The streak is over, but hope is not lost
The good, bad, and ugly from the Texans loss to the Colts
Dec 9, 2018, 3:43 pm
Deshaun Watson had an up and down day. Tim Warner/Getty Images
The streak is over as the Texans lost to the Colts 24-21. Here's how I saw the end of the streak play out:
The Good
-Deshaun Watson made another play not many can make from the quarterback position. On their first touchdown drive, he scrambled around to keep a play alive and found Jordan Akins on the sideline. He escaped would-be sackers and dropped a dime to Akins where only he could catch it. Plays like this are why this guy is special.
-J.J. Watt registered his 12th sack on the year. He continued his bid for comeback player of the year. He's rounding back into his past form, but I think he needs to get his cardio up. He looks gassed at times. All in all, it's great to see him back and performing at a high level.
-Watson has shown he's willing to throw to his wide receivers often, especially DeAndre Hopkins. This game however, the tight ends held his attention. Akins, Ryan Griffin, and Jordan Thomas totaled 11 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown.
The Bad
-Andre Hal came up big with another interception this week, but it was wasted. The offense went backwards and lost nine yards in a three and out possession. Points off turnovers are critical to success.
-Not sure who blew the coverage, Justin Reid or Tyrann Mathieu, but T.Y. Hilton caught a 60-yard pass that set up the Colts' first touchdown. It looked like a cover 2 and Mathieu failed to play his portion of the deep zone. The secondary was atrocious.
-Watson was sacked in the red zone on their second touchdown drive. He's been sacked in the red zone a league leading 12 times this season. If I'm not mistaken, he's also near the top when it comes to interceptions in the red zone as well. These are the type of mistakes are things you can't do if you expect to be taken seriously as a contender.
The Ugly
-Colts tight end Eric Ebron continued the tradition of opposing tight ends killing the Texans. So did Hilton. They combined to finish with 10 catches for 201 yards and a touchdown. Hilton has been a Texans killer his whole career. Decent tight ends in general have always killed them as well.
-The defense missed sacks on Andrew Luck no less than six or seven times. I understand his pass protection has been like the Great Wall of China the last few weeks, but isn't the Texans' pass rush supposed to be elite?
-Jadeveon Clowney killed any chances of a comeback when he jumped offsides on 3rd & 1 with two minutes left in the game and the team down 24-21 with no timeouts left. What an awful way for their hot streak to end. But, Clowney gonna Clowney.
To win nine straight after losing the first three games of the season is great. But to lose this game with a chance to wrap up the division is a heartbreaker. No worries though Texans fans. There's still hope. Thank the Dolphins for beating the Patriots. But the Texans couldn't grab the two seed in the AFC because they wet the bed against the Colts. Here's to hoping the Texans win out and the Patriots drop another one.
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The Texans drafted in the first round FOUR times in the past two years. Composite image by Jack Brame.
The Houston Texans won last year’s NFL draft by taking quarterback and AP Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud with the No. 2 pick before trading up to draft defensive end and AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr. third overall.
There will be a lot less excitement in Houston in this year’s draft as the Texans don’t have a first-round pick and won’t select until the 10th pick of the second round with the 42nd overall selection.
However, coach DeMeco Ryans has said that he considers the second and third rounds the “sweet spot” of the draft and is looking forward to adding more guys who can contribute to his team.
“We continue to add guys who fit the Texans’ culture,” Ryans said. “And that’s guys who are made of the right mindset, guys who have that relentless mindset, guys who are true competitors, guys who love football, guys who love pushing their teammates to be their best, guys who want to be the best at what they do. We add those type of players to our locker room, that’s how we follow up a great draft last year.”
The 42nd pick is one of nine selections the Texans have in this draft as they try to add pieces to help them take another step this year after going from worst to first in the AFC South last season.
Houston already boosted its offense this offseason with the blockbuster trade for star receiver Stefon Diggs and the deal that brought running back Joe Mixon to Houston. But Ryans said those moves won’t change the way they approach the draft.
“Just because we’ve added guys at a lot of different positions, that doesn’t stop us from evaluating every position and looking at every avenue to continue to upgrade our team and continue to get our team better,” he said. “So, for the draft process, our process will be exactly the same. Who can we add to our team that adds value to our locker room and adds value to us on the field?”
PICK ’EMThe Texans don’t have a first-round pick this season because of two trades. They shipped their own selection in the opening round at No. 27 to Arizona last year as part of the deal to trade up to nab Anderson. They also had the 23rd pick in the first round, which they received as part of the Deshaun Watson trade. They sent that pick to Minnesota last month for No. 42, a sixth-round pick this year and the Vikings’ second-round pick next year.
NEEDSLast month the most glaring need for this team would be to add another receiver to join Nico Collins and Tank Dell. Acquiring Diggs changed that, but it still couldn’t hurt to add more talent at the position for the future.
A big need for this team is defensive tackle after both of their starters at the position from last season are no longer with the team. Sheldon Rankins signed with the Bengals this offseason and Maliek Collins was traded to San Francisco for a seventh-round draft pick.
The Texans signed former Titan Denico Autry, who had 11½ sacks last season, but could still use some depth at the position.
DON’T NEEDThe Texans should be set for years at quarterback after drafting Stroud last season. Their offensive line is also solid with left tackle Laremy Tunsil and right tackle Tytus Howard leading the group.
WHEELING AND DEALINGHouston general manager Nick Caserio has shown a propensity for trading draft picks since being hired by the Texans in 2021. Of course, his biggest trade was the one that allowed them to vault up from the 12th pick to No. 3 to get Anderson, but it’s far from his only one.
Only three of the Texans’ picks in this draft were originally theirs, with the other six coming via trades. They got a sixth-round pick this year in the deal for Diggs and a seventh-round selection in the Mixon trade.