Texans 27, Patriots 20
Five observations from the Texans 27-20 win over the Patriots
Nov 22, 2020, 3:14 pm
Texans win! Photo by Getty Images
The Texans got just their third win of there season on Sunday, beating the New England Patriots 27-20. Five obersvations from the win:
1) A look to the future: While this season is done, the Texans need some young players to solidify some spots for next season. Keke Coutee could be one of them. He started his career well, but injuries and Bill O'Brien's dog house stymied him. Pressed into service Sunday, he had just two catches for 10 yards, but one went for a touchdown, and he also returned punts. Maybe he can be a useful piece moving forward. Meanwhile, Jordan Akins looked like a beast with five catches for 83 yards. On defense, Tyrell Adams was hit and miss, but he continues to play well and could be a part of next year's rebuild. Rookie Jonathan Greenard had his first career sack. Finally, Justin Reid has regressed since his excellent rookie year, but on Sunday he played one of his better games. The Texans will need him to play at this level down the road.
2) Deshaun's big statistical season continues. Watson threw for 344 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for another 36 yards and a score. His numbers are going to look fantastic at the end of the season. It's baffling that a team with that kind of quarterback production is 3-7. There have been a lot of empty yards there in some blowouts, but on raw numbers, Watson has been terrific. He has not thrown a pick in six of the 10 games this season, and has not thrown one for five straight games. He is on pace for over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns and he has not lost a fumble this season. That's impressive.
3) Give the OL some credit. Laremy Tunsil was a scratch with an illness, but Roderick Johnson filled in and did an OK job. They had some penalties, but they also gave Watson tons of time to throw the ball and did not allow a sack. They did not run block worth a damn, but that almost goes without saying. On that note...
4) Stop us if you have heard this before...The Texans could not run the ball other than Watson. Duke Johnson had 15 yards on 10 carries. C.J. Prosise had 4 on 3. Simply pathetic. It might be time to look at other team's practice squads and bring in some new blood. What could it hurt? Whatever they are doing just isn't working. Meanwhile, they did do a nice job slowing New England's terrific running game on the other side of the ball. Holding the Patriots to 86 yards is a big win for this group. As a matter of fact...
5) The defense is still terrible, but...They don't force turnovers. They can't cover homeless guys at receiver. And did anyone think New England was not going to score a touchdown on the next to last drive? But for the first time since the Bush Administration (pick either one), they came up with a big stop on fourth down to clinch the game. Overall, they have shown some improvement over the past few weeks. The Browns ran for over 200 yards, but the defense held them to 10 (what should have been 17 points), which should have been good enough to win. On Sunday, they sacked Cam Newton a couple times and made a few stops, which is how this team is going to have to win games. The formula is simple; stop the other team a few times and hope Deshaun plays elite. That was what the Texans did on Sunday, and it led to a big win.
The bottom line: This was the Texans best performance of the season, and first win over a team not named Jacksonville. It's too little, too late, but at least the fans had something to smile about. That's been very rare in 2020.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.