Texans Player of the Game
Coutee returns, impresses during playoff loss
Jan 5, 2019, 6:34 pm
Keke Coutee was a lone bright spot. Bob Levey/Getty Images
The Colts may have won the game but the Texans are now sure how valuable rookie wide receiver Keke Coutee is to the team. He scored the Texans only touchdown of the day and finished with 11 catches for 110 yards.
Coutee played for the first time since November as he had been sidelined with a hamstring injury. The Texans found him early and often. He led the team in yards and catches at halftime but the overall offensive performance from Houston was poor. As the team started to show life in the second half, Coutee was key in moving the ball.
Deshaun Watson found Coutee for a short pass that he took up the field for a 17-yard gain but the drive would end in a punt. Coutee converted a fourth down try hauling in a Watson strike keeping the Texans moving. He would finish the drive catching a short pass to Watson's left and diving for the end zone for a touchdown. The play was reviewed to make sure he didn't fumble through the end zone and was upheld.
It was clear how valuable Coutee can be in this offense, especially when defenses have to worry about DeAndre Hopkins. He found himself open quite a bit, even when he wasn't involved in the play. His ability to take short passes and then turn them into more positive yards is impressive. With more experience, and an offseason of growth, a healthy Coutee is going to be a terror for the NFL to try to cover on this Texans team.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.