A WEEKLY REVIEW OF CRENNEL'S COACHING
Now my job: Texans suffer crushing loss to Colts
Dec 7, 2020, 8:34 am
Crennel made some questionable decisions. Photo by Getty Images.
Now my job: Crushing loss to the Colts
Division games are always tougher and take on more meaning. This is a team you play twice a year and tend to have familiarity with their players, staffs, playing style, and so on. When that division game is against a team that has ruled the roost for so many years and has made your stadium a second home, you'd think you'd come to play with a next level of focus and intensity. The Texans seemed to do that, and still came up short in their 26-20 loss to the Colts.
The Texans went three and out on their opening drive for the sixth time this year and punted for the 11th time on their opening possession. Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton has seemingly made NRG Stadium his second home over the years. On their opening drive, he had two receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown. This of course led to immediate thoughts of games past against the Colts in which they jump out to a lead and boat race the Texans while Hilton has a big game. However, Deshaun Watson would not be denied. After Zach Fulton almost got Watson's head taken off, Watson proceeded to: scramble for seven yards, escape another potential sack and find Keke Coutee for a 64-yard gain, then kept an option run for an 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game at seven.
When Coutee is your number two receiver behind Brandin Cooks, followed by Chad Hansen, Steven Mitchell Jr, and Isaiah Coulter, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see the offense struggle. That wasn't the case. Tim Kelly didn't take his usual designed deep shots, but his play calling didn't appear to be disrupted by the lack of experience at receiver. Watson showed a connection with Coutee and Hansen as the duo combined for 13 catches for 242 yards. Funny because Hansen has been on the practice squad, and wasn't Coutee in O'Brien's dog house?
The first half saw the Colts take a 24-20 lead behind the defense being all Texany. Lots of bad angles and missed tackles, as well as blown coverages. The most egregious was the 4th&4 play that resulted in a touchdown when I believe A.J. Moore Jr blitzed and Philip Rivers found Jonathan Taylor running up the sideline for a 39-yard touchdown. I've seen other teams blitz and cause pressure. When the Texans blitz, they hardly ever get pressure, much less a sack! Their run blitzes don't even have the desired effect on stopping the run. This is the result of not being able to cover and piss poor tackling. Knowing this, why not scheme differently? Too many times I saw these defensive backs get beat in man coverage. Hell, they don't communicate effectively enough in zone either so I guess Anthony Weaver and Romeo Crennel are throwing pasta at the wall to see what sticks at this point. One other thing that pissed me off was calling a timeout before the Colts attempted a field goal with 1:15 left before halftime. That timeout could've been used to help them score a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal before halftime.
The second half was pretty boring outside of the safety the Colts got because Fulton must hate Watson. It got interesting on the Texans' final possession. They took over with 2:43 left in the game. Watson worked his magic to get the ball to the Colts' six yard line. Alas, their $33 million dollar center (Nick Martin) totally screwed up the snap, Watson couldn't get ahold of it, the Colts recover, and the game was over. Kelly and Watson were simpatico again this game and had a chance to win it, but Martin couldn't let Fulton take all the blame for poor offensive line play this game.
At 4-8, any hope of making a magical run to the seventh seed has died. The only thing they can do is play to make the next head coach and general manager attracted to the core group of players that'll be here next season.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
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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