Yep, my alarm is a soon-to-be-7-year-old who will be heading off to her first-grade class in about 45 minutes. We just can't get the darn girl to sleep in. Oh, well.
Kubiak is in his fourth year as coach of the Texans. His NFL coaching resume begins with his role as quarterbacks coach in 1994 with the Super Bowl-winning 49ers. He followed Mike Shanahan to the Broncos for 11 seasons before landing the Texans job.
The Texans play host to the 49ers on Sunday.
When you look at 49ers on film, what are characteristics that jump out at you?
Kubiak: "It's a very physical football team, No. 1. They're physical in all three phases: offense, defense, special tams. And play extremely hard. It's a true reflection of Mike and the job he's done there - wonderful job. It's a talented young team."
Does your team have the physicality to match up in those areas?
Kubiak: "We're going to find out, but we know what we face. We know what kind of game it's going to be. It's going to be a very physical game. We're going to have to stop the run, which they're excellent at doing. They present problems for you defensively with protection problems and edge problems. On special teams they've been as solid as anyone in football. It's the NFL. Every week is a tremendous challenge, and this looks no different to us."
This game Frank Gore is going to return and Michael Crabtree is going to be playing in his first NFL game. Any thought on those two elements being added to the
Kubiak: "I think Frank has averaged over 6 yards a carry, if I'm right. That's unbelievable in this league. He's done exceptional. Obviously he gets a chance with bye week to get heathy. Unfortunately for us we get him fresh and back healthy. It's great for their team because he's such a big part of it. As far as Michael, I just know what everybody else knows. We studied in draft and thought he was one of the premier players coming out in the draft -- reminds me a lot of our guy. Reminds me a lot of Andre (Johnson) with his size, power and run after the catch. They are two great young players, but their team is solid across the board."
Where did you have Crabtree rated?
Kubiak: "We had him rated very highly."
How do you prepare for a guy when you haven't seen him in an NFL game film?
Kubiak: "First off, you have to prepare for their offense. You have to stop their offense and their and their schemes and what they do. As far as the type of player he is and what he brings to the table, we all know. We had many draft meetings and watched him in endless hours of tape on him as we prepared to get ready for the draft ourselves. There's not anybody on our staff or our organization that doesn't know what he's capable of doing. But at the same time we have to prepare for the 49ers and what they do offensively and defensively."
With your corners, do you stay on one side or do you have Dunta Robinson shadow the top guy?
Kubiak: "It all depends what we're doing game-plan wise. We have the ability to do both."
You mentioned the 49ers run the ball well, but they've had their problems with consistency. You've had some issues, too. Is there a trend in the NFL where it's more difficult to run?
Kubiak: "It's always been difficult to run the ball. It's a tough league. You go a few weeks getting stuffed in one phase or another like we have and struggled to run for a couple weeks now. We've had a few changes up front in offensive line. Obviously, those things get exposed and get bigger. But the key you have to stay committed to it. I know we, as a team, are committed to the run. wE think it's a key to being successful in this league in and week out. And it sure looks, in looking at Mike's team, that he feels the same way. They're going to line up and pound you and run the ball. And you better find a way to stop it."
People around the league are aware of Andre Johnson but recognition-wise he comes up a little short. Why do you think that is?
Kubiak: "I think that goes with the organization's success. This organization going on its eighth year of existence and you look at all organizations around the league and the history and the things that went on. (The 49ers) are a great example. This one is trying to build something here. It's never had a winner. It's never been to the playoffs. One thing about Andre, he's been a mainstay. He's been fighting the good fight ever since he walked through the door. He's been excellent for me in my three years here, going into my fourth. He's a tremendous player and an even better person. He has work habits like Jerry Rice, and I was fortunate to be there with you guys with Jerry a few years back."
Speaking of the year you were here, what do you take from that experience in 1994?
Kubiak: "It was a tremendous experience. First off, getting to work for George (Seifert) and watching him do his job -- how he handles his team. We had a team that started slowly and struggling and went on to win a championship. Just being a part of the day-to-day operation of successful operation like the
Did you have designs on being a head coach at that time?
Kubiak: "That was my first year in NFL coaching. I'd coached college football for two years. I came there with Mike (Shanahan) to coach quarterbacks, and I was just more worried about doing a good job for George and the 49ers. I didn't have my sights set in that direction at that time. As you get going and put in time and effort and the commitment it takes to coach in this league, the goals started to change. I was very lucky to be around some very good football coaches and some great tutelage."
Kubiak: "They're all special to me. That was No. 5 for the Niners, am I right? It is a beautiful ring. It always means the world to you. The thing that comes back are the people that were involved. It's hard to win a championship. If you go back and look at that team picture, you see what it takes to win championships. It's lined up with tremendous players. And I had such a great time there. The coaching staff was absolutely tremendous. Mr. DeBartolo was great to me and my family. Nothing but great times. It was a wonderful year. I really enjoyed getting to know John McVay. He's a wonderful person. Of course, Carmen was there at the time. I could go down the list."
Back to your team, the way it's set up with the wideout (Johnson), tight end (Owen Daniels) and running back (Steve Slaton) all catching a lot of passes, is that way you create balance with your offense?
Kubiak: "We've been real fortunate. First off, I'd like our football team to be physical and run the football. We've struggled in that area, so obviously you have to find some ways to move the ball, so there's been a little of a change, but it doesn't change your commitment to run the ball. As far as these guys, we've been fortunate. We drafted Owen in the fourth round and he's started since Day 1. We got Kevin Walker out of
On other side of the ball, does Mario Williams line up in the same spot or do you move him around?
Kubiak: "We can move him around, it just depends on what we're doing. But he's been playing really well. He got his shoulder a little banged up a couple weeks ago. He hasn't played the same number of snaps the last two weeks that he normally plays. He got out of those two games fine, so I expect those snaps to pick up. We started slowly defensively and really struggled, had some players out in training camp with Robinson and (Brian) Cushing, and settled down and played better the last few weeks. Cushing has been a big, big leader of that situation. He's playing very well as a rookie."
With your corners, do you stay on one side or do you have Dunta Robinson shadow the top guy?
Kubiak: "It all depends what we're doing game-plan wise. We have the ability to do both."
Translation: "I have no inention of telling you anything."
I think our Offense will play better this weekend. I also think that Houston's offense is very good, and if we don't come out with some serious fire in our belly, it could be long game
Go 49ers!
If we can hit Schaub like we did Farve he will be out of the game. Their run game is awol so look for "long" handoffs, screens. Like I said if Gore is 100% we will win the game.
"We're going to have to stop the run, which they're excellent at doing."
Was he talking about the '94 Niners?
If you remove Gore's two big runs in that one game, I think he's only averaging about 2.5 yards per gain. He's only got 240 for the year (a little over two games) but 160 of those were on two plays.
The offense stinks at this point. Hill can't get the ball down field so teams are often playing 8 in the box. No way will Crabtree have Johnson's success until the Niners offense opens up and they get a QB that can actually stretch the field.
But alas those two plays DO count. They have to stay commited to their offensive philosphy and execute better. They can block 8 in the run game, the difference with Frank is stalmates at the O-line are almost as good as win with his vision and patience. I don't know what you mean by open up the offense, they're not going 5-wide. If that was how they wanted to play Martz would still be here. What you see is what you get, hopefully just better executed. Long live blunt force football...
If you ever figure out how to get your kids to sleep in please share the secret. I believe my son and daughter both have internal alarm clocks.
If Gore hadn't broken those long runs would the offense have just ran the ball the whole way down the field??
What ifs don't matter to me... the team made those plays... they do count
SJNiner - I have to agree with 53Niners. If Brett Favre doesn't complete a hail mary pass with no time on the clock we are also 4-1 right now. This is football, its full of fantastic plays that can change a game on a dime. You cannot take those big plays away. Imagine Adrian Peterson's numbers if you took aways his long break away runs. He would be average at best. As the old saying goes.... If my Aunt had balls she would be my Uncle!!
Matt, off topic question. The O-line has not really blown anyone away since J.Newberry was starting at center. In your opinion, does Heitmann compare well to his peers at the center position?
SJniner - The second most overrated Niners critique is Hill not being able to beat 8 and 9 men in the box to stop the run, with deep passes. By far, our worst game was against Atlanta who surprised the Niners by playing a big nickel and dime package with 6 DBs that included a lot of man coverage. A good running team should have been able to pound away at that defense. They didn't stack the box and they didn't bring heavy pressure and extra men. So the myth of stacking the box to beat the Niners was dispelled. Atlanta did something else entirely. They instead clogged up all of our short and intermediate passing lanes with extra DBs and got a lot of pressure on Hill with 3 and 4 more fronts. It was a great game plan that worked to perfection. Somewhere Mike Nolan was smiling because he loved that defense.
