October 7, 2025 • 9 mins
Houston Texans’ Radio Voice takes fans through the Bye Week after a BIG win vs Baltimore.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Joining us is Mark Vandermer. He's the voice of the Texans. Terrific.
When Mark Ye face to beat up Baltimore team and
took care of business early and often against them.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well that's the whole thing, right Andy, When you face
a team like that, you want to do what the
great teams are going to do. And I'm not saying
the Texans are a great team yet, but they took
care of it in a big way. Forty four points
on the board, scoring in their first eight offensive possessions,
playing great defense, taking the ball away, and really making
(00:36):
life miserable for the Ravens. And that's what you wanted
to do. You wanted to make them pay for being
under manned and for the fact that you've never been
able to win up there. So I thought it was
a thorough victory. Really great to see the offense get
cranked up. CJ. Stroud came into the game with four
touchdown passes and then he threw four touchdown passes, so
now he has eight. It was a get well game,
(00:58):
stats game. You need that you feel good about yourself
going into the buy. Now you just got to keep
it going.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
One hundred and sixty seven yards rushing a bunch of
Guys's took a village to get to that number, but
you got to that number.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I thought that was a huge.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Stat Yeah, and I like taking a village. I think
Chubbs ninety one that was good. He had that touchdown run.
Woody Marsh did his thing. CJ running the ball, We've
talked about that before. I think it's important that CJ
runs it at least a little bit selectively. Cheap teams
off balance. So they got the ground game going, and
I think the offensive line is playing better. They're down
in the pre snap penalties dramatically, and they're just taking
(01:34):
care of their business better. The communication is a lot better.
It's a dramatic improvement overall in the last two three weeks.
Really against Jacksonville, he turned the ball over in the
fourth quarter. Should have won that game, but you know,
you can't do it if you turn the ball over,
and they had three cough ups in the fourth quarter,
and I think have they been able to pull that
one out? The nation would be talking about the Texans
(01:56):
possibly right now, considering what the Jaguars did last But
the Texans will have to take their medicine with the
Owen three hole they continue to climb out of it,
and now they have the buye before heading to Seattle.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
You know, I think at the beginning of the season,
and I'm guilty of this, I thought the NFC South
was kind of a straight shot for the Texans.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I was not sold on Jacksonville. I was not sold
on Indieapolis.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I thought they were good five hundred teams maybe, and
then Tennessee is still up in coming. But now that's
become a really big, really contentious division because of the
success of Indian Jacksonville too.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yes, and Jacksonville's went over Kansas City. The fact that
the Colts are four and one and they look pretty good.
They beat Denver, and now Denver could have gotten that game,
but you know, the Colts ended up with more points,
and that's what it takes. So I think, look, these
teams are off the great starts, no doubt about it.
You have a long way to go here, and you
can look at it two different ways. The Colts have
(02:52):
a tougher schedule overall. The Jags don't. But they play
the Colts twice. They played the Texans one more time,
and a lot of different things can happen. Nobody in
the NRG Stadium. Campus is giving up on this thing.
Yet they know that they'll have their opportunities because all
the teams you need to beat you have on your schedule, right,
(03:14):
so you have a chance to still make hay here.
But you got to play well. So let's see if
they can play well. We'll just take it one game
at a time, as the cliche goes, because that's all
you can do.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Bye week comes kind of early this year, but you've
also had a bunch of training camp and a bunch
of games in the last nine ten weeks.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So good or would you rather it be later?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Rather it be later, rather it be about I don't
know two three weeks from now, but it is what
it is. Last year it was so late, it was
in December, it was crazy, and now it's so early.
But I think, look, you've got to deal with it
whenever they give it to you, and you'll take the rest.
I think the players could really use it. You know
a lot of people think, well, you're hot, now you
(03:56):
should continue playing. I think they'll be just fine in
that category. You hear some bumps and bruises, probably stuff
that doesn't even make the injury report, so you get
to recharge, and I know Nick Cassario Demiico Ryans are
really hard at work self scouting and figuring out how
they can be better because it's a tough stretch coming up.
They go to Seattle, then they have three home games
(04:17):
in a row and they're all difficult. You have the
forty nine Ers, Broncos, and the Jaguars after the Seattle trip,
and the Seattle trips a Monday night game. So you
and I'll be talking two weeks from tonight with the
result of that game, and the Texans will be on
a super short week to get ready for the forty
nine Ers and the Seattle game being a night game, Hey,
(04:38):
you're not going to get back till eight in the
morning here in Houston. So that's gonna be something to
deal with. What's the other handle it?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yeah, I'm very familiar with that.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
We had a football game at Colorado State two weeks
ago and we got home at six fifteen, So I
can feel your pain with that one.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
What do you make of the Seattle game?
