Texans Advance Beating the Steelers, Rough Night for Stroud, Tomlin Out

Tuesday on The A-Team, Adam Wexler and Adam Clanton react to the Texans' win over the Steelers, examine CJ Stroud's uneven performance, weigh in on the fallout in Pittsburgh, ane much more!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh, it's a victory Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome in to a victorious edition of the A Team
Sports Talk seven to ninety. In a sentence to sum
up what we saw in Pittsburgh last night, the Texans
were so dominant they probably retired a legend and got
a coach.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Fired.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, Mike Tomlin's stepping down in Pittsburgh, and if Aaron
Rodgers does play again after this season has just ended
for him, well, it's gonna look awkward for a lot
of the people who are basically ushering him into the
retirement home at the conclusion of that broadcast last night.
But that's not our problem here in Houston, because you're

(00:40):
Houston Texans, and specifically that defense. Oh my gosh, we
thought that could be the case. We thought, you know,
maybe maybe one defensive touchdown that'd be kind of fun
and it would kind of supplement the offense whatever it
could come up with. On a night where CJ Stroud.
There are arguments to be made that that might have

(01:01):
been his worst game as a Texan. I know he
had some plays. I'm not saying he was completely awful,
But that defense thirty to six, it's all defense. It's
all the defense. So much of the defense and they're fantastic.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
They had four hundred yards of offense, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Look, I just said he made some plays,
but well, I'm not even talking about him.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
He's part of the offense. Nod a great part that
hands off to the running backs that ended the game
for the Texan.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah, you say that, let's start right there.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
You say that, like, it's so simple to just take
a snap, not fumble it, and hand it to the
running back.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
That was a problem last night is if you take
the snap now, if you stand a couple of yards away,
and he asked that the shotgun the snap for you,
not they're kind of shotgun we like at parties, but
the kind that you don't catch or you aren't ready
for and was snapped way too early and then you
go into panic mode, which you haven't done the entire year.
Brought it up on the air and knew it would

(01:58):
come back, and it did. Not one, not two, not three,
but four actual fumbles attributed to C. J.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Street.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
The box score actually says five because the one that
should not be a quarterback's fault is also listed there.
So yeah, if you check on the box score, it
says five fumbles c J. Stroud he did recover three
of them himself, so he's the probably among the Texans
all time leaders and fumbles recovered in the postseason now.
But yeah, there's a lot of little parts of the
offense that absolutely are worthy of our dissection because this

(02:28):
is something that they didn't do all that much this year.
Four hundred yards of offense I was pretty infrequent for
the Texans in twenty twenty five, even with a nine
game winning streak, given with a twelve win season, So
they did.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
They ran the ball.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Honestly, I know the actual number was just slightly less
than what they did against Baltimore, but I think the
Pittsburgh Steelers defense is more than slightly better than that
Baltimore Ravens defense they saw way back in Week four.
So to do that in this type of game, in
this type of a need it to happen situation, that's
what puts it all in a different light. And same
thing with CJI maybe in the other direction in terms

(03:01):
of ball handling and decision making when the ball was loose,
but his actual passing in the game, probably with the
pass that he missed Nico Collins on near the end,
of the first half, notwithstanding most everything else in terms
of throwing the football. Again, it's hard to say it
without everybody just killing you for it. You got to
segment it up, I think as you win and get

(03:22):
to analyze what the Texans did. So that's something will
lay out for you, the actual performance of the defense,
beyond just saying for four hours they dominated because they did,
but there are some parts of why they did that,
and the individuals that make that happen, and the coaches
behind the individuals that make that happen. And it's already Tuesday.
The Texans are going to be on the practice field tomorrow.

(03:43):
It is a normal work week starting tomorrow. Demiko Rans
is meeting with the media right now as they get
ready for the week to prepare on a short week
for a trip to New England. I already knew that
if you win, that's where you were headed. Normal Wednesday practice,
normal Thursday practice day, normal Friday practice day, and your
typical Saturday flight to New England. As you get ready

(04:04):
for your next game. It'll be the early game on Sunday,
which with three teams from the same NFC West Division
all making the postseason, it seemed the divisional round seem
likely that those would be the two games, one on
each day, that would get the late starts, and they
did so. The AFC gets the early kickoffs on Saturday
and Sunday, the NFC the late kickoffs, and even Joe

(04:25):
Buck knew how silly it was for them to be
teasing the announcement of the game times in the way
that they were last night, But nonetheless, that's how it
plays out. It's a divisional Round appearance for the Texans. Again,
They've been here many times before, and they have exited
the playoffs following that game every time before. But they'd
also never won a game on the road. They'd also

(04:45):
never been to the postseason as a wild card team
before both of those things checked off and successfully. They'd
never had a receiver with one hundred and twenty three
yards or more in a playoff game. Never, not Nico Collins,
not DeAndre Hopkins, not Andre Johnson, And when I ask
you for her the fifth player that has a one
hundred yard receiving game in Texans postseason history, good luck

(05:08):
with that answer. But Christian Kirk better than all of them,
and yes, Nico Collins situation is definitely one worth monitoring
if you were watching Dimiko's post game locker room speech
to the team, especially since he singled out c K
Christian Kirk, who on the road lockers right next to
Nico Collins. Collins was visible in that celebration. Just that

(05:32):
in and of itself hopefully lends to his personal concussion situation.
He was clapping along with them, had his hoodie on.
I don't want to get two amateur doctor on it,
but all those things are usually something that you would
love to see that soon after going into concussion protocol,
and like I said, I don't know how far into
any commentary on it, Dimiko will go into as he

(05:54):
meets with the media here early on our show and
we'll share that all with you. But they get into
the game pretty healthy, they come out of the game.
Outside of that, it would seem pretty healthy. The only
player to miss time during the game that did return
was Jalen Reid. I don't know the situation on Justin Watson,
although his importance to the Texans offense is different, his

(06:14):
importance to the special teams obviously plays. So all these things,
all these great things, and no need for any pushback
on anything. Your free reign today, you want to just
go off about how awesome it was to watch the
Houston NFL franchise go to Pittsburgh and end all those
things there, Bring it seven one three two one two
five seven ninety. You want to talk about the fumbles,

(06:37):
bring it seven one three two one two five seven ninety.
You want to talk about the two defensive touchdowns, the
six points allowed, uh, the constant trips into the Steelers backfield,
bring it seven to one three two one two five
seven ninety, any and all angles of the game last
night and the game they will play in just five
days against the number two seed New England Patriots, if

(06:59):
you'd like to describe it as such. We have ourselves
off the air and probably on the NFL Houston revenge
Tour continues telling you this particular franchise, especially even in
the current building that has ties to the Patriots, many
of whom were on the Patriots side when the Texans

(07:21):
ran into the Patriots and the postseason and that's where
their season ended, are in the Texans building now, on
the Texas coaching staff, in the Texas front office, and
all sorts of people in this city obviously are well
aware of what they would love to do. Not only
for that, I would hope that's even as much as
the fandom of it all is rooted in everything that

(07:41):
you love about sports. If you beat the Patriots, yes
it's nice to check that revenge mark off, but you'll
be advancing to the ASC title game for the first
time ever. You'll be one step away from the super
Bowl for the first time ever. In obviously this team's
franchise history and the Oilers history, they did reach that stage,
never to accomplish anything beyond that. And that little extra

(08:04):
carrot that's out there that you will know when you
kick off Sunday afternoon at two o'clock in New England.
If the extremely mild upset happens on Saturday with the
Bills at the Broncos, then that little carrot of hosting
the AFC title game, which was dangled in front of
the Texans once before while they were playing, is back

(08:28):
in play. So all those things are at you. We
did mention the news that broke just before we got
on the air here within the last hour since last
night's game loss, meet with the media, meet with the team,
and then meet with management. At everybody else, Mike Tomlin
is no longer the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
His own words, I have.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
Decided to step down as head coach of the Pittsburgh
Steelers after much thought and reflection. Just sent out that
statement within the last few minutes. Doesn't really get into
any of the reasons why or where things are headed.
Lot of gratitude and thankfulness for an exceptional coaching run.
Two of the most successful coaches of most anyone's generation,

(09:09):
John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin are no longer head coaches
in this league currently, and neither of them did anything,
in my opinion, as coaches to not be in those positions.
Seemingly pretty obvious that it was a firing in Baltimore
and here in Pittsburgh. To take them at their word,
and again to acknowledge if you want to fire Mike Tomlin,

(09:31):
go ahead, be dumb.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
That's awesome. I love it. I'm right there with you.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
They are.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
All these playoff losses they've had in a row, shocking
how they couldn't win on Monday night last night, But
just to the playoffs, all these playoff losses they've had
in a row, and all these lopsided games that you
can now add this one to did it dawn on
anybody that most of those games were not at home,
which means they weren't usually the better team. Last night
was at home and they definitely weren't the better team.

(10:00):
We tried to tell everybody that before the game, and
then it played out. And he's been reaching the playoffs
with not elite Aaron Rodgers, but better than the guy
they had last year, who they reached the playoff with,
who was better than the guys they had before him,
whom they also reached the playoffs with. Like it's a
miracle what they've done there. But if you want to

(10:21):
get rid of him, just like Green Bay, same thing
you want to get rid of coach Lafleur, go right ahead.
It just means more teams are doing things wrong. Maybe
it gives another team a chance to win because they'll
hire them, but the Texans are no longer in that situation.
The Texans now have the first coach in their franchise
history to ever win three playoff games.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, that, I mean, there were so many firsts about
last night, and there's obviously a lot of things that
we're going to get to as it pertains to this
game here today or the game last night here on
today's show. And what was interesting to me I thought
about that in particular is the fact that you know,
we've seen this week in and week out, how Demiko's

(11:04):
postgame speech, especially during this streak which is now ten
games going back to the regular season, and even before that,
you know, the Texans would reveal that aspect that a
lot of teams are doing more of. But you get
to see kind of Demiko in his element. He doesn't
strike me as the type of guy that points to
stats necessarily or points those kinds of things. But I

(11:27):
thought it was cool that he took time out to say, hey,
this is the first franchise victory on.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
The road in the postseason.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
I'm glad you said it, because at the open of
next segment, which is just mere moments away, we'll hear
from DeVico Ryans in his post game speech edited version.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
I took that part out.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
All right, sounds good, That's what we'll do next jam
Pack Show. After thirty to six over the Steelers, the exercising.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
Of the Demons continues for Houston Football.

Speaker 4 (11:57):
The A teen. On Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Wex Ac Josh Jordan talking about it what happened last night,
some good, a lot good, some bad, and what the
future holds for this Texans team. I know it's you
wouldn't know it. Last night wex watching the broadcast because
they immediately started the funeral procession for Aaron Rodgers' career.

(12:21):
So it was like, Hey, the Texans just won thirty
to six and they're advancing with their first road win
in franchise history in the postseason. But since we're pretty
sure Aaron Rodgers just played his last game and his
last pass was a pick six, we're gonna go ahead
and send him into retirement, you know, premeditated if you will. Now,
that was what a lot of the end of the
broadcast was about. Here's the thing, he could come back

(12:46):
in some way shape we were talking about yesterday. You
were just like, why wouldn't he I mean, and if
you're the Steelers, maybe why wouldn't you do that as well?

Speaker 1 (12:54):
But if he's.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
Not leaning that way heavily already, it sure was surprising
to me what some of the talking heads were just freely.
Everybody that was on camera last night was acting like
Joe Buck was doing it, Troy Aikman was doing it.
Scott Van Pelt was doing it. Sure feels like they
all know something for more certain than the rest of
us do about it.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Well, they have to do it because if it happens,
they would have been ticked off if they had And
it's definitely I mean, I don't have any issue with
how it was handled last night. It does seem like
there was a lot of attention being paid on the
other side. But take a look at the league right now.
All these guys that played together, Manning to Brady, to
Breeze to Rogers. Essentially, this was your all headed to

(13:39):
the Hall of Fame, super Bowl winning, unbelievably super talented quarterbacks,
best of all time. This is the last one, and
he's going to call it a career, either last of
a breed anytime.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Now or after next year.

Speaker 3 (13:51):
But they have to go with the possibility that he's
doing that now, So covering it the way that they did,
trying to extend coverage and get commentary from both he
and Mike Tomlin after. But yeah, a lot of the
walking off the field. Honestly, what it gave us was
the opportunity to see how many Texans related players or
staff members wanted to take the time to make sure
they got over to him, to give him a word

(14:13):
or two, or thank him for this or that, or
just see him after the game, which you would not
always do for the opposing quarterback unless you think that's
the last time you're going to be able to do it,
and it very well might have been. There are some
reasons why maybe you don't want to come back, because
you might feel like we have a chance to compete,
and they definitely do, but you might not have a
chance to win. And I'm not sure what situation he

(14:33):
thinks there is where he would because most of the
teams that have a better chance to win with the
Steelers don't need quarterbacks, and that's why the Steelers were
in the position they were in. They're probably not a
quarterback away when they went to get Russell Wilson, when
they went to get Aaron Rodgers more recently, they are
probably a little bit further away than that, because he's
not really why they lost last night. He's not the

(14:55):
reason they were gonna win on their own, or he
wasn't going to be able to carry them to a
win on his own. And I'm not trying to say
that he had a great game, and he should have
been screaming at his team the whole night like he was,
which he always does, even though he's most of the
time he's right. I don't have an issue with it.
I think most of the time he is right. But
it was a big deal, and I do think it's

(15:15):
a big deal. And even in the game itself, especially
with the it's a standalone game, so you're gonna get
every little piece of video you could possibly get, and
all the replays and all the oh they just missed this,
or why wasn't there a call there? What did Calvina like?
He still throws one of the five prettiest balls in
the league. It's it's incredible. His arm talent is essentially unmatched,

(15:36):
you know, unmatched form like Drew Brees accomplished all these
things and through for all these yards.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
And I'd mentioned the other two with Manning and Brady.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
There's plenty of others that haven't accomplished some of those
things and throw a pretty ball. He just happens to
have been able to do both. So it is a
big deal for the NFL. There is a ninth head
coach opening now with Mike Tomlin. The AFC North senior
coaching member. Well, he's the only one in the room.
When they have an AFC North Head coaches meeting today,
he will be the only one in there. And coach

(16:05):
Taylor I'm surprised wasn't fired, But Cincinnati likes what he's
done for them. I don't know why still after all
the like, oh, it's time for John Harbor to move on,
for them to move on from It's time for them
to move on from coach Tomlin or vice versa. It's
time for coach to fancy all these coach has been
there five years plus. How can it not be time
to move on from this team? Who has Joe Burrow

(16:28):
on it for most of his seasons? Obviously there's some injuries,
but he's the lone man standing. Cleveland's looking for a coach,
Baltimore's looking for a coach, and as of a couple
of hours ago, Pittsburgh is looking for hey head coach,
all because.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Texan said, you're just not good enough.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
You're we're going to destroy you before we get to Demiko.
Two questions. The first one would be what's the record
for amount of head coach openings in any given offseason?

Speaker 3 (16:53):
I total guess just because I think I've heard it before.
It I thought maybe eleven was the number. But third
of the league right now, almost I'm semantic. Well, they
were at twenty five percent before today, so they're not
at thirty three percent when you add one.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, I know, but it's close enough. That's why I
said almost a third of the league.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
And the other question would be, boy, wouldn't it be
hilarious if he and Harbaw just swapped places. It's not
like they don't know each other's teams. Very well, Yeah,
very hard. You Scotty joked about this today.

Speaker 3 (17:22):
It's pretty hard to guess because we'd be guessing on
coach Tomlin. There's no indication of what is next for him,
especially with him deciding to step aside. We don't have
to guess what's next for John Harborough. John Harbaugh has
not coached his last game in the NFL. With all
these openings and with him making all these phone calls
and reaching out and having whatever you want to call

(17:42):
it meetings or not meetings, interviews or not interviews, he
is interested in what is out there, and if he's
not interested in what is out there, at the end
of the day, this year then I think they'll be
next year for him to get back into it.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
He's going to coach again.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
I don't know why, coach Tomlin, who seems very much
in his element as a leader of men. I don't
know why he would not want to continue doing that,
but who knows. Nineteen years is a long time in
one place, in four places, and that's what he leaves
Pittsburgh with a long time until. I think that is
something the Texans are faced with, and hopefully that for
good reason. Demiko Ryans has done everything I think he

(18:16):
came here to do in terms of the initial goals.
The ultimate goal has not been reached. You will hear
that within his comments that he made to the team immediately.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
After the game.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
Your head coach walks into the locker room after a
thirty to six victory on the road from out of
the cold at Akrosher Stadium and says this, right.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
How about the Texas? Hey man, it could be more
proud of you guys.

Speaker 5 (18:39):
Man, come here, very tough place to play, and the
way we finish the game is how we operate offense.
For you guys to go down, drive the ball, run it,
keep running. They know we're running it. We know we're
running it. And the drive how we finished that it
was outstanding. Buy you guys all right, way to bounce
back then start bready, But it don't matter, man, we
finished the right way. So great job by you guys.

(19:02):
But as we all know, that's just one. We gotta
go get a few more. There's just one. There's just one.
Great job. Come in here handling business doing. We gotta do.
Back to work. Back to work is a pleasure, is
a blessing to continue to work.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
You guys earn their right now. How we put the
work in. Now we know we gotta go up through
England next week. Let's go get it done.

Speaker 5 (19:24):
A love you guys, appreciate the work Texas.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
I'm so glad that guy is the coach of the Texans. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
For those that didn't hear last segment, there were a
couple of parts of that made it a little shorter
for radio. He shouted out c K, shouted out Kaitlyn Bullock,
and gave some of the first ever like winning on
the road for the first time ever. The performance of
the defense fewest points allowed, fewest yards allowed in team history.
It was from a defensive head coaches standpoint, everything he

(19:52):
could have hoped for, and all of the clips that
they showed on TV and the Texans social media department
has helped to push out there of him. Sell rating
on the sidelines is still balanced out by the teeth
gritting expressions after each of the miscues that his offense
had an interception in the red zone from CJ. Stroud,

(20:12):
two fumbles lost in traffic inside the pocket, which for
the most part was very, very usable. He could have
stayed in the pocket the entire night and carved up
the Steelers, and I thought that was most of what
he did, just a few moments where I felt like
he got out of the trust of the offensive line
when he shouldn't have. The offensive line will look at

(20:34):
the box score and see that he was sacked three times,
fumbled three times, and they turned it or fumbled and
lost it twice, and they turned it over three times.
The offensive line was awesome in my opinion. Last I
know what the pressure rate is, and I still wonder
they played a good defense. By the way, let's not
keep on that you want to believe in, but it's
all the things we laid out for you last week.

(20:55):
That defense is great. Up front in terms of a
pass rush, which they showed at times. Obviously the forced
two fumbles that they got. They were very good at
creating turnovers. They were right there with the Texans. Jacksonville, Houston,
and Pittsburgh were all sitting there at the top of
the AFC list. But they don't stop you. They don't
stop you from churning up yards and scoring points. All

(21:15):
of those things were on display. The Texans had one
of their, if not their best offensive performance of the
season in terms of moving up and down the field
and even scoring touchdowns when they had the opportunity. They
kicked zero long, they had zero field goal attempts other
than the fifty one yard or they weren't getting there
and stopping. They just lost the football a few times.

(21:36):
But they had the opportunity to light up the scoreboard
offensively against that defense, as many have before them, and
they took advantage of it, at least from a moving
up and down the field holding onto the football. Their
defense was only on the field for fifty seven plays.
All those things go hand in hand of it's not
just the defense dominated and the offense was awful, because

(21:56):
if you think the offenses was awful, last night. Then
you're just not There's just more to it. Yeah, they
made big, huge, hard to overcome mistakes, but they also
did the things that are formulas for text and success.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah, I I could not as we could have break.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
I could not.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
Shake the multitude of comments alluding to why is CJ.
Stroud playing like he's throwing this football game? It was
just so weird to see that juxtapose with what the
defense was doing. And yet again, and I said this
to Teresa last night. She actually sat and watched the
game with me, like, his numbers are gonna look good
after this game is over, because he's still but he

(22:39):
pulled a forty nine yard bomb out of his ass
at one point when he was playing his worst stretch
during that sixty minutes last.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
Night, base of plays and made some bad decisions. Ultimately
some plays they did overcome. Hard to do that when
you lose the turnover battle, when you have those three
in the manner that they did the giveaways. But they
are playing again this week, so you have the opportunity
to try to fix those things. And it's not like
going back to the drawing board. It is don't play
so loose with the football don't get happy feet when

(23:07):
they're not necessary. All things that he didn't show the
inability to do for the first fourteen games he was
out there for this season. So that's what's on the horizon.
Best of X is on the immediate horizon. Halfway through
our number one Yes Texans related of course, after they're
huge thirty to six win last night, that's front and
center and best of X.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
The a on Sports Talking it is the best of
X on.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
The day after the Texans dismantled the Pittsburgh Steelers last
night thirty to six the final. It looked like it
was just gonna be a nice, comfortable victory after the
Woody Mark's touchdown, but you got style points after Kaylen
Bullock ran back the pick six, and obviously we all

(23:57):
know what Sheldon Rankins did. That defense was something special.
And it's in a lot of times when you go
into a game like this where whatever element of the game,
whether it be the matchup itself, whether it be one
of the units for either team or both teams, what
have you, gets hyped up. We hear this all the
time in life, and it just didn't match the hype.

(24:19):
The Texans matched the hype last night, the Texans Defense,
I should say, matched their hype going into that if that.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Was a title fight.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
And this was Mike Tyson trying to take out one
of his Jimoke opponents in thirty seconds like he used
to in the eighties when he was at his just ferocious,
violent best. That's kind of what this felt like last night.
It might have taken a little bit longer for that
to actually happen.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yeah, the Jimoke was still standing there in the twelfth round,
down seven to six on the scorecard.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, and then Mike Tyson looked like he got into
the ring fresh off his walk in entrance and started
throwing haymakers and there was no reply or response from
the dealers. I saw a lot of things of this
nature last night, and I saw this. I actually just
saw this one today, but any number of comments that

(25:12):
were like this were floating around out there. You know,
Brandon Walker of Barstool, he's got about half a million followers,
A little bit less. The Texans Defense might be the
most terrifying group of men ever assembled. That's a very
generic statement.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
And what about the A team, what do you mean
don't you think they were a terrifying group of men
BA and the rest of the group.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
They were a savvy group of men, okay, and they
were forced into that situation by their government.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
They were a crack commando squad. I feel like you're wondering.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
I feel like while he's referring to a real group,
I mean, I could be referring to Navy seals who
Brandon may not know, and that would probably.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
Be a comparable or Delta Force.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
I was trying to think from a movie standpoint, we
could go forever. No, he I feel like the Delta
Force was. It gives the impression that it was a
huge group of people, and yet it feels like it
was just Chuck.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
Or like the real Deltas that just uh extrapolated, extracted.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
The Deltas from Animal House. No, that's a terrifying group
of men.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
Oh, the the Delta Force that went into uh Venezuela
and did what they did with just all these terrifying.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
Real Delta Force. Yeah, I'm talking about Chuck Norris. I know,
I know, Okay, terrifying group of men.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
Did I send you the blood Sport meme? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (26:35):
And I didn't respond because I don't like when I
have to send the response that I wanted to send,
I just didn't send anything.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
Well was it? I saw this a long time ago.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Man, you're that guy. There's memes about you, you know.
So anyway, that kind of thing was floating around last night.
I think I even said something to that effect. They
just they're a collective menace. They're just they're ferocious. Honestly,
it reminds me like if a defensive unit in the
NFL was to represent what Mike Tyson was saying in

(27:07):
his little rant. I mean, my defense is impregnable. I'm
just ferocious. I want you hot, I want to eat
your children, pray, you know, all that stuff. That's the
Texans in real life against opposing quarterbacks. And I'm telling
you right now, we're on fraud alert this playoffs. Okay,
we've already had several exposed. Jacksonville's one of them. New

(27:29):
England's next baby.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Like I didn't really, we didn't get into a whole
lot yesterday because we were leading into the Texans game
and I know we're in Best of X so this
is probably another topic. But like Buffalo scored in the
last two minutes, last minute to beat them, like they're frauds.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
No, they lost. Someone's gonna lose.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Aaron Rodgers is out of the playoffs, Trevor Lawrence is
out of the playoffs. I mean even Bryce Young is
out of the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Like some of the going to lose, some of the
frauds were exposed before the playoffs. The Colts were a fraud.
I don't care if Daniel Jones stays healthy. That team
was not going that was going to be a two
horse race down the stretch the way Jacksonville and Houston
was playing with or without Daniel Jones healthy or not.
In my opinion, they've got fat on bad opponents and sorry,

(28:14):
that's what the Patriots have done a lot of this year.
I'm sure Drake May is awesome. I'm sure they you know,
in his second year and everything they put together. And
they've got a nice defense. I mean, okay, we'll see.
It's going to take the Texans defense falling flat on
its face to not have the Texans in that.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
Game on the road in New England on Sunday. And
I firmly believe.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
That better offense in New England or in Pittsburgh. Which
team has a better offense?

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Oh, New England has a better offense by a little bit,
probably buy a lot by a ton. Yeah, I don't
have the metrics in front of me, but yeah, you're
talking about a ten and seven Pittsburgh team that needed
a missed field goal to sneak in.

Speaker 3 (28:51):
Right, and the Texans went out there and treated him
as such. Now you're asking them which they have done.
They've played well against a good offenses this year. They've
been less successful in some offense in this Yearios have
played zero top ten defenses this year.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
They just played one and beat them.

Speaker 6 (29:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
How many points did they put up against the vaunted Chargers,
whether they how many they did or didn't score, it's
not real. Sorry, just played one, I know, and they
put up sixteen points. So why should I think they're
going to put up more against they have? They just
faced a good defense and they they did what the
Texans offense did yesterday. They ran up and down the
field against them, but didn't score a ton of points.

(29:31):
Their defense didn't score any points, but their offense was identical.
Drake May was three for a billion yards, ran for
a billion yards. They had a billion yards, but they
didn't score a lot of points. The Texans just did
the same thing.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
Yes, these two extra touchdowns from their defense.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
I know, I just have a hard time allow and
I'm not saying you're doing this well, I'm not sure.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Allowing fourteen and three like people want them to, or
want to pretend that they are. And if you want
to pretend that, go right ahead. That's what bring it on.
They're they're not your typical fourteen and three team. They
had the benefit of having three games related to their
last play schedule.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
You saw it play out that way.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
They got the benefit like many teams did of oh man,
this team I thought would be good, and they're not.
They just didn't have a whole lot up against them.
They played three playoff teams, they didn't play a lot
of great defenses. They're probably the caliber team that belonged
in the playoffs, maybe one of the top six teams
in the AFC.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
They are playing at home.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
But this is this is why would we call it
wide open if there are two fourteen and three teams
or a fourteen and two team, If you want to
take it back before the seventeen games scale, we would
have never said that before. If you went fourteen and two,
the conference isn't wide open. You're the best team beating
yous virtually impossible. Winning in your building isn't gonna happen.

(30:44):
There's two fourteen and three teams this year, and nobody
is saying that because they're not like other fourteen and
three teams or fourteen win teams have been created in
the past.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
But they just won a lot of games this year.
They're not overwhelming.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
My biggest beef with what was just said about who
they are played as far as defense is unless your
name is Denver, and this includes Seattle by the way,
I'm sorry, and honestly it's more about I don't really
have to You don't have to worry about them until
the Super Bowl anyway. But unless your name is Denver,
there's nobody that can compare to the Texans defense this
year realistically without me laughing in your face.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Yeah, that's how good they are.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
The best defense the Patriots will play all year will
come in this game, no matter who.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
They play the rest of the way.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
So I hope they're ready, and they might in succession
play I mean almost if they go to the super Bowl,
presuming let's let's just put the number one seeds in there, well,
they will play in four playoff games the best defense
they ever faced the Chargers. That'll be followed by the
best defense they ever faced the Texans, followed by the
next best defense they face the Broncos, followed by the
next best defense they faced all year. Now, if they

(31:45):
beat them all, that'd be an unbelievable defensive accomplishment for
their offense.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
Look at the disrespect for the Bills you just threw
out there. Well, the Bill's defense sucks. Yeah, I know,
but you're you're just assuming that because you just said,
give me the number one seeds.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah, I got you. I got you.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
That's gonna be a heck of a matchup, by the way, Yeah, Liz,
we got a lot of time to get through this.
There was one other item from a Best of X
perspective that will just dig us into our next conversation
because it has to do with the Texans quarterback and
it has to do the type of football you need
from your quarterback in the postseason most of the time
to win. And honestly, all they needed from CJ yesterday

(32:20):
was don't turn the ball over. It's all we've been
talking about all year. It's all Demiko ever, I think
harps on behind closed doors, I don't really care what
the offense does. Just don't turn the ball over. I
don't even think he has to say it. I think
everybody knows it. And they did turn the ball over,
which is why the game took longer to put away.
I think that's all there is to it. But specific
to his play and what to expect moving forward and
how big of a deal it is, just think about

(32:43):
one other thing that happened in Carolina earlier today. Put
it all together. Coming up in the next segment.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
Eighteam Rolling along here on a Tuesday edition Sports Talk
seven to ninety. Space City Home Network simulcast begins at
the top of the hour without number two. Texans get
to win in Pittsburgh last night thirty to six, as
you heard mentioned in the opening segment by both Adam
Wexler and Damiko Ryans the first road playoff victory in

(33:14):
twenty three seasons for the Texans. And again that's one
of those things, while not completely misleading, part of that
is that you started at home like every single time,
but then you had to go on the road after that,
So you had these opportunities.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
To win six previous opportunities. Yeah, they fell on their face.
And almost all of them. And that's why you can't
get lost in all of them, right, wouldn't say they
fell on their face at all some of them, right.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
Others they were competitive and it just didn't go their way.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
I guess the Baltimore one is the one that sticks
in my mind because I really think that one, the
one where you know, the muff punt and TJ.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yates you're starting quarterback, and where you had the better
team but had a third string quarterback playing exactly yep.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
I mean, and you had some balls literally not bounce
your way in the case with the Jacoby situation. As
funny as this is going to sound to be, so
like you know, forceful in this statement, Matt Shaw was
so much better than Joe Flacco that year.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
I mean, he and his two career playoffs starts. It's
hard to believe, but it is true.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
There was a type, and you know, time makes people
forget things like that, I think honestly, even though they've
honored him, and it's come up in recent seasons, as
recently as last year during the postseason, Arian Foster's this
you know stature as a running back in the NFL
as the best running back in the NFL, and they're

(34:36):
all very short periods of time. On average, there's only
a few Adrian Peterson's out there and that kind of thing.
And Derrick Henry right now, I think he probably gets
overlooked a lot. And that's the kind of thing that
makes that happen. If the Texans are able to win
games like that on the road and probably go to
the super Bowl in all likelihood given what was ahead

(34:56):
of them, Arian Foster's entire legacy is probably different at
this point. But going back to last night, you know
it does the Texans have the chance to do the
funniest thing, as the meme says, if it all lines
up the way I think it will, you're exercising playoff demons,

(35:17):
both recent and in the case of last night, forty
five years old. You know, Pittsburgh and Mike Renfrow and
all that kind of stuff. I wasn't even a lie
for that, so I know, like half the time was
well barely watching and cheering. How old were you here
in nineteen eighty seven, so your Carson's to be okay,

(35:37):
you're a little younger than Carson.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Vividly remember each of their conference title games in Pittsburgh.
One was non competitive and this was the other. So
the non competitive one was a year prior, right.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
They only needed thirty more points to win by one.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
That was the seventy eight seventy nine postseason. And then
this this Mike Renfro catch that wasn't by the way.
I so it is a little bit inflated the lore
of it because that makes the game seventeen seventeen at
the time, and it was in the third quarter.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
Yeah, the game's not over by any means, but it
made it a lot more difficult for them to win
when they said points, you scored a touchdown, but we're
not going to let you have it. Right, You did
all the things necessary to score the touchdown. You caught
a passing the end zone after all, but we're not
gonna let it count. Honestly, it took a lot longer
than it should have. But it was games like that
that ultimately led to what we have today. Everything is reviewed, everything,

(36:27):
every play is reviewed. Every scoring play has to be
reviewed by law. I'm not even gonna say by rule.
It is by rule, it's by law, it's NFL law.
You have to look at every single score. So, having
said all that a right, exactly like you should have
in nineteen seventy nine slash nineteen eighty. Technically, CJ. Stroud,

(36:48):
I think he knows the defense saved his bacon in
some sense last night. Yeah again, he'd made plays. I'm
not saying he didn't. According to Ed Werder, at some
point CJ. Stroud's performance at quarterback in these playoffs won't matter.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Not tonight.

Speaker 3 (36:59):
He played as poorly as any quarterback and playoff history,
and his team still wins decisively because of the defense.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
I can't argue with any of that. How about the
part of it that's total cussword, which part as poorly
as any quarterback in playoff history.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
But see to say that you're ignoring this bad stuff
that happened and only.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
Wasn't worse, ignoring it as poorly as any quarterback in
playoff history. Meaning he's you want to lump in the
five worst, he's in that group. This wasn't even among
the forty worst.

Speaker 1 (37:28):
I know.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
I'm not trying to inflate his performance. I'm just trying
to say you can't really watch this offense all night
and watch him throw the ball all night and watch
the incredibly bad mental mistakes that he made all night
and think this was.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
One of the worst performances in playoff history.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
But you also for someone who's watched probably the majority
of them for his age, he's been around for all
of it. It's a joke to say something like that.
It's embarrassing and it's typical of social media, and it's
what gives people a bad name. This is the most
hyperbolic thing you could say. It was nowhere near that level,
or else they would have been in a different position.
There's just no way to say that if you watch
the game. It's ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (38:07):
I watched every snap of the game and it still
felt like to me, and I know a lot of
people agree with me.

Speaker 1 (38:11):
They won that game in spite of CJ. Shroud.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
That's fair, but it wasn't one of the worst performances
in playoff history. That's just not paying attention to the NFL.
There's five turnover games, there's zero points scored from the offense.
There's a quarterback who couldn't complete a pass, Guys throwing
forty five percent completion contemporaries this generation, and he's talking
about CJ's performance in that group.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
That's just a joke.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
It's just typical of social media and not so typical
of people who are as respected as he is to
say something like that.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Why can I never remember the name of the quarterback
that just got shellacked with the five turnovers that started
for the Texans at one time in the postseason.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
That's an example. He's worse Brian Hoyer. Now, granted, would
they have won that game if he was awesome?

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Maybe not. I was at that game. They weren't winning
that game, probably not.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
The opening kickoff was coming towards me before even had
time to sit down.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
I mean, Peyton Manning's been on the wrong side of
a four interception game. An additional game he played in
his team lost forty one nothing. He probably didn't play
well that day. And I'm not gonna run through all
these performances. But like I said, there's so many of them,
I shouldn't need to. And many of the people who
are Worder followers or saw that reposted said the same,
because it's utterly ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah, but that's because they're Cowboys fans, because that's what
he does.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
He covers the Cowboys and has for it.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
No, I'm not I didn't even think of looking up
a Dak Prescott performance, probably could have easily found one.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
Why not?

Speaker 2 (39:35):
All right, three o'clock hour is coming up next, we're
gonna reset. We're gonna hear from CJ and Demico and yeah,
it wasn't all good news last night in Pittsburgh, and
not just the Nico Collins concussion.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
All that coming up next the a.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
On Sports Talk seven ninety and Ryan Kavis and he
is in for a touchdown.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Rumble, young man. Rumble. That was fantastic.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
My wife was very upset that she was not rolling
on the video of me. My celebration involved a dog,
thinking I was losing my mind when that happened.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
That was pretty fun.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
I was watching the game last night as we get
hour number two under way of the eight team Sports
Talk seven ninety Space City Home Network simulcast has begun.
Hello viewers, wex over there, ac right here. Josh Jordan
producing as per usual, thirty to six the final last night.
Was watching the game as it was unfolding, seven to six,
pretty low score. That baseball score that we all heard

(40:37):
about going into this divisional or wildcard matchup, I should say,
was holding true to form. I think we all predicted
it was going to be a blowout thanks to two,
not one, but two defensive touchdowns. That was the first one,
Kaylen Bullock with a pick six and not a short
or easy one to return, by the way, I might

(40:57):
add him staying in bounds with a small minor miracle
in and of itself, aided in part by the guy
who threw the pick and his lame attempt at tackling him.
But you know, looking at that game last night, we
were just talking about ed Warder's tweet. What was the
phrasing again, worst worst playoff performance by a quarterback ever?

Speaker 1 (41:17):
Or one of? Did he say one of? He played
as poorly as any quarterback in playoff history? I got
you all up in your fields.

Speaker 3 (41:27):
I mean, I don't expect someone who covers the NFL
to remember a whole twelve months ago. How could you
remember twelve months ago for the same team playing in
the same round of the playoffs? Did Justin Herbert play
better than c J? Strous four picks like that? Seems
that seems bad? Good, It's a good example, especially since

(41:49):
you're talking about very low percent of his passes but
one touchdown as did CJ. Yeah, I don't know ed
Ward that was probably as poorly as any quarterback and
playoff hit. Maybe his his idea of as poorly could
include one hundred playoff performances all in one little boat
together and probably sink.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
Though I'm gonna say this as gently as possible. I
think the truth is somewhere in between the two of you.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
Guys, neither of us thinks he played well. Whatever.

Speaker 3 (42:21):
I'm not gonna get in an argument about c J.
Strouss nothing to argue about. You don't disagree with him,
Neither do I. I CJ was not good last night exactly.
You can just said that so as everybody.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Do you do this with everybody in your life?

Speaker 6 (42:34):
No?

Speaker 1 (42:34):
But I don't.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
Why can't we discuss how stupid this is. If you
don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I'm just
brought it up again.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
I'm just actually you brought it up first, and I'm
just not I don't think that if you want to
like go line by line with the sentence he typed
and say, all right, I've just got to I gotta
take him to task. But the guy has seen a
lot of football games, and if that thinks that he's
absolutely entitled to that opinion.

Speaker 3 (42:57):
That's what social media is for. You are title to
your own opinion. I think he's an idiot for saying
something like that, an absolute moron. I mean, of all,
like this is the type of stuff that egg Avatar's
post to control for whatever. Are people who are trying
to build a following. They want people to react to it.
It's working, it's not usually somebody like this.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna turn your approach to this
type of thing back on you.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
He doesn't matter, None of it matters. It's social media.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
Yeah, but sometimes you think that certain things on social
media matter more than others because of the person putting
it out there as stature or lack thereof Edward or
just doesn't matter anymore in the great He's like Keith Olberman.
As far as I'm concerned, neither one of these guys,
I don't give a crap.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Yeah, I see what I did. That's some hyperbole.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
I don't garro what either of these guys talk about
when it comes to sports anymore.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
They're irrelevant. He still has a job, ed does, dude.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Keith Olberman has a job yelling at people into his
camera on his balcony in Times Square or in a
in central part.

Speaker 1 (43:57):
I mean he has a boss. Oh he like makes money?
You mean, yes, he's gainfully employed. I mean I'm sure
Keith is able to gener That's the thing I say.
Social media doesn't matter.

Speaker 3 (44:06):
It matters to the people who've created a following enough
because that's how their bills are paid, all through their
own personal branding.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Yeah, and here's the deal to break it down and
be actually serious about this topic for a second. The
Texans defense can play as well as did last night,
and I still think the offense is going to have
to play a whole heck of a lot better to
win at New England this week. There's a controversial take.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
Well, you don't want them to have to play that
well to the offense. Nobody should want your defense to
need to play that well.

Speaker 6 (44:38):
Well.

Speaker 3 (44:38):
The thing is should be able to win even if
they don't play that well. This team should not be
in a position where they have to play that well
to win. The US too talented on offense to do that.
They have way too talented a quarterback to do that.
And unfortunately, because of the performance of the offense in
some regards, obviously the turnover standard It's why they matter

(45:02):
so much. It's why we pinpoint that number more than
any other. It's great. Great, the Texans had four hundred
yards of offense. That can tell you how successful they
were at calling plays and moving the football. But all
that matters is how many points did you score and
how many times did you make it easy for the
other team to score without even getting anything done because
you turned it over. That's what always determines these games.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
I mean.

Speaker 3 (45:23):
New England's game honestly was not very different. Their defense
dominated in a way that their sixteen point offensive output
didn't prevent them from winning, just like the Texans sixteen
or seventeen points of offense didn't prevent them from winning,
and it very well could have.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
If the Texans offense plays twenty five percent better and
the defense plays twenty five percent worse. In New England
on Sunday, the Texans should blow out the Patriots.

Speaker 3 (45:51):
I will say the same thing that I said about
this game, and it's going to be harder to have
it come true. Obviously, it's not relative to this game
anymore because it didn't happen. If the Texans offense doesn't
turn the ball over, they're going to win. And what
I said late in the show yesterday, I pointed out
to a few people that I was talking to since
the game ended, I said, if the Texans win tonight,
I think they're going to the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
My opinion even changed, has not changed.

Speaker 3 (46:14):
And I did watch the game, and I did watch
their offensive issues, and I did go back and forth
with some people who think Nick Kayley is a dead
man walking even as they watched the game unfold. If
you don't think that was a good game plan and
an exceptionally well called game, the whole game, then I
don't know what to do with you, because you can't

(46:35):
only harp on this, that, and this and that. There's
too much football involved in sixty minutes. Was the fleef
flicker probably a bad idea?

Speaker 1 (46:44):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (46:45):
If it be well the idea, you don't need it.
That's not that's not the right time for this offense set.
It would have worked if that remarks would have pitched
the ball back to CJ without as much loop, which
there was a timing of off of the play. All
that's you have a wide open touchdown. Probably you definitely
have a wide open receiver. I think there's a chance
that Jayden Higgins scores on that play. Yeah, but there's

(47:07):
a lot of things that go into it. But look
at what you're asking this team to do. You got
to get the handoff to Woody properly. What he's got
to take his proper number of steps into the line
to sell the fake, What he's got to turn around,
What he's got to throw the ball back to CJ.
All while your offensive line is holding them back for
longer than usual because what he's obviously not a blocker.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
All the wide defensive front, by the way, not just
an average one.

Speaker 3 (47:27):
And I know they didn't know how well they were
going to continue to perform offensively, but they should have had.
They shouldn't have called it. This is the bottom line.
They should not have called that play there, and again,
if it was executed right, it might have even worked.
It probably would have now which way the other. Are
there even five plays you didn't like and they should
absolutely be outweighed by how much you loved the play

(47:49):
call and execution on the touchdown pass to Christian Kirk.

Speaker 1 (47:51):
You can't make it any easier.

Speaker 3 (47:53):
These are the red zone plays I've been dying for
the Texans to have in their playbook for years, all
the flows going on. Christian Kirk comes across the field,
there's nobody there. He doesn't get chipped by the oncoming rusher.
He just lets him go, which is what you're expecting.
If he hits him, then he's not there to stop
CJ from running. There's all sorts of options there. Option

(48:14):
one was wide open, he took it, made the relatively
easy throw, and he's into the end zone for the score.
That's just one play, and when it's that well executed
that part of the field, that moment of the game
to put them in front, it does carry a ton
of weight. And it ended a fourteen play ninety two
yard drive in the playoffs on the road against the Steelers,

(48:34):
and not getting fired for the last time or until
the next time.

Speaker 1 (48:39):
I have to say it, probably the next time. Are
people really wanting to be fired? Though?

Speaker 2 (48:44):
I know that tweet you're talking about in the first
quarter last night, and that person, you know what that
person would argue back.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
I'm pretty sure.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
Yeah, Well, two of the touchdowns were defensive, so I
get it.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
It's not perfect.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
You know what, if it wins the Super Bowl, no
one will care, at least of all me, and I'll
go ahead and speak for Wex on that as well.

Speaker 1 (49:03):
Now, all that being said, I do.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
Think CJ knows in the back of him it was
his mind to some extent, the defense saved his bacon
because there were a few times he did turn the
ball over in the red zone and on one such
occasion and the Steelers got all of nothing from that.
Here's CJ on the defense last night.

Speaker 7 (49:24):
Our defenses played like this all year. You know, they've
held us up, you know, and you know, I think,
you know, this is one of the best performances I've
ever seen. It's crazy up team in the last three
Wildcar Roller Card games, I played it, and they've always
had a pick six and like some type of two
turnover game, you know. So you know, when you have
a defense like that, you know, it's it's really really encouraging.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
And in that vein Tamiko Ryans, Texans just found a
way to win last night.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
That's what that was about.

Speaker 8 (49:53):
Proud of our team, proud of the effort and how
we finished the game. It wasn't pretty from the start,
and we had some poor moments in the game, but
I'm just proud of our guys for continue to remain resilient.
No matter what happened in that game. No one's faith waiver.
Throughout that game. Guys played under control. Guys played the
right way and finished it the right way to give

(50:16):
us the victory they did.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
They're moving on because of it. They will move on again.
I think because of some of the things they did
last night and the resiliency that you heard Tamiko Ryan's
talk about. It's exciting to see that they're going into
a second round matchup, and I feel like they should
be favored.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
In fact, I think they are. Are they not? They're not?
Is it three pass by three? We'll get to that.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
We'll get to all that kind of stuff, frauds, paper tigers,
whatever you want to call them. I've got myriad of
reasons why I think the Texans are going to go
in there and have a good Sunday afternoon which, by
the way, it is Sunday afternoon. It's not the evening game,
which I think we kind of thought would be the case.
But two o'clock kickoff here in Houston. We'll get to

(51:00):
some of the things that happened last night that weren't good.
We'll check in on Nico Collins and some of those
snap issues as well as given the offensive line its flowers,
all of that coming up next.

Speaker 1 (51:11):
For CJ.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Stroud here, not that he isn't already. Jalen Hurts is
going to be looking at his fifth offensive coordinator in
five years, after what the Eagles just did and coming
off a Super Bowl championship. If you had told them
that their offensive coordinator would be out three hundred and

(51:32):
sixty five days later, roughly, I don't know if many
of their fan base would have believed.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
That this all started during the Demico Ryan's head coaching cycle.
They lost both of their coordinators, Shane Stike and being
the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, and even though they've obviously won,
they've won some games, very important games. I think this
has been a constant problem ever since ye had the
Eagles kid yesterday. I think everybody knows whose Eagles kid is.

(51:58):
The guy got interviewed after the game. Yet yesterday it's
supposed to be his birthday present, and he thinks Kevin
Patullo needs to be flipping burgers at McDonald's because he's
cooking on one side and the other side's totally wrong. Well,
I don't think he's going from the Eagles to McDonald's,
even though McDonald's is a very nice place to work.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
But he is no wrong love working at McDonald's, only
for a day.

Speaker 3 (52:18):
He's no longer going to be with the Eagles, and
I hope the Eagles are cognizant of the scapegoating angle
this will look like and acting like it was. The
only issue is we probably not quite right, But yeah,
I would. I don't disagree with the decision to you know,
you got you got a talented team still and it's
going to be a talented offense still next year, not

(52:39):
even knowing who will be back necessarily, I wouldn't want
to waste that opportunity if you felt like this was
the right thing to do, and it probably also I
haven't looked at anything or read anything about this's just
what ted led to this. I mean this sounds more like, well,
I mean, we really like you, Nick Sirianni, and we
really think you've done great job here, Nick Sirianni, but

(53:03):
you need to do this, and if you don't, we
don't like you so much that we wouldn't then just
say all right, we'll find a new head coach. Yeah,
it seems like his I don't know if it's if
it's right to say it, but it sure looks like
it when we watch him coach. I think his act
is wearing thin inside the organization all.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
I mean, you saw the video of him in the
tunnel screaming and the players just kind of like collectively
rolling their eyes at him a couple weeks back.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
It's it happens.

Speaker 2 (53:31):
And again, we heard this all the time about Tom
Thibodeau in the NBA. Certain styles are going to do that.
Chris Paul did that with teammates. It happens in the
NFL all the time. I'm actually surprised it doesn't happen
more in the NFL, except for the fact that there's
legit literally a bigger locker room, more people. I guess

(53:53):
you can spread that kind of thing thinner. In the NBA.
It's very close quarters. So the two people I just mentioned,
it's kind of hard to avoid them.

Speaker 3 (54:01):
It's it's a lot harder to avoid the defensive coordinator
and the offensive coordinator in the NBA because it's your
head coach. Yeah, I know, unless you hire Jeff Bizdel.
I know, people like to act like they don't oh great.
Jeff Bisdels here, he's the DC.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
I never say.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
Anything to the team about defense because we have a DC.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
He does that.

Speaker 3 (54:22):
Nead coaches aren't like that. Although I'm convinced Mike might
have not done that. Got the offense, you handle the rest,
probably not quite like that. We'll see if this ultimately.
This is usually the move that saves a head coach
for the time being, for this offseason, unless.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
The guy that comes in can turn things around. There's
a lot of talk.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
There's a lot of chatter about Jalen Hurts and his
inability to do this, that and the other.

Speaker 3 (54:47):
I mean, they should feel okay about next year no
matter what, because Nick Sirianni got there and they immediately
lost in the wildcard game. And then the next year
they went to the super Bowl, followed by losing in
the wildcard game, followed by going to the super Bowl
followed by losing in the wild card game.

Speaker 2 (55:03):
So they're on schedule to lose the Super Bowl to
the Texans next year as they try to repeat, uh
see what I did there?

Speaker 1 (55:09):
Maybe.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
So anyway, let's get back to those Texans. Let's kind
of work backwards. It's it is time if We're going
to absolutely throttle them, especially in the early stages of
the of a season in which.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Hard to believe the Texans started zero to three.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
I swear to remind everybody again that that was the
case after last night's victory in Pittsburgh for their first
playoff road win.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
Ever.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
This offensive line is wex said in the first few
segments our first hour, I should say, as we've been
saying for a few weeks now, they're playing really, really well.
It's time to give them their flowers, if you will.
And we'll start with Demiko Ryans talking about the props
he'd like to give the five guys plus up front.

Speaker 8 (55:53):
The offensive line did a great job of controlling their front.
That was our main key to victory is how we're
going to control their front, one of the best fronts
at ball and our offensive line did a great job
of really controlling that, sustaining their blocks. And then Woody
came in. He ran the ball well, also, Chill ran
the ball well. All the guys did a really great

(56:13):
job rushing it. And I'm really proud of that that
last drive there in the fourth quarter, like how we
we milt the clock down and we ran the ball
and know it will just proud of the bar guys.

Speaker 3 (56:25):
Texans ran for three point two yards of carry in
the first quarter, six totes for Woody and Nick chubb
be and then in the second quarter they ran for
sixty seven yards on ten carries. You guys know the
math on that. That's six point seven yards of pop.
Then they ran for five point eight yards a pop
in the third quarter. Then in the fourth quarter, which
he mentioned, they ran for another four point nine yards

(56:46):
ten carries, forty nine yards. Hey, we're up. We're going
to run the ball. Here's our playbook.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
Would you like it. We'll tell you what we're going
to do. Try and stop it. And they couldn't, And.

Speaker 3 (56:54):
That usually is because your offensive line is crushing and
in the run game. This was the first time all
season these five players had played together and produced those results.
They've played well in other games. They've run the ball
well in other games. They haven't dominated in the run
game as this five man unit at any point this year. Obviously,

(57:16):
Trent Brown returned, you bumped Titus Howard back inside, andrews
Ingram and Ersery the other three. This was the group
that got this offense to come together when they put
Trent Brown out there when they had to make some
changes due to other things that obviously weren't working, like
with Lake and Tomlinson, and it clicked, and they played
about a third of the season with those guys. They

(57:38):
had ten different offensive line groups and this week, this
was the fifth consecutive week they did not start the
same offensive line.

Speaker 2 (57:47):
It's crazy what they're doing right now with the guys
they're doing it with. And one of those is still
a rookie. He's still a rookie until next year. That's
just how it goes. And ERSII had I think a
false start last night. One. It was awesome otherwise, and
your left tackle went to Pittsburgh against that front and
basically kept CJ upright for the majority of the night.

Speaker 3 (58:08):
The offensive line did their job, the ground game did
their job, the white outs did their job, and the
offense had a few issues because their quarterback did not
handle the football very well. The two snaps that got
him to five fumbles. One obviously is not his fault.
He wasn't looking and the ball should not have been
snapped at that point in time. It was not a
mistaked by the quarterback. It was some mistake made by
the O line, specifically the center. The snap shotgun snap

(58:32):
that he did not complete. That should that has to
be caught. It was right there in your hands. It
wasn't directly at your body, but you could see the
lack of focus in CJ's eyes ready to I mean
it's natural you want to look down the field. You
feel like you have the football. Well he didn't have
the football, especially for whatever reason. You also think pressures
coming as soon as that ball is snapped.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
It's easy.

Speaker 2 (58:53):
It's like a receiver looking up field before they've done
the actual act of catching the ball. Let's let's talk
about those snap issues specifically what CJ. Stroud had to
say about those snap issues with this very offensive line.

Speaker 7 (59:06):
You know, we had some problems with the snaps me
catching them. You know, got to find a way just
to catch them and then take care of the ball. No,
we knew on tape that they did a good job
of you know, pushing out the ball or trying to
you know, while you're throwing, you get your thrown on.
So you know, I try to work on that throughout
the week.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
But they make.

Speaker 7 (59:21):
Plays and these games, the playoffs games, from my experience,
like they're gonna make plays. We're gonna make plays. It's
all about you know, moving forward and you know, trying
your best to you know, flush it and keep going.
So every time we had a bounce back, you know,
we made more plays. So I mean, I'm proud of
our Gosh, you're having a little bit of resilience in
those moments, and you know, to finish the game like
that was really dope.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
And ultimately, at the end of the day, what he's
talking about is obviously true, and you saw it board
itself out last night, especially with a run game being
able to run at will the Houston Texans in twenty
twenty five and into twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Who to thunk it?

Speaker 2 (59:52):
That's a topic in and of itself, and we'll give
Woody marks and accompany their praise in a different segment,
But it all comes down to the T word that
you I think you threw this out earlier in the
year when they were going through it and everything that
was happening. You gotta be able to trust those guys,
and he couldn't do that earlier this season. But he
talked about that after the game last night. The fact

(01:00:13):
that he does have trust in those five guys up front.

Speaker 7 (01:00:16):
Yeah, I think it's dope, you know, excuse me, dope.
I think it's amazing for those guy to keep faith
and trust to me, and I faith and trusting myself,
you know, learn learn from my mistakes and try to
you know, move on, you know, and I know, you know,
things I need to get fixed. But you know, I think,
you know, I had a good game, but you know,
just got to clean those things up. But for those
guys who always, you know, keep me uplifted is really helpful.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
It's fascinating to see the evolution of Every team goes
through an evolution, at least I think good teams definitely do.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
Every year.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
Where you start, whatever expectations, wherever they are, and where
you finish is a direct result of evolving. That is
the word to use. I think for this offensive line,
it's the best word to use.

Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
They basically had him back there, capable of giving him
time needed to do whatever he wanted to do, and
it just should not have gone down that way. He
was sacked three times, two of which caused fumbles. He
was hit three times. Those three times, that's it. They
had three tackles for loss. They were not in the
backfield all night. They were handled. That was a plus,

(01:01:19):
very plus performance by the offensive line. And I know
it's a hard process to have the trust and to
go into a game feeling trust, and maybe it's earned
within every game, but it definitely should have been there
throughout the game last night, and it just never never
really felt like he was comfortable. He's right though, he
did make a lot of plays, make a lot of throws. Obviously,
you guys want to to share some of your opinions

(01:01:41):
on that, we'd love to have you a board for it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
Have a few of you in there.

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
We'll get to some of those things and continue on
this topic and make sure everybody knows exactly who the
all time leading single game receiver in Houston, Texan's history is.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Because some people were a bit off with that last night.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
I had to I don't ever really troll WEX, but
we kind of like troll light to each other at
times about various things.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
It's kind of like a brother type relationship, i'd call it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:10):
And in the course of the game last night, we
were exchanging pleasantries about what was going on. And one
of the things that you have said, I mean repeatedly
all season long is how bad things happen. When the
Texans throwed a Christian Kirk and you had tweeted last

(01:02:33):
night about you owned it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Let's be fair here.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
You owned the fact that you put it out there
that CJ had not lost a fumble all season, and
then what did you start doing?

Speaker 6 (01:02:42):
Well?

Speaker 3 (01:02:42):
I had to own it because I said it. While
I was saying it on the air, I'm like, I
know what happens when people do stuff like this, but
I'm telling you what's going to happen. So if I
bring up the fact that he has not lost a
fumble all year, he only even put it down on
the ground twice, right, and the offense hasn't lost a
fumble since the Nico Collins lost fumble in the game
third game of the season. That's a lot of football

(01:03:03):
to be played. And they again, losing a fumble from
your offense is pretty easy if you put the ball
on the ground, but they never did it. Like how
many other fumbles did Nico have? How many other fumbles
did Dara have? How many fumbles at all did It's
hard to do that and eventually you feel like, well,
this one's come. I hope sometime in week seven next year,
we say and on Monday. Yeah, that was the first

(01:03:26):
fumble of what he Mark's career. I hope we don't
say it the next couple of weeks, which is why
I was putting it out. Okay, this, I mean, gosh,
the first fumble, the second fumble, I screencapped the box score.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
This is hard to believe, but it's true.

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
Five fumbles, five fumbles which you recovered, and two of
which were recovered by the Steeler. That is almost impossible
to believe. And the Christian Kirk stuff, there's plenty to
back that up. You know, I'm talking about the Unico
Collins fumble in the Jacksonville game. Well, that didn't end
the game. What ended the game is when CJ targeted

(01:03:59):
Christian Kirko the middle. A little harsh to blame Kirk,
but that's how I cultivated that thought. All got tipped,
got intercepted. You had a couple other you had to
play earlier in that particular game against the Jaguars. He
targeted Kirk, and I don't know if Kirk ran the
wrong router. He wasn't deepen up with the receiver in
front of him, but the player intercepted the ball, the
one that wasn't.

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
Even defending Kirk.

Speaker 3 (01:04:20):
It was just a something was off with the play
when they targeted Christian Kirk.

Speaker 1 (01:04:25):
And look at his season.

Speaker 3 (01:04:26):
He had zero games even remotely close to this one.
Here's three catches. Here's the season I have sixty four.
Here's four catches. Here's no catches, here's he wasn't even
there for you didn't stay healthy too, Yeah, barely out there.
And the more the season went on, the less they
looked his way. And then all of a sudden last night,
right out of the gate, there he was deep down
the field for a thirty six yarder. He caught the

(01:04:48):
touchdown pass, he had the forty nine yarder. And I
brought this up earlier, so I'll just ask you here
and get it out of the way. It's the most
yards receiving by any player in Texans history. And Dimiko
brought that up in his postgame commentary, and I said,
it's more than Andre Johnson, It's more than DeAndre Hopkins,
it's more than Nico Collins. The three obvious players who
will do sit in two, three, and four on the

(01:05:09):
all time list. Nico second, DeAndre third, Andre fourth. Those
are the four highest receiving games individually for anybody in
Texans history, all better than one hundred. One other Texan
has a one hundred yard receiving day in the postseason.
It has to Daniels, and it is not Owen Daniels.
What And you could probably name every single receiver whether

(01:05:31):
they were good or not that comes to mind, and
you still will forget about secure to think that this
is the player that did it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
Yep. Is it a receiver or is it like a
running back?

Speaker 3 (01:05:40):
It's a wide receiver. Okay, geez, here are all the
guesses that would be wrong. Will Fuller, Kenny Stills, Brevin Jordan,
Dalton Schultz, Lamar Miller, Andre Arian Foster, is Avier Hutchinson,
Devin's singles going to be my guest, and I'm already
under fifty yards receive for Devin singletary.

Speaker 4 (01:06:02):
Geez.

Speaker 3 (01:06:02):
And this receiver had no other games anywhere close to this,
quite obviously, which is why he's not thought of exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
Who is it? Q?

Speaker 2 (01:06:10):
Oh my gosh, mister, I'm in Bill O'Brien's doghouse perpetually.

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
Most of the time, pretty well deserved.

Speaker 3 (01:06:18):
Yeah, so this has had his first year Key Key's
only playoff game in Texans history was the home loss
to Andrew Luck and the Colts. With Deshaun Watson not
having a very good day, t Y Hilton's targeting him
fourteen times.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36):
Yards and a touchdown.

Speaker 3 (01:06:38):
Well, they were also doing nothing offensively, and a lot
of this came later in the game.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
That was the year that t Y Hilton shut up
in a clown mask and then just decimated the Texans defense.

Speaker 3 (01:06:48):
And Texans were down twenty one to nothing that game.
They scored their touchdown in the fourth quarter. I'm glad
the cults are in absolute freefall right here.

Speaker 1 (01:06:54):
Y Hilton had eighty five yards on five catches. How
many touchdowns too? None?

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
Oh, I thought he had to like for some reason,
I thought he had scored multiple touchdowns in that game.

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
Marlon Mack had one hundred and forty eight yards rushing
and a touchdown.

Speaker 2 (01:07:07):
Marlon Mack, I'll tell you who. Marlon Mack wouldn't have
done anything against this Texans defense.

Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
No question about it.

Speaker 3 (01:07:14):
Mentioned I want to get some of you guys in
on the conversation all throughout the day. Happy to do so,
get out to the Cypress area seven one three, two,
one two five seven ninety kJ out there now in here?

Speaker 1 (01:07:25):
What's on your mind? kJ?

Speaker 6 (01:07:27):
What's going on with fellas? As you are a long
time listener and loved the show. Mistake you guys's opinion
theoughly thank you, But that's said, this isn't revision of history.
I'm gonna preface my statement with this. I have consistently
said throughout the course of this season that, uh CJ

(01:07:51):
style from a talent standpoint is just as good, if
not better, that any of these young quarterbacks in the league.
Jadon Daniels both nix you it across the board. Uh
he has from a from a passing standpoint, he has
ability to put the ball where every he needs to
put it wherever he wants to put it. With that said,

(01:08:11):
there is a certain moxie that comes along with playing
quarterback in the NFL. There is a certain temperament and
there is a certain controlledness that you have when it
comes to the offensive line, in particular, the offensive line
is general and just bottom line, the way you carry
yourself in that huddle, and I do not see it

(01:08:31):
with CJ. Last night, the play where he threw the
interception was to me a microcosm of CJ's issues. CJ
is routinely second guessing himself. He's it is to the
point where when the player is called with Nick Kayley
and by extension, Bobby Slow sends in the play for

(01:08:53):
Ceza to run. CJ. If that play, if there is
an any point in that play where the system breaks down,
CJ does not have the wherewithals to improvise. There's no
way he should have thrown that pass last night. The
fumbles was just a flat out lack of attention. And
I said before last night's game, and I'm going to

(01:09:13):
continue to say for out the playoffs. If we win,
if we are extended in the playoffs, is going to
be because of the defense. If we lose at any point
in the playoffs, it's going to be because of CJ.
Am I knocking CJ lo am I saying we shouldn't
pay CJ low. What I am saying is CJ is
going to have to have a long look in the
mirror and understand you have it physically, if can receive,

(01:09:37):
you're up there with the best. The ability to do
the deep ball, the ability to squeeze the ball in
type places. You are on a short list of cornerbacks,
that they'll accomplished, that your issues are between the ears,
and when he was sitting on the ground after that fumble,
popping like a five year old, that they just got
his toy took. I played football in high school and

(01:09:57):
I played in college. I played outside linebacker. If I'm
on the defense and he's on the other side, I'm
vick at my chips because what I'm saying to my
teammates week in a row on him, he is the
week week.

Speaker 1 (01:10:08):
I'll tell you what. kJ.

Speaker 3 (01:10:09):
Sorry to cut you off there because I don't really
need to sit here anymore because you just said everything
I would have said.

Speaker 1 (01:10:15):
I could not agree with you more.

Speaker 3 (01:10:17):
We do have to hit a break, so we will
definitely address what kJ had to say on the other side.

Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
I think it's funny that Craig video giggles like that
when he says our name.

Speaker 1 (01:10:30):
I've fucked it before. We love to brock us.

Speaker 3 (01:10:34):
We are just a bit shy of his Hall of
Fame credentials as a ballplayer.

Speaker 1 (01:10:38):
It's funny.

Speaker 2 (01:10:40):
So last night, and I feel like this is a
fail on my part. Did the video for this morning.
I kind of had that song in my head. I
missed the boat on an idea with a different song. Well,
let's stick with what that is.

Speaker 3 (01:11:00):
Don't want to lose sight of CJ's comments on CJ
our caller last segment, because very good points were made
and he's talking to us. Mind you, kJ I knew
CJ on CJ was incorrect. And the game is being
replayed right now, so we are watching it as we speak.

Speaker 1 (01:11:20):
It's even better the second time.

Speaker 3 (01:11:21):
And we just saw the first pass of the game
from CJ, which probably gets forgotten because there were so
many other passes that either had you holding your breath
or screaming in all that was awesome. First pass of
the game. He threw into Nico Collins, who was not open,
was extremely well covered, totally blanketed, and there was a

(01:11:43):
second receiver in the area, and there were four additional
Steelers defenders in the area. It was an absolute miracle
that the ball was batted into the air and reached
the ground before Dalton or one of the other five
Steelers there picked it off. That was the very first
throw of the game. Many more throws, unfortunately like that, came,

(01:12:04):
but many of the obviously all of the good throws came.
The description of you know, he's got the skills, and
I'm not saying don't pay him and he's.

Speaker 1 (01:12:12):
Not the guy.

Speaker 3 (01:12:12):
That's where the balance of it feels wrong to say, well,
he made this mistake, and he made this mistake, and
he shouldn't be making this type of mistake anymore after
three years worth of starting, he's into his fifth postseason game.
And yet there is the balance because I do agree
he is their quarterback of the future. He is their
winning postseason all the marbles, hoist the trophy quarterback for

(01:12:34):
the future. And these mistakes were still made. Some throwing mistakes,
mostly mental mistakes in the pocket were the ones that
were the biggest issues because the interception of the end zone,
as kJ described, you can't that's an easy, easy mistake
to avoid. You know what's on the line. You've reached
the red zone, you have three points in your back pocket.

(01:12:55):
You have all sorts of other options to get two yards,
three yards, scramble for five yards. I don't think there
was a scramble available for him on that play. I
think other people disagree, but I know that that's not
the throw to make. It's not there's just nothing there
that particular player in that particular instance, you can't make
that throw. There's not even a miracle opportunity for a
catch there. It's just a bad play, a bad physical

(01:13:17):
part of the play when you add to where he
put the ball, and you'd like to have those eliminated.
I'm not asking for perfection either, and I don't think
kJ is, but there's got to be a lot less
of the negative.

Speaker 1 (01:13:28):
So what was otherwise? Again?

Speaker 3 (01:13:30):
I can't Again in the balance, he had a very
positive day throwing the football, and it's not an accident
that they had four hundred yards of offense. Sure, the
running game was a huge part of that, but you
can't do that if you're bad. And his arm, talent,
where he puts the ball, his accuracy, for the most part,
it's all plus level. This is what you want your

(01:13:51):
guy to have. But we still this game was very
reminiscent in a lot of regards to his previous two
road playoff performances. Through his first touchdown pass on the road.
This was his third playoff game.

Speaker 2 (01:14:03):
Well they I mean, listen, if that's the worst game
he plays this postseason, they should be in pretty good shape.

Speaker 1 (01:14:09):
Oh I hope it is. Well, don't you.

Speaker 2 (01:14:12):
I do think that of the defenses that are left,
I mean, they could go up against the Broncos obviously. Still,
that's the funny thing. Miraculously those top three defenses are
all still playing right now, the Texans, the Seahawks, and
the Broncos.

Speaker 1 (01:14:28):
Well there's a saying, right, defense wins championships.

Speaker 3 (01:14:32):
I mean, I know people like to say unless you're
the ninety nine rounds what ever, that doesn't mean anything.
One thing to note about those defenses is we've talked
about what teams do and don't do defensively. Seattle is
on the other side, and they're regarded as a great defense. Obviously,
you're referencing the Denver Broncos, who the Texans have seen
have an unbelievable pass rush. They want a ton of

(01:14:55):
games this year. The Denver Broncos have more I had
more takeaways this year than the Jets, the Commanders, the Cowboys,
the Titans. Excuse me, I'm sorry, let me start again.
The Broncos had more takeaways this year than the Jets,
the Commanders, the Cowboys. I'm already finished. They had more

(01:15:15):
takeaways this year, the so called number one defense in
the NFL than three teams just three teams, the get
in your face, get after you, hit you hard when
you scramble on your home turf. They had fourteen takeaways
the entire season. The Steelers and Texans and Jaguars basically
had double that. So I'm not saying it's not gonna happen,

(01:15:38):
just like it should have never happened last night.

Speaker 1 (01:15:40):
But that isn't what they do.

Speaker 3 (01:15:42):
No, they they'll just stop you. They will just stop you.
And they just in the game against half Stroud half
Mills say stop them.

Speaker 1 (01:15:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:15:51):
And so after saying all that about CJ too, it's like,
how is he able to troll on his way off
the field last night?

Speaker 3 (01:16:00):
I have questions? Okay, are we sure? It seems right?
And I don't think Admin would do it if it
were not. He said the NFL would do it if
it were not. So describe the video. He's walking off
the field. He obviously recognizes and acknowledges some Pittsburgh fan

(01:16:20):
in the crowd.

Speaker 2 (01:16:22):
Did you never see this person? You just see CJ
utter the infamous phrase you mad? That is the one
of the easiest ways to get under the skin of
someone who's just sensitive.

Speaker 3 (01:16:34):
It made me think again, I'm not trying to say
I want I definitely want to see who wit was,
because there's a small part of me that thought it
was a Steelers fan that he knows.

Speaker 1 (01:16:46):
Or that had been maybe chirping all games.

Speaker 3 (01:16:48):
If he doesn't know him and he'd been chirping the
whole game, then it still serves the same purpose. Oh
that's perfect. This is a fan that were in my
face the whole game. I get to say this to them.
And that's what the belief is. That it lappened to
laugh that kind of very well might be true. It
didn't seem like so something CJ normally does. No, it
was good to be a character. In my opinion, he's
a very team guy at that end, at that point
in the game, they've just won, they've celebrated like some

(01:17:10):
people are like, I'm amazed that he felt that way.
After that, he didn't play, He didn't play to the
level he knows he can. But they won. They dominated,
They won thirty to six. Look at the scoreboard. We crushed.
You're going home. We're not well technically we're going home.
You're staying home.

Speaker 1 (01:17:23):
You're shitting here. This is everything you wanted.

Speaker 3 (01:17:25):
All that you care about is there's more football to play,
and in his case, now you also care about I
have the opportunity to go play at the level I
know I should play at all on the road.

Speaker 1 (01:17:35):
Again.

Speaker 2 (01:17:36):
Yeah, and that pales in comparison, in my opinion, to
the fact that they were getting so manhandled that the
stadium that usually plays Renegade by Styx they didn't even bother,
in part because they had already done it earlier this
year against Buffalo and they were getting killed and they
got booed for playing it.

Speaker 1 (01:17:56):
So what did the Texans do? They played it in
their locker room really loud. I love that.

Speaker 3 (01:18:00):
Yeah, Admin had a great night and day today, and
I think the Texans did all the things that you'd
want to see. There are some awesome One of the
things that happened after the game when they brought a
Zas and Will out for extended postgame interview on set.
This is a road game and they could barely hear
each other because of all of the Texans fans that

(01:18:21):
they want to remain in the stadium, and they can
all get in the same spot right on the other
side of the set, and they were extremely loud. They
were extremely visible. You use this picture in the video
and the Texans obviously had it on their site as
well of the lone rising super fan the Warrior, and
it was nothing but Steeler fans seated and he was

(01:18:43):
standing up arms raised. It's tremendous and to kind of
maybe I'm curious what you missed on. So we'll do
that at the top of the hour with the video.
But if you haven't seen the Good Morning video, please
do via Sports Talk seven nine yr obos see Hype
Guy's personal account at Adam Clanton. There's nothing wrong at
all with how it was put together and the lyrics

(01:19:04):
heed the old Boss and the New Boss like that
and to the beat of the music. If you hadn't noticed,
it's always like that. It's pure excellence. Four o'clock hours.

Speaker 4 (01:19:13):
Next the A team on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 1 (01:19:18):
Ninety three Tuesday edition of the program.

Speaker 2 (01:19:21):
You get those when you win on Monday Night football,
which the Pittsburgh Steelers always did until they didn't.

Speaker 3 (01:19:27):
Well, until it was pointed out yesterday there was a
totally bogus, made up stat that even a Z's fell.

Speaker 2 (01:19:31):
For Aziz wanted to punch Scott Van Pelt in the face.

Speaker 3 (01:19:35):
Just they say this, They say all the right things,
and hey, great, we're the number one defense.

Speaker 1 (01:19:39):
Well we haven't done that today. We haven't proved that today.

Speaker 3 (01:19:42):
All that happens is we could be the number ten
defense and then we're probably going home because that's all
that matters today. You got to go out there and
do it every single week. You gotta go out there
and outscore the other team every week, no matter what's
led into it, no matter if they had a no
game winning streak or a nine game winning streak. They
now a ten game winning streak doesn't really matter either.
When they get to New England, New England, they're favored.

(01:20:03):
New England has played great football this year. New England's
schedule definitely comes into question, but it is another city
that has a football team that's done damage to Houston's
NFL team. At least in this case, it should mean
something to people that are in the building. You got
some long time employees there, not too many on the
football side of it, whether on the field or off,

(01:20:24):
but in football that were around for some of the
postseason disappointments in New England. More of the people on
the football side that were around for Texans Patriots playoff
games were happy with the result because they were Patriots
and it worked out for them because they advanced and
they had the better team in each of those cases.
For whatever reasons that may or may not be true

(01:20:45):
this time. It's definitely a proving ground once you get
to the postseason. I think the Patriots proved that they
belonged here. I think it was pretty obvious with all
the turnover in the postseason teams that when we got
to the Divisional round there's going to be a lot
of change. Three of the eight teams remaining, that's it.
We're they're a year ago, and the Texans are one
of them. Patriots aren't one of them, The Broncos aren't

(01:21:06):
one of them. It's the Bills, the Texans, and the Rams.

Speaker 1 (01:21:09):
That's it. Everybody else. The five other teams in the
Divisional Round are new to this round from last season.
Texans have actually been there three straight years. Many of
you probably knew this going into the game, and obviously
it played out because of the results.

Speaker 3 (01:21:22):
John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco the only other head coach
quarterback duo to reach and extend their postseason into the
Divisional Round in three consecutive seasons. To start their time
together and more needs to be there where now at
the point in the season we've been talking about since
they walked off the field last year in the playoffs

(01:21:44):
in the divisional round for the last time, they have
not made any improvements yet. They're not a better team
than they were a year ago. Yet they haven't advanced
beyond where they were a year ago. Yeah, they won
twelve games this year, they all so didn't win the division. Yeah,
they dominated on the road and won a road playoff
game this year in the wildcard round, where they win

(01:22:07):
every year in totally ridiculous, dominant fashion. You heard CJ
right here on the show a few minutes ago, CJ
Stroud talking about, Yeah, I mean, our defense has been
so good, and you know, they scored It seems like
every time in the wild card games. He knows what
they've done. They've scored five touchdowns. The defense has scored
five touchdowns in the Texans three wild card games over

(01:22:29):
the last three seasons. Two in their first game against
Cleveland thanks to Stephen Nelson and Christian Harris won in
the game against the greatest quarterback to ever walk the
face of the earth, Justin Herbert. When Eric Murray caught
one of his passes while wearing a Texans uniform and
ran it into the end zone. And last night you
got the fourth and fifth ones the rankings, touchdown.

Speaker 1 (01:22:49):
On the sack fumble recovery.

Speaker 3 (01:22:52):
And obviously the game ender or the career ender maybe four.
Aaron Rodgers Kalin made it very clear after the game,
after the fifty yard inn perception return for touchdown that
that would definitely be going up in the case and
enshrined at his wall. He also was one of the
Texans who had four interceptions this season, should have been

(01:23:13):
one of the Texans who scored. Remember his interception was
returned for a touchdown only to be called back because
of a Derek Barnett blocking the back during the runback,
So he visited the end zone with the football before
it just did not count. But five scores in three
games is insane.

Speaker 2 (01:23:30):
Five scores and three years ago, Demiko set forth to
reimagine this entire culture and look where we are.

Speaker 3 (01:23:37):
I would sit down for every single moment of the
Demiko at Ryan's address, every single moment of the Kirby
Avenue address, Kirby Drive address, all of it, all of it.
I would love to hear it. It is what he
says out it's but also is not a real battle.
It's a football battle right where they swarm. But again,
just to the simple point I made, if they don't

(01:23:59):
beat the Patriots, then they're repeating what they've already done
now three times.

Speaker 1 (01:24:05):
Going this is why.

Speaker 2 (01:24:07):
But okay, all Texans battle red sunglasses aside. I'm not
trying to be hokey at all. I'm really not, and
I am including the last two seasons with Demiko at
the Helm when I ask this question, doesn't this feel different?

Speaker 1 (01:24:25):
Oh my god, anything ever in the history of these
twenty three years.

Speaker 3 (01:24:29):
I'm pretty sure I'd have to go back and listen
to the uh real to reels that I spoke.

Speaker 1 (01:24:34):
On during these years. Because even the.

Speaker 3 (01:24:36):
Way I said, oh, if Texans win their wildcard game,
I think they're going to the super Bowl. I said
it yesterday, I've said it again today, and when prompted,
I'll say it every time necessary.

Speaker 1 (01:24:44):
I think it's been retracted.

Speaker 3 (01:24:45):
I do believe that is what's going to happen, because
it does feel different. Will Anderson gave me that answer
after the regular season about how he felt like. Look,
I told the D Line room. We got four games
to go. We got four or four ways from being
where we want to be. They didn't that last year,
didn't think that last year. They thought, we're in the
playoffs again, and we don't want to have happened what
happened last year, which is a perfectly nice sentiment.

Speaker 1 (01:25:07):
They don't think that this year.

Speaker 3 (01:25:08):
They're not trying to be better than last year, which
is the whole point of what I just said, and
that's why what we're doing. What they're doing is different.
They're not trying to advance past the divisional round. They're
not trying to reach the first conference title game in
team history. They don't believe that's worthy of who's on
their team. What's worthy of who's on their team is
beating their next team, beating their next team and being
on the podium for their super Bowl trophy presentation. That's

(01:25:32):
who they think they are. They did not think that
in the previous two years. They thought they were one
of the fourteen teams that made the playoffs that probably
had a chance to win some games, and they would
try every game and all we have to do is
win today and we'll see what happens next. They are
a bunch of tryhards. They're not doing that. They don't
feel that way this year. The amount of unbelievable disgust
that will be coming from these players in a losing

(01:25:55):
locker room, should there be won the rest of this
year will be hard to stomach. The diss appointment they
will have if this team, this super Bowl caliber team,
doesn't win the super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (01:26:06):
This is new.

Speaker 3 (01:26:07):
You are totally right for saying that this is very
unlike their previous teams, these three with Demiko and maybe
you could argue there were times during the season before
Shob got hurt. There's probably some people that felt that
way because of their defense, because of the potency of
their offense at times, because they believe that shab and
that that time was probably true. He was one of

(01:26:27):
the better, one of the better AFC quarterbacks. They had
the potency offensively within the ground game with Andre This
really could be something. I still don't think they ever
and obviously we were covering the team at the time,
so we were there. I don't think they ever reached
this level, and it's why I've always had some level
of extreme pushback. How can you not think this team's

(01:26:49):
defense is kind of by far the best defense they've
ever had. It's I don't really think it's that close.
I can I can understand how successful they were, and
they made it the playoffs. They dominated the Bengals. There
are things that they did that showed it. But god, like,
did they have seven players get Pro Bowl votes?

Speaker 2 (01:27:07):
I was talking to Teresa about that last night. She goes, look,
there's only eleven guys out there. She goes, who are
all these guys?

Speaker 8 (01:27:13):
Why?

Speaker 2 (01:27:13):
I'm like, well, they're all all pros. Like, there's eleven
positions and seven of them are all pros. And I
was like, that's better than Pro Bowl or which she
doesn't even know what that is.

Speaker 3 (01:27:22):
Derek Stingley Junior, Kaylen Bullock, Kamari Lassiter, Jalen Petrie. You're ready.
One of them is the answer? You choose who had
the best game last night?

Speaker 1 (01:27:31):
All of them? I don't know. Yeah, I'm not sure.

Speaker 6 (01:27:33):
A gain.

Speaker 1 (01:27:34):
What do you like more? Do you like tackles for losses?

Speaker 6 (01:27:36):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:27:36):
Do you like interceptions for touchdowns? Do you like zero
receptions against? Do you like the guy who was challenged
the most and came through every single time? Because he
was on DK metcalf the majority of the night. I mean,
that's what I like about last night. That's Bullock, that sting,
that's last I like that.

Speaker 2 (01:27:52):
On more than one occasion, Aaron Rodgers got clobbered upside
the head and the official swallowed the whistle because last
year the Techs, it always happened on third down and
it always gave Mahomes another chance, and he always converted
after they had done their job and gotten off the field.
The idiot zebras, as Tarry Easton would call them. I
didn't say idiot, I said the idiot part, because that's

(01:28:16):
what they are.

Speaker 1 (01:28:17):
So the phone forty's missing. The Chiefs in the playoffs,
still just want to throw that out there.

Speaker 3 (01:28:21):
That's a great point. Let's finish this one first though.
The fumble return for touchdown, the Will Anderson sack, especially
in the view that catch his Aaron Rodgers face, well,
that means from behind you can see him getting smacked
in the helmet and the look on his face goes.

Speaker 1 (01:28:36):
Frame of this in a photo, not a flag.

Speaker 2 (01:28:39):
And he was upset, but he didn't he didn't do
what Kermit would have done.

Speaker 1 (01:28:45):
I mean, that's the worst.

Speaker 4 (01:28:45):
Call ever, man.

Speaker 1 (01:28:46):
I can't believe it.

Speaker 3 (01:28:48):
Gosh, they're so nauseating. I love that they're not here.
And the Sunday night game. Two of the last three
games that were played, or the two last games that
were played, were fairly lopsided sixteen to three and thirty
to six. Defense dominated on one side the better team
one handily, and the games that preceded it were crazy exciting.
I'm sure extremely heavily viewed because of that. Yeah, and

(01:29:10):
matchups people want to see. You're right, nobody's missing them.
They might have a slight downturn in ratings, but it's
not going to cost them any money on the next
TV deal. That's based on how many people are watching
these games, because people are in love with great NFL football,
and this weekend delivered.

Speaker 2 (01:29:29):
It's the product, it's not the team, and that can go.
And that's why any given Sunday has so many different meanings.
By the way, ended up using won't get fooled again
by the who I was talking about renegade and somebody
said this, like, ah, I would have loved if you
had use renegade, And I think you mean again, some
of these things are not inside. But it takes astute

(01:29:51):
either football viewers or sports viewers or just history like
yesterday's or last night's. This morning's was very historical in nature,
especially if you're over the age of fifty.

Speaker 1 (01:30:03):
Hard race in that range, Well, I mean you were seven.

Speaker 2 (01:30:07):
I'm talking about people that are like probably a little
bit even older than that, because.

Speaker 1 (01:30:10):
He's probably a listener two or ten or fifty or
one hundred.

Speaker 2 (01:30:13):
Maybe made sure what was going on, but that was
lacking of the situation. Probably didn't catch you the way
it would if you were seventeen.

Speaker 3 (01:30:20):
I probably didn't say when Renfro's feet were in and
then they finally came back and said wave their hands
side to side and said that is an incomplete pass.
I'm pretty sure at age seven I did not say
that is yeah right.

Speaker 2 (01:30:33):
And for those of you wondering why I didn't use
Bum's speech where he kicks the sin, it didn't really
make sense because he's talking about last year, this year,
and next year. I just wanted to give an ode
to a guy who deserved it.

Speaker 1 (01:30:46):
Again, pure excellence.

Speaker 3 (01:30:47):
There, Texans delivered, You delivered as always, Good morning Houston,
and we at a loss to discuss here more on
CJ and what is next and why it can be
will be has.

Speaker 1 (01:30:57):
To be different Sunday night in New England.

Speaker 2 (01:31:00):
Next on Sports Talk Till we were talking about controlling
a couple segments ago. If you were Aaron Rodgers, would
you consider Kylen Bullock attempting to get him to sign
your pick six football as a troll or a sign
of respect or both.

Speaker 3 (01:31:22):
I mean, it's tough to take in the moment, but
it shouldn't be. It seems pretty easy to take as
a sign of respect, like even in that situation. I mean,
the game just ended in your career possibly, And I
don't know if Aaron knows it or not. I did
see what he had to say about it. He was
asked over and over and over the same question. See
this is why people think we suck at press conferences.
I understand, But he may know the answer already.

Speaker 2 (01:31:44):
Did anybody tell him to keep his chin up or
his head held high as he heads to the retirement home.

Speaker 3 (01:31:50):
I think he's probably one of the players many of
who would know what had taken place in Jacksonville. I
think he'd be aware of it totally, so he might
have taken it in stride if you had said that
to him, even in a moment where I mean, I'm
kind of glad if that's my quarterback. That he's he's not,
you know, kind of down and sad that it's over.
He's mad that it's over. He's ticked off about how
things went. Kaylen Bulock is going up to him after

(01:32:13):
the game to try to get the ball signed.

Speaker 1 (01:32:15):
I mean, you see jersey exchange.

Speaker 3 (01:32:17):
You see people are pretty good with each other after
game most of the time. But that's that's a that's
not a troll job. That's a that's a sign of respect.

Speaker 2 (01:32:25):
As it was, as all those guys lined up to
just basically say something to him on their way off
the field.

Speaker 3 (01:32:33):
And maybe he even gets Rogers to say, Kaylin, nice job,
have a great career.

Speaker 1 (01:32:40):
You're welcome that I let you score, which would be
very on brand for him. Here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (01:32:45):
Joe Buck even said it last night as they were,
you know, doing what I was talking about earlier, basically
ushering him into the retirement home. He said, yeah, you know,
say what you will about him off the field, you know, controvert, which,
by the way, that's subjective, but I won't get into that.
Some of the stuff he said, I think people look
at it that way. But was he wrong in a

(01:33:05):
lot of senses and some of the stuff he said.

Speaker 3 (01:33:07):
I think he was wrong in the way he handled
what he said. I'm not even say that's fair. That's
a fair assessment of what that guy said. Not I
don't agree with it, so it's wrong, which is what
most people did even to this day. Yeah, Oh they're
still mad about it, even though, well they still think.
There's people that think he's wrong, and there's people that
think he's right, just like they did when he first
started talking like this.

Speaker 2 (01:33:28):
Yeah, but because he and this is what Joe said
that I wanted to get at, is that he's a
guy that in an era of so many cliches, he
wasn't vanilla. He'd tell you what he thought. If you
could get Aaron Rodgers on your weekly or your daily
nationally televised show, you would do that, Pat McAfee, I mean,
there's a reason he had them. It's not just oh,

(01:33:50):
you know, there's tons of guys that have big names
and then you get them in front of a microphone
and they put you to sleep.

Speaker 3 (01:33:58):
So weekly, for those that are or where Monday night
football is carried nationally on the radio and their network
has a program that leads into it where they signed
two players up every single year and they're like the
best players in the league. Larry Fitzgerald's done it. They
do an interview every single week with the interviewer it's
Jim Gray still, which is why it's so awful. Max

(01:34:18):
Crosby was one of the two players that did it
this year.

Speaker 1 (01:34:20):
Did he ask anybody if their back was broken?

Speaker 6 (01:34:23):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (01:34:23):
Wait, that was just Mike.

Speaker 3 (01:34:24):
He had Tom Brady doing it for I think multiple seasons.
They've had some really like elite players. And then again
it's a little bit different setting because it's a radio
interview and I couldn't even tell if he just like
kind of submitted the questions they already had the answer.
This is really weird, but I think a lot of
the media was so ticked off that they don't they
weren't the ones talking to Aaron, and he really delivered.

(01:34:45):
I mean every single week during this period of time,
everyone was we got to see what he says for
the next twelve minutes, eighteen to twenty minutes, and everyone's
you know, transcribing what he says every moment and this,
and they're grabbing the video. But it was for because
somebody else got him and then they were mad at Pat, Well,
you didn't follow up with this.

Speaker 1 (01:35:01):
Well, he said that why didn't you ask him this?

Speaker 3 (01:35:03):
Because that's not what he's trying to do. Everybody doesn't
have to be like us or like you. This is
how past has become what he is partially. So I mean,
I'm sure I was like, man, I sure wish he
had asked them that. I'm not telling him what to do,
But yeah, I would have loved to hear what Aaron
boy that way.

Speaker 2 (01:35:19):
Tony Romo, Tom Brady, JJ Watt, All these guys are
varying degrees or less or not of entertainment value. Aaron Rodgers,
unfiltered on an NFL broadcast. I would one hundred percent
sign up to hear.

Speaker 3 (01:35:34):
That we finally got something I think from Tom this
weekend for the game that he was doing in Weather
and they went into the booth with a football and
he showed how you should grip the football, how you
can do things a little differently, your preparation to go
into a game like this and then dealing with it
over the course of the game. Here's what you should
be doing, Here's what the quarterback like.

Speaker 1 (01:35:53):
That that's his forte. It's great.

Speaker 3 (01:35:55):
That's why you're there. That is why you specifically were hired.
That's not why Greg Olsen has a job. That's not
why JJ Watt has a job. That's why you have
this job for some reasons. You played the position. Go
tell us about that stuff. And I think some guys
do it better than others. I think Troy probably, I
think most would agree, is earned the role that he's
in more than most. When he first got into the business.

(01:36:16):
It wasn't because he was Super Bowl winning quarterback.

Speaker 1 (01:36:18):
No, he's not gonna go work for Jerry, you idiots.
He's not Matt Ryan, dude.

Speaker 3 (01:36:24):
It's not about well, he already has that a job
doing that. He was consulting with the Dolphins prior to
them firing Mike McDaniel.

Speaker 2 (01:36:32):
Our boy continue our boy Stugie yesterday brought that up
because I guess that's a rumor, and I think that's
all it is. I haven't even seen it anywhere, not
like like where I would actually believe it at all.
But let's just say, for the sake of argument that
was even being discussed, go ahead, and I'll just I'll
get out of the way. As soon as you can
give me a number that's above zero of any people

(01:36:53):
who's ever worked for or with Jerry Jones that would
ever want to go back for any reason in any capacity.

Speaker 3 (01:36:58):
Yeah, He's been on the air so long and been
on interviews so long for that reason, and people have
asked about it, and he's talked about it, and I
thought he was pretty honest about it. Everything he's ever
said makes it seem like, under no circumstances is that
something he desires to do a good.

Speaker 2 (01:37:13):
Relationship with him, and what happens when you work for
Jerry is that doesn't happen anymore.

Speaker 3 (01:37:17):
Well he I think he strongly disagrees with what Jerry
has done and likes to do. So if he went
to work for him and tried to tell him what
to do and was met with no, he'd be like,
what am I doing here? Because I'm that's not what
I want to do. You hired me to do this.

Speaker 2 (01:37:31):
My thing is and this is I know this is
an older name, but it's it's. Everybody listening knows who
he is and how he is. If he can't coexist
successfully with Bill Parcells on and off the football field,
no one else is going to go in there. You
think Nick Saban or I'm just trying to think of
guys he has learned his lesson at eighty whatever he

(01:37:52):
is really think about the quality of foot two for sure,
quality football people.

Speaker 3 (01:37:58):
If not three names that immediately come to mine that
have worked for him unsuccessfully, Parcels is one of them.

Speaker 1 (01:38:04):
It's he had success well.

Speaker 3 (01:38:06):
Unsuccessfully because they were asked to leave.

Speaker 1 (01:38:10):
Jimmy Johnson.

Speaker 3 (01:38:11):
The time they were together was successful, but it ended
for no reason except Jerry couldn't handle the ego part
of it. And honestly, I think Wade Phillips fits in
that as well, because pretty.

Speaker 1 (01:38:23):
Much all they did while he was there was win.

Speaker 2 (01:38:24):
A lot more than Jason Garrett did, pretty much a
lot more than most every day. There's a reason Jason
Barrett carthy, but Jason Garrett lasted longer than anybody else.
You know, why, what would you like me to do?
He's a puppet and Vanilla.

Speaker 3 (01:38:36):
Yeah, I don't think we're going to see any kind
of Akman to Cowboys situation. Matt Ryan is already in
place now essentially with Atlanta, and he said quite clearly.
Arthur Blank has said quite clearly he is here to
help us hire the right people, and then I am here,
says Matt Ryan, to support those people. I'm not running
scouting drills. I'm not running the scouting department. I'm not
looking over I'm here to support them. That's why they're here.

(01:38:59):
I want them to the ones making the decisions. That's
why they're hired. And somewhat of a get out of
the way overseer of it. Probably some heavy input, but
not the kind of input that people think, well, why
don't you just do it? You're gonna be doing it anyway.
He's trying to tell them that's not what I'm gonna
be doing here.

Speaker 2 (01:39:14):
Let's check in on Dimiko from today and let's just
get the let's get the heavy stuff out of the
way first. This is a patented five second response to
an injury. Very important that Demiko was asked about the
status of Nico Collins.

Speaker 1 (01:39:39):
We'll see how the week go. I mean that, honestly,
is all we needed.

Speaker 3 (01:39:44):
We'll see I mentioned this last week when we first
talked to Dimiico after the Week eighteen game, and you
had a couple of injury situations.

Speaker 1 (01:39:51):
I noted it. Nobody I didn't. I was there. I
didn't ask him an injury question.

Speaker 3 (01:39:55):
Nobody else did either, and it was because he says
the same thing every time, and that's why it's not necessary.
You know, in this case, he did say, Nico is
in the concussion protocol. We'll see how the week goes.
It's the we'll see how the week goes. That's his
standard answer, and it's totally fine that he is going
to whether he knows or not. And this is a
concussion it's very very very very different. But you know,

(01:40:16):
with all the other ones, whether it's knee injury and
ankle injury, someone who left the game and came back,
we'll see how the week goes.

Speaker 1 (01:40:21):
They have a little bit shorter week this week.

Speaker 3 (01:40:23):
They are going to be on the practice field tomorrow,
Thursday and Friday, and then they're flying to New England
to play their game on Sunday. They have a juwar
Jordan is still unavailable and I don't think that changes
this week. They had a pretty healthy team going into
this game. Jalen Reid returned to the field to start
and then only missed ten snaps despite hurting his knee
in the game. That was pretty noteworthy because I think

(01:40:45):
that should mean he's okay to start again, and I
think he played well. And then you just have the
two other injuries that took place during the game, both
concussion related and obviously Nico at the top of that
list of concerns personally, hopefully everybody realized first and foremot
but upon when and if he's available again this year?
Do you think this is kind of a weird random question?
As we go to break, do you think the Texans

(01:41:08):
change their travel plans from the usual They're gonna fly out.
It's a Sunday game, so they would fly out Saturday obviously,
but normally they'd fly out at three o'clock somewhere in
that range in the afternoon. You think they change it
to earlier so that they can watch their potential next opponent.

Speaker 1 (01:41:23):
I don't think so, just because it's the postseason. I've
always wondered about that.

Speaker 3 (01:41:26):
I doubt it, Okay, I mean, they didn't have travel
plans to New England before last night.

Speaker 1 (01:41:31):
They probably in tentative. But they can change. They can
decide when they want to go.

Speaker 2 (01:41:35):
We can decide what we play for you as far
as audio goes, because our signature segment is say what
it's straight ahead. Steeler fans were brutal last night. You'll
hear them next.

Speaker 4 (01:41:48):
The A team on Sports Talk seven night here.

Speaker 1 (01:41:51):
What are you talking about on a Tuesday play? What odin?

Speaker 6 (01:41:56):
I did?

Speaker 4 (01:41:57):
Now?

Speaker 3 (01:41:58):
Say?

Speaker 6 (01:41:58):
What?

Speaker 1 (01:42:00):
All right?

Speaker 2 (01:42:00):
Signature segment? This is always a good one. Let's face it,
They're all good. It's the A team Sports Talk seven
ninety Space City Home Network. He's wex, I'm ac. It
is our signature segment where we listen to things, maybe
sometimes read things.

Speaker 1 (01:42:15):
And we asked that question, say what.

Speaker 2 (01:42:18):
You heard the examples and the imaging leading up to this,
and I gotta tell you, I know Steelers fans were
in their feelings last night. They were feeling some type
of way. They were sad face and they were going
through it, especially after the game. You're a Steelers fan,
so even if you're a new Steelers fan, you should

(01:42:39):
probably I think. I mean I would if I were
a part of that fan base, I would hold myself
to a higher standard. I would kind of consider myself
somewhat like Saint Louis Cardinals fans 're knowledgeable, we've been
around for a while.

Speaker 1 (01:42:55):
We're classy. That kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (01:42:57):
I'm just kidding Steelers fans aren't classy, sorry, Dez, but
like you don't yell this out. For example, at one
of the probably top five greatest quarterbacks of all time,
he's definitely top ten. This is what it sounded like,
is Aaron Rodgers, after all those handshakes we talked about
with opponents, made his way off the field to that

(01:43:19):
really super throwback set of stairs that go down only
so you can walk a few feet and start going
back up several flights.

Speaker 1 (01:43:29):
Who designed this? This is what Steelers.

Speaker 2 (01:43:32):
Fans were shouting at Aaron Rodgers. Okay, in case you
couldn't make that out, he said, Aaron. I was sitting
on the couch with my wife and I said, did
you hear that? And she's looking at her phone right
this is our response to coach, you hear that? And
she goes mm hmm. Didn't even look up from the phone.

(01:43:54):
She knew exactly who was being talked about, because how
could you not. He screamed his name as Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 1 (01:44:01):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:44:02):
I know you didn't get him in his prime. I
know he didn't end up snapping your awful playoff losing streak,
which is now how many games wex oh.

Speaker 3 (01:44:12):
It's all of the games they've played since twenty Well,
they won a game in twenty seventeen followed by a loss,
and they've lost every game since, so it's seven consecutive loss.

Speaker 2 (01:44:22):
They haven't done anything of significance in the postseason since
Ben Roethlisberger was fattening out their uniforms. But Aaron Rodgers
is not the sole reason you had a ten and
seven season that ended in yet another wild card loss
for the third consecutive time. And if you want him

(01:44:42):
to retire, guy in the stands, why don't you go
ahead and give me the best option to not only
play quarterback next year, but now head coach that team,
because they're in a.

Speaker 3 (01:44:55):
Really bad spot, to be honest with you, they're in
that place that's the worst place to be in the NFL,
which is somewhere in the middle, and they managed to
make the playoffs a lot. They've obviously lost these games.
Hardly any of these games have been competitive over the
last couple of years. Basically, the most competitive loss that
we just talked about that they've had during this seven
game losing streak in the postseason was that lost to
Blake Bortles where they allowed Jacksonville score forty five freaking

(01:45:19):
points to beat them by three. All these other games
are lopsided blowouts. But they don't have a quarterback for
next year, and they don't have a head coach for
next year. Are they too talented to head towards the
bottom of the AFC and try to find that answer
quarterback answer in the draft? You know it's a tricky
bar and is this a desirable job because you're convinced

(01:45:42):
they're going to try to continue to win?

Speaker 1 (01:45:44):
What do we talk about with the NFC South so much?
This year? They were bad? No, they were the worst
division in the game.

Speaker 2 (01:45:51):
Yeah, even though it doesn't feel like it, every single
team in the NFC North doesn't just have minor question
marks right now at major parts of their organization. All
four of them are in gigantic flux. Because even if
you want to say Cincinnati is the most stable of
the four right now, and there's an argument to be

(01:46:12):
made for that, given what's happening with the other three,
Joe Burrow is routinely being rumored to be wanting out,
even if that's not true. You don't get statements about
that about a happy quarterback. And now you don't have
a coach for two of these teams. Three of these teams,
you don't have a quarterback for two of them. You

(01:46:33):
have question marks about the one who you do have
one for because that's just his latest performance this year Baltimore.

Speaker 3 (01:46:39):
Like I mean again, I think that one's a little different.
And we talked about it today that John Harbaugh was
told to go away NFC.

Speaker 1 (01:46:47):
Or AFC north of the mess right now it is.

Speaker 3 (01:46:50):
But if you're looking for a job and you're a
head coach and you look around now with nine jobs,
it has to be the most desirable one. Yeah, there's
some concern that you're couple of years in and we
got to do something because we've played two more, three
more seasons with Lamar and it didn't get any better.
He's definitely the best quarterback you'd have a chance to
work with immediately. Do you believe in some other young quarterback?

(01:47:12):
Do you believe in the front office? Do you believe
you can reshape the front office so you can find
your due quarterback because most of these teams that changed
leadership are doing so because they don't have a quarterback
of the future in house.

Speaker 2 (01:47:24):
I know we made a joke about it earlier. If
John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin were to swap places, it's
not even the craziest scenario for both of those organizations.
You're going to tell me that Mike Tomlin wouldn't fit
in culture wise with what Baltimore has always been. You're
going to tell me that a long standing family owned
and operated entity like the Pittsburgh Steelers number fourever head

(01:47:48):
coach John Harbaugh wouldn't fit the bill.

Speaker 1 (01:47:52):
And then they can play each other twice a year.

Speaker 3 (01:47:54):
I'm more convinced even though Harbaugh had lots of success
or excuse me, Tomlin had lots of success against Baltimore
with Lamar against him. I think Tomlin would thrive with
Lamar Jackson in Baltimore, answers the question he's had today,
And I think with Pittsburgh would be in a worse
position with Harball. But it all would be predicated for

(01:48:14):
both of them in one way. Who'd you hire, who
are your coordinators, what defense are you running? What offense
are you running? Which we don't know yet, you know,
I would assume the offense in Baltimore is still going
to be catered to the skills of Lamar it has
to be. But now you're in Pittsburgh. You can do
anything you want there because you don't have answers. They
can run any offense they want. It should be predicated
on who their quarterback is, but they don't know who

(01:48:35):
that is.

Speaker 2 (01:48:36):
And since we are in the business of giving out
flowers on today's show, and I realized that a year
can change a lot see Exhibit A. The conversation we're having.
But I don't think it was probably lost on you.
In fact, I know it isn't how many times I've
mentioned the name Omar Kahn on this show and when
they cut away to him last night, Well, Nick Cassario

(01:48:57):
is having a better twenty twenty six so far than
that guy is.

Speaker 3 (01:49:00):
Well, the only reason he's having a better twenty to
twenty six is because he had a better twenty twenty five. Right,
better twenty twenty four. I mean, I keep going on
and on about the talent of this football team, like
the tax he's made the right higher We mentioned the
four guys in the secondary, Well, just a reminder, I
think everybody knows this. They were drafted by Nick Cassio,
Nick Cassio, Nick Cassio and Nick Cassario, the four guys

(01:49:21):
that got Pro Bowl recognition via earning votes and all
first rounders all Pro right, not all first rounders. How
about Derek Stingley went in the first round and that's it.
He got two second rounders and he got a third rounder.
I thought Bullock was a fourth rounder.

Speaker 1 (01:49:36):
And that's it. That's how he put this team together tremendously. Well.

Speaker 2 (01:49:40):
If you just get draft one good offensive lineman this offseason,
you'll probably win the next three Super Bowls.

Speaker 3 (01:49:45):
I kid, he was the third rounder, was the seventy
eighth pick, and against just two years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:49:50):
Yeah, he's two years in.

Speaker 3 (01:49:51):
Obviously, each year you'll hope to find somebody, and for
the most part, he always has and that's why they're
in that position. A couple guys are free agents, like
Sire and Hunter that were added to this defense. They're
just tremendous, tremendously talented, and it showed on defense. They
need to do a whole lot better on the other
side of the football, and even with New England being
a very good defense, I don't see why that will

(01:50:12):
not be the case. And that might be our game
of the weekend early Sunday two o'clock kick, What do
you really.

Speaker 2 (01:50:21):
Get to hear from Demico Ryance from earlier today other
than the five seconds about Nico being in the concussion protocol.

Speaker 1 (01:50:29):
Let's just put that out there because crazy enough.

Speaker 2 (01:50:32):
Although I don't blame us, we're three hours into the
show and we really haven't talked about the fact that
the Texans' biggest offensive weapon going into next week is
probably not going to be available.

Speaker 1 (01:50:42):
Yep, most likely.

Speaker 3 (01:50:43):
If that's the case, and I think that it will be,
you could see the same thing on the other side
of the ball, because Christian Gonzalez went in a concussion
protocol and Monday morning, Mike Rabel said, yep, he is
in and his form of we'll see how the week goes.
They're growing Sunday to Sunday. The sex is growing Monday
to Monday. The Texans, as Demiko said earlier day, well,

(01:51:03):
our guys are ready to make plays. They've been making
plays all year. We'll just throw to the guy that's open,
which is what we've been doing all year. And you
saw it throughout the game. It wasn't just after Nico
Collins left the game, and I wasn't surprised by it. Honestly,
I thought he was gonna leave the game after the
very first pass. It was the second snap of the game.
We referenced it earlier when he tried to hit Nico
and all that traffic. Well, he immediately put his hands

(01:51:24):
on his head after he hit that turf in the cold.
The second time he hit the turf in the cold
and left the game for good was when he hit
the turf helmet first. You know, just an awkward spot
to be in. A defensive player already had his hands
around his waist and essentially prevented him from breaking his fall.
And then it was worse just he happened to have
his knee hit the ground first pretty hard, which then

(01:51:47):
thrust the upper body into the ground even more so
with no protection. And then he hit it helmet first.
The crown of his helmet essentially went right into that
rock hard turf and again heads hands went to the head.

Speaker 2 (01:51:57):
You forget that part, by the way, Well, when it's
that cold, how much heart of the grass is And.

Speaker 1 (01:52:02):
Then he was able to walk off to the sideline.

Speaker 3 (01:52:04):
I actually was talking to my daughter last night and
she goes, I didn't see what happened, but then I
know he's out. I got a notification saying somebody posted
that Nico Collins was carted off the field, and we
got into the same discussion of why that ticks us
off when people write that that's wrong. That is a
terrible way to acknowledge what happened. He took a cart

(01:52:27):
to the locker room, after he walked off the field
and after he came out of the medical tent. He
did not get carted off the field. If you want
to use that properly, you're you're telling a false story.
Granted some antics and say, hey, up, when I saw
him leave the field, he was sitting on a cart,
so he was carted off the field. Maybe he was
carted off the part of the field that was on
the sidelines. But try to be good, Just try to

(01:52:49):
do the right thing. And who knows who mentioned that.
I don't know what notification she got, but it's the
same thing when we're at training camp. I am super
duper careful of saying it the right way. His play
take a cart across the street all the time because
it's across the street, not because they can't move, not
because they had to be lifted off the field. So

(01:53:10):
just be a little just be a little bit better.
But Nico College Justin Watson both in out of last
night's game with concussions and being as that they say
play the same position. Just from a depth standpoint, Braxton
Barrios is inactive every single week, and they have a
bunch of other wide receivers on their practice squad, most

(01:53:31):
of whom have been here all season long, including Jaron
Wayne and Josh Kelly and others. There's a reasonable chance
somebody who's been basically no part of the Texans offense
all year.

Speaker 2 (01:53:42):
You're looking down out there, Well, he'll be out there.
He's been out there, but he hasn't been used. I
know what you're saying about Barrios, but how about now's
as good a time as any to do what you're
always screaming about every single week. You didn't draft just
one receiver from the same college this offseason, and the
other guy's freaking fast.

Speaker 3 (01:54:03):
They don't seem to see it that way. And the
thing guy that there, he played six snaps on offense
last night. We're talking about Jalen Knowle. He's insanely successful
this year as a return man.

Speaker 1 (01:54:15):
And again, I.

Speaker 3 (01:54:16):
Hate to even say it, but It's true he's super
sure handed. Even the ball he caught at his shoe tops,
which he never should have done. But he did didn't
make the catch in the game last night, and it's
not because of the hit when on that deep downfield throw.
It's because he missed it. He did not catch the football.
He went up both hands and it went through his hands.
It hit him in the helmet. It was already loose

(01:54:37):
than the hit game, and he wasn't able to secure it.
He's been perfectly fine on offense when he's been involved.
They just haven't involved him very much. I don't know
that that will change with Christian Kirk being clearly very
trustworthy for CJ.

Speaker 1 (01:54:49):
That was one of the reasons.

Speaker 3 (01:54:50):
I mean, Kirk was only out there for thirty eight snaps,
a little over half of their snaps. He made a
lot of use out of him, nine targets and eight catches.
But they're not on the field together very much, and
if Nico Collins is not on the field at all,
Higgins really takes his spot. Hutchinson continues to play as
much as he has, if not more. Curious if they'll
do against the Patriots what they did last night, though,

(01:55:12):
and I don't think that they will. What they did
last night was play a ton of two tight ends.
Kate Stower's on the field for more than a half
the game, and Dalton Schultzer was out there for almost
eighty percent of the game, almost eighty percent of the snaps,
which means they took thirty five forty snaps. I don't
know what the number is together, and that's the group
they wanted on the field. You had twenty two more
snaps for Blake Fisher and all those that were all

(01:55:35):
tackle eligible plays because none of the offensive lineman took
a playoff.

Speaker 1 (01:55:39):
It works for them.

Speaker 3 (01:55:40):
The game plan was fine, the execution was fine, the
pass blocking was fine, the run game was elite. I
know the other team's personnel has a little bit to
do with it, but this is what you do. And
Dimiko says, it's about us. It's always about us. That's
what honestly works for them. So roster wise, maybe some
other wide receiver is active. Snap count wise, I doubt

(01:56:03):
any one of them plays much of a role in
the game plan.

Speaker 2 (01:56:06):
I want to get to something before you take off,
because we need I need to hear your thoughts on
Rocket Bull's coming your way tonight. It's about two hours
from tip off. We all know what CJ did last night, right.

Speaker 1 (01:56:18):
Yep, touchdown pass two hundred plus yards, twenty points on
the board for his team.

Speaker 2 (01:56:23):
I know what he did, twenty one of thirty two,
two hundred and fifty yards. He had a touchdown, he
had an interception. His quarterback rating was eighty six point seven.

Speaker 1 (01:56:33):
Not great. Oh and he fumbled the ball twice, lost
fumbles twice.

Speaker 2 (01:56:39):
That's what Yeah, that's what I mean. I'm gonna read
someone else's stat line from the wild card round and
I want to see if you can guess who it is. Yes,
guy that we've limited, it is very We've narrowed it down.
It's one of six. There you go, seventeen of twenty nine.
That's four less completions and three less attempts. Drake May

(01:57:00):
two hundred and sixty eight yards passing a hole whopping
eighteen more yards, one touchdown and one interception, an eighty
six point six rating, and two lost fumbles.

Speaker 1 (01:57:12):
Did he was it? Drake May?

Speaker 6 (01:57:14):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:57:14):
Did he outrush CJ by sixty two yards?

Speaker 2 (01:57:17):
Probably? And nobody is at all worried about Yeah, Well,
this is going to be a second game and he
gets to go up against the most ferocious defense in
the last decade. But please tell me about how the
Patriots are invincible going into this game.

Speaker 1 (01:57:33):
That's the thing.

Speaker 3 (01:57:34):
Now, do you really we got just a touch of
till get into that next year? You really believe that's
what's going to happen. We're so far so early. I don't,
but I think people are talking like that or will
talk to. People in Boston are already that's fine, that's
their team. But people Pittsburgh were saying, I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:57:49):
Talking about media.

Speaker 2 (01:57:50):
I'm talking about people in Boston are acting like I
had a little respite. But now Tom Brady is in
the rearview mirror. Let's go Drake May two point zero Brady,
come on.

Speaker 3 (01:57:58):
I am enjoying their treatment of Anne Michael May, and
a lot of it is on social media. They the
Queen of New England. She can do no wrong her
obviously they've been together forever. It's a really it's actually
pretty funny how it is, and I think she's taking
it all in stride the way that she should.

Speaker 1 (01:58:14):
It's just incredible.

Speaker 3 (01:58:15):
So one of the things that the Texans on the
social media side will be up against this week. Before
I take off, I want to make sure you guys
know all about my friends over It's.

Speaker 2 (01:58:24):
Best Space City Home Network. It was like one percent
of you guys that even know what that means or
even care. All Right, our number four is under way.
Wex has departed. He is on his way to Toyota Center.
Oh yeah, Now the Rockets are still playing and they're
back in action tonight. Three games slide. They're trying to
snap against the Chicago Bulls, and methinks it would be

(01:58:45):
a good time to do so, seeing as how the
thunder coming to town on Thursday night. I'd go ahead
and beat a team that you should since you haven't
been able to the last three times out.

Speaker 1 (01:58:54):
So that's where he is on his way to.

Speaker 2 (01:58:56):
We remain here inside the friendly CONFI of our studios,
where the Texans thirty to six playoff victory in the
wild Card round over the Pittsburgh Steelers continues to be impressive.
And I know that the offense wasn't what you would want.

(01:59:16):
I know, to a large extent that hasn't been the
case all season long. But what if I were to
tell you you got a super Bowl caliber defense nobody
hesitates to say that. And as a matter of fact,
it wasn't just the last few handful of weeks of
the season in which people started saying that kind of

(01:59:37):
thing about this Texans defense. If super Bowl caliber is
not something that you throw around lightly, because obviously, as
you know, you say something like that publicly and it's wrong,
you're gonna have egg on your face. And the Texans
defense has been just that almost from the beginning of
the year. You knew they were gonna be good coming
off of what they did last year. I don't know. Look,

(02:00:00):
be it for me to speak for Demiko, but I
don't know in Demiko Ryans's, Nick Cassario's, Hannah's, maybe Col's imagination,
if the Texans defense was ever going to be this successful.
In other words, it can overcome not just a lackluster

(02:00:21):
offense at times, but on some nights a bad offense,
on some afternoons, a bad offense.

Speaker 1 (02:00:27):
And that's exactly what they've done.

Speaker 2 (02:00:29):
And I just it's it's so I just it keeps
being so much more impressive the more you look at it.
And then I can't help but think, all right, they've
beaten Pittsburgh. I think a lot of us thought they
would maybe not some of us thought it was going
to be as dominant as it ended up being. And
again to a large extent, the final score was lopsided

(02:00:50):
because of a late you know, pick.

Speaker 1 (02:00:52):
Six, but still pick six.

Speaker 2 (02:00:54):
Know, the Pittsburgh Steelers were trying to make a miracle happen,
and Kylen Bullock said, Nope, whatever life support you were
on with a few minutes left in the game, I'm
gonna go ahead and snuff that out. And he put
the metaphorical pillow right over Aaron Rodgers' face and just
held it down until the life was gone and the
clock red zero. So all of that is to say,

(02:01:16):
we're on to New England, right, That's what the former
head coach and the current headman that is dating Jordan
over at North Carolina used to say every week.

Speaker 1 (02:01:28):
We're on to Houston. That's what he would say.

Speaker 2 (02:01:30):
And famously, by the way, the last time the Texans
were riding this high, this high, and this includes playoffs,
I would argue because I just don't think that they
were ever riding this high going into New England coming
off of anything other than the season where they wore
the Letterman Jackets have brought this up a million times before.
I actually attended that game, and it was twenty billion

(02:01:54):
times worse in person as they got slaughtered on Monday
night football than you could have imagined. Because even as
bad as it was to wear a gimmick like that,
you know, the letterman jackets to the team charter board
the plane, get off the plane in New England and
wear them into the stadium, it was so much worse

(02:02:15):
once the game began. Keep in mind, that was the
year that Aaron Hernandez scored two first half touchdowns, as
I recall, in a twenty eight point first half. Might
have been twenty one, but he definitely the murdering Aaron Hernandez.
He had already killed somebody at that point. We know
that for a fact that this at this point in time.

(02:02:37):
But on that Monday night during the twenty twelve season,
I believe it was. It might have been twenty eleven,
but I think it was twenty twelve. No, it was
the twenty twelve season. Aaron Hernandez had already murdered somebody
as he caught two touchdown passes from Tom Brady in
the first half against York to Houston Texans in their
letterman Jackets. I say all that to say, you know,

(02:02:57):
the Texans are riding high going into this game, but
as I exchanged with Wex before he left, it does
feel different.

Speaker 1 (02:03:05):
And now for the.

Speaker 2 (02:03:06):
Other side of things, because I think it was pretty
much exposed that night that even if you didn't want
to call the Texans frauds, they probably weren't as good
as their record indicated, which brings us to the franchise
they were playing that night and the franchise they will
play this Sunday, the New England Patriots. Their fan base,

(02:03:29):
which includes our program director Brian Erickson. This doesn't apply
to him because he's not your typical Boston area sports fan.
How do I put this lightly, Josh, some of the
most arrogant, you know what's on the planet top to bottom.

(02:03:50):
You talk about having an embarrassment of riches success wise,
and I'm not even talking about historically. If you want
to kind of downplay the Boston Celtics great of the
sixties because you think that Bill Russell and company were
playing against plumbers and accountants, I'll give you that same
as I'll give people that say that about the Yankees
in the twenties. But even the Los Angeles Lakers, who

(02:04:10):
is the only team that can compete with the amount
of banners that that basketball team was put up. Nobody
had a run quite like the Boston, Massachusetts, New England
area from the start of the millennium on. You're talking
about multiple championships for all four franchises, and in case

(02:04:31):
of the Patriots, just a two decades plus worth of
dominance with the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
Which is why it's hilarious when people are talking about
Drake May like he is Brady two point zero. Now
I'm not saying anybody has said that, but it's just
laughable because and I did not know who this person
was until today, and I'm probably giving him way too

(02:04:54):
much credit. He calls himself a sports commentator. Actually, let
me take that back. He calls himself a sports commenter,
elite reply guy, and he is a senior social marketer
for one of the gambling sites that I'm not going
to say here because they don't pay me money. He's
a Tampa local, but he's a Boston fanatic, and he's

(02:05:19):
a college baseball alum. His name's Jordan Moore. He's got
about thirteen thousand followers on x and he wrote the
following about eighteen hours ago. Texans defense is solid, but
they have n't faced an offense like the Patriots in
over six weeks since November. Houston's recent opponents by scoring

(02:05:40):
offense rank Colts eighth with Riley Leonard, the Chargers, who
are twentieth, and the Patriots just played. He kind of
neglects that little mention. The Raiders thirty second, the Cardinals
twenty second, the Chiefs twenty first, the Colts eighth. So
that's going back to, you know, the last six weeks. Meanwhile,

(02:06:05):
the Patriots rank second in the NFL and first in
the AFC and scoring. All right, let's work our way
back to the beginning. The Texans defense is solid.

Speaker 1 (02:06:18):
Time out.

Speaker 2 (02:06:19):
Stop quit it. You can't start with the Texans defense
is solid. Solid is what you describe like a good
sandwich that you had today. Solid is, Hey, this guy
over here, he's a friend of mine. He's not going
to always answer the phone when you need him. He's
not gonna be there for you whenever you call. He's

(02:06:40):
just an acquaintance more than anything. That's solid. Okay, that's
not even solid. Solid about the Texans twenty twenty five
into the twenty twenty six postseason defense. That's embarrassingly short sighted.
That is not giving credit where it's due. If you're
gonna turn around and talk about how the Patriots offense

(02:07:01):
facing a last place schedule, I might add is apparently
the second coming of Christ come on Jordan, So of
course he was taking a task like right away say, meanwhile,
the Patriots had one of the easiest schedules in football.
Somebody responded to him, He goes, yeah, I can't believe
they just beat the eleven and seven Chargers who were

(02:07:22):
just competing for the one seed just two weeks ago,
the same Chargers with a top five defense.

Speaker 1 (02:07:28):
That strength of schedule is brutal.

Speaker 2 (02:07:30):
And at that point I had to jump in and
tell him I was so glad he's doing this.

Speaker 1 (02:07:34):
You can't you.

Speaker 2 (02:07:35):
Just named the Chargers as one of the weak opponents
the Texans faced since November. But because they have a
good defense, that's that applies to the Patriots, But it
doesn't apply to the Texans, who also just beat them
more recently. And oh, by the way, this offense you
keep touting that's second in the NFL and first in

(02:07:57):
the AFC and scoring put a grand total of sixteen
points up against that very Chargers team last week you
limped into the divisional round. It's just this is the
arrogance I'm talking about, and this is why, and I'm
telling you I feel this in my bones, I feel

(02:08:19):
it in my heart. This has the chance to be
a run. Not unlike the Houston Astros. Now with the
Astros twenty seventeen World Series championship, which is what I'm
referencing here, it wasn't so much rivals. Although way back
in the day for those who can remember, they were
in the same division as the Dodgers. You beat the
blue bloods of baseball on your way to that championship.

(02:08:42):
You knocked off the Red Sox, the Yankees, and the
Dodgers in succession. And I would argue that's why so
many baseball people were up in arms around this not
major market team that had flipped the script and started
disrupting the apple cart. A second, Wait, a second, you're
keeping Yankees from winning another championship.

Speaker 1 (02:09:01):
We can't have that.

Speaker 2 (02:09:02):
Wait, Jeff Luno's better at our job than we are,
and we can't admit it. So we're just going to
basically blackball him and make this team the scapegoat when
we know everybody else is cheating, and that's what I
think happened.

Speaker 1 (02:09:12):
Call me a conspiracy nut.

Speaker 2 (02:09:14):
You know it's true, But come on, the Patriots and
their lofty record isn't fool's gold itself. Don't call the
Texans defense solid and in the same breath, try to
tell me that the Patriots offense with a second year
quarterback that barely put up sixteen points against the Chargers defense. That,

(02:09:34):
let's face it, isn't even in the same breath as
the Texans. You can say they're both top five, only
one of them is feared. Nobody fears the Chargers defense
right now. If I'm Drake May, if I'm the Patriots organization,
and if i'm fake media like this guy Jordan Moore,
I'd probably keep my mouth shut until at least six
o'clock on Sunday night.

Speaker 1 (02:09:55):
That's just me. We'll continue here during the five o'clock
hour on the eight.

Speaker 4 (02:09:58):
Team, the A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (02:10:03):
Messaging Plumber, I'm sorry about that. Hey, it is the
A Team. It's Sports Talk to seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (02:10:10):
Space City Home Network Wex on his way to Toyota Center.

Speaker 1 (02:10:13):
Ac here Josh Jordan as well.

Speaker 2 (02:10:15):
Just to kind of put a bow on that conversation
last segment with this guy Jordan More, somebody actually came in.
He's basically downplaying the Texans defense while uh he called
them solid. That's just hilarious. That's like saying a Lamborghini
is a solid sports car. That's solid. I mean, if
you if it's if that's what you're into, you know

(02:10:36):
it's it's it's okay. Pizza that's solid. It's just it's
just solid. It's okay. It's not like the greatest easy
convenient food ever solids such a funny word. But you know,
he's pumping up the uh offense of the of the Patriots.
Somebody finally asked him, hey, please give the defensive rankings

(02:10:59):
for the six to eight teams the Patriots played well.
He mentioned the Chargers are a good defense. They're fifth,
and the Bills are actually ranked seventh. The other teams
the Dolphins twenty second, the Jets twenty fifth, the Ravens,
who have been an injured mess. As the Texans took
advantage of themselves, they were twenty fourth, and the Giants

(02:11:20):
are twenty eighth, So it's essentially the same argument he's
trying to make about the Texans defense applies when you're
talking about the defenses that played against this supposedly vaunted
Patriots offense. And maybe I'm sitting here less than a
week from now and I'm eating all my words because
the Texans defense somehow got torched by this amazing Drake

(02:11:43):
may Machine.

Speaker 1 (02:11:45):
I doubt it.

Speaker 2 (02:11:47):
I think it's gonna be a close game, and I
think the Texans are gonna win, and I think Patriots
fans that are honest with themselves after that game are
gonna be like, yeah, that was a really good football
team with a really good defense that got enough done
on the offensive side of the football and took us
out of what we do best, which is what the
best defenses do.

Speaker 1 (02:12:07):
I think that's what's gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (02:12:10):
And Vegas doesn't really think I'm that far off, because
otherwise they would have the Patriots favored by so much
more than three points at home in January. If this
offense was gonna put up thirty plus points against the
Texans defense.

Speaker 1 (02:12:23):
And maybe they will, I doubt it.

Speaker 2 (02:12:27):
It just hasn't been the case, and unless, of course,
your name was Riley Leonard and nobody ever had film
on you before, which is another thing that was talked
about in this thread. That's laughable because give the Texans
a week to prepare for a guy after they've seen
him play, and I think that's different as well as
you could just be me. All right, let's switch gears
for a little bit. Mention that Wex is on his
way down to Toyota Center. We have not talked any

(02:12:49):
NBA today, but now I want to because something has
kind of been flying under the radar, And admittedly it's
in most part because we were talking about the game
beforehand yesterday and we've been talking about it since it
happened last night all day today.

Speaker 1 (02:13:05):
I know, you guys know that I'm not the biggest
Lebron James guy.

Speaker 2 (02:13:09):
Clearly, I'm not a fan, and I think he's probably
one of the more insufferable characters in the history of sports.
I'm not even saying that for effect, like top five
biggest Delta Bravos ever. And again, given his status and
his you know, accomplishments, and he does have many, that
does lend itself to this, Like it's hard to be
too mad at Bill Lambier when you realize he was like, what,

(02:13:33):
the fifth, sixth best piston and just happened to be
kind of an ogre. But when this guy like Lebron James,
and he's constantly in the goat conversation with Michael Jordan,
and it's laughable how he falls short in so many
different standards that aren't inflated by playing so many more years.
It's it's the other things though, that really get me.

(02:13:56):
His agent is Rich Paul and Rich Paul and Lebron James,
and the culture that they have created surrounding them is
one of the most insufferable, cancerous things the NBA has
ever seen.

Speaker 1 (02:14:13):
It's embarrassing.

Speaker 2 (02:14:15):
I think it takes away from what the NBA could
and should be as a product. And despite what he's done,
scoring and championships and all that kind of stuff, everywhere
the guy's gone, he's been toxic, whether it be right
off the bat or whether it eventually happens. And that's
happening now, which is why this whole patch that he's

(02:14:41):
wearing to commemorate his twenty three seasons in the league
is just so laughably self absorbed and so on brand
for Lebron James. But that's not even the worst thing,
Like you would expect Lebron James to suddenly in January
of his twenty first NBA season to and again, it

(02:15:01):
could have been his idea. Otherwise it would have been
way before this somebody got in his ear and said, hey,
you know, it would be a good idea wearing a
patch on your own jersey about yourself.

Speaker 1 (02:15:12):
That's what Lebron's doing right now.

Speaker 2 (02:15:13):
He's commemorating his own self, his own career, with a
patch that has twenty three on it and has a
stripe that represents the color of all the teams he
jumped from, i mean played for in this NBA career
of his.

Speaker 1 (02:15:28):
And again, he's an accomplished guy. He's done a lot.

Speaker 2 (02:15:30):
He's one of the all time greats, maybe even the
second greatest. I still think that's up for debate. But
that's just me.

Speaker 1 (02:15:36):
It's a very subjective thing. But on top of that.

Speaker 2 (02:15:39):
It's clear that he wants no part of anything that
JJ Reddick is saying nowadays. JJ Reddick has completely done
everything except for call him out by name recently, and
now not only that, And you know this isn't the
first time this has happened. It's just the first time
that Rich Paul has been so vocal and public about it.
He's just randomly pontificating on podcasts about trading Lebron's teammates.

(02:16:05):
Because you know, it's not Lebron James. It's the problem
right now, it's Austin Reeves. And if you don't believe me,
listen to Rich Paul.

Speaker 9 (02:16:11):
But this comes with a this comes with a very
unemotional attachment because beloved, which should be.

Speaker 1 (02:16:19):
But he's an underdog. And here's the thing.

Speaker 9 (02:16:23):
You if you really, if there's a world where you
can do what's best for your team and do what's
best for Rost, because Austin deserves to get paid right.

Speaker 2 (02:16:31):
Now, Maybe Austin would have gotten paid if you weren't
busy taking some of the Lakers cap for yourself as
you labor through another twenty first season where you don't
even extol any energy on one end of the floor
to play defense.

Speaker 1 (02:16:48):
Maybe Austin Reeves.

Speaker 2 (02:16:50):
Would have gotten paid if you weren't more focused on
getting your latest max payday and practicing your golf swing
during timeouts. Lebron agent, I just like Austin Reeves and
Luka Doncic before Lebron returned, had the Lakers in a
top five position in the West. And while you could

(02:17:13):
have said that was fool's gold because of some of
the competition, it didn't look like they were out of sorts.
From a locker room culture standpoint. You just know that
Lebron was like, ah, crap, I gotta get it back
out there. This sciatica is not that bad. Look at
Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic having fun and playing well
with a good record without me, I gotta get back

(02:17:34):
there and ruin this. He's just he's so self absorbed.
And then of course his agent sounds like that, Oh
but this doesn't. This comes from a very non emotional place.
Of course it does, because you're a sociopathic cyborg. I
just I could not believe this, and yet I could's
it's actually the most on brand thing for anybody in

(02:17:56):
Lebron James or his inner circle, and it's just like
I I what's kind of the funniest part about all
this is there's a lot of people inside the NBA
and obviously fans outside of the inner circle of the
league that have known this about Lebron and Rich Paul

(02:18:17):
and that entire inner circle for a long, long long time.
It's just that now that he's no longer like invincible,
and he never really was, if you if you pay attention.
I saw a podcast the other day and this was
this is not like bit role players, this is that.

Speaker 1 (02:18:32):
This is I believe it was the Up and Smoke
podcast with.

Speaker 2 (02:18:36):
Uh Stephen Jackson and uh what's his face that lost
his wife to a Derek Fisher is Shaq was on there,
and there was it was somebody else and they were like,
you know, you hear about fearing Michael, you hear about
fearing certain players, and you never really heard about players
fearing Lebron over the years.

Speaker 1 (02:18:53):
And I think that, like that's kind of one of.

Speaker 2 (02:18:56):
The most deep not in because I don't think you're
trying to like necessarily insult him, but you're just trying
to show where he falls in that pantheon of all
time greats. Like I can't even when the Rockets played
them in the postseason the year they won their last
fake championship in the Bubble, I was never like, Ooh,

(02:19:16):
I'm afraid of Lebron James as a matter of fact,
I was probably more skeptical of how the Rockets would
fare against Anthony Davis because he always gives them fits
see Dallas this year and last year when he's healthy.
Of course he's not. He's done for the rest of
the year, by the way, in case you missed that news.
But yeah, I agree with that wholeheartedly. No one's ever
really feared Lebron James. I'll tell you who has feared

(02:19:37):
Lebron James. Organizations in locker rooms that he's come to
to ruin and that's what he's done to the Lakers,
and he did it in Miami, but pat Riley was
stronger armed, and he's obviously got his way in Cleveland.
That's what happens with superstars. But yeah, the Lakers are
bigger than Lebron, and it's just it's kind of to

(02:20:00):
see how he's going out in these final what it is,
his final games of his career, even if he plays
again next year.

Speaker 1 (02:20:08):
This is classic Lebron James.

Speaker 2 (02:20:11):
Being exposed for who he is, because as much good
as you want to say about him, there is a
lot of baggage and a lot of bad that has
come along with it.

Speaker 1 (02:20:19):
All Right, we'll take a quick time out. We'll come
right back.

Speaker 2 (02:20:21):
We'll get to some of the things we have not
talked about in case you missed it as next by
the way, I should mention as we get to in
case you missed it starring Josh Jordan.

Speaker 1 (02:20:32):
Last segment when I was talking about the Rich Paul.

Speaker 2 (02:20:34):
Trade idea where an actual agent of Lebron James, a
current NBA player, was pontificating on a podcast about trading
one of his teammates.

Speaker 1 (02:20:44):
He thinks they should go get Jaron Jackson Junior.

Speaker 2 (02:20:48):
So Rich Paul not only wants to trade Austin Reeves
away from his current client, Lebron James's team, he wants
to trade him for Jaron Jackson Junior of the Memphis
Grizzlies and Gigi Jackson by the way, because, as he
put it, that's a young player they could develop, really
really sage stuff from Rich Paul.

Speaker 1 (02:21:09):
What an god.

Speaker 2 (02:21:10):
I can't wait till Lebron retires. I really can't, Josh.
Maybe that's maybe I'm in the minority. Maybe I'm just
an old head that liked Tim j not a Lebron
guy on or off the floor. All Right, some of
the things we have not gotten to take it away.

Speaker 10 (02:21:26):
Enough at him already. How about Kyle Tucker? How do
we hear about him a little bit? Sources, We've been waiting.
We saw Bregman get the big deal the other day,
We're wondering what's gonna happen with Tuck? Well, according to sources,
he's been offered a short term deal byd the Mets.
We know he doesn't want that, believed to be worth
fifty million per season. He has also had an offer

(02:21:48):
from the Blue Jays for a long term deal, but
the details of that one have not been released.

Speaker 1 (02:21:53):
So what do you think fifty million a year for Tuck?

Speaker 2 (02:21:56):
So if Bragman got forty a year for three years
with opt outs after each year, that lasted all of
one season, and now he's a Chicago Cub, what is
their info regarding the years on a fifty per Is
that three define short term?

Speaker 10 (02:22:12):
Yeah, of course they're not giving us that, but you
gotta think it's yeah, you know, two or three at best.

Speaker 2 (02:22:19):
The funny thing about this is talking about these two guys.
I know Bregman had his injury issues and then now
Kyle Tucker suddenly has But Bregman's pedigree in the postseason
is just so far beyond Kyle Tucker's. It's not even
Kyle Tucker's fault. He won a championship, he caught the

(02:22:40):
final out, and he had I guess some postseason moments,
had two home runs in Game one of the World
Series in twenty twenty two that the Astros managed to lose.

Speaker 1 (02:22:52):
That's justin Verlander's fault.

Speaker 2 (02:22:55):
But I don't know, Like he's much younger up untilt
couple of years he's been completely durable, but he's not.
It's not necessarily the guy now again, like if he
went to you're saying the Mets is the short term
and then a longer term with the Blue Jays. I'm
wondering what the Blue Jays are offering because in addition

(02:23:17):
to whatever the monetary value is, I'll tell you what
the Blue Jays do offer him.

Speaker 1 (02:23:21):
They offer him the opportunity to not have to be
the guy in that lineup. It's true.

Speaker 2 (02:23:26):
They offer him the opportunity to be protected potentially when
you've got Vlad's the guy that's got all the pressure
on his shoulders. I will say, this isn't Bobashett making
all sorts of ridiculous contract demands, and that's kind of
a I don't know if it's in an impass.

Speaker 1 (02:23:44):
It's definitely at a stalemate.

Speaker 2 (02:23:47):
I don't know what the word would be, but I mean, again,
regular season only, you're gonna take out what Bobashett provides potentially,
and you're gonna add Kyle Tucker. The good Kyle Tucker,
not the Cubs. Kyle Tucker is the worst options for
the regular season. Of course, you know how we feel

(02:24:07):
about in the postseason.

Speaker 10 (02:24:09):
One hundred, you know, I mean, we've heard from Chandler Rome,
a lot of these other guys. It's been a little
slow on the market, slower than we anticipated.

Speaker 2 (02:24:17):
I wouldn't if I were him, and I know it's
sexier and all that kind of stuff. I still wouldn't
go to the Mets. I don't think Kyle Tucker. Kyle
Tucker screams I don't want to play in New York.
Does that make sense to either team?

Speaker 10 (02:24:30):
It also screams this guy just wants as much money
as possible. That's when the Astros traded him, right.

Speaker 2 (02:24:36):
Well, yeah, and kudos to the Astros in hindsight recognizing
that and you know, doing something.

Speaker 1 (02:24:43):
But you know what.

Speaker 2 (02:24:45):
If they move on from est Sac Peretis and again
this this would be contingent on a them decided to
do that and then be what they get back in return.
You're talking about cam Smith, is what you got for
Kyle Tucker. Camp Smith may very well develop into a superstar,
obviously has the tools to do so. But man eastak

(02:25:08):
Partis was really good for you last year when he
was healthy. He was so west Nesky blew out his
arm already, right right, so that'd be a tough pill
to swallow.

Speaker 1 (02:25:18):
I agree you brought up Perettis. That kind of brings
me to my next one.

Speaker 10 (02:25:21):
Here, did you see Nolan Aronado, who was almost an astro,
has been traded to the Diamondbacks.

Speaker 2 (02:25:27):
Yes, stay right there in the National League where you
can't hurt the astros as much.

Speaker 1 (02:25:30):
Is he hurting anybody?

Speaker 10 (02:25:32):
With the twelve home runs he hit last year in
the two thirty seven batting average.

Speaker 2 (02:25:35):
He is at this point in his career, he is
very much a name on the back of the jersey.
It's a lot like Lebron Josh, since I'm just want
to pile on Lebron these days. Now, it's not that
bad Lebron still puts up some stats, but yeah, the
the best days are long.

Speaker 1 (02:25:52):
In the rear view mirror for Aeronados.

Speaker 2 (02:25:54):
So but yeah, maybe maybe he'll be a nice veteran
presence for a Diamondbacks team that would like to get
back to where they were two years ago.

Speaker 10 (02:26:04):
Perhaps I would like to point out, though, if it
wasn't for him in his no trade clause, the Astros
would be on the hook for a lot of this.
And you're already trying to get rid of Parentis because
you have too many third basemen. I know you wouldn't
have traded for Korea if you would have done this,
but this would have been a terrible deal. The Astros
got really really lucky there, and check this out the Cardinals.
They're picking up thirty one million of the forty two

(02:26:27):
remaining on the contract.

Speaker 2 (02:26:29):
But you know what, even though what everything you just
said is correct, they kind of sort of did the
same thing by putting a different version of him at
first base.

Speaker 6 (02:26:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:26:39):
Now, one season in, maybe.

Speaker 2 (02:26:41):
Christian Walker bounces back, but he is not at the
age where that's typical, and there is zero, whatever's less
than zero trade value for him right now on the market.
So Yeah, take that for what it's worth.

Speaker 10 (02:26:55):
Well, they keep paying first basement the most unathletic when
all the really smart teams look to fill first base.
They don't look to go spend a bunch of money
to do it. They find a guy that's a really
good hitter that they can teach first base to.

Speaker 2 (02:27:07):
Or find an international guy like Juli Gurriel. But nobody's
you know, Jeff Luno's not walking through that door.

Speaker 1 (02:27:13):
He's not.

Speaker 10 (02:27:14):
He's not, unfortunately, But that's okay. Just go win this
year and it's all good. Dana Brown, I do like
a lot of the moves Dana doesn't make looks like
we're up against it. So just real quickly, we have
to remind everybody Mike Tomlin, right he steps down, he
was no longer the Steelers head coach.

Speaker 1 (02:27:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:27:29):
The only question, and I'm seeing this a lot, is
are they gonna trade him?

Speaker 1 (02:27:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:27:34):
That's interesting, right, they have they obviously, you know, the
statement from the ownership was put out by Art Rooney
the second and he signed an extension in twenty twenty
four which would keep him in Pittsburgh through the twenty
seven season, so two years left on his deal.

Speaker 1 (02:27:54):
They retain his rights.

Speaker 2 (02:27:57):
So if he returns to an NFL sideline before twenty seven,
they're gonna get some compensation. Could be interesting wrinkle to
this story. We'll leave it at that. We'll come right back.
We'll wrap up a Tuesday, a victory Tuesday edition of
The A Team. Next final segment on the Tuesday edition
of The A Team, it's Sports Talk seven ninety Space
City Home Network Rockets launch pad coming up in a

(02:28:21):
matter of minutes, the one, the only Ross Virial gonna
be in here hosting that as Rockets trying to snap
a three game skid against the Chicago Bulls, who make
their lone appearance of the season inside Toyota Center. Look,
it has been rough sledding as of late. It has,

(02:28:41):
honestly it's been unwatchable at times, not from the standpoint
of all they just but the three point shooting and
the way they excruciatingly lost, say that five times fast.
These games has been brutal. But the Rockets, they're gonna
start playing home games, and they're eleven and two at home,
and they have played We've mentioned this a million different times.

(02:29:03):
We have played by far here in Houston the most
road games and fewest home games more like it than
anybody out there. And here's the thing, Rockets have lost
three in a row. San Antonio found a way to
lose the other night. San Antonio is not grabbing the
division and their standings in the West by the Horns.

(02:29:24):
And I know the division doesn't mean anything. It hasn't
for a long long time. But you know, from the
standpoint of I know the Rockets right now, you look
at the standings, that looks awful because they're the seventh seed.
It We've been saying this all season long. This is
going to be, in my opinion, a lot like last year.

(02:29:44):
It's seatings are not going to matter nearly as much.
And I'm not saying this because the Rockets are seven,
and I would have said this when they were the
two seed. Seatings are just not going to matter as much.
It's going to be all about the matchup. Look no
further than last year when the Warriors came in and
the Rockets were young and inexperienced and they couldn't get

(02:30:05):
over the hump in seven games against a broken down
Warriors squad that had an injured Jimmy Butler. Had no
business losing that series. But if they don't lose that series,
Maybe they don't make the deal for Kevin Durant and
the rest is history. Rockets need to focus on getting
as healthy as possible and then maybe start thinking about
a point guard. I've tried to put it off, and
I think they're going to continue to I don't know

(02:30:28):
anything believing this is not the Darryl Mory days are over,
and even then I didn't know much. I have no
idea what rafel Stone is thinking. But if your plan
is to kind of let it ride and hope that
Fred van Vliet can come back with enough time to
a get his wind and b acclimate himself to a
completely new team, which oh, by the way, two starters

(02:30:51):
were traded away from last year's squad that was the
second seed. That's certainly one way to go, and in
a lot of ways, maybe the kids are pigeonholed into that.

Speaker 1 (02:31:02):
But I think you're I think if you do that,
you might be might be.

Speaker 2 (02:31:09):
Punting on the first year of your Kevin Durant marriage,
and I don't want that to be the case. Could
be wrong on that, they might It might end up
being the best course of action, especially when you consider
they're gonna have to give up something of value to
get a position that is already on your roster, but
just isn't healthy. And it's not like Fred van Vliet
isn't capable when he comes back. He's only thirty one,

(02:31:32):
and you know, torn acls are not what they used
to be, so I have no reason to think he's
gonna come back and he won't be the same player
he was.

Speaker 1 (02:31:41):
But that doesn't do you a lot of good.

Speaker 2 (02:31:44):
When you are currently sitting at seven in the West,
just three games ahead of the Warriors, but the Sons
have lapped you. The Lakers are still somehow ahead of you,
barely a half game both those two games or both
those two teams a half game ahead of you. The
Timberwolves are two full games ahead of you, and then
you got the Nuggets and the Spurs on your way
up to the Thunder there at the top. Even when

(02:32:06):
the Thunder are going through it, and by going through
it that means they're only seven and three over their
last ten, there's still leaps and.

Speaker 1 (02:32:12):
Bounds better than everybody else out there.

Speaker 2 (02:32:14):
So be interesting in the Chicago Bulls are a team
you should beat, much like the Kings were, and much
like Portland was the last two contests against them, both
Wednesday and Friday of last week. But I say that
because those very same thunder they're coming to town. They'll
be here Thursday at Toyota Center, and they're better than
the Chicago Bulls.

Speaker 1 (02:32:35):
This just in.

Speaker 2 (02:32:36):
Bulls are eighteen and twenty two games under five hundred
coming into tonight's matchup. They're just an.

Speaker 1 (02:32:43):
Also ran in the East. And if you're an also
ran in the East, you're.

Speaker 2 (02:32:46):
A really bad basketball team in the grand scheme of things,
because the East is so much.

Speaker 1 (02:32:50):
More inferior to the West.

Speaker 2 (02:32:52):
In my opinion, you have good teams at the top,
basically the top three to four teams. Everybody else to
me is just so blah. So again, you are gonna
be playing more home games, starting with this one against
the Bulls, but you're also gonna be playing stronger competition.
Mention that the Rockets are finally home, look at this

(02:33:14):
five whole games in a row before they head back
out on the road for a quick two game jaunt
back to backs. I might add, you gotta play at
Philadelphia and then go to Detroit the next night. So
thanks again for that. NBA would have liked it to
be the other way around. Have fresher legs against the
Detroit Pistons. I'm telling you right now, if everybody's healthy,

(02:33:35):
that needs to be or can be that game right there, Philadelphia,
Steven Adams ain't playing that night.

Speaker 1 (02:33:41):
Even if Joel Embiid is there.

Speaker 2 (02:33:43):
I think they would save him for a Detroit game
in which you're gonna need his toughness against the Durans
of the world. And and you know, if he's not
playing back to backs, then he's gonna play the second night,
I would imagine. But yeah, Chicago comes into town tonight,
mention Oklahoma City on Thursday. Then you have a back
to back again, Minnesota. These back to backs are gonna

(02:34:05):
start happening more and more because you haven't had very many.
So Minnesota is in on Friday night. That is not
a That's not a very nice one two punch to
have to play on a back to back, especially when
the first night is Oklahoma City. And then the Pelicans,
who you owe because you choked away a twenty five
point lead to them the last time you played. That's

(02:34:25):
gonna be on Sunday and then Tuesday, the stupid San
Antonio Spurs come to town. That's their official name, These
stupid San Antonio Spurs will be inside Toyota Center, their
first appearance of the year here, and we'll have to
see how that goes as well. At this point, it's

(02:34:45):
hard to predict because I don't know who's going to
be in the lineup for the Rockets, and I don't
know what Rockets seem you're gonna get. Frankly, I'm glad
to see the Shingoons back, but like I told Wex yesterday,
I'm also kind of leary because.

Speaker 1 (02:35:02):
He was out.

Speaker 2 (02:35:03):
It looked like they were going to reevaluate him in
like ten to fourteen days or whatever it was, and
then all of a sudden, I think he missed a
grand total of three games.

Speaker 1 (02:35:10):
I just don't want him to reaggravate that thing. It was.

Speaker 2 (02:35:14):
It's not to say that he wasn't his presence wasn't
felt out there in his return the other night against
the Kings, but it really felt like it wouldn't have
mattered if he was out there or not.

Speaker 1 (02:35:24):
The way that game was going. The Kings just found.

Speaker 2 (02:35:27):
Themselves up by a bucket or two pretty much all
night long, and then they just kind of lulled the
Rockets to sleep in the fourth quarter. Unbelievable the way
they were. It's not so much that you lost, although
it is when you lose to a then eight win team.
It's that you just look so uninspired and you got outworked.
You got outworked on the glass, specifically in that game

(02:35:51):
where the Sacramento Kings just obliterated you in the fourth
quarter rebounding, and that's just not it. Take everything else
that may or may not be a flaw about this
Rocket squad. There are just some things that you can
depend upon every single night, whether they're winning or losing.
And most of the time, right at or near the
top of that list is they're going to clobber whoever

(02:36:11):
they're playing on the glass.

Speaker 1 (02:36:13):
And that wasn't happening.

Speaker 2 (02:36:14):
So we shall see if they can try and get
the ship righted tonight against the Chicago Bulls.

Speaker 1 (02:36:21):
Mentioned. As I mentioned.

Speaker 2 (02:36:23):
Before, I should say the Rockets launch pad pregame show
with Ross Viereal coming up at the top of the hour,
and then they'll take on the Chicago Bulls. It is
going to be Matt Thomas on the call as per usual.
WEX already over there and we'll see if we can
get in here and talk about a Rocket's victory.

Speaker 1 (02:36:38):
Coming up tomorrow at two o'clock.

Speaker 2 (02:36:40):
Obviously, will continue to talk about what happened last night
in Pittsburgh and what could happen coming up in New
England this weekend. The Houston Texans on their way to
perhaps exercising another playoff demon that's going to do it
for me, that's going to do it for the A team.
Rockets launch pack coming up next for WEX, for Josh Jordan,

(02:37:02):
i'm ac. It is the A team here on Sports
Talk seven ninety. Rockets basketball right around the corner, and
we look forward to talking to you about all of
this coming up tomorrow at two o'clock