TEXANS 13, JAGUARS 12

Texans use familiar formula from last season: Win ugly

Texans use familiar formula from last season: Win ugly
Michele Watson/Houstontexans.com

Like many of the Texans wins last season, this one wasn't pretty. But it was a win. The Texans grinded out a 13-12 victory over Jacksonville to go to 1-1 on the season. The Jags did as much to lose it as the Texans did to win it.

It would be easy to be critical of the performance, but considering they were coming off an emotional opener and a short week, some rust was expected. Just maybe not this much. A look at some of the positives and negatives:

Offense

The positives: They ran the ball very effectively, especially with Carlos Hyde. He rushed 20 times for 90 yards and averaged 4.5 per carry. Despite giving up four sacks (hey, at least it was down from six last week) the Texans offensive line looked better. Rodrick Johnson started at right tackle and looked like an upgrade over Seantrell Henderson. Rookie Titus Howard started at left guard with mixed results including a bad penalty on a third down play that might have iced the game.

The negatives: Deshaun Watson was inaccurate for much of the game, and clearly was not at his best. He finished 17 of 30 for just 173 yards. He did not turn the ball over and rushed for a touchdown, but only got six yards on the ground. Still, they did not pass the ball very effectively, even with the Jags missing corner A.J. Bouye. Watson has historically struggled against Jacksonville and Sunday was no different. To be fair, the Jags secondary did a hell of a job on the Texans WRs.

DEFENSE

The positives: This unit looked much better than on Monday night, but then they were facing Gardner Minshew, not Drew Brees. The Jags helped with untimely penalties and missed passes, but the Texans still managed four sacks, forced a key fumble that led to the Texans touchdown, and limited Leonard Fournette for much of the game, including stopping him on the final two-point play. Whitney Mercilus had two sacks and forced the key fumble that decided the game.

The negatives: The Texans defense was terrific all day until it mattered. They let a rookie QB drive down the field for a touchdown. Rather than go for the tie, the Jags went for two and the win, and the Texans managed to stop Fournette again. The Jags are the kind of team Romeo Crennel defenses feast against. They play back and wait for teams to make mistakes. Brees does not make a lot of mistakes. A rookie QB is a different story. Minshew was not awful, going 23 of 33 for 213 yards with no interceptions, and he also rushed for 56 yards and almost led his team all the way back. But they came up just short. Props to Doug Marrone for going for the win. Meanwhile, J.J. Watt continues to struggle, with just two tackles. The corners were better until the fourth quarter, but the Jags receivers will never be confused for the Saints.

COACHING

The positives: With 11:35 left in the game and the Texans up 6-3, Bill O'Brien gambled on a fourth and one from the 2 yard line. It paid off when Deshaun Watson scored a touchdown to give them a 10-point lead. It was a good decision that turned into a good outcome. We rip O'Brien a lot for his decisions, but this was a good one. However...

The negatives: One of the consistently frustrating traits of the O'Brien era has been his terrible clock management at the end of the half and end of games. It was on display once again against the Jags at the end of the first half.

The Texans converted a third-and-11 coming out of the two-minute warning. It was 34 seconds before they got another play off, even with three timeouts. They let more time run off after another conversion, and wound up having to kick a field goal with two seconds left for a 6-3 lead. Better clock management could have led to a touchdown. They went to the half with two timeouts in their pocket. We have seen this act so many times from O'Brien, it's hard to expect anything else. It's just dumb football, but it is Year 6 of O'Brien, so at this point, it is part of his DNA.

It almost proved costly at the end of the game.

As usual, in the postgame, O'Brien refused to admit he did anything wrong. When asked if they should have taken a time out, he responded with his usual know-it-all bluster.

First he was asked if they had to kick the field goal because they ran out of time.

"No no no. I think that was strategy the whole drive."

The follow up: The strategy on the drive was to kick a field goal?

His answer: "No it was to score a touchdown. Felt like we were in good shape there to score a touchdown then there at the end we didn't get the touchdown so I decided with two seconds left to kick a field goal. Could've gone for there and decided to kick the field goal."

Finally he was asked if he should have taken a timeout earlier.

"No. We had two plays there and just took a little time getting lined up on the two plays but no we don't...I think you're talking about Hopkins' catch and then after that you know we could have taken a timeout but we had two plays. Took a little longer to get lined up than we thought and we'll work on that this week."

You have had six years to work on this, Billy.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Pretty? No. Effective? Yes. You would like to see the Texans actually go out and take a game like this as opposed to having the opponent fail on a two-point try. Things like this were a staple of many of their wins last season. The Texans will need to be much better next week against the Chargers, but at least they escaped with a win. It's weird; they looked much better in a loss to the Saints than they did a win over Jacksonville, but that's football.

Especially Texans football.

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Has Christian Walker finally turned the corner? Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

The Houston Astros return to Daikin Park on Tuesday night looking to keep their momentum going as they host the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET, with Ryan Gusto (3-1, 2.78 ERA) on the mound for Houston against Detroit’s Reese Olson (3-1, 3.29 ERA).

Winners of seven of their last ten, the Astros (15-13) have found their rhythm after a rocky start to the season. Their recent surge has been fueled by dominant pitching — a 2.35 ERA over the last 10 games — and improved production at the plate, including a .264 team batting average over that span. Houston has also outscored opponents by 18 runs during that stretch and boasts a solid 10-6 record at home.

While the offense has yet to fully catch fire, signs of life are emerging. Jeremy Peña continues to be a steady presence with five doubles and three homers, while Christian Walker has driven in six runs over his last 10 games, including three long balls. The Astros’ bats will be tested against a Tigers staff that leads the American League with a 2.86 ERA.

Houston’s Tuesday starter, Ryan Gusto, has been sharp through his first five outings, posting a 1.10 WHIP and 23 strikeouts. He’ll look to keep Detroit’s bats quiet, especially red-hot Zach McKinstry, who’s hitting .406 over his last 10 games, and slugger Spencer Torkelson, who already has eight homers this season.

The Tigers (18-11) may sit atop their division, but they’ve struggled away from home, going just 5-8 on the road. The Astros will look to capitalize and even the season series in their second matchup with Detroit.

With the offense trending upward and the pitching staff in a groove, Houston has a prime opportunity to keep building momentum in front of the home crowd.

Here's a sneak peek at the Astros lineup. Altuve is once again batting second after asking manager Joe Espada to move him down in the batting order. Zach Dezenzo is playing right field with Cam Smith getting the night off. Jake Meyers is back in center field and Mauricio Dubon is starting at second base.

Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot

A big test awaits

It appears the Astros may have tipped their hand regarding tomorrow's starting pitcher. Chandler Rome is reporting AJ Blubaugh is at Daikin Park today.

Following Tuesday night's game, Blubaugh has been officially announced as the starter.

Espada said Hayden Wesneski is not injured but needs more time to recover from his last start.

*ChatGPT assisted.

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