If only the Texans and Rockets could be more like the Astros

Things were not so good for Ken Giles. Al Bello/Getty Images

Now that we are a city of champions again we need to start acting like it. That means you Texans. And you Rockets. It’s not like they can take the Astros blueprint and copy it exactly. They each have their own challenges but there are some things they can pick from here and there, throw it in the pot and hopefully come out with a nice gumbo of sports greatness. The first ingredient they both need? They need to grow a pair.

What I loved most about this Astros team was that it had giant nuts. The kind you need a wheelbarrow to carry around. I mean huge balls. When you lead the league in hitting in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings it means you don’t give a bleep. Ken Giles agrees with this theory.

I’m not sure Giles is the guy that should be repping the “zero (blanks) given” shirt. I wish he would start caring about stuff like getting guys out. I’m referring more to the hitters that didn’t give a bleep about who the pitcher was, what his stats were, how hard he threw, what inning it was in what game or how much they were down. Chris Sale? No problem. Craig Kimbrel? Knocked him around. C.C.? Come on. Clayton Kershaw? Pssshhh. Kenley Jansen? Bring it. Game 7? Twice? Whatever.

The Rockets and Texans? Not so much. You don’t earn a name like Elimination James unless you really wilt under the pressure of the big moment. This is not even arguable. The evidence is starting to pile up. It started in the 2012 NBA finals when he was with OKC. It got even worse in the ‘15 Western Conference Finals when he went 2 for 11 with 11 turnovers in the 5th and deciding game against the Warriors. Then there was last year’s Game 6 debacle against the Spurs. I don’t even want to go there. Come on man. $181 million deserves a better effort in the biggest games. I don’t know if you heard James but that’s not how we act anymore. That’s how we used to act back in ‘92 when we were playing the Bills and had a 32 point lead or in ‘98 when we struck out 11 times against Sterling Fricking Hitchcock. But we don’t act like that anymore. We just don’t.

Well, the Texans still do but that’s gonna have to change as well. One thing that hasn’t changed at all is their luck. Holy crap. This season had so much promise thanks to one guy and that guy’s gone now. Deshaun Watson out for the year with a knee injury. Add that to J.J. and Whitney and this is beyond cataclysmic. Those two were bad enough but there was still a thrill in the air thanks to Deshaun and if not for Bill O’Brien choking in the final minutes of the Patriot and Seahawks games this team could have been 5-2 instead of 3-4.

That’s the kind of behavior that has got to go. Maybe BOB can take a page from A.J. Hinch’s book and grow a pair when the game is on the line. Game 4 in Boston? Up one. What the hell, let’s bring Verlander in. What???!!!! Twitter exploded. You would have thought A.J. said something about inmates in prison. No. All he did was win a series.

Up 2 with under 3 minutes to play the Texans drive down to the Patriot 20. A touchdown puts it away. What does BOB do? Lamar Miller for 7 yards. Lamar Miller for 2 yards. Lamar Miller for no gain. Field goal. Of course you know how it ended. What a shock. Give Tom Brady the ball back down 5 with 2:24 to play and guess what happens?

In Seattle, up 4 with 2:10 left the Deshaun runs for a first down. One more first down and this thing is over. What does BOB do? Run Lamar Miller three times again, punt it back to Seattle and lose the game. You’ve got the most dynamic player in the game. He was probably wearing Ken Giles’ shirt under his uniform. He didn’t give a bleep about the legion of boom. He went in there and dominated the Seahawk defense but BOB stole all that thunder by playing scared.

Those two faux pas aside, BOB seemed to be a different coach this year. His staid and incredibly dull offense was scrapped in favor of originality and fun. The sign of a good coach is that he can adjust to the talent he has as opposed to the players adapting to his scheme. He was learning as much from Deshaun as Deshaun was from him and other than how he turtled at the end of those two games he was coaching his tail off. It’s going to be interesting to see how he’s going to be judged at the end of this year. He showed ingenuity for the first time as the Texans head coach and Deshaun was flourishing in this offense. Can you fire him now even if they don’t win another game? How can anyone expect him to make chicken salad out of this? Back to boring football. Damn.

One other thing that would be awesome is if BOB in some way somehow might learn to be a little more likeable like A.J.

