Texans 23, Bucs 20

Texans vs Bucs: Good, bad and ugly

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In a must-win to lock up the AFC South, the Texans took care of business in Tampa against the Bucs with a 23-20 win. It got ugly early and almost got away from them when the Bucs mounted a comeback. Here are my observations:

The Good

-The defense opened the game with back to back picks on Tampa's first two possessions. Bradley Roby broke on an out route and returned it for a touchdown. Then Justin Reid read Jameis Winston's eyes as he was roaming as the single high safety and picked him off again. That was the extent of the defenses contributions, except...

-...Angelo Blackson has been balling lately! He shed several blocks to help stuff the run game and blocked a kick. He blocked a kick last week as well. Blackson has been championed since his arrival by Jayson Braddock. He was the first guy I remember saying look out for Blackson. I've kept my eye on him and he's been the best interior defensive lineman on the Texans' roster not named D.J. Reader.

-Just when I was done with the defense, Jaleel Addae made a game-saving interception as the Bucs were driving and down by three. Addae is a Tampa native who last played in Raymond James Stadium as a nine-year old kid. For him to seal the game and send his team to the playoffs after the rough year he's had and the terrible game they played today was awesome to see.

The Bad

-Ronald Jones took a run 49 yards to flip field position on their third possession. Blackson made a great play to shed a block and get down the line, but couldn't make the stop in the gap. His teammates in the defensive backfield made poor attempts at tackling giving him a much bigger gain. The run defense and tackling has to be on point if the coverage and pass rush are sketchy. Benardrick McKinney was missed today on that play.

-The coverage was dumpster juice against the Bucs. They were playing with guys making their first career starts, first career game, and guys who have less than 50-100 career receptions. Still, they were routinely beat on every route in the route tree. Had it not been for Winston's fractured thumb on his throwing hand, he would've completed several more passes and this game would've looked more like the Broncos score instead of the way it did.

-While Deshaun Watson held onto the ball and tried to make things happen, his offensive line let him down a few times. One play in particular that pissed me off was in the third quarter when Jason Pierre-Paul sacked Watson because his Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil appeared to quit on the play! Had Tunsil simply kept moving his feet and stayed with Pierre-Paul, Watson could've made something happen! And to think, this guy will want to get paid a contract that'll set a new standard for left tackles.

The Ugly

-Getting the ball on Tampa's 24 yard line and settling for a field goal is awful. This offense has to get more consistent at moving the ball. It's not like they were asked to drive the length of the field on their opening possession to score. The slow starts, particularly opening possessions, is a red flag heading into the playoffs where points will come at a premium.

-The first half featured a combined 34 points aided by six turnovers and a blocked field goal. There were so many mistakes, bad throws, missed tackles, among other errors. Most striking of all these was the fact that the Texans' defense was let down by the offense and vice versa. The defense couldn't stop the Bucs and the offense couldn't move the ball.

-Will Fuller got hurt again. What a shocker right? This guy's soft tissues must be made of silly string or something. This time, it was a groin injury that prevented him from returning to the game. I imagine he'll be out next week and questionable for the Wildcard game in the playoffs. It's time to move on from this guy

Well that didn't turn out the way it looked like it would now did it? When a team starts a game with a pick six on the second play from scrimmage, followed by another on the next possession, one would assume the team doing the picking off would win going away right? But when that team is the Texans, things are anything but normal/safe/assured. They remind me of that one friend who insists on doing things their way despite being given advice on a better way to do them. Deshaun Watson made some more poor choices and throws (that interception made me cringe). Bill O'Brien made more strange play calls and choices (not challenging or going for it on 4th down with under three minutes left in the game up 23-20 and passing instead of running to open that drive). Too many question marks going into this game and none were answered. They left with more questions and are two weeks away from the playoffs. But AFC South champs four of six years under O'Brien (insert your own shrug emoji here).

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The Houston Texans approach to the offseason has caused quite a bit of controversy among Texans fans and media. Some really like what the team is doing in free agency, while others are underwhelmed.

But the argument that keeps getting thrown around is whether the Texans are ready to win this season, or if the team will have to suffer through another disappointing season. Most would agree the Texans roster has a number of holes, but how will that roster look after the NFL Draft and hopefully a new franchise QB is taking snaps for the team?

The great thing about the NFL is how fast teams can turn things around and start winning. When we looked at the teams coming off a bad season and drafting around the Texans in 2021, many of them showed a huge improvement the following season.

The Lions were 3-13-1 in 2021, last year? 9-8. The Jaguars went 3-14 in 2021. Last year they won the AFC South and notched a playoff win over the Chargers. Look at the New York Giants, they went 4-13 in 2021. They improved to 9-7-1 and also won a playoff game just one year later. And don't get us started on the Jets. They went 4-13 in 2021, improved to 7-10 with bad QB play, and now Aaron Rodgers wants to play there.

The point being, most of these teams hired new coaches in the last couple of years, added some talent through the draft and free agency and started winning. Why are Texans fans and media so convinced they're in for another season of losing? Why can't the Texans be the team that turns things around and competes for a division title? Especially if they land a franchise QB as expected.

The AFC South isn't a very tough division. In fact, the Texans beat the Jags, Colts, and Titans just this year. Shouldn't we expect them to take a step forward with better players and DeMeco Ryans leading the way?

Be sure to check out the video above as we break it all down!

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