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The Texans served a 50-burger to the Falcons as they improved to 3-2 in a 53-32 romp. They took care of business against a team they should have. Here are my observations:
The Good
-Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller both had career games. Watson threw for 426 yards (career high), five touchdowns (tied career high) while completing 84.8% of his passes(career High). Fuller pulled in 14 of his 17 targets (career high when targeted over 10 times) for 217 yards and three touchdowns (both are career highs).
-Keeping with the offensive explosion theme, they scored on eight of their 10 possessions. Make it nine of 11 if you include the pick six. That kind of output is beyond impressive. It's a conversion of playing a bad team, and...
-...Bill O'Brien calling a great game. He finally put together a gameplan inwhich he took full advantage of the team they were up against while playing into the stregnths of his own team. I know I've crushed him in the past, but I also give credit when it's due. These are the kinds of games I wish O'Brien could have more of.
The Bad
-Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan completed 69% of his passes. Against better teams, this would've been a sure sign of a loss. 60% is a low end benchmark. Anything above that is considered pretty good. When you approach 70%, it's rare air. A quarterback in that range usually wins. This can't keep happening if they expect to build upon this win.
-Giving up 9/16 3rd down conversions is pretty damn bad. 56.3% is enough to by far lead the league in this category. A team with around 50% could lead the league, anything above that...well, you got the drift from the previous entry.
-Carlos Hyde averaged only 2.9 yards per carry. The team ran for 166 yards on 34 carries. Take out Hyde's 21 carries, and they ran for 106 yards on 13 carries for a 8.2 yards per carry average. Not saying they would've kept up that production, but Hyde gas to get it into gear if he expects to take advantage of playing time and touches.
The Ugly
-The Texans committed nine penalties accepted for 89 yards. Penalties are one of the poor themes this team has had going all year so far. If they don't find a cure for this ailment, it'll take them apart eventually.
-DeAndre Carter muffed a punt on the first play of the fouth quarter when the Texans were up 33-17. It led to a Falcons touchdown and two-point conversion that drew them within one score, 33-25. This could've been much worse had the offensive explosion not continued into the 4th quarter.
-Speaking of fumbles, the Texans coughed it up a total of five times, but managed to recover four of them. Had they not recovered four of the five fumbles, this score could've easily been reversed. Better teams tend to convert turnovers into points and don't pass on an opportunity to get them.
The Texans have the sniffles early on this season. As in what can best be described as the early signs of a full-blown cold, they have issues, but not bad enough to call it the flu. This was a chicken noodle soup game for them. The Falcons came into this game with a wealth of talent, and an underwhelming 1-3 record. While chicken noodle soup soothes the throat and can also warm you up, it only masks the symptoms. If the symptoms worsen or progress, they'll need some over the counter or prescription meds depending on the severity. So far, so good. They've been able to stave off the hard core cough, congestion, and stuffy breathing. They showed they can put up video game numbers if given the chance. Next week, they're rewarded with the Chiefs in Kansas City. That will be the thermometer game to see if the fever has broken, or if it has gotten worse.
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The Astros were a season low 12 games under .500 (12-24) on May 8th but were able to turn things around and entered the All-Star break with a respectable 50-46 record.
The turnaround can be attributed to better performances on the field by a multitude of players, but there are still things that could be improved to ensure a successful second half of the season.
As it currently stands, Houston is only one game behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West division race, and the Astros should have key players returning from injury to further bolster their playoff ambitions.
The return of the King
Kyle Tucker has been on the injured list with a shin contusion for six weeks now, and looks to return in the near future.
The Astros have done surprisingly well without their three-time All-Star outfielder thanks to contributions from guys like Joey Loperfido, Jake Meyers and Marcio Dubon in the outfield. Plus, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Yanier Diaz and Jeremy Pena carrying the offense while King Tuck is away.
Before getting hurt, the 27-year-old was hitting .266/.395/.584 through 60 games. Houston already has one of the best offenses in baseball, and adding Tucker back would give the Astros another high-quality bat to further bolster their lineup.
The latest update is Tucker has been playing catch and could start a rehab assignment soon if all goes well.
Fix the rotation
Starting pitching has been a major issue this season due to a multitude of injuries.
Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and J.P. France have all been lost for the year with various surgeries and guys like Justin Verlander and Luis Garcia are trying to work their way back from their injured list stints.
Garcia was recently pulled from his rehab assignment and won’t pitch again until he is ready. Meanwhile, Verlander could be closer to his return and is throwing bullpen sessions as of July 14. Getting both of these pitchers back at some point this season will be a huge boost to this roster.
The current Astros’ rotation consists of Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss. Although not a bad rotation by any means, the starting pitching depth is getting pretty thin and Houston can ill afford another injury to their staff.
Astros general manager Dana Brown has been vocal about his desire to add starting pitching, and could have some options heading into the trade deadline. Players like Jack Flaherty, Garrett Crochet or Yusei Kikuchi, just to name a few, could be low risk high reward pitchers the Astros could acquire to add depth to their rotation.
Another option would be to call up A.J. Blubaugh from Sugar Land. The 24-year-old has a 6-2 record with a 3.46 ERA in 71.1 innings pitched this season for the Space Cowboys and could be a necessary depth piece to add to the rotation.
Play Astros baseball
The Astros have been playing better baseball as of late and have won 18 of their last 23 games. With players like Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander potentially returning soon, there is reason to believe Houston can make the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season.
The 'Stros will try to take sole possession of first place in their division from the Mariners when the two teams meet for three games at T-Mobile Park starting on Friday night.