winning season this year.

[ignitionnight]

We were lucky enough to hold on to Koob probably 2-3 years longer than we should have.

He should have been a head coach a long time ago, I just always hoped it would be with the Broncos when Shanny retires.

[worm]

Nice to see the Shanahan off-shoot of the Walsh tree sprout its own leaves.

I wish him well. Except for this game.

[Arkansas Bronco]

I wish he would have went to the NFC.

[Dr. Broncenstein]

Why did they spell it Koob's instead of Kube's? I think either rendition as some sort of private-part inuendo.

[SureShot]

Too bad he didn't take the CU job. Go get em Kubes.

[DomCasual]

McClain's column from today's Houston Chronicle:

Aug. 21, 2006, 1:05AM

It's not just another preseason opponent
Broncos game has extra meaning for Texans staff
By JOHN MCCLAIN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

For the first time since he played and coached in college, Gary Kubiak will be involved in a homecoming game.

Although it is the third week of preseason, the Texans' game at Denver on Sunday night will be special and emotional for Kubiak, the first-year coach.

The NFL Network picked up the Texans-Broncos game because Kubiak will be returning to Denver, where he is incredibly popular after a 20-year career as a reserve quarterback behind John Elway and an offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan.

"Mike and I talk all the time, but for some reason, I doubt I'll be hearing from him this week," Kubiak said Sunday, one day after the Texans defeated the St. Louis Rams 27-20. "Anything Mike wants to tell me, he'll probably send through Kyle."

Texans receivers coach Kyle Shanahan, 26, is Mike Shanahan's son. Obviously, Sunday's game will be special to him, too. He and Kubiak aren't alone.

General manager Rick Smith came from Denver. Offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun, defensive coordinator Richard Smith, Brian Pariani (tight ends) and Mike McDaniel (offensive assistant) also coached at Denver.

"I'm sure there'll be a lot of emotion," said Kubiak, whose wife, Rhonda, and two sons still reside in Denver. "I haven't seen my wife and kids in a month. It'll be nice to see them.

"But this is a business trip. As a team, we have to find out in which direction we're headed. This will be a great test for us."

Regular-season feel
After defeating the Rams to elevate their preseason record to 2-0, the Texans are headed in the right direction. But they could hit a roadblock in Denver. The Broncos are coming off a 35-10 home victory over the Tennessee Titans.

"I know how that organization approaches the third preseason game and how important it is to them," Kubiak said. "They treat it like a regular-season game. Our team needs to go see that.

"We'll do it the same way. We're going to a tough place to play. It's so loud in that stadium. This is a great opportunity for us to find out where we are. I'm looking forward to our team playing in that great environment against a good team."

After the Denver game, the Texans make their first roster reduction, then host Tampa Bay on Aug. 31, a Thursday. Most teams play the third preseason game like it's the regular season, then sit many of their starters for the preseason finale.

The Texans are guaranteed of finishing at least 2-2 in preseason. This is the first time they've won more than one game in preseason.

The Texans also have scored 51 points in two games. That's more than they scored in the entire 2003 and 2004 preseasons. The team record is 56 last year.

Before this season, the Texans' highest point total in a preseason game was 19 against Oakland last year. Running back Vernand Morency set individual records with 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Work to be done
Still, Kubiak wasn't excited about everything his team did at St. Louis. In the first quarter, the Rams had some exotic blitzes for quarterback David Carr, who didn't handle them well.

"We had an opportunity early to make some big plays and be very productive, but we didn't do it," Kubiak said. "It was disappointing.

"You have an agenda, something you want to accomplish. We had some opportunities to get off to a great start, but we didn't handle those situations."

Carr bounced back in the second quarter and finished 10-of-17 for 99 yards. He didn't throw a touchdown pass or suffer an interception. He was sacked once for 14 yards.

"We had a rough time early, me included," Carr said. "We should have handled it better, but we kept our composure.

"When we started bad last year, we'd get steamrolled and not do anything positive. But we held together this time, and it was good to see us bounce back."

Sage Rosenfels replaced Carr and was 6-of-9 for 99 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Lewis.

Carr is firmly entrenched as the starter. Rosenfels knows his role as the backup.

"If you're a good player in this league and you think a lot of your ability, you always (want) that opportunity to be a starter," Kubiak said. "(Rosenfels) knows his role, but he goes out every day trying to prove that he's good enough to be a starter — if not on this team, then somewhere in this league.

"Sage is very competitive. He's always under control. He's a good leader who understands football. That's why he performs well when he gets the opportunity."

[DomCasual]

Another one, sort of a blog, it seems:

Kubiak's Denver homecoming
Chronicle's John McClain talks about the Texans as they prepare to play Broncos.

