DEATH BLOW FOR TEXANS
Here's why the loss of Bradley Roby couldn't have come at a worse time for Texans
Dec 3, 2020, 10:35 am
The Texans have no answers for top tier receivers.Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
Late Monday afternoon, the NFL distributed a six-game suspension for Houston Texans receiver Will Fuller — who violated the league's drug policy. Nearly four hours later, the NFL suspended Texans cornerback Bradley Roby for the same purpose. The news of both Fuller's and Roby's suspensions could not have come at a worse time.
After winning back-to-back games following their Thanksgiving victory over the Detroit Lions, the Texans were on the verge of turning their disastrous season around. Entering Sunday's game against the Colts at 4-7 could have given the Texans little hope to qualify for the playoffs with a victory inside NRG Stadium.
But instead of becoming the second team in league history to reach the playoffs after an 0-4 start, the suspensions place the Texans with a daunting task of replacing the talents of Fuller and Roby. Despite losing their No. 1 receiver for the rest of the season, Houston is in a substantial position to overcome Fuller's absence.
Brandin Cooks has been just as important to the Texans' receiving corps, and the additions of Keke Coutee and Isaiah Coulter could be enough to fill in Fuller's void. Unfortunately, Roby's void appears to be an unenviable feat.
"Anytime you have someone on your team make a misstep — that's disappointing," Romeo Crennel said. "Particularly when they are team contributors, so, what we'll have to do now is everybody as a group will have to play to belt straps, and put our best foot forward and get ready for the game on Sunday."
The 28-year-old Texas native has been Houston's best defensive back all season. In 337 coverage snaps, Roby has only allowed 23 receptions with a PFF grade of 71.6 overall — the highest among all Texan corners.
Prior to his PED suspension, the Texans received a small dose of life without Roby's on-field contributions. In the two games he missed, Houston's secondary gave up an average of 285.5 yards against the Packers and Jaguars. Both franchises' top receiver had a field day in Roby's absence — which included a career performance from Davante Adams (196 Yds., 13 Rec., 2 TD) during the Texans' 35-20 loss to the Packers.
Texans killer T.Y. Hilton comes to NRG this Sunday
Houston's most challenging task could take place against Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton. Even when the Texans had an adequate secondary, Houston still struggled to contain the four-time pro-bowler.
In 17 career games against the Texans — including the postseason — Hilton has recorded 90 catches for 1,530 yards and 10 touchdowns. Albeit this season demonstrated that injuries and age hindered his production, Hilton could still have a massive game without a solid corner shadowing his every move.
During Wednesday's media availability, interim head coach Romeo Crennel gave no indication who will be assigned Hilton ahead of their match against the Colts. Keion Crossen and rookie John Reid have received a bulk of their playing time on special teams, while Eric Murray has to be used to cover the likes of the Colts' other receiver, Zach Pascal.
As Houston's most experience corner, Vernon Hargreaves III could potentially take over as Houston's primary defensive back, but there is a significant drop-off when compared to Roby. Among the remaining qualified candidates, Hargreaves has possessed the team's lowest PFF grade of 41.7 overall — while allowing 40 receptions on the season in 376 coverage snaps.
"When you lose production like that, it hurts," Crennel said. There's nothing we can do about it now, but it hurts not having them. But like I told them this morning 'we have enough in the room that we can win games, and everybody has to tighten their belt strap up and put that best foot forward and have great energy and effort and drive to win this game on Sunday.'"
All season long, Houston's inability to stop the run was the highlight of what has been a dreadful defensive year. However, without Roby, Houston's diminish secondary could make the final five weeks of the season miserable. In addition to facing Hilton twice over the next three games, the Texans will have to assign someone to cover the talents of Allen Robinson, Tee Higgins, and A.J. Brown to close out the season.
Coty M. Davis is a reporter for ESPN 97.5 Houston/SportsMap covering the Houston Texans. He is also the co-host of Locked On Texans, a part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Follow Coty on Twitter @CotyDavis_24.
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Comicpalooza is coming to the George R. Brown Convention Center, May 24-26, so pop culture, sci-fi, comic book fans, and whatever are on high alert to get their nerd on.
The lineup of celebrity guests tops anything in the history of the event. Slated to appear are: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and James Tolkan from the Back to the Future franchise; WWE superstar John Cena; Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez from Napoleon Dynamite; Rebecca Romijn, Anson Mount, and Andrew Robinson from Star Trek; Shannen Doherty and Rose McGowan from Charmed; and the stars I’ll be lining up to meet, Creed, Oscar and David Wallace from The Office.
There will be an exhibit floor packed with merchants selling all kinds of stuff that appeals to this crowd. There will be comedy shows by the Geeks of Comedy, House Party Comedy, and live wrestling matches featuring the heroes of Texas All-Star Wrestling. There will be cooking demonstrations for kids, cosplay competition, and trivia contests.
For more information, including ticket prices, times and dates for the celebrities, etc., click on Comicpalooza.com.
I’ve been to a couple of these events. They’re huge. I promise you will see things and meet people that you don’t run into during Little League games and Junior League meetings.
An amazing true story
In fact …
Comicpalooza was the scene of one of the great snubs of my career – and trust me, I’ve been “better-dealed” a few times.
They say you should never meet your heroes because they’ll inevitably let you down. It happened to me.
A few years ago I was invited to participate in one of these pop culture festivals at the George R. Brown. They told me, just come up with something. I created a game show called “Win a Date with a Nerd” – a takeoff on the old Dating Game.
Originally the idea was to have a nerd ask questions of three really hot Hooters Girls but I couldn’t convince three Hooters Girls to waste their afternoon on something so stupid. Ultimately, I talked one attractive young woman into picking her date from three total nerds straight out of central casting. These nerds made Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard from Big Bang Theory look like Navy SEAL Team 6 — the guys who got Osama bin Laden.
The game went OK and to this day I have no idea if the date actually took place. I’d like to think it didn’t because it would upset the delicate balance of nature and the Earth might fall off its axis.
Anyway, my favorite professional wrestler Ric Flair was at the event and I met him outside the building. Because there was street construction that limited parking, organizers arranged for limos for guest participants. I was waiting for my car to take me home.
I was talking to the Nature Boy, slobbering over him pretty good, when a car pulled up and the driver yelled out my name.
Flair said, “That’s me,” hopped in the car and the driver took off. No wonder they call Flair the “dirtiest player in the game.”
Another car arrived a few minutes later, and the driver hollered, “Ric Flair.” I tried to get in the car, explaining what had happened. The driver thought I was hustling him and pulled over to wait for Naitch. No way he was letting me in that car.
I wound up calling a friend to come get me.
This article originally appeared on CultureMap.