Houston's improvement against the run has coincided with the addition of safety Bernard Pollard to...

Houston's improvement against the run has coincided with the addition of safety Bernard Pollard to the unit. Pollard has started the last three games after he was signed in late September following his release from Kansas City.

"His presence in just being here for about a month has obviously added a new dimension to our defense," Kubiak said. "He's played very well."

Texans turn around run defense

From The San Fancisco Chronicle

about 1 month ago NJ Chiefs Fan 56 comments 0 recs |

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now I KNOW

you’re just trying to stir the proverbial pot….

by callmesir on Oct 20, 2009 9:02 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Just keeping up with a former player...

that seems to have improved the team he went to. I’m happy for him.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 9:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I bet he appreciates being on a squad with a pass rush.

"What?!?! I aint no Obama for the weed!"
-Turk McBride

by HIV 2 Elway on Oct 20, 2009 9:03 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

from who???

Mario williams??? we all know that guy is no good…. now that bush kid… he can do it all…. even rush the passer.

by callmesir on Oct 20, 2009 9:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Take it back, we have 2 more sacks than Houston.

Should have taken Vince Young…

"What?!?! I aint no Obama for the weed!"
-Turk McBride

by HIV 2 Elway on Oct 20, 2009 9:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

can't you just envision

VY in the arrowspread…. with good ole herm being a positive male influence in his life and mentoring him…. awwww what a sweet thought…

by callmesir on Oct 20, 2009 9:12 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pollard can play, Haley & crew can't coach

by FrankPitts on Oct 20, 2009 9:28 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

pollard plays real well

especially when his assignment is to miss tackles and be out of position

Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.
Harry S. Truman

by kcguy on Oct 20, 2009 12:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thats not true...

I saw this site that calcualtes Missed Tackles I will find it

by darwithabar on Oct 20, 2009 3:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

but only in a scheme that fits him. The 3-4 defense doesnt call for a run stopping SS because there are 3 DL occupying the OL, and 4 LB’s either occupying TE/FB’s, WR’s or the RB. Its the LB’s job to stop the run in a 3-4. Safties in the 3-4 are alot like the safties in a cover 2. CLEARLY Pollard is not a Cover 2 safety.

Now that Pollard is in a scheme that actually utilizes the SS as a run stopper, it should be no surprise that hes playing well.

by Petey14 on Oct 20, 2009 2:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He was better aginast the pass then Mike Brown is now.

by darwithabar on Oct 20, 2009 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who's to say?

what proof do you have that supports that?

Bc KC’s average passing yard allowed per game is a whopping 15 yards more compared to last year?

Pollard consistantly gave up HUGE plays for us, consistantly missed tackles, and was consistantly chasing down the guys who burned him.

In 6 games of Mike Brown, I’ve seen him give up 2 big plays, and both of them were against Dallas. But hes also MADE several plays each game. You never knew if Pollard was going to be an impact player, a breakdown player, or just a player in the shadows. He was NEVER consistant.

Plus, I dont recall Pollard ever saving us from losing. Brown however, fought through a block to make a tackle after a huge run by Portis. D goes out, shows some confidence and holds them to a FG. Could Pollard have made that play? Maybe..but unlikely. He probably would have been chasing Portis down from behind, rather than being infront trying to get around a blocker.

by Petey14 on Oct 20, 2009 5:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also

It depends what you consider “better against the pass”

No matter what you mean, I think its wrong.

If “better against the pass” means hes better at covering the receiver and preventing the ball from being caught, I would have to say you are dead wrong. Pollard couldnt cover a hole in the wall with a poster.

If “better against the pass” means stopping the guy after hes caught the ball, again this comes to consistancy. Pollard is either going to make a bonecrushing hit and possibly force a fumble (as many big hits that hes had, hes only forced 5 fumbles in 3 years+3games), or hes going to go for the big hit, miss or not wrap up and drag the guy down, and let him get away.

Look..I was a huge Bonecrusher fan too. He just doesnt fit the scheme, he never would have and he never will. Hes the type of player whos only going to blossom if hes in the right system. Based on that, I’m happy for him because being in Houston is going to give him the best chance to succeed. As a Run-Supporting Strong Safety, he is playing to his strengths. Playing as a Cover 2 SS was dooming him from the start. Why do you think the 7th round pick..Page..became a starter before he did? Because he cant cover worth a shit.

by Petey14 on Oct 20, 2009 5:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think they just didn't like him.

by Chiefsfan1970 on Oct 20, 2009 9:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

yea me too

Great players dont win championships.....Great TEAMS win championships

by DT58forever on Oct 20, 2009 9:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pollard Was Over-rated

I’ve watched every snap of the guys Chiefs career and I’ll tell you two things. First, he’s two steps slow in coverage. Second he doesn’t wrap up. I would focus on him during games and point it out to my brother. We were both glad he was gone.

