Javier & Cam Come Through, Rays Next, Texans-Bills Outlook, Texas-Ohio State

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One game, top of the ninth. One out, no one
on for the Astros. Pitch on the way. And Cam
hits it in the air. Out to left center and deep.
Hill is back. Looking up.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
See you later! Three games in Philly.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Three home runs for Cam Smith. This one puts these
Astros up 2-1.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Boy, he stuns the Philly fans. And he knew it
right away.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
As soon as he hit it, he pumped his fist,
and he started his celebration before anybody else knew it.
421 feet, five rows deep into the left center field seats,
and the Astros take the lead off their closer.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
First home run, Duran is allowed in more than three months,
just the second homer he's given up all year.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
Let my Cameron go.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
How about Cam Smith? How about those Astros?

Speaker 4 (00:55):
I mean, we're not even 24 hours later and still
fired up about that win. Strohs take it yesterday, 2-1
over the Phillies. Two out of three in that series
in Philadelphia. And with that, we say away we go.
Good morning. Welcome on in. It is the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790. Awesome to be hanging out with you
here on a football Friday as the Strohs get ready

(01:17):
to start up a series with the Tampa Bay Rays.
We're going to be talking that much more here in
about 30 minutes because we're Nick Wise, my good buddy
from WDAE 95.7 there in Tampa. Of course, the flagship
station of the Rays. and also a fellow iHeartRadio station.
He is going to be joining us to give us
the Rays side of this matchup. But of course, still

(01:39):
feeling really good about that one yesterday. What a hell
of a win. I mean, you're not feeling good coming
out of Wednesday night's game against the Phillies because of
you having a four-run lead until you didn't. And then
a two-run lead, same deal there. And then eventually the
bottom completely dropped out for you. and you lose that one,

(02:01):
but then you bounce back yesterday. Taylor Trammell gets you started.
Nice double to get the run scoring started. It looked
pretty sketchy there when you got runners on base, but
yet again, thank you very much Phillies for bad base
running because Alec Bohm, I don't know what he thinks
he's doing trying to make it over to third, but

(02:21):
what a heads up play by Jeremy Pena to be
able to get him out over there third, and then
that pretty much ended the scoring threat for the Phillies there.
And then, I mean, Christian Javier, just unbelievable. Unreal. When
you really needed to have a surprise performance out of
somebody in this pitching rotation, Christian Javier answers the call. And,

(02:44):
I mean, Josh, I don't know about you watching that game,
which young Joshua Jordan, of course, by the way, joins
us every single day here. I don't know about you,
but that fourth inning, I mean, it's up until that
point that I'm like, When are we going to start
mentioning that Christian Javier is kind of doing the World
Series thing again?

Speaker 5 (03:04):
I remember us getting some criticism the other day about
starting Christian Javier in the point that, hey, if anybody's
used to coming out after their Astros got shellacked, Lance
McCullers in the World Series in Philly, and come out
and put up an incredible performance, it's Christian Javier. And
we also talked about what are your other options. And
sure enough, Javier came through with a stellar performance. I

(03:26):
could be wrong, but I believe that was not Santa
on Twitter that gave you most guff for that. So
if I'm wrong at attribution here, I apologize for that.
But you know who you are, who gave young Joshua
Jordan a hard time for that.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
And I appreciated the belief.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
And I know that Christian Javier did too, because able
to have a hell of a performance yesterday. I mean,
I'm telling you right now, and I think I even
said it on my video that I posted both on
Twitter and on Instagram, which by the way, if you'd
be so kind, at Dan Matthews, H-O-U, 1T and Matthews
on Twitter, and then Same spelling of Matthews, obviously, because

(04:04):
it is how I spell my last name. But at
DanMatthews27 on Instagram is how you can find me. And
I think that I'd even said if you told me
six innings, one earned run out of Christian Javier, even
with Zach Wheeler going for the other side, I would
have said, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 6 (04:20):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (04:21):
And I mean, at least the Wheeler side of things,
it played out the exact way that I thought it
was going to.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
You got to wait them out. When a guy is
that good, you're not putting up four or five runs
on Zach Wheeler. It's just not going to happen.

Speaker 4 (04:33):
If you get a couple of runs here, maybe a
run there, then things will work out for you. But
aside from that, you're not going to be looking for
much more than a couple of runs here or there.
And that's exactly how it played out. You're able to
get into the Phillies' bullpen. And then they go Johan

(04:54):
Duran there in the ninth inning.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
And Cam Smith says, I don't care. I don't care.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
Somebody hadn't homered off him in three months. That's awesome. Well,
that means that somebody else needs to. And Cam Smith
absolutely did it. I was listening to the A-team yesterday
as they were doing the 10th inning show. And it
was mentioned that home run would have been a homer
in 29 out of 30 ballparks. But then A.C., being
able to this time be the semantics guy because the
only one that it wouldn't have been supposedly. was Coors Field,

(05:23):
but he goes, but yeah, the elevation. So it would
have carried out. So that's a homer in all 30 ballparks.
I mean, he absolutely leaned into it. And in the
best part of it, too, is if you go back
and watch the replay of Cam Smith hitting that, he
knew it right off the bat. Like he, he, as
soon as he hit it, he was just like, oh,
hell yeah. Like Christian Walker is pretty good about giving

(05:45):
you his non poker face and He lets you know
if he's got bad cards or if he's got good ones.
Even the long fly out, I think it was yesterday
that he hit it. You're just like, oh man, you
hit that pretty good. He was like, no, I did,
but I didn't get it well enough. That's what he knew. Still,

(06:06):
able to get the win yesterday, two out of three.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the week, that's
what you needed at least one of these series. You
needed two out of three in one of these two series.
And now you go down to Tampa, a team that's
playing OK baseball, not great, not awful, but just OK baseball.
And like I said, here in about 20 minutes, we're

(06:26):
going to talk with Nick Wise from WDA 95-7 up
there in Tampa. And I mean, this is a team
that's the tops in the American League right now, which, oh,
by the way, for all the belly aching this year
about the Astros. Are people aware that they are now
half a game back of the Chicago White Sox for

(06:46):
the second best record in the American League? Are we
aware of that? Because the White Sox are fading, man.
I mean, it's one of those that they have a
good young team. They can hit it like nobody's business.
They can't really pitch it all that well. And that's
starting the show. And a lot of times with young
teams like this, you will see a little bit of
drop off towards the end of the year because the

(07:07):
season is longer than they're usually used to, and also
that they're probably a year or two ahead of schedule
in terms of being in this position right now. So,
I mean, it's very much within reach of you to
be able to take that over in a nice series
this weekend in Tampa because, as I've continued to say, Josh,

(07:28):
you go two out of three in Tampa and you
go four and two this week against these two teams, backflips.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Back to Houston. Backflips. You won't even have to get
on the team charter.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
You'll just be backflipping all the way up to I-10
and over on I-10 through Florida, through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana,
and back here to Houston. You don't even have to
fly across the Gulf.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
You will be doing backflips back here to Houston. Of course.

Speaker 5 (07:54):
Now you still got We've seen this team though, right?
They get hot and then they'll fall off a little.
You have the Royals coming to town. How jacked will
the Astros be about that?

Speaker 2 (08:03):
But I take your point.

Speaker 5 (08:05):
To come away with that type of performance against these teams,
should they pull it off?

Speaker 2 (08:11):
You have to be thrilled if you're an Astros fan.
For sure.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
So normally the saying goes stacks on stacks on stacks. Well,
today on the show, I would say that for the
Dan Matthews show, it's guests on guests on guests, because
if you like us having people join the program, you
are in luck today. So I mentioned that my buddy
Nick Wise from over in Tampa on WDA 95.7, he's
going to join us coming up to preview the Rays.

(08:34):
Coming up at 11 o'clock, we're going to catch up
with Aaron Wilson for our weekly visit. It's obviously a
much-anticipated Sunday season opener against the Texans, or against the Bills.
You are the Texans. But against the Bills over there
at Reliance Stadium. So we'll cover that with Aaron coming
up then. Christian Rau, my good buddy from Locked On,
Bills hit. So he will give us the Bills side

(08:56):
of Sunday. He's coming up at 11.30. And then 12.30,
you've got a big game happening in.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Austin tomorrow night. Longhorns rematch of last year when you
had to go up to Columbus. Well, now this time
you come back here. How weird would it be?

Speaker 4 (09:10):
How funny would it be where, you know, obviously 2005,
you went there, Lima, Sweden with the catch in the
end zone to be able to help Texas beat Ohio state.
And in the following year, Troy Smith and the Buckeyes
came to Austin and absolutely put it on them.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
So maybe you can go in reverse order here.

Speaker 4 (09:26):
It's the upside-down world that Texas could be able to
take out Ohio State in that one. So we'll be
talking with Mike Hardball-Harge, our good buddy from the morning
show on our sister station in Austin, AM 1300 The Zone.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
He's going to be hopping on with us.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
Lee Sterling for his weekly visit from Paramount Sports coming
up at 1 o'clock. And then 130, James Palmer from
NFL on Prime Bleacher Report, as well as the podcast
that he and Steve Weiss do together. So a couple
of the best NFL reporters slash insiders. in the game
doing a podcast and two really, really great guys. So

(10:04):
if you haven't listened to that show, please, I advise
you to do so because. there are very few people
that are as knowledgeable about this league as those guys are.
So James Palmer is going to join us at one 30.
So you got plenty of guests today, but we also
want to hear from you too, as well. It's seven, one, three, two, one, two, five, seven, 90.
And it's seven, one, three, two, one, two, five, seven, 90.

(10:25):
And something that I talked about with Josh before the show, That,
you know, obviously on Matt and Ross in the morning,
it's anything goes Friday and don't want to take that.
But what I will say is it's not lost on
me on what today is. And it's 25 years later.
It's hard to believe that it's 25 years later. So
I know that even with the time passing, this is

(10:48):
still a very, very tough day for a lot of
people and especially people from the New York, New Jersey
area that, I mean, obviously have personal connections to this day.
And if you want to be able to share some
of your thoughts on that, absolutely. I will open it
up to that today. I mean, for the most part,
we try to keep this a light atmosphere, a very

(11:08):
fun atmosphere, and clearly topics like this don't really fall
into that category. But I'd also feel like, too, that
it's better to talk about things than to let them
just kind of fester and stay on in. I mean,
I've learned that in my life, that if you just
really kind of don't deal with things and you don't
really know how to compartmentalize them, well, then your issues
are going to deal with you. So if you want

(11:31):
to be able to talk about it, I mean, I
kind of started a little bit of a thread on
Twitter earlier. Hashtag, where were you? I remember exactly where
I was. I was in first period Spanish class. Shout out,
Miss Johnson.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Now, Miss Whitman. over at St.

Speaker 7 (11:42):
Thomas.

Speaker 4 (11:43):
And I remembered Lewis Patterson coming into the room and
saying some planes just ran into the Trade Center and
then one into the Pentagon. And at the time, I
don't think it really dawned on me or a lot
of people. It was just kind of like, okay, yes,
all three of them, this seems weird. But you almost
didn't even want to grasp that at this point, that

(12:04):
it was just like, this can't really be happening to us, right?
This doesn't happen here. This happens other places. And then
we learned pretty quickly, no, this is going on. And
I mean, this is uneasy feelings for all of us
right now. And I mean, it was 25 years ago.
Like I said, I mean, some of us can't remember
things that happened six months ago. But if you were

(12:24):
alive during that time, you absolutely remember where you were
and how that day was. I mean, I remember it
all the way through. And Just, I mean, crazy. And also, too,
I mean, just a really uneasy time for us afterwards.
And then sports was really kind of what brought us back.
I mean, when you think about it, I mean, baseball

(12:45):
coming back onto the field. We remember that. I mean,
we remember, you know, also college football getting back out there.
I mean, you know, you know, I'm a big LSU fan.
And I remember they were supposed to play Auburn that week.
And of course, everybody didn't play sports for the rest
of the week. Baseball was the first one. I think,
was it baseball or no?

Speaker 2 (13:04):
What was it? Rice football went up to play Nebraska.
I remember that.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
I think they were the very first sporting event that
came back after 9-11. And I remembered that baseball was
obviously the one that people looked to the most because
obviously it's America's game. And I mean, the World Series
that year, the Yankees being a part of it. And
one of the few times that I think we were
okay rooting for the Yankees. I think that was one
because I mean, you know, just like we, in some ways,

(13:31):
I mean, not to compare tragedies whatsoever, but why 2017
meant so much to Astros fans, because it was deeper
than that. As I mentioned before, it was hurricane Harvey
and it was a lot of people. I mean, I'll
never forget seeing the Chronicle photo of those people in
a hollowed out house, watching the world series and being like, Hey, look, Clearly,

(13:53):
my life in terms of my home and a lot
of things like that, it's not great right now. But
if I can have for a few hours a distraction
to be able to lift my spirits and make me
feel better, I think sports can do that. And we
definitely still lean into sports for that very reason because
that's why, I mean, again, try to keep things light here.

(14:13):
I don't try to make things serious, and we're going
to cover all the hard issues. I mean, if you
want that, there's other shows for that. I just think
that it's one of those that we go through our
day-to-day lives. We want to be able to enjoy sports.
We want to be able to have fun. And as
I say, the goal of this show and whether we
strike it every single time is to be EI, entertaining
and informative.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
And that's what I hope we do every single day.

Speaker 4 (14:34):
So again, if you want to share some of those thoughts,
I absolutely welcome those today at 713-212-5790.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
Again, it's 713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (14:39):
2 1 2 5 7 90. Eric, see you right there.
Continue the Astros conversation because, well, it's fun to talk
to them right now. And we will absolutely do that
all throughout the show today. So I see you working
in and I got to tell you, Josh Jordan and
everybody else out there. He's making me believe he's making

(14:59):
me have trust.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
You know exactly what I'm talking about. Talk about it next.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
As we're getting going here on a Friday edition, it's
the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790. Appreciate everybody who jumps aboard with us
every single weekday from 10 to 2 as the Astros
are in Tampa to take on the Rays. That'll be
coming your way a little bit later on this evening
here on Sports Talk 790. Again, in about 10 minutes,

(15:25):
Nick Wise from Tampa. WDAE there in Tampa is going
to join us.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
That's the flagship for the Rays. So get that side
of this game.

Speaker 4 (15:32):
You also have the Texans getting ready for Sunday inside
Reliant Stadium.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
Bills are in town.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
And Josh Jordan, you know, we do have a resident
Bills fan that is part of our cluster here at iHeartRadio.
I think most people know that Rod Ryan or the
Rod Ryan Show. So I went over there before the
show and I asked him, I go, hey, you know,
just curious, like, What tailgates do they do the table jumping?
Cause I do want to see one in person. I
actually want to see if somebody like maybe overshoots it,

(15:59):
you know, and hits like their shins and ankles on
it and kind of does like the shoe soles or,
you know, what's off the table and doesn't break it.
Or if they actually like hit it flush, you know,
go macho man, Randy Savage, you know, elbow off the
top rope here. to be able to absolutely crush that table.
I do want to see this. So he told me
probably the best way to see it is apparently Bill's

(16:20):
mafia is having a huge get together in Midtown on Saturday.
So I think that's what I'm going to go over
there and try to see this happen. I won't be,
I won't be wearing Bill's gear or anything like that. No,
that's not happening. I just figure, you know, go over there,
have some fun, and see some drunk idiots jump through tables.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
You got to document some of that for the show.

Speaker 8 (16:39):
With your phone.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Oh, dude, dude, yeah.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
No, that's definitely happening. Like, I will absolutely do the filming.
I myself will not be doing it. That's not happening.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
So if anybody's asking for that, well, then I'm going
to have to disappoint you.

Speaker 8 (16:53):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
Eric, get to you here in just a second. I
got to tell you. Christian Javier, you stick and stay.
You're in the rotation. I think that the yo-yo needs
to stop with him. He proved it yesterday. And as
I've said, performances like that, I understand what he has
been inconsistent, but I trust him right now a lot

(17:15):
more than I trust Peter Lambert. So if you're looking
to three men to be able to fill a rotation,
it's all righties. But even with a rougher start the
other night, I absolutely trust Hunter Brown. Hayden Wozniacki is
the other one, and I think the third one for
me right now, sorry, Peter Lambert, but right now, as
I've continued to say, it is Christian Javier because of

(17:37):
that postseason experience he's had and what he gave you yesterday.
That was a postseason-esque start, and he gave you a
hell of an effort in that one, and absolutely was
the reason you won that game.

Speaker 5 (17:49):
You know, and it just reminded me, I went and
looked at his recent game started yesterday, I forgot, his
last performance against the Diamondbacks, five innings, one hit, one run.
So he was fantastic in that last start. And then
for me, it's when he doesn't walk people, he has
so much more success. And we saw that in yesterday's game,
walked one guy, the first batter of the game. And

(18:09):
then after that, took that no hit or what into
the fifth or sixth. He was fantastic. So yeah, man,
his last two starts, he's been terrific.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
That he has.

