Lamar Jackson owns the Houston Texans. Oh sure, on paper and officially, ownership of the team was transferred from Janice McNair, wife of the late Bob McNair, to their son Cal earlier this year, and he has carried the title of owner since then. But on the field, the team is owned by Lamar Jackson, who, after a Christmas Day 31-2 drubbing of the Texans, is now 5-0 lifetime against them, by an average score of 33-9.
The Christmas Day massacre of the Texans was a complete embarrassment of a team that is running on fumes, and completely weighted down by the heavy burden of a stagnant, unimaginative offense. C.J. Stroud looks like a shell of the Offensive Rookie of the Year he was last season, and for a team that clinched a playoff spot nearly two weeks ago, there is zero juice or confidence in this team right now.
So we can all just get on with our Christmas week, let’s get to the winners and losers from this Christmas debacle:
WINNERS
4. BeyonceÌ!
The best performance, by far, by a Houston-based or Houston-born athlete or performer on Wednesday was by the music superstar, whose halftime performance was a mellifluous whirlwind of activity. Like a LOT of activity. Like what felt like six different sets of people at various spots on the football field all kind of doing their own thing, yet it was all synched up with BeyonceÌ. Bonus points for performing the final song on an elevated scaffold like 150 feet above the playing field. This was, by far, the highlight of the day.
3. Derrick Henry
When Henry carried for a total of 51 yards on 28 carries against the Texans last season, I thought that would be the last we’d ever have to hear from him ever again. I figured he would hit free agency, sign a two year deal somewhere and fade into “veteran running back” obscurity. Boy, was I wrong. Derrick Henry ran for 148 yards in this game, and it barely looked like he was trying. The rest of there NFL should be ashamed for allowing Henry to wind up with the team he was probably always meant to play for, the Baltimore Ravens.
2. Lamar Jackson
Josh Allen is the heavy favorite to win the MVP of the league, but if you’re trying to put together a late run at the MVP award, Jackson put on an ideal performance on Wednesday afternoon. There were plenty of plays to point to where you see how special Jackson is — the first scramble of the game for 22 yards and the touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely stand out. For me, though, it was the 48 yard touchdown run on the Ravens’ first possession of the second half, Jackson’s first keeper on a designed run of the day. After spending the whole first half handing off to Derrick Henry, Jackson lowered the boom and essentially ended the game. Just a glorious player.
1. Steven Sims
He had been a healthy scratch for the Texans the last few weeks he was here, before getting waived last week. Sims was picked up by the Ravens, and is now the kick returner for a Super Bowl contender. Good for him! Conversely…..
LOSERS
4. Diontae Johnson
….Johnson was waived by these very Ravens, and in the wake of the Tank Dell injury last week, was picked up by the Texans. He was largely cut by the Ravens due to being a malcontent. Way to bellyache your way onto a team with a far less likely chance of winning a Super Bowl.
3. C.J. Stroud
For all the talk of Stroud and a “sophomore slump,” I didn’t think he was playing poorly at all this season. Sure, his numbers are down from his outstanding rookie season, and there are certainly throws he’d like to have back, but on the list of Texans offensive problems, I thought Stroud was fairly far down the list. However, on Wednesday, he was a big part of the problem. In the first half, he missed consecutive throws BADLY to Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz. The one to Schultz had a chance to be a massive gain. The next series he missed John Metchie and Joe Mixon on easy throws. C.J. Stroud will ultimately be okay, but in the current Bobby Slowik-led ecosystem, I’m not so sure.
2. DeMeco Ryans
1. Bobby Slowik
I wanted this to be a Bobby Slowik solo bullet point, but let’s group both the head coach and the offensive coordinator together, especially since Ryans is the de facto coordinator of the defense. Slowik is a man with no answers right now, and the most damning thing is that the Texans’ offense has come out of the Week 14 bye, which is theoretically your best chance of the season to self scout and fix things, and they’ve been noticeably worse than they’ve been the rest of the season. Ryans’ defense allowed well over 200 yards rushing and the Ravens made it look easy. This is not a well coached team, particularly on offense, right now.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
