NOT ENOUGH
Texans give effort, but fall short in 24-13 loss to Titans to fall to 4-8
Dec 3, 2017, 3:28 pm
Tom Savage had his best game but it was not enough. Houstontexans.com
The Texans hit the road in week 13 to face the Tennessee Titans in an important AFC South Division game. It's not so important for the Texans who needed to win 4 of their last 5 games to have an outside shot at the playoffs, but the Titans were 7-4 and tied for the division lead. They had to keep pace with Jacksonville ,who won again today. And they did, killing the Texans' faint playoff hopes with a 24-13 win.
The Titans are now 8-4, while the Texans are 4-8.
It wasn't going to be easy though, Jadeveon Clowney and the Texans defense were prepared to make a stand with their offense struggling to help them since Tom Savage took over, having only won one game in their last four. But the passing offense played decently today, especially with a lot of injuries. DeAndre Hopkins and Stephen Miller picked up a the slack when injuries mounted. Hopkins caught 8 for 80 yards and Miller caught 5 for 70 and the Texans only touchdown.
Despite a bad first drive of the game by the Texans that went 3-and-out after 5 yards, it was an uncharacteristic good play by their special teams that got them the ball back. Titans punt returner Adoree Jackson fumbled the ball after a 25-yard return and Alfred Blue recovered it for the turnover. The Texans went 36 yards but stalled inside the 10-yard line and Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked a 23-yard field goal to put the Texans up 3-0 early in the 1st quarter.
The Titans came right back but didn't get the same result. An 8-play 53-yard drive by them ended with a missed field goal by Ryan Succop. Their defense would force another 3-and-out and they would get another drive going, but another punt put the ball back into Tom Savage's hand.
After starting from their own 13-yard line, the Texans ran two plays and were at the 40-yard line. The first big play of the game was Savage finding a wide-open Braxton Miller for a 57-yard catch and run down to the Titans 3 yard line. A great catch by Stephen Anderson on a low thrown ball and the Texans were now leading 10-0 in the 2nd quarter.
Not to be outdone, Marcus Mariota led the Titans down the field 75 yards in 10 plays, getting the Titans on the board and cutting the deficit to 3 points with a 9-yard touchdown run. Texans still led 10-7 at that point.
A little over four minutes remained on the clock before halftime and the Texans knew they needed to get something going to extend their lead before the break. Savage led a good 12-play drive but a bad sack on 3rd down halted the drive at the Tennessee 30-yard line. An up and down kicker the last few weeks; Fairbairn missed the 48-yarder and now Mariota and the Titans offense would have the ball on their own 38-yard line. In 4 plays they would get into field goal range and with 8 seconds left before halftime they would tie the game at 10 on a 43-yarder from Succop.
The Texans offense seemed to be able to move the ball well through the air when they needed, and their first drive of the second half could have been a good answer to the Titans. They ran 16 plays and used up 8 minutes of clock time. But they still have to learn to finish their drives. After stalling again near the goal line, Fairbairn missed his second field goal of the game and that great effort was for naught and it remained a tie game, 10-10.
The Titans made them pay on the very next drive. From his own 20-yard line Mariota went 3 for 5 for 55 yards through the air while they gained another 25 yards on the ground. After a 3rd down play had the spot overturned upon further review they went for it on 4th-and-1 from the Houston 27-yard line. A 3-yard run by Derrick Henry gave them a 1st down and the next play was a 24-yard touchdown pass to Delanie Walker for the Titans first lead of the game, 17-10.
Punts were traded and the Texans got the ball with 11:31 on the clock in the 4th quarter. in 7 minutes they ran 12 plays down to the Tennessee 24-yard line. Fairbairn would put the Texans closer with a 42-yard field goal making him 2 for 4 on the day. But now only 4 and a half minutes were left and the Texans were still down 17-13.
Zach Cunningham made sure the defense held and only about 2 minutes came off the clock putting Tom Savage and Bill O'Brien in position to win the game in the final minutes.
It didn't look good though. Facing a 4th and 4 from the Tennessee 36-yard line the Texans got three consecutive false start penalties from left tackle Jeff Allen to stare down the barrel of 4th and 19. For the second time today Savage found Stephen Anderson on a great catch. This one went for 22 yards and a first down. And then, as if he just has an uncontrollable urge to do so, Savage threw an interception in the end zone to Titans cornerback LeShaun Sims to end the drive and all hope of winning the game.
Derrick Henry would put the game out of reach 3 plays later when he ran for a 75-yard touchdown making it 24-13 Tennessee.
This game could have been a lot different. The Texans were able to move the ball well outside of the red zone but two missed field goals, only one touchdown on three trips inside the 10-yard line, and a bad interception under 2 minutes left in the game just won't get it done. The Titans only turned the ball over once and it was so early in the game it had little effect on the final.
If the coaches and leadership of the Texans can't see that Savage is the sole reason they are losing then there is no chance they turn this franchise into a winner any time soon. With the game on the line and a chance to take the lead in the final 2 minutes, Savage ruined everything good he had done before that.
He led the offense well today going 31 of 49 for 365 yards and a touchdown when the rushing game could only muster 53 yards. It looked like missed field goals would be to blame for the situation, but Savage went out and did what he does best. He now has 13 turnovers by himself this season and he has only played in six games.
The Texans will face a beatable 49ers team at home next week but that's no lock. Jimmy Garoppolo led them to their second win of the season in his first start. He just might be able to beat a team that has a turnover machine at quarterback.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.