ROUGH DAY
Texans offense, defense non-existent in 45-7 loss to the Jaguars
Dec 17, 2017, 3:19 pm
The Jags defense made life hard on T.J. Yates. Jacksonvillejaguars.com
T.J. Yates couldn't deliver and the offense was largely absent as the Texans fell to the Jaguars 45-7 in a lopsided game. Jacksonville secured its first playoff berth since 2007 while Houston fell to 4-10 on the season. Deandre Hopkins was the lone bright spot for the Texans, catching four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. T.J. Yates finished 12 of 31 for 128 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The Jaguars are doing everything they can in the final weeks to work toward a potential first round playoff bye week and the Texans are just trying to win some games. These are two teams that play hard against each other every year, but it's usually the Texans fighting for playoff seeding.
The Texans pass defense was almost non-existent, allowing Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles to throw for 326 yards and three touchdowns. They failed to force any turnovers and allowed points on half of Jacksonville's drives.
It was always going to be tough sledding for the Texans, who began the game ranked 24th in points per game and had T.J. Yates starting for the first time this season. The Jaguars, who have the number one ranked scoring defense, came hard after the new quarterback and the Texans never found a rhythm. They had seven three-and-out drives in 13 chances, managed only 186 yards of total offense and allowed four sacks for -29 yards.
Jacksonville's first four drives resulted in 171 yards and three touchdowns as the Jaguars jumped out to a big 21-0 lead in the early part of the second quarter. Before halftime Jacksonville added a field goal and Blake Bortles threw his third touchdown pass of the game and the lead jumped to 31 points.
The Texans' offense was completely shut down in the first half and without a credible run game they couldn't attack Jacksonville's only defensive weakness. They were forced to rely on a quarterback who couldn't recreate the success from his first action of the season against 49ers last week.
They have scored more than 16 points once since Deshaun Watson was lost in Week 9 so a comeback was highly unlikely.
But at least Yates still has Hopkins to throw to. He had only one catch for 10 yards in the first half with Jalen Ramsey blanketing him in coverage. But they stuck with it and he set the new Texan's franchise record with his 12th touchdown catch of the year in the third quarter.
The Jaguars added two more touchdowns on the ground and continued to chew up the clock on the way to victory. The rest of the game was a deflated effort by the Texans to get out of town and search for a way to find some offense.
This may have been what was expected against the No. 2 overall defense in the NFL but it certainly wasn't what fans want to see. It doesn't look good next week either as the Steelers come to town for a prime-time game.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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