The selections of Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins to the Pro Bowl were a given. The Texans’ dynamic duo at quarterback and receiver had done more than enough statistically to merit the honor, making this week’s official naming to the game more afterthought than surprise.
For offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and linebacker Zach Cunningham (one of the Texans’ five alternates), their nods were more opaque. Tunsil earned his first selection in his first season with the Texans (9-5), who will visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7) Saturday at Raymond James Stadium. To an extent, the honor justified the ballyhoo created when Houston traded for Tunsil just prior to the start of this season.
“It’s been a goal since I was a kid to be in the Pro Bowl, and I achieved it,” Tunsil told reporters. “There’s always more goals to be achieved, and I want to be in as many Pro Bowls as I can, so I’ve got to keep putting the hard work in and keep going.”
Tunsil has been instrumental in providing Watson superior protection compared to 2018 when he was sacked a league-worst 62 times. With Tunsil anchoring the line, the Texans have allowed 39 sacks of Watson.
Cunningham leads the AFC with 89 solo tackles and has provided both production and stability for a unit besieged by injury. The Texans are celebrated for their offense, but if Houston is to defeat Tampa Bay and clinch a playoff berth on Saturday, what the defense does will resonate.
“He shows up every game,” Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said of Cunningham. “Many games he’s been a double-digit tackler, the last couple of games anyway. That tells you that he’s around the ball, he’s fitting where he’s supposed to fit. That’s a good accomplishment for him and it’s well deserved.”
With his receiving corps decimated by injuries, Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston initiated the process of talking up his relatively inexperienced collection of wideouts this week.
Winston will be without a pair of Pro Bowl receivers against the Texans: Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Evans did not participate in the Buccaneers’ 38-17 victory over the Detroit Lions last weekend while Godwin was carted off with a hamstring injury after posting five receptions for 121 yards. Tampa Bay received a breakthrough performance from fourth-year receiver Breshad Perriman, whose three touchdowns exceeded his total from his previous 11 games this season.
Without Evans and Godwin, Winston might rely upon tight end O.J. Howard to supplement the Buccaneers’ top-ranked passing attack. That doesn’t mean he won’t utilize all of his options.
“We’re blessed to have elite NFL players in Mike and Chris but they got here for a reason, too, and BP showed that last week with the performance that he had,” Winston said. “All these other guys are ready to step up; they’ve been waiting for this moment their entire lives, so they’re going to come out ready and excited and they’re going to do a great job.”
Even through the attrition, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians remains optimistic. His team riding a four-game winning streak, Arians revisited how two plays earlier this season could have swung the Buccaneers’ direction — a fumble vs. Tennessee returned for a touchdown that was inadvertently blown dead, and a missed 34-yard field-goal attempt at the end of a one-point loss to the Giants — and how two more wins to close this schedule would mean so much more than a six-game streak into the offseason. Non-playoff seasons by definition are rarely deemed successful, but they still can be considered something positive.
“Encouraging,” Arians said. “Because you look back at two plays and you’d be 11-5.
“But that’s still in the rearview mirror. Too much football left to be looking in the rearview mirror.”