Speaker 4 (18:18):
And I mean, that's the thing with him is he
can run into where the pitch counts do rack up
and the walks have been an issue at times with him.
But I mean, with that spin that he's got, he
finds the strike zone. He's lethal, man. There's a reason
why the Astros extended him. And yesterday, I think he
showed you that he stays. He sticks and stays. I'm

(18:38):
not doing the yo-yo with him anymore. I think with Pecco,
it's maybe a little bit of innings. That's why they're
going with him as the bulk guy today. But as
far as Javier goes, next time his time in the
rotation comes up, he's out there.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
The time after that, yes, sir.

Speaker 4 (18:55):
So I trust Christian Javier right now to be able
to do some good things for you. 713-212-5790, the number
to get in before we get to our first guest
of the show. Let's hit Eric. Eric, good morning.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
How you doing? Good morning, sir.

Speaker 8 (19:09):
I'm doing well. Thank you for taking my call. You
got it.

Speaker 9 (19:12):
I've just got an off-the-wall thought that maybe he's been
kicked around out there. I haven't heard it. When Carlos
comes back, let's plug him in left field, leave the
infield alone. Let him play left field.

Speaker 8 (19:24):
He's fast.

Speaker 9 (19:24):
He's got a strong arm. Maybe not get hurt as
much diving for balls.

Speaker 8 (19:29):
His choice.

Speaker 9 (19:31):
And let him play left field next year. Christian Walker's
last year of his contract. And when Christian leaves, move
Carlos to first base and let Carlos finish out his
career as a Gold Glove first baseman.

Speaker 4 (19:44):
Appreciate the call, Eric. There is no planet where Carlos
Correa is going to play left field. Not this year.
not next year. Carlos Correa's position is over at third base.
And especially, you're not going to put him out there
coming off of what was once thought to be season-ending
ankle surgery. You want Carlos Correa to have the best
shot to not only come back, but to also not

(20:06):
re-injure himself again. And third base in DH is that
best spot. I think that those are the two spots
that if we see Carlos Correa back in the lineup,
that's where he's at. Now, Jordan Alvarez, he can play
left field. And I think that. Joe has shown you,
especially in that Mets series, that he's willing to put
him out there a little bit more. So that's how

(20:26):
I think they make this work. Because again, when you
get into the postseason, you need all bats on deck.
You need all of the guys that can give you
the most offense. That's why you're not going to see
as much Christian Vasquez. With the way that Yiner Diaz
is swinging the bat, you're going to see Yiner Diaz
a lot more. And then with being able to have
Isak Paredes, Carlos Correa, Jordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve all in

(20:47):
the lineup, Joe Espada is going to make sure that
he has all of those guys in there. So you
do see Carlos Correa back in here. It ain't going
to be out in left field.

Speaker 8 (20:55):
No.

Speaker 5 (20:56):
And look, if we're going to play devil's advocate a
little bit here, that would be nice if Carlos could
play left field because it would solve a lot of
problems for he has a great arm.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
But they're not, he hasn't played any outfield.

Speaker 5 (21:08):
They're not going to put him coming off ankle surgery
out there without having any experience with what two weeks
left in the regular season. And they're moving them to
first base. He's, He's got a cannon for an arm.
You don't want to waste it there. So no, I
don't see that happening at all. And it's funny you
bring that up. Chandler Rome did a mailbag. I read
it this morning and he thinks that. If and when

(21:28):
Carlos comes back, it could be Altuve as the DH
and Paredes playing some second base.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
Well, there you go. So that's how you make this
thing work. 713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (21:36):
As I mentioned, we got a pretty guest-intensive show today.
And the first of five, Nick Wise, WDA 95.7 in Tampa.
He's going to hop on with us before he hits
his show over there on the Rays flagship. So let's
get his side of this matchup this weekend. We'll do
it right here on the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.
Sports Talk 790, Dan Matthews, young Joshua Jordan hanging out

(22:00):
with you. Strohs in Tampa to fire up a series
with the Rays as that'll get going tonight. You can
hear it right here on Sports Talk 790 as the Adams,
Adam Clanton, Adam Wexler will have you for Astros on deck.
at 5 o'clock to get you set for that one.
And to talk much more about the Rays side of things,

(22:20):
you hear him every single weekday afternoon from 12 to
2 there in Tampa on 95.7 WDAE. He is Nick Wise.
Find him on Twitter. I am Nick Wise. W-I-Z-E is
how you can find him there. Nick, great to catch
up with you, buddy. I guess we'll just get the
conversation started with what's the belief in this Rays team there?

(22:42):
Are people believing that this is a team that can
not only get into the postseason, but can do some
damage in the American League postseason?

Speaker 2 (22:51):
Well, thanks for having me, Dan.

Speaker 8 (22:52):
Appreciate it.

Speaker 10 (22:53):
And to answer your question, yes, people are definitely high
on this team. I'll say this about the Tampa Bay Rays, though.
People here in Tampa Bay, I feel like they do
hold them to account. a lower standard than, let's say,
the Buccaneers or the Lightning.

Speaker 11 (23:07):
If the Bucs were.

Speaker 10 (23:07):
Running away and at the top of a conference or division,
there would be a lot of hype around it. Same
with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The expectation would be to
win the championship here. my expectation is you've played this
well all year long. I think it is a championship
or bus season for the Tampa Bay race. I don't
think a lot of race fans would say that, but

(23:28):
I think at the very, at the very least, they
have to make an ALCS appearance for me, for this
to be a good season for, And that's because my
expectations have changed going into the year. That obviously wasn't
the expectation of the Tampa Bay Rays. I think their
over-under was somewhere around 74, 75 wins. And I remember

(23:49):
doing record predictions at the beginning of the year. The
amount of text I got and calls I got at
the radio station. That they would be a 100 loss
team was it was astounding. I mean, everybody was so
low on this team. Now, all of a sudden, they're
at the top of the American League. They're in the
toughest division in baseball, and they're leading that division over
the New York Yankees right now. I think they have

(24:10):
to win a championship, and I know they have a
low payroll, and I think that's why. People like to
not hold them to the same bars, the Buccaneers and
the Bolts here in Tampa Bay. But anything less for
me would be a disappointment because I believe this roster
is good enough to win a championship.

Speaker 4 (24:25):
What's been the driving force for them this year? I mean,
they seemingly always have really good pitching with Kyle Snyder,
but is it the pitching driving the bus or is
the offense actually getting things going for them?

Speaker 10 (24:37):
So they can kind of do a little bit of everything.
They're definitely singles. They're not going to kill you with power, really,
outside of Junior Caminero. But they're always going to be
a pitching team. And that's been the biggest difference between
last year and this year is they play in a
pitcher's park at Tropicana Field. Last year, obviously, with Hurricane

(24:58):
Milton that damaged the Trop at the end of 2025,
they played.
Or the end of 24, they played all last year
at Steinbrenner field over in Tampa minor league park outside,
which those came. I mean, you guys know the heat
is like in Houston. Imagine playing outside in the heat
all summer. And it's also, you know, minor league park,
it was a hitter's park and they just, they were

(25:20):
not built for that stadium. So they had a down
year last year. This year, they are a team that
is built for where they play. uh and it is
it is shown because their home record they're 47 and
25 at the trop uh they're they're now good on
the road they weren't that wasn't always the story but
they've been good on the road as of lately but
i would say it's led by pitching i mean their
rotation right now uh drew rasmussen who you guys are

(25:43):
going to see tonight is yeah you know he's a
top five pitcher and in baseball.

Speaker 8 (25:48):
I mean, he's really good.

Speaker 10 (25:49):
And maybe outside of Tampa Bay, nobody would consider him
a top five pitcher because he's not well known, I think,
because he is on the little old race. But Drew
Rasmussen is a dog. And whenever he's on the mound,
I feel pretty confident in the race. And then, you know,
they made the move for Freddy Peralta, and you mentioned
Kyle Snyder a minute ago. I don't know what he

(26:10):
does to these pitchers, but he has the ability to
just fix them. He goes over to the Mets, and
the Mets, they have the ability to do the opposite
and destroy you, and they did that with Freddy Peralta.
He comes there from Milwaukee with Cy Young numbers, and
they kind of destroy him.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
He has a down year. They trade him away, and he.

Speaker 10 (26:29):
Had his first couple starts here, and you guys will
see Freddy Peralta on Sunday.

Speaker 11 (26:33):
His first couple starts.

Speaker 10 (26:35):
they weren't great um you can say oh well the
rockies colorado's hitters park he's been dominant there his whole
career so i didn't really give him a pass there
but his last three outings i think he's given up
one run against the tigers the mets and then you
know for me i wanted to see him do well
against the braves and he did he shut them down
giving up only uh one run so he's giving up
two runs his last three starts he gave one run

(26:57):
against the braves so they've kind of turned him around
and all of a sudden then nick martinez they've A
guy who's been like a career 500 guy, they bring
him in, he's become a team leader and he's having
just an insane year and Shane McClanahan just went down.
And so that one kind of hurts a little bit,
but man, they have so much pitching. Their bullpen has

(27:17):
been good. Their starting pitching has been good. They're a
really well-rounded team and really one of the best-run organizations.
It's interesting how they do it because they don't spend
a lot, yet they do everything well. But I would
say they're definitely led by pitching.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
No question about it.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
Plus, he was a college teammate of my brother's at UNC, too,
so it's always awesome to see Kyle Snyder out there.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
I'm like, hey, I remember that guy when he pitched.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
Nick Wise, again, WDAE, 95-7 there in Tampa, talking the
Rays' side of this weekend's matchup. Going to be a
fun series, no question about it. In terms of the offense,
you mentioned Junior Caminero. I think most of us here
obviously know Yandy Diaz. Talk about Chandler Simpson, what he
means to that lineup.

Speaker 10 (28:03):
I was hoping you were going to bring him up
because he is like the secret weapon. My favorite thing
about watching Chandler Simpson play baseball is he is so fast.
And when he hits the ball to the infield, there
is no room for error. And it's almost like every
infield there on the opponent knows this. And the second

(28:24):
the ball comes to them, you can't mess up. And
it's almost like they kind of... They're thinking a lot
when he's running the bases. And you'll see a lot
of guys fumble the baseball and routine ground balls because
they know you gotta get it over to him quick.
And then once he gets on base, he's gonna attempt
to steal a second they'll get aggressive on the base
paths and uh he's just an overall exciting player i

(28:47):
mean he can lay down a bunt he's gonna get
base hits uh you know he's one of the top
uh i know a lot of guys don't go off
of batting average anymore but he he's up there in
the american league in terms of batting average and you
know i think he's in the i'd have to go
back and look i i know he's he's he's up
there i'd say he's a top five guy i know
he's in over 300 but Just an overall exciting player.

(29:08):
You know, as far as his defense goes, not a
huge arm. You know, you hit one out to left field,
you're going to have no problem tagging out. But he
is a threat once he gets on base and just
an overall really, really fun player to watch.

Speaker 4 (29:21):
Again, Nick Wise, WDAE in Tampa, joining us here on
the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. So, Nick, I mean,
now that the Rays got their stadium situation all figured out,
and I know there's new ownership there, I mean, is
there belief that maybe with the new group and the
new stadium coming on, that guys like Caminero and some
of the other guys are that they're going to get

(29:41):
locked up and that they're going to try to really
make this thing a solid core and make this into
a perennial winner?

Speaker 10 (29:49):
I want to see them lock out Junior Caminero, one
of those 10-year deals.

Speaker 11 (29:54):
I think it has to be done.

Speaker 10 (29:55):
I mean, go into that new stadium in 2029 with
a superstar on your roster.

Speaker 11 (29:59):
It just makes total sense. The ownership group said that.

Speaker 10 (30:04):
They want to get into the 10 to 15 range.

Speaker 11 (30:07):
They could see that the payroll. I don't know if
I ever see that.

Speaker 10 (30:10):
I think that was a saying they're lying, but I
think that's a way to get people excited, even more
excited about this team.

Speaker 8 (30:18):
I just can't.

Speaker 10 (30:18):
Imagine them in the top 10 and payroll, even with
the new stadium.

Speaker 11 (30:23):
Uh top 15 maybe uh i'm gonna.

Speaker 10 (30:26):
Have to see that to believe at first but that
is the uh that is the hope and i think
that's also gonna depend on the fans are they gonna
are they gonna be willing to spend more on tickets
because you know that's what's gonna happen when you have
a new stadium and if you're gonna spend on payroll
uh ticket prices are gonna go up and right now
i would say to get into the trop it's one
of the better ticket prices so if.

Speaker 11 (30:46):
Fans are willing to pay it then maybe the maybe
the new.

Speaker 10 (30:49):
Ownership group great bunch of guys um maybe they will
be willing to invest more back into the roster.

Speaker 11 (30:55):
We hope so. But the way.

Speaker 10 (30:57):
They operate right now, I mean, over the last 10 years,
I think they've won the third or fourth most games
in all of baseball.

Speaker 8 (31:04):
Actually, I think it's third.

Speaker 10 (31:05):
I think only the Dodgers and the Yankees have won
more than them over the last 10 years, which is
kind of crazy when you think about it because the
Yankees and Dodgers, the way they operate is.

Speaker 11 (31:15):
Completely different than the way the Tampa Bay Rays operate.

Speaker 10 (31:17):
They just haven't been able to get that championship to
solidify at all.

Speaker 4 (31:21):
Yep, scouting and development. That's what the Rays do incredibly well.
It's going to be a fun series. I know you're
going to have your eyes on it. We definitely will here, too,
as well. Again, he's Nick Wise, WDAE 95.7 out there
in Tampa, the flagship station.

Speaker 2 (31:34):
For the Rays. Nick, have a great show today, man.

Speaker 4 (31:37):
It's always great to catch up with you, and we'll
definitely do so again soon. Probably even the postseason, too.
Might even be seeing these two match up in the ALCS.

Speaker 8 (31:46):
You can see that. That would be a good matchup.
I'm rooting for it. I got some family in Houston.

Speaker 10 (31:51):
So shout out to Kathy and Sherwin. I know they're
listening to you right now. And I would love for
that to be a matchup. And thanks for having me on, Dan.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 13 (31:58):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (31:58):
Nick Wise, again, WDAE 95.7 over there in Tampa. Appreciate
his time today.

Speaker 14 (32:04):
All right.

Speaker 4 (32:04):
So, yeah, I mean, as we've mentioned, it's a hell
of a series. We'll continue to talk about the Astros
and Rays coming up. Of course, we'll have it for
you here tonight. Five o'clock Astros on deck. Get you
set up for that one. And also to do want
to get into a little bit of football conversation like
right now on the jump off. I think it's safe
to say that a star was born last night as

(32:26):
we watched the Rams and 49ers play.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
I came away incredibly impressed. I think you know who
I'm talking about.

Speaker 4 (32:32):
We'll talk about it right here as we hit you
with the jump off heading out of the 10 o'clock
hour into the 11 o'clock hour. Don't forget, Aaron Wilson
going to join us in 15 minutes to talk some Texans.
So look forward to being able to catch up with them.
Still a lot more to go here on a Friday
edition of the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. Sports
Talk 790. Appreciate Nick Wise hopping on with us here as, again,

(32:58):
Sounds like it's going to be an exciting series over
there in Tampa. So looking forward to some Astros and Rays.
I guess it's really St. Pete, but still the Tampa area.
But going to be a fun series over there at
the Trop. And again, it gets going this evening. Five
o'clock Astros on deck right here to get you set
up for it. As the Strohs look to finish off

(33:18):
this road trip on a strong high note. before coming
back for after an off day, the Royals and then
the Braves to wrap up their final homestand of the season.
You also got Texans getting ready for the Bills. If
you follow Adam J. Wexler on Twitter, then you see
the Texans going through work right now inside Reliant Stadium.
And then, of course, it'll be all eyes on Sunday.

(33:40):
to get you set up for that one over there
at Reliance Stadium. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in.
As Aaron Wilson is going to join us here in
about 10 minutes. And then Christian Rao from Locked On
Bills Hit, he is going to join us at 1130.
Mentioned Mike Hardball-Hard is going to join us from AM

(34:00):
1300 The Zone. That's coming up at 1230. And then
1 o'clock, it's going to be Lee Sterling. And then
we will have our good buddy James Palmer. as he
will join us at 1.30 to talk to the NFL
at large, but also to obviously we'll focus a lot
on the Bills and Texans. 713-212-5790 is the number to
get in, as we usually do to close out the

(34:22):
10 o'clock hour on a full show day.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Let's jump off. See, old habits died hard.

