The Houston Texans are coming to Detroit for the Thanksgiving Day matinee at Ford Field. Deshaun Watson and his band of Texans are 3-7, coming off a win over the New England Patriots in Week 11 that marked their best victory of the season.
To learn more about the Texans and their travails under an interim regime, I turned to Mark Lane, managing editor of Texans Wire. Lane graciously, honestly answered a few questions about the state of the Texans and how this turkey day matchup will go down.
Deshaun Watson is having a great season. What has been the key to him remaining excellent despite the team’s poor record?
Watson has kind of accepted that he is one of 11 out on the field, and all the team is asking him to do is his job. Let the rest of the chips fall where they may. In doing so, he has put on some of his better performances of the season, and he hasn’t dipped below 90.0 in passer rating since Week 2. He hasn’t chucked an interception since Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a 30-14 win at NRG Stadium.
Combined with that, the receiving corps, which has added new elements with receivers Randall Cobb and Brandin Cooks, has developed cohesion with the two-time Pro Bowler. Tight end Jordan Akins was out for a stretch, but has come back and provided a nice check down to replace an ineffective running game. If Watson weren’t playing, this would be an unbearable football team to watch.
Why has the Texans run game struggled so much?
Some of it is the defense has given up so many points the offense has to abandon it, or teams don’t respect it and squelch it quickly. The Texans have rushed just 220 times, the third-fewest in the NFL. Their 3.8 yards per carry is tied for the fourth-lowest in the league.
During the NFL combine, the sense was maybe the Texans might use their second or third-round pick on a J.K. Dobbins or even a Zack Moss. Instead, they traded DeAndre Hopkins, and with David Johnson coming with his contract, you knew that was the RB1 regardless.
J.J. Watt is coming off a huge game vs. New England. How close is Watt to his peak self?
Through the first eight games last season, although Watt had just 4.0 sacks at the time he tore his pectoral muscle, he had 21 quarterback hits, tied for the 20th-most by season’s end. So, the sense was that he was about to have a sack explosion and maybe qualified for a Pro Bowl.
This season, Watt has just eight quarterback hits and 4.0 sacks, same as last year. Cam Newton was in the top-10 for having passes batted going into Week 11. I think a lot of it had more to do with Newton’s problems than Watt’s skill, although it was quite the flashback.
The Texans pass defense seems to be trending up but the run defense is still dead last. Is it scheme, talent, execution or a combination?
It’s guys who are getting off their blocks, freelancing, and trying to make plays on their own. Some of it is also losing D.J. Reader in free agency. The defensive tackle provided the Texans a quality run-stuffer in the trenches, and he was someone that helped make J.J. Watt’s job easier. Against the Patriots, they played more disciplined football, achieved a win, and perhaps provided a necessary touchstone they can go back to.
What’s the attitude of the team playing under an interim coach and interim front office?
The players love Romeo Crennel and are having fun without taskmaster Bill O’Brien in the building. Whether that is sustainable going forward remains to be seen, although it helps chairman and CEO Cal McNair achieve the objective of having the team play with more fun again.
None of the players have said anything substantive about the front office. If anything, Deshaun Watson has remarked about how impressed he is with a “man of God” such as executive vice president of football operations, Jack Easterby, who is also filling in as interim general manager.
The McNairs have to get the coaching and general manager hires right, because Houston is an attractive place to be. Who cares that they are missing their two front teeth in terms of their 2021 first and second round picks being gone? They still have Deshaun Watson. It is a quarterback’s league. If they can bring in a coach who can work with Watson, they should at least vie for a playoff spot while reloading for the 2022 NFL Draft.
The “bad news” is the McNairs hired the same talent evaluation firm that conjured O’Brien.
Who wins and why?
The Texans are operating on a short week and LT Laremy Tunsil is still pretty iffy for Thanksgiving with a non-COVID illness. DT P.J. Hall was listed as a non-participant on Monday with knee and shoulder ailments. G Senio Kelemete (concussion) was limited. The injury factor could knock Houston down a notch. If Ndamukong Suh were playing, he wouldn’t have a reason to kick Matt Schaub as the Lions prevail 26-22, winning their first Turkey Day game since 2016.
[lawrence-related id=54584]