Critical matchups necessary for Texans to pull off Christmas Day miracle over Ravens
TEXANS ON TAP
24 December 2024
The Texans host the Ravens on Christmas Day. Composite Getty Image.
For a second straight season, the Houston Texans will be without Tank Dell to end the regular season and for the playoffs after the dynamic receiver suffered another major injury.
“It’s tough to see guys get injured, the work that guys put in, how much they put their bodies on the line to play this game,” Ryans said. “It’s deeper than football. We are talking about real people who have real emotions and real feelings who are going through a tough time right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in that situation.”
The AFC South champion Texans will have to regroup quickly with a visit from the Ravens coming on Christmas Day. Dell’s injury is another blow to a team that was already missing Stefon Diggs after the four-time Pro Bowl receiver sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 8.
Dell ranks second on the team with 51 receptions for 667 yards and three touchdowns behind Nico Collins, who has 909 yards receiving and six scores.
Tight end Dalton Schultz has 482 yards receiving and two touchdowns and running back Joe Mixon 291 yards receiving and a touchdown grab. But with Dell and Diggs out, the Texans are thin at receiver.
John Metchie, who has just 182 yards receiving this season, could fill in for Diggs this week, but his status is uncertain after he missed Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury.
“There is a chance John could be back,” Ryans said. “I think he’s progressing, so we’ll see where he ends up on Wednesday.”
Other options at the position are veteran Robert Woods, who has just 143 yards receiving this season, and Xavier Hutchinson, who nine catches. Houston claimed former Ravens receiver Diontae Johnson off waivers on Monday, so he could factor in at some point.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud, one of Dell’s closest friends, was distraught after Dell’s injury and remained upset after the game. He said it will be difficult for the team to bounce back after losing Dell to a serious injury again.
“The easy answer is to tell you something to make everybody feel nice, but it’s not the truth right now,” he said after the game. “The truth is that it’s not easy seeing your brother go down like that. (Sunday) we’ll have to get recovery, get ready for Wednesday because it’s another big-time opponent. The Ravens are a great team. It’ll be a playoff atmosphere on Christmas Day.”
Don't miss the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap previews the Texans' Christmas Day matchup with the Ravens!
What's working
Stroud distributed the ball well Saturday, completing passes to six different players. Dell led the way with six receptions for 98 yards and Collins had seven receptions for 60 yards while being double-teamed often.
With teams likely to place even more emphasis on stopping Collins with Dell out, Stroud will need to continue to spread the ball around against the Ravens.
What needs help
The Texans continue to struggle in the red zone and converted just 1 of 3 opportunities Saturday. This comes after they were also 1 of 3 in a win over the Jaguars in Week 13 and converted just 2 of 4 chances in a loss to the Titans in Week 12.
“We had our opportunities, and it just comes down to as simple as guys being in the right spot,” Ryans said. “We just have to make the plays. We have to finish and that’s all it comes down to.”
Stock up
LB Christian Harris had seventh tackles and a sack against the Chiefs in his second game of the season after missing the first 13 with a calf injury. His sack was Houston’s 46th of the season, which ties a franchise record that was set last season.
Stock down
K Ka’imi Fairbairn missed an extra point Saturday. He’s been excellent from long range this season, making 13 field goals longer than 50 yards. But has struggled on shorter kicks, missing two from less than 30 yards before Saturday’s PAT miss.
Injuries
S Jimmie Ward injured his foot Saturday and could miss the rest of the season. … G Shaq Mason injured his knee against the Chiefs and will likely miss Wednesday’s game.
Key number
10 — Dell’s touchdown Saturday was the 10th of his career, tying Hall of Famer Andre Johnson for most TD catches by a Texans through their first two seasons.
Next steps
The Texans look for their first win over Baltimore since 2014 after five consecutive wins by the Ravens, including a 34-10 victory in the divisional round of the playoffs last season.
- It’s the first place Houston Astros against the first place Los Angeles Dodgers as they open their latest head-to-head series. This is not a recording. The two most dominant powers in the sport over the last decade gather at Dodger Stadium this Independence Day weekend. The Astros have a sizable lead in pursuit of their eighth American League West championship in the last nine years. The Dodgers have an even more sizable lead as they chase their fourth straight National League West crown, which would be their 12th in 13 years. Each franchise has won two World Series in that time frame, each has lost two. All Astro and Dodger parties would sign off immediately on a 2025 World Series matchup. This three-game set carries no big picture significance, but every game counts, and it’s just fun seeing these two get after it. It would be more fun if the Astros had Yordan Alvarez available. Then again, the Dodgers won’t have Josh Fields.
Both continue to roll along despite rashes of injuries. When the Astros awoke May 24 their record sat at 26-25. Since then they have gone 26-10. That is a dominant stretch despite this clearly not being a dominant team. The still Alvarez-less offense is mediocre. So is the starting pitching apart from the one-two awesome punch that Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez have been. When Brown or Valdez has been the Astros’ starting pitcher this season, the team record is 25-9. With anyone else making the start, 27-26. They have been every bit as dynamic a duo so far in 2025 that Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole were for the Astros in 2019 when Verlander edged out Cole to win his third Cy Young Award. Brown is a lock to be named to his first American League All-Star team this Sunday. Valdez is worthy of a third consecutive selection but could get caught in a numbers squeeze. Eight or nine starting pitchers are picked for each league.
The Dodgers won’t face Brown this weekend, but will have to deal with Valdez on Saturday night. His mound counterpart will be Shohei Ohtani. Oooooooh! Framber didn’t give up a run in 13 innings over his last two starts, and over his last 10 outings has a super-spiffy 1.72 earned run average. The amazing Ohtani is easing back into pitching after his second Tommy John surgery. Ohtani has started three games, totaling just four innings. He has yet to throw 30 pitches in an outing. Saturday he probably will be allowed 30 to 40.
Arms race
While Friday’s outing isn’t remotely a make or break start for Lance McCullers, it does speak to a significant question the Astros hope to find a pleasing answer to over the remainder of the regular season. Who is their third starting pitcher in a playoff series? After Brown and Valdez there is simply no one who inspires confidence at this point. McCullers has been awful his last two times out, jacking up his ERA to 6.61 eight starts into his season. 20 walks issued in 32 2 /3 innings pitched is glaringly bad. McCullers is still reasonably in ramp up mode, but given his injury history along with performance concerns, the third starter spot can’t be considered his to lose. Spencer Arrighetti’s resume is thin but his return at the level he pitched at after the All-Star break last season would be massive. Colt Gordon and Brandon Walter have both done some nice fill-in work, but no one plausibly wants them starting what would be a do or die game if the Astros wind up in a game three of a best-of-three Wild Card series.
Historic achievement
Not as if it’s subplot or anything this weekend, but let’s call it notable that the two active career hits leaders in Major League Baseball share the field this weekend. Jose Altuve this week vaulted past Jeff Bagwell for second in Astros’ history behind Craig Biggio. Altuve enters the weekend 743 hits behind Biggio. He is no lock to catch him before Altuve’s five-year contract expires at the end of the 2029 season. Altuve will be 39 then. Biggio was 41 when he rapped his 3000th hit, then added 60 more before beginning the waiting game for election to the Hall of Fame.
Like Biggio got and presumably someday Altuve will get, Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman will get the call from Cooperstown some day. Like Altuve, Freeman is 35 years old, has won a Most Valuable Player Award, one Gold Glove, and with his selection this week been named an All-Star nine times. Aaron Judge may change this in the next couple of years, but among active players only Mike Trout (by a long shot) has compiled more Baseball-Reference offensive Wins Above Replacement than Freeman (second) and Altuve (third).
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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