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Applying 4 key lessons to propel the Houston Texans forward
Feb 15, 2024, 10:29 am
The Texans can learn a lot from the Chiefs and 49ers. Composite Getty Image.
February brings about the end of one NFL season and the beginning of another. The Super Bowl was on the 11th. The Scouting Combine starts on the 26th. Out with the old, in with the new. As part of a being a copycat league, the NFL has been known to duplicate itself. Teams will often go into their offseason plans trying to emulate things other successful teams have done.
The Chiefs have gone from an offensive juggernaut, to a defense first team. It helps to have the best quarterback in the league to assist with those changes. The 49ers have had different defensive coordinators over the past few seasons because the prior two have left for head coaching jobs. One happens to have an office on Kirby Drive now. Despite things shifting and changing, these are the same two teams that met in the Super Bowl four years ago!
So what lessons can be learned by the Texans to apply to their organization to help get them to this level? Here are some that I had in mind:
Depth: One thing about both the Chiefs and 49ers, both teams have great depth. And I'm not just speaking on the players. Both teams have lost players, coaches, and front office staff between Super Bowl appearances. The thing that's kept them both on top of the food chain this long is quality depth. Having a great 53-man roster, 16-man practice squad, and keeping an eye on talent around the league to add is tough. Being able to continue that success for multiple seasons is elite. Add to that, coaches and front office personnel taking other opportunities, and you can lose some recipes. These two teams have done a tremendous job with the “next man up” mentality. This will require DeMeco Ryans, Nick Caserio, and the rest of the gang to identify not only future players in drafts and whatnot, but also personnel in meeting rooms and the office building.
Defense: The 49ers have had a stout defense as their calling card since they were under Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch's control. DeMeco was a large part of that. He helped develop several of the guys we all saw on that defense. The Chiefs have used their defense as their calling card this season. While Will Anderson Jr. won Defensive ROY, Derek Stingley Jr lived up to the hype, and Christian Harris has stepped up. But it's C.J. Stroud who has garnered most of the attention. He and Tank Dell were seen as the prized young stars on this team. DeMeco's side of the ball will get developed quickly. He's already got numerous key pieces in place. His and his staff's ability to develop guys will be crucial. This means they can use mid to late round picks/low-end free agency money on defense and higher draft capital/big free agency money on offense.
Weapons: Stroud needs more weapons. Brock Purdy has no less than four guys that scare defenses and can line up just about anywhere. Pat Mahomes has less weapons than he's had in the past, but he's still got Travis Kelce and others that he uses to stretch defenses. Give Stroud more weapons and more versatile guys. Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey are almost interchangeable for the 49ers. Kelce can stretch the field from the tight end position. Add in Isaiah Pacheco as a power runner, Skyy Moore, MVS, and Rashee Rice, and you give Mahomes guys with different skill sets that Andy Reid can deploy at different times to execute their offense.
Consistency: As much as things have changed, they've stayed the same. With all the turnover they've experienced, the main pieces have stayed in place. Head coaches, general managers, and main players have stayed the same. Of course a franchise/face of the league quarterback like Mahomes isn't going anywhere. Neither is Stroud. Keeping some synchronicity in the brain trust and finding/keeping franchise guys at key positions is key. One of the main things in consistency is keeping the right people. You can often find one you think is right, and it ends in disaster. Finding and keeping them is crucial.
These are just a few things I've observed from the Chiefs and 49ers over their runs the last few years. I have faith so far in what Caserio and DeMeco have managed to put together. I think they'll continue to put things together. They have the faith of the McNair family and the fans. Coming out the gate 10-7 and winning the division raises the stakes. Time to go all in!
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or nine games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after a 4-8 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez (though not Breggy Bad). A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
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 YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.