Texans Season Is Over, Where Things Went Wrong and Rockets Rough Day At Office

Adam Clanton and Adam Wexler makes his return to talk about what's going on in Houston sports and more on January 20th 2025.

• Texans season comes to an end.
• Officials vs. self-enflicted mistakes. 
• Rockets have an ugly one against the Pistons. 
• People just don't know on Twitter. 
• CJ Stroud say the quiet part out loud? 
• Will Anderson Jr. throws some serious shade. Derrick Stingley Jr. makes future plans well known. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam Talking Your Teams series,
Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler are the A team A team.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Straight up four o'clock here in Houston, Texas. It is
a Monday edition of the Eight Teams Sports Talk seven ninety.
Wex will be along shortly as he continues to make
his voyage over from Toyota Center. Rockets falling to the
Pistons earlier today and MLK Day special one pm tip
off You heard it right here on Sports Talk seven

(00:39):
to ninety just could not match the intensity of the
Detroit Pistons. I never thought I'd say that, actually, but
credit to them. And look, I think those of you
who are longtime Rockets fans know that JB. Bickerstaff is
a good head coach that he has been probably given
some some raw deal as far as his stops along

(01:02):
the way. You know, he started here as in the
interim coach after Kevin McHale was fired eleven games into
a season in which Dwight Howard and James Harden couldn't
get in long and Dwight was wearing DC Comics boxers
in the in the locker room and they were there
was a little more than a passive aggressive attitude in

(01:23):
the Rockets locker room there in twenty sixteen, and then
of course Mike D'Antoni takes over and the rest is history.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
But Jamie Bickerstaff's a good dude.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
I know this from firsthand experience, and albeit against the Rockets,
I hate to see it, but I'm happy that it
looks like Detroit is maybe starting to turn things around.
You can always sort of kind of root for an
Eastern Conference team because they're not in the West. They're
not in your way until you get to the finals,
you know. So it's it's kind of like, you know,
rooting for an NFC team, or maybe if Alex Bregman

(01:52):
signs with a National League team, it doesn't hurt as
much as if he was with an American League team.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
They know that kind of thing. So kind of rooted
for JB. Bickerstaff from AFAR.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
But today he looked like his team had his team
was ready to play more than emy Udoka's team. And
so Rockets fall one oh seven ninety six. Normally you'd
be like, all right, that sucks, but that's just one game.
Let's get back on the horse on Wednesday. Well, if
you're gonna get back on the horse on Wednesday, you're
gonna have to beat one of the best teams in
the NBA, because the Cleveland Cavaliers are coming to town.
And should everything go off as scheduled, and that's a

(02:24):
big should at this point, that is going to be
a tough task to avoid your second straight defeat. So
and again, I heard Craig mentioned this the other night
in the Portland game. You know, anytime you have like
any sort of losing streak, even if it is two games,
you can lose ground quick in today's Western Conference, so
not something you would have liked to have seen. Would

(02:45):
have liked a little bit more energy in the first
quarter as opposed to giving up forty yeah, forty to
the Detroit Pistons out of the gate on your home floor.
But such as life, Rockets have to put this one
in the rear view mirror quickly hope that maybe everything
goes according to plan from a scheduling standpoint. I know
the Calves had to fly into town tonight as opposed

(03:06):
to tomorrow because of the weather. Because of course they're shutting
down both airports tomorrow. We don't get six inches of
snow here like ever, but that's kind of what's forecast
in certain parts of the area. So yeah, nothing about
the next twenty four to forty eight hours should be
normal for Houstonians of any kind, and it's gonna be

(03:26):
interesting to see how it all unfolds.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
In the meantime. Yeah, I know what you guys want
to talk about.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
If you happen to be listening and you're not trying
to make preparations for storm twenty twenty five here Snowmageddon.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
You already know.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
You probably have been steaming about it all weekend long,
and I don't blame you Texans chiefs.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Ooh, bitter pill to swallow.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now, there are a lot and I mean a lot
of layers to get into, and of course, once WEX
gets here, you know, we'll dive into what we think
about what happened overall.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
But it was just.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
I hate to be and I'm not going where you
guys think I'm going when I start that sentence. And
this is not about the officials. Relative to the horrific calls,
and there were plural bad calls in that game. I
don't normally say, well, the better team didn't win. I've

(04:25):
been saying this all season long about the Chiefs. They're
not impressive to me. Finding ways to win does not
impress me. And I know I'm talking about this and
like this after the Ravens, who were a video game
all season long, got beaten by the team that although
they were playing on their home field. I really thought
the Ravens were gonna win that football game.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
They didn't. It's gonna be Buffalo v.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Kansas City for the umpteenth time in the AFC Championship,
or just in general. And it's interesting to see how
this is all gonna unfold in the meantime. I just
this is such a what could have been scenario? The Texans,
you know, leaving points on the field, self inflicted wounds,

(05:12):
Camie Fairbairn, Are you kidding me? Just one thing after
another that was just a collective groan for this fan
base wanting desperately to see this team, you know, advance
past the divisional round for the first time in the

(05:32):
history of the franchise. And you'll still be waiting and
you'll still be waiting, you know, into next year if
you don't fix some of the things that took place now.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
CJ.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Stroud holding onto the football too much is absolutely a thing,
and it wasn't a thing last year, by the way,
when he was a rookie and he was, you know,
surpassing all expectations, you know, putting up on godly numbers.
So again, sophomore slump, regress in film, whatever you want
to make as the reason for year two not going

(06:05):
the way you would have thought. It was all there
on Saturday afternoon for the Texans to advance.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
It was absolutely a winnable football game.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
It was, you know, opportunity after opportunity after opportunity, and
I did. I felt like they were the better football team.
I don't care what Kansas City fan thinks about that.
I don't care what anybody really thinks about that. That's
how I saw it, and it makes the officiating aspect
of it all the more frustrating. But that's just not

(06:35):
the reason they lost this football game. Now, the absolute BS,
I want to say it on an FCC regulated radio station,
but can't. I mean absolute BS roughing on Mahomes, which one,
by the way, but I'm talking about the first one
where you had them dead to rights after a horrible
start to the game. By the way, speaking of special teams,

(06:58):
but you had them stopped on third down. Then that
penalty gets called. It's atrocious. Everybody could see it for
what it was. Unless you're bleeding Kansas City red and yellow.
You know it was a bad call, and it keeps
a drive alive that winds up giving them seven points.

(07:20):
And it just kind of set the tone. And you
heard this a lot after the game. You heard you know,
you've got to play perfect, You've got to do that.
I disagree the Texans at Chiefs and how that thing
went down from the jump never seemed like it was
too big of a moment for the Texans. Absolutely not,

(07:42):
even with how the game started on special teams, even
with the sideline shenanigans and then the explanations after and
all that, none of that made me think, oh, this
is too big a moment for them.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Did it look like that pass rush was? It was
too big of a.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Moment for them. They were all over Mahomes now. The
one person they weren't all over was the old fat
guy whose girlfriend is more famous than him at this point,
and they kept we kept having to get the ad
nauseum cutaways to Taylor Swift because Travis Kelcey did exactly
what people were afraid of. He was a sleeping giant

(08:18):
emphasis on the giant that was awoken and just destroyed
the Texans because they didn't cover him. There was nothing
exotic about what Andy Reid was doing or offensively. There
was nothing exotic about the route running. There was no
one anywhere near him on several key possessions. That's why
he put up insane four years ago type numbers, not

(08:42):
because of anything else other than just the Texans didn't
guard him.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
It's not even they didn't guard him.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
They were nowhere near him, Like what was the chief
Where was Pat Mahome supposed to do? Hey, here's this
monster individual alone on an island. Unless his name is
Mark Andrews and he drops an obvious pass, you're gonna
get at least ten to fifteen yards on the initial reception,
and then he's gonna barrel down the field for another

(09:10):
twenty or thirty because you can't tackle him or his
fat ass is gonna joke you. That's how Travis Kelcey
was able to put up the numbers. He was on
Saturday afternoon. But it wasn't because Pat Mahomes was some
you know, otherworldly Uh, you know, non mortal out there.
The guy was doing soccer flops on the sideline for

(09:32):
Pete's sake. I've never seen a Chiefs team all season
long and into this round of the postseason, and it
wasn't rust either. They were absolutely beatable. And that's why
it's bitter. That's why people want to point to the
you know, handful of officiating calls and why you know,
they didn't go their way, that the Texans way, But

(09:54):
it's not. It was not a situation where the officials
are the reason they lost this game. They just they
left opportunities on the table. And it's something that I hope, honestly,
I hope it motivates them throughout the offseason because that's
the only type of you know, solace or takeaway you
can get from this. If you're the Texans, if you're
the organization, and if you're a fan, that that can

(10:17):
be a positive.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
Of any kind.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
It's up Wex, it's Doug, how the game go. You're
done talking about it exactly.

Speaker 3 (10:26):
So yeah, that's that's my gist of it.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
I'm definitely eager to hear what Wex has to say
as we get into the next segment because boy, there's
a lot of meat on the bone. There's a lot
to take away, and of course there is a lot
of reaction.

Speaker 5 (10:39):
I hey loved in the Texans locker room today. Was
that long day in the Texans locker room today where
they're plastic bags, trash backs.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
I hate that, man, that's the worst. And some awards.

Speaker 5 (10:51):
They got some social media awards from the people over
there at the Texans, So they're happy about that. Okay,
some gifts, some photos, handshakes, goodbyes, and a lot of
we know we have.

Speaker 6 (11:02):
What it takes.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
Oh yeah, Especially defensively.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
I have never been more convinced that defensively they're going
to be you ready for this?

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Boys and girls better next year?

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Defensively, I think they will. I know they have some
free agents. We'll get into all of it. Wex is here.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
It's on next the eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
Quitters never win and winners never quit.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
We're talking about beating the Red Sox and Yankees Dodgers
two to win it all in twenty seventeen World Series champions.

Speaker 4 (11:38):
Remember that?

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Okay, Wow, back to more talking with these real winners,
Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
It is the eighteen Sports Talk seven ninety. All right,
dive in. This is the thing that sucks about having
the first game on a Saturday.

Speaker 3 (12:04):
You gotta wait.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
You have to stew in your emotions unless you're whacked
and you have none because you're a cyborg. But you
have to just kind of like get your collective thoughts together.
After twenty three to fourteen Chiefs over the Texans.

Speaker 5 (12:19):
Seems pretty easy, actually to me to put your thoughts
together about why the Texas are cleaning out their lockers
and why their opponent is awaiting the arrival of their
next opponent.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
Does hear it? They're better?

Speaker 5 (12:29):
I mean, I don't not trying to be flippant or
like there's nothing confusing about what took place on Saturday
at all.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
There's no reason to be man. I still can't believe
they lost.