A.J. meets with the media twice a day. He sits down with pretty much the same guys before and after every game; 180 this year. That’s at least 360 sessions and that doesn’t count his radio obligations. It can’t be easy. When a reporter asks him about leaving Giles in while he’s blowing another save it really means, “What the hell were you thinking there? Have you ever seen him pitch?” But A.J. answers every question no matter how dumb or unintentionally insulting it might be and he does it thoughtfully and respectfully.

BOB? Again, not so much. I don’t care that you hate the media. I don’t care that you don’t respect the media. I don’t care if you never talk to the media again but since you have to you might as well be nice. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice. You’re not Bill Belichick. You haven’t won enough to act like him. Part of it could be that northeast upbringing. Those people (yes those people) are abrasive. It’s just how they are. But you’re in Houston now and I hope someday Houston rubs off on you a little.

So here’s what we need from our Rockets and Texans. Take a look at the Astros and grab some of that swagger. Grow a giant pair and don’t be afraid to win big. Try to be nice along the way and maybe people will like you. How about that? A championship team that’s likeable. Crazy but true. Someday maybe we can have a few of those in this city.

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The Longhorns host Georgia on Saturday night. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.

The Longhorns rank No. 1 in total defense and scoring defense. They are top 10 in first downs allowed, tackles for loss and passing yards. Much of that is built against opponents starting former walk-on quarterbacks ( Michigan ) and freshmen ( Mississippi State and Oklahoma.)

But the level of quarterback play Texas will face, in both talent and experience, is about to get much better over the second half of the season.

Texas hosts No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night in the first matchup of top five teams in Austin since 2006, before playing the next week at Vanderbilt. Bulldogs senior Carson Beck was a preseason first team Associated Press All-America pick, and standout Vanderbilt transfer Diego Pavia has carried the Commodores to a surprising 4-2 start, including a historic win over then-No. 1 Alabama.

Quite simply, Texas hasn't defended this caliber of quarterback all season.

Beck is a player on the doorstep of the NFL, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

“There's nothing in the throw game (Beck) can't do,” Sarkisian said. “He's played enough football now, too. It's kind of hard to confuse guys when they've played that much football.”

Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) has allowed just one team to pass for more than 200 yards this season. Beck passed for 459 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions last week in a 41-31 win over Mississippi State. His 36 completions set a Georgia record.

Even when Beck struggled early in Georgia's loss to Alabama, he rallied the Bulldogs to a late fourth-quarter lead. He finished with 439 yards in the loss where Georgia's rally ended with an Alabama interception in the end zone in the final minute.

Sarkisian recruited Beck when the Texas coach was an assistant at Alabama. Beck had initially committed to the Crimson Tide before switching to Georgia.

Beck is 18-2 in his career as a starter, and 6-2 against top 20 opponents.

The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) will need another exceptional game from him Saturday. A second SEC loss could threaten any chance of playing for the SEC championship, and raise the alarms on the College Football Playoff as well.

Texas has all but overwhelmed opposing quarterbacks so far.

In last week's 34-3 thrashing of rival Oklahoma, the Longhorns sacked Sooners freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. five times, and held him to 27 yards on 20 carries. Texas allowed just 225 total yards.

Hawkins was the first Sooners freshman to start at quarterback against the Longhorns in the 120-year history of the rivalry and was quickly swallowed up by a relentless pass rush.

By the numbers, the Longhorns program is on pace for a historic season. Sarkisian has said his favorite stat is points allowed, which is not many.

Texas has surrendered only three touchdowns all season. Opponents have snatched four turnovers inside Texas territory, but none have produced points.

That ability to snuff momentum can drain an opponent, Sarkisian said.

“We're so composed as a defense,” Texas safety Michael Taaffe said. “We're so confident, that no matter what happens, everything is going to be alright.”

The only time Texas has trailed this season was a 3-0 early deficit against Oklahoma. Several Longhorns starters were still on the field when the Sooners' final drive stalled at the Texas 6-yard-line as the game ended.

The stars emerging for the Longhorns have been second-year linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and freshman edge rusher Colin Simmons.

Hill leads the team in total tackles (42), sacks (4 1/2) and tackles for loss (8 1/2). His sideline-to-sideline speed and move this season from the edge to the middle of the Texas defense has drawn comparisons to former Longhorns All-American Derrick Johnson 20 years ago.

Simmons has four sacks and 7 1/2 tackles for losses, second on the team in both categories.

“Size, speed,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in summing up the Texas defense.

“They’re the complete package on defense," Smart said. "The consistency you watch them play with, it reminds me of some of our best teams here.”By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.