Speaker 1 (04:53):
But more importantly the preparation for it, giving all this
time to get ready for that game, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Well, they'll it takes some time this week to just
do some general stuff, give the players the rest, and
then get back to it next week. Now, next week
will be weird because it's a Monday night game, so
your game week Wednesday, which is really your first full practice,
will actually happen a week from Thursday, which is bizarre.
It's an extra long buy with the Monday night game.
(05:20):
But again, you got to take what they give you,
so they'll do it. But I know they'll be back
in action early next week, probably Tuesday, with a nice
hard practice to set the tone for the week and
then take it from there. The Seahawks haven't played as
well as they usually do at home, but that by
no means means they're going to be a layup up there.
I mean that is a real rough environment. It's the
(05:41):
longest trip that most teams ever take, and you think
about what it must be like to be one of them,
because their shortest flight is something like three and a
half hours. So it's just a different existence. And it's
amazing how well they've done over the years despite having
to travel so much, even in their own division, but
it is what it is. Texas will have to cope
with the noise of the Pacific Northwest Sam Darnold's played
(06:03):
well this stage of his career, and you have to
be at your best because the Bops it took everything
they had to beat them. This past week, another comfort
behind win for the you know, five game MVP, if
you will, Baker Mayfield, all right, what do you.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Make We've seen two instances in the last couple of
weeks at a night Mitchell did it for the Colts,
and the running back for the Cardinals did it the
other day where they get to the end zone and
they're so anxious to get rid of the ball to
celebrate that they forget to cross the goal line. I
mean to me, it's like, I don't even know why
you're dropping the ball in the first place. How do
you deal with that as a broadcaster when you see it.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I would freak out if it was my team, and
I'd be celebrating profusely. If it's against me and they
blew the touchdown because you lived in the Colts, I
mean that that cost them the game really against and
the Cardinals too. Look at the Cardinals, it cost them
the game against the Tennessee Titans. And you know, we
all saw what happened with Jonathan Gammon afterwards, Amy Mitchell
said something like, well, I saw some emblems or something.
(06:59):
I thought, you know, really, I mean, these guys are
so talented, so athletically gifted, and they could probably operate
fighter jets, and they can't tell when they're in the
end zone, you know what, tell them it all you
want make sure you cross that plane of the goal line.
It's not that difficult, I think because I asked him,
but he didn't really admit it. But I bet Tamiko
(07:20):
Ryan showed, and a lot of coaches did this, showed
their team that tape. They're so quick with the video
now in these meetings that they have with the players,
and they have to have it because everybody has the
attention span of a flee these days, all across all
walks of life. So I'm sure every coach is doing
his best to show examples, don't do this, do it
like this, don't do it like that, whatever the case
(07:41):
may be. And they've got video evidence to back up
every point they're trying to make. So this probably made
the rounds around all thirty two teams.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
We've had a year and a handful of games with
the new kickoff rule like it.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Don't like it. Think it's good. What are your thoughts
on it?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You know, I really do like it because it's don't
go to the inserator kind of moment, right, And you
do play by play andy, right, so you know that
this is a play that normally, I mean in college match,
you know, don't get me started with the fair catch.
It's so silly. Might even bother kicking off, it's crazy.
But in the NFL, now it's a play. I mean,
(08:18):
you saw what happened last night. The Chiefs kickoff out
of bounds. You gotta be kidding. He gave them a
sixty yard field to go ahead and grab the lead.
But these things happened. I knew this was going to
be the case with the touch back at the thirty
five yard line, but last year was one thing. But
now that the touchback is at the thirty five, you're
seeing more returns than ever. Teams are taking their chances
(08:39):
with the returns, and then you get the mistakes and
the kickoffs, and it's just dramatic. There's just more things
happening that you got to pay attention to. As a
play by play man, I always have to know who
the return guys are before so many balls sailed out
on the back of the end.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That big deal.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You didn't even care. I mean he cared, but you
get pick it up on the go. Oh wow, we
got an actual return. My goodness. Now it's every ball's
being returned and you're getting some weird bounces. And you
better know who's back there returning these kicks. Now, usually
it's the same guys that started the game, but sometimes
they make subtle changes. You got to be on your toes.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Okay, Mark, thanks so much. We'll talk about Seattle next week.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
All thanks a lot. Andy.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, that's Mark Vandermier. He's the voice of the Texans.
The Auburn football team is going to do something next
year that I cannot I can't get come to grips
with bad idea.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
We'll tell you what it is next on the ticket.
Joining us is Mark Vandermer. He's the voice of the Texans. Terrific.
When Mark Ye face to beat up Baltimore team and
took care of business early and often against them.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well that's the whole thing, right Andy, When you face
a team like that, you want to do what the
great teams are going to do. And I'm not saying
the Texans are a great team yet, but they took
care of it in a big way. Forty four points
on the board, scoring in their first eight offensive possessions,
playing great defense, taking the ball away, and really making
(00:36):
life miserable for the Ravens. And that's what you wanted
to do. You wanted to make them pay for being
under manned and for the fact that you've never been
able to win up there. So I thought it was
a thorough victory. Really great to see the offense get
cranked up. CJ. Stroud came into the game with four
touchdown passes and then he threw four touchdown passes, so
now he has eight. It was a get well game,
(00:58):
stats game. You need that you feel good about yourself
going into the buy. Now you just got to keep
it going.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
One hundred and sixty seven yards rushing a bunch of
Guys's took a village to get to that number, but
you got to that number.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I thought that was a huge.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Stat Yeah, and I like taking a village. I think
Chubbs ninety one that was good. He had that touchdown run.
Woody Marsh did his thing. CJ running the ball, We've
talked about that before. I think it's important that CJ
runs it at least a little bit selectively. Cheap teams
off balance. So they got the ground game going, and
I think the offensive line is playing better. They're down
in the pre snap penalties dramatically, and they're just taking
(01:34):
care of their business better. The communication is a lot better.
It's a dramatic improvement overall in the last two three weeks.
Really against Jacksonville, he turned the ball over in the
fourth quarter. Should have won that game, but you know,
you can't do it if you turn the ball over,
and they had three cough ups in the fourth quarter,
and I think have they been able to pull that
one out? The nation would be talking about the Texans
(01:56):
possibly right now, considering what the Jaguars did last But
the Texans will have to take their medicine with the
Owen three hole they continue to climb out of it,
and now they have the buye before heading to Seattle.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
You know, I think at the beginning of the season,
and I'm guilty of this, I thought the NFC South
was kind of a straight shot for the Texans.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I was not sold on Jacksonville. I was not sold
on Indieapolis.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I thought they were good five hundred teams maybe, and
then Tennessee is still up in coming. But now that's
become a really big, really contentious division because of the
success of Indian Jacksonville too.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yes, and Jacksonville's went over Kansas City. The fact that
the Colts are four and one and they look pretty good.
They beat Denver, and now Denver could have gotten that game,
but you know, the Colts ended up with more points,
and that's what it takes. So I think, look, these
teams are off the great starts, no doubt about it.
You have a long way to go here, and you
can look at it two different ways. The Colts have
(02:52):
a tougher schedule overall. The Jags don't. But they play
the Colts twice. They played the Texans one more time,
and a lot of different things can happen. Nobody in
the NRG Stadium. Campus is giving up on this thing.
Yet they know that they'll have their opportunities because all
the teams you need to beat you have on your schedule, right,
(03:14):
so you have a chance to still make hay here.
But you got to play well. So let's see if
they can play well. We'll just take it one game
at a time, as the cliche goes, because that's all
you can do.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Bye week comes kind of early this year, but you've
also had a bunch of training camp and a bunch
of games in the last nine ten weeks.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So good or would you rather it be later?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Rather it be later, rather it be about I don't
know two three weeks from now, but it is what
it is. Last year it was so late, it was
in December, it was crazy, and now it's so early.
But I think, look, you've got to deal with it
whenever they give it to you, and you'll take the rest.
I think the players could really use it. You know
a lot of people think, well, you're hot, now you
(03:56):
should continue playing. I think they'll be just fine in
that category. You hear some bumps and bruises, probably stuff
that doesn't even make the injury report, so you get
to recharge, and I know Nick Cassario Demiico Ryans are
really hard at work self scouting and figuring out how
they can be better because it's a tough stretch coming up.
They go to Seattle, then they have three home games
(04:17):
in a row and they're all difficult. You have the
forty nine Ers, Broncos, and the Jaguars after the Seattle trip,
and the Seattle trips a Monday night game. So you
and I'll be talking two weeks from tonight with the
result of that game, and the Texans will be on
a super short week to get ready for the forty
nine Ers and the Seattle game being a night game, Hey,
(04:38):
you're not going to get back till eight in the
morning here in Houston. So that's gonna be something to
deal with. What's the other handle it?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yeah, I'm very familiar with that.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
We had a football game at Colorado State two weeks
ago and we got home at six fifteen, So I
can feel your pain with that one.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
What do you make of the Seattle game?
