Ravens Hire Gary Kubiak as OC

The Baltimore Ravens have hired former Houston Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak, as offensive coordinator. Kubiak has become the 3rd offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in the pat 13 months. Kubiak had previously coached the Houston Texans for 8 seasons, leading them to consecutive playoff berths in 2011 and 2012. He got fired by Houston after a disastrous 2-14 record, last season. Kubiak also backed up John Elway for 8 seasons as well. Under Kubiak, the Texans ranked Top 10 in offense, for 4 of the past 6 seasons. During the 4 seasons, the Texans ranked Top 10 in offense, Kubiak helped Houston contain a consistent balance in the passing and running game. Kubiak will have turn around a Ravens offense that ranked 29th in total yards last season (teams worst in 8 years). Kubiak stated "this is the day I've had in 2 months. It gives me a chance to be a part of a championship organization". While it seems great to take over a position, for a team that won the Super Bowl 2 years ago, it's going to be hard to adjust to a whole, new different offensive system. Prior before last season, the Ravens made quarterback Joe Flacco one of the highest paying quarterbacks in football. He didn't show it last year, as he had a TD-INT ratio of 19:22, despite throwing for 3,912 yards. The lack of protection and no replacement for Anquan Boldin threw off Joe' game last season. The Ravens offensive line couldn't hold up any better in the run game as they averaged a mere 3.1 yards per carry. They also allowed the 4th most sacks in the NFL(48) too. An inexperienced and struggling offensive line was one reason why Flacco got sacked and pressured so many times. Kubiak should be able to help Joe get back to rythem and mature into the franchise quarterback the Ravens had paid for. Former Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison was hired as quarterbacks coach too. Dennison helped improve and flourish Matt Schaub into a Pro Bowl quarterback, before his disastrous 2013 season. Flacco has the arm strength and intelligence to become a great quarterback, but just needs a few pointers and improvement on some mechanics in order to fall into that category. The Ravens also need to add some offensive line through the draft or free agency if they want Flacco to stay on his feet more often. The addition of Dennison and Kubiak should help the play of quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense. Dennison can work with Flacco, who is identical to Schaub, but faster. Kubiak can improve this run game, with two-tight end sets (if the Ravens choose to keep Pitta and Dickson this off-season), and the play-action game, something the Ravens haven't really established.

Texans Hire Bill O'Brien

The Houston Texans have started off the New Year by hiring former Penn State Head Coach Bill O'Brien. The Texans fired Gary Kubiak following a disasterous 2013 season. The Texans lost 14 consecutive games after starting off the season 2-0. O'Brien had exceeded expectations with Penn State as he led the team to a 15-9 record, after the program had to deal with the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Before coaching Penn Statem O'Brien was previously the New England Patriots assistant offensive coordinator from 2007-2012 and was Duke's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. When O'Brien was with the Patriots, he relied on using formations with two tight end sets. The Houston Texans have fallen in love with the two tight end package, which has Bill O'Brien's offensive specialty. O'Brien helped the Patriots Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez become elite tight ends in the NFL, he could improve the game of Owen Daniels and Garrett Graham this year. Houston is a well-known patient run and play-action offensive team, which O'Brien has good knowlegde of. The hiring of Bill O'Brien is a good fit for the Houston Texans.