Speaker 5 (12:38):
Of course, you can believe they lost, And of course,
at some point, I mean, I get how people can
see things differently, and maybe you're just a little semantically
different in how you view a team, a good football team.
At some point, we talked to so many people from
Kansas City, and I just kept waiting for them to
say it.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
None of them did, and you know we have. They
been able to win.

Speaker 5 (13:01):
So many close games for multiple years in a row. Oh,
why is Mahomes able to do this? Why is Kelsey
able to do that? And it's way way simpler than that.
When you go back and analyze this game, you have
to ask this question about fifteen times about the Texans
and you don't even have to ask it one time
about the Chiefs. How do you think the Texans are
going to overcome this? You don't have to ask that

(13:23):
one time about the Chiefs the whole afternoon, because they
don't give games away, they don't make mistakes, They're extremely
well coached, they're extremely well disciplined. Penalties, sure, drop passes
maybe every once in a while, not in eight games,
though they might have a turnover. They just play their
eighth consecutive game without turning the ball over. They haven't

(13:43):
turned the ball over. Mahomes haven't thrown a pick in
any of those eight games. Obviously, they only lost three
perfumbles the entire season. I mean, they had a holding penalty,
they went three and out. These are the things they
have to overcome every week. That's why they win every week.
I mean they're not intending, then I'll go to the
whiteboard and say, hey, look here's how we win this week.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
One. Let the other team make mistakes. Two buye.

Speaker 5 (14:08):
But that's essentially what has happened so many times this
year and in postseason games prior to this year, and
clearly what happened in this postseason game.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
I mean, the Chiefs didn't even have to.

Speaker 5 (14:18):
Wait to get their offense or defense on the field
for the other team to gift them the first points
to the game. Texans go out there and give up
their longest kick return of the entire season on the
opening kickoff, and then Chris Boyd does what he did,
which I think will be his last acts as a Texan,
though he was over there today and nothing on the
sideline indicates they were so distraught by his behavior that

(14:39):
he would be cut. I just think he'll be cut
for football reasons above anything else, or won't be brought back.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
But you can't do that.

Speaker 5 (14:45):
How are you so deep into the game, Like what
did you do to prepare for the game?

Speaker 3 (14:49):
Did you put your war paying on?

Speaker 5 (14:51):
Did you go Latimer from the program that you were
this fired up about tackling a guy after a sixty
yard return and forcing a fumble that the Chiefs not
only recovered but were the first team to touch the football.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
What possessed you to think your team had it?

Speaker 5 (15:06):
This is play one and you're already asking it for
the first time. How are the Texans going to overcome this?
And it just happened all afternoon long. I mean, there
are lots to get into them. We got days and
months to do it. Yeah, But that's as simply as
you can put it. Is why the Chiefs win. It
is why other teams don't. I agree with everything you
just said. The problem I have with swallowing that bitter

(15:30):
pill is that you outgained them. You outplayed them in
every day.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
The other three teams that lost this weekend, I know,
I know we'll get into that too, But I don't
care about those other teams.

Speaker 5 (15:39):
They all made mistakes, they all had turnovers. The four
teams the one didn't turn them all over.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
Well, I just look at every facet of the game
where the Texans did outplay them, and even with the
mistakes that they made, as far as you know, gifting
them and you know, making it easier on them in
those various scenarios, I still don't feel like, oh, yeah,
the Chiefs were definitely a better team on the fright.

Speaker 5 (16:05):
And I think, I mean, just personally, I think I
don't say that usually, right, And I think it's crazy
to think like that because of what I described in
the opening of my remarks.

Speaker 3 (16:13):
It's because you're just.

Speaker 5 (16:14):
Saying, well, they didn't go out there and have a
three hundred yard passer and they didn't have a guy
run for two touchdowns. They didn't blow you out, so
you're you get caught up, and I think, well, they
just what did they do to win? We watched what
they did to win. They stopped, They let you take
the game away from themselves. That's why they self inflicted.
All great, but that's why they win because they put

(16:35):
teams in situations where they become more prone to make mistakes. Now,
they did block one of those kicks. They did force
the Texans to go forward on fourth and ten late
in the game, when clearly the Texans coaching staff did
not know what to do, which is why they should
have called time out, but didn't.

Speaker 3 (16:51):
At what point in the game.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
Even Andy Reid, who's long been known as a poor
clock manager, we weren't saying that about what were they doing?
You know how many people were second guessing what coach
Spags had decided to do defensively pretty much nobody. It's
just on and on and on of all the things
that they didn't have issues with because they're they're just better.
They're just better at all those things. The thing that

(17:13):
you're saying about now, it just doesn't feel like they're better.
That's why I wish more people would take what Dimko
said after the game and say, yes, you should be discouraged,
not encouraged, because if you're discouraged, that means you know
you had it. You know you could have outplayed this
team in advance, you out gained them, You had a

(17:34):
good offensive day, but couldn't score points. This wasn't like
when they played Baltimore a couple weeks ago.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
And this wasn't like.

Speaker 5 (17:41):
When they played Baltimore in the Divisional round a year ago.
They couldn't do anything offensively. They couldn't move the football.
They weren't throwing the ball well, they weren't running the
ball well. They did none of those things. That's not
at all what happened against the Chiefs. That's why I
thought it was awesome, and not everybody did that. Demiko
said that we all know, he knows this team is
good and got better and they're going to improve, and
he's technically, yeah, I like where we are. He also,

(18:05):
I guess had to point it out to some people.
You know, how far away do you think you are?
Who do you think it'll take? Like, come on, man,
right there with these teams? Can we people really not
see that?

Speaker 2 (18:15):
Here's the uh, here's the clip that Wex is referring
to on if the Texans head coach was encouraged or
discouraged after twenty three fourteen chiefs.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yeah, I'm walking out.

Speaker 7 (18:26):
Of here discourage Like this one hurts right because I
know we're a better football team than we showed today,
no matter who we're playing against. Like to go back
and still have to talk about mistakes that we made
in this moment, Like, yeah, it's discouraging to be here
because we got to be over there at this point
in the playoffs, right postseason football, you gotta be at

(18:48):
your best. You got to be operating on all cylinders
and for us, like we didn't do that today. So
that's what I'm you know, I'm just discouraged about.

Speaker 5 (18:54):
For sure, telling the team to wake the bleep up.
It's on you, that's what he's saying. Any saying for
these guys, right, we practiced right, we were prepared right,
and then you guys went out there he did this.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Here's the slippery slope on this exact thing. And it
has nothing to do with just this game. Well, it
has to do with this game, but I'm talking about
season long. You know, I kept thinking this in the
back of my mind all season, and I don't know
if I ever really verbalized it on the show. On
any given week, after you know, a loss or even
wins where you know they made mistakes, I was like,
you know, I never thought I would sit here and say, gosh,

(19:25):
a Demico Ryan's coach team just doesn't look that disciplined
at times, because when you start talking about the amount
of penalties, and sure enough, this was one of those
games where you, egregiously were out penalized more than the
other team because of your own doing at times and
then other times it was absolute bs and we all
know about those instances. But you know, on the whole,

(19:48):
you just you didn't look like the more disciplined teams.
So many times this year regular season, all the time
this was happening.

Speaker 5 (19:57):
Look at the difference between themselves and the other three
teams that are there. You know, obviously Mike Tomlin's been
in Pittsburgh a long time and he's not there. But
Sean mcdermot's been in Buffalo with what he wants to
do and how he wants to coach and some of
his coordinators for a long time, and with the same
quarterback for a long time. They get better and better
and better every year. It seems like now they're in
the conference championship game this year. You know, the Baltimore

(20:20):
Ravens have had coach Harbaugh there for a decade plus.
They went into yesterday trying to extend his most road
wins as a head coach in the postseason numbers. They
do things right. They didn't win, but they sure did
a lot of things right after. They made two enormous
mistakes earlier in the game from their quarterback, only to
have their tight end make two even bigger mistakes later
in the game. And then obviously Andy Reid and Pat Mahomes.

(20:43):
If the Texas like that's how they don't fit. This
is a second year coach and a second year quarterback.
The other guys are I'm trying to win a third MVP,
I'm trying to win a fourth Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (20:54):
I'm trying to beat Pat Mahomes. Maybe those are the other.

Speaker 5 (20:56):
Three guys that are there, and they're coaches who've all
been there a long time.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
That is the biggest difference.

Speaker 5 (21:01):
Most younger teams young with their coach young, with many
of their key players, and the Texans are very young
with many of their awesome key players. They have a
tendency to be the less disciplined is a word you
could use, or more mistake prone is another word. So
I'm not even sure the penalties that they absorbed came
out of a lack of discipline when as you noted,

(21:22):
and we've all been talking about it in our own
way since Saturday, like Will Anderson's penalty on Pat Mahomes,
there's nothing undisciplined about that, but it cost you fifteen
yards and they stayed on.

Speaker 3 (21:33):
The field because of it. I mean, you forced a
three and out.

Speaker 5 (21:35):
If that penalty is not called the penalty on Henry Totoa,
that's not undisciplined, that's a major Greg maddox, Like abuse
of the rules, Pat Mahomes knows he's going to get
a call. I mean, I would love to see a coach,
Coach Gruden, coach Belichick, somebody away from the NFL break
down that play.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
All right, here is where Mahomes goes.

Speaker 5 (21:55):
He's about to run out of bounds, but he realizes
if he goes out of bounds, that's where the yardage stops.
He goes back on to the field, doesn't use his blockers,
doesn't go forward, actually goes backwards, waits for the players
to get as close to him as possible, and then
essentially takes a knee, which means his body is still
in the air other than his knee, takes a hit
and gets his fifteen yards because he knows he will.
I mean, it's incredible. Those aren't undisciplined plays, and that's

(22:17):
thirty yards of penalties.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (22:18):
So that's a big part of the discrepancy. You'd like
to see some of the others maybe not happen. You know,
some holdings, although both sides had them, I don't know
that they were so undisciplined there. But the other play
that was massively undisciplined. We don't need to go through
it again. That's the Chris Boyd penalty. I mean, that's
three points. The defense goes out there after that and

(22:38):
forces the three and out, but it's three nothing because
they had the ball inside the twenty before Mahomes has
even gotten to the field. Too much of that kind
of stuff over the course of the day. You know,
special teams. We came in here after Saturday's game against
the Chargers. Oh my god, can you even play better.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
Than they did?

Speaker 5 (22:56):
What they did on special teams against the Chargers was incredible.
Frank Ross is an awesome special teams coach. They put
a lot of awesome players in their unit, and then
they spend time and effort on having a good special
teams unit. And there was a bleep and disaster how
they played in that game. Tommy Townsend's thirty four yard
punt late in the game, I mean, did you notice
the difference in field position for these two teams? The

(23:18):
Chiefs were starting a play away from scoring all game
long because the Texans special teams was awful. Three kicks
missing for one reason or another.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
And they manage all of twenty three points. Yeah, it's
just incredible.

