(SportsRadio 610) - The Texans (1-3-1) and Raiders (1-4) are coming off their bye weeks and preparing for Sunday’s game at Las Vegas. The Texans defeated the Jaguars in their last game. The Raiders lost to the Chiefs.
Here are the weekly Texans’ observations.
EASTERBY PLAYED NO ROLE IN TEAM’S RECORD
Don’t think that Jack Easterby’s firing as executive vice president of football operations will have anything to do with the Texans’ performance on the field. Easterby, who’d been moved to the background after last season, played no role in general manager Nick Caserio’s personnel decisions or Lovie Smith’s coaching decisions.
The McNair family finally firing Easterby lifted a black cloud that hovered over him and the organization. For many of those who worked under and with him, they’ll be free to do their jobs without interference. That’ll improve the morale around NRG Stadium but won’t affect the players.
In fairness to Easterby, it should be noted he played a substantial role in the trade for receiver Brandin Cooks, who reached 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons and leads the team with 24 receptions.
Cooks and Easterby worked together at New England and developed a mutual respect. Easterby’s recommendation helped convince Bill O’Brien to make the trade with the Rams for a second-round pick.
CASERIO NOT TIED TO EASTERBY
There’s been speculation that Nick Caserio’s job could be in jeopardy since Jack Easterby was fired. Not true. The Texans tried to hire Caserio after Rick Smith resigned in 2017, but Bill Belichick turned them down.
After Easterby was hired in April of 2019, they tried again when Brian Gaine was fired as general manager. Once again, Belichick refused to let Caserio out of his contract. Because they thought Easterby was recruiting Caserio, the Patriots threatened to file tampering charges.
When NFL rules changed, the Texans were finally able to get Caserio in January of 2021. Yes, Easterby highly recommended Caserio to the McNair family, but they had their eyes on him before Easterby entered the picture. Easterby and Caserio share the same agent, Bob Lamonte.
Caserio isn’t going anywhere. The McNairs are happy with where the team is in the second year of the rebuild. The Texans have 12 draft choices next year, including two in the first round. And they should have more than $80 million under the salary cap so Caserio can finally add a couple of big-time free agents to fill need positions.
TEXANS WOULD HAVE 2 OF TOP-6 PICKS
Because the 2023 draft is supposed to be loaded with talented quarterback prospects, starting with C.J. Stroud (Ohio State), it’s going to be interesting for fans to follow the Texans and Browns over the last 12 games.
If the draft started today, the Texans would have the fourth and sixth overall picks. The sixth selection would come from the Browns as the second of three first-round picks they traded to the Texans for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
The Browns are off to a disappointing start, including Sunday’s 38-15 home loss to the Patriots and rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe that dropped their record to 2-4. Check out Cleveland’s schedule before Watson comes off his suspension Dec. 4 against the Texans: at Baltimore, Cincinnati, at Miami, at Buffalo and Tampa Bay.
Ideally, Davis Mills will come off the bye week and make significant improvement and show general manager Nick Caserio and coach Lovie Smith he can be a franchise quarterback. So far, he hasn’t come anywhere near close to proving that, so expect the Texans to be in the mark for a quarterback with their first pick.
TEXANS, RAIDERS HARD-LUCK TEAMS
In their first season under coach Josh McDaniels, the Raiders have a disappointing 1-4 record, but their four defeats have been by a total of 14 points. They’ve lost by 5, 6, 2 and 1 points, the last one at Kansas City before their bye.
The Texans have lost by 7, 3 and 11 points. One reason the Texans and Raiders have combined for seven defeats has been the disappointing play of quarterbacks Davis Mills and Derek Carr.
The Texan have scored only eight touchdowns. Mills has thrown for 1,048 yards and completed 62.7 percent. He has five touchdowns, four interceptions, a 6.31 average per attempt and an 80.6 rating.
Carr has 1,279 yards, a 61.4 completion percentage, eight touchdowns, four interceptions, a 6.95 average per attempt and an 87.7 rating. Neither is playing as well as last season.
The quarterbacks have to play better if the Texans and Raiders are going to avoid languishing at or near the bottom of the standings.
TUNSIL, OFFENSIVE LINEMEN OFF TO TERRIFIC START
Left tackle Laremy Tunsil is playing like the perennial Pro Bowl selection he’d become before getting injured in the fifth game last season and not playing again. His pass protection has been outstanding. His run blocking has improved. He’s playing as physical as ever.
Tunsil also has been a positive influence on the development of rookie left guard Kenyon Green, who’s making weekly improvement as a pass protector and being as beastly as ever on run blocking. The Texans are 22nd in rushing, and the linemen have played a significant role in that improvement. Rookie running back Dameon Pierce, who has 412 yards rushing and a 4.8 average, is the first to point out how well his linemen have been blocking under first-year coach George Warhop.
GET THE BALL TO NICO COLLINS
Memo to Pep Hamilton: As the offensive coordinator and play-caller, one improvement coming off the bye week at Las Vegas should be to have Davis Mills throw more passes to Nico Collins.
Collins, the second-year wide receiver, has caught 15 passes in five games. That’s not enough. He averages 18.1 yards a catch. He had seven receptions for 147 yards, a 21-yard average, in the last two games.
Collins has showed he doesn’t have to be open to catch the ball. At 6-4, Collins can outjump a lot of cornerbacks. He’s got the kind of strong hands to wrestle away the ball from defensive backs. There’s no reason for Mills to not get the ball to Collins down the field.
SEEING RED DOESN’T STOP THE DEFENSE
Through five games, Lovie Smith’s defense has made dramatic improvement in two areas.
The Texans are fourth in the NFL in red zone defense. Opponents have scored touchdowns on only 38.9 percent (7 of 18) of their trips into the red zone.
That kind of defensive performance in the red zone is one reason the Texans are allowing 19.8 points a game, an improvement from the 26.6 they surrendered last season.
By the way, the offense doesn’t score a lot of points, and it’s reached the red zone a league-worst 10 times, but the Texans are tied for 10th because they’ve scored touchdowns at a 60-percent clip.
John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on Sports Radio 610 and Monday and Thursday on Texans Radio. He does three weekly Houtopia Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com. He also can be read four times a week on GallerySports.com.