Enjoy the weekend everyone.

The Houston Texans improved their record to 4-7 with a 41-25 thumping of the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Enjoy the highlights video from yesterday’s feast. The Good Guys have a mini-bye (3 extra days off) before facing the Colts.

A little pre-game recon on Thursday’s showdown with the Lions up in Detroit City. Dead Coach made a great post in yesterday’s daily thread so take a look at it if you haven’t already (good stuff!). And Mark Lane sits down with Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire to get some intel on Houston’s Turkey Bowl opponent.

Dead Coach Talks Turkey About The Lions
By Dead Coach, duh.

Excerpt: Who are the Detroit Lions?

Since the Texans hardly ever face the Lions, and they generally aren’t a playoff team, many Houston fans might be thinking about Megatron and Barry Sanders still when they think of the Lions. It’s been a while since those days. Let’s see what we can see about the Thanksgiving opponent.

First, a little Thanksgiving trivia. There have been Thanksgiving NFL games pretty much every year since the league started. There were 5 Thanksgiving Day games in 1920, the first year of the league. Most notable was the match between the Chicago Tigers and Decatur Staleys, which legend says was a “loser gets out of town” match, as both were competing for the same fan base. There isn’t much evidence to support that, but the Tigers folded in 1921, and the Staleys went on to become the Chicago bears.

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Behind Enemy Lines: Previewing the Texans’ Week 12 game with Lions Wire
By Mark Lane, TexansWire

Excerpt:
TexansWire: Who are some underrated Lions that Texans fans need to pay attention to?

Jeff Risdon: Amani Oruwariye has solidified himself as the team’s best cornerback. He had an end zone INT in Week 11 and he’s consistently the top cover man. He’s an emerging standout in his second season.

Punter Jack Fox won the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in September, his first month on the job in the NFL. He’s been fantastic, albeit a little busier than anyone hoped for.

Center Frank Ragnow had a rotten Week 11, but in general he’s one of the NFL’s best at his position.

TW: What’s your prediction for the first Turkey Day game?

JR: The Lions have no answers for Deshaun Watson. None. The injuries on the offense for Detroit handicap their ability to try and outscore the damage Watson & Co. will do to the league’s slowest defense. Texans 33, Lions 24

Texans add an OG claimed via waivers (New England), and you can read more about him via Cody Stoots of SI.com and a past Pats Pulpit article, as well. John Crumpler with TexansWire thinks Watson’s performance vs. the Patriots has raised the Texans stock in the eyes of potential HC candidates. Lastly, 8 players are listed on the Monday injury report.

Texans Claim Former Patriots Lineman
By Cody Stoots, SI.com

View a Pats Pulpit article here, which shows GIFs of Frohodlt’s play with the Arkansas Razorbacks. IMO, he’s better than Kelemete.

Excerpt: HOUSTON – The Houston Texans have some depth coming their way via their latest waiver claim. 

Hjalte Froholdt was claimed by the team via waivers after New England moved on from the former fourth-round pick. Houston placed him on the Exempt/Commissioner Permission list while he passes his COVID-19 testing. 

Froholdt played in eight games for the Patriots this season but didn’t take the field in New England’s most recent two games. He missed all of last season due to a shoulder injury.

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Deshaun Watson vanquishes Patriots’ Bill Belichick, puts Texans coaching candidates on notice
By John Crumpler, TexansWire

Very in-depth/long article, so I encourage folks to click the link and give it a read.

Excerpt: It was published that Watson ate with franchise chairman and CEO Cal McNair this week to discuss the future of the franchise and the head coaching vacancy. Maybe that lit a spark for Sunday’s game because Watson reminded everyone what’s available in Houston as he turned in this third stellar game in four years against the Patriots. No Tunsil, No Hopkins, so be it.

Following the loss to Green Bay, the focus of the season shifted to Houston proving to both the league and themselves what is possible for the 2021 season with a coaching change. No such confidence was inspired in their follow-up performance against the Browns. However, even without Tom Brady, this kind of win over New England should remind the AFC South that Houston may be down but they won’t be there long.

Once the quarterback position is settled in the NFL your team can overcome a variety of sins to still win football games. It won’t be surprising to see coordinators lining up for that security blanket this offseason if Watson continues to play possessed.

