Carlos Hyde's huge day helps plus how right was O'Brien to go for it late?

O'Brien's best coaching job to date has Texans rolling

Texans Bill O'Brien
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

3 Headlines, 2 Questions, and 1 Bet after the Texans defeat the Chiefs and get ready for the Colts.

Resiliency rules the day

There is a time where the Texans would have lost Sunday by about 20 or 30 points. We no longer live in that time.

-A broken play touchdown allowed

-Fumble on first play

-Top two corners out for majority of game

-Wideout who had fixed drop problems has drop problems

-Wideout who never drops the ball drops a touchdown

-Quarterback throws two interceptions when he had thrown one all year

-Kicker misses extra points and field goal

That's just a smattering of the things that could have derailed the Texans. In the past, just one or two of these would have doomed them. Instead, they dominated the second half and beat the Chiefs.

It is one of the most impressive wins in Bill O'Brien's tenure. Sure. It is also one of the most resilient wins in franchise history.

The offensive gameplan was awesome and well executed for the most part. The use of timeouts and challenges made sense. The team never spiraled out of control most importantly. Kudos to O'Brien for the successful day with the headset.

Bill "Coconuts" O'Brien

I thought the field goal to go up 10 points in the fourth quarter was the right move for the Texans.

O'Brien laughs in the face of the weak-minded who prefer to trust a shaky kicker over one of the best quarterbacks in football.

The above stats paint the picture of how smart it was to go for it.

I loved the gumption to go for it and the "trust the defense" mentality if the Texans failed to convert. There wasn't a "lose" situation short of a turnover and the Texans on the short and easy stuff had done a great job taking care of the ball.

It was something from a couple of seasons ago where I believe O'Brien would have attempted the kick and lived with the result. I also have faith the Texans defense could have stopped the Chiefs from scoring the way they played in the second half.

Runnin' Hyde

Carlos Hyde was a man on Sunday. He touched the ball 26 times after his fumble. He had 13 of those 26 touches go for at least four yards and six of those went for at least nine yards. He was a workhorse running back and a physical runner than punished the Chiefs.

I never could have seen this coming from him. He is the perfect back for what Bill O'Brien wants to do with his first running back. He's been very impressive and went over 100 yards rushing for the first time in two years.

As for his colorful language, Hyde knew he let it slip.

"With the offense clicking like that, it's so hard to stop us," he said. "I was caught up in the moment right there. I've got to watch my language though. But, I was just caught up in the moment.When our offense is moving the ball like that, things are clicking, it's just hard to stop us."

Is this level of offensive line play here to stay?

No sacks. Two quarterback hits. One tackle for a loss. Woo boy. What a showing from the Texans offensive line. They worked over the Chiefs for a good portion of the game.

Now, the offensive gameplan helped them. Getting the ball out quick helped a ton for the protection but even then, they did amazing in keeping Watson clean and keeping the lanes open for Hyde and later Duke Johnson.

There wasn't even a big drop off when Roderick Johnson came in for the injured Tytus Howard.

Howard is going to miss time, but his season is seemingly not over per Aaron Wilson.

This has been an incredible job by this group coming together and really playing well.

Should we worry about Will Fuller's drops?

Will Fuller didn't have the best day after an amazing one last week.

His first drop came in the end zone and led to the Texans settling for a field goal. It wasn't the easiest catch in the world but it hit his hands. In a close game, they could've used that to start the scoring.

The second drop came trailing by 14 points and again, wasn't an easy catch. I am giving him a pass on this one because it seems like it was a really hard catch to come down with. So, while he could have caught it, I am not sure he SHOULD have caught it.

The third one really hurt. The Texans led by six and had he reeled that one in, there's a chance the Texans blow the Chiefs out with plenty of breathing room on the scoreboard.

I am not worried about Fuller's drops. He had three all season before yesterday and had no drops last season. This seems like a hiccup more than an issue that could be popping up often.

I bet the loss to the Panthers really sticks with the Texans

When I asked Bill O'Brien about the offense and how they attack things quickly he mentioned the Panthers game. He was demonstrating they had bad second down situations that set them up for failure and called out their performance against Carolina by name.

While you can say the Saints and Jaguars games could have gone either way, the Texans absolutely should have beaten the Panthers. Kyle Allen didn't play well that day and the Texans offense has to be sick looking back on that performance. It was also the last time they looked bad on offense, so, if it got them going via fixing things, it is worth the headache.

texanso'briennfl

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
Astros defeat the Angels, 6-4. Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images.

Ronel Blanco threw six scoreless innings, Jason Heyward had a home run among his three hits and the Houston Astros finished off a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 6-4 victory on Sunday.

Jeremy Peña had two hits with two runs scored as the Astros won their fourth consecutive game and remained 4 1/2 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West.

Blanco (11-6) allowed two walks and had five strikeouts in his return to the starting rotation after pitching two innings of scoreless relief Sept. 7 against Arizona. Blanco was used out of the bullpen for a game to manage his usage in his first full season in the majors.

Josh Hader recorded the final two outs for his 31st save in 33 opportunities.

Taylor Ward hit a home run and rookie Eric Wagaman had two hits for the Angels, who lost their fifth consecutive game and fell for the seventh time in their last eight. The Angels dropped to 60-89, matching their loss total from the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Angels rookie right-hander Caden Dana (1-2) went 3 1/3 innings in his third career start, giving up five runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

In his fourth game in the starting lineup since debuting with the Astros on Sept. 1, Heyward hit a home run, his eighth, in his first at bat to give Houston a 1-0 lead in the third.

Heyward, who was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 24, reached base a fourth time after getting aboard on catcher’s interference in the eighth inning.

Heyward had an RBI single in a four-run fourth inning that also included RBI singles from Peña and Mauricio Dubon. Peña scored a run in the inning on a passed ball by Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe.

Jake Meyers gave the Astros a 6-0 lead in the eighth on an RBI single to right. Ward ended the Astros’ shutout bid with his home run in the eighth off Kaleb Ort, his 24th.

The Angels scored three times in the ninth inning with all three runs charged to left-hander Caleb Ferguson. Gustavo Campero had a run-scoring ground out in his major league debut and Charles Leblanc had a two-run single.

Wagaman had a double among his two hits, one game after he delivered his first career hit with an RBI double on Saturday. Wagaman was playing in his fifth game after making his major league debut Tuesday.

In the bottom of ninth, Astros pitching coach Joshua Miller was ejected by third base umpire Dan Iassogna for arguing a hit-by-pitch call.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: OF Ben Gamel was not in the lineup after sustaining a knee contusion in Saturday’s game. ... OF Kyle Tucker made his second start in right field since returning Sept. 6 from a right shin fracture. ... 1B Jon Singleton was a late scratch with an illness and was replaced by Victor Caratini.

Angels: OF Mickey Moniak was hit by a pitch on his left hand in the ninth inning and left the game. ... An MRI on the right shoulder of RHP Ben Joyce revealed only inflammation, although the team still will shut down the reliever, whose last pitch of the season on Sept. 3 was a 105.5-mph fastball. ... RHP Carson Fulmer (right elbow inflammation) was reinstated from the injured list, while both OF Bryce Teodosio (right middle finger fracture) and LHP Sam Aldegheri (left middle finger blister) were placed on the IL.

UP NEXT

Astros: RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-12, 4.72 ERA) is scheduled to pitch in the opener of a three-game road series against the San Diego Padres.

Angels: LHP Reid Detmers (4-6, 5.64 ERA) is scheduled to pitch in the opener of a three-game road series against the Chicago White Sox.

astroshouston astrosjason heywardmlbronel blanco

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome