More often than not, the obvious answer is the right one. NFL.com’s Adam Rank should try and remember this next time someone asks him about the Houston Texans.
In this posted article, the NFL.com braintrust was asked what the Texans needed to do to finally overthrow the Indianapolis Colts for the AFC South crown. Three answers revolved around improving the woeful defense and inept secondary. A fourth answer came in the form of improving against the division in general which would help win the division. Then there’s Mr. Rank’s answer: "The real key is Matt Schaub."
Again, here is the link. No, I’m not joking. The defense was historically bad (and has only once been ranked above average in the franchise's history, which coincidentally coincides with their only winning record), but the real key is Matt Schaub. You know that Matt Schaub. He’s the guy who has quarterbacked a top-five offense for three straight years. The guy who sits fifth in all-time completion percentage. The guy who’s one of a rare handful of players in league history to throw for 4,000+ yards and have a QB rating of over 90 in two seasons (let alone consecutive seasons).
Rank attempts to justify his answer with the following:
He has the numbers, the receiver and now a running game. If Phillips can make that defense play well enough, then it's up to Schaub to make his team a winner.
Again, I have a hard time following Rank’s logic. If Phillips can improve the defense then Schaub is the real key when the offense has flexed its muscle for three consecutive years? All this reeks of is Rank trying to put wins and losses on a quarterback. It’s an inane, illogical viewpoint.
The quarterback is one of 11 men on the field for one phase of the game. The game is played with offense, defense, and special teams. We’ve seen in history that quality quarterbacks cannot overcome bad teams – Hi, Dan Marino – so why does this argument continue? Better yet, how does anyone not answer that the Texans need to fix their defense to win more games?