Chiefs 51, Texans 31
Texans vs Chiefs Divisional Round: Good, bad and ugly
Jan 12, 2020, 5:31 pm
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With a chance to host the Titans in the AFC Championship game on the line, the Texans got beat by the Chiefs 31-51 in a thriller. Here are my observations:
The Good
-On their sixth play from scrimmage, the Texans scored a touchdown on a 54-yard Deshaun Watson to Kenny Stills hookup. The Chiefs' defense fell for the bubble screen which left Stills wide open. It was the Texans' first opening drive touchdown in postseason history (10 games).
-Deshaun Watson played his ass off. 31/52 for 388 yards with two passing touchdowns, plus six carries for 37 yards and a touchdown rushing. His escapability prolonged plays and always makes for an entertaining watch. He's the football equivalent to an offensive rebound the way he extends plays. My favorite play was the sack he took, but made the Chiefs defense work for almost 10 seconds to get on their first possession of the 3rd quarter.
-Watson looked great because he had a full compliment of healthy receivers. Will Fuller has been the main culprit of bad health. He had 89 yards on five catches. DeAndre Hopkins and Stills, the healthy guys, combined for 198 yards on 12 catches and a touchdown. If the defense can get their act together, this offense (when healthy) can be dangerous.
The Bad
-Lonnie Johnson Jr was called for a 28-yard pass interference on Kelce that led to the Chiefs' second touchdown. He was getting his head around and made minimal contact, but the refs threw the flag anyway. Later in the first half, DeAndre Hopkins dropped a key 3rd down when Tyrann Mathieu made obvious contact before the ball got there, but the refs didn't throw a flag there. Pass interference calls and reviews have been a complete joke all year.
-Down 17 with 11:45 left in the game on 4th&4 from Chiefs, Bill O'Brien called a timeout because he was about to punt. Inexcusable in that situation for O'Brien not to have a play dialed up. Again, situational football isn't his thing. He needs to relinquish some control to someone/people he knows and respects that'll help him navigate situational football, as well as some other things.
-Failure to continue to run the ball effectively was a contributing factor to this loss. The Texans ran it 21 times for 94 yards at a 4.5 yard per carry average. I'm no genius, but that means a lot of shorter distances to go 2nd & 3rd downs if you can rush for your average. This was the same thing the Ravens did. They too panicked unnecessarily and decided to start playing flag football. Dance with the one you got there with instead of shooting your shot at the one you can't get with.
The Ugly
-After going up 24-0, the Texans gave up a 58-yard kickoff return, 25-yard pass to Travis Kelce, and a 17-yard touchdown pass to Damien Williams to make it 24-7. They followed up their next offensive possession by missing on a 4th&4 fake punt giving the Chiefs a short field. Next thing you know, it's 24-14 and the Chiefs started shifting momentum. Then...
-...the Chiefs really made it a game when Deandre Carter fumbled the ensuing kickoff recovered by Darwin Thompson and returned to the six yard line. The Chiefs scored on 3rd&Goal when Mahomes found Kelce after scrambling. It went to 24-21 and Arrowhead Stadium turned back into a party. IT WAS STILL THE FIRST HALF! It was all down hill from there.
-The last 35 minutes of the game was all UGLY! How the hell do you go up 24-0 on the road, then give up 41 unanswered?!? Romeo Crennel should be fired immediately! People will blame O'Brien and his gambles that didn't work, but the defense failed to stop or slow down the Chiefs.
I stated on Twitter before the game started that Chris Jones being out for the Chiefs was bigger than Will Fuller being healthy for the Texans. That was true for the first 20 minutes of the game. The Texans proceeded to implode as if the moment was too big for them. They compounded mistakes by making more egregious errors, then componded them by making tactical blunders, and ultimately failed to execute. I hope this serves as a learning tool for the organization moving forward. The players didn't quit when things started going south. That is a testament to O'Brien. If he was as bad as most think he is, his team would quit on him. While this sin't an endorsement, it is a sign that the players like him even though no one else appears to. When you give up a 51-7 run in football, you'll lose every time; unless you're up by more than 45 points. Word to Booger McFarland.
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Stephen Curry closed his eyes and rested his tired head on Jimmy Butler's right shoulder as the superstars shared another postgame moment.
This time, with Butler injured and wearing street clothes — a full-length fur coat at that.
“Well first, he had a fantastic coat on,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought he was going to be way too hot in that thing.”
Sidelined for Game 3 of Golden State's first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Butler had a front-row seat to watch his teammate take over Saturday night in a 104-93 win that gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Curry scored 36 points with five 3-pointers and had nine assists and seven rebounds in nearly 41 minutes. He had been determined to do more if Butler couldn't play after injuring his pelvis and suffering a deep gluteal muscle contusion in a hard fall during Game 2.
Butler and Curry can compare notes on their injured backsides, given that Curry has dealt with a bruised tailbone multiple times. For now, Curry appreciates the support, whether Butler is in uniform or not.
And the fur Butler was wearing?
“I almost didn't need a hot pack on the sideline sitting next to him. There was plenty of heat emanating from him,” Curry said before adding, “He's a savvy veteran, high-IQ guy, he's got a presence whether he's active or not where his voice matters, and we needed him to lift everybody up on the bench and give us that energy. His presence matched the fit for sure.”
Kerr wasn't ready to guess whether Butler will be able to play in Game 4 on Monday night.
“He’s literally day-to-day. We have tomorrow off. It will be helpful for him to have another day, and then it’s a night game,” Kerr said. “So he gets a few extra hours. So we’ll see. I have no idea right now if he’s going to play.”
Butler had been set to go through his pregame routine, which he does out of sight on the team's practice court and not the playing floor before games at Chase Center. He had an MRI exam Thursday in the Bay Area a day after he was hurt in Houston.
“We had to have Jimmy’s back while he was out,” said Gary Payton II, who scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. “Hopefully we get Jimmy back for Game 4 and get back to our regularly scheduled program.”
Jonathan Kuminga, who didn't play for three straight games before rejoining the rotation in Game 2 when Butler got hurt, was in the starting lineup for his fourth career playoff start.
Butler went down hard when he was fouled by Amen Thompson late in the first quarter and then missed the rest of the Warriors’ 109-94 Game 2 loss on Wednesday night.
Butler tried to secure a rebound when Thompson undercut him and sent the Warriors star’s feet high into the air so that he came down straight onto his tailbone. Both players thudded to the floor and Butler grimaced in pain, grabbing at his backside. He stayed in briefly to shoot two free throws before going to the locker room.
Kerr appreciated Butler's insight on the bench.
“Jimmy is so smart. He reminds me so much of Andre Iguodala," Kerr said. “Incredible basketball IQ and then the ability to communicate what he’s seeing to his teammates on the bench. I thought Jimmy was important for us tonight in that regard. He was talking to guys throughout the game, and giving them advice, giving some help, and that was big.”
In the Game 1 win against the Rockets, Butler had 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 42 minutes. The Warriors are 26-9 since Butler made his debut at Chicago on Feb. 8, including 23-8 in the regular season, a play-in tournament win over Memphis and the three games against Houston.
“We know they are still dangerous without Butler, so that doesn’t change anything as far as that," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “We didn’t make them pay, especially with the paint shots.”