Texans 23, Bucs 20
Despite sloppy performance, Texans escape Tampa with win, AFC South title
Dec 21, 2019, 3:17 pm
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The Texans and Buccaneers played one of the most bizarre games of the season. The first half was a turnover filled mess. The second half was a more grind it out, conservative type of football. In the end, Jameis Winston's four interceptions gifted the Texans a 23-20 win over the Bucs and an AFC South title. The Texans were badly outplayed, but escaped with a victory. Here is how it all played out:
Offense
Positives: There weren't any.
Negatives: The Texans offense was simply ineffective for much of the game. They could not run the ball, and Deshaun Watson played another sub par game. Those are starting to mount late in the season; he has not played a good game since the New England win. He was 19 of 32 for 184 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He was also sacked five times, most on him. He missed several open receivers throughout the game. Not really a negative, but it was expected: Will Fuller once again left the game with an injury, this time with a groin. Fuller just can't stay on the field. The first offensive possession yielded only a field goal despite great starting position due to an interception. In 15 games, the Texans have managed six points on their opening offensive drives. Duke Johnson had a bad fumble early in the second quarter. The Texans struggled against the Bucs defense and did not take advantage of all the early turnovers. They averaged just 2.6 yards per rush.
Defense
Positives: The game could not have started any better for the Texans, as on the second snap Bradley Roby picked off Winston and took it to the house for a 7-0 lead. Winston has now thrown picks on four of his last five opening drives. His second pick went to Justin Reid, who also ran it all the way back, but a penalty wiped the touchdown off the board. The Texans would settle for a field goal and a 10-0 lead with still more than 11 minutes left in the first. They followed up the two picks with a blocked field goal, their second in two weeks. They forced five turnovers in the game, including a clinching pick. In the first half alone, they picked off Winston three times, forced a fumble and blocked a field goal, and yet they were tied at 17-17. That is in part because of the poor offense, but also...
Negatives: Some of the same old ugly issues came up. They gave up huge plays on third down throughout the game, including on several third and longs. Tampa was 9 of 17 on third down for the game. They got almost no pressure on Winston until late in the game. They missed tackles throughout as well. They were lucky that many times Winston was inaccurate on some passes where he had wide open receivers. They failed to cover tight ends and backs out of the backfield, problems they have had all year. The reality is when the Bucs did not score, they stopped themselves with the turnovers or missed open receivers, or in some cases dropped passes.
Some extra thoughts
A positive: Bill O'Brien won his first challenge of the season! It overturned a big pass play near the end of the first half.
A negative: Rich Eisen, who was doing play by play, constantly kept mixing up names and really did as poor a job as any professional broadcaster on an NFL game this season. The entire crew was bad, but Eisen's inability to get basic names and facts straight was an outright embarrassment. Eisen in general is really good, but on Saturday he was pathetic.
The bottom line
Despite the offensive struggles, despite being badly outplayed, the Texans win the AFC South. They were outgained 426-229, averaged just 3.6 yards per play to Tampa's 6.1, and would have had no shot if the Bucs had not kept shooting themselves in the foot.
The good news is the Texans will be able to rest some key players next week and prepare for a home playoff game in two weeks. It's hard to have a lot of confidence in this group in the postseason, but they are AFC South champs again nonetheless. After winning 11 games last year, they will be 10-6 at worst against what was a pretty good schedule. Deshaun Watson will have to play much better in the postseason, and there are some things to clean up on both sides of the ball. But they are where a lot of teams would like to be - in the playoffs with a home game.