Speaker 1 (04:53):
But more importantly the preparation for it, giving all this
time to get ready for that game, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Well, they'll it takes some time this week to just
do some general stuff, give the players the rest, and
then get back to it next week. Now, next week
will be weird because it's a Monday night game, so
your game week Wednesday, which is really your first full practice,
will actually happen a week from Thursday, which is bizarre.
It's an extra long buy with the Monday night game.
(05:20):
But again, you got to take what they give you,
so they'll do it. But I know they'll be back
in action early next week, probably Tuesday, with a nice
hard practice to set the tone for the week and
then take it from there. The Seahawks haven't played as
well as they usually do at home, but that by
no means means they're going to be a layup up there.
I mean that is a real rough environment. It's the
(05:41):
longest trip that most teams ever take, and you think
about what it must be like to be one of them,
because their shortest flight is something like three and a
half hours. So it's just a different existence. And it's
amazing how well they've done over the years despite having
to travel so much, even in their own division, but
it is what it is. Texas will have to cope
with the noise of the Pacific Northwest Sam Darnold's played
(06:03):
well this stage of his career, and you have to
be at your best because the Bops it took everything
they had to beat them. This past week, another comfort
behind win for the you know, five game MVP, if
you will, Baker Mayfield, all right, what do you.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Make We've seen two instances in the last couple of
weeks at a night Mitchell did it for the Colts,
and the running back for the Cardinals did it the
other day where they get to the end zone and
they're so anxious to get rid of the ball to
celebrate that they forget to cross the goal line. I
mean to me, it's like, I don't even know why
you're dropping the ball in the first place. How do
you deal with that as a broadcaster when you see it.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I would freak out if it was my team, and
I'd be celebrating profusely. If it's against me and they
blew the touchdown because you lived in the Colts, I
mean that that cost them the game really against and
the Cardinals too. Look at the Cardinals, it cost them
the game against the Tennessee Titans. And you know, we
all saw what happened with Jonathan Gammon afterwards, Amy Mitchell
said something like, well, I saw some emblems or something.
(06:59):
I thought, you know, really, I mean, these guys are
so talented, so athletically gifted, and they could probably operate
fighter jets, and they can't tell when they're in the
end zone, you know what, tell them it all you
want make sure you cross that plane of the goal line.
It's not that difficult, I think because I asked him,
but he didn't really admit it. But I bet Tamiko
(07:20):
Ryan showed, and a lot of coaches did this, showed
their team that tape. They're so quick with the video
now in these meetings that they have with the players,
and they have to have it because everybody has the
attention span of a flee these days, all across all
walks of life. So I'm sure every coach is doing
his best to show examples, don't do this, do it
like this, don't do it like that, whatever the case
(07:41):
may be. And they've got video evidence to back up
every point they're trying to make. So this probably made
the rounds around all thirty two teams.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
We've had a year and a handful of games with
the new kickoff rule like it.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Don't like it. Think it's good. What are your thoughts
on it?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You know, I really do like it because it's don't
go to the inserator kind of moment, right, And you
do play by play andy, right, so you know that
this is a play that normally, I mean in college match,
you know, don't get me started with the fair catch.
It's so silly. Might even bother kicking off, it's crazy.
But in the NFL, now it's a play. I mean,
(08:18):
you saw what happened last night. The Chiefs kickoff out
of bounds. You gotta be kidding. He gave them a
sixty yard field to go ahead and grab the lead.
But these things happened. I knew this was going to
be the case with the touch back at the thirty
five yard line, but last year was one thing. But
now that the touchback is at the thirty five, you're
seeing more returns than ever. Teams are taking their chances
(08:39):
with the returns, and then you get the mistakes and
the kickoffs, and it's just dramatic. There's just more things
happening that you got to pay attention to. As a
play by play man, I always have to know who
the return guys are before so many balls sailed out
on the back of the end.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That big deal.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You didn't even care. I mean he cared, but you
get pick it up on the go. Oh wow, we
got an actual return. My goodness. Now it's every ball's
being returned and you're getting some weird bounces. And you
better know who's back there returning these kicks. Now, usually
it's the same guys that started the game, but sometimes
they make subtle changes. You got to be on your toes.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Okay, Mark, thanks so much. We'll talk about Seattle next week.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
All thanks a lot. Andy.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, that's Mark Vandermier. He's the voice of the Texans.
The Auburn football team is going to do something next
year that I cannot I can't get come to grips
with bad idea.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
We'll tell you what it is next on the ticket.
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