FanHouse Deltha Oneal

HOUSTON -- To say that the Texans defense of the last three years was vanilla is an insult to ice cream. Last year, a Football Outsiders game charter marked down "4" before just about every defensive snap, knowing it was very likely the Texans were only rushing four defensive linemen, and that he would have to erase only a couple of marks every quarter.

This year the theme of the defense is "aggressive." Texan fans have heard that before, but maybe this is the year it may actually happen. Watching in training camp, the line as a group looks to be penetrating upfield faster, and when they do blitz, the blitzes look less predictable. How games will be called remains to be seen, though first-time defensive coordinator Frank Bush said Tuesday that Gary Kubiak is going to give him a lot of freedom on that side of the ball.

Putting together a successful NFL team is as much about finding quality starters as it is about filling out the roster with competent backups. The Patriots, Steelers, Giants and Colts have won Super Bowls because they had second- and third-teamers step into the starting lineup with no discernible drop-off in productivity.

Roster spots 23-53 are almost more important than the 22 guys who are listed first on the depth chart. And it's also what separates the perennial playoff teams from those struggling to win more than they lose.

The Texans have made progress since hiring Gary Kubiak in 2006, going from two wins the year before he arrived to back-to-back eight-win seasons in '07 and '08. Not surprisingly, lack of depth -- particularly on defense -- has been one of this team's biggest weaknesses.

It wasn't long ago that Leigh Bodden was the best cornerback most people had never heard of. And then one bad season in Cleveland got him traded to the Lions where, predictably, he flopped.

But Bodden's one of the lucky ones; the new regime released him and now his fortunes have progressed from woebegone to promising. On Tuesday, the Patriots signed Bodden to a one-year deal, which means there's a very good chance that he'll win 11-14 more games in 2009 than he did in 2008. That is the reality of Lions football.

After watching Deltha O'Neal struggle to replace Asante Samuel in 2008, the New England Patriots have signed 12-year veteran Shawn Springs to a three-year contract in an effort to strengthen their secondary.

It was reported over the weekend that a deal was close, and it's now official as ESPN's John Clayton reports Springs will make $10 million over the next three seasons.

---

---

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

Even though they lost franchise quarterback Tom Brady to a knee injury in Week 1, the Patriots managed to finish with a rather impressive 11-5 record in 2008. Impressive because they did so with a quarterback (Matt Cassel) that hadn't started a game since he was a senior in high school.

In most years, an 11-5 record is a lock for the NFL's postseason, but the Patriots became the first team since the 1985 Denver Broncos to miss the playoffs with such a mark. They already started the offseason by placing the franchise tag on Cassel, and it remains to be seen if they intend to trade him off to the highest bidder, or keep him around is a rather expensive insurance policy.

During New England's 24-21 come-from-behind win in Seattle this past Sunday, the Patriots were charged with only one penalty the entire game. If nothing else, they made the flag worth it, when tight end Ben Watson shoved the football under his jersey and gave a salute to his pregnant wife.

Bill Belichick, obviously, wasn't exactly thrilled with Watson's celebration because it resulted in a 15-yard penalty assessed on the ensuing kickoff. Of course, there's an entirely different debate in there as to whether or not using a football to make yourself look like your pregnant wife is worthy of a 15-yard penalty (or a fine!), but, we're not really addressing that here. And, for the record, my opinion is, no, this should not be worthy of a penalty or a fine.

Anyway, had Watson not performed his celebration, New England would have played a perfect game on Sunday, at least as far as yellow flags are concerned. And this isn't really something that's new to the Patriots this season.

As the debate rages on as to whether or not the Patriots dynasty is coming to an end, we're quickly beginning to realize that the loss of defensive back Asante Samuel has put a substantial dent in the team's pass defense. Currently, the Patriots are near the bottom of the NFL in terms of opponents' completion percentage, yards per pass attempt and passing touchdowns allowed, due in large part to guys like Deltha O'Neal getting abused on national TV.

Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal writes today about how the Patriots are currently paying the price for letting Samuel get away.

The Eagles signed Samuel to a six-year, free-agent contract worth more than $55 million, of which $20 million is guaranteed. Guaranteed, Patriots owner Robert Kraft would think that's a bargain now, if only the Pats could have retained Samuel and still remained under the cap. There's no question that the Pats miss him. Not as much as they miss injured quarterback Tom Brady, mind you. But quite a bit -- as was obvious Sunday night in San Diego, when Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers repeatedly burned New England's overmatched secondary with deep passes.

Brinson got the ball rolling Sunday night, but NFL FanHouse brainiacs put their humongous eggheads together to continue the discussion: is the Patriots dynasty in the books, or will everything be fine when Tom Brady returns?

Ryan Wilson: Watching the Chargers systematically dismantle the Patriots secondary sent a pretty clear message to the rest of the league: WHEN THROWING THE BALL, FIRST FIND DELTHA O'NEAL, AND THEN CHUCK IT. And while there's a good chance the Patriots would be undefeated (or, at worst, a one-loss team) with a healthy Tom Brady -- and arguably still considered the NFL's best club -- now they're barely ordinary.

Which I think just reinforces the point that great coaches need great players. Hardly original, I know, but a lot of people were interested to see what Bill Belichick would do to keep things going in New England. The answer, it seems, is "start going to church again."

Thanks to DeSean Jackson and his inability to properly celebrate in the end zone last night, it got us here at FanHouse thinking, where does this play rank in dumbest NFL moves of all time?

The selection process is tough, because there are a ton of factors. You have referees botching the coin flip, NFL players celebrating straight to the ambulance, and others that just aren't sure which direction they're going. All of these are problematic, and all will find themselves in the list. So, without further ado, let's get to the best of the brainless!

Leon Lett -- Super Bowl XXVII and 1993 Thanksgiving Game -- It really takes a special person to make this list twice, but I guess Lett is that special. In one of the biggest botches ever in a Super Bowl, Lett recovered a fumble against the Bills in the fourth quarter, and as he waddled to the end zone, he decided the 10-yard line was the perfect spot to start the celebration. Little Don Beebe knocked the ball out of his outstretched hand, forcing a touch-back and a place in the Moron Hall of Fame. Previously that year, Lett actually lost a game for the Cowboys because of his clumsy maneuvers. Up 14-13 over the Dolphins with just seconds left in a snowy game in Dallas, the Cowboys blocked Miami's field-goal attempt and as everyone with four ounces of common sense stayed away from the ball, Lett slid in, hitting the football, thus making it live. The Dolphins recovered on the one-yard line, kicked a game-winning field goal, and forever made Lett a true Thanksgiving Day turkey.

If the Chiefs have a chance to pull off one of the upsets of the year in Week 1, they need to take advantage of the Patriots' secondary--which is clearly the weak point of the club that went 18-1 last year.

The best way to do that would be to spread the Patriots out, force the undersized group to figure out a way to defend Dwayne Bowe and try to take advantage of nickel back Deltha O'Neal, who was just signed by the team in the past week.

But there's one problem with that plan (well two if you aren't sold on Brodie Croyle)--to do it, you have to have enough wideouts to spread out the Patriots. With the news that Will Franklin and Maurice Price are out for Sunday's game, the Chiefs will dress only three wide receivers.

While Bowe will be able to get some mismatches, it's hard to imagine Devard Darling (20 catches in four pro seasons) or Jeff Webb (31 catches in two seasons) giving the Patriots nightmares. So even though the Patriots weakness is their pass defense, it's likely to be the Larry Johnson show on Sunday.