Speaker 4 (34:31):
I mean, you know, just trying to say the jump off,
which now, I mean, we jump off on one thing.
as opposed to jumping around. We can really actually kind
of still jump around on this topic because, you know, Josh,
I wanted to make it first about the game last
night on Netflix, which I got to tell you, I mean,
usually whenever it's a network that we don't necessarily trust

(34:53):
has the grasp of being able to cover the game
just yet.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
I thought Netflix nailed it last night. I thought they
were great.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
I thought that the pre halftime and post game show
with L. Duncan, Clay Matthews, as well as Nick Foles
and Michael Irvin. I thought that was a really good group.
Tom Pelissero kind of serving as like the Jay Glazer,
the insider for them. And, you know, I got to

(35:22):
tell you, the biggest star of them all last night
and a guy that I think is going to, if
Netflix doesn't get deeper into the NFL coverage, is I
thought Luke Keekly was awesome. I really, really was impressed
with his analysis. That can be tough as somebody who
doesn't necessarily know what the analysis game is, because here's

(35:45):
what it was explained to me when I did play-by-play.
When you do play-by-play radio, it's your game, especially when
you're doing football because you're calling all of the action.
You toss it to them, but still it's one of
those that it's get it back to the play-by-play guy
as quick as possible just because obviously there's not a
lot of time in between plays. So get your stuff in,

(36:07):
but then get it back over to him to be
able to call, you know, second nine, you know, handoff
off to the left, whatever it is. TV, that's when
it's for the analyst. is you're the play-by-play guy, call
the play, get out of the way. And I thought
Noah Eagle did a fantastic job of that. And I
thought that Luke Kuechly just was able to explain what
was happening, but he didn't get you buried in the

(36:29):
weeds with the minutia of everything. I actually thought that
he was able to effectively explain what's going on and
not get too wordy with it. Because that can happen too.
You can talk too much. And I don't think he
did that.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
As a matter of fact.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
I came out of it thinking like he might be
one of the best analysts that there currently is. I mean,
I know a lot of people are big Greg Olson fans.

Speaker 14 (36:51):
I am.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
I think Tom Brady got better in year two than
he was in year one. And I mean, clearly Tony Romo,
people had their thoughts on him where he seems like
he's gone in reverse order, but I'm looking forward to
seeing what JJ Watt looks like with Jim Nance this weekend,
because I think a lot of people have been pretty
impressed with him.

Speaker 8 (37:13):
Of course.

Speaker 5 (37:14):
JJ's been fantastic. I just texted you. What did you
think of what the pregame host was wearing?

Speaker 2 (37:20):
It was a woman. I'm not familiar with her. Elle Duncan?

Speaker 8 (37:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (37:23):
Did you get a look at that with the gloves
and the sleeveless and the little tie?

Speaker 13 (37:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (37:28):
I might have to share this on Twitter. No, and
that's the thing is I wasn't really sure what she
was going for there. I mean, I'm not the biggest
fashionista out there. I mean, you know, there can be
certain things that people wear that you're just like, all right,
that looks strange. And then you find out, no, no, no, that's,
that's the trend right now. Like that's, that's always my favorite.

(37:50):
Like whenever I bring something up and then it's, oh,
those are hot right now. I'm like, who says this? Like,
who says this? Like, are we still like reading magazines
and talking about, oh, this is the trend right now.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Like I, I, it was interesting. I'll leave it at that.
It was an interesting look.

Speaker 5 (38:07):
It's like a bolo tie, but with a sleeveless outfit.
And you have the gloves going on right there. So
I just tweeted it out. If anybody wants to take
a look at Josh Jordan SCS, I tagged Dan on it.
But I literally screenshot. I was just like, how are
people not talking about this?

Speaker 4 (38:23):
Well, I mean, because, I mean, again, it's one of
those that clearly, you know, especially dudes, you know, oh,
what you wearing? You know, like that's where that can
go kind of deal, I think. Um, but look, I mean,
you know, clearly she has strong fashion sense and that's
my guess. There is that she felt like, all right, Hey,
I can rock this look and I'll, and I'll go

(38:44):
with it. And I guess she did. I mean, that's, that's,
that's about what I took from it. I mean, um,
it did look a little nineties pop star ish.

Speaker 8 (38:53):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
Like it was like, it's like, you're going to get
out there and perform with the Joe bros.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Like, is that going to happen? Which by the way, too,
I mean, that was the other part of it.

Speaker 4 (39:02):
Is you had to guess which obviously for games like
this you are going to have a musical act at
halftime so in effect it was like have you noticed
that now the nfl has kind of where like bowl
season where now a lot of those bowls to be
able to enrich themselves even more will have a neutral
site big time matchup to start off the season so

(39:23):
is the nfl kind of doing like a dry run
for the super bowl with some of these games of
hey we'll kind of make it like the super bowl
you know the big flags out there national anthem singers
and then of course a halftime show to go a
lot longer than the 20 minutes that normally you get
or is it 15 whatever it is that's what i
love about the nfl it's quick the only other thing
that i noticed is usually nfl games go quick Like

(39:47):
it was one of those that as I'm doing a
little bit of work while watching the game and I
look up and I see second quarter and I'm like, dude,
if this were like a stateside NFL game, this thing
would be in the third quarter already.

Speaker 2 (39:59):
Like it went long. Interesting.

Speaker 5 (40:02):
Well, the end of the game, I felt like that too.
And as your point about Keekly, I thought he did
a good job as well. I was impressed with how
Netflix handled the whole thing. It looked really good. And
that's why I watch the Apple games I like with baseball,
just because the cameras are so good. And you can
tell they spend so much money on just making it
look good. Now you can debate about who they hire,
but as far as the presentation, I think these big

(40:25):
money streaming platforms, they're not afraid to spend. So apparently
Roger Goodell is open to kind of reopening the media
negotiations because I've said this before. that I think two
things are coming. One is that you will have one
international game every single week, kind of like everybody plays
Thursday night football. Everybody at least one game a year

(40:48):
is going to be in some international locale. The other one,
especially with that part that I just mentioned about the meteorites,
watch Netflix gets Wednesday night football.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
I could see that.

Speaker 4 (41:00):
I mean, it would be kind of tough to be
able to make that happen where my guess is that
you'd have to have maybe an extra bye week in
there because you're not going to have a team play
on Sunday night and then turn right back around and play.
My guess would be that you would have the team
that played the week before on Thursday and a bye

(41:21):
week team play that way. Where, I mean, if you
do it that way, then you're basically getting the same
ramp up time to be able to get ready for it.
It would be kind of tough, but I'm telling you,
the NFL, they understand there's a demand there, and they're like, okay, well,
you know what? We will meet that demand with more football.

(41:42):
it's not going to slow down. And Netflix is smart
to be like, Hey, we want in on this. We'll pay.

Speaker 5 (41:46):
I remember the Christmas day game with Beyonce. They're not
afraid to go all out.

Speaker 4 (41:51):
And also too, I think Netflix clearly has had a
lot of practice now with live events because remember, I mean,
what was it?

Speaker 2 (41:58):
The Tyson, Jake Paul fight.

Speaker 4 (42:00):
I had to watch it on my phone because that
was the best way that I could get it. Otherwise,
if I kept putting it on my TV, I kept
getting kicked off and it was just like, okay, what
am I paying for at a certain point? So I
think They've worked through those issues. But, yeah, I mean,
they're definitely getting more into the live sports space. You've
seen it with baseball. Clearly, the NFL, where they're going
to have Thanksgiving Eve. I mean, seriously, man, are you

(42:22):
noticing a trend here? Yeah, they're going to Wednesdays. There's
no doubt about it. They want to get another day.
That's how Netflix is going to squeeze their way into this.
It's going to be Wednesday football. All right, let's continue
the football, but on the local side, let's talk to
Texans' side of Sunday's matchup against the Bills. And the
man who is the person for that job is our

(42:43):
Sports Talk 790 Texans insider. He's Aaron Wilson. He joins
us next right here. As we continue on the Dan
Matthews show sports talk seven 90, let's keep it going
here on a Friday. You got the Astros in St. Petersburg,
taking on the rays for a pretty crucial weekend series.
As they take two out of three from the Phillies
winning yesterday to one. It'll get going tonight to get

(43:04):
that series underway. 5 o'clock, Astros on deck. By the way, too,
thank you to the Mariners. You are now three games
in front of the Rangers for first place in the
AL West. And the Texans and Bills talking that right
now because Sunday at noon over at Reliant Stadium, that's
when it gets going. And, of course, we're talking Texans.
We're catching up with our Sports Talk 790 Texans insider,

(43:25):
Aaron Wilson, joining us here live from Texans practice over
there at Reliant Stadium. Aaron, appreciate the time as always, man.
Always great to catch up with you. Health-wise, heading into
this game, how do you think the Texans are going
to look?

Speaker 8 (43:37):
I think they'll look good.

Speaker 12 (43:39):
I think the Texans are ready for this game.

Speaker 8 (43:40):
They're pretty healthy.

Speaker 12 (43:42):
They have a pretty talented roster, especially on defense where
they're absolutely loaded and they're starting to wonder. where this
defense might rank in the pantheon of great defenses maybe
one day, see if they can put something together that's
a little bit historic. And then offense, we're all watching
to see, you know, have they improved? How have they improved?

(44:04):
I think there's going to be a little more tempo,
a little more emphasis on running the football, and I
think C.J. Stroud should be a little more accurate and
know the offense a.

Speaker 15 (44:16):
Lot better and have a little.

Speaker 12 (44:18):
More command in the sense that in the collaboration with
him and Nick Caley, I talked to Nick Caley yesterday, actually, uh,
for a good while. And, you know, they're running stuff
that CJ likes. And I think that's important for a
quarterback like CJ.

Speaker 4 (44:33):
And I mean, speaking of Nick Caley, cause we'll get
to Matt Burke here in a second. I know y'all
caught up with the coordinators yesterday, but one thing that
I really liked that he talked about was eliminating all
the pre-snap motion, all of the other things that kind
of can just get in the way and really put
them up against the play clock. I mean, how, how
refreshing do you think that is to hear for not
only guys in the offense, but also for CJ Stroud

(44:56):
to just say, okay, we're going to know what we're
going to do. We'll get up to the line and
we'll be able to actually run it.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Right.

Speaker 12 (45:02):
And even down to the basics of having enough time
to survey the defense and make the mic call. That means,
not microphone, but Mike linebacker, middle linebacker. Okay.

Speaker 6 (45:12):
Where is he?

Speaker 12 (45:13):
You know, call that out. And that's part of it.
You have a new center. You have, I think a
pretty good center quarterback exchange, but more so getting to
the line sooner, breaking the huddle. And also that means
Nick Cayley calling the play faster, not letting the play
clock take down too far. And I think it, the
more time you have as an offensive player, especially at
the quarterback position to know, okay, this is where we're running.

(45:36):
let me take a look at the defense and if
I need to check out of it, of course he
has the green light to do that. He doesn't audible
a ton, but he does have the power to do so.
I think that it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to
always change plays, but to me, it just gives the
players a little more comfort level as they get into
their stance and you're not just rushing. And I think
a lot of things we do, heck all of us

(45:59):
when we're hurrying, that's when mistakes sometimes happen. So to me,
it's a, Good situation to have where you're having a
little more sense of urgency, a little more tempo. And
I think that you can keep the defense, you know,
on their heels a little bit. There's nothing wrong with
not using all the play clock. And then I'm not
talking about a no huddle or a total hurry up,

(46:19):
but how about just a little more tempo, a little
more urgency, a little more speed.

Speaker 4 (46:23):
Again, Aaron Wilson, Sports Talk 790 Texans Insider, joining us
for his weekly visit right here on the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790. As far as CJ himself, I mean,
have you noticed a difference in him? I mean, just
from the few times that you've talked with him, and
then also, too, I mean, as we've talked about before,
going through training camp, I mean, does this look like
a guy that seemingly has been able to put last

(46:45):
year's postseason struggles behind him?

Speaker 16 (46:47):
I do.

Speaker 12 (46:48):
I think based on what I watched on the field,
but also just talking with him a couple times, being
around him, being around his family, and just kind of
getting a feel for where they stand. I think that
he's good with everything. I think that he's comfortable with
going into the season, obviously, with an unresolved contract, and
we're not expecting a last-minute deal here for sources. What

(47:11):
we expect is for them to negotiate after this season
and to If it goes well, yes, it'll cost more,
but the Texans will gladly pay him more if he
has the kind of season they hope he will. I
think that he's in a good place. I really do.
I think in terms of confidence, liking the personnel, and
feeling like, hey, as soon as they lost a receiver,

(47:32):
they went and got another one in case Sean Booty,
and wouldn't the Patriots like to have him now after
losing A.J. Brown to a high ankle sprain and being
a really lackluster, really troubling performance from Romeo Dobbs.

Speaker 8 (47:43):
So, yeah, I mean.

Speaker 12 (47:45):
I look at it like this. I think CJ, does
he have the most loaded go personnel? No, but is
it better than last year?

Speaker 8 (47:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (47:54):
It's a lot better than last year. I think it
looks pretty good overall, especially tight end and the offensive
line on paper is better. And yeah, they didn't pay the,
you know, they paid these guys and they're not playing them.
Obviously Braden Smith's hurt, but he wasn't going to beat
out Trent Brown anyway. Some of those things happen, but yeah,
I think with having Rumledge, Keelan Rumledge, Big Red, that

(48:17):
gives you a much better left guard situation they've had
in the past.

Speaker 5 (48:21):
Hey, Aaron, I'm really curious about Jalen Knoll this year.
With Stephon Diggs, he was so effective in the slot
before he got hurt. What kind of role do you
anticipate for Jalen, and do you think he could take
a step this season?

Speaker 13 (48:33):
I do.

Speaker 12 (48:33):
I think that they will have some vertical slot plays
for him. I also think that beyond his returning, and
they talk about that a lot, I'm kind of wondering
if they were sandbagging a little bit about what he's
going to be doing at receiver and if it's more
than maybe D'Amico Ryan's led people to believe just because
he kept talking about returns, but he's going to be
doing a lot more than returns. He's one of their

(48:55):
top receivers. So expect that. Also expect the package of
plays right away for Kayshaun Booty.

Speaker 4 (49:02):
Again, Aaron Wilson joining us here on the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790. And you just mentioned Kayshaun Booty there,
and I think it was you that pointed out They
don't expect any limitations. I mean, has this been much
of a ramp-up period for him, or has it been
pretty much hand-in-glove in terms of learning the system, seeing
as his position coach is brothers with the guy that

(49:23):
was his offensive coordinator there?

Speaker 14 (49:26):
Right.

Speaker 12 (49:26):
I think the overlap is extensive. And you think about
beyond the siblings, it's the teachings of Josh McDaniels to
Nick Caley. to Cole Popovich, their Bill Belichick roots, those guys,
everything that they were brought up on is New England.
And that's what Josh McDaniels is all about. And so

(49:47):
everything that Keishon was running there, the biggest difference is
they call some things differently, you know, verbiage, everybody's got
nicknames for plays, but I think for Keishon and talking
with him the other day, I get a chance to
stay after a little bit with him, talk a little more.
And I said, I, you know, how happy are you?
And he says, this is what I asked for. They

(50:07):
granted my wish. This is the team I wanted to
play for, and he's thrilled to be here. He said
it's going really well so far. He's spending a lot
of time. He says that's just work with the quarterback,
and they put a lot of time into it, him
and CJ, to build some timing. Do I think he'll
play as extensively as he will later in the season? No,
I think that it'll be like a package of plays.

(50:28):
I'm not expecting him to play like 80, 90% of
the snaps in his first game. I think they'll ramp
that up, but I don't expect him to play a
couple of plays and get one.

Speaker 14 (50:39):
Pass thrown to him.

Speaker 12 (50:39):
No, I'd be very surprised if he didn't have a
couple of shots thrown to him, give him a chance
to make a play.

Speaker 4 (50:47):
Defensively, you've got one of the best quarterbacks in the
league in Josh Allen going on Sunday. Last year, it
seemed like the Texans really made a concerted effort to
limit James Cook. Do you expect a similar type of
defensive game plan for them on Sunday?

Speaker 12 (51:05):
Yes, and I think one thing they're going to do,
because of the success James Cook had, I think they're
going to be following him around everywhere, and I would
imagine that would be on Cesar Shire. They got out
of their gaps on that big touchdown. Other than that,
they did an okay job on him, but I think
that he's going to be a big point of emphasis.
The pass rush kind of takes care of itself. Their

(51:26):
offensive line is arguably worse than last year. They've lost
some people, like David Edwards. It was good of them
to get Conor McGovern back, and Deion Dawkins has always
been solid, but he's not fast enough to stay with
these guys. I think either tackle position, they could have
some issues. It's going to be on Josh Allen to
get the ball out of his hands. He can't hold

(51:46):
the ball as long as he has against other teams.
It's just he has to start playing differently. At some point,
he's had a lot of struggles, especially here at Reliant
Stadium against the Texans defense.

