Watt's future and the newest closer you can trust in Houston

Could Watt return and what to make of the Bucs?

Texans Deshaun Watson and JJ Watt
Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

3 Headline, 2 Questions, and 1 Bet ahead of the last road game of the regular season for the Texans.

Basically AFC South champs

Bill O'Brien doesn't hold back with reporters

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The Texans basically secured the AFC South and the fourth spot in the AFC side of the playoffs with their Sunday win. The Titans can even the season record but Houston has a stranglehold on tiebreakers even if the Titans take care of their business.

The Texans would have to lose to Tampa Bay and then lose to the Titans and then they'd be in danger of losing their playoff spot altogether.

So, essentially, the Texans will again be AFC South champs short of a massive failure at multiple levels.

That will mark O'Brien's fourth AFC South championship in six years at the helm of the organization. Since he was hired in 2014, he will have made the playoffs more than John Harbaugh and Mike Zimmer. He could have the same amount of first place finishes as Jason Garrett should the Cowboys hold onto the NFC East crown.

I say all that to say this: It doesn't matter if he doesn't win in the playoffs. Period. It is time for the Texans to win playoff games, plural. They also need to take care of their business these final two weeks should the Chiefs slip up and open up the three seed for them.

Film room pays off

Justin Reid on Sunday. Bradley Roby against the Patriots with an interception. Both touted they saw those plays coming on film the week leading up to the game.

Bill O'Brien downplayed the frequency of film helping noting the looks have to sometimes be right but he did tout his team's preparedness when it comes to studying film.

I will say this, when the Texans are on, they're on. The Titans had been scoring like crazy before the game against Houston and the Texans held them scoreless in the first half and to just 21 for the game. Outside of two final Patriots drive the defense did a good job again. Hopefully the film success continues for the Texans.

The Closer

DeAndre Hopkins was a monster in the clutch. In the fourth quarter he had four catches for 98 yards. The four catches went for 25 yards, 35 yards twice, and three yards. Up to that point he had just two catches for 21 yards.

Hopkins finds a way to get open in key moments and it seems like earlier Watson either missed him or really shied away from the heavy coverage. Obviously Hopkins and Fuller's return led to the open looks for Kenny Stills in the first half. Hopkins was the catalyst for the two scoring drives in the fourth. He is sensational.

How about Hyde?

He's a thousand yard rusher for the first time in his career. He's fit better for this offense and what Bill O'Brien wants in a back than anyone else in their time in my opinion. Really nice addition by the front office when they were in dire need of a player of Hyde's skill set.

I wrote a little more about Hyde Sunday.

Can Watt come back?

Bill O'Brien didn't rule it out.

"J.J. (Watt) is working very very hard. He's certainly made progress based on his work ethic and who he's working with in the training room. We will see how it goes."

That certainly isn't a no. Not a resounding yes either. Watt would likely need to practice some in the regular season so if it was going to be the case for him to return we may know shortly.

Meanwhile, T.J. Watt is close to replicating the production from his brother's first few seasons and big brother couldn't be happier as seen above.

I bet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are about out of steam

Chris Godwin left the Buccaneers win over the Lions with a hamstring injury. That comes one week after Mike Evans had his season ended via a hamstring as well. That leaves Tampa Bay without their top two pass catchers and their only players with over 500 yards receiving. Breshad Perriman just had his best game with the Buccaneers but he's now the number one basically with the injuries.

Jameis Winston leads the league in passing yards and is second in touchdowns but leads the league in interceptions by a wide margin. I have to imagine the turnovers will come when he doesn't have two premier wideouts to get the ball to on Saturday. Especially when Tampa could need to throw the ball a ton if they get behind.

Tampa has done a great job this season fighting to seven wins. The Texans have more than enough to make sure they don't get to eight this week.

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The Yankees host the Astros this weekend! Composite image by Jack Brame.