Speaker 5 (23:33):
But they're also what we talked about, it on Friday.
They run the game out before you can do anything.
They had a long rides. The Texans then countered with
their own super long.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Another thing that they did that the Texans were better at.
They had they advantaged time of possession. It was another
ledger that I look at. I'm like, how did you
lose this game? The good, the bad, and the ugly
from this game is next.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
The A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
The baseline for Pretty Bag.

Speaker 8 (24:08):
You listen to every game on any device with our
free iHeartRadio app outstanding Sports Talk seven nights Home of
your Rockets.

Speaker 3 (24:16):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
Now the good, good, the bad that's not good, and
the ugly that's getting real ugly with the A team.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Signature segment for a Monday after the divisional round and
put your stuff in a black trash bag Day. That
was the official name for it right wex over at
the NRG Stadium.

Speaker 5 (24:43):
I mean the guys who know, more likely than not,
or the super young players who don't have the proper bags,
they're usually the trash bag guys. I don't know, that's
one hundred percent trash backpackers.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
However, told you that after being in there, I need.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
To have one of those lockers in my house, and
I need my outfit for the next day chosen and
laid out, and then I need to have one of
those hydraulic basically car hoods that covers it all up.

Speaker 9 (25:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (25:10):
I think one of the coolest features of their recently
redond locker room is what they have up above their lockers,
which is where they hang their pads up it keeps
them away from everything else, and it also is ventilated
and air controlled in the way that.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
It won't smell like absolute garbage bazingo.

Speaker 5 (25:26):
Yeah, a lot of jerseys at Texans, jerseys that they
might not otherwise have. You know, since they had new
jerseys this year, whole new scheme, all they.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
Did look good in that loss on Saturday. I do
like all three of the well four technically of these
new jerseys schemes looked incredible this year. They need to
wear the h Town blue ones more next year, I e.
More than once, and they should wear the red ones
more than once. But I do like the all we're
wearing this color uniformly uniforms a lot, and that was

(26:01):
hardly a solace coming away from twenty three to fourteen
Chiefs over the Texans so the good, the bad, and
the ugly goes in this order for this week's edition
of the program. I've got the good, Dan is bad,
and Wex is absolutely ugly.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
So we'll start right there.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
And I've got to say it, it's obvious they ain't
special teams. Probably wasn't the offense. The defense was very,
very good in this game. Defense played not only good
enough to win this game, they played good enough to
win most games against most playoff competition. Tell you what
if the Texans defense had played like this against Baltimore
on Christmas Day, Well, I doubt it would be as

(26:38):
lopsided as it was.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
But they were good.

Speaker 2 (26:42):
They were flying around, they were in Patrick Mahomes's kitchen
from the get go.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
They were fantastic.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
I know they weren't good against Travis Kelcey, but I'm
gonna blame that on basically one guy, you know, the
guy that I was excited about being in the lineup.
It felt like every single time he had a big play,
that's when you saw Aziz al Shaier either out a
position or falling down or just nowhere near him. But overall,
in a game you lost, I would still say the

(27:10):
biggest good of all was certainly the defense.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
I don't think there's any question about it.

Speaker 5 (27:15):
It's still tough to take when you consider they only
had the ball basically seven times the Chiefs. They had
the last possession of the first half, they took a knee,
they had the last possession of the game, which was
essentially kneel downs and take a safety, ruining Vegas. Ruining
Vegas for some So on the other seven drives, yeah,
they scored on five of them. Yeah, like that's a

(27:38):
pretty poor ratio for your defense. But you clearly have
to look into it a little bit more than that
when you consider the opening drive began on the Texans
thirteen yard line, and their first touchdown drive began fifty
five yards away from the end zone, and their last
scoring drive began forty five yards away from the end zone.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
It's just you gave it.

Speaker 5 (27:59):
You made it way too easy for them on a
day where you really did have it defensively. So I
would tend to agree, but it's not my turn to
go next. I gotta wait and show you how good dan.

Speaker 6 (28:08):
So I was gonna go special teams, but I've just
got to go with the low hanging fruits starting Shack Mason.
I mean, I can understand what Tomiko said today. He
had a great week of practice, and let's hear it. Well, okay,
Miko three, Tomko three is going to be right now.

Speaker 3 (28:29):
Yeah, Shaq had a really good week of practice.

Speaker 7 (28:30):
Shaq has been working a while to get back with us,
get back out there, and thought he had a really
good week.

Speaker 10 (28:36):
And you know, overall it.

Speaker 9 (28:38):
Was it was good.

Speaker 7 (28:39):
Wasn't good from collectively of how we protected, but it
was not just not just one person.

Speaker 6 (28:46):
All right, that's fine, but with him out there, you
had a D minus even f offensive line. And it's
not like Juice Scruggs was all that great, but he
earned the right to stay at right guard.

Speaker 3 (28:57):
And I understand it was an injury.

Speaker 6 (28:58):
You don't want to have a guy I completely lose
this spot because of injury. But the best ability is availability,
and if you're not available, and you probably have two
of your best performances as a group of five in
those two games, then ride with what you've got. I'm sorry, Shack,
you're the odd man out at that point.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (29:16):
I tend to agree. I tend to agree so much
so that that's the ugly I gotta say, I mean,
this is this is the kind.

Speaker 3 (29:21):
Of stuff stole his bit.

Speaker 5 (29:23):
The coaches will go back and look at film, they'll
go back and analyze things. They'll sit down and discuss things,
and as Demiko open his press conference today, he'll take
a week to let us know what he's thinking.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
He probably already knows. But of all the.

Speaker 5 (29:36):
Changes they'll make coaches, they may not bring back decisions
they'll make with personnel. The thing that he should regret
the most is allowing whomever made the decision, and especially
if it's him, to let that happen. I'm sorry, but
there is absolutely no difference in what should have taken
place on Saturday and what did take place earlier this year.

(29:56):
At the other guard spot, Kenyan Green has having a
bad season. You're losing opportunities on snaps, on offense to
do anything positive because he's having a bad year and
he's out there and then he got hurt.

Speaker 3 (30:08):
It's not a surprise you got better when that happened.

Speaker 5 (30:10):
The literal exact same thing is on the other side,
the other guard, Shack Mason did not have a good year.
It's not a good player anymore, at least not for
your offense. And your system with your offensive coaches and
the other for alignment, your offensive line was better.

Speaker 3 (30:23):
I know the competition changed, I know what was on
the line was changed.

Speaker 5 (30:27):
You did just play a playoff game without him, and
you were still pretty good against a pretty good group.
I don't know where you ranked the Chargers defense, but
certainly would imagine you ranked them as at least good.
And it's just it's a horrible unless there's an additional
issue with Jewe Scrugs from a health standpoint, and obviously
he was not a full participant in practice throughout the week.

(30:48):
Though if you were watching closely enough, you'll know that
Jewe Scruggs did participate with this team during their special
teams needs. He and Kenyan Green are out there for
those field goal opportunity or there are extra point opportunities.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
If he wasn't healthy, probably isn't so my best guess
is he was.

Speaker 9 (31:06):
So.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
Yeah, I think that's ugly.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
I think that's losing a game or putting yourself behind
the eight ball without even considering what the other team
is doing. Has nothing to do with the Chiefs. You
made yourself worse. You took an area that was a
weakness and said, man, I'm gonna make sure this is
a weakness. That's a decision that gets made before the
game is even kicked off. It's bad one Shack Mason probably.
I mean, I know the contracts for both he or
all three of their expensive linemen are an awful situation

(31:31):
moving forward for the team, great situation for the player.
Whatever money is made by them is awesome for them.
But yeah, Shack Mason, in my opinion, can't be taken
any place. The snaps he took Saturdays should be the
last ones he ever has for.

Speaker 3 (31:43):
The sh'n take him anywhere? Is that what you're saying.
That's just he's not good.

Speaker 5 (31:45):
Yeah, And I offensive linemen are in kind of a
tough spot as human beings because you're asked to I mean,
I know you're big, but let's go bigger. I know
you're big and strong, but let's go bigger and stronger.
And I was in the locker room today, Titus Howard
obviously was there, Blake Fisher, Jarrett Patterson. I actually talked

(32:06):
to every single offensive lineman except for Juice and Shack,
and I don't know if they spoke.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
When I had to leave, had to go to the
Rockets game.

Speaker 5 (32:12):
He had other things to do, But I did actually
speak to the other four guys, and I've obviously seen
them throughout their respective seasons here. It's interesting with those
other guys, only Laramie Tunsel has even ever played anywhere else.
So each of those other three that were starting, they've
all been Texans for life. Fisher first year, of Patterson's
second year, and six years in with Howard. They know
how they want their lineman here and at least over
the last two years with this offense. I mean, Titus

(32:35):
Howard is huge, but I don't think he's incapable of
playing at an optimum level at the size he is,
And I would say the same thing about all of
their linemen except for one. Shaq Mason is not the
type of body I think they should want him to
be to play effectively. And Demiko's right in one sense, it's.

Speaker 3 (32:54):
Not on one guy. It wasn't on one guy.

Speaker 5 (32:57):
But they made their unit worse and specific at least
to one play. If you recall the fumble, I would
probably say there's communication issues there, But where where did
the rush come from? Where did the fumble get created?
Was because Shaq Mason literally didn't touch anybody. There's a
guy who's left and a gun is right and didn't
block either one of them. And again I know there's
communication to it. Luckily he was available to land on

(33:19):
the fumble because he wasn't near anybody else. It's a
bad game, terrible decision. That is an ugly thing. That's
what the coaching staff should regret. He should be mad
at them. The coach I'm talking about, Demiko should be
mad at themselves for allowing that to happen. And again,
I hope it's not five minutes of me talking about
something stupid because Juice Scruggs wasn't available, but I believe

(33:40):
that he obviously was suited up and playing, so he
probably was available. It's just I couldn't believe that they
did that.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Well, yeah, and listen when he's not losing his job
because he got hurt.

Speaker 5 (33:50):
That's the point I'm trying to make. Karan Green lost
his job because he was bad, not because he was hurt.
It gave them the excuse not to put him out there.
I think the same thing should have happened with Shaq.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
And other people in that very same position group should
have the same thing happened to them this offseason. They
should lose their job because they're not good enough to
get the job done. And know, not all eight sacks
are on that offensive line completely because at least two
of them I know of CJ.

