After a season in which the Texans pass defense managed to be one of the worst in NFL history, the obvious and easy story was to contrast their success with that of the Falcons. The Falcons, after all, had just plundered "star" CB Dunta Robinson from the Texans for $57 million. They were 13-3. The No. 1 seed in the NFC. The one with the solid defense. The kind of team Texans fans wished that they could have seen built.
While most of that may be true, the fact remains that Robinson still wasn't any good this year. As we've documented many times here, Robinson's large contract was matched in scale only by the number of accolades piled on him without any acknowledgment that he just doesn't have the deep speed to be a good cornerback anymore.
Falcons fans watched in horror as Aaron Rodgers and the Packers just destroyed their defense. 50+ points were in reach for the Packers had they needed them. 31-36, 366 yards, three TDs for Rodgers. For Packers star receiver Greg Jennings: eight receptions, 101 yards. How many passes thrown at Jennings were defensed? One. Guess who did it? Christopher Owens.
↵Did that message reach anyone after the game? Actually, a few:
↵↵↵↵↵---One player who will have to step up his game for the Falcons next season is corner Dunta Robinson. He signed a big contract as a free agent last spring and was a disappointment. Brent Grimes, the other corner, outplayed him. Robinson needs to become a most consistent player. The Falcons need him in a division with good quarterbacks.
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↵↵So much for all the talk about how the arrivals of rookie linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and free-agent cornerback Dunta Robinson had made this defense solid. The Falcons were the No. 1 seed in the NFC and they got torn up at home by the No. 6 seed.
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Gary Kubiak and Rick Smith, depending on who you think has more power over the defensive outfit, have deservedly taken a lot of heat for going with Kareem Jackson and not being able to bring in a real cornerback to compete and mentor all the youngsters last offseason. As graphic and awful as the Texans secondary was last year because of this, at least the Texans managed to not give a bad cornerback $57 million because there was no one "better" out there. They do deserve some credit for that.
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