Speaker 8 (51:57):
He's got to switch it up, and Joe.

Speaker 12 (51:59):
Brady's got to make things... Easier for him, just being
from the Bills standpoint. How do you strategize against this defense?
It's an absolute terror. You got to go quick game sometimes.
You got to hand off more. You got to kind
of make things a little simpler for him. You have
to respect the deep threat they have in DJ Moore.
That's an upgrade, but it's not like they're playing against
Randy Moss or something. I mean, I think that the

(52:21):
defense should be fine. I would be surprised if they're
having problems with Josh Allen, but logic says that Joe
Brady will adjust that he has to I just don't
think they can run the same old thing even though
yeah he was the OC now he's the head coach
basically still OC slash head coach I just think that
he knows I mean they've been working on this game

(52:43):
for a while I can't see them running the same
thing I'd be surprised I think uh I think Joe's
smarter than that you gotta at least try something different
against this defense.

Speaker 4 (52:52):
Get you out the door on this what individual matchup
are you going to be keeping the closest eye on
on Sunday.

Speaker 12 (52:59):
We just talked about the pass rush, so let's go
to the other side. And I'm watching Nico Collins against
Bill's corner, Christian Benford. And he's a solid corner, but
I think that Nico, look for Nico in some high,
heavy targets and kind of establish him right away. He
is the go-to guy. We talk a lot about other players.

(53:19):
I think sometimes we forget it's about Nico. And... I
was imagining that would be a good matchup to watch
on the other side of the football because we've talked
so much about defense. But on offense, I'm watching number
12 and recently had a good one-on-one with Nico and
talked about a lot of things. And he's feeling really,
really good about his role and where he is as

(53:42):
a player and looks like he's really healthy and energized
for the season. So let's see what Nico can do.
Even though it's not a contract here, I think they
get back to the table. They kind of just put
sort of a financial band-aid on that thing, but at
some point, I think they extend it with more years.

Speaker 4 (54:02):
Again, he's Aaron Wilson, our Sports Talk 790 Texans insider.
He joins us every single week here on the Dan
Matthews Show. You can find him on Twitter at AaronWilson
underscore NFL. Aaron, it's always great, man. Appreciate your time,
appreciate your coverage, and see you at the stadium on Sunday.

Speaker 12 (54:21):
Fast note, Caden McDonald did not practice the past two
days as a rookie defensive tackle, trending toward being out
against the Bills due to an ankle injury.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (54:29):
Well, we'll have to wait and see, I guess, on
Caden McDonald. Appreciate it, buddy. We'll catch up soon.

Speaker 8 (54:34):
Thank you, sir.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
All right, there you go.

Speaker 4 (54:35):
Aaron Wilson, again, our Sports Talk 790 Texans insider. But,
I mean, in terms of this game, especially when you
have two really good teams like this, Comes down to
individual matchups, and we'll see who is able to win
those on Sunday because that will be the difference in
this one. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in. Speaking

(54:55):
about one of the things that we just mentioned there
is trying to be able to clear up the clutter. Well,
it sounds like at least Matt Burke and Nick Caley
are on the same page on that and exactly what
that means. We'll lay out for you right here as
we continue. It is the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.
Christian Rau, locked on Bill's hit. He is going to
join us to give us the Bill's side of Sunday.

(55:18):
That's coming your way here shortly. 713-212-5790. Astros take two
out of three in Philly from the Phillies. Thank you,
Cam Smith. Thank you, Christian Javier. Thank you, the high
leverage part of the Astros bullpen. Able to make that
happen yesterday. Now you get ready for the raise. 5
o'clock Astros on deck for that tonight. And then, of course,

(55:38):
Texans-Bills Sunday from there at Reliance Stadium. So I want
to let you hear from Texans offensive and defensive coordinator
Nick Cayley and Matt Burke. That's coming up here in
just a second. But as you know the rules of
the show, we cover it. It's fair game. And when
you give us a shout, you can be able to
jump in. I know that Robert wants to jump in

(55:59):
on a call that we had earlier yesterday. about an
idea for Carlos Correa. Robert, lay that out for us.

Speaker 8 (56:06):
Hey, buddy. Thank you. Thank you for letting me talk.

Speaker 17 (56:08):
I really think that the caller earlier in the previous segment, Eric,
was really right on this idea of bringing Carlos Correa
this late in the season. He ought to be given
a chance at left field, and I'm not sure he
wants it. We can discuss that, but it's no different
than San Diego moving Fernando Tatis from shortstop to right field,

(56:29):
and look what it's done for them. We need Carlos'
bat in the order late here in the season. I mean,
what else do we have in left field? You've got Trammell,
and then you've got the two also-rans that we just acquired.
There's no strength out there. It couldn't be any worse
in left field. You can platoon him with Alvarez if
you need to rest one or the other, but you get...

(56:52):
First base with Walker, second base with Altuve, which is
still his stalwart good guy. We got Peña at short.
Then you got Paredes at third. We don't mess with
that combination at all because of Correa coming back. Then
you put Correa in left field. It's a short porch
out there. It's not a lot of field to cover.
There is a lot less pain and suffering on that angle,

(57:14):
on that ankle of his. You know, compared to pushing
off at third base, diving for a ball down the line.
I don't see how this could absolutely hurt the Astros.
This is an unusual idea, but why not try it?
Because we need his bat in the lineup. And really,
we need his leadership being in the playoffs so many
times before. I don't know why we don't consider that.
And that ought to be pushed up the ladder. You

(57:36):
guys are talking, you know, being the flagship station for
the Astros.

Speaker 8 (57:41):
What do you think of that?

Speaker 4 (57:42):
All right, Robert, there's a lot that you mentioned right
there that there are answers to. With the Tatis part
of it, Tatis also had an entire offseason. You're not
going to move a guy in the middle of the
season and really see results from it. If that's something
that's going to be discussed, Josh, you even brought it
up off air with me, like with Jose Altuve. That

(58:02):
was something they went to spring training with. That was
something they worked on in spring training. A lot of
backfield work. A lot of legwork in between of practicing
being able to make that move. And on top of
it all, too, I don't think that Carlos Correa would
want to do it. I think that he wants to
come back and he wants to play third base. And
it's not him being selfish. It's a position that he's

(58:25):
comfortable with. If you want to have that conversation in
the offseason, then sure. But I don't see them having
it with them. If you move them off shortstop, you
were moving them off there because, well, that's a physically
grueling position. So him coming back and as Josh even
pointed out, Chandler Rome doing it in the mailbag where.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
Probably the way that you're.

Speaker 4 (58:45):
Going to make this work is that you're going to
see a lot more Jordan Alvarez out in left field.
Isak Paredes getting a little bit more second base time
and Jose Altuve is your DH.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
That's how you make this work.

Speaker 4 (58:56):
So if Carlos Correa comes back, which again is a huge,
if he's working around the clock over there in West
Palm beach to try to make that happen. But again,
it's a massive, if he comes back, then he's playing
third base and And I mean, a guy that just
came off of what was supposed to be season ending
ankle surgery. And I got to push back on that too, Robert,

(59:17):
you're wrong. Like playing the outfield is a lot more
physically grueling because of the ground that you have to cover.
And the change of direction. And it's not just as
simple as, oh, hey, see a ball off the bat
and run it down and catch it. He knows how
to do that. He knows how to do those parts
of it. But it's also to the before the balls
put in play. Where am I going with this? I mean,

(59:38):
it's a totally different animal out there. And it's I mean, take,
for example, Chipper Jones, when he was with the Braves,
moved out there because I think they had Vinny Castilla
playing third base. I'm trying to remember who they had
brought in. And they asked him if he wanted to
do it. And he said, yeah, sure, I'll do it.
And then eventually he moved back to third base because,
I mean, it's his better position. He's won gold gloves there.
He's a really good player. So if that's something that

(59:59):
is going to be discussed, it's going to have to
happen after this season. They're not going to do it
in season. They're not going to overload Carlos Correa and
have him play a position that A, he's not familiar with,
but B, that also too would be even more physically
tough on him. It's just not going to happen. I
don't think that this is even a starter of a conversation.

(01:00:21):
I try to be able to talk about things that
are realistic. This is very unrealistic. It's just not even
a thing. You've been told how this is going to
work and how they are going to make it work.
It ain't going to be with Carlos Correa out in
left field. Let's get to the Texans conversation because I
do see Ray and Brian, and we'll work you guys in.

Speaker 6 (01:00:40):
But.

Speaker 4 (01:00:42):
In terms of simplifying things, got a couple of things here,
one from Matt Burke, one from Nick Cayley, about one
of them from Burke's side of, you know, you're going
up against a really tough quarterback in Josh Allen. You know,
you're going up against a team that's got playmakers all
over the place. You got DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir. We
talked about James Cook. Those are guys that you got

(01:01:02):
to contend with. But also, too, he was asked yesterday
about facing a new coaching staff because, of course, Joe
Brady is now the head coach there. Pete Carmichael, the
offensive coordinator. Trying to get familiar with those guys. I
love what Burke's answer was to the question about trying
to face the unknown.

Speaker 2 (01:01:19):
Here's what he had to say.

Speaker 18 (01:01:21):
Last year, we played them on a Thursday night. It's
almost easier. We're down rabbit holes. There's a lot of
film out there. There's other teams we've played, obviously, with
Coach Carmichael coming in and the history against this front.
There's a lot of tape that we can watch and
have watched. We had the extra week.

Speaker 4 (01:01:38):
And I mean, that is the thing too, is that
sometimes with, you know, I always love that people say, oh,
you've got this much time to be able to prepare
for a game. I think in football, it's almost worse
because think about like when you were going through school,
preparing for a test, you wanted to be able to
make things committed to memory, right? You didn't want to
overload yourself with a bunch of information that may or

(01:02:00):
may not even be on the test. You try to
prepare as best as you can. That's why you study, right?
So a way that you also do that is to
not procrastinate. paralyze yourself with analysis. I mean, where you
watch so much film and you start seeing things that
aren't even there. And I appreciate that answer from him
where he's talking about, look, it really comes down to,
and he had said this a little bit later on

(01:02:21):
that answer. What do we do? We have a really
good defense. What are we really good at? Let's focus
on that. That's how we'll win this game. Not, oh man,
you know, they might do this. They might do that
because you start doing that. Then you start thinking your
eyes start getting into the backfield and And that's how
big plays happen. And they're trying to avoid having those
big plays happen. So I appreciate that answer from him.
As far as Nick Cayley, we covered this a little

(01:02:42):
bit with Aaron Wilson as he talked about eliminating some
things from this offense, because I think we can agree
this is an offense that needs to own the simple
first before they can do other things.

Speaker 2 (01:02:53):
Here's what Nick Cayley had to say.

Speaker 7 (01:02:55):
Cleaner in terms of just Obviously, we're not in the season,
but trying to eliminate a lot of the pre-snap BS
that we had to go through.

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
We don't need that.

Speaker 7 (01:03:04):
That starts with, I think, getting out of the huddle faster,
getting our feet set, and being able to operate and
not feeling like you're fighting the clock. That's the biggest thing.

Speaker 4 (01:03:11):
It is the biggest thing because this is a team
that has run up to running into the play clock before,
got to burn a timeout, or even, God forbid, somebody
jumps off sides. Somebody is not lined up properly. I mean,
we've seen all of those pre-snap issues. And that's where
I think the Texans here in the early going, it's
with us being told that this offense is taking a

(01:03:32):
step forward. You take a step forward by owning the simple.
Do the simple things right. You want to start doing
exotic things and all of the other things? Do that
later in the season. Not right now. Not in a
game like this against the Bills. So I appreciate both
of those answers from both of those guys. All right,
Ray and Brian stick and stay right there. We'll get
to you.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
I promise we will.

Speaker 4 (01:03:50):
Or if you want to give us a shout back later,
because I do need to get us over to our
good buddy, Christian route from locked on bills hit. Want
to get the bill side of Sunday. We'll do that
right here. As we continue. It is a Dan Matthews
show sports talk. Seven 90. Hey, here on the Dan
Matthews show sports talk. Seven 90.

Speaker 2 (01:04:07):
We come your way.

Speaker 4 (01:04:07):
10 to two. every single weekday right here on Sports
Talk 790. Strohs in Tampa taking on the Rays as
we'll get that going at 5 o'clock with Astros on deck.
They just take two out of three from the Phillies
after winning yesterday 2-1. Three-game lead in the West over
the Rangers heading into this series, too. And you also
have the Texans and Bills coming up on Sunday over

(01:04:29):
at Reliant Stadium. And Amanda's going to talk the Bills
side of things. Christian Rao from Locked On Bills hit.
He joins us now. Christian, great to finally catch up
with you, man. Love your work over there. Just in
terms of this season for the Bills and new head coach,
because clearly they felt like that with McDermott.

Speaker 2 (01:04:49):
They had kind of maxed out.

Speaker 4 (01:04:50):
So what are the expectations with Joe Brady and what
are at least the hopes that they can accomplish this year?

Speaker 8 (01:04:58):
Yeah. First of all, thanks for having me on. But
when you look at this, this bill squad this year,
it's completely different to when you compare it to another
first year head coach heading into the NFL or taking
over one of these teams, because, you know, you're, you're
still taking over a team that had Superbowl expectations. You
still have Josh Allen who just won the MVP a
couple of years ago. So it's definitely a completely unique experience.

(01:05:22):
Joe Brady was on the staff for the last few
years with Josh Allen in this offense, not just taking
over the rounds, but getting Giving the opportunity to get
his own feel to the coaching staff and adding some
senior analysts to the bit as well. So it's definitely unique.
I don't think the expectations have changed yet. I think
it's still a Super Bowl contender or bust season for

(01:05:43):
the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 4 (01:05:45):
And in terms of Josh Allen, I mean, it's always
one of those that I always love to get people
on the local sides, thoughts on a quarterback, because like,
I'll give you where I'm going with this in Atlanta.
It was, you either were a Matt Ryan guy or
you weren't. And here it seems like it's the same
deal with CJ Stroud. Is it pretty unanimous up in

(01:06:05):
Buffalo that everybody's ride or die with Josh Allen?

Speaker 2 (01:06:08):
Or does he even have his detractors up there?

Speaker 8 (01:06:11):
Yeah, it's pretty ride or die now. I mean, at
the beginning of it, there were a vast amount of
people who rather have Josh Rosen be trapped rather than
Josh Allen. I don't think people believed in the pick
at the very beginning. I think just because Buffalo was
let down so many times over that playoff drought and
over that 20 years of just having bad quarterback play
all the way leading back to the Jim Kelly Super

(01:06:32):
Bowl years. But now it's pretty ride or die about
Josh Allen, what he's done to this community, what he's
done for this team. And I think a lot of people,
if not everybody, believes in him as the quarterback in
the future of this team.

Speaker 4 (01:06:44):
And i mean is is there so much pressure on
this season like say that it ends with them getting
knocked out in the divisional round i mean do you
think that maybe starts to fire up with them of
hey man it's all great you got the pretty wife
you got all that kind of stuff but you need
to actually start winning huge games for us.

Speaker 8 (01:07:02):
I can see it starting to become the narrative. Look,
we're entering his age 30 season. This is around the
same time that Peyton Manning also started getting to his
Super Bowl moments, and they kind of do share the
same trajectory of couldn't get to the final game, couldn't
win the big one in the postseason. If you remember
how they treated Peyton Manning back in the day, they
talked about how he was a choke artist in the

(01:07:23):
playoffs and couldn't get the clutch factor there. I could
see that happening with Josh Allen, but I could also
see the new coach changing narratives start to take place there.
I think it all depends on how you lose that
playoff game, when you lose that playoff game. If you
don't make it to the postseason, then that definitely would
be an issue.

Speaker 2 (01:07:41):
Christian Rao, again, locked on Bills hit.

Speaker 4 (01:07:43):
Joining us here, talking the Bills side of Sunday's matchup
over at Reliant Stadium between them and the Texans as
we continue the conversation here on the Dan Matthews show.
What is a position group that you look at with
this Bills team that gives you the most confidence?

Speaker 8 (01:08:00):
That's a good question. I think this year, I think
the offensive line has certainly added its continuity. They've got paid.
They have certainly stepped up in a big way, but
I think it'll definitely be tested this week because last
year that was a big issue for this game between
the Bills and the Texans with Josh Allen getting a
career high of eight sacks, obviously Houston winning that football game.

(01:08:21):
I have a lot of confidence in this offensive line
this year. I think they certainly... have what it takes
to protect Josh Allen. And I think they've put a
lot of capital into making sure that can happen. So
if I had to go one, I think my, my
confidence is in the offensive line.

Speaker 4 (01:08:34):
And how do you see this defense approaching CJ Stroud
and this Texans offense?