Speaker 5 (34:16):
Just to me, I think, and we'll get into this
very next segment, I think a lot of those he
holds the ball too much and he didn't do it
last year, and they're on him. Yeah, he could get
rid of it and you wouldn't lose yards, but the
play's busted. You're getting nothing out of it. And to me,
that is on the offensive line. And I'll tell you
why that's on the offensive line, the eight sacks and
the holding onto the ball. As we continue here, there

(34:39):
is a lot of things to discuss, both from the
game itself, and I do find some value in some
of the things that were said today, most specifically from CJ.

Speaker 3 (34:47):
Stroud in a roundabout kind of way.

Speaker 5 (34:50):
At five o'clock, we're going to talk about what I
think he was saying today about the Texans and the
guys playing in front of him in the trenches.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
We'll do that when we continue here.

Speaker 9 (34:59):
On the A.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Team, The A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety Adam
Clinton and Adam Wexler. The A team now continues.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
All right, you need to make a creative decision here.
It's the same subject. It was a hot topic.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
You have thoughts on it.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
I have thoughts on it, but they're probably coming from
different angles. So who wants to go first? About the
wonder that was the twenty twenty four and into the
early stages of twenty twenty five Houston Texans offensive line?

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Uh me, all right, go what do you want me
to do? Who's going first? Who's leaving first? No, that's
I see what you did there.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
No, who's sharing their thoughts first on this abomination of
a position group?

Speaker 5 (35:55):
Well, it's much more complicated than these five guys stink.
Move on from them?

Speaker 3 (36:00):
Why?

Speaker 5 (36:01):
Because they clearly have a coaching problem. It could not
It was clear I think early in the season. It
was clear throughout the season, and it should be acknowledged.
Most offensive lines would struggle when they're not playing with
the same guys very often.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
Okay, let me stop you right there. Do you think not?
Do you think it's going to work? But do you
think the Texans organizational tact, given you know, money and
everything like that that's involved here will be all right.
We're changing up the coaching and we're gonna give it
a go again, and that's gonna be good enough.

Speaker 5 (36:40):
No, Okay, I do think one of those things is
gonna happen, But unfortunately, I think part of the other
thing is is it's very very possible. I do not
think Shaq Mason will be back. You just drafted Blake Fisher,
and I know everyone's replaying the Chris Jones sack already.
He's Chris Jones exactly. Did Blake Fisher have an awful game?
And I haven't seen some of the pffs to prove

(37:01):
it one way or the other, but didn't watching it,
I didn't feel like, man, they missed on him. They
you can't have him out there. He's probably starting at
right tackle next year. Larmie Tunzel, I'd say the odds
are almost a given at this point. He's starting at
left tackles.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Wwayne Brown was awful his rookie year, and he was
awesome his second year moving forward.

Speaker 5 (37:20):
And I wouldn't call Blake Fisher awful. He didn't get
to a chance to play much through most of the year.
He had the one start early on for you know,
early in the season, he had an injury and he
stepped in there. He played that whole game, hardly played
before it and hardly played after it, and then he
was out there starting the rest of the year because
they realized man our interior stinks. But if I'm telling
you that those two guys are back in the same spot,

(37:40):
and I think there's a really good chance that they are, well,
I don't know how you're not starting Titus Howard, and
I don't know how you're unloading his contract if you
even want to, which you have to consider. Okay, So
now that's three of the five guys that started Saturday
that are coming back. Jared Patterson's going into his third year.

(38:00):
He's not a below average center or at best or worst.
I'd say he's right at average, and I think another
year is only, especially if they let him play center.
And I asked him that today, and I'm not sure
he quite understood what I was getting at. I said,
you started last year, your first game, you were the center,
and now at the end of this year you finish
as the center. And in between, no, not so much.

(38:21):
You didn't compete for the starting center job in camp.
You weren't playing center when Kenyon Green got hurt and
you went in for him at guard. This is clearly
your optimum position, which at this point I would hope
you want to come back and be next year, and
I think he did, but he was saying all the
right things.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Whatever they want me is, we're going to be. It's
the same thing.

Speaker 5 (38:38):
Titus is hard, since he's said since he's been here.
But I think there's a pretty good chance. You know,
Jarrett Patterson is a sixth round money we'll be back
as your starting center.

Speaker 3 (38:49):
Well, you only.

Speaker 5 (38:50):
Have a couple of spots left that I haven't already
mentioned one, and that's the Shack Mason spot. That doesn't
sound like you're gonna get markedly better. If you coaches
say you keep slow, it can run the same offense.

Speaker 3 (39:04):
And you replace Shack Mason, and all.

Speaker 5 (39:06):
You do is replace Shack Mason. I mean, I can
hope for growth from Fisher and Patterson. I can hope
for another good year from Tunsul, but the latter is
much more likely, since that's all he's ever done here
is have good seasons. And maybe Titus Howard at guard
looks at least as good as it did this year
because it did not look good in previous season.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
Even though his natural position is tackle. I don't know
if it is or not. He's played more of it.
He moved him so much.

Speaker 5 (39:31):
He also said that, well, they paid him to play
right tackle.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
And then they drafted a tackle.

Speaker 5 (39:39):
Well, I don't have any issue with drafting another player
if you think he can play and make your They
ultimately went to that like they're doing what you want
them to do. They're just doing it in that sense.
They're like, well, this player's available. This player is gonna
make our line better. Our five man line is gonna
be better if Blake Fisher's on it, whether it's this
year or later. And I'm surprised how much he was

(39:59):
able to contribute this year because I just didn't know
when he was good on the field. And what they
ultimately did is say, well, we're just better if we
played Times Howard somewhere else, because he's at least as
good as our terrible guards. And that means Fisher can
play almost at his level at right tackle, and we
just upgraded maybe at least one spot. But that doesn't
seem like a very good way to go if you're
into year three with CJ.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
Strout.

Speaker 5 (40:20):
Last year's offensive line was markedly better than this year's
offensive line, and you felt like, well, here's how we're
going to make it better, and you just completely whiffed.
And not only that, you're into these guys for so
much money. Three or five linemen are getting paid way
too much money for their performance. Larremie, maybe you could
debate because he's a top flight left tackle making top
flight left tackle money, but two of the other four

(40:41):
starters are being paid tremendously well on a line that's
not good.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
Well, this is where my side of things comes into play.
And you, I don't know if you noticed or not.
We had a funny text exchange last night where I
was like, Hey, don't get mad if I don't see
your version of the same tweet first, because it's like
it seems to.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
Happen on our show a lot. Why did you see this? Yeah,
I saw it, It's.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Just I didn't happen to see I need to pair
down who I follow, apparently, but.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
Just don't text me until you've checked my feet.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
Apparently that's what I need to start doing. But it
seems like a lot OFFORTL. You'd rather see me acting rationally,
wouldn't you? Well, you same here. I mean it goes
both ways. Now, you may or may not have noticed this.
See I'm not going to assume you may or may
not have noticed. I infamously was not life tweeting during
this game. I had a feeling going in that some

(41:34):
shenanigans might happen, and that was the main reason for it.
But I also just did not want to sound like
a broken record. And then after the game, I let
loose because this is how I feel, And.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
I said, imagine having CJ.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
Stroud and not putting the best line possible in front
of him. Organizational malpractice, the bad calls, the mist kicks,
the mediocre opponent, none of it matters more than Stroud
being sacked eight times and into the offseason and then
in all caps, of course, you know, for emphasis, fix
the line.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
Now. A lot of people took various I mean, you're.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
A there a lot mediocre opposition. They were, oh, I'm sorry,
the record's fourteen and two. They're awesome. Everybody's picking them
against the Bills this weekend. There's no way the Bills
didn't have a chance. They shouldn't even show up. I mean,
after all, it's being played at Arrowhead. No way the
Bills have a chance. F that, no way the Bills
have a chance. Well, it's probably different next week, since

(42:28):
the Bills are way better than Houston. So I can
understand that, I mean it. And yet you could say
the Texans outplayed the Chiefs in a million different ways.

Speaker 5 (42:38):
Yeah, and the Chiefs made no mistakes that mattered, and
the Texans made fifty.

Speaker 2 (42:42):
So of course they didn't outplay them. Well, some of
them were their mistakes, some of them were outplay them.
Now they're more.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
Dictated as mistakes. The rough thing the passers.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
Still, we got to wait till the five o'clock hour
to get to that, because it's just listen, when all
of America agrees with me, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
I'm not gonna say that I was wrong.

Speaker 5 (42:58):
I know what we're watching every week, and I know
they're winning by a score of late mistake by the
other team, a blocked field goal, Kevin Durant foot on
Isaiah Likely. I get it, but it's not a fluke
when it literally happens. Every time they played a game
for real this year, they won except for once so far.

(43:20):
They didn't obviously play against the Broncos when they lost
thirty eight nothing.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
They won every other.

Speaker 5 (43:24):
Game but the Bills game every other every single time
they played, it didn't matter who.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
They've won, and.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
They in the regular season, and then when the playoffs happened,
they always beat them.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
They're two time defending Shan tell.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Me everything that we just factored in with the officials
and all that kind of stuff, which is absolutely a thing.

Speaker 3 (43:40):
It's not it's not a coincidence. It's not uh well, this.

Speaker 2 (43:44):
Is Scott Foster with the Rockets, this is the Golden
State Warriors. This is everything you've ever thought about being
a conspiracy theory in sports, whether you believe in those
sorts of things or not.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
It's a thing with this team.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
It's why nobody, nobody outside of Kansas City to see
them win, not even a little bit, because they're When
when Patrick Mahomes flopped on the sideline, I'd had enough.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
It's not soccer.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
It's not even the NBA, and I love the NBA,
but there's a difference. And when the guys taking a
dive on the sideline, if they had thrown a flag
right there, I might have been buying a TV this
weekend because the remote would have gone through the other one.
It's just so when all this is happening, and then
oh man, fourteen fourteen and two fourteen, they're just awesome.

(44:30):
They're awesome.

Speaker 5 (44:30):
Well there, but they are they're really not not this year,
not this year. No, they're not as awesome as they are.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
That's all you need to hear. You say different, No,
I feel better now good. At least you admitted it.
They're not as good. Correct, They're not awesome, so they're just.

Speaker 3 (44:47):
No, see there, those are not the same things. Man.
The best team in the NFL for is Kansas City. Yeah,
you know.

Speaker 5 (44:55):
This year, they're just not as good as they have been.
They're they're way better defensively, but because they don't score
a ton of points, people think they're awful.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
It's it's it's hilarious.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Their offense. I mean, their defense is light years better
than their offense. It's not just a little bit.

Speaker 5 (45:08):
Yeah, Okay, the Ravens won a Super Bowl with freaking
Trent Dilferd.

Speaker 3 (45:12):
Yeah well that was twenty five years ago.