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If you are a believer in the third time is a charm, go ahead and book the Texans for their first ever appearance in the AFC Championship game! Saturday is the Texans’ third crack at the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. Of course, the Texans had a third time is the charm opportunity at advancing beyond the division round back in 2016 and came nowhere close. Charm will have nothing to do with the outcome at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs have administered the Texans’ two most humiliating postseason defeats in franchise history. They came as the bookend postseason appearances of Bill O’Brien’s tenure as head coach. In 2015, the Texans won the worst division in the AFC (that sounds familiar) but as a division champ got to play host to the Wild Card 11-5 Chiefs. The visitors were three-point favorites. They won by 30. 30-0 to be more precise. Knile Davis returned the opening kickoff 106 yards for a touchdown. It would have been in the Texans’ best interest to have forfeited right then and there. In what was not exactly a shocking development, Texans’ quarterback Brian Hoyer wasn’t up to the task, throwing for just 112 yards and four interceptions. On the Chiefs’ side third-year tight end Travis Kelce had eight receptions for 128 yards. Taylor Swift was not in attendance.
The second Texans-Chiefs playoff get together is the most incredible game in Texans’ history. The Texans showed up in Missouri fresh off the greatest comeback win in their history, having come from down 16-0 in the third quarter to best the Buffalo Bills in overtime. In what could safely be characterized as stunning, the Texans put up three first quarter touchdowns for a 21-0 lead. *Massive bonus points if you can name the three Texans who scored those TDs, answer below. A field goal made it 24-0 Texans with 10:54 left in the second quarter. In a collapse tough to pull off, the Texans would trail before halftime. The Chiefs scored four touchdowns in nine minutes and eleven seconds of game time, with that Kelce fellow scoring the last three of them. Some will recall O’Brien calling a fake punt from his own 31-yard line with the Texans up 24-7. Too soon? Justin Reid (now pursuing his third Super Bowl ring in three seasons as a Chief) was stopped short. An even more damning O’Brien moment came later in that game when he actually had to use a timeout to change his mind and go for it with 11:49 left in the fourth quarter, the Texans down 48-31, and facing fourth and four at the K.C. 42. That was a fire-able on the spot offense! Instead it took an 0-4 start to the 2020 season for O’Brien to be ousted. 51-31 Chiefs was the final score, and they went on to win the first of their three Super Bowl titles in the ongoing Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes era.
Back to the present
Those routs were then, this is now. For a 15-2 team the Chiefs seem vulnerable. Maximum credit to them for having won an NFL record 16 consecutive games decided by eight or fewer points, 11 of them this season including their 27-19 victory over the Texans December 21. Perhaps the two-time defending champions were often bored with the regular season and often did just enough to win. The Texans would have been tied with them late in the third quarter had Ka’imi Fairbairn not botched an extra point. On the other hand, it was the play that got them within 17-16 which resulted in Tank Dell’s catastrophic season-ending knee injury. Who besides Nico Collins will do something in the passing game Saturday? Last Saturday the Texans’ pass rush harassed and flustered Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert. Mahomes is a different breed. Four weeks ago the Texans sacked Mahomes just once and did not intercept him. That seemingly must change for the Texans to pull off what be a shocker for most people. Saturday’s high temperature forecast for Kansas City is 25 degrees. Not ideal for the Texans but better than if the game had been scheduled for Sunday when the high is supposed to be 16.
Still standing
Four Texans who dressed for the debacle five years ago will suit up against the Chiefs Saturday: Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard who were in their first season with the team, Fairbairn, and long snapper Jon Weeks. Granted he’s just a long snapper (important role but not physically taxing), but Weeks is in his 15th season with the Texans and has yet to miss a game-244 regular season games (with Saturday his 14th playoff game, also without a miss). Presuming he is back next season, Weeks (who turns 39 next month) can crack the top five list of most consecutive games played in NFL history by answering the bell in the first 12 regular season games.
*The Texans’ three early TDS in the 51-31 loss at KC: 1. Kenny Stills with a 54-yard reception 2. Lonnie Johnson with a 10-yard return of a blocked punt 3. Darren Fells with a four-yard grab
For Texans’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me on our Texans On Tap podcasts. Thursdays feature a preview of the upcoming game, and then we go live (then available on demand) after the final gun of the game: Texans on Tap - YouTube
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