BRB Group Think: Lets’s Try To Have Some Fun

The Texans are 0-3. The conclusion to this is inevitable. Everything is bad and it’s super sad that a talented roster has been put to waste because this team is coached by the worst coach south of Ohio. It’s all already been wasted. Everything sucks, like a black and white checkered late 90s trombone song. But, hey, we can still smile a little bit.

Rather than heap on the bleakness of it all, is there anything you have enjoyed about watching this team play so far? If there’s nothing at all, is there anything, even non-Texans related that is making you happy a the moment? This is the question I asked the masthead for this week’s groupt hink.

Matt Weston:

There have only been three things I’ve enjoyed watching the Texans play football for the last three weeks.

Kareem Jackson playing safety and splattering ball carriers. This should have happened years ago. Then Kevin Johnson went out with another concussion, and Jackson had to move back down to the the plains of the line of scrimmage. Losing Jackson at safety has made the games even less entertaining.

Will Fuller V has back-to-back 100 yard games. This is what a breakout looks like. With teams bracketing DeAndre Hopkins, he’s gotten man coverage. If they play off, Fuller uses their fear against them by sitting on easy curl and comeback route. If they play press, Fuller beats them off the line and runs past them, moving too fast for even the safety to come back and help out. He’s catching passes instead of dropping them. He’s stiff arming defenders. Just please stay healthy.

Lastly, we finally got a vintage J.J. Watt performance. This hasn’t happened since the Chiefs game in 2016. Last year he started off slowly, mainly working as a great run defender. But last week he finally showed that spectacular edge rushing ability and tackles for a loss defending skill he has. He’s one of the few defenders who can extinguish drives all on his own. In the loss to the Giants, Watt murdered two of theirs, forcing field goals instead of touchdowns, and staving off what could have been a blowout.

That’s it. And if another game happens like last week, I’m out. I’ll go for a walk. I’ll put on The Sopranos instead. I’ll catch up later on the recording. Time is too finite and precious to waste it on the worst coached team in football.

Capt Ron:

I’m now incredibly apathetic about this team that I have been so passionate about since their inception. That sucks! But I have to protect my emotions until substantial improvements are made over on Kirby. At this point, the only way I could be convinced to shell out coin to attend a game is if they bring in another head coach and/or offensive coordinator. Although I might be just as willing if they rotate a local high school coach each week. Hell, the results couldn’t be any worse!

If I’m looking for positives, I’m really happy that Watt appears to be back at full strength. I’m excited that Fuller muscled up without losing speed and is a legit “WR1” in this league. Hopkins is still balling, too. I have zero concern that Watson is making rookie mistakes and I am fully confident that he can be a HoF QB. All of these players deserve a Super Bowl appearance!

I just think it’s a KITTENING shame that all of this incredible talent will go to waste and wither away (like Andre Johnson did) in Houston under an ownership and coaching culture that is fully satisfied with mediocrity so long as the stadium keeps selling out. Spoiler alert: NRG Stadium will keep selling out, because football is in such high demand in Texas and there is no shortage of disposable income in the fourth (nearly third) largest city in the U.S.

Until there is a legitimate threat to revenue and profitability for the McNairs, we’ll continue to see the same formula of preseason hype and hopes snuffed out unceremonially by months of excuses and disappointment. It’s been nearly two decades! That’s enough time and pattern recognition for even the most foolish to wake up and demand results.

Oh wait, we are supposed to be positive in this installment. OK, well, perhaps the Texans will have a crack at drafting Ed Oliver. That would be sensational! Eh, erm, except his career will likely be wasted in Houston as well. Damn!

/drink

Go Texans!

Diehard “I Love Me Some Trevor Bauer” Chris:

I have very much enjoyed the pleasant surprise that is J.J. Watt appearing to round back into at least close to his old form.

I understand the guy he repeatedly whipped this past Sunday is not an NFL offensive lineman - but what is a dominant player like J.J. Watt supposed to do in a situation like that? He’s supposed to dominate. He did. He certainly had an impact in the first two games as well other than the first half against New England. I am happy and honestly quite surprised that Watt looks even close to his old self... we’ll just have to see if he is “impacts the game but not real flashy” J.J. from the first two games or “DPOY-level dominant” J.J. from game three... or somewhere in between.

I’m also really enjoying Will Fuller. That guy is just straight up fun to watch. I hate that he’s injury prone because the offense seems to be lost without him, and if the organization was smart, they would have prioritized another deep-threat speed-burner in the offseason knowing Fuller wasn’t likely to play a full slate in 2018.

Of course, there’s also Deshaun Watson. I am guilty of forgetting that the guy has played in what - 10 games now and started nine? He’s young, his coach isn’t exactly putting him in the best situation, and the guy just SO BADLY wants to make plays, so there are going to be ugly mistakes...but I love to watch the guy work. I can only daydream about him working in an offense that takes maximum advantage of his abilities.

bigfatdrunk:

What I’ve enjoyed the most this year is the return of the J.J. Watt we all know and love, and the occasional flashes from Will Fuller V.

Watt is easy peasy to explain why, so I’ll focus on Fuller. It seems that he and Deshaun Watson have a great connection, and it’s easy to see why he was such a high draft pick. He’s simply got to be on the field more often, though, but when he’s out there, he’s a blast to watch.

Tim:

My favorite thing about watching the Texans the last three weeks is that the Horns are 3-0 over that same time period.