CODY STOOTS

Pro Football Focus and the Texans Week 4

Cody Stoots
Sep 26, 2018, 5:58 am
Andrew Luck is back on the field but did not impress last week. Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Pro Football Focus  grades each individual player's performance and assigns them a grade. All 32 teams use Pro Football Focus. 

Each week we will take a look at some of the good and bad from the Texans and a look at the upcoming opponent as well. They also do great fantasy analysis and draft coverage as well. You can join Pro Football Focus here.

Jordan Thomas - 90.4 Overall Grade (Season)

He currently has the best overall grade of any Texans player on the offense and he has been a pleasant surprise for the Texans as a late-round rookie. He rumbled for a big gain of 39 yards in the first quarter. He's been serviceable blocking and his skills as a former wideout have been put to use in the passing game. He should be seeing more time for the Texans. 

Martinas Rankin - 50.1 Pass Blocking

The Texans left tackle allowed eight pressures against the Giants and added on two penalties as well. It was a performance he would like to forget. There were a couple of times he ended up on his rump via the pass rush. He has to be better because there isn't an option that is better than him unless they try Davenport back here, but I can't imagine he would be much better. He struggled as well and had twice as many penalties. 

J.J. Watt - 92.4 Overall Grade

No reason to be shocked here. Watt had a monster game, but there were flashes the week before in stopping the rushing attack of the Titans. 

Zach Fulton - 79.2 Pass Block

Fulton is already better than Jeff Allen was as a member of the Texans. I was worried about Fulton because he was coming over in the same way Allen did, but he's been impressive enough early. He boasts the second highest pass blocking grade on the team behind Greg Mancz. 

Zach Fulton - 31.5 Run Block

Fulton posted the lowest run blocking grade of any of the Texans players but I am not picking on him. No one was good at run blocking and the Giants are stout up the middle so it makes sense someone has a bad grade. 

Andrew Luck - 54.7 Overall Grade

Luck is coming off his worst game of the season against the Eagles. He threw for just 164 yards and averaged just 4.1 yards per attempt. His performance has dropped each game and it there has to be worry associated with his repaired and seemingly healthy shoulder. Luck has been great against the blitz grade-wise as he's almost 14 points higher than when he isn't blitzed. 

Margus Hunt - 80.2

A former second-round pick who is finally displaying the traits that made him the 53rd overall pick in the 2013 draft. He is the 36th highest graded defensive lineman in football. The Colts invested in him when he was a low-risk high reward player and it's reaping the benefits. With the Texans struggling on the offensive line, in seemingly both running and passing the ball, Hunt is poised for a big day if the Texans can't neutralize the big Estonian defender. 

As always, you can join Pro Football Focus here.

 

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Houston scored double digits

Astros' bats provide fireworks Friday in opener against Blue Jays

Yuli Gurriel had a monster night at the plate Friday. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

Although they lost the series 2-1, the Astros ended their road trip with a nice win over the Yankees to head home on a positive note. On Friday, they welcomed in the Toronto Blue Jays and former teammate George Springer, currently on the IL, to start a three-game series and long homestand. They had an excellent night at the plate, along with a strong start from Jose Urquidy, cruising past the Blue Jays to take the opener.

Final Score: Astros 10, Blue Jays 4

Astros' Record: 17-15, third in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Jose Urquidy (3-2)

Losing Pitcher: Ross Stripling (0-2)

Jays strike first, then Houston responds and never looks back

It first appeared that Urquidy may be in for a long night, giving up two solo home runs early in Friday's game, one to Bo Bichette in the top of the first with one out to put Toronto up 1-0, then another to Danny Jansen in the top of the third. However, Urquidy would lock-in, and his offense would back him up strongly.

Houston ended up sending nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the second, getting two runs on a homer by Carlos Correa, then later loading the bases to set up an RBI walk by Alex Bregman. In the bottom of the fifth, with a one-run lead at 3-2, Yuli Gurriel expanded the lead to three runs on a two-run shot.

Gurriel went on to have a fantastic night, going 4-for-4 at the plate with 4 RBI. His third of those came in the bottom of the seventh, extending the lead again with an RBI single to make it 6-2. Kyle Tucker made it a five-run game that same inning with an RBI double, then more insurance came in the bottom of the eighth. They reached double-digits that inning, with Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, and Yuli Gurriel, his fourth of the night, all getting an RBI to make it 10-2.

Urquidy finishes seven, then Emanuel finishes it off

Those gave Urquidy plenty of support, though he would bounce back after the two early homers and have a nice night on the mound. He allowed just two other hits, working around both, en route to a seven-inning two-run performance to earn him the win. His final line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, 84 P.

He likely could have gone longer, but Dusty Baker turned the ball over to Kent Emanuel to wrap things up with the significant lead. He did so, despite allowing a two-run home run to former-Astro Teoscor Hernandez in the top of the ninth to make the score 10-4. The win kept the Astros above .500 and two games back of the A's, who sit atop the AL West standings.

Up Next: The middle game of this series will be a 6:10 PM start Saturday night. The pitching matchup will be Steven Matz (4-2, 4.78 ERA) for Toronto and the electric Cristian Javier (3-0, 1.75 ERA) for Houston.

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