Speaker 5 (45:14):
Saying like it's okay to be different league, even if
it's mainly because Brady dominant, right, But you're talking about
this this week. Not as good as their defense offense,
but they're still being Look at the look at the play.

Speaker 3 (45:28):
Just one play that Patrick Mahomes made in the game.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
Oh where he's getting crushed and he's falling down and
finds another unguarded.

Speaker 5 (45:36):
By his foot before he fell down, he threw a
touchdown pass. Yeah, well it's not an accident. He isn't lucky,
it's not. Well, we did everything. These plays happen over
and over and over off of his hands. Not this year,
every year of his whole career, including this year. No, yes,
watching their games, well, because he doesn't have fifty touchdown

(45:57):
I'm not saying it doesn't mean he doesn't make these
wins plays.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
But I'm not saying every week, no, not like he
has over this last runs.

Speaker 5 (46:05):
So I just like he has. They're not last year,
not this year. They're the best team in the NFL. Again, No,
they're not. They're not even close to the best team
in the NFL. You won't convince me otherwise.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
I obviously I should probably just stop trying. Good now
you're hearing me. No, they're not. You're right, I probably
can't convince you. No, it did. It's all they do
is win. That's usually a pretty good indication.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
The sorriest thing of all coming out of this weekend
is that I thought the Ravens would probably have a
better chance against them.

Speaker 5 (46:36):
Now I don't know what to think after what I saw.
Played the Bills for probably forty five minutes of that game. Yeah,
but they made they made mistakes. They made three humongous
solid This is the last mistake cost them the tie.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Right, So this is my point. And there was a
drop by you know, Mark Andrews, all that stuff. That's
all self inflicted wounds. Right, So you're you're basically agreeing
with me. What you saw out there was not the
better team probably winning, but because of some other little
things that happened on the Ravens side of things, they

(47:09):
lost that football game that was very very close.

Speaker 5 (47:12):
Yeah, and that's because they're not as good. That's because
Richond zam and ran to the left and Lamar Jackson
threw it where he thought he was gonna be. That
is a team inflicted wound of a team that's not
as in sync. They made their own mistake, that's Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
So the Bill look at what Josh Allen did in
this game. Can you even look at one play?

Speaker 9 (47:30):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (47:31):
Man, he was so awesome on this play. I can't
think of any That's how I feel about my homes.

Speaker 5 (47:35):
Yeah, but lose because they were not making mistakes. Mistakes
lose you games. The Ravens made them all.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
You know. It's funny though.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
You keep talking about that, and it's true, except for that,
they didn't have any turnovers either of the Texans. It's
not like they turned the ball over. They didn't make
that mistake.

Speaker 3 (47:50):
That's correct.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
That that's why it's hard for me to swallow out
with Chiefs are just far and away a better.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
Team, adjectives that make like you feel about it.

Speaker 5 (47:59):
I don't think that if they were far and away
better than everybody else, they'd be posting five hundred point seasons. Still,
they'd be winning thirty one to five.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
So then then you have to be willing to admit
to me that fifteen and two is deceptive. Then they're
not fifteen and two good.

Speaker 3 (48:13):
It's not deceptive, it is decept it's just not dominant.

Speaker 2 (48:17):
All right, we'll compromise on that. That's an hour of
a good radio for you. I hope I liked it.
We got another one to.

Speaker 4 (48:23):
Go the A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (48:32):
Two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam Talking Your Teams
series Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler are the A Team
A twenty.

Speaker 5 (48:53):
Twenty four twenty five Texans football here five season is over.
You know one thing that jumped out at me today
And I didn't have a chance to ask him about
it afterwards since he had already given.

Speaker 3 (49:03):
Us nine minutes of his time. Will Anderson Junior did
have a chance to how much do you love him? Well?

Speaker 5 (49:08):
Before the questions even really roll in today, he takes
a minute to thank us. I appreciate the work that
you do, how you guys have handled this season, how
you guys deal with us, and you know, respect the
jobs that you have. And afterwards, I just appreciate all
your time this year. So y soon, I'm sure. But
one thing he said was talking about leadership and how

(49:29):
much a bigger voice he has, and so many guys
like Will clearly from their comments to us, we're still
almost like, oh my.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
God, how can we not have a game next week? Yeah?
I mean, I know what we are capable of.

Speaker 5 (49:43):
Don't know how close that we were though, But he
said so he goes, you know, you know, I'm in
my third year and I'm done. I'm like, does he
already consider today Monday, the first Monday after his Saturday
finish he's now in his third season, because that's what
he'll be going into next year.

Speaker 3 (49:57):
And I did mention. I was live tweeting from time
the time during the game, and I believe the final
time did I know? I didn't.

Speaker 5 (50:04):
I was considering like walking out of my house and
doing all walk it out with WEX, But obviously I
was not in Kansas City, so I didn't feel like
it fit the uh fit the term. Plus I was
still worried about whether or not we'd have TikTok, which
we did get back.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
I shaved it. It was my first day on the job,
and I saved it.

Speaker 5 (50:22):
Each thing we bring up we need to get back to.
That's another thing. Just curious if you ever saw the
actual TikTok is down, we'll share it with everybody. But
just that it feels like these guys wanted to play.
They know how much more was there for them, and
that I did get from quite a few people, a

(50:43):
bunch of of guys talking about CJ, you know, to
me talking to Nico, who's been here on both sides.
This is year four, so he saw two years of
oh my god, or this is really what the NFL
is like, Coach Dave, coach lovey, this is really what
we're doing here. And he was also hurt and not
super productive playing with Davis as the number one.

Speaker 3 (51:04):
You forget that about a guy who's as awesome as
he is.

Speaker 5 (51:06):
But now he's playing with CJ and Bobby Sloak's offense.
They've been to the Division champs twice. They've been to
the postseason and one each year and lost in the
division round each year. So listening to how he views
CJ and what we all feel is obvious. Even with
this oh my god regression from CJ. I think what
you saw these last two games, these last two Saturdays,
ought to tell you no concern, no real everything's fine

(51:31):
if some of the other things fall into place, but
real positive about the direction. I think it sounded even
more positive about leadership. That's where I felt like more
of them seemed to see CJ a little bit differently
this year, like more of a leader. I think he
talked publicly so much about his faith this year that
a lot of them acknowledged. He was kind of deeper
into that talking about CJ this year as he goes

(51:53):
into the offseason, he acknowledged he was pretty banged up
by the end of the year, which was also fairly obvious.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
That was what was so funny about Will Anderson Jr.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
He was like, first of all, I want to thank
and I'm paraphrasing, I want to thank you, know, my
Lord and Savior or for being here. I don't know
if you said God or Jesus or whoever was thanking.
And by the way, we knew it was going to
be a US against the refs, Like, didn't even you
have to edit it.

Speaker 3 (52:12):
Saturday after the game. It was awesome.

Speaker 5 (52:13):
I did have a little mashup of Joe Dimiko, CJ,
and Will and appreciate those that were there in the
locker room. Grab some sound from Aaron Wilson works here
with us. We'll cuncle of Fox with some of the
stuff from Joe Mixon. It was pretty clear that while
it's fun for a lot of people who want the
narrative out there, and there's a reason why it exists.

(52:36):
To just make sure everybody hears the complaints, it was
us against the world. It was us against everyone. And
when I say everyone, I mean everyone. It was us
against the refs, literally saying that you know what you're
getting into when you play against them. But there were
other things said by all four of the people I
just mentioned. Joe Mixon very man, this is on us
as we made this mistake and that, and Will said

(52:58):
the same thing, and Dimiko said the same things while
he was discouraged.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
They know it wouldn't didn't help them win.

Speaker 5 (53:04):
But if they don't make any of the other mistakes,
and these are the only things that went against them,
roughing the passer penalty and an unnecessary roughness essentially the
same thing later in the game, if those are the
two things that happened, I think they'll probably win that game.
It was all the other mistakes that were made, and
I think they recognize that. CJ specifically though on the topic,
we spent much of our hour together here with the

(53:27):
offensive line. I feel like he talked about that today
in a roundabout kind of way. Maybe I'm reading between
the lines or putting something in there that isn't but
I'll leave that up to you. When he was talking
about their offense, you know what needs to be done
and you know what might happen in the future.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
Few things are obvious.

Speaker 5 (53:47):
Every NFL team goes through change in any given off season,
but it also kind of starts with the obvious, and
everybody in that locker room feels that. You feel it,
fans feel it, the Chiefs, Ravens and Bills probably feel it.
This team's pretty close to those other four teams. They
kind of dug their own grave and did the same
thing essentially last year against the Ravens. Much more dominant

(54:08):
performance Ravens v. Texans a year ago than Chiefs be
Texans this year. But listen to this lengthy comment from CJ.
Stroud on most of those things I just mentioned about
being close and about what needs to change.

Speaker 10 (54:22):
Yeah, I think you know, we're really close, and to
get to that level is really.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
First.

Speaker 10 (54:29):
It starts with, you know, communication and hard conversations have
to be had. There has to be you know, things
fixed and things worked out, and just really honest conversation.
So you know, I think that's one of the biggest
things that I've learned, is like this team won't look
the same next year from top to bottom, and you know,

(54:50):
you have to be okay with that and learn that.
You know, there has to be a from day one
of off season program, there has to be a standard
set and that standard has to be And where I
come from, like at Ohio State, was like I'm not
gonna be the one to mess this thing up. Like
I'm going to be the one to make this team
win the game. If that's first, if that's week one,

(55:12):
all the way to the AFC Championship, like that standard
from training camp, that has to be the standard. And
so I feel like you know that that's what needs
to be for us to get over that hump. Is
those you know, if you ain't, if you ain't bring
it every day, you stick out like a sore thumb.
And I think that mentality has to be brought here.
And I think we have the guys to do it

(55:32):
coaching Lee and and some guys playerly wise as well.
So I think we can get better at that as well.

Speaker 5 (55:39):
So do you feel like he was talking about their
blocking scheme.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
St a thousand times you got to fix the offensive line?

Speaker 5 (55:51):
I still he used the word, the word that means
it's broken. You have to fix it. It is broken.
What's happening up front it's broken with how they deal
with stunts and games, and twis it is broken how
they protect him. Thirty six dropbacks, let's see, yeah, thirty
forty two dropbacks, forty four dropbacks in yesterday's game, Saturday's game.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
You gonna start over.

Speaker 5 (56:15):
Yeah, So eight sacks, twenty eight attempts, six runs. None
of them were designed runs. So twenty eight plus six
is thirty four. Add eight to that and you're at
forty two. So if he was pressured on fifty six
percent of the snaps, that means he's dropping back and
turning into a run six times. When he's pressured nearly
every one of those times he got sacked eight times.

(56:38):
Those obviously are pressures. You're left with such a precious
low number of pass attempts where he was not under pressure.
Clearly he had many pass attempts where he was under pressure,
and then the other fourteen plays turned into a sack
or a scramble because you couldn't throw the ball.

Speaker 3 (56:56):
This is why I hate the regression talks so much.

Speaker 5 (56:58):
Well, when we were talking about regress and throughout the season,
and we were talking about holding onto the ball, and
you said this before I was here.

Speaker 3 (57:06):
I was on Woodway when you said this.

Speaker 5 (57:08):
He held the ball a lot more this year and he
didn't do that last year. And there's some clearly there's
numbers about, you know, time to throw two point three,
two point four, whatever the numbers are, but we watched
enough of those games. Sometimes you don't always have to
go to the numbers. I think it's true. And the
reason he didn't hold the ball is long last year
is because the belief that the line was going to
get it done allowed the OC to deploy more targets,

(57:33):
and those targets could get open, and they would be
open more quickly and you could get rid of the
ball because there's somewhere to throw it. I don't have
the total number yesterday or Saturday, but there was. If
you have any plays where you have seven guys into block,
which means you only have three guys running routes, I
mean unless they're open at the snap your host. Yeah,

(57:53):
so often the play almost can't work, and it's not
him holding the ball too long.

Speaker 3 (57:58):
It's compensation. It is exactly.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
This is the easiest way to describe this from in
terms of what you're talking about. When you've got a
leg injury on one that you've got two legs. Most
people do, I know there's some people don't. But for
people who have two regular legs healthy, you know whatever,
And you get an injury on one and you start
overcompensating for whatever injury that is, and either something goes

(58:22):
bad on the other leg or you're back or you're whatever.
That's what happened here. It was sort of an atrophy
of sorts for from the offensive standards that you saw
last and.

Speaker 5 (58:33):
When you get to this point in the season, those
three receivers, presuming they're all wide outs, and I think
sometimes in yesterday Saturday's game it was.

Speaker 3 (58:40):
Dalton and two wide outs safe.

Speaker 5 (58:43):
That means it's Nico and Xavier Hutchinson and or John Metchi.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
So when two of your receivers you thought were gonna
be out there are also taken away. That's another reason
why I'm not gonna go with the regression narrative.

Speaker 5 (58:57):
Yeah, can you succeed in those extra projects, Max protect? Well,
you have a lot better chance to if a you're
all on the same page and the guys running the
routes create separation, are more threatening, are more likely to
create an opportunity for you to throw it.

Speaker 3 (59:12):
I mean, I don't want to get down on Jared Wayne.
He is what he is.

Speaker 5 (59:16):
He actually started, he was on the field to open
the game, and he and CJ did everything right on
the play where he nearly made that spectacular one handed catch,
but it was a play that the defense won and
you almost basically threw it in their face.

Speaker 3 (59:33):
They ran a blitz they felt would work.

Speaker 5 (59:35):
The Texans were prepared if it does work, if this
is where the pressure comes from, because it's coming from
what basically Wayne's defender, that means Wayne's your hot red
And Wayne turned around, he got into a position and
CJ still had the I mean, that's about his early
a throw as you're going to see a quarterback make,
but he had to because of the timing of when

(59:55):
the rush was getting to him and you had Wayne
turning around and locating the ball in a split second.
He still almost made a spectacular play. But that's Jared
Wayne out there. That guy's not the third, fourth, fifth, sixth,
seventh wide receiver on your team. He's very deep on
the year practice squad throughout much of the year until
atrophy at the position sends him out there. And I
don't think he's an untalented player, but that's clearly not

(01:00:18):
normally the player you're gonna have out there at this
point in the season.

Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
So I want to hope when we come back, I
want to go back to my tweet that has a
lot to unpack for you, but also.

Speaker 5 (01:00:27):
Having doing nothing but unpacking since four to ten, well solid,
it's better than packing like they were doing. But uh,
you know, a peculiar phenomenon unfolded after I sent that
out on Saturday night, as it were, after the final,
and I want to get into that yet because it's
it's absolutely fascinating to me, kind of like our show

(01:00:49):
when you listen to us and we watch the same
exact thing and two completely different opinions I saw exactly,
So we'll get into that when we come back.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
Next the Sports Talk seven ninety I wonder how many
people watch that loss on Saturday afternoon at one of
the thirteen convenient locations for Big City Wings and they
thought to themselves, Man, that really sucked.

Speaker 3 (01:01:13):
But at least I'm here.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
I mean, there's things you have to point to as
far as silver linings, and I can't think of a
better place to be watching a playoff loss. If it
has to happen, then Big City Wings because you just say, hey, waiter, waitress,
come over here and make my day better, and they
will with all the things Big City Wings has to offer.

Speaker 5 (01:01:32):
Yeah, like you said, I know the locations were on fire.
I know the ETO location, nott a host of people
there and cheering, and Joe Mixon found his way into
the end zone. Houston's wing Joints. Why they're called Houston's
wing joint for a reason. There's one more game to
go this season on the college front. You can watch
it there tonight if.

Speaker 3 (01:01:51):
You so choose.

Speaker 5 (01:01:52):
Obviously, take care of everything you need to over the
next couple of days. You know Big City Wings will
do that. You got a big to go order. They
can handle that for you as well. Hit him up
the Big Citywings dot com for that location. Convenient to you,
Big City Wings. It's where the a team goes.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
We now return to Adam Clinton and Adam Wexelwerth on
Sports Talk seven ninety All.

Speaker 3 (01:02:15):
Right, before we get to.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
Me stirring the pot on social media without even intending
to this time, there are two different scenarios if you're
a Texans fan where you should feel okay given what
happened this weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:02:32):
One, you could be a Ravens fan that's gotta suck.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
Mark Andrews just dropping a tie game on a fairly
routine catch.

Speaker 5 (01:02:44):
Yeah, similar to the two point play they were in
against the Steelers when they also did not connect all that.
This one was much easier to connect, but a lot
of focus on that because of where it was in
the game. You're trying a two point conversion final two
minutes to tie, which seems like plenty of time for
the Bills to go out and put points on the board,
though they had not done much of that over the

(01:03:04):
afternoon unless they were gifted points. But that was the
fourth of four major major mistakes made. He made two
the fumble earlier, where I'm not sure the route he
decided to take. He caught the ball and the end
zone was in front of him, and he saw where
the defenders were coming from to his left, and he
slid back into Bernard, who Peanut Tillman the ball right out,

(01:03:26):
And obviously the two plays before that were Tamar Hamlin
was about to sack mar Jackson. He decided, I can
extend this play and he dropped the football and Von
Miller picked it up and then the interception that preceded that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
Well, and let's face it, the Bills are just a
lot easier to root for if you're a Texans fan,
I think, just given the history.

Speaker 5 (01:03:43):
Yeah, the other probably were rooting for them even more
after I sent you the Rocky three video featuring his fiance,
I mean himself, Josh.

Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
Yeah, Jackson to kill us. But man, there are some
funny stuff the other situation that should make you feel
even better.

Speaker 3 (01:04:04):
I mean, you could be a Lions fan.

Speaker 5 (01:04:07):
Wow, Well they lost in a way that got them there.

Speaker 3 (01:04:12):
This is how they play.

Speaker 5 (01:04:13):
I mean you got Jamison Williams throwing an interception and
you also had Jamison Williams running for a sixty yard touchdown.
You had a pitch to David Montgomery who then passed
it to Amon Rossaint Brown for a huge game, and
he had Jared Goff linging it all over the field.
This is a season where Jared Goff had a perfect
game in terms of completions.

Speaker 3 (01:04:31):
Every pass he threw was caught. He had a great season.

Speaker 5 (01:04:35):
And on this particular afternoon, they were out played by
the secondary for one, and really the defense overall. But
their defensive backs made some really nice plays, especially the
interception in the end zone. They made a really nice
play on the return for the pick six. I keep
stressing this every time teams don't get points on those plays.

(01:04:55):
The way that they ran that back and he purposely,
I'm not going to the sidelines, I'm cutting back. I'm
waiting for my blockers. I've got to find a way
to get it. You have to do that. And I
know the Texans beat the Chargers, but I was almost
lamenting when Derek Stingley Junior couldn't get in. I was
lamenting it earlier this year when Neville Hewitt picked up
that turnover against the Green Bay Packers and allowed Jordan

(01:05:16):
Love to help prevent him from scoring on that. But
you've got to get in the end zone. You gotta
do it, and they did so. It was bad afternoon
from that standpoint. And go figure this. If it wasn't
a season full of defensive injuries, then what would their
last game have been. The Robertson injury was tragic and
how it happened, and that he was hit by his
own teammate and broke his arm and was having a

(01:05:36):
great season. They're already decimated by injuries. It's good that
Aaron Glenn's defensive performance was team's performance was so good
and sewing up the number one seed against the Vikings
the final weekend of the regular season that nobody would
I don't think look at this performance and think, well,
maybe we don't need to interview him a second time.
He will almost assuredly join Ben Jonson in leaving the

(01:06:02):
Lions as a new head coach. That's something we haven't
mentioned today. Caleb Williams has a new head coach. His
name is Ben Johnson.

Speaker 2 (01:06:09):
Yeah, and that was where everybody thought he was going
to land.

Speaker 5 (01:06:13):
He's basically picking the quarterback he wants to win with.
Because there are a lot of things that aren't great
about the Bear situation. He's very familiar with one of them.
As good as they might be, they're the worst team
in their four team division, and that's an uphill battle
that they'll be facing for I think many years to come.

(01:06:34):
They could get past it. They could become just like
the Vikings or any one of those teams.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
By the way, the NFC North had a lot of
unceremonious endings to their prospective seasons.

Speaker 5 (01:06:47):
Blamed at all of them the Vikings got crushed by
the Lions to head to the postseason, and then.

Speaker 2 (01:06:55):
The Lions got crushed by the Kamis to end a
dream season, and Jordan Love looked very pedestrian, although anybody
would against the Eagles. And I still haven't decided who's
gonna win between the Eagles and the Bills when the
Super Bowl set.

Speaker 5 (01:07:08):
It seems like that's the pretty popular pick at this point,
even with the Chiefs doing what they've done and obviously
playing at home.

Speaker 2 (01:07:15):
Commander.

Speaker 5 (01:07:16):
The Commanders aren't a long winning streak, yeah, and they
they played, but they do really well against the Lions.
Being a plus five in the turnover game usually helped.
Because the Eagles are they're a different breed.

Speaker 3 (01:07:28):
And they're not. And like, look at these quarterbacks that advanced.

Speaker 5 (01:07:32):
Jayden Daniels is not like them because he was awesome,
Josh Allen let the other team beat themselves and didn't
make mistakes. What would Jalen Hurts do the same thing?
And then he also watched Saquon Barkley go berserk. He
also had a nice run. And then who's the other
team that's there? The Chiefs, I mean, Mahomes wasn't bad.

(01:07:53):
But he didn't go out there and win that game.
They didn't ride his shoulders into the next round to
find bad.

Speaker 3 (01:07:58):
He didn't make any mistakes, okay, but other things that
were annoying.

Speaker 5 (01:08:01):
Oh yeah, he's If you want to know what a
flop in the NBA looks like, that's the game tape.

Speaker 2 (01:08:07):
I had something for Best of X tomorrow that I'm
saving what he did with someone offered to come out
of retirement to end his career so that they could
stop that sort of thing.

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
And I've got to no, it's not. It's not.

Speaker 2 (01:08:20):
And when you hear who it is tomorrow at two thirty,
because I'm not even telling you, well.

Speaker 3 (01:08:23):
I texted it to you so you can look. I
know who it is. But here's the deal.

Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
If you are any number of analysts, celebrities, just general
observers that were weighing in on this, a lot of
them were saying the same thing. And to be honest
with you, I kind of agree with it because it's football,
even though this is against this is against all sorts
of decorum and decency. And I don't care if he's

(01:08:51):
gonna get the flag anyways, Tee off earn it. Yeah,
Will Anderson definitely didn't tee off. Make him think about
it the next time he decides to.

Speaker 3 (01:09:00):
Do so of that cute stuff. Yeah, I don't think
he did.

Speaker 5 (01:09:04):
It's hard to say on the Will Anderson hit if
he didn't embellish, because it's definitely why the call was
made according to the official, because there was a pool report.

Speaker 3 (01:09:13):
He flops.

Speaker 5 (01:09:14):
Well, what he did on that play or what happened
on that play, if you don't want to say he embellished,
is the referee is in a really bad position if
he's the only one task with making that call. Clay Martin,
the head referee, is it's his job to call roughing
the passer. He's standing in this particular instance, and in
many of those instances directly behind the quarterback. So the

(01:09:36):
person hitting him in this case was Will Anderson. Happened
to be coming from directly in front of Pat Mahomes,
so all he saw was his head snap back. It
didn't snap back because there was contact with his head.
It didn't snap back because there was late contact or
inappropriate contact or too much forcible contact to the head
and neck area.

Speaker 3 (01:09:54):
It's a perfectly legitimate hit.

Speaker 5 (01:09:56):
He hit him in the shoulder, but Clay Martin can't
see that, and they don't allow for a review to
fix it, apparently, and they don't allow for other people
to come in there and say, hey, man, I know
what you're true, I know what you're doing here, but
we're on this crew too. Don't make us look bad.
There's no need for a penalty there. Nothing happened. He
didn't tee off on them, and obviously Henry and Foley
neither one of them teed off on him either, because

(01:10:17):
that's not their intent. And you know, Will Anderson talked
about that at the end of his interview a couple
of minutes, and at the end because he was asked
specifically about does the league need to look at this
because they're going to do they need to change this,
and he kept saying, look at us, man, and he's
like pointing to his body up and like, we're big,
fast athletes. It's not easy. We can't go full speed

(01:10:39):
or go to tackle some guy and then just stop.
It's just the physics behind it don't work. And that's
definitely what happened on the Toatoa hitting his teammate hit
that resulted in a fifteen year penalty.

Speaker 2 (01:10:51):
All right, there's some dumbs in this town when it
comes to assessing the offensive line. We will get to
that in the final segment today. We will get to
some of the things we have not gotten to. Next
it's called in case you missed it.

Speaker 4 (01:11:06):
The A one Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:11:10):
I want to tell you guys about getting rid of
your joint pain the way we've been telling you to
for a long long time. If you have not taken
our advice on this, well now at this point, you're
just stubborn.

Speaker 3 (01:11:20):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):
If you want to hurt for the rest of your life, hey,
go right ahead. That's like leaving your offensive line the
same way and expecting different results.

Speaker 3 (01:11:28):
Don't be like that.

Speaker 2 (01:11:30):
Instead, don't do surgery, don't do drugs, don't do downtime.
Do something that's not only going to avoid all of
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Speaker 8 (01:12:35):
Throw This is cambickmore here, every rocket is game more
Sports Talk seven nine hand streaming on the iHeartRadio app Home.

Speaker 2 (01:12:49):
All right, Uh, it's easy coming off a weekend and
an abbreviated show to miss some things.

Speaker 3 (01:12:56):
So that's what this segment is for in case you
missed it. What's up Dan? Hey, Hey, what's going on?

Speaker 6 (01:13:00):
So as Wex pointed to earlier, me and him inside
the Texans locker room earlier today, Yes, a lot of
industrial sized trash bags signing jerseys for players, all of
those different things that you see at the end of
a season, a chance for us to catch up with
players as well. So one of the questions that Texans
fans and media alike have for this team is how

(01:13:21):
close are they to being able to, I don't know, say,
catch up to the Chiefs, the Ravens, the Bills. I
E reached the AFC Championship game. Will Anderson Junior.

Speaker 9 (01:13:30):
We're right there. We're right there, Like I don't care
nobody say, this is a fantastic team. We got our quarterback,
we got everything we need. We just got to keep stacking,
to keep persevering. Mal We got a squad, like I said,
we have a squad. We have a great team, and
we just got to keep finding a ways, finding ways.
Like if you look at all the teams that's in
the AFC, and it's like they're just finding a way
to win. And that's what we got to do a
better job is finding a way, all right.

Speaker 6 (01:13:51):
So there's a follow up from Anderson Junior because what
has also been the theme for the Texans in the
divisional round wildcard at home divisional round, you got to
on the road.

Speaker 3 (01:14:00):
It hasn't gone well for them, So throw some shade. Will.
Here's Will Anderson Junior saying what could be different.

Speaker 9 (01:14:07):
We gotta win these regular season games so we can
get homefield advantage, like I know talking to some of
the guys after the games, like that's what we have
to so we can't lose to the teams like the Titans,
the Jets. You know, we gotta beat Detroit like we
can't like suffer loss. They're like, we gotta get home
fielder Packers, and I think that's really gonna help us.
But if we don't, we gotta find a way on
the road to win, no matter the noise, no matter
what it is, like, we gotta find a way to win.

Speaker 5 (01:14:27):
I wish you wouldn't have said Packers, and I wish
Will would not have said Detroit. He said Detroit because
they could have clearly should have beaten them in that
particular Sunday game. But what he really said was the
Titans suck. We can't lose games to the Titans. The
Jets are embarrassment. We can't lose the teams like that.
But that's what I want those that's shade. I like that,
you know what, that's not obviously what he meant.

Speaker 2 (01:14:48):
But no, But but he's right because they were games
that they were in until a final.

Speaker 3 (01:14:52):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:14:53):
Well some of them were the Packers game where they
lose on a field goal. You know, if the matchup's different,
is the outcome different? I don't know if the matchups
in Houston is the is the outcome different even.

Speaker 3 (01:15:05):
If it's against the same team, Like, you just don't
know these things.

Speaker 5 (01:15:07):
Well, how about if he, you know, doesn't go the
route of had we won some of these other games,
where might we be? So they finished ten and seven, right,
mm hm? And they played the Ravens on Christmas Day?

Speaker 3 (01:15:19):
Right m hm.

Speaker 5 (01:15:20):
Let's just say they beat them, Okay, So now they're
eleven and six, right, yeah, okay, and then the Ravens
finished twelve and five. But let's turn that Texans win
into a loss to the Texans. So now there are
eleven and six. Mm hm, Well you would have had
now you're three. That's that's already one spot up. If
you only beat the team, that's ahead of you, which
prevents them from being ahead of you.

Speaker 3 (01:15:40):
His ways easier.

Speaker 5 (01:15:42):
Beat the crappy teams on your schedule, and they're not
that many next year, and you'll be in a better spot.

Speaker 3 (01:15:48):
If you're three, you're home for the Steelers.

Speaker 5 (01:15:50):
Correct, well, presuming the Steelers wouldn't have finagled their way
into winning the division, because obviously some of if that
result has changed, has changed anything else about how games
were played? I mean probably not so, Yeah, you would
have bumped up one spot and.

Speaker 2 (01:16:02):
You're playing the Bills yesterday or Saturday.

Speaker 5 (01:16:05):
Well, you would have opened instead of with the Chargers.
You would have opened with these Steelers. But then you
when you advanced, are you at home?

Speaker 3 (01:16:12):
No, you would have played at the Bills.

Speaker 5 (01:16:14):
If okay, if everything else held true, then because if
the Ravens had somehow lost their game, well then that
would have changed some of the other matchup.

Speaker 3 (01:16:23):
I'm glad he's saying this like you're saying.

Speaker 5 (01:16:25):
Also, the first thing that he said, the first quote
bite that we played, when he said we're this close,
he actually put his fingers.

Speaker 3 (01:16:32):
Together and there was no room in between them when
he said it. There wasn't distance. He said there we're
this close. Not a TV day, But.

Speaker 2 (01:16:39):
You know, there's a lot of parts of the last
dance that you could point to, like, oh, that's my favorite.
I think my favorite ultimately was the aspect of Okay,
we got beaten by the pistons again, we're getting to
the facility the next morning and we're lifting weights. Not
that these guys don't lift weights, like Jordan didn't lose
lift weights, got beat up. But it's a different but
it's the same principle, like let's start now instead of

(01:17:03):
waiting until. I know he mentioned OTAs, But if you
want to get started before OTAs, I'm fine with that.

Speaker 5 (01:17:09):
I think there are quite a few guys I know,
some in particular, since I asked them that we're we're
going to be spending the early portion of their offseason
here before you know, they're going to take some time off,
but they're going to be here in an effort to
continue to build what I believe they are.

Speaker 3 (01:17:23):
Kill everyone. That should be the hashtag next year?

Speaker 6 (01:17:25):
What else we got? All right, So let's stay in
the Texans locker room. So extension talk. Now, you might
say that I'm a year early. If we were talking
about C J. Stroud. Not the case for Derek Stingley Junior.
He could get one this offseason, and sting asked about
that very thing.

Speaker 4 (01:17:41):
Yeah, I want to be here for this.

Speaker 10 (01:17:43):
Is that something you want to get downe in the offseason.

Speaker 4 (01:17:45):
I mean, I'm gonna let who have handled it handled it? Oh,
I'm gonna just be here.

Speaker 3 (01:17:50):
We're going out just you know, take care of me.

Speaker 5 (01:17:54):
If you're wondering who whoever is that would be David
Mullagett of Athletes First and currently Nick Cassario.

Speaker 2 (01:18:00):
Well, he's not gonna be doing anything with Deshaun Watson
other than restructuring his contract, so he's got time.

