Hosts: Sonny, Ryan, and Rich.

In this episode, we discussed the AFC South. Can Matt Schaub change the fortunes of the Houston Texans around? Or will a piss-poor offensive line doom him? Can Vince Young avoid the Madden Curse? Because this is our last NFL divisional preview, we also give a brief rundown on our playoff and Super Bowl predictions.

You can find Episode 35 here. (Download mp3)

My feelings about Matt Schaub have radically changed from indifference to sympathy. The Falcons agreed to trade the former Virginia star quarterback to the Texans for a 2nd round pick and other considerations.

I hope the first thing Texans coach Gary Kubiak tells Schaub when he arrives is “sorry.” David Carr’s rib cage is probably going to collapse when he’s 35 because of the pain and hits he’s endured running the Texans offense. Face it, the offensive line for Houston is like a revolving door, anyone can go through. That’s why Carr was sacked for an NFL record 76 times during his rookie season. He’s been sacked 249 times during just 5 years in Houston. Translation…Schaub is going to need a good health plan.

Schaub is still a relatively unproven, throwing just 161 career passes for 6 touchdowns and 6 picks. My question arises with the Falcons new situation at quarterback. Ill be frank, I think Mike Vick is a pile of shit. He’s never going to live up to the hype put on him and he simply hasn’t gotten it done during his career with the Falcons. They don’t have the safety net of Schaub to fall back on anymore, so what’s going to happen when Vick grossly overthrows Roddy White or Joe Horn three times for three interceptions in week 6 and the Falcons are at the bottom of the division?

I’ll root for Schaub in Houston because I want to see that franchise succeed. At the same time, Schaub has to know that his offensive line will offer no protection for him, and he’s going to be laying on the Reliant Stadium grass many times wondering where he just got hit from.

Nine months ago, the Houston Texans selected Mario Williams with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, passing up on two of the best college football players ever in Reggie Bush and Vince Young. Bush went to the playoffs, Young won NFL Rookie of the Year. The Texans got 4.5 sacks from Mario Williams and looked like idiots in the process. Now they look even dumber. They’re testing the market for quarterback David Carr. Rumors have it that they might be willing to trade him for as little as a third round pick. Wow.

I feel sorry for the city of Houston. The Texans have challenged the Lions for the biggest failure in the NFL. Seriously, what do you expect out of David Carr? He’s constantly getting drilled in the pocket for a team that has never made a big commitment to improving the line. Last week, the Texans hired Mike Sherman to be offensive coordinator. It’s the 4th different coordinator Carr has worked with in his five year career. How can you expect consistent improvement when the franchise has no continuity?

If the Texans had confidence in David Carr, they were right in not drafting Vince Young. They could have added the Heisman Trophy winner in Reggie Bush and he’d have an electrifying player in the backfield. Or the Texans could have drafted D’Brickashaw Ferguson, the premier offensive tackle in the draft. He could have protected Carr’s blindside. Instead, they pissed everyone off and took Mario Williams.

This isn’t a “defending David Carr” article. It’s more of a bashing of this franchise. They don’t know what they want to do. If they were so confident in Carr a year ago, why are they questioning him now? They passed up three phenomenal young quarterback talents from last year’s class because they liked Carr. With the Texans picking 8th this year, they’re likely SOL with the class’ two best QB prospect (JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn).

I’d say the Texans got the message on December 10th. Thousands of Vince Young jerseys were in the crowd for the hometown hero. Then he burned the Texans in overtime, running for a touchdown and a victory. The Texans need help everywhere. But it doesn’t start at quarterback. It starts with management for failing to give this guy a decent shot at success.

Remember Mario Williams? He was the stud the Texans took with the 1st pick of the NFL Draft this year, passing on Heisman winner Reggie Bush. If you asked around, you would have thought Mario Williams was an absolute scrub, that he’d never have success in the NFL, and that he was the worst draft choice this side of Ryan Leaf. While I agreed that the Texans didn’t need Reggie Bush, I felt D’Brickashaw Ferguson would have been the better choice. I’ll stick with that statement because of how bad the Texans offensive line is. But Mario Williams is quietly having a solid season.

Sure, he’s looked a bit lost at times. But he’s a rookie defensive end, which is a pretty tough position to learn. Williams has tallied 4.5 sacks this year and has recorded one in his last three games. People were so fast to compare Reggie Bush to Gale Sayers but Mario Williams wasn’t ever compared to Julius Peppers. Williams is still a bit raw but he’s made a nice improvement this season. He’s refined his techniques and isn’t relying solely on his freakish athleticism.

While Williams continues to improve, Reggie Bush is suddenly having problems with fumbling. If there’s a faster way to get into a coach’s doghouse than fumbling, I’m not sure what it is. Bush has fumbled in two of his last three games and his costly turnover yesterday gave the Steelers great field position and the momentum they needed to beat the Saints.

Regardless of whether or not he was the right pick, Mario Williams was treated unfairly last April. He’s a guy with enormous potential, just like Reggie Bush and just like every player taken in the first round. It’s almost like people wanted him to fail just so the Texans would look stupid. We can laugh at the 3-6 record Houston has but there’s no reason to laugh at the selection of Williams. Sure, he’s not having the freakish rookie season that Shawne Merriman had last year. But he’s certainly performing. More importantly, he’s showing the reasons why he was taken before Bush. Defensive rookies have an enormous learning curve and Williams looks like he’s on the path to being a very good player.