A WEEKLY REVIEW OF CRENNEL'S COACHING
Now my job: Texans had no answers for Aaron Rodgers
Oct 26, 2020, 8:15 am
Texans get crushed by Green Bay, 35-20. Photo by Getty Images.
Now my job: Texans lose to much better team
There are few things in Texas that get people of all different backgrounds fired up. If you hurt puppies, burn/waste BBQ, or slap a little kid, you might find yourself at odds with the good folks in the state of Texas. You could disparage their favorite high school or college football team and end up needing medical attention. But if you're the local city's NFL team that starts a promising season with a paltry 1-6 record after firing the head coach/general manager whom everyone else assumed was the problem, you should start losing sleep over what may become of you.
That's how I believe Romeo Crennel and the rest of the Texans' coaching staff should feel after their embarrassing 35-20 loss to the Packers at home. When you're facing a future Hall of Fame quarterback with a rag tag bunch of defensive backs, I don't expect things to be so lopsided. However, when you go down 21-0 in the first half after only mustering 130 yards of offense on 25 total plays, it's par for the course.
Let's get something straight: I'm not letting Bill O'Brien off the hook here, neither am I giving the remaining coaching staff a pass. The situation is all kinds of jacked up. But we're still talking about NFL caliber players and coaches that are failing to show up. The Packers' defense has been known to give up some points. This offense couldn't find a way to put any up until the second half. Their second half offense was a prime example of if too little too late was a group of people. The Packers put up 263 of their 379 yards in the first half. Did the Texans' defense discover something at the half to stop or slow down the Packers? Hell no! The Packers simply let off the gas!
Last week, I watched as Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles devised a gameplan to disrupt the Packers' offense. He had Aaron Rodgers running for his life. The Bucs sacked Rodgers five times and held them to an impressive 201 yards in a 38-10 statement game. You would think the staff on Kirby would've taken heed to what they saw and developed a similar gameplan to keep the Packers from going nuts. Nope! Instead, they allowed the Packers to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. (Here's the part where I'd normally pine for more playing time for the young pass rushers.)
This team isn't completely devoid of talent. While it may be bare, there are some talented players still on this roster. It's up to the coaching staff to put them into the right positions to succeed. There are times in which this staff puts them in position to do so, but the execution isn't there. Which of these occurs more often is debatable. What isn't is the fact that Brandin Cooks seemed to throw people under the bus with his postgame comments saying "we need to be more consistent in practice." JJ Watt even got in on the act by being very short with his responses in his postgame comments. The walls are starting to crumble. The building was already on shaky ground. It may be time to rebuild.
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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*ChatGPT assisted.
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