Kansas City Chiefs: Getting to know Houston Texans before Week 6

Question 3: Before the season, Kansas City and Houston hooked up for a trade that sent running back Carlos Hyde to the Texans. Can you tell us how the veteran’s doing?

Patterson: He’s doing terrific and better than I ever had envisioned.  There was plenty of upside to this trade and I had hoped to see the same Carlos Hyde of the 2017 season.  The Houston Texans are getting that and then some!  He’s stout, strong, bulldozing back that is comfortable with his new workload.  We haven’t seen this since the likes of Arian Foster and it’s quite refreshing if you ask me after having Lamar Miller for the past three seasons.  Miller is a speedy back but he just isn’t the guy that has the type of power that Carlos has.  That’s what this offense has needed for a while. 

He isn’t asked to do a lot of pass-catching — because of the presence of Duke Johnson — but it’s good to know he’s versatile to where he could do it if called upon.  He, along with Duke and Watson, make for a three-pronged attack that disrupts a multitude of opposing defenses’ plans.  I do see Hyde returning back to the Texans next season on an extension of maybe a year or two as see him providing tremendous value for the modest money he’d likely command.

Forsha: Adding Carlos Hyde has been a great addition to the roster, and Hyde has done a nice job in replacing [injured running back] Lamar Miller this season. Hyde is the main running back for the Texans as he seems to be getting most of the carries, and getting the tough yards. So far the trade has been a plus for Houston with no complaints.

Question 4: The Bill Belichick Coaching Tree is a stunted mess except for, I’d argue, Bill O’Brien. What are your thoughts on O’Brien, now in his sixth season with the Texans?

Forsha: Some weeks Bill O’Brien can make you want to pull your hair out, but overall compared to others in the NFL he’s done a serviceable job. O’Brien’s play calling could use some fine tuning some weeks, and as acting general manager he really needs to hope his decisions help this team take the next step or two this season.

If the Texans don’t win in the playoffs — or miss the playoffs — it probably will be a stressful time for the O’Brien and the rest of the Houston front office.

Patterson: It’s a love/hate relationship with Bill O’Brien.  He’s a power-hungry, fear-mongering, football-digesting monster, and fans’ emotions change week to week depending on how the team does.  I continue to wonder if he’s going to be the coach to lead the Houston Texans to the Super Bowl and I still don’t think he is.  He’s extremely intelligent about the game but he lets his emotions cloud his judgment at times with myself sizing him up from the outside looking in.  Until up until this past week, I wondered if O’Brien was ever going to put Watson in schemes where he could thrive.  I think they’ve figured something out this past week but whether it lasts remains to be seen. 

Watson always speaks highly of [O’Brien] and he single-handily saved his job by endorsing him back in 2017 — his rookie season cut short by injury — after a 2-14 finish.  I appreciate that he has changed the culture that was more laissez-faire with [former head coach] Gary Kubiak but after five seasons, this team has only one playoff win and ultimately that comes down to the head coach.  He was just extended the last offseason, so we’ll be seeing for a while but it remains to be seen how patient ownership will be if results aren’t seen. 

Because of the nature of the AFC South in terms of parity, it’s feasible that O’Brien will go full-term with the five-year deal he signed in 2018.  Out of all of Belichick’s assistants, OB has had, by far, the most success as a head coach.

Question 5: Before Sunday, Will Fuller only had 14 receptions for 183 yards and zero touchdowns. Then he exploded for 14 receptions for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Can he keep it going against the Chiefs?

https://twitter.com/HoustonTexans/status/1181600136746524675

Patterson: By the way, that’s a career high for Fuller!  I don’t think it will be to the effect of what he did against the Falcons but he’s going to get open.  The Chiefs corners are talented [Jekel’s Note: They are?] but I think Fuller can win the match-up with Bashaud Breeland and there’s no question that he can get a touchdown — possibly two — on him.

Forsha: Will Fuller is coming off an ACL injury last season, so seeing him have his first breakout game has been very exciting to watch. Fuller is an underrated wide receiver in the NFL, and not only that when healthy he can really make a difference in the game. Granted, he doesn’t get top billing as the best wide receiver on the team, but seeing Fuller play up to his potential, he’s more than capable of have consistent outings each week.