Speaker 8 (01:08:39):
Yeah, it's going to be super interesting, right? Even I'm
not really quite sure of what Jim Leonard's about to possess,
the new defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. He's been
very clear that in preseason, he's keeping a lot of
things close to his chest. He believes in the element
of surprise because nobody has tape on his defense right now.
He was a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin. He helped out
a little bit with the Broncos, but nothing truly surprising. scheme.

(01:09:01):
Just from what we've seen and what we know from
Jim Leonard, it looks like there will be some multiple fronts.
We'll probably see some multiple disguise coverages, and he's not
afraid to set pressure or move players around to force
double teams in different directions and make younger players and
quarterbacks communicate and make decisions. You know, obviously you think
about your left side of your line. It's a little

(01:09:21):
bit less inexperienced than your right side. I think that
they might try to attack that. But I could see
a lot of pressure in disguise from Jim Leonard immediately.

Speaker 2 (01:09:29):
A couple more minutes. Again, Christian Rao locked on. Bills hit.

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
Joining us here on the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.
The numbers with the receiver position, have those gotten better? Because,
I mean, you know, Christian, it seemed like last year
that was the massive real difference for the Bills is
that it looked like that they just completely ran out
of guys at that spot.

Speaker 8 (01:09:49):
Yeah, they added DJ Moore in a trade this offseason,
which I think is a big deal. I think a
lot of people, including myself, believe that Josh Allen finally
has that wide receiver one again. DJ Moore obviously has
had some big production over his years with Carolina and Chicago.
He was kind of starting to get buried on that
Chicago depth chart, so I think he has an opportunity

(01:10:10):
to step up now. Khalil Shakur, we'll see how much
he actually plays in the game on Sunday, just started
to practice today. This week after being banged up in
the preseason. And then we still have questions regarding Keaton Coleman,
if he can step up the way that everybody is
expecting him to. But the depth portions, you know, looking
at the depth of the Buffalo Bills wide receiver room,

(01:10:31):
Joshua Palmer was injured during that game last year. We
didn't get to see him. He's healthy. He's ready to go.
And then they drafted out of Yukon wide receiver Skylar Bell.
So I think they do have more depth at the position.

Speaker 4 (01:10:45):
Interesting that you bring up Keon Coleman because I think
a lot of people expected more than we've seen out
of him at this level but I mean is that
almost kind of a pet project for Joe Brady of
I mean we saw what he was able to do
at LSU with some really good receivers but I mean
is is Keon Coleman kind of in that same mold
of you know hey you know don't forget we got
Terrace Marshall over here like kind of that guy that

(01:11:06):
can really be a surprise.

Speaker 8 (01:11:09):
I think it's a make or break season for Keon Coleman.
I think they've made that pretty clear this year. Now,
there was definitely some words when Sean McDermott was fired
and our owner, Terry Pagliulo, was pretty clear that they
weren't very happy with that draft decision. But Joe Brady
has made it very clear that Keon Coleman is in
the best spot because he's the head coach of this

(01:11:30):
football team. So I think he truly believes in his game.
He was named wide receiver three on the first unofficial
depth chart. And I think that goes a long way
to how his confidence is sitting. I think that there's
going to be a lot of things looking at Keon
Coleman this year when it comes to a make or
break season. He's even aware of that. His production obviously
hasn't been the way it should be in his two years.
He's done with the bills. He has yet to surpass

(01:11:52):
a thousand yards total in receiving. So a lot of
things riding on him this year.

Speaker 2 (01:11:57):
Christian, I'm going to get you out the door on
this one.

Speaker 4 (01:11:59):
Between Dalton Kincaid and James Cook, who's got to have
the bigger game in order for the Bills to be
able to pull this off?

Speaker 8 (01:12:06):
Without question, it's James Cook. Obviously, leading the NFL in
rushing last year, you've got to find a way to
establish the run to kind of put your Houston defense
just a little bit on their toes, maybe even slow
them down, maybe even gas them a little bit, because
if you get Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter being able
to chase Josh Allen every single play like they did
last year, it's going to be a really bad day

(01:12:26):
for Buffalo.

Speaker 4 (01:12:27):
Again, he's Christian Rau. You can find him on Twitter
at Christian S. Rau, R-A-U-H is how you spell that
last name. And he is aces when it comes to
not only the Bills, but just his football knowledge as
a whole. And again, you can find his work as
well at LockedOnBillsHit. Hey, Christian, man, like I said, big
fan of your work. It's great to finally catch up
with you. And just like us here in Houston, I

(01:12:49):
know y'all are looking forward to a hell of a
game on Sunday.

Speaker 8 (01:12:53):
Absolutely. Can't wait for it. So happy football's back. Thanks
for having me on.

Speaker 2 (01:12:56):
There you go. True rewards.

Speaker 4 (01:12:57):
Never spoken again. Christian Rao up there covering the bills.
And I mean, it is one of those things, too,
that as we've talked about, I mean, it is one
of those storylines that, you know, you can have one
fan base say, hey, we didn't have these guys. And
the bills can say we didn't have our guys. And
I mean, that's the beauty of a week one matchup
like this. Everybody is on the field. Everybody that you

(01:13:20):
know you broke camp with, they're ready to go. I mean,
at least for the most part, as you heard Aaron
Wilson say, it's not likely that Caden McDonald is able
to go. But in terms of the week one matchups,
I mean, you know, we've seen some already that were
pretty awesome. And now this is probably going to be
the one that is the one that the rest of
the league is looking forward to on Sunday because you

(01:13:41):
got two teams that have a really, really good shot
at being able to go deep into the AFC playoffs
and maybe even be the one of the ones representing
the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (01:13:50):
So we'll see how it all shakes out.

Speaker 4 (01:13:52):
And we are just a couple of days away from
seeing these teams on the field.

Speaker 2 (01:13:57):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (01:13:59):
Again, it's 713-212-5790. We haven't done a look at the
shield in a minute, and I definitely do want to
bring that into the fold.

Speaker 2 (01:14:08):
So we'll do.

Speaker 4 (01:14:08):
That because, well, you got two games down and you
also got some others that are happening this weekend, including
one team that Well, speaking of health, they seem like
they're already dealing with some of their own issues. We'll
talk about all of that as we close out the
11 o'clock hour here. Plus, get your phone calls in.
See a couple of you wanting to weigh in. So
we'll give you that opportunity at 713.

Speaker 12 (01:14:26):
2-1-2-5-7-90.

Speaker 4 (01:14:27):
Again, it's 7-1-3-2-1-2-5-7-90. So we keep the conversation going here
on a football Friday.

Speaker 2 (01:14:34):
It is the Dan Matthews Show Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 4 (01:14:36):
Hit you with a quick look at the shield here
as we close out the 11 o'clock hour in just
a couple of minutes. But you got the Astros in St.
Pete taking on the Rays. 5 o'clock Astros on deck
for that after you take two out of three in
the series against the Phillies. Really good pitching yesterday and
just enough hitting. to be able to get you out

(01:14:57):
of that series with a series win. And then, of course,
Texans and Bills on Sunday at Reliant Stadium. Looking forward
to that.

Speaker 8 (01:15:04):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (01:15:05):
A man I hadn't heard from in a while. I
was almost wondering if I was still one of his favorites.

Speaker 2 (01:15:10):
Ray in Miami. It's good to hear from you, Ray.
What's up, man?

Speaker 15 (01:15:13):
Hey, what's up, man? You know, my buddy got kidnapped
and took off the show. I stopped calling.

Speaker 2 (01:15:19):
I got you.

Speaker 8 (01:15:20):
I got you.

Speaker 15 (01:15:20):
Football is back, so I got to start back calling. First,
I want to say... I don't want to get attacked
by Houstonians after I hang up. But I do want
to say some things are reality. And the reality is
the only thing we know good is the defense and
the Texans. But on the other side of the ball,
this is one of the best quarterbacks we've ever seen

(01:15:41):
in the NFL. And this is the NFL leading rusher
coming in here, going into Texas to play the Texans.
And I'm very concerned. I think, well, I know for.

Speaker 8 (01:15:53):
A fact, CJ is allergic.

Speaker 15 (01:15:56):
To winning in the first couple of weeks. He doesn't
know how to win. And I think, I hope not, Dan,
but I think Josh is going to get off to
a good start. And I think he's not going to
blow the Texans out, but I think he's going to
finally get a win in Houston. And I don't want
him to, of course, because it's going to have something
to do with the I think the defense are going

(01:16:18):
to try their best, but CJ can't match up with
this guy. Josh is a good runner, casser, thinker, everything.
And CJ is not good at running. I just don't
think he's going to beat this guy. And the defense
is going to do everything in their power to win.
But I just think they're going to fall short, Dan.

(01:16:38):
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for saying that. And
I honestly think they're going to go 0-3 again because
of who they have to play. And I think all
three first quarterbacks are better than CJ. And I'm just
telling Houston some real.

Speaker 2 (01:16:51):
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Daniel Jones is better than CJ. Well,
not Daniel.

Speaker 15 (01:16:57):
I'm sorry. Cause I was thinking about the Ravens. I'm sorry.
Not Daniel. But the first two, the first two quarterbacks
are better than CJ.

Speaker 4 (01:17:04):
The first two I'm willing to give you, but yeah,
I mean the Colts in week three, I'm not giving
you that one.

Speaker 15 (01:17:10):
He's not, but I'm scared. They started 8-1 last year.
They started 8-1, so I don't know what he's going
to come out and do. Then they have Jonathan Taylor.
The Texans aren't guaranteed to beat the Colts. Think about it.
It's not a guarantee. Jonathan Taylor is a very top
running back in the NFL, and he's not going to
be playing with the Texans. And Sunday, Josh is going

(01:17:32):
to try to score as many points as he can
on the Texans. If he can put up 60, he will.
And CJ, he's pouting about the money. Make the money.

Speaker 2 (01:17:41):
No, he's not. No, no, Ray, you're being intellectually dishonest.
He's not. He's doing anything but doing that.

Speaker 15 (01:17:48):
No, in the interview I saw Dan when he said,
I feel like I've done enough.

Speaker 14 (01:17:52):
No, you haven't.

Speaker 2 (01:17:53):
He said that back in the spring. And you know what?

Speaker 4 (01:17:57):
Okay, so do you go to your job and whatever
they offer you, you're just like, okay, yeah, that works
for me.

Speaker 8 (01:18:03):
Oh, no, no.

Speaker 15 (01:18:04):
I argue and I go to the table.

Speaker 4 (01:18:06):
Yes. So, I mean, you're your best advocate, are you not?
So he's advocating for himself. I mean, that's all he's doing.

Speaker 8 (01:18:13):
Okay.

Speaker 15 (01:18:14):
Dan, would you give him $ 60 million a year right now?

Speaker 8 (01:18:16):
I would not.

Speaker 4 (01:18:18):
I've been on record of saying that I would give
him exactly what Jalen Hurts has gotten, 52.

Speaker 14 (01:18:24):
Exactly.

Speaker 15 (01:18:25):
And I have one more question before I hang up.

Speaker 8 (01:18:28):
Quickly.

Speaker 15 (01:18:28):
Do you think Caleb Williams would have won that game
in New England?

Speaker 8 (01:18:33):
Just switch out CJ.

Speaker 15 (01:18:34):
Switch out CJ. Do you think Caleb Williams would have
did enough to win that football game? I know damn
well he would, but you probably disagree with me.

Speaker 4 (01:18:42):
Well, I mean, there was no Nico Collins, there was
no Dalton Schultz, and you were basically playing with Xavier Hutchinson.
I mean, look, I'm not going to absolve CJ of
blame for the way that he played in that game.
He played terribly. He would be the first to tell
you that. But a couple of things, though, just with
CJ is I'm actually willing to give him a clean slate.
here for the way that his career has gone up

(01:19:03):
to this point, because I've heard about all the improvements
that he's made, that this offense has made.

Speaker 2 (01:19:08):
That's what I want to see on Sunday. Have you
been able to do that?

Speaker 4 (01:19:12):
And by the way, too, in year two, he did
start the season off two and oh, I mean, let's
not forget about that, where you went up to Indianapolis,
you won that game and he came back here Sunday night.
and he beat the bears too. So I get you
not believing in CJ Stroud, and I'm not going to
try to talk you off of feeling that way, but
two at the same time, I mean, it is one

(01:19:33):
of those where you got to also bring in the
other parts of it that are the positives with them
in order to have a fair argument here. And that's
just where I sit with that. But in terms of
him not being a very good runner, as a matter
of fact, the Texans pointed this out late last night,
CJ is one of the 10 players in NFL history that,
with at least 10,000 passing yards and 600 rushing yards

(01:19:54):
through the first three seasons of his career. So I
understand the loss last year at New England, and I
understand that that's also to the freshest memory that we have,
and it's not a good one.

Speaker 2 (01:20:08):
And I get that.

Speaker 4 (01:20:09):
And that's why the surest way that CJ can make
people forget about that is with a good first impression
here on Sunday. And that's what people are going to
be looking for him to do. And he's got a
healthier receiver core. He's got a deeper receiver core now.
And he also actually has a run game, or at
least we believe that he has a run game with
David Montgomery and And.

Speaker 2 (01:20:28):
Also with Woody marks. So we'll see how it all
plays out. But again, I'm willing to give him the
benefit of the doubt and see if indeed he has
been able to take that step forward this year.

Speaker 4 (01:20:38):
Hey, real quick here. We're not going to need the
music because like we're, we, yeah, yeah. We're a minute
away from the break and also to Adrian and Jason,
I see also work in. So of course, I mean,
the first couple of games that we've seen, I mean,
the Patriots where did you see, by the way, that
Drake may stiff drew lock and he was not very
happy about it.

Speaker 8 (01:20:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:20:57):
Drake may, which by the way, too, if we're.

Speaker 4 (01:20:58):
Going to have this energy about CJ Stroud, can we
not have it about Drake May too? Which as I
heard on the A team yesterday, they were playing a
little bit of WEI and whoever else up there in Boston.
That was pretty upset about Drake May. Is Drake May
on fraud alert? Is, is, is he now kind of
in that same mold that people look at Justin Herbert with?
Cause everybody was all, you know, Oh, I love Drake May.

(01:21:21):
The shirts were making their way around there last year. And,
He looked awful on Thursday night.

Speaker 2 (01:21:26):
I don't think so. Wednesday night. Same point. With A.J.

Speaker 5 (01:21:29):
Brown going down for the next probably four weeks, it's
going to be hard to expect a lot out of him.

Speaker 2 (01:21:33):
Oh, it's not probably. He is on IR.

Speaker 13 (01:21:34):
No, no.

Speaker 5 (01:21:35):
I said it's going to probably be hard to expect
a lot out of Drake May. And Romeo Dobbs looked
like a big nothing.

Speaker 4 (01:21:40):
And so you're saying that they missed Keyshawn Booty, huh?

Speaker 12 (01:21:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:21:44):
And you got Nick Cassario over there where he sees
a call from New England. And it's, yeah, hey, sorry,
I must have missed your call. Hey, by the way,
who called the San Francisco 49ers looking pretty good? Dude,
I'm telling you, with health and Kyle Sheenahan calling plays, everybody's.

Speaker 2 (01:22:02):
All, oh, Seattle, oh, the Rams.

Speaker 4 (01:22:04):
I'm like, you're completely forgetting about a really good team
that has won the NFC numerous times and has a
lot of those guys back. I was surprised to see
Kittle out there, honestly.

Speaker 2 (01:22:16):
They're old, though. By the end of the year, we'll
see if it still looks like this.

Speaker 4 (01:22:18):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (01:22:19):
I mean, that is true.

Speaker 4 (01:22:20):
But if there's one thing I know about Kyle Shanahan
and Shanahan-Kubiak-led teams, they can run the football. And the
49ers proved that last night. And then, oh, by the way, too,
is it time for Tua Tonga-Vailoa just to retire?

Speaker 8 (01:22:32):
I mean, dude.

Speaker 7 (01:22:34):
Ow!

Speaker 8 (01:22:35):
Ow!

Speaker 14 (01:22:35):
Seriously.

Speaker 2 (01:22:36):
Seriously.

Speaker 4 (01:22:37):
If it's not the head injuries, now it's that he's
hurting his lower back and then, oh, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:22:42):
And then all of a sudden, it's an oblique injury?

Speaker 13 (01:22:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:22:46):
So it sounds like that the Falcons are going to
have to play Cooper Rush on Sunday against the Steelers.

Speaker 2 (01:22:50):
Good luck with that. Have fun with that. Congratulations, Mike McCarthy.

Speaker 4 (01:22:55):
You start off your Steelers tenure as a Pittsburgh guy.

Speaker 2 (01:22:59):
Oh, man, I'm back home. You know, I look like
most of my fans. It's going to be great.

Speaker 4 (01:23:04):
Yeah, you know, so now it looks like the Steelers
will be able to have a nice start to the season.

Speaker 2 (01:23:09):
All right, Adrian, Jason, see you all right there. Work in.
Do you want to get back into the Astros conversation?

Speaker 4 (01:23:14):
Of course, coming up in the bottom of the 12
o'clock hour, Mike Hardball, Harge, AM 1300, The Zone. The
Longhorns have a huge game coming up tomorrow night there
in Austin. We'll talk that and also to work you
into the conversation. 713-212-5790. Let's keep it rolling here on
a Friday. It's the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.
The noontime hour is upon us as we keep it

(01:23:38):
going here on the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.
Astros getting ready for the Rays on the road, and
we will have that coming your way a little bit
later on this evening. As a matter of fact, five
hours from now, that's when we hit you with Astros
on deck, get you fired up for that one. And
you also have the Texans getting ready for the Bills

(01:23:59):
on Sunday. In between that, you got the Longhorns at
home taking on Ohio State tomorrow in another jam-packed schedule.
here on our iHeartRadio family of stations. So four o'clock tomorrow,
you're going to get the Astros and Rays. Astros on deck.
I'll be bringing that to you. Five o'clock, you got
U of H football taking on Southern. And that's going

(01:24:20):
to be over on KPRC nine 50. And then tomorrow night,
if you're looking for the horns and the Ohio state Buckeyes, well,
that's going to be over on news radio, seven 40
KTRH starting at five 30.

Speaker 2 (01:24:31):
So there you go.

Speaker 4 (01:24:32):
If you're looking for college football action, the Astros, anything
in between, that's where you can find everything tomorrow. right
here on your home for those teams in Houston. 713-212-5790
is the number to get in. Get you back out
to the phone lines here. Let's hear first from Adrian
wants to weigh in. Adrian, good afternoon.

Speaker 8 (01:24:54):
How you doing?

Speaker 14 (01:24:54):
Good morning, Dan.

Speaker 8 (01:24:56):
How are you? I'm good, man.

Speaker 19 (01:24:59):
Ah, thanks for the info. Texas, Ohio State, huh? Well,
there's my third parlay for the week. This ought to
be good.

Speaker 15 (01:25:05):
Come on, Ohio State. Come on, Archie.

Speaker 14 (01:25:09):
Don't let me down.

Speaker 19 (01:25:11):
Three-team parlay, I promise. If I ever meet you, I'll
buy you a nice fat steak with the winnings.

Speaker 2 (01:25:15):
Oh, I'm in.

Speaker 8 (01:25:16):
Joe.

Speaker 2 (01:25:18):
Joe, congratulations.

Speaker 8 (01:25:19):
Cam, I am.

Speaker 19 (01:25:20):
I see you turning on the microwave, Junior. Nice time
to start turning that microwave on.

Speaker 2 (01:25:26):
Go ahead and heat up, Cam.

Speaker 8 (01:25:28):
I see you in that pitching staff.

Speaker 15 (01:25:32):
One-to-one for that long?

Speaker 8 (01:25:34):
Until they had to get the coffee for the closer?

Speaker 6 (01:25:37):
I hear you.

Speaker 8 (01:25:38):
Are we speaking out loud on this road trip?

Speaker 19 (01:25:41):
We'll find out. Joe, hold on to your pants. They're
not on fire yet. The smoke ain't out, but I
see you.

Speaker 2 (01:25:48):
They trying to save you.

Speaker 8 (01:25:50):
Now, Mr.

Speaker 19 (01:25:53):
You're probably going to get a lot of these calls
after I say this, but CJ, excuse me. The problem
with drinking on Friday is you start too early. What
I do is I wait for the party after everybody
gets off.

Speaker 15 (01:26:08):
When I'm off.

Speaker 19 (01:26:10):
And they drink and I smoke because I keep my
common sense. It works out better that way when you're
talking sports. How in God's name did you just call
here with that phone call?

Speaker 14 (01:26:21):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:26:22):
He had a bad playoffs.

Speaker 2 (01:26:24):
Did you forget about the season.

Speaker 6 (01:26:26):
He had to get us to the playoffs?

Speaker 2 (01:26:29):
Obviously you did.

Speaker 19 (01:26:30):
You pulled the Roger Clemens and Andy Pettit and misremembered.
So I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. And
this defense, I am definitely giving the benefit of the doubt.
Josh is going to come in Superman strong.

Speaker 8 (01:26:47):
We know that.

Speaker 19 (01:26:48):
We've seen Josh Superman strong. Oh, but they're supposed to
have a better offense and a different offense. And, yeah,
it don't matter because this defense and this coach makes
you match them. If CJ can be half-competent, Monday, bro,
you in trouble because we all going to call looking

(01:27:10):
for you, waiting for you to flip and flop like
all these fools on X that I've been posting left
and right.

Speaker 8 (01:27:16):
Oh, Drake May.

Speaker 15 (01:27:17):
Oh, Drake May.

Speaker 19 (01:27:18):
We might as well handle, you know, might as well
get a trophy to St.

Speaker 15 (01:27:21):
Louis.

Speaker 8 (01:27:23):
I mean, go Rams.

Speaker 15 (01:27:24):
Ha, ha, ha.

Speaker 14 (01:27:27):
Wrong answer.

Speaker 19 (01:27:28):
That's why we call it football. Dan, have a good weekend.
Fantasy team off.

Speaker 8 (01:27:32):
To a roll.

Speaker 19 (01:27:33):
I stomped a fool that played Drake May, and I
ain't even started yet. My defense hasn't played. My running
back hasn't played. But my tight end and receivers have. America,
have a good weekend.

Speaker 12 (01:27:44):
Peace!

Speaker 2 (01:27:44):
I appreciate it, Adrian.

Speaker 4 (01:27:46):
Hey, look, you know, if the day drinkers want to
continue to call us, I'm all for it. I mean,
I had heard Matt and Ross mention that when they
were in this seat previously. But, you know, it's one
of those you can't drink all day if you don't
start early. So if that's the case and you're not driving,
then I'm all for it. Let's hear it. Like, I
am all about even, you know, I always love some people. Oh,

(01:28:08):
you know, I'm sober around a bunch of drunk people, which, yes,
that that can be annoying. But I mean, I'll actually
enjoy it. And I think the audience might, too, as well. Oh,
he's condoning drinking. Well, I mean, again, if you're doing
it safely, who are you really hurting? I mean, your liver.
But aside from that.

Speaker 2 (01:28:25):
Give us a shout.

Speaker 4 (01:28:26):
I mean, you know, and, and I know that Adrian kids,
of course, but I know that Ray and Gary and
spring have gotten into it before. And I've been around
to where actually, I think I was in the middle
of it where they one called and then the next
one called and it kind of turns into a little
bit of a party line there, which can be fun

(01:28:46):
because it's kind of like being at a bar and
seeing a fight and you're not involved in it.

Speaker 2 (01:28:50):
So you're just kind of like, all right, I get
free entertainment.

Speaker 8 (01:28:53):
This is cool.

Speaker 2 (01:28:54):
A hundred percent.

Speaker 5 (01:28:55):
And if you can't be excited about the start of
the NFL season, if you want to have a few
cocktails at lunchtime on Friday, I'm not here to judge.

Speaker 12 (01:29:02):
Dude.

Speaker 8 (01:29:02):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:29:03):
Like you just happened upon something right there. And Jason
will work you in here in a second. And we'll
also work back in the Astros conversation in this hour,
especially before we catch up with Mike hardball, hard Fridays
during football season are the best days of the year.
Like amazing because exactly that the weather is still warm
and It's also where if it's got a covered patio

(01:29:26):
with like enough, like fans blowing and things like that,
then you can go pull up there, be able to
get some pops, be able to, you know, get some
good grub and get set up for the weekend because
your team hadn't played yet. So your team can't rip
your heart out just yet. And in, especially too early
on in the season, even if your team loses, you're
not happy about it, but then you're like, okay, there's

(01:29:48):
still a lot of season left to go.

Speaker 2 (01:29:49):
Like in the NFL, you lose a game. It sucks.

Speaker 4 (01:29:52):
And how funny is that, that seemingly, if the Texans
do lose on Sunday, we're probably not going to come
in here on Monday being like, oh my God, fire
this guy, fire that guy. That might come later. But
we're going to have patience with it. It's going to
be like, okay, you played a good team.

Speaker 8 (01:30:07):
You lost.

Speaker 2 (01:30:08):
That happens. They're the underdogs.

Speaker 4 (01:30:09):
And that's the weirdest thing, how it's stuck right there.
And oh, by the way, you heard Adrian mention his
three-teamer that he's going to be playing. We'll help you, hopefully,
with the bankroll with Lee Sterling coming up at 1 o'clock.

Speaker 2 (01:30:23):
He's going to be joining us.

Speaker 4 (01:30:24):
And I know he's got some plays for us, both
on the college and on the pro side. But that's
the other part of it, too, is the promise of hopefully, hey,
this one's going to hit. This this one's going to go,
although I did put down a little parlay last week
and Texas blew me out of the water on that
because I I tailed the action there of thinking, OK,

(01:30:45):
like they'll handle Texas State, but they're not going to
handle them by 30 plus. Oh, well, how about 22
more points than that? Because they handled him by 52
in that one.

Speaker 5 (01:30:57):
I fell for that, too. Lee Sterling, that was his
pick as well. Sometimes it doesn't come through. And then,
I mean, the Baylor one, he was right.

Speaker 4 (01:31:04):
And they were less than a yard away from being
able to fully pull off that win.

Speaker 20 (01:31:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:31:10):
Like I was on that one too. I was, I
was appreciative for that one now. So the plus, the
plus was a good play there. And then of course,
you know, you knew that I was going to go
LSU and well, that one paid out massively. I almost
feel like if you go above, like way above the, the,
the point spread in a game, which I usually try
to like, you know, go a lot more than that.

(01:31:30):
Like money lines, if they make sense, over unders, things
like that. Like the over under tomorrow night is 49
and a half for the Texas game. So, That's going
to be interesting to pay attention to. But I feel
like if it's like a 10 and a half like
that and you paste 51 on them, like, come on now. Like,
you got to pay a little bit more, you know. Hey,

(01:31:53):
you know, Lama, how about a little something, you know,
for the effort here? Like, I kind of feel like
that's got to that's got that's kind of got to
come into play.

Speaker 8 (01:32:01):
I hear you.

Speaker 2 (01:32:02):
In this time of year, it's tough, man.

Speaker 5 (01:32:04):
When you have a lot of these David and Goliath
type matchups, like, oh, I got to predict if they're
going to win by 40 or 45.

Speaker 2 (01:32:10):
That can be tough.

Speaker 4 (01:32:11):
As I say all the time, man, those buildings ain't
so big because they give away their money.

Speaker 2 (01:32:15):
I mean, more often than not, it's, oh, they don't
see me coming.

Speaker 8 (01:32:19):
Oh, no, they do.

Speaker 4 (01:32:20):
And then you're going to see yourself leaving with less money.
That's usually the way it goes. I always loved that.

Speaker 8 (01:32:26):
Oh, how'd you do?

Speaker 2 (01:32:27):
I broke even. You lost, didn't you? Just tell me
you lost. It's fine. Everybody saturates, right?

Speaker 12 (01:32:32):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 16 (01:32:32):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:32:33):
I mean, that's one of those that I will tell
you that if there ever is a jackpot in my life,
There will be signs, but I'm not going to outwardly
tell you.

Speaker 2 (01:32:40):
I'm just going to be honest with you right now.

Speaker 4 (01:32:42):
If I ever did win mega millions or something like that,
as I've told you all, I would show up to
work just like everything is the same, but there would
be signs.

Speaker 2 (01:32:51):
The cars would get nicer. Going out of town this weekend.

Speaker 8 (01:32:54):
Where are you going?

Speaker 2 (01:32:55):
Turks and Caicos.

Speaker 14 (01:32:56):
Wow, man.

Speaker 2 (01:32:57):
How can you afford that?

Speaker 4 (01:32:59):
Like I said, I'll, I'll, I'll leave breadcrumbs for you
because then as soon as people know that like, you've
won a ton of money, then it's all of a sudden,
Hey man, I'm really down on my luck. And not
saying like, don't help out people, but then it's just like,
that's where like that starts to happen. And it's like,
kind of feels like you're starting to take advantage here.
And I don't like that.

Speaker 12 (01:33:17):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 2 (01:33:17):
Jason and Conroe. Jason, good afternoon. How you doing, buddy?

Speaker 13 (01:33:23):
What's up, my friend? Been a long time.

Speaker 2 (01:33:25):
It has been a minute. I was wondering where you've been.

Speaker 15 (01:33:27):
Look, I'm just happy.

Speaker 13 (01:33:29):
I'm just happy I got released from Herman. I'm able
to go home and spend some time with my family.

Speaker 2 (01:33:36):
Is everything all good?

Speaker 13 (01:33:39):
We'll talk about that later. I called about sports today.
I ain't trying to get nobody down. I'm just happy
I'm able to go home. I'm able to watch my
Tigers this weekend. I'm able to watch the Texans. I'm
able to watch my Saints. I'm able to watch the
Astros tonight.

Speaker 12 (01:33:55):
I'm able to watch the Braves. Thank you, by the way,
for helping us out yesterday. That was a big thing
for us.

Speaker 13 (01:34:01):
So it makes it.

Speaker 12 (01:34:02):
Harder on the fields. Thank you very much.

Speaker 13 (01:34:05):
But look, man, I'm excited about this game against the
Bills because, man, Everybody can say what they want. Last
year was a great game. It took everything they had
for the Bills to beat the Texans. And you know what?
That's the way I look at it. We know we
can beat them. I'm not worried about Stroud. I think
Stroud will do enough because Stroud can do enough. I'm

(01:34:28):
not going to worry about his comments he made about
what he's done enough because that'll take care of itself.
It is what it is. We're not negotiators.

Speaker 15 (01:34:37):
We just love to watch.

Speaker 13 (01:34:38):
We're spectators. But I really think this weekend will set
the tone for the way the season goes. You got
weapons with Booty. You got weapons with Nico Collins. You
got a run game with Montgomery, who I really like,
and thought that addition to the running game was great.
They got a lot of potential to do damage. They

(01:34:59):
definitely got enough to win the AFC South, which I
know they will. But I honestly, at the end of
the day, I pick to go up against the Cincinnati
Bengals in the AFC Championship. I'm going to stick with
that because I believe these two teams have the ability
to do it. But, man, I'm just glad football's back.
I'm glad everything's going good. And then let's just have

(01:35:22):
fun this weekend, man.

Speaker 12 (01:35:23):
It's a good sports weekend, my friend.

Speaker 4 (01:35:25):
You're damn right it is. And good to hear from you, Jason.
And hopefully everything's all good on the health front with you.

Speaker 2 (01:35:30):
But no, I mean.
It's a tough start. There's no question about it.

Speaker 4 (01:35:35):
I mean, you know, Buffalo is not going to be
easy on Sunday and the next week.

Speaker 2 (01:35:39):
It's not going to be easy.

Speaker 4 (01:35:40):
I mean, as good as your defenses and as good
as your secondary is, you got two number ones on
the field at the same time. I mean, Jamar Chase
is probably the best receiver in the NFL right now.

Speaker 2 (01:35:52):
And then T. Higgins ain't that far behind him.

Speaker 4 (01:35:54):
So you're going to have your hands full with Cincinnati
and them going out and getting Dexter Lawrence. They've been
able to kind of retool that defense. So, I mean,
there is a world where the Texans could start off
the season 0-2. I don't think there's any question about that.
And I'm sure if that did happen, then you would
start to have a little bit of people starting to
get a little concerned. But then the schedule does soften

(01:36:15):
up for them a little bit after that. I mean,
I understand that everybody like, by the way, Josh, you
can answer this for me. Why is everybody on the
Cowboys this year? Is that just like a people wanting
it to happen? Or is there like actual tangible belief
that the Cowboys could actually be good this year?

Speaker 5 (01:36:29):
Hey, their offense is really good. Their defense was a
disaster last year. They did a lot to make some changes.
We'll see if those actually work. But man, with George Pickens,
CeeDee Lamb, they got some weapons.

Speaker 8 (01:36:40):
Javante?

Speaker 2 (01:36:41):
They're going to score some points. And Dak, he can
be an MVP candidate from year to year.

Speaker 5 (01:36:45):
So we'll see. And their division's taking a bit of
a step back. You're really only worrying about Philly. And
we'll see what they look like without A.J.

Speaker 6 (01:36:51):
Brown.

