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In an unprecedented move, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has decided to suspend the rest of the NBA season following the conclusion of tonight's games. It all started when Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Originally, the Jazz/Thunder game was cancelled when a couple players were found to be ill. Not even an hour later, we learned of Gobert's positive test for coronavirus. When I wrote about this in my Tuesday column, I had no idea it would come to this and so suddenly!
The World Health Organization officially declared it a worldwide pandemic earlier today. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was also called off today locally. A myriad of other large events have been either cancelled (SXSW), or dwindled down to essential personnel only (several NCAA basketball conference tournaments). States are prohibiting gatherings of large groups ranging from 250-1,000 people. It's gotten so crazy, churches and faith-based organizations are debating whether or not they can gather!
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What Houston Texans must do to steal a signature upset win over Lions
Nov 7, 2024, 4:02 pm
It's no secret that the Houston Texans are having some real issues with protection, which is causing CJ Stroud's numbers to dip and the team to lose games.
Stroud has only tossed one touchdown pass over his last three contests, which clearly isn't sustainable if the Texans want to compete with the top teams in the AFC.
After watching the Texans film from last Thursday's game against the Jets, NBC Sports' Chris Simms noticed some issues plaguing the Houston offense.
Simms was quick to point out that he believes Texans OC Bobby Slowik is “not doing enough” to help CJ Stroud. He sees Houston's offense as a very basic version of the Shanahan scheme, which opposing defenses have seemingly figured out when attacking Houston's protections.
He would also like for Stroud to take over the role of calling out the protections, instead of leaving it up to the center. In this case, it's Juice Scruggs making the calls. A second-year player that has less experience in the Texans' offense than Stroud. (Scruggs missed about half of last season due to injury, and spent time at guard).
Simms makes the case that since Stroud is not in charge of protection, he may not know where the pressure is coming from.
ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime recently confirmed that this is not the case. Scruggs does make the calls, but Stroud knows what the protection calls are. He referenced a story from September where guard Shaq Mason discussed this very topic.
Here’s right guard Shaq Mason confirming this from a story back on Sept 11. pic.twitter.com/maBNAAJzMM
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) November 7, 2024
So if Stroud is fully aware of the protection calls on each play, it would suggest that the poor left guard play, and the predictability of the Texans sliding protections when they get certain looks as the main problems Bobby Slowik has to get corrected.
Jarrett Patterson should start at left guard this week after returning from a concussion. That could immediately give the o-line a boost, even if he's just average. If Patterson does play a decent game, and Stroud is still running for his life, Slowik and his scheme will have nowhere to hide.
Be sure to watch the Simms video above as he shows some examples from the Jets game to illustrate his points.
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