You guys need to give up the man crush on the Bonecrusher. An ESPN highlight hit once in a while is great but consistent tackling is better. Mike Brown saved the game for us on the Portis run, I’m guessing Pollard wouldn’t have made the same play but would have tried to run in and knock Portis out of bounds without wrapping up, bouncing off and letting him waltz into the endzone. Tell me you arent defending a guy that was supposed to be a run anchor on last year’s run defense? Please someone tell me that isn’t the case.

by Ryan in Nixa on Oct 20, 2009 10:20 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pollard is a much better player then Brown...

Brown did make that tackle on Portis, but he missed 2 on Miles Austin that both led to 50 yard touchdowns. Pollard is miles ahed of him in tackling and is almost as good in coverage. Our secondary is the most disapointing part of the team. Last year they were decent. Losing Pollard is the one big change. Losing Pollard has definitly hurt our defense and obviously helped the Texans D alot considering how bad they were before they got him.

by darwithabar on Oct 20, 2009 10:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

My thing about Pollard is this:

He plays more like a LB than a safety. With the Chiefs going to a 3-4, they didn’t really need another LB on the field. Pollard had a lot of tackles last year (led the team actually). The reason for that was because of the horrendous DL and LB corps allowed too many RBs to consistently get into the secondary. Pollard’s run support was never in question. His pass coverage was. He was constantly burned by WRs last year. He just wasn’t a very good safety to start with, and I really don’t think he would have fit into the new scheme.

About the Chiefs: I'd rather be a realist than a pessimist

by Red N Gold Beast on Oct 20, 2009 10:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He did not need to be better than Brown.

Only better than Morgan. This was personal in my opinion. He would have added depth at safety and is an excellent special teams player. I still do not like this move. I assume it must have happened for non-football reasons.

by saskwatch on Oct 20, 2009 10:52 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He Got Into It With Pendergast Shortly Before He Was Cut

There was a blurb here on AP about it…he and Pendergast started yelling at each other, Pollard appealed to Haley who waved him off, Pollard said later that Haley had talked to him and they were all cool, then a few days later Pollard got cut.

I’ll take Pollard over Pendergast any day of the week. Pollard ain’t perfect by any stretch, but Pendergast doesn’t make tackles and he sure as hell doesn’t coach a good defense so he’s pretty much useless.

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

1. Todd Haley's going to struggle with managing his staff in his rookie year as head coach.
6. The Chiefs will go 7-9 in 2009, good for 2nd in the AFC West. Revision: We go 5-11 and finish behind Oakland.
7. Ryan Succop will not perform better in 2009 than Connor Barth did in 2008.
8. The Chiefs will have a bottom 10 defense this year.
9. RB will be a problem area this season on offense.

by UCrawford on Oct 20, 2009 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Rec that shit...

My point is this: Our defense lost Pollard and are now worse against the pass. Houston got Pollard and are now better overall by 7 or 8 points a game.

by darwithabar on Oct 20, 2009 3:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Haley dosen't like anyone..

..on the sideline he threatened to trade Bowe, if he were smart Bowe would have dropped every pass thrown him the rest of the game. Is Haley dumb enough to think people enjoy riding the Titanic?

by FrankPitts on Oct 20, 2009 9:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If he was smart? Yeah dropping every pass and being a pre-madonna is a smart move.....

….Seems to me that Bowe is feeding off of Haley’s criticism, he sure did step his game up.

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

by BigRedChief on Oct 20, 2009 10:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And I bet that everyone was enjoying riding the Titanic..... before the iceberg.

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

by BigRedChief on Oct 20, 2009 10:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bowe still dropped crucial passes at really bad times last week.

If that’s stepping it up, I would like to see him wind it back down a notch.

by Chiefsfan1970 on Oct 20, 2009 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Drops or not Bowe was faced with being a 3rd string player....

….He sucked it up and, IMO, proved to the coaching staff that he was the best WR on this roster. If that isn’t stepping your game up then I don’t know what is. Bowe has been pretty good this year dispite being the number 1 WR.

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

by BigRedChief on Oct 20, 2009 12:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Haley is the ice berg

by FrankPitts on Oct 20, 2009 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

So what you are saying is you were enjoying the ride before Haley?

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

by BigRedChief on Oct 20, 2009 12:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Feels like the same ride so far.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 12:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Haley is too dumb to teach anybody anything..

…that dumbass almost choked his second game not having enough sense to know when to kick a field goal

by FrankPitts on Oct 20, 2009 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Watch it! They don't like it when people call Haley a dumbass around here.

Believe me. I know first hand.

by Chiefsfan1970 on Oct 20, 2009 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

They can't handle the truth!

by FrankPitts on Oct 20, 2009 11:06 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Todd Haley eats children

Todd Haley at feeding time. On the sideline he is angry but when he is hungry…he becomes something else…

Please help send my girlfriend to Broadway! Visit http://magonbroadway.blogspot.com/

by Patrick Allen on Oct 20, 2009 11:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice find

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Still Butthurt over Herm?

Come on Frank and Chiefsfan1970 you cant honestly believe that Todd Haley is stupid can you? You know he is a great offensive coordinator given some weapons right? You know he has a great pedigree, strong work ethic and a trip to the Super Bowl to back it up correct?

Tell me oh sages of wisdom, who would you have grabbed to coach this team?

by Ryan in Nixa on Oct 20, 2009 11:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Josh McDaniels Would Have Been An Upgrade, IMO

And Leslie Frazier. He’s been a head coach before (in college) and his resume is better than Haley’s. But of course he wasn’t Pioli’s buddy, so we get Haley and his coaching staff of buddies who washed out elsewhere.

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

by UCrawford on Oct 20, 2009 12:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Denver hired on McDaniels on January 11

KC hired Pioli on January 13.

No way KC had a shot at McDaniels.

by bansky on Oct 20, 2009 12:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t buy that report for a second.

Haley threatens to trade Bowe during the game…then Bowe’s one of the first congratulating him when they win. Right.

by bh13 on Oct 20, 2009 6:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You want to know what the other side of the coin says?

Since Pollard has been added to the Texans defense their defense is giving up significantly more passing yards(with the exception of Raider week for obvious reasons) then they were previously as well as their yards per catch against has gone up.

"Success is never ending, failure is never final."

by GenericBrand on Oct 20, 2009 10:25 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

They still are better aginst the pass then we are...

Also, since they have aquired Pollard they have improved there scoring defense. He has definitly helped their team and losing him has hurt our team.

by darwithabar on Oct 20, 2009 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm guessing you're only going off the rank?

Because when you look at the stats, there isn’t a huge difference. We’re allowing an average of about 24 more yards than HOU. But the Chiefs allow a lower completion percentage. It’s splitting hairs to say their pass defense is better than KC’s.

They are better on the scoring D though, but that was with a game against OAK skewing the stat pretty bad. We’ll see how it goes.

About the Chiefs: I'd rather be a realist than a pessimist

by Red N Gold Beast on Oct 20, 2009 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

We also had a game against Oakland.

Both team’s stats are skewed.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 11:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Um, we're talking about HOU scoring D before and after Pollard started playing.

Please follow along.

About the Chiefs: I'd rather be a realist than a pessimist

by Red N Gold Beast on Oct 20, 2009 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

My mistake

read it as their scoring D vs ours.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 11:26 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No prob. I know it looked that way.

About the Chiefs: I'd rather be a realist than a pessimist

by Red N Gold Beast on Oct 20, 2009 11:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I keep switching between work screens

and AP. It gets confusing.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 11:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oakland skews up everything

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx

by Big Chief on Oct 20, 2009 11:12 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really?

Let’s review the 2008 Defensive stats again for our KC Chiefs. Pollard was our stalwart run stopper and leading tackler…
2008 158.9 Rushing Yards Per Game good for 30th of 32 teams.
2009 130.3 Rushing Yards Per Game good for 25th of 32 teams.
We’re not exactly the Ravens against the rush this year but we are better minus Pollard and plus Brown.

2008 234.3 Passing Yards Per Game 28th of 32 teams
2009 249.5 Passing Yards Per Game 25th of 32 teams

I’m not saying Mike Brown is Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed and I’m not calling Pollard the worst safety in the league. What I’m saying is that ripping our coach and front office for cutting the guy is premature and as fans we have to use our eyes and not our hearts.

by Ryan in Nixa on Oct 20, 2009 11:16 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good comment.

Wow.

All I can say is that, having watched Bernard Pollard play since he came here, we could pretty well depend on him to give up the big play. (as could opposing offenses)

Regardless, I am glad he’s in a good place and doing well.

by GonzosDirtyTrailer on Oct 20, 2009 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thats absence of Gunther not absence of Bowe

by FrankPitts on Oct 20, 2009 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Frank, I assume you meant Pollard

I’ll keep using facts to back up my claims while you use assumptions.

Without Gunther:
Detroit 2008: Rush Yards Per Game Allowed: 172.1 32nd of 32 teams.

With Gunther:
Detroit 2009: Rush Yards Per Game Allowed: 112.3 19th of 32 teams.

by Ryan in Nixa on Oct 20, 2009 11:26 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

gun is still a good coach

he just needed herm to take the handcuffs off. u cant force a square peg into a round hole. it amazes me how quickly people want to blame someone for someone elses problems. if i remember right, this d was improving under gun pretty much every season until injuries hit us last year.

by MountainManMike on Oct 20, 2009 1:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You remember right.

if i remember right, this d was improving under gun pretty much every season until injuries hit us last year.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 1:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I thought we were better aginst the run

because of the 3-4 and D-lineman pick in the draft, not because Brown is in for Pollard.

Giving up more yards per game against the pass than LY, too.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 20, 2009 11:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Possibly

Remember on the pass rankings everyone is giving up more yards this year considering we are actually up to 25th in pass defense per game despite more yardage given up. Some of that is the fact we are comparing 16 games vs 6 and the cold muddy, snowy weather hasnt really been a factor in very many games this year.

by Ryan in Nixa on Oct 20, 2009 11:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs