TEXANS 41, LIONS 25
3 takeaways from the Texans 41-25 win over the Lions
Nov 26, 2020, 2:58 pm
TEXANS 41, LIONS 25
The Texans recorded their fourth win of the season on Thursday, beating the Detroit Lions 41-25. Here are 3 observations from the win:
1) The defense showed up. In a season when the Texans have struggled to get turnovers, the defense already had three just a few seconds into the second quarter. The most exciting being a pick-six by JJ Watt.
.@JJWatt came ready to EAT đœÂ
đș: CBS
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â Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 26, 2020
2) The Texans were able to capitalize on the turnovers. After Bradley Roby recovered a Lions fumble in the first quarter, the Texans were able to make Detroit pay. Deshaun Watson threw a TD pass to CJ Prosise which gave the Texans a 13-7 lead. Not having to settle for field goals made a big difference early in the game. Houston also scored another TD with a pass to Duke Johnson, and Ka'imi Fairbairn made a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter.
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đș: CBS
đ±: https://t.co/y6GlR8cwaPÂ pic.twitter.com/doxzsXx0jm
â Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 26, 2020
3) Deshaun Watson is playing the best football of his career. Outside of the Texans being unable to score a TD on an opening drive once again, it was another terrific performance from Deshaun Watson. The Texans scored 18 more points in the second half and Watson finished the game with 318 passing yards and 4 TDs helping the Texans improve their record to 4-7.
Speed. Nothing but speed. Will Fuller V!!!Â
đș: CBS
đ±: https://t.co/y6GlR8cwaPÂ pic.twitter.com/dhXTDPq6sv
â Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 26, 2020
Next up: The Texans host the Colts (7-3) at NRG on December 6 at noon.
Looming over baseball is a likely lockout in December 2026, a possible management push for a salary cap and perhaps lost regular-season games for the first time since 1995.
âNo oneâs talking about it, but we all know that theyâre going to lock us out for it, and then weâre going to miss time,â New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso said Monday at the All-Star Game. âWeâre definitely going to fight to not have a salary cap and the leagueâs obviously not going to like that.â
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and some owners have cited payroll disparity as a problem, while at the same time MLB is working to address a revenue decline from regional sports networks. Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has never had a salary cap because its players staunchly oppose one.
Despite higher levels of luxury tax that started in 2022, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets have pushed payrolls to record levels. The last small-market MLB club to win a World Series was the Kansas City Royals in 2015.
After signing outfielder Juan Soto to a record $765 million contract, New York opened this season with an industry-high $326 million payroll, nearly five times Miamiâs $69 million, according to Major League Baseballâs figures. Using luxury tax payrolls, based on average annual values that account for future commitments and include benefits, the Dodgers were first at $400 million and on track to owe a record luxury tax of about $151 million â shattering the previous tax record of $103 million set by Los Angeles last year.
âWhen I talk to the players, I donât try to convince them that a salary cap system would be a good thing,â Manfred told the Baseball Writersâ Association of America on Tuesday. âI identify a problem in the media business and explain to them that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together and that is that there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem.â
Baseballâs collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, 2026, and management lockouts have become the norm, which shifts the start of a stoppage to the offseason. During the last negotiations, the sides reached a five-year deal on March 10 after a 99-day lockout, salvaging a 162-game 2022 season.
âA cap is not about a partnership. A cap isnât about growing the game,â union head Tony Clark said Tuesday. âA cap is about franchise values and profits. ... A salary cap historically has limited contract guarantees associated with it, literally pits one player against another and is often what we share with players as the definitive non-competitive system. It doesnât reward excellence. It undermines it from an organizational standpoint. Thatâs why this is not about competitive balance. Itâs not about a fair versus not. This is institutionalized collusion.â
The unionâs opposition to a cap has paved the way for record-breaking salaries for star players. Sotoâs deal is believed to be the richest in pro sports history, eclipsing Shohei Ohtaniâs $700 million deal with the Dodgers signed a year earlier. By comparison, the biggest guaranteed contract in the NFL is $250 million for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Manfred cites that 10% of players earn 72% of salaries.
âI never use the word `salaryâ within one of `cap,ââ he said. âWhat I do say to them is in addressing this competitive issue thatâs real we should think about whether this system is the perfect system from a playersâ perspective.â
A management salary cap proposal could contain a salary floor and a guaranteed percentage of revenue to players. Baseball players have endured nine work stoppages, including a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that fought off a cap proposal.
Agent Scott Boras likens a cap plan to attracting kids to a âgingerbread house.â
âWeâve heard it for 20 years. Itâs almost like the childhood fable,â he said. âThis very traditional, same approach is not something that would lead the younger players to the gingerbread house.â