Gary Kubiak swore Sunday that when he cut himself shaving he wasn't thinking about playing at Denver on Sunday night. At one point during his regular news conference at Reliant Park, when he was getting peppered with questions about returning to the city where he played and coached for 20 years -- a city in which he is really popular and respected by the fans, media and members of the Broncos organization -- he said: "Are you trying to make me emotional?"

I can't imagine anyone not liking Kubiak. He's just like Dom Capers -- a first-class act. Hard-working and humble. Polite. Personable. He really believes he's got his dream job, although I know that if the Aggies had tried to hire him he'd be wearing maroon. I guess that's the only fault I've been able to find so far -- he's an Aggie through and through.

Truthfully, I still can't understand why A&M didn't try to hire Kubiak. He bleeds maroon, and he's not afraid to admit it. Imagine how he would have rallied the troops. I still think Coach Fran will get it together and turn around the program, but he's an outsider. When Kubiak whoops it up, you know it's genuine and comes from the heart.

Let's see, I've covered head coaches Bum Phillips, Ed Biles, Chuck Studley, Hugh Campbell, Jerry Glanville, Jack Pardee, Jeff Fisher, Capers and now Kubiak. Man, that's a lot of head coaches. I don't know of anyone not pulling for Kubiak to succeed. Will he? We'll have to wait and see, of course.

This week, I'm returning to Canton, Ohio for two days of meetings with the five-member seniors committee. Late Wednesday afternoon, I drive from Canton to Cleveland and fly to Houston. After a one-hour layover, I fly to Denver. I'll spend Thursday and Friday with the Broncos doing stories on Kubiak and general manager Rick Smith, another class act I'll tell you about later.

During the eight years I covered the NFL, I spent a lot of time in Denver because the Broncos almost always seem to be good. In their Super Bowl seasons, I practically resided there. I knew Kubiak, not real well, but I always took time to talk to him about Houston and A&M and the Astros and Rockets. From talking to him through the years, I always thought he'd have trouble handling media responsibilities if he ever became a head coach. I thought that since he'd spent nine years behind John Elway and was coaching under Mike Shanahan that Kubiak didn't understand the importance of standing at the front of the stage and doing what had to be done.

Members of the Denver organization, including former players and coaches, used to tell me that Kubiak was a whole lot different behind the scenes, that he was outgoing and animated and gave some emotion-filled speeches. They said he kept that part of his personality out of the public eye. I had a hard time believing it, but now I see they were right. He jumps on players, and he doesn't play favorites. And his language, well, he must have learned those words at A&M.

Before we start analyzing where the Texans are right now, I've been reading your posts, and I want to make something clear: We're not getting carried away. Everyone -- me and readers alike -- know we're just two games into preseason. But why can't we get excited during preseason? Where is it written that you can't get excited in preseason? The Texans may lose the last two and go 4-12 or 5-11. They might go 7-9 or 8-8. None of us know right now. But we do know this: They look a heck of a lot better two games into preseason compared to where they were at this time last year, right? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's look at the quarterback situation.

After the St. Louis game, I asked David Carr why the media seems to be stunned that Kubiak isn't hesitant about yelling at him. Carr takes it well. "I don't mind getting screamed at; that's good coaching," Carr said. "I'm learning so much from him. He's been there. He's played and coached. He knows his system has been successful, and he knows it can be successful here. Why wouldn't I want to learn from a coach like that?"

Something I'm wondering about after two preseason games: What if Sage Rosenfels continues to look more comfortable than Carr in Kubiak's offense? Would Kubiak bench Carr and play Rosenfels after he convinced owner Bob McNair that Carr was good enough to lead the Texans to the Super Bowl? It's too early to have a quarterback controversy, but it's clear that Rosenfels is very confident and comfortable in this system. I asked Kubiak Sunday if the Rams continued to come after Rosenfels the way they got after Carr on blitzes, and he said yes.

We'll keep a close eye on this one, of course. It's been a loooooooog time since a Houston NFL team has had a genuine quarterback controversy. Let's see: Gifford Nielsen vs. Oliver Luck? Naw. Steve McNair vs. Chris Chandler? Sort of. What about Dan Pastorini vs. Lynn Dickey? That was even before my time.

The two-best things to come out of the Rams game was the running game with Vernand Morency and Wali Lundy and defensive end Mario Williams. Morency looked as good as Domanick Davis with 95 yards on 11 carries, including two touchdowns. Lundy averaged 5.7 yards on seven carries. He and Morency combined for five catches for 45 yards. Williams improved from the first game in which he was a non-factor. I asked Kubiak on Sunday if moving Williams from the strong side to the weak side and inside to tackle could be slowing his progress, that if he left Williams in one spot wouldn't it be easier for him to learn. Kubiak said it might, but that's what the preseason is for -- experimenting with players and trying to figure out what they can and can't do. I like that philosophy. Don't you?

Here's what the Chronicle is looking at this week: stories on the offensive line and the continued improvement of guard Fred Weary and the development of left tackle Charles Spencer. By the way, don't be surprised if Eric Winston gets some practice time on the left side.

Next week, you better buckle your chinstrap. When the roster must be reduced for the first time after the Denver game, the revolving door at Reliant Park starts spinning out of control. Kubiak, Smith and the personnel department will be claiming many, many players on waivers, especially wide receivers, outside linebackers and cornerbacks. They also want a defensive tackle. They won't pass up a running back they believe will fit into their system. Keep an eye on the Broncos' cuts.

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks for reading.

[DomCasual]

I'm really pulling for Kubiak and the staff there. In fact, I'll pull for the Texans anytime they're not playing the Broncos. He's a class guy.

[ludo21]

Kuper is not safe as well as Eslinger.... can we PS these guys??

[Crushaholic]

Originally Posted by Dr. Broncenstein

Why did they spell it Koob's instead of Kube's? I think either rendition as some sort of private-part inuendo.

They must have someone like Mock among their fanbase who thought of replacing the "K" with a "P". No sense in taking chances...

[PatsWin2002]

Does that mean that this is "Boob's Corner"?

[TexanBob]

It would be wrong to say that the locals think this is the biggest preseason game in Texans history. Anytime they play the Cowboys is the most important game in Texans history. There is nothing like shutting up all the smug Cowboy fans all around you to give a Houston fan total satisfaction. I'm sure a few of them even sport 19-10 tattoos - the score of the Texans' first regular-season win - against the Cowboys.

I'm sure the Bronco *staff* will be up for this game, I don't know if it will mean anything special to the players. There's only a handful of ex-Broncos (Putzier, most notably) on the roster.

The one Bronco I've wanted to see claimed from the waiver wire is Brandon Miree. I thought he'd be a perfect MA clone coming out of Pitt. Is he still in camp? Does he get any work at all behind the two Bells, Dayne and Sapp?

[KipCorrington25]

Call me crazy but I don't consider Shannahan to be an offshoot of Bill Walsh. Shannahan coached a couple years for Seifert in SF but beyond that there is no connection. If anything I would consider him connected to Dan Reeves above anything else.

[Arkansas Bronco]

Originally Posted by DomCasual

I'm really pulling for Kubiak and the staff there. In fact, I'll pull for the Texans anytime they're not playing the Broncos. He's a class guy.

Pretty much same way I look at it. Although I dont want them to so much that it's threatening

[Rock Chalk]

Hahaha

Now all of you are with me in kinda sorta half assed rootin for the Texans

[Crushaholic]

Originally Posted by DomCasual

I'm really pulling for Kubiak and the staff there. In fact, I'll pull for the Texans anytime they're not playing the Broncos. He's a class guy.

Even though it's only preseason, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Kubiak abuse the Chiefs AGAIN...

[DomCasual]

Originally Posted by Alec

Hahaha

Now all of you are with me in kinda sorta half assed rootin for the Texans

It's actually not too hard, considering the division they are in.

Tennessee? They're not really offensive in any way. I could pull for them.

Indy? Um, no. I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Jacksonville? January 4, 1997 will make me hate Jacksonville for time and all eternity.

So, go Texans!

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by ludo21

Kuper is not safe as well as Eslinger.... can we PS these guys??

yes ludo if they pass waivers

[Hulamau]

Originally Posted by Alec

John McClain cant say enough good things abut Gary and he is one of the best football writers in the nation IMO. When they hired him, I told everyone down here "You are going to see a lot of misdirection and bootleg plays" and sure enough, thats EXACTLY what has transpired. The result: 0 sacks this pre-season thus far for David Carr.

I dont think the poor guy has gone a single game without being sacked and that includes all previous pre-season games. With some up and coming receivers, and Andre Johnson and a decent stable of RBs, their offense should be in the top half this year.

Defensively they still need to improve but from what I can tell so far, they are going in the right direction. Their division is not a cakewalk however but I suspect that Houston is going to have their first winning season this year.

I've got a Carr Jersey being an ole Houston boy myself! Broncos are always first and foremost but I was very pleased when Kubes took the job so that Bronco blood now flows through the Texans' veins. Three years tops they'll be in the playoffs. Even their Unis look similar

[ludo21]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

yes ludo if they pass waivers

i guess i didnt point my question clearly, does anyone think these guys make it to the PS after they are put on waivers??

Kuper for sure will get snagged....Eslinger as well possibly...

Maybe we can IR Eslinger and Kuper should make the team.