THE PALLILOG

Here's why now is the time for Astros to get creative with their No. 1 starter

Astros Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers, Framber Valdez
Lance McCullers is the clear choice to go in game one. Composite image by Jack Brame.
3 important areas where Astros transformed a weakness into a strength

So, so, lame of the Texans' franchise that the roof was closed at NRG Stadium Thursday night. 75 degrees, low humidity, not a cloud in the sky. Lamer than their offense in a 24-9 loss to Carolina that went largely as expected. I suppose we could imagine how ugly it would have been had the roof been open and the noise generated by 15 to 20 thousand empty seats not been deafening.

The Texans look like a decent expansion team, which is sad considering this is season number 20. The 2002 expansion Texans had an awful offense. That squad averaged 213 yards per game. Against the Panthers the Texans mustered 193 yards. Despite the puny output, quarterback Davis Mills certainly shouldn't be condemned as a bust. He should be in over his head right now. Mills never played a full season of games at Stanford. He's supposed to excel early as a rookie in a season where he was only projected to play once Operation Tank was further along?

Two games in a row, weak game management decision from David Culley. Down 7-6 in the third quarter, fourth and four at the Carolina 39-yard line, Culley opts to take a delay of game penalty and then punt. Even with a weak offense, going for the fourth and four in opponent territory was the call to make.

Give Culley some credit for having the Texans playing hard through three games. Though truly that's nice for a pee wee team where the players can be rewarded with pizza and ice cream. Meanwhile Deshaun Watson keeps collecting about $600,000 per week, and the Texans keep listing him as out for "non-injury reason."

Next week at Buffalo the Texans would seem to have chances of the slim and none variety.

Astros in driver's seat

The Astros can clinch their fourth American League West title in five years as soon as Saturday night. They have essentially secured homefield advantage for their American League Division Series. All that's left is can they catch the Rays for homefield advantage should there be an Astros-Rays American League Championship Series rematch. While the Astros likely formally put the A's to sleep this weekend, the Rays play three versus the Marlins. Then it's the Rays at Minute Maid Park for three. The Astros are three games behind Tampa Bay with nine to play. It's extremely unlikely the Astros catch the Rays without beating them at least two out of three at MMP. Winning two out of three would give the Astros the season series tiebreaker over them.

It's approaching decision time for the Astros' postseason starting rotation. Lance McCullers is the clear choice to go in game one. Of some concern is how to slot McCullers next week to give him the best chance at being in peak form for that series opener. Having pitched Thursday night, McCullers starts one of the Rays series games, either Tuesday or Wednesday. The Astros have an off day Monday. McCullers on normal four days rest would mean he goes Tuesday, but then would either go nine days without game action before the postseason opener, or maybe get a brief outing on three days rest a week from Saturday to get back to normal four days rest before the ALDS start. A third seemingly less prudent option would be starting the season finale for a shortened outing on four days rest, but then he'd only have three days rest before ALDS G1. Given McCullers's injury history and career high innings workload this season, it's not a trivial thought process.

Luis Garcia has a 2.19 earned run average at home this season, 4.24 everywhere else. Garcia at home in game two makes sense, with Framber Valdez and either Jose Urquidy or Zack Greinke for a prospective game four, back around to McCullers should there be a decisive fifth game. If he is to get the ball Greinke really needs to show something in his remaining couple starts. Between time in the COVID and safety protocols and some lousy pitching, Greinke hasn't made a good start in more than a month.

College

Texas A&M-Arkansas is very interesting Saturday at Jerry Jones's place in Arlington. The Aggies have beaten the Razorbacks the last nine years and are favored by five and a half points to make it 10, but the Hogs may be poised to halt that streak shy of double digits. The A&M offense looks shaky. The quarterback edge going in clearly belongs to Arkansas with dual threat K.J. Jefferson. A couple of weeks ago the Razorbacks humiliated the Texas Longhorns. The last season in which Arkansas beat both Texas and Texas A&M? 1988.

Buzzer Beaters:

1. Funny that channel 13 is the "Official Television Station of the Houston Texans!" yet the one regular game which it had access to telecast it got outbid by channel 2.

2. You know the Rockets' preseason opener is a week from Tuesday? There's very little chance they're good this season, but it could be a fun squad showing much promise for coming years.

3. Biggest babies to come out of LSU: Bronze-Herman Johnson (15 pounds 14 ounces at birth!) Silver-Glen Davis Gold-Ben Simmons

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Will the Texans get back on track against the Colts? Composite Getty Image.

This week, the Houston Texans take on the Colts in a matchup with division supremacy on the line. If the Texans are able to come away with a victory, they will own the tiebreaker over Indy and enjoy a comfortable lead in the division.

However, a loss to the Colts means the Texans will be in a virtual tie with Indy in the AFC South. So what do the Texans need to do to secure a win?

On offense, they'll have to do a much better job of protecting CJ Stroud. In their last game against the Packers, Stroud faced immense pressure on third downs, with 12 of his 14 dropbacks resulting in pressure.

During one series, Stroud was flushed from the pocket and forced to scramble on three straight plays. They have to clean up the protection, or it will be another long day for the offense.

Fortunately for the Texans, this game is at home. So hopefully the communication issues the Texans o-line dealt with on the road last week won't be an issue at NRG.

Rushing attack

Houston can't afford to rely solely on Joe Mixon and the run game to carry the offense. While Mixon has been terrific, contributing significantly in recent weeks, the Texans will need a balanced attack. Which means Stroud must have time to operate in the pocket.

Bulls on parade

The defense last week was another story for the Texans. They played well against Green Bay, limiting them to 24 points. This week, they face a very different type of quarterback. Anthony Richardson is dead last in passer rating and completion percentage, so that's definitely working in their favor.

We know what Richardson can do with his legs, and Indy is expecting running back Jonathan Taylor to return from an ankle injury, so the rushing defense will be tested.

Richardson's accuracy is certainly a weakness, but he does throw a good deep ball that gave the defense problems in Week 1 this season.

What does Vegas think?

The Texans are favored by 5 points and the total is set at 45.5 points.

This is one video you don't want to miss as we share our in-depth breakdown of the game, as well as our predictions for Sunday's contest.

For Texans’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo on our Texans On Tap podcasts. Thursdays feature a preview of the upcoming game, and then we go live (then available on demand) after the final gun of the game: Texans on Tap - YouTube

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Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Find out more about it here.

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