Injuries and hopefully penalties will be gone after the bye week
Credit due to two members of Texans as bye arrives at perfect time
Nov 6, 2019, 12:30 am
Texans offensive lineman Tytus Howard
3 headlines 2 questions and 1 bet heading into the bye week.
Perfect time for the bye week
Bill O'Brien's Texans have been incredibly lucky with the placement of their bye weeks. Every bye week but one has come near the middle of the season while O'Brien has been the head coach.
Injuries is the primary reason the bye week will be important. The Texans should get the following players back after the bye. I say SHOULD not will.
LT Laremy Tunsil
S Tashaun Gipson
CB Lonnie Johnson
CB Bradley Roby
Getting essentially three starters back in the secondary would be humongous for the Texans. Adding Gareon Conley who had some success in two games to Justin Reid and Johnathan Joseph as well as the other depth should provide the defense with plenty of options in the secondary.
I don't expect WR Will Fuller to be back after the bye week. Not quite yet. Though it would be amazing from an offensive weapon standpoint if he was available.
Tytus' Triumphant Return
Tytus Howard made his return to the lineup after missing a few games with a knee injury. Boy was he a welcome sight on the right side. The Jaguars came into the game with the third most sacks in football and they got to Watson just a handful times for the sack. Pro Football Focus had him with zero pressures allowed against the fearsome Jaguars pass rush.
He also was a key in the rushing attack. He can move the pile and wins in the rush lanes. He graded out with his best run blocking game so far according to PFF.
He has been better than anyone could have expected. Especially when he didn't really practice at right tackle, Howard has impressed. The scary part for opposing defenses is he's getting better.
Texans offensive line coach Mike Devlin was very proud of Howard's mentality and what he called a calm about him. He praised Howard and the rest of the line's ability to not have one play stick with them and to move on from it.
Credit to O'Brien? Credit to O'Brien.
It's time to give Bill O'Brien some credit#Texanshttps://t.co/sqJTJxBsIl
— ESPN 97.5 Houston (@espn975) November 5, 2019
A fellow writer on SportsMap tackled the credit to Bill O'Brien. Jermaine covered quite a bit.
Ultimately, O'Brien's past transgressions make it hard to give him credit but he's been such a better coach this season. He can finally dig deep into his playbook as he has the talent and quarterback to do it. And make no mistake, it is indeed O'Brien's offense.
"This is OB's offense," quarterbacks coach Carl Smith said Tuesday.
If this was O'Brien's second year coaching he would be heralded for cleaning up issues from his first year. Well, this is his second year with a healthy Deshaun Watson. I'm not making excuses for O'Brien, but he's the best version of himself to this point. Read Jermaine's article above.
When will the penalties get cleaned up?
O'Brien was not pleased about the Texans penalties before the snap.
"We've got to fix it," he said. "We have to fix it. We can't keep doing that. I think now that you get into these November, December games, there's a very fine line between winning and losing. There's a slim margin for error and we have to fix the pre-snap penalties."
It was all penalties that had O'Brien worked up later on Tuesday. I attempted to ask him about the scoring drive to start the game and he started in with this comment.
"We got points on that because Deshaun (Watson) made an unbelievable play scrambling to his right and Duke Johnson did a great job on the scramble play and cut to his right and we gained some yards back, and then we hit Duke on a slip screen. The other penalty we got on that drive was we weren't set formationally, so we had a third-and-13 become a third-and-18, threw a slip to Duke to get us back in field goal range. So, I mean, that was kind of a miracle drive just to get a field goal, and we've got to stop doing that. Sorry, I interrupted you. You got me fired up on that question."
The Texans lead the league in penalties before the snap with Laremy Tunsil being the greatest offender with eight false starts. (The second worst offender in football is Jadeveon Clowney. Remember him?)
This shouldn't be an issue going forward, but the Texans have done a decent job with Watson overcoming some penalties. O'Brien is right though. The margins, especially against good teams, will be razor thin. The Colts game is an example where a handful of penalties doomed the Texans.
How true do Dabo's words ring after London?
Fun fact: #Texans' Deshaun Watson's hurdle on Sunday was over the same player (Ronnie Harrison) he hurdled in the National Championship with #Clemson in 2017. It was also in the same end zone. pic.twitter.com/Q51rAK6zT8
— Avery Duncan (@averydduncan) November 5, 2019
"That's how you change things, you change the culture, through…for me it's through discipline and recruiting, staffing and all that stuff. For them, it's decision-making, it's who you pick. And I'm just telling you: They pass on Deshaun Watson, they're passing on Michael Jordan. I mean, I don't know what the heck I'm talking about, I'm just an old funky college coach, but Deshaun Watson is the best, by a long shot."
Deshaun Watson has changed everything about the Texans. Hell, he may change everything about the NFL. This is exactly what you expect out of a quarterback. He is doing the same things Patrick Mahomes is doing, but with a tad less fanfare. He's carried an organization for the better part of two seasons and seems poised to do so for year. It really is special to see. He may not be Michael Jordan when it is all said and done, but he can be the Houston football Michael Jordan without a doubt.
I bet the three games after the bye define the Texans season
at Baltimore
vs Colts (Thursday)
vs Patriots
The result and how the Texans play in these will likely determine every bit of what we think about their playoff future and chances in the postseason. They should win three of the last four games at least, maybe all four.
With seven games left, the Texans will likely need to go 5-2 to have a shot at the second spot and a bye. This could be a fun season but only if the next three games shake out in a positive light.
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!
*ChatGPT assisted.
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