DK - Heitman is one of the best Centers in the NFL. He is certainly in the top 10 at his position and has a lot of respect around the league. Our problem is at the Guard spots, not Center.
The whole game will come down to the Niner pass rush. If we can consistently pressure Schaub we win this game. If we hace zero pass rush as in the Falcon game, Schaub / Johnson / Daniels will tear us to shreds. Our DB's will not be able to hang with their receivers unless Schaub is pressured.
Time for Lawson and Harrelson to step up.
Mike #2, If this is true then that's great, it does seem at times that the rush comes right up the middle. Is there a site or link that grades out individual players? Thanks for your reply.
I know that ESPN Insider does player rankings and scouting reports. Anyone else on here know anywhere else?
We are now entering the seventh week of the season and as much as it breaks my heart, the rest of the league has figured out JR's primitive offense. Coach Sing and his brain trust NEED to change things up or we are in for a very long and disappointing season. A team made up of NFL all-stars would be hard pressed to succeed with an offense that is predictable.
"A team made up of NFL all-stars would be hard pressed to succeed with an offense that is predictable."
What are you talking about?
A team with all-stars was able to make the playoff for 6 straight seasons under jimmy raye in KC
..i believe the best way to know a team is knowing what the GM wants....
I really have a feeling Coach sing won't be here long if he does not adjust to the talent on the team instead of forcing his vision on the team...
From MB....
"Of course, not everyone will be tickled. One guy who springs to mind is Brandon Jones, who was a high-priced free-agent acquisition, who looked very good early in training camp and who has all but disappeared this season. Of course, a lot of that has to do with Jones' shoulder injury, which cost him the preseason and the early part of the regular season. But Jones has been healthy for weeks now and has yet to see any meaningful action. Why? My guess is that Jimmy Raye and the 49ers just don't know what to do with him. Remember, Jones' deep training-camp receptions all came from Alex Smith, not Shaun Hill, whose strengths - to put it mildly - don't include the deep ball. Jones' skill set doesn't mesh with the 49ers' offense. Crabtree's does."
Right now - I believe we need B.Jones on the field more than we need Bruce or crabtree on the field....
Matt just tweeted-Niners have signed RB Keion Lattimore (Ray Lewis's little brother) to the P Squad. I remember this kid from Hard Knocks lol
The only place those two runs (159 yds) really count are in Gore's personal stats and the record book with Sanders. They're the exception rather than the rule. The other 37 rushes for 82 yds(2.2 yds/carry) give a true indication of how ineffective the running game is right now. Don't the Niners lead the league in 3 and outs and are probably last or near last in 3rd down conversions.
Raye is supposed to put his players in the best position to win but it seems like he doesn't want to make any adjustments to counter anything the D is doing. I'd think with his years of experience, the game plan should be one the "O" would be able to execute better than they have. Remember this is a relative young and inexperienced O-line. You also need to stretch the D once in a while. Use your speed receivers once in awhile (J Hill and Jones).
IMO Raye's play calling is not vanilla it's more like lima beans, only a very few like it. When you lead the league in 3 and outs you'd think it might be time to do something different !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the people pounding on Jimmy Raye need to take a chill pill. C'mon, he wasn't our first choice anyway. That being said, saying he doesn't make adjustments isn't the entire story here. You can't just abandon what you perceive as your srength (or in this case, the only perceivable successful offensive game-plan) and just do something you haven't practiced extensively nor have the personnel to execute. Case and point- okay the running game isn't working, but the problem lies in the personnel. You can't just start throwing darts across the field because your pass protection sucks and your QB isn't the the type of player that will succeed in that type of offense. You also have a potentially talented TE and group of receivers who but one man are all inexperienced route-runners. If you're going to say Raye can't adjust, provide some supporting material. I do remember that the offense got their asses handed to them in the first-half of the Minnesota game, but adjusted nicely in the second-half and got some key completions into Vernon Davis. As far as the 3 running plays to close out the game- yeah, you can second guess. But seriously, that game was won but not for a perfect pass AND perfect catch. Not much you can do there- if you put yourself in a position to win the game against an elite team on their turf with 2 seconds remaining, I don't see a real problem with the execution of your offensive vision. Finally, you don't just abandon things after 5 weeks, especially if you're 3-2. By abandoning your vision you run the risk of a long losing streak and getting blown out every game. The more this team can hover around the .500 mark the better they will be at the end of the season- primarily because the personnel will have had the time to mesh, gel, whathaveyou and make a push in the final 4 weeks for a playoff spot. We're still a QB, OLB, RT, RG and safety away from being an elite team. That's a lot of key personnel to be missing to just throw caution to the wind and change everything up for the hell of it.
some of you guys have no idea about anything. no i expect this fron oneniner, but some of you others need to stop drinking the cool-aid.
1st, "take out those 2 big long runs of gore and he only averge's 2.5 yards per carry" the guy has only had 2 games this year, one in which he scored touchdowns and one in which he scored touchdowns. the guy can run for 20 yards a game for all i care {or coach sing for that matter} as long as he scores and we win the game.
2nd "shaun hill cant strech the field" well not the most important thing when you have a running football team. does he turn the ball over? does he make bad choice as far as clock management or putting the team into bad spots? no not really. we are not the colts, no matter how bad you want us to be.
3rd "coach sing will not last long if he doesnt......." you guys must be regulars at the cali pot clinics, because to believe that you must be smoking something. he has inspired the entire team to play above thier level, he has changed the culture to where bigger name free agents are going to WANT to play. he has energized {most of} the fan base, which in turn makes for more tickets sold and more television money to start rolling in. Coach sing isnt going anywhere.
it's a process people and the process is going well. its just not that instant dominating team that most of you crave, look at the titans. last year they had the best record infootball and this year they are tied for the worst, thats what you get with instant success. alot of you have blinders on to the world and you should jump on board and shut up.
if any of you {including those who went to all 4 of the training camp practices that were open to the public} had any true insight to the way football is taught or played, you wouldnt be behind your computers leaving post on this blog. you would be employed by a team and being insulted,taken for granted, and spit upon by people who know nothing about the way the game is really played.
"Play Calling" is overated & "Execution" is NOT! Had the O-line been doing their jobs the last few weeks you wouldn't be talking about play calling. Enough said.
I must be mad to bother with this or rhe niners anymore.
Guess I died and went to NFL hell. Even though the niners
no longer totally suck, they'll NEVER be meaningful with
this regime either. A whole wasted decade and more to come. Sing won't last 2011. Then we strart over? I'll die of old age first. Guess the nines got the Warriors hex. The Bay Area, home of all the worst sports franchises in the
world all simultaneously. Lucky us. Where's the Chardonnay.
Raye has been around way too long(career wise) for this offense to still look this bad after 5 games even if he doesn't have all-pro personnel. Why are they called coaches if all they can do is be administrators. I haven't seen the "O" get any better after 5 games, have you? You want to blame it all on personnel being bad, does that mean you think all coaches are good? It's easy to say the players need to execute better, how about the coaches too! Do you think Hostler was a good QB coach and OC here. The purpose of a coach is to make his players better. Nobody that criticizes Raye is saying that his play calling is going to keep the Niners from going to the SB because they obviously don't have the offensive talent yet, but if his play calling doesn't get better they won't even make the playoffs again.
Since you mentioned the Minn. game, there are 2 reasons they lost, one on each side of the ball at the end of the game: 1.. you don't give good QBs like Favre and Warner extra chances to beat you, how, by getting more first downs so they can't get on the field.
2..you mentioned that perfect pass and catch which shouldn't have happened because it was followed by the PERFECT misplay by No.26. All he had to do was bump/push the receiver in the air and that left foot that landed in by a couple inches would have landed out of bounds. Now that's poor execution. 1 pick in 53 games with the Niners= poor pass coverage.
Gilroy,
You're conradicting yourself. On one hand you say "Nobody that criticizes Raye is saying that his play calling is going to keep the Niners from going to the SB because they obviously don't have the talent" on the other hand you say "but if his play calling doesn't get better they won't even make the playoffs again" So which is the problem not having enough talent? or Raye's play calling? Your other point is coaching, well how is it Raye's responsibility to coach the line play when his job is to just call the plays? You're all over the place. Bottom line is it's up the the O-line coach to fix these breakdowns in their blocking schemes & make recommendations to Sing on who should be replaced because they're not doing their job not Raye.
Sandip: Really great post. You nailed it.
Petty request: Use some paragraph breaks. It is kind of hard to read...
Yes ALL very good points sandip. As I said before stop pointing the finger at Raye when anybody who has a clue can tell you it's the O-line.
Should've asked Kubiak about Glen Coffee. He got a R3 grade on the 9er value board, but otherwise the draft buzz was also that we took him to preempt HOU (slotting 3 spots later). Slaton never did get the co-runner he needed; hence the Domanick Davis role he's performing for them now.