Speaker 5 (01:18:05):
He is one of the most important agents in the
NFL and it has not taken he and Athletes First
to reach that position. Their portfolio of clients, specifically here
in Houston for one team, is incredible.

Speaker 2 (01:18:20):
Do you think he'll look at the camera at some
point this offseason after Stingley gets extended and say nothing
can be proven except for this man is a sensational athlete.

Speaker 5 (01:18:29):
I think we heard CJ say, you know CJ. Over
the course of the season, and it gets asked about
sting another player he was talking about sting earlier this
year and he mentioned it on the podium. Oh, he's
he's gonna get the bag and it will happen this offseason.

Speaker 3 (01:18:43):
Don't let him walk last.

Speaker 5 (01:18:44):
Offseason, that question was asked by me to Nico Collins,
you know, would you like to get you know he's
not a first round pick, but you know coming off
of the season he CJ put together. I said, which
would you like to see something get done? And he
answered it the very same way. I'll let the people
that handle that handle that. I can tell you with
one hundred certainty, he's very happy going into this offseason

(01:19:06):
that that was already taken care of.

Speaker 2 (01:19:08):
Well, what about Will Anderson Jr. Because on top of
CJ and Stingley, like he's.

Speaker 5 (01:19:14):
Will and c J on the same path towards They're
not getting an extension this year, They're only going into
year three.

Speaker 2 (01:19:20):
I'm just thinking about pieces that you absolutely don't want
to let walk out the door.

Speaker 3 (01:19:24):
There's gonna be player made.

Speaker 5 (01:19:26):
Is gonna be a tough decision about what number do
we settle on. There's no decision about whether they're going
to be here or not. They're all going to be here.
Niko's the first one to go because he's more easily replaceable.

Speaker 3 (01:19:39):
But you have the number one corner or close.

Speaker 5 (01:19:42):
Will Anderson is awfully close to being in that super
elite group.

Speaker 3 (01:19:46):
Just look at what he's done in his postseason game.

Speaker 2 (01:19:48):
This isn't letting Mario Williams walk into ball. No, not
even close. So if Mario Williams had played like will
Anderson every year, he'd be getting that bag here.

Speaker 3 (01:19:57):
Uh time for anything else?

Speaker 6 (01:19:59):
Yeah he should. Icago Bears reportedly have their new head coach.
It is soon to be former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator
Ben Johnson. Two sides said to be finalizing a deal
and the Jaguars bringing in a host of in one
case a former head coach, but others who are looking
for their first head coaching jobs for second in person interviews.

(01:20:21):
One is former Raiders DC Patrick Graham. The former head
coach is Robert Sala of the Jets and Buccaneers O C.
Liam Cohen expected to visit with Jacksonville this week.

Speaker 3 (01:20:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:20:33):
Graham has long been sought by many teams, has not
landed a head coaching job yet. He was reportedly the
second choice in Minnesota before they hired Kevin O'Connell, very
well respected guy, and I think that makes some sense
for Jacksonville. We'll see if it turns out that way.
Something we're not going to get to. And in case
you missed it on a day full of football news

(01:20:55):
related to the ultimate landing spot for one Alex Bregg,
maybe yeah, that's next.

Speaker 4 (01:21:06):
The eight on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
Get your testosterone level where it needs to be right now,
because why are you waiting here? In twenty twenty five,
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when your testosterone level dips, that's not who you are anymore.
You're this new version of the guy you used to

(01:21:32):
be and it sucks. Yeah, there's no other way around it.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Because if you guys
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In addition to a number of different symptoms, your mood swings,

(01:21:54):
and everything else. It could be low testosterone. And it's
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is getting you back to being the best version of yourself.
The only place to do it Men's Tea Clinic, and
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dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:22:30):
Some people strive to have a nice house, cushy job,
and well adjusted children.

Speaker 4 (01:22:37):
Not Adam and Adam new Way.

Speaker 1 (01:22:39):
They strive to give you the best damn drive home
in Houston. Sports Thanks guys, Bring your kids to Workday
is a real treat.

Speaker 3 (01:22:48):
Around here, little brats.

Speaker 1 (01:22:51):
Back to Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler Fine Sports Talk
seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (01:23:00):
We got every day the rest of the week that
we're here with you to discuss the future of the
fourth best team in the AFC, the Houston Texans, where
they've been now two years running every year with Tabiko
Ryans and Will Anderson and c J.

Speaker 3 (01:23:13):
Stroud, etc. And that's where they are again.

Speaker 5 (01:23:16):
Back to back years, same four teams in the AFC
reached the same spot. This time it'll be Kansas City
in Baltimore or Kansas City in Buffalo meeting for the
AFC Championship. By the way, Patrick Mahomes has only played
in the AFC Championship every single season Before I slide
into that item regarding Alex Bregman, I just it's too

(01:23:39):
big of a number for me to let it wait
another day. So this was year seven in the postseason
for Pat Mahomes. Peyton Manning went to the postseason fifteen times.
Guess which one of them had more postseasons in their
career in which they won at least game at least
one game. Man been there seven times. Manning's been there

(01:24:03):
fifteen times. MS, Yeah, or else I wouldn't have presented
it that way because you know why, because Manning lost
his first postseason game. Nine different visits to the postseason.

Speaker 2 (01:24:13):
Yeah, and a lot of those times he wound up
facing off against Brady.

Speaker 5 (01:24:18):
No, not really a bunch of just a bunch of
random teams, some with Denver, some with the Colts when
they got crushed by the Jets, et cetera. But again,
at some point people will recognized players are being made.

Speaker 3 (01:24:30):
I think they realized that.

Speaker 5 (01:24:31):
I'll probably laying in on a bit thick, but seven
years in the postseason, you've won your opening playoff game
every single time, You've played in the AFC title game
every single time, and their one home went away from
going back to the Super Bowl. And I say that
to make sure everybody realized that Anthony Santander, outfielder DH
for the Orioles, is now outfielder DH for the Blue Jays.
Multiple reports say they want him for five years, ninety

(01:24:55):
two and a half million, so a little bit under
nineteen million per season, So other parts of the deal
could push it to one hundred and ten over six
years significantly less, I guess in Christian Walker, no, just
more years in a slightly smaller average annual value. But
the kind of contract of the Astros probably were right

(01:25:17):
in being a little worried about the Blue Jays, aren't
they like spending unnecessary additional money to finish behind the
Red Sox, the Yankees, the Orioles, and maybe still the race,
but we'll see. I think it impacts the Blue Jays
fakeness in being a part of the Alex Bregman sweepstakes.
It's talking to somebody today, and in my opinion then

(01:25:39):
and now even more so now, the Blue Jays being
linked to Alex Bregman was a smart ploy made by
the agent to make other teams or everybody else believe
there's an additional suitor and you're gonna have to up
your offer because we might end up there. I never
thought it made any sense. I never thought it made
any sense for the Blue Jays to be interested in him.

(01:26:00):
It never made any sense for him to want to
play there and go there. But I do think each
day that goes by is getting Alex Bregman less and
less happy with his off season. It is January twentieth,
He's probably going to bed tonight without a team, and
spring training begins for nearly every team in baseball long

(01:26:21):
before February twentieth, one month from now.

Speaker 2 (01:26:25):
Well, look spoke to somebody about this who's very much
in the know, and they put it about as succinctly
and as simply as possible. If Alex Bregman wanted to
be an Astro, he'd be an Astro because at the
end of the day, it's up to him. It's not
Scott Boris's fault. He's not ruining the game of baseball.

(01:26:46):
It's I mean, I hate it because all the shots
you're the player. It's the ugly side of this business.
But yeah, going back to the numbers you're talking about,
I don't want that, not from what I've seen.

Speaker 5 (01:26:58):
So after this Santai deal hit the news, believe it
or not, received a text that said, so Blue Jays
are now out. That just leaves the Red Sox and
Tigers and Astros Comma right, Well it doesn't. I did
receive that. That's a believe it.

Speaker 2 (01:27:16):
But you know why because there is a video floating
around of Joe Aspota saying the door is always open.

Speaker 5 (01:27:23):
I believe Nate Griffin caught up with Joe Aspata. You
also heard Joe Aspota here on Sports Talk seven to
ninety this past Friday evening on a special edition of
Astro Line. But yeah, I mean he said the obvious
and honestly if we get to our Saturday broadcast at
Dykin Park for Astro's FanFest and he has not signed
a contract, that question is going to be asked of

(01:27:44):
us from people there and probably of his former or
potentially future teammates about you know, his pop prospects.

Speaker 3 (01:27:50):
Well, he doesn't have a team. He is unsigned.

Speaker 2 (01:27:53):
Bro. What if he walks in the door at FanFest
and that's how they announce, Well, he's back.

Speaker 9 (01:27:58):
Baby.

Speaker 3 (01:27:58):
He can't fly in today or tomorrow, probably definitely not tomorrow,
since no one can.

Speaker 5 (01:28:03):
I'm sure there's flights from Arizona to Houston in the
next couple of days.

Speaker 2 (01:28:07):
Stuart Bregman, come home. You know you don't want to
go anywhere else, really in your heart of hearts.

Speaker 5 (01:28:11):
They sang Happy Birthday at Cubsfest over the weekend at
Kyle Tucker as he was introduced with the rest of
the team.

Speaker 3 (01:28:19):
Fan big jersey he held up in that picture, Cubbs jersey. Yeah, yeah,
that's what he's gonna wear. They look stupid. I believe you.
I said, your hair looks stupid.

Speaker 5 (01:28:32):
I do definitely think the Jays are off the table,
and I think Santander to Toronto just means guy got
his money and it's went to a much worse baseball situation.

Speaker 2 (01:28:43):
Right, And Santan Dare has all the makings of that
guy that somebody paid a bunch of money for that
never ever lives up to the car. This is what
the Blue Jays do lately, and George Springer is one
of those guys.

Speaker 5 (01:28:58):
Unfortunately, not expecting George to live up to the contract
is not I expected it to be in a better situation.

Speaker 3 (01:29:04):
Didn't work out for him.

Speaker 2 (01:29:05):
And do you think Santander Jause is just better? He's
a better baseball player. But do you think Santander has
yet to play his best season or do you think
it's probably captain in Orioles unif he.

Speaker 5 (01:29:14):
Played his best season last year. So I would say yes,
that's gonna do it for us today. Hopefully everybody will
have their way to stay safe and sound.

Speaker 3 (01:29:21):
We'll be with you tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (01:29:22):
You'll obviously have wall to wall coverage on news radio
seven forty k TRH as well, But make sure you
get back to the house or whatever safe haven you've
got in short order, and we'll talk to you again soon.

Speaker 4 (01:29:35):
The Age on Sports Talk seven ninety