John Granato
I'm feeling pretty good about our Texans. How about you?
Nov 1, 2018, 7:22 am
Deshaun Watson looks like Deshaun again. Bob Levey/Getty Images
Halfway through the 2018 season what are we to think of our Houston Texans? Rockets fans might want to take note of how they’re bounced back before they give up on their team. I didn’t think it was possible for a good team to start the season any poorer than the Texans did but the Rockets are starting to make me rethink that.
I went into this season with high hopes for this Texans team. I joke about a16-0 or 15-1 season but I seriously believed that they had a chance at dethroning the Patriots in the AFC. What I saw from Deshaun last season made me think that even with all their flaws that that one guy could make that big a difference.
Tom Brady has never had a great supporting cast. He’s played with one, maybe two Hall of Famers his entire career: Randy Moss and possibly Rob Gronkowski. Otherwise he’s had a bunch of guys. For goodness sake, Jabar Gaffney played a big role with them in their undefeated regular season. After what we saw of Jabar here that was a near miraculous transformation.
I still think Deshaun is special and can take them to the promised land but he needs more help and more consistent coaching. Brady has never had a great offensive line but even he would have a hard time getting anything accomplished behind this line.
Has any team ever put less stock in drafting offensive linemen? Their first overall pick in their expansion draft was tackle Tony Boselli who never played a down for the team. Since then they’ve used a grand total of 3threpicks in the first or second round on the offensive line and one of them was a complete and utter bust: Duane Brown, Xavier Su’a-filo and Nick Martin. That’s it in 17 drafts. Three.
No wonder Deshaun can’t breathe. A lesser man might be dead by now. That he threw for 300 yards in four straight games and is on pace for 4,000 yards passing and 30 touchdowns is a minor miracle.
But we hadn’t really seen the real Deshaun until this past week. Yeah he threw for more yardage in previous games but it just wasn’t the same. For whatever it’s worth he only cracked a hundred in the passer rating twice before last week and then just barely. In the Dolphins game he turned in a 156 which is just 2.3 points shy of perfect.
That was vintage Deshaun if vintage is possible in your second season. After his college career though it feels like we know that the ceiling is the roof (thanks MJ) for Deshaun. And he hit the ceiling last week.
Is it sustainable? Is he back to being superhuman again?
Speaking of MJ, the joke was that the only guy that could keep Michael down in college was his coach Dean Smith. It feels a lot like that with Deshaun now. The only guy who can hold him back is Bill O’Brien.
For whatever reason he wouldn’t unleash Deshaun early on this year. In their first three losses he had him running the same offense Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett ran. At least it seemed that way. Where was the play action? Where were the moving pockets? The bootlegs? The RPO’s? Instead it was boring predictable football and it showed in the standings.
The result? 0-3.
But it wasn’t like there was some magic switch they flipped and voilå - great team. Against Dallas he threw for 375 yards but was beaten to a pulp and scored a grand total of 19 points. Against Buffalo he put up his lowest QB rating of the season and needed a pick six bailout to win. Against the Jags when asked about winning when they didn’t play well we got the infamous Bill O’Brien quote about how hard it was to win in the NFL. “Toughest thing in sports” decried BOB. I agree with him. It’s almost impossible to win when you play like crap.
So it’s not like this five-game win streak has been a thing of beauty. It’s been laborious for the most part but it is five in a row which is better than the alternative and it has quieted a fanbase that was ready to throw BOB to the wolves after Week 3. Is he back in good graces with said fanbase though?
Does anyone believe that he and the team have turned the corner? That they’re a contender in the AFC? That BOB will not revert to his staid and predictable ways the rest of the season? That the offensive line won’t get Deshaun maimed or worse? That the loss of Will Fuller won’t be devastating? That the addition of Demaryius Thomas will be fruitful? That they are good enough at corner to withstand the loss of J-Jo another few weeks? That someone will find Whitney Mercilus because he’s been missing thus far this season? These are all legitimate questions heading into the second half.
Looking at their schedule though, it’s almost impossible to find a loss. After easy trips to Denver and Washington they’ve got three straight home games against patsies, then they’re in New York for the Jets (win), at the Eagles (they’re below average this year, win) and home for the hapless Jags who should be down to 15 players because they killed each other by then (another win.)
That makes 13 straight wins, a division title, a playoff bye, home field advantage throughout (the Patriots and Chiefs look like they’re about to fall apart) and a near guaranteed AFC Championship game at home against said Chiefs or Patriots.
Pat Mahomes is so young he won’t be able to handle the pressure of the moment. Brady is so old he won’t be able to handle the pressure of the moment. Deshaun has been there and done that on the biggest college stage so it’ll be just another game for him.
I’m thinking this team is headed to Atlanta for the city’s first ever Super Bowl appearance. I don’t want to be overly optimistic or get ahead of ourselves but I don’t think the Rams or Saints stand a chance against this Texans team.
So how should we feel about our Texans at the midway point of the season?
Pretty good I’d say. Pretty good.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.