Titans 35, Texans 14
With meaningless loss to Titans out of the way, it's time for the Texans to look ahead to Buffalo and the playoffs
Dec 29, 2019, 6:16 pm
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J.J. Watt was still in street clothes against the Titans, but he should be available against Buffalo.
About a half hour before the Texans took the field, their game on Sunday against the Titans was rendered meaningless. For the record, the Texans lost 35-14 to finish 10-6 in what was a glorified preseason game.
The Texans rested Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, Laremy Tunsil and Bradley Roby, among others. As the game wore on, the Texans sat even more players. Basically, anyone who might be important in the playoffs. And Jonathan Joseph.
They will face the 10-6 Buffalo Bills, the No. 5 seed, next week at NRG Stadium. The Texans were locked into the four spot when Kansas City beat the Chargers earlier in the day. Tennessee claims the sixth spot and will play New England next week.
The good news
This was a solid season for the Texans. There were some bad losses, but good wins as well, including victories over Kansas City, New England, and clutch division wins over Indianapolis and Tennessee to wrap up the AFC South. They rested key players in Week 17, so they should be healthy for the Bills. If they get past Buffalo, a likely trip to Baltimore awaits against the juggernaut that is the Ravens. The season would most likely end there, although there is a solid chance New England loses in Round 1 to Tennessee, which would send the Texans to Kansas City, where they have already won this season. If the Pats can lose at home to the Dolphins, they can certainly lose to the Titans.
First things first, however. The Texans have to beat the Bills. Let's take a look at the matchup.
How will it play out?
Buffalo has the same record as the Texans, but they feasted on much easier prey. Their best win was probably at Dallas; maybe Pittsburgh. They did play Baltimore and New England close but did not beat a team with a winning record.
The Texans clearly faced better competition. However, if the Texans team that failed to show up against Denver and Carolina - and for that matter offensively against Tampa - they can lose to anyone. And with their playoff history under O'Brien (1-3 with the only win over a third string QB against Oakland), no one would be shocked if that is what happens. But all things being equal, this is a good matchup for the Texans.
IF they play to their strengths...
The Bills strength is their defense. Entering Week 17, only two teams had allowed fewer yards. They were 12th in the league against the run, third against the pass.
For the Texans to have success, they will need to avoid attacking the Bills corners. They will need to run the ball effectively, use misdirection and counters, and throw the ball to the tight ends and running backs to open up the deep passing game. Watson will also need to run the ball effectively himself.
However, we have seen the Texans struggle and try to force the ball to Hopkins against teams with good secondaries, so it will need to be a good Bill O'Brien game plan on offense, which is always dicey. The Bills allowed the second fewest points in the league, and they tend to ugly up games. The Texans won a game like that early in the season against Jacksonville; they lost one against Carolina. If the Texans don't mix it up on offense, the Bills will shorten the game, and that is advantage Buffalo.
The other side of the ball
The Texans defense was been a mess most of the season, but they will get J.J. Watt back. His impact could be critical.
For the Bills, Josh Allen had a decent season passing the football, completing 58.8 percent of his passes for 3,089 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His running is a dangerous weapon as well, especially against a Texans defense that struggles against mobile quarterbacks. Allen had 510 yards rushing and averaged 4.7 per carry. So the Bills will try to run with Allen and his backs, and throw to the wideouts. The Texans will need to stuff the run and slow John Brown and to a lesser extent Cole Beasley at WR. The good news is the Bills do not have a dynamic tight end or high quality pass catcher out of the backfield. Those have been issues for the Texans defense all season. Roby will likely cover Brown, and if he can shut him down and Watt improves the run defense, the Texans should be fine.
The bottom line
The Texans defense should be able to keep the Bills under control, as Buffalo is in the bottom half of the league in points scored. The key to the game will be if Bill O'Brien's offense shows up. Watson has not played a good game since the New England win. He will have to be much better than he was down the stretch. O'Brien's play calling will be a big factor as well. If the Texans offense brings its A game, Houston should advance. If the bad offense shows up and Buffalo can ugly up the game? The Bills could easily leave Houston with a victory.
Regardless, the Texans are in the postseason. A deep run seems unlikely, but at least they are in the tournament.
It all starts next week against Buffalo, in what is a very interesting matchup.
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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.”