Fouts: Texans’ biggest challenge is moving on
CBS analyst said ‘hangover’ following Watson’s injury lingered in Colts loss
Even as most of the pregame chatter concerns quarterback Tom Savage’s performance, CBS Sports analyst Dan Fouts says that arguably the most important task facing the Texans this weekend is simply to get over the fact they won’t have Deshaun Watson in the lineup the rest of the season.
“The hangover (from Watson’s season-ending injury) was obvious against Indianapolis,” said Fouts, who will call the Texans’ 3:05 p.m. Sunday start against the Rams alongside Ian Eagle on CBS. “They thought they had found their savior, and losing him is a big blow.
“But it’s pro football. The weapons that were so good with Watson are still available with Savage. The way you get over it is to go back to work and get your game plan together and figure out how to beat the Rams. It’s not just the quarterback. It’s everybody.”
Watson’s injury, coupled with the Texans’ struggles against the Colts, prompted a groundswell of calls among analysts, including Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison at NBC, for the Texans to sign Colin Kaepernick. Fouts said it’d be an intriguing pickup, but the challenge is now.
“Kaepernick hasn’t played in a long time, and you don’t know what kind of shape he would be in, and learning the offense would take a while,” Fouts said. “At this point in the season, the Texans aren’t out of the division race by any stretch of the imagination. Tom Savage has experience in the offense, and experience is huge at this point in the season.”
If the Texans are down in the mouth in the wake of Watson’s injury, the same could be said for fans, by the way. Houston’s loss Sunday to the Colts had a 17.5 Nielsen rating and 37 share on KHOU (Channel 11), one of the lower ratings of the past five years. The Cowboys-Chiefs game in the late afternoon window, meanwhile, rated 15.5/29 on Channel 11.
Looking ahead
Until this year, without question the most memorable playoff series I had ever witnessed was the 2004 American League Championship Series in which the Red Sox, the selfstyed gang of idiots, roared back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees en route to a landmark World Series victory.
This year’s Astros team reminded me of that group, and MLB Network “Intentional Talk” host Kevin Millar saw the similarities, too.
“The Astros were a fun group, and it starts with the second baseman ( Jose Altuve), who is my MVP,” said Millar, a member of the 2004 Red Sox. “They have fun playing the game, and that’s what our team did in 2004. There weren’t a lot of big, huge names on either club, just good ballplayers.”
The Astros return their core players for 2018 with the possible exception of veteran Carlos Beltran, but Millar agreed that they look set for now, pending some offseason bullpen acquisitions. But as the Red Sox found out in 2005, when they were swept by the Chicago White Sox in the division series, repeating is tough.
“Look at the Cubs this year,” Millar said. “They brought the same people back. It just takes a special year.”
Offseason thoughts
More than 500,000 people watched television coverage of the Astros’ victory parade on the four major network affiliates in Houston. By contrast, AT&T SportsNet Southwest, the Astros’ cable outlet, did not air the parade. Since the end of the regular season, in fact, it’s as if the Astros have ceased to exist on their cable outlet.
The network did say in a statement through an AT&T spokesman that “AT&T SportsNet intends to cover the Astros celebration in Houston as a part of a special year-end show to air on the network after the event.”
Like many of you, $4.90 or more of my monthly cable bill goes to AT&T SportsNet. Accordingly, I find the company’s lack of Astros postseason coverage infuriating, albeit what I expected.
AT&T and DirecTV bought the remains of Comcast SportsNet Houston out of bankruptcy for $1,000, and that’s how AT&T runs it: aside from game production and the monthly team magazine shows, it’s a two-bit outfit. Fans deserve better, but they’re not going to get better because AT&T is under no obligation to do better.
The Astros have to be pleased that two of the best markets for the World Series were Austin, third among all markets with a 22.1 Nielsen rating, and San Antonio, fourth at 18.5 (Houston led at 35.3 with an average audience of 1.435 million viewers, and L.A. was second at 29.1).
Don’t, however, count on significant movement on AT&T SportsNet carriage talks with Dish Network, Suddenlink, Charter or Grande.
Even in areas outside Greater Houston, AT&T’s subscriber fee is upwards of $3 per subscriber per month in parts of South Texas and more than a dollar a month in parts of North Texas, according to documents I have seen. In a time of cord-cutting, when carriers emphasize bargain plans, I don’t expect providers to take the plunge.