TEXANS VS. COLTS
The good, bad and ugly from the Texans' season-ending loss in Indianapolis
Dec 31, 2017, 3:51 pm
Jadeveon Clowney and Bernardrick McKinney were impact players on Sunday. Houstontexans.com
This was the final game of the season for the 2017 Houston Texans. The 22-13 loss to rival Indianapolis Colts mercifully ended what has been a dumpster fire of a season. The 4-12 record makes them the third worst team in the league in terms of record and tied for second worst record in the team’s history.
The Good
- Zach Cunningham had 12 tackles, four of which were solo. The rookie linebacker has been rounding into form as of late and was all over the field against the Colts. His sideline to sideline speed is undeniable. However, it’s his understanding of his assignments that I’ve noticed the most improvement in his game. He still has moments of looking out of place, but I look forward to what he can provide this team in the future.
- Jadeveon Clowney has proved he’s more valuable to this team than J.J. Watt. He chased Jacoby Brissett out of the pocket several times recording a half a sack, held up well against the run (sans that stiff arm from Marlon Mack), and dropped into coverage (where he laid Mack out to get revenge). Do not argue with me on this one. He’s proven himself worthy of perhaps the richest non-quarterback contract in the league.
-Benardrick McKinney has showed continued improvement. While his coverage skills still need work, he appears to have a much better understanding of the game. I particularly like the way he calls out adjustments to the defense. His passion for the game was on display when I noticed him trying to pump up his teammates after the safety punt.
The Bad
- Jonathan Joseph may have played not only his last game as a Texan, but his last game period. He no longer possesses the athletic ability that was his calling card early on in his career. He was badly beaten by T.Y. Hilton on the Colts first possession and fell down. Luckily, the pass was overthrown, or else it could have resulted in a touchdown.
-Another loss, another game in which this team averaged less than four yards per carry, 3.1 to be specific. What really puzzled me was that Lamar Miller averaged 4.6 yards per carry on eight carries, but Alfred Blue got 18 carries averaging a miniscule 2.2 yards per carry. The offensive line is partially to blame here, but at what point does this team need better talent in the backfield?
-Speaking of Blue, the mere fact that he led the team in receptions with four says all you need to know about how this game went and the depth this team doesn’t have. Second leading receiver was Chris Thompson, an undrafted rookie free agent.
The Ugly
- Will Fuller left the game with a knee injury in the first half. It didn’t seem too serious because he was standing on the sideline and appeared fine, but it’s a mere drop in the bucket to what they’ve experienced this year. The Texans have used 77 players this year and have 19 players on injured reserve.
-Chris Slade and Breno Giacomini had a terrible miscommunication that led to Yates getting sacked for a safety. Giacomini (playing right tackle) went wide as Slade (playing right guard) went towards the inside leaving a hole you could’ve driven a bus through. Thank God Yates didn’t take a huge hit and was able to get up. Offensive line play like this has hurt the run game as well as caused Tom Savage to get concussed. Deshaun Watson was running for his life before his unfortunate injury.
-Braxton Miller had an opportunity to step up to the plate to prove himself worthy of his status as a third round pick and help begin to dispel the bust talk that follows him. He had two catches for nine yards and one punt return for -3 yards. Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, must be a duck? Right? I don’t know how he comes back to this team next year.
One thing I noticed about this game is that players didn’t give up and played hard. I didn’t see many “business decisions” being made by players who may have had their vacation bags packed already. There were even some chippy extracurricular activities following some plays. Sure, there were a few guys that didn’t run out plays, or attempt to chase a play down, but no full-on mailing it in. Bill O’Brien didn’t call plays as if he had punted on the season. Biggest evidence to this thought was the fact that he used all three timeouts with about 3-4 minutes left in an attempt to get the ball back while down 19-13. Games like these between two teams with nothing to play for can often be a snooze fest. While it wasn’t exciting, it was good to see it be competitive.
How 3 major x-factors could tip the scales in Texans-Colts: Week 1
Sep 5, 2024, 7:27 pm
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.