A NEW LOW?

See where Sunday's Texans loss ranks among the 5 most embarrassing of the Bill O'Brien era

Fred Faour
Dec 17, 2017, 4:22 pm
Sunday's Jaguars game made the lost of most embarrassing losses. Houstontexans.com

Sunday’s loss against Jacksonville was one of the worst performances by a Texans team under Bill O’Brien. Here are the five most embarrassing losses of the O’Brien era:

No. 5: Sept. 22, 2016 - Patriots 27, Texans 0

The Patriots were down to their third-string quarterback, Jacoby Brissett. All he did was baffle the Texans defense, and Houston did absolutely nothing on offense in a brutal loss in New England. Brissett rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown and completed 11 of 19 for 103 yards.

No. 4: Oct. 25, 2015 - Dolphins 44, Texans 26

The Dolphins put up 41 first-half points and coasted in the second half. The Texans were simply not even remotely competitive when the game was on the line. They added some garbage time points, but also gave up three plays over 50 yards and were dominated by Lamar Miller (175 rushing, 61 receiving, two TDs) and Jarvis Landry (5 catches, 83 yards, 2 TDs).

No. 3: Dec. 17, 2017 - Jaguars 45, Texans 7

The season was lost long ago, but the Texans had at least been putting up a fight. They did not in this one. Jacksonville dominated the first half, taking a 31-0 lead, and never looked back. The Texans finally got in the board in the third quarter thanks to DeAndre Hopkins (who else?) but did nothing else. How bad were the Texans? 17 minutes into the game, they had 10 yards of offense. The Jags had the backups in with 10 minutes left in the game -- and still scored. Houston was outgained 465-186.

No. 2: Oct. 4, 2015 - Falcons 48, Texans 21

This is another where the game was out of reach early. The Texans were down 42-0 before putting up 21 meaningless fourth-quarter points. They were simply overwhelmed and never in the contest.

No. 1: Jan. 9, 2016 - Chiefs 30, Texans 0

Who can forget the playoff disaster at NRG? The Chiefs returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and never looked back. Brian Hoyer turned the ball over five times and deflated an excited crowd. As with most of the games on this list, they were never a factor.

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Houston's magic number stays at 2

Astros drop series finale to Mariners after rough start by Greinke

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With their magic number at 2 to secure their spot in the 2020 MLB postseason, the Astros returned to T-Mobile Park in Seattle for this three-game series' finale and rubber game. Here are the highlights from the game:

Final Score: Mariners 3, Astros 2.

Record: 28-28, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Nick Margevicius (2-3, 4.57 ERA)

Losing pitcher: Zack Greinke (3-3, 4.03 ERA).

Greinke unable to complete five innings

While the Astros were being held scoreless, the Mariners were putting up runs on Zack Greinke. They took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles followed by an RBI-double with one out. Greinke would stop the damage there, then looked to settle in over the next few frames.

He allowed just one baserunner in the second through fourth innings, a one-out single in the bottom of the fourth. Then, in the fifth, the Mariners would knock him out of the game by getting a one-out single that would come around to score on a two-out RBI-double, followed by an RBI-single to extend the lead to 3-0. Greinke faced one more batter, allowing a single before Dusty Baker would take the ball and move to the bullpen. His final line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, 92 P.

Astros try a late rally, come up short

On the other end, the Astros were unable to break through against Nick Margevicius, getting just one hit and two walks through the first four innings. They had a chance to get on the board in the top of the fifth, starting the inning with back-to-back singles before a walk loaded the bases with one out to turn the lineup over. They'd come up empty, though, with George Springer striking out before a long flyball to center by Jose Altuve to end the inning.

After finishing the fifth for Greinke, Andre Scrubb returned for a scoreless sixth, working around a one-out walk. Still 3-0, Blake Taylor took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, erasing a leadoff single and two-out walk to keep Seattle from extending their lead. Houston had another chance to score in the top of the eighth, getting two runners in scoring position, but again would strand them.

Cy Sneed was the next reliever out for the Astros, working around a two-out walk to send the game on to the ninth. The Astros would avoid the shutout, getting a two-RBI single by pinch-hitting Josh Reddick in the top of the ninth to make it a one-run game at 3-2. That's as close as they'd come, though, as the Mariners would eventually get the final out to take the series and keep the Astros' magic number stagnant at 2.


Up Next: There is one series left in the regular season for Houston, and it awaits them in Arlington with a four-game series against the Rangers, who are well eliminated from playoff contention. The first of the four games will start at 7:05 PM Central on Thursday with a pitching matchup of Lance Lynn (6-2, 2.53 ERA) for Texas and Cristian Javier (4-2, 3.33 ERA) for the Astros.

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