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
Injuries and hopefully penalties will be gone after the bye week
Texans offensive lineman Tytus Howard
3 headlines 2 questions and 1 bet heading into 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
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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