The Astros and the Yankees in the Bronx this weekend. Fun! And important. Both teams have been in results ruts for a while. The Astros have gone 9-16 over their last 25 games while the Yankees’ funk is longer extending, producing a 19-29 mess over their last 48 games. Despite the Seattle Mariners closing in, the Astros still lead the American League West. The Yankees’ hopes of again winning the AL East are fading toward the point of no return. They have tumbled six and a half games behind the Toronto Blue Jays and also lag three games behind the rampaging Boston Red Sox. Hence, the Yankees are under clearly more pressure than are the Astros this weekend. The pitching matchups in the first two games strongly favor the Astros. Friday night it’s Hunter Brown opposite rookie Cam Schlittler who makes his fifth big league appearance. Saturday afternoon it’s Framber Valdez versus Luis Gil, who was the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year, but missed the first four months of this season with a lat injury. Gil made his 2025 debut Sunday, and was terrible. The Astros’ quality rotation depth beyond Brown and Valdez is non-existent at this point. Their Sunday starter will be a lesser starter than the Yankees’ Max Fried. Of course, in one game you never know.

The Astros have thoroughly owned the Yankees in their most meaningful meetings over the last decade. In 2015 the ousted the Yankees in a one-game Wild Card matchup. Then came the real soul-crushers with the Astros vanquishing the Yanks in the 2017, 2019, and 2022 American League Championship Series, with it getting easier for the Astros as time went on. The 2017 series went the maximum seven games, 2019 took six, 2022 was a four-game Astros’ sweep. The regular season has been a different matter. The Yankees have beaten the Astros in 11 of 14 games over the last two years. Last season the Yankees walloped the Astros six wins to one. They only play six times this regular season: the three in New York this weekend then three at Daikin Park in early September.

Here comes the Judge

While the Astros (and their fans) endure a seemingly never-ending wait for Yordan Alvarez’s return to the lineup, the Yankees have Aaron Judge back after a 10-day stint on the injured list. Judge carries the burden of soft career postseason stats (though he has 16 home runs in just 58 postseason games and his career playoffs OPS is just 21 points lower than Alex Bregman’s), but this is a legendary player. Judge’s career OPS stands at a whopping 1.024. That number will drop during the decline years remaining in his career, but here’s the list of all time Major Leaguers higher than 1.024: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds, and Jimmie Foxx. Those are arguably the four greatest offensive players in MLB history, plus Foxx who probably rates in the top 20. If he holds up the rest of the season, Judge is a cinch for his third AL Most Valuable Player Award in four years.

Turn back the clock

Should they choose to check it out, the Astros can watch the Yankees’ Old-Timers' Game Saturday. Though most of the greatest of Yankee legends have died, there will still be a fabulous cast of alumni who soak up cheers during introductions, with many of them then taking part in a two or three inning game. The Yankees are by far the most storied franchise in MLB. The Astros have plenty of history and beloved players over multiple generations to copy the concept, and have their own Old-Timers' Day at Daikin Park. Would it not be a blast to see Roger Clemens pitch to Craig Biggio? Roy Oswalt to Lance Berkman? As I said during our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast this week, I wouldn’t bet against 78 (as of Friday)-year-old Jose Cruz squaring up a ball for a line drive. Make Astros’ Old Timers’ Day happen in 2026 Jim Crane!

Angry birds

The best team in the American League is Toronto, best for now anyway. The Blue Jays have been the best over the last two months-plus. The Jays woke up May 29 at 27-28. Since then they are 41-20. Over that time frame the Astros have the third-best record in the AL behind the Jays and Red Sox. A notable part of Toronto’s success the past month is Joey Loperfido. He didn’t make the Jays’ big league squad coming out of spring training, and wasn’t called up until July 6. Over 72 at bats since getting back to “The Show” Loperfido is batting .389 with a .978 OPS. Reminder that Loperfido hit .372 over his first 43 at bats with the Astros. Full credit to Joey for a magnificent month. Still, there is no reason for the Astros to be wracked with regret for having included Loperfido in last season’s trade for Yusei Kikuchi.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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