Speaker 4 (01:36:51):
I still maintain, though, too, that clearly, as I've told
you guys, the circular time frame of a season for
the Cowboys, how it goes, that's preseason, even the postseason.
So we don't have to get into that part of it.
But Brian Schottenheimer is your head coach. I mean, that's
the part of it that I keep going back to
is I always loved when people up there were trying

(01:37:13):
to sell me on Schottenheimer. I go, dude, there have
been coaches with far less of a pedigree than his
dad had that got head coaching opportunities before. The man
had been in the game for 25 years. Why is
he just now getting a head coaching opportunity? What does
that tell you? It is a peculiar choice. I think
they were a little better the last year than people

(01:37:34):
thought they would be, but I did like the Caleb
Downs draft pick. I thought that that was a good one,
but still at the same time, we'll see if they
are able to live up to it.

Speaker 2 (01:37:44):
Dak does put up yards. He does put up points.
There's no question about that.

Speaker 4 (01:37:47):
It's kind of the reverse issue there for them, whereas
you believe in the defense here. The defense up there
has to prove it. it's the offense here that's got
to be able to prove it this year. And we'll
actually have something more on that a little bit later
on because somebody says if the Texans are just above
average on offense, well, then great things are going to
happen around here.

Speaker 2 (01:38:05):
So we'll jump into that.

Speaker 4 (01:38:06):
But Definitely do want to get you set for the
Astros and the Rays this weekend. I know a lot
of you have some Astros thoughts, so jump in on that.

Speaker 2 (01:38:12):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (01:38:13):
Again, it's 713-212-5790. Again, coming up here in about 15 minutes,
Mike Hardball-Harge from AM1300 The Zone in Austin. We'll talk
some Longhorns with him. Looking forward to it and looking
forward to you as well at 713-212-5790. 2, 5, 7, 90.
Stroh's test. Number one, it's in the books. Can they
pass test? Number two, we'll talk about it right here

(01:38:36):
as we continue. It is the Dan Matthews show on
a Friday sports talk, seven 90 sports talk, seven 90
coming up in about five minutes. Mike hardball, Harge, AM 1300,
the zone in Austin, him and, uh, WWE former superstar,
Mark Henry. They do a show every morning there on
our Austin sister station. As the horns take it on,

(01:38:58):
Ohio State tomorrow night. Again, you can be able to
hear that game starting at 530 over on NewsRadio 740 KTRH.
You got the Strohs in the Rays this evening. They
get going 5 o'clock. Astros on deck. And then they
will play again tomorrow. And you can listen to that
game right here on Sports Talk 790. 4 o'clock. Astros
on deck for that one. And then, of course, the
Texans and Bills. facing off against each other on Sunday.

(01:39:22):
713-212-5790 is the number to get in. We opened the
show with this, Josh, of talking about just how awesome
yesterday's win was and even going as far as to
say best win of the season by far. I mean,
that was one that you weren't counting on much offense.
I mean, and as frustrated as we've been with the

(01:39:44):
Astros offense this year, that was not one of them
that I was like, okay, this is on them.

Speaker 2 (01:39:49):
It was, you're facing a damn good pitcher. He was dealing.

Speaker 4 (01:39:53):
He was absolutely dealing. And the other part of it, too,
is sometimes the moves don't work. But I was really
surprised that Joe went Yiner Diaz there for Christian Vasquez. Because,
I mean, I know we were calling for it. And
Joe will learn lessons from things that don't work in
the past. Because, I mean, he had an opportunity in
a series, a couple of series ago. where he could

(01:40:15):
have gone the yiner and he stuck with Christian Vasquez.
Cause remember he said he liked the way he's handling
the bat. Vasquez has not been handling the bat, but
then he makes the move yesterday to go to him.
And here's kind of a guy that's flown under the
radar that we haven't talked a ton about all of
a sudden.

Speaker 2 (01:40:29):
Bennett Sousa is getting people out again. We like to
see it.

Speaker 4 (01:40:33):
We love to see it comes in yesterday, incredibly efficient.
And Oh, by the way to Brian, a Bray you
was one pitch away from an immaculate inning in the
eighth yesterday. where it was all because Justin Crawford fouled
off a pitch, but 10 pitches out of him. Are
we aware in the second half of the season, I
believe it's 22 appearances that he's had, a 1.00.

Speaker 2 (01:40:56):
ERA out of Brian Abreu.

Speaker 4 (01:40:59):
So for all of the, we don't trust him, you
can't go to him, you can't use him as a
high leverage guy. I was joining in on the chorus
for some of those, I'll admit it, but he's all
of a sudden turned into Brian Abreu comes in, You
can trust that Brian Abreu is going to handle business.

Speaker 5 (01:41:15):
After that appearance, you know, what went through my mind is,
is there any chance they re-sign him? Because now he's
been so good that I don't want to see him leave.

Speaker 4 (01:41:24):
Well, I mean, that's the other part of it, too, is,
you know, high leverage blue ball, which the other night
HLB didn't really show up and I mean, as we
talked about, you put him in a really rough spot
there that seemingly a couple of runs were going to
be given up despite his best efforts. And, well, it
turns out that he gave up four more runs after
walking in one. So five in total, which a lot

(01:41:45):
of those were on Brian King before. But, I mean,
it is one of those things that, I mean, you
look at a team that understands the situation that they're in.
They're in a tough spot. where you're facing a really
good team this weekend. And oh, by the way, too,
are we aware, and I'm watching MLB Network in here,
the Rangers have lost their last eight road series. They're

(01:42:06):
in Arizona taking on the Diamondbacks. So you got an opportunity,
if you'd go two out of three this weekend, you
got potentially a chance to interplay on Monday, four or
five games up on the Rangers. Like that is a
much better spot to be in heading into your final
homestand and also then one more road trip, which The

(01:42:27):
ideal scenario would be to come out of next week
back at Dyken Park, where the final week of the
season doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 (01:42:33):
You're locked up. You're in. From your lips to God's ears.

Speaker 5 (01:42:37):
What I liked about that Rangers-Mariners series is the Mariners
won enough games, so now the Astros have the three-game lead.
But then the Rangers won enough games to where the
Mariners are basically, they're done.

Speaker 4 (01:42:48):
Yeah, it's, I mean, we appreciate your help, but being
six games out, I mean, look, one series can turn
that around. I don't know who Seattle plays this weekend.
I know that their schedule gets significantly easier, but I mean,
we were saying that too, and the A's came to
town up there and the A's handled them.

Speaker 2 (01:43:05):
So it's like, hey, thank you for that. Appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (01:43:09):
So, I mean, you'd like to avoid a late season
push by Seattle. Just, I mean, their offense alone is
a huge reason why they probably won't be in position
to overtake you, but still at the same time, I mean,
if they're able to get some things going, maybe yesterday
might've sparked them. I don't know, but, um, it still
right now feels like this is a two team race

(01:43:29):
between you and the Rangers.

Speaker 5 (01:43:31):
And as I've been saying all along, I'm not worried
about the Rangers. I mean, I'm more worried about the
Astros staying consistent. I'm not worried about the Rangers, but
I just looked it up. So Mariners have the A's
for three, uh, at the A's and then they go
play the angels for three.

Speaker 2 (01:43:47):
All right, well, A's and Angels, why don't you go
ahead and help us out a little bit? That'd be nice.
That'd be nice.

Speaker 4 (01:43:51):
Go ahead and knock those guys out, all right? Help
us out, and maybe we'll send you something nice in return.

Speaker 2 (01:43:57):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (01:43:57):
Hadn't talked a ton about the college football slate coming
up this weekend, but like I said, tomorrow night in Austin,
it's going to be a hell of a game between
Ohio State and Texas, and Amanda's going to talk that
with us. Mike Hardball-Harge from AM1300 The Zone in Austin.
He's going to jump aboard with us right here as
we continue the conversation on the Dan Matthews Show, Sports

(01:44:20):
Talk 790. It is Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.
The Astros get ready for a crucial series this weekend
against the Rays in Tampa. It's going to be just
after 6 o'clock, first pitch for that. But 5 o'clock,
Astros on deck, get you set for that. You also
have Texans taking.

Speaker 2 (01:44:37):
On the Bills.

Speaker 4 (01:44:38):
And a huge game tomorrow night in Austin between No.
1 and No. 4. It is going to be the
Longhorns taking on Ohio State there at DKR Memorial Stadium.

Speaker 2 (01:44:48):
And a man who I know is going to be
there watching it all.

Speaker 4 (01:44:50):
Part of the morning kickoff with Mark Henry over on
our sister station in Austin, AM 1300 The Zone. He's
also an all-around great guy. He's Mike Hardball Harge. Harge,
great to hear from you again, man. Hopefully everything's awesome
up there. I know that probably the buildup has been great.
You got all those damn Ohio State fans up there
this weekend too, don't you?

Speaker 21 (01:45:09):
Yeah, they are infiltrating Austin, Texas, and they're doing it
only the way the Buckeyes can. They're trying to take
over the city, but Those Austin Knights are not letting
that happen too easily.

Speaker 14 (01:45:21):
So it's going to be a fun time. ESPN game day.

Speaker 21 (01:45:24):
Y'all will be watching it and you'll get a chance
to see Austin, Texas at its finest. It's an exciting
time because when you look at the matchup and we
can go back to last year, it was the first
game of the year. Nobody understood what the either one
of these teams were going to be.

Speaker 8 (01:45:41):
The hype was around.

Speaker 21 (01:45:43):
Arch Manning and everybody frowned him before he even took
a snap. And now he's got a year under his belt.
It's a different team. They've got a chance to play
a warm-up game. No disrespect to the teams that they
played before. But both teams came in and did exactly
what a team that wants to play or be considered

(01:46:04):
a national title contender, they did what they needed to do.
So it's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow
night at DKR.

Speaker 4 (01:46:11):
And, I mean, you touched on it, too. I mean,
last year, obviously, they opened against each other. But this year,
they both got a warm-up game to come into this
one where, I mean, the Horns handled Texas State last
week and Ohio State handles Ball State.

Speaker 2 (01:46:24):
But, I mean, I'm guessing.

Speaker 4 (01:46:25):
That probably what people want to see out of Arch
Manning is him have that game.

Speaker 2 (01:46:31):
And this would be the one that they want to
see it in?

Speaker 8 (01:46:34):
No doubt. No doubt.

Speaker 21 (01:46:35):
They want to see him go out there and perform
because let's think about it. You know, when you have
these two prideful and historical teams playing each other, there's
going to.

Speaker 8 (01:46:47):
Be a lot of talent on the field.

Speaker 21 (01:46:49):
And this is one of those games where everybody is
the same. But the cool part about this is Arch
Manning goes up against a top defense every single day
in practice. So he's seen this before. He's looking at
the intensity of this game. And of course, he's got
the revenge factor. He'll never say it. But, you know,

(01:47:09):
deep down after that first game last year, there was
an article that came out calling him a flop and
all this other stuff. But now he's got an opportunity
to ride a ship that a lot of people truly
weren't on the bandwagon, so to speak, unless you're here
and watched his progression every single game.

Speaker 14 (01:47:27):
People are going to be looking at Arch in a light.

Speaker 21 (01:47:30):
Now that I think is going to be pretty favorable
for him.

Speaker 4 (01:47:33):
Again, he's Mike Hardball Harge, and he is part of
the morning kickoff with Mark Henry on our Austin sister station,
AM 1300 The Zone, talking Longhorns and Ohio State. Coming
up tomorrow night, and again, you can listen to that
game over on NewsRadio 740 KTRH. Defensively, though, I mean,
it's not much that you can tell from that first
game against Texas State, but I mean, through the 60

(01:47:57):
minutes of that game, I mean, could you already see
kind of Will Muschamp's fingerprints all over this defense?

Speaker 21 (01:48:04):
Well, I think what we saw from Will Muschamp's defense
was an intensity factor, the takeaway factor, the ability to
dislodge the football, make people feel uncomfortable. And that was
with a base defense. We didn't get to see any exotics.
we didn't get to see Colin Simmons move around or
come off the edge but what we did see is

(01:48:24):
a fundamentally sound football team making tackles in the open
field yes they gave up some rushing yards and and
maybe that's that's a little disheartening but You also look
at this team, and you.

Speaker 8 (01:48:37):
Can see a little bit of the blueprint.

Speaker 21 (01:48:40):
For example, you look at Raheem Biles, the middle linebacker,
the linebacker that can move around and is fast. He
forced a fumble while playing outstanding. Then you look at
what Grayson Littleton has been able to do as a sophomore,
true sophomore, after his freshman All-American campaign.

Speaker 14 (01:48:58):
He was a playmaker. So there's going to be some moments.

Speaker 21 (01:49:02):
In this game that we're going to see Will Muschamp's blueprint.
But don't get it mistaken. PK's defense was not bad.
They held Ohio State to 14 points.

Speaker 14 (01:49:13):
They didn't outrush Texas last year.

Speaker 21 (01:49:16):
Texas made a costly turnover, and that was the difference
in the game, and they won 14-7. This is a
new team, new faces, and a new coordinator on.

Speaker 8 (01:49:26):
The defensive side.

Speaker 14 (01:49:27):
But again.

Speaker 21 (01:49:28):
You look at Ohio State, they've got a new offensive
play caller in Arthur Smith, but Ryan Day's offense is
Ryan Day's offense. There may be some nuances in it,
but Will Muschamp will have an imprint on the game
tomorrow night.

Speaker 4 (01:49:42):
Offensively, too, I know a lot of people are going
to talk about Arch Manning and also talking about Wingo
and Coleman as well, but the run game, that was
something that they didn't really use a ton of. Smothers
had 10 carries, Relique Brown with 11 If they need
to run the football, if that is something that, you know,

(01:50:03):
kill the clock, whatever it is, do they feel like
they have the ability to be able to do that
with a lot more regularity than they have the last
couple of years?

Speaker 8 (01:50:11):
Absolutely.

Speaker 21 (01:50:11):
I think that there are some hidden yards that we're
missing in there, too, and that's Arch Manning's legs.

Speaker 14 (01:50:18):
He didn't use his legs last week. He didn't have to.

Speaker 21 (01:50:21):
It looked like he was doing everything possible, and it
seemed like Sark was like, I don't care what you do,
don't run.

Speaker 14 (01:50:28):
But this week his legs are going to be a
part of that.

Speaker 21 (01:50:31):
But to your point, Relique Brown and Hollywood Smothers, I
think that these are two backs that are electric, and
the difference from the years past to where we are now,
those guys can hit a home run.

Speaker 8 (01:50:43):
And what I mean by that, they.

Speaker 21 (01:50:44):
Can put their foot in the ground and get north
and south and take it 70 yards.

Speaker 14 (01:50:48):
So that's going to help with those explosive plays.

Speaker 21 (01:50:52):
But I think the running game, when it's time to
end the game and be able to run the clock,
I think that offensive line with Trevor Goosby and Melvin
Ciani on the outside and then Brandon Baker on the
inside with Connor Robinson.

Speaker 8 (01:51:08):
I think this team is going to end.

Speaker 21 (01:51:10):
Oh, and Lawrence Seymour, the transfer from Western Kentucky, who's
played a lot of football. This is the first time
that they're really going to be tested because don't forget,
Goosby was out for a little bit with training when
he had the bone bruise.

Speaker 14 (01:51:23):
And Seymour was out as well with a bump ankle.

Speaker 21 (01:51:27):
So that last week was the first time that they
really had everybody together, and they did a great job.

Speaker 4 (01:51:32):
Hardball, I mean, clearly Texas is a program. You go there,
you know the expectations are they expect you to win.
But let's say they come out a Saturday night. They
have a really nice performance against Ohio State.

Speaker 8 (01:51:45):
They win.

Speaker 4 (01:51:45):
I mean, how quickly does that attention have to turn to, oh,
you got to go to Tennessee.

Speaker 2 (01:51:50):
You got Red River. You got Florida. You got Ole Miss.
You've got LSU later on in the season.

Speaker 4 (01:51:55):
I mean, is that going to be one of those
that probably the first thing that Steve Sarkeesian says afterwards?

Speaker 8 (01:52:01):
Absolutely.

Speaker 21 (01:52:02):
You know, this isn't a national championship game. It does
put you in the conversation and change the narrative of
what people think of you. And last year, as soon
as they lost that game, they were like, oh, they
can't lose anymore.

Speaker 14 (01:52:13):
Well, it's a little bit different now.

Speaker 21 (01:52:14):
But I do believe and I know I've known Sark
enough that I understand that he's always on to the
next game after that. But if they can win that
game tomorrow night, which I think they will, I don't
see Sark letting them party like it's 1999, if you
know what I mean.

Speaker 8 (01:52:34):
He's got to get them.

Speaker 21 (01:52:35):
Back focused because that's just one part of this, the
Ohio State game. But that's not the biggest part because
you do want to play for an SEC title.

Speaker 8 (01:52:44):
And I think that's his main goal right now.

Speaker 4 (01:52:46):
Well, I think you just gave my producer Joshua Jordan
an idea for a bump back for one of our
segments here remaining on the show today.

Speaker 2 (01:52:52):
So good on you, Hardball. I appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (01:52:55):
Again, he's Mike Hardball-Harch with AM 1300 The Zone in Austin.
Clearly a huge game coming up tomorrow night, No. 1
against No. 4. And we've been talking some Longhorns with them.
Do you guys, even before Craig and the guys hit
the air, is there any local programming you guys are
going to be doing leading up to the game?

Speaker 21 (01:53:15):
Absolutely. We'll start the pregame show at 3.30. We'll be
down at DKR. We're right outside Winship Circle and the
Hook'Em Hangout. You'll see the big Bevo, blown up Bevo,
and just walk through him. And we'll be right there
doing that. We'll go till 5.30. Then we turn it
over to Craig, Roger Wallace, and Will Matthews, former Longhorn player.

Speaker 8 (01:53:40):
As they bring you the.

Speaker 21 (01:53:41):
Game on AM 1300 The Zone in Austin, Texas, or
free on that iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 8 (01:53:45):
You know how that goes.

Speaker 7 (01:53:46):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:53:47):
No, always.

Speaker 4 (01:53:48):
The iHeartRadio app is always your friend, Hardball. It's always
there for you. It never lets you down. So, no, absolutely.
Looking forward to it. And anybody from here heading out
to Austin, go out there, see Hardball and the crew
before you head on into DKR Memorial Stadium tomorrow night.
It's going to be a fun one, Mike. Really looking
forward to it. And always great to catch up with you.

(01:54:08):
And we'll do so again here very soon.

Speaker 21 (01:54:11):
Before I let you go, I want to know, is
my man Jordan, the big donkey, going to go ahead
and win the Triple Crown?

Speaker 14 (01:54:17):
He's got some work to do.

Speaker 21 (01:54:18):
Some guys are getting hot and he needs to get
that barrel going.

Speaker 2 (01:54:22):
He does. He does.

Speaker 4 (01:54:23):
I'm hoping that this weekend, because Junior Caminero has kind
of been able to, you know, cut in on him
a little bit. So I'm hoping that Cameron narrow on
the other, on the other side of the field and
that other dugout that he says, okay, it's time for
me to start putting some more baseballs over the wall.
So I'm calling, I'm calling two long balls this weekend
from your non. I think he gets the 40 this weekend.

(01:54:43):
We'll go ahead and make that, that, that pick right now.

Speaker 2 (01:54:46):
A hard ball.

Speaker 8 (01:54:47):
All right. Make sure y'all put that on the tape.
We're going to check on it next week. That's it.

Speaker 2 (01:54:52):
1242.

Speaker 4 (01:54:52):
My card ball. Harge again, am 1300 zone.

Speaker 2 (01:54:55):
Always great. We'll catch up soon.

Speaker 8 (01:54:56):
All right. Appreciate you. All right.

Speaker 2 (01:54:58):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (01:54:59):
So, yeah, I mean, you know, his name says it all.
You know, Mike's a baseball guy, and he definitely keeps
up with what's going on.

Speaker 2 (01:55:07):
So, I mean, as Josh mentioned earlier, remember what I said, Josh?

Speaker 4 (01:55:11):
It was another Josh that had this, where it said,
you know, some people are allergic to penicillin, but you
know what medicine is great for everyone?

Speaker 2 (01:55:18):
September.

Speaker 15 (01:55:19):
Ooh.

Speaker 4 (01:55:20):
I mean, and he's not wrong. I mean, you got
the major league season coming to an end. So, I mean,
if your team's in the running to make a postseason spot,
then you're locked in on that.

Speaker 2 (01:55:30):
You want, you want to keep up with that.

Speaker 4 (01:55:31):
Like I remembered being at the Texans game a few
years ago when it was the final Sunday of the season, 2023.
And you've got phones out because you're like, all right,
can the Strohs win in Arizona?

Speaker 2 (01:55:44):
Can they be able to pull this off? And they did.
So then it's okay. You know, can the, can the
Mariners handle the Rangers? And they did.

Speaker 4 (01:55:51):
Then you end up getting into the postseason as the
American League West champs. And then, of course, we know
what happened from there, and we don't have to go
through history again. But that in addition to tomorrow, an
amazing college football day. And then Sunday, Texans start off
against the Bills. This is probably my favorite weekend of
the year if I'm being honest. I love the full
slate on Sunday with fantasy football and gambling and all

(01:56:14):
the NFL getting going.

Speaker 2 (01:56:16):
It's just my favorite.

Speaker 5 (01:56:16):
And with Astros, I get a little too nervous when
it's actual postseason Astros, so I kind of like this
Astros a little better.

Speaker 2 (01:56:24):
I'm up and down with it.

Speaker 4 (01:56:26):
It's one of those that I think this year I
head into it with basically whatever they do and if
there's any success, that's a massive bonus. but you know,
it's also too, I mean, if things go the other way,
like I love, I still see those people who are like,
this team's not going to do anything in the post season.
I'm like, all right, then stop watching. Like, I don't
know what to tell you. Like if they get in,
they have a chance. If they don't get in, they

(01:56:47):
don't have a chance. So like, how about at a
certain point, just enjoy it.

Speaker 14 (01:56:51):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:56:52):
Like, I mean, like it's, it's just like, I, as
I say, Josh, like, I don't understand it. Like, I
get that there have been World Series. I get there
have been LCSs and all of this. And I understand
that a lot of people think that that's like the
expectation every single.

Speaker 2 (01:57:06):
Year, which, sure, absolutely. You have a goal every single year.
That's one of them.

Speaker 4 (01:57:11):
But like, when you don't look like you used to,
it's not like you just go ahead and just completely
give up.

Speaker 6 (01:57:18):
I mean.

Speaker 4 (01:57:19):
Like yesterday, if you're not fired up after that Astros
win yesterday, I don't know what to do with you. Like,
I seriously don't. That was postseason baseball. And you won
a game doing what you need to do in the postseason.
Get the timely hit, have great pitching, and you're able
to win a ball game. And you did exactly that.
You have to be happy with that. Look, I get
it was frustrating. Runners in scoring position. It took them

(01:57:40):
a while to finally come through. It was Cam Smith.

Speaker 2 (01:57:43):
But it's hard to hit baseballs against really good pitching.
And they beat the Phillies. That's all that matters. Damn
right they did.

Speaker 4 (01:57:49):
Now they're going to try to do the same thing
against the Rays this weekend there in St.

Speaker 2 (01:57:53):
Pete. 713-212-5790. Again, 713-212-5790. You know what, Josh?

Speaker 4 (01:57:58):
I kind of feel like that's a good on-ramp to
get back into some Astros conversation because... Well, once fell
out of favor and the trust started to wane, but
I feel like the trust is back. especially in this Astro.
We'll talk about it right here as we close out
the 12 o'clock hour. Don't forget Lee Sterling coming up
at 1 o'clock and then 1.30, our buddy James Palmer

(01:58:19):
from NFL on Prime and Bleacher Report. He is going
to hop in, talk some NFL with him. So still
a lot more to go. Don't you move. Stick and stay.
It is the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. Sports
Talk 790, not one of my favorite songs. I know that, like,
everybody's like, oh, it's like the new Don't Stop Believing.
Student sections, singing along to this. It's just like, oh, God.

Speaker 2 (01:58:41):
I'm all for fun.

Speaker 13 (01:58:42):
I am.

Speaker 8 (01:58:43):
I am.

Speaker 4 (01:58:44):
Trust me, I'm not a fuddy-duddy when it comes to that,
but it's just like, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:58:48):
Like, it's not even one of their best songs.

Speaker 8 (01:58:51):
Disagree. But I'm Mr.

Speaker 2 (01:58:52):
Brightside with Christian Javier.

Speaker 8 (01:58:53):
How about that?

Speaker 7 (01:58:54):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:58:55):
I see where you're working here, Josh. I see you working, kid.
Good on you.

Speaker 4 (01:58:59):
So Dan Matthews show, as I mentioned, and you got
the Astros coming off of a strong Christian Javier start
to beat the Phillies to one, win that series two
out of three like that. Now you'd like to be
able to continue that same way of doing things against
the Rays over in St.

Speaker 1 (01:59:17):
Pete.

Speaker 2 (01:59:18):
Five o'clock Astros on deck. You set up for that tonight.

Speaker 4 (01:59:21):
Like I said, to coming off the conversation we just
had with Mike Hardball, Harge from AM 1300, the zone
in Austin Astros. Texas taking on Ohio State tomorrow night.
You can listen to it over on NewsRadio 740 KTRH
starting at 530. And you also have the Texans and
Bills coming your way on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (01:59:39):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (01:59:42):
About 10 minutes from now, Lee Sterling, Paramount Sports. He's
going to hop in with us, try to help out
your bankroll for the weekend. and also to James Palm.
We're going to join us at 1230. Speaking of Christian Javier,
like you said, Mr. Brightside, he gave you a reason
to feel very bright, happy, optimistic, all of those things. Josh,

(02:00:03):
that man is now number three on my list of
Astros pitchers that I can trust, starting pitchers. Now, you
might say, well, you're only supposed to have five of them,
but I kick Peter Lambert down to number four now.

Speaker 12 (02:00:18):
Really?

Speaker 8 (02:00:18):
Yeah, I do.

Speaker 4 (02:00:20):
Unfortunately, I just it's it's one of those that I
just think that the innings have gotten to Lambert.

Speaker 2 (02:00:25):
I really do. And I appreciate what he's been able
to do.

Speaker 4 (02:00:29):
But here at the same time, here's where I think
that Lambert would really help you out is out of
the pen in the postseason. You have to yank your
pitcher in the third inning, say, because you got a
couple of runners on.

Speaker 2 (02:00:42):
That's where I like Peter Lambert.

Speaker 4 (02:00:44):
If you need to have him come in in the
fourth inning and be able to get you to, say,
the seventh.

Speaker 2 (02:00:50):
That's why I like Peter Lambert.

Speaker 4 (02:00:52):
I really think with the postseason experience and the way
that Christian Javier, when he's in the strike zone, can
get swings and misses and get people out, I trust.

Speaker 2 (02:01:03):
Javier a lot more right now.

Speaker 8 (02:01:05):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (02:01:06):
All right, last three starts for Lambert. Let's do the work.
Three starts ago against the Yankees, five and two-thirds. Gave
up two earned runs. Start after that against the White Sox,
four and two-thirds. Not so great. Gave up two earned runs.
And his last start against Arizona, seven innings, three earned runs.

Speaker 4 (02:01:22):
And as you even pointed out, too, I mean, for
Javier against the Diamondbacks, it wasn't like he was not good.

Speaker 2 (02:01:28):
One hit. Yeah, I was going to say. I mean,
five innings, one hit. And you know the other part.

Speaker 8 (02:01:33):
Of it, too.

Speaker 4 (02:01:34):
Is that this most recent series, the walks were not
an issue for the Astros.

Speaker 2 (02:01:39):
So you almost wonder if.

Speaker 4 (02:01:41):
The Wizards tutelage has been able to help them out.
Like I said, we're going to show up to a
game and we're going to see somebody there with the
pointed hat that's got like the moons and stars and
cones on it. And also the Wizards robe. And we're
going to be like, wow, that's funny. Why is Brent
Strom dressed like that? Well, you know why.

Speaker 2 (02:02:02):
I do know why. Here's where I'll push back a little, Dan.

Speaker 5 (02:02:05):
What I worry about with Javier is he has some
of that EMI in him to where some days he
just can't find the strike zone and dude gets chased
in the first or second inning.

Speaker 2 (02:02:15):
You know, that's still in the back of my mind.

Speaker 4 (02:02:16):
Yeah, I mean, he definitely has had the up-and-down performances.
There's no question about it. But, I mean, I just
point back to what he's been able to do in
those huge spots. And you needed a really huge start yesterday. Like,
that was one of those... You couldn't give up three
or four runs and feel like you're going to win
that game. Not with Wheeler pitching, not with the pitchers
that they have in that bullpen either. If you do that,

(02:02:39):
you're losing that game. Javier stepped up. He was massive
for them.

Speaker 2 (02:02:43):
He was.

Speaker 5 (02:02:44):
I think back to that Rangers ALCS. He didn't even
get out of the first inning. So he does have
some of that haywire in him.

Speaker 2 (02:02:51):
All right. All right.

Speaker 14 (02:02:52):
Fine.

Speaker 2 (02:02:53):
Go ahead and bring me back down there. 713-212-5790.

Speaker 4 (02:02:56):
Let's squeeze my namesake, Dan, in here real quick before
we hit up Lee Sterling.

Speaker 2 (02:03:00):
Dan, good afternoon.

Speaker 8 (02:03:02):
How are you doing?

Speaker 16 (02:03:03):
Oh, I'm doing good. I've been hearing you talking about
the Astros and all what's going on. This Tampa Bay series,
their manager is the one that started the deal about
openers and moving things around and not doing it exactly
like they've been doing it for years. I'm thinking the
way Brown and Lambert has got such a workload on

(02:03:26):
right now for this year and the way they've both
been leaking oil, I'd like to see them cut them
down to like a 50-pitch count, maybe an extra day,
try to get them two questions up, and we go
a long way. Because I think Javier is going to
be Javier again.

Speaker 2 (02:03:42):
No, I appreciate the call.

Speaker 4 (02:03:43):
I mean, in terms of the workload, I mean, I'm
not trying to put a ton more on the bullpen. Like,
you're going to be counting on that tonight, where Ethan
Pecco has pretty much shown you he can go good,
solid four innings. So if I had to take a
guess tonight, it's going to be Eola going the first.
If he's able to work quick first, maybe you throw

(02:04:03):
him back out there for a second. and then try
to have Pecco fill it in, which he's going to
get a clean inning to be able to try to
do that. I mean, we saw the bullpen start with
Bennett Sousa. Didn't work out. He had to go to A.J.

Speaker 8 (02:04:16):
Bluebaugh.

Speaker 4 (02:04:18):
And the rest of that game didn't necessarily work out
all that well, but we can continue talking all of
that much more. Again, Lee Sterling paramount sports going to
hop on with us, start the one o'clock hour.

Speaker 2 (02:04:26):
So we continue the conversation here.

Speaker 4 (02:04:28):
It is the Dan Matthews show sports talk seven 90.

Speaker 2 (02:04:31):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (02:04:33):
As the Astros get ready for a huge series, five
o'clock Astros on deck for that tonight. Again, Longhorns and
Ohio state Buckeyes tomorrow night in Austin. Five 30, that
coverage gets going over on news radio, seven 40 KTRH.
And of course the Texans and bills facing each other
on Sunday, as we will be talking at least two

(02:04:54):
of those games here with our good buddy, Lee Sterling,
paramount sports joins us every single week at this time. Lee,
great to talk with you again. Nice weekend last weekend too.
You got us on the Baylor. That one hits LSU.
Absolutely crushed it too. But the weekend as a whole,
really good for you.

Speaker 8 (02:05:14):
Can't complain at all.

Speaker 20 (02:05:16):
If you spend like three, 400 hours during the summer
studying and the first week doesn't turn out so good,
all of a sudden you're saying, am I seeing these
things right?

Speaker 8 (02:05:28):
But it turned out well.

Speaker 20 (02:05:29):
And let me tell you something, there's a couple of
conferences like the SEC, they are loaded with quarterbacks. So
I will say this, if teams were looking ahead, like
the Texans, like the Cowboys, This coming draft, and I
look at players, I think this might be the greatest
draft of all time.

Speaker 2 (02:05:50):
Interesting.

Speaker 8 (02:05:50):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (02:05:50):
I mean, you got a lot of them that showed
up and showed out last week, especially Arch Manning, Sam Levitt,
some of those guys. And of course, I mean, Dante
Moore is still up there at Oregon. Definitely a good
quarterback class. There's no question about it.

Speaker 15 (02:06:04):
All right.

Speaker 2 (02:06:04):
We got a lot of games to get to.

Speaker 4 (02:06:06):
And as me and you talked about yesterday, we'll do
a Texas Ohio state and also the bills Texans last.
But let's start it off with one up in Ann
Arbor tomorrow. It is going to be a return Oklahoma
going up there five and a half.

Speaker 2 (02:06:21):
That's it.

Speaker 4 (02:06:22):
Especially after Michigan needing to, and a miracle walk off
Western Michigan.

Speaker 8 (02:06:29):
Well, here's what's interesting. Before the Michigan game kicked off,
you could have gotten one and a half points in Oklahoma.

Speaker 20 (02:06:37):
So what that means, the line has moved seven points.
You rarely see that in a college football game from
week one to week two, but that's the case.

Speaker 8 (02:06:46):
And I still think it's light also.

Speaker 20 (02:06:48):
I was watching, I don't normally watch press conferences, but
in the background, I saw Bryce Underwood talking