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Damn, as good as Roderick Johnson was at LT for the #Texans, really hope Laremy Tunsil is all good. Quick turnaround for the game but we’ll need him vs the Lions. https://t.co/3Fw5WCApGh

— Jordan Pun (@Texans_Thoughts) November 24, 2020

 

Watson practically flawless in Houston’s win vs. New England. Yes, the Patriots defense is really bad. But also yes, a sometimes struggling Texans OL did their job and did it very well when given an opportunity to capitalize on an advantage. Tunsil is no sure-thing for the Turkey Bowl in Detroit. And finally: Bigfoot had a nice day, and he might be joined by fellow mysterious creature Kahale Warring.

Patriots at Texans score: Deshaun Watson flawless as Houston outlasts late rally by New England for third win
By Tyler Sullivan, CBS Sports

Excerpt: A lot of credit needs to be handed to Deshaun Watson, who could simply do no wrong in this game. As he was lighting up New England’s secondary through the air, the former first-round pick was dancing around the pocket to allow more time for his receivers to get open. When he didn’t throw the ball, he tucked it and ran for 36 yards and a touchdown. Watson took full advantage of the Patriots offense going silent in the second quarter, posting 14 unanswered points before heading into the locker room at halftime. 

While Watson was doing damage on the offensive side of the ball, the defense put together one of its best days of the season in the win. The most surprising development came on the ground. Houston came into Week 11 boasting the worst run defense in the entire NFL. On paper, it was a clear mismatch against a Patriots unit that was averaging the second-most rushing yards per game heading into Sunday. When the game was played, however, the run defense played well, allowing just 86 yards on the ground and one touchdown. That mark is even better when you eliminate the 26 rushing yards on the Patriots’ opening touchdown drive. When you do that, what was billed as a horrid Texans run defense held New England to just 60 yards on the ground. 

The Texans recorded a pass block win rate of 82% against the Patriots, their best PBWR game of the season, according to @ESPNStatsInfo. They did that without LT Laremy Tunsil, who missed the game with an illness.

— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) November 23, 2020

Romeo Crennel said “at this point I’m not sure” if LT Laremy Tunsil (illness) will be able to play on Thursday in Detroit.

— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) November 22, 2020

Texans set to activate tight end Kahale Warring: https://t.co/kTRzs6QOND

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) November 23, 2020

Another weekend, another Weekend Discussion thread. With a lot of college football games canceled this weekend, I suggest checking out the 6:30 p.m. CT game on ESPN 3 between #21 Liberty University and N.C State. Liberty U’s QB, Malik Willis, is a lot of fun to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZO_gJXkOtQ

BarryFromTexas checks in with a Heh Report after last week’s Texans loss to the Brownies. Thanks again, Barry!

Week-10-Heh-Report

Back to the rumor lab: The man who “knows what you don’t know” addresses season ticket-holders and tells them to calm down about their worries that Jack Easterby might be GM or might have a role alongside a new GM. Matt Miller says he’s heard from multiple agents who represent several top candidates for the job that the Houston gig is one “no one” wants. Lastly, to round out the rumor mill news, Texans_Thoughts provides a video breakdown of Eric Bienemy as a potential HC for the Texans.

Texans president: Jack Easterby will not be our General Manager
By Josh Alper, Pro Football Talk

Excerpt: During a Zoom call with season-ticket holders on Wednesday, Texans president Jamey Rootes was asked about Belichick’s assessment of Easterby.

“Jack would be the first person to tell you he’s not a personnel guy,” Rootes said, via Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle. “Jack will not be the General Manager of the Houston Texans. Jack realizes we need personnel expertise to put together the best football team. He doesn’t have enough time in the day. He’s working on sports science, working on nutrition. Spread the word. Jack has no intentions of being the General Manager.”

Rootes went on to say that the intention is to name a new G.M. in January and that “hope will spring eternal” for the team once they make that hire.

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Matt Miller’s Scouting Notebook: Fixing the Eagles, Latest 2021 Big Board & More
By Matt Miller, Bleacher Report

—The Houston Texans will be hiring a general manager and a head coach this offseason, with the team expected to make the GM a priority. That sounds great in theory, but I’m told from multiple agents who represent several top candidates for the job that the Houston gig is one “no one” wants. Said one agent: “You have to look at every job as maybe the only opportunity you’ll get, so maybe you jump early on one you don’t love, but the thing about being a GM that’s different than a coach is that you really get one chance, and if it doesn’t work out, you’re fired and out of the league. There aren’t many second-time hires for a GM job, so you better get it right when deciding where you want to work.”

There are reasons to like the Houston job—Deshaun Watson being a big one—but concerns about ownership and the influence of Jack Easterby, a former team chaplain who now wields a large amount of power, are valid and could push away the best candidates.

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Texans_Thoughts on twitter provides a 16-minute breakdown examining the potential for Eric Bienemy to be the next Texans HC. Timestamps:
0:57 Reasons for Bieniemy
5:43 Defending Bieniemy’s issues
11:06 Scheme film breakdown

Slow news day. A look at how the Texans (tell me if you haven’t heard this before…) need to stay focused on rushing lanes but instead of a running back this time it’s for an opposing QB (Cam Newton) in this weekend’s matchup vs. the Patriots. Also, the Texans have signed a WR to the practice squad who caught passes from Watson at Clemson.

Texans have to stay disciplined in rush lanes to defend Patriots QB Cam Newton
By Mark Lane, TexansWire

Excerpt: “Here again, and I know I talk about discipline a lot, but you have to be disciplined in your rush lanes and how you rush the guy because if you are undisciplined and you’ve got three guys on one side and one guy on the other, that creates a big running lane for the quarterback,” said Crennel. “We have to be disciplined and have two inside rushers, two outside rushers and collapse the pocket on him so that he can’t run.”

Newton has rushed 80 times for 335 yards and nine touchdowns in eight games. The former 2011 Carolina Panthers No. 1 overall pick has not rushed for that many touchdowns since 2015 when he rushed for 10 en route to an All-Pro selection as Carolina qualified for Super Bowl 50.

On Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, Newtown rushed 11 times for 21 yards and a touchdown. The Texans will have to stay true to their game plan to keep Newton from being equally as effective.

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Texans Are Reportedly Signing Former Clemson Wide Receiver
By Andrew Holleran, TheSpun

Excerpt: Houston, looking to add some depth at the wide receivers position, is reportedly signing a former Clemson Tigers wide receiver to the practice squad.

Artavis Scott, 26, is reportedly signing with Houston. He’ll reportedly be added to the Texans’ practice squad, but could eventually be activated to the game day roster.

The former Clemson Tigers wide receiver played for the ACC school from 2014-16. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, with 76 receptions for 965 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season. Scott added 93 receptions for 901 receiving yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore. He totaled 614 receiving yards and five touchdowns as a junior.

Romeo Crennel explains why the Texans do not use more up-tempo/hurry-up on offense. Cody Stoots writes the DeAndre Carter roster obituary, also putting forth the theory that Carter’s departure might indicate an improvement for Coutee’s chances at a slot WR position and possibly special teams returner role, as well.

Why don’t the Texans go up-tempo all the time since it seems to work?
By Mark Lane, TexansWire

Excerpt: Given that the hurry-up offense on that drive helped Houston pick up chunk plays, why not run the offense at that pace more often?

“Sometimes it does [spark the offense], but if you go up-tempo all the time, the defense kind of gets used to it, gets into a rhythm and gets into an up-tempo rhythm,” interim coach Romeo Crennel explained. “Sometimes, I think we want to know what the defense is going to line up in and kind of have an idea about what they are going to do. Sometimes when you go up-tempo, you don’t have that idea of what they are going to do because they are mulling around and doing stuff that maybe you don’t expect them to do.”

The problem for Houston was they had no run game to balance out their passing attack, or provide another effective gear to their hurry-up offense. The lack of a credible rushing threat has been a problem for the entire season and has been an ingredient to their 2-7 record.

“We slow it down so that everybody can be on the same page about how we want to operate a particular play call,” Crennel said.

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Will Returns Improve with the Texans Recent Roster Move?
By Cody Stoots, SI.com

Excerpt: Against the Browns running back C.J. Prosise returned kickoffs and wide receiver Will Fuller returned one of the Cleveland punts. Fuller could assume the role full time or options such as Keke Coutee and Randall Cobb could be available to the Texans on punts. 

Despite often being pointed out by former head coach Bill O’Brien as tough, smart, and dependable Carter usually disappointed in his returns. He made curious decisions on kickoffs costing the Texans yards. He misjudged when to catch and not catch punts pinning the Texans deep in their own territory. 

His fumble played a hand in the playoff blunder in Kansas City.

Carter was far from average and often a net negative. O’Brien never challenged him with other players since his arrival in the middle of the 2018 season, even extending the returner this past offseason.

The improvement from Prosise on kickoffs and Fuller on punts was immediate, as both possessed more “juice” at the position and each represents an actual threat to acquire yards. 

This also paves the way for Keke Coutee to be active as the potential punt returner and backup slot wide receiver.