Houston Texans Official Twitter Account
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).
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
The Astros and the Yankees in the Bronx this weekend. Fun! And important. Both teams have been in results ruts for a while. The Astros have gone 9-16 over their last 25 games while the Yankees’ funk is longer extending, producing a 19-29 mess over their last 48 games. Despite the Seattle Mariners closing in, the Astros still lead the American League West. The Yankees’ hopes of again winning the AL East are fading toward the point of no return. They have tumbled six and a half games behind the Toronto Blue Jays and also lag three games behind the rampaging Boston Red Sox. Hence, the Yankees are under clearly more pressure than are the Astros this weekend. The pitching matchups in the first two games strongly favor the Astros. Friday night it’s Hunter Brown opposite rookie Cam Schlittler who makes his fifth big league appearance. Saturday afternoon it’s Framber Valdez versus Luis Gil, who was the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year, but missed the first four months of this season with a lat injury. Gil made his 2025 debut Sunday, and was terrible. The Astros’ quality rotation depth beyond Brown and Valdez is non-existent at this point. Their Sunday starter will be a lesser starter than the Yankees’ Max Fried. Of course, in one game you never know.
The Astros have thoroughly owned the Yankees in their most meaningful meetings over the last decade. In 2015 the ousted the Yankees in a one-game Wild Card matchup. Then came the real soul-crushers with the Astros vanquishing the Yanks in the 2017, 2019, and 2022 American League Championship Series, with it getting easier for the Astros as time went on. The 2017 series went the maximum seven games, 2019 took six, 2022 was a four-game Astros’ sweep. The regular season has been a different matter. The Yankees have beaten the Astros in 11 of 14 games over the last two years. Last season the Yankees walloped the Astros six wins to one. They only play six times this regular season: the three in New York this weekend then three at Daikin Park in early September.
Here comes the Judge
While the Astros (and their fans) endure a seemingly never-ending wait for Yordan Alvarez’s return to the lineup, the Yankees have Aaron Judge back after a 10-day stint on the injured list. Judge carries the burden of soft career postseason stats (though he has 16 home runs in just 58 postseason games and his career playoffs OPS is just 21 points lower than Alex Bregman’s), but this is a legendary player. Judge’s career OPS stands at a whopping 1.024. That number will drop during the decline years remaining in his career, but here’s the list of all time Major Leaguers higher than 1.024: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds, and Jimmie Foxx. Those are arguably the four greatest offensive players in MLB history, plus Foxx who probably rates in the top 20. If he holds up the rest of the season, Judge is a cinch for his third AL Most Valuable Player Award in four years.
Turn back the clock
Should they choose to check it out, the Astros can watch the Yankees’ Old-Timers' Game Saturday. Though most of the greatest of Yankee legends have died, there will still be a fabulous cast of alumni who soak up cheers during introductions, with many of them then taking part in a two or three inning game. The Yankees are by far the most storied franchise in MLB. The Astros have plenty of history and beloved players over multiple generations to copy the concept, and have their own Old-Timers' Day at Daikin Park. Would it not be a blast to see Roger Clemens pitch to Craig Biggio? Roy Oswalt to Lance Berkman? As I said during our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast this week, I wouldn’t bet against 78 (as of Friday)-year-old Jose Cruz squaring up a ball for a line drive. Make Astros’ Old Timers’ Day happen in 2026 Jim Crane!
Angry birds
The best team in the American League is Toronto, best for now anyway. The Blue Jays have been the best over the last two months-plus. The Jays woke up May 29 at 27-28. Since then they are 41-20. Over that time frame the Astros have the third-best record in the AL behind the Jays and Red Sox. A notable part of Toronto’s success the past month is Joey Loperfido. He didn’t make the Jays’ big league squad coming out of spring training, and wasn’t called up until July 6. Over 72 at bats since getting back to “The Show” Loperfido is batting .389 with a .978 OPS. Reminder that Loperfido hit .372 over his first 43 at bats with the Astros. Full credit to Joey for a magnificent month. Still, there is no reason for the Astros to be wracked with regret for having included Loperfido in last season’s trade for Yusei Kikuchi.
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!
_____________________________________________
*Looking to get the word out about your business, products, or services? Consider advertising on SportsMap! It's a great way to get in front of Houston sports fans. Click the link below for more information!