Texans clinch the AFC South title
The good, bad and ugly of the Texans win over the Jags
Dec 30, 2018, 3:05 pm
DeAndre Hopkins arrived and made splash on and off the field. Zach Tarrant, Texans website
The Texans got the win they needed to secure the AFC South title 17-3 over the hapless Jags. Here's how I saw the last game of their regular season play out:
The Good
-DeAndre Hopkins was the Lone Ranger today yet again. However, it didn't stop him from gutting the Jags' secondary with 12 catches for 147 yards and a lot, if not all of those, came against Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey is widely regarded as one of the best cover guys in the game. Too bad for him Hopkins is better.
-J.J. Watt forced his seventh fumble in this game which puts him in first place in that category. He also recorded a half a sack to mark his fourth season with at least 15. Nobody with any good sense thought Watt would be back and play the way he has. If you did, you're most likely wearing Battle Red and Deep Steel Blue glasses so your vision in impaired by your fandom.
-The defense was smothering. So much so in fact, the Jags didn't gain a first down until five minutes into the second quarter. Whitney Mercilus even got in on the fun with a sack! All in all, the defense did what it was supposed to do against inferior competition.
The Bad
-Rookie safety Mike Tyson blocked D.J. Chark into DeAndre Carter as he called for a fair catch on a punt forcing the ball to bounce off of him and was recovered by the Jags on the Texans 10 yard line. This led to a field goal for the Jags. Mistakes like this can cost you playoff games.
-Deshaun Watson got sacked in the first half by Yannick Ngakoue. But it was the fact that he was being blocked by Ryan Griffin and Lamar Miller that ticked me off. Why in the world would you try to block a pass rusher like Ngakoue with a running back and tight end? Again, these are things that can cost you a playoff game, or your quarterback's health.
-Speaking of Watson getting sacked, it happened six times in the game! We all know the Jags are an aggressively tough and physical defense. Why take unnecessary chances when you're going to the playoffs?
The Ugly
-Another baffling decision was the very un-Bill O'Brien-like aggressive play calling at the end of the game. There were far too many pass plays; too many times Watson had runs called for him, and not enough conservative clock running.
-In the first quarter, Watson had a touchdown run overturned. He appeared to have landed on a Jag defender and reached the ball across the plane on a tremendous second effort. The refs saw it differently. They settled for a field goal after a false start on a fourth down attempt. Again, costly move that can mean the difference in a tight playoff game.
-When your quarterback was again your leading rusher, it spells trouble moving forward. Watson can't continue to be relied upon to carry the load as far as the rushing attack is concerned. Why was D'Onta Foreman inactive?
The team won its 11th game of the season, the most under the O'Brien era. Potential playoff matchups loom against teams like the Steelers and Colts, and it scares the crap out of me. If those teams with those quarterback-receiver-tight end combos don't scare you, you're either not human or are wearing those aforementioned team-colored glasses. Either way, let's enjoy the ride, no matter how long it lasts. Worst to first with a promising future is a position I like for this team.Most Popular
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How Astros advanced metrics tell puzzling story about Houston's start
Apr 17, 2025, 5:21 pm
Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.
The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. In the batter’s box he has often looked befuddled. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.
All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.
As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.
Familiar faces return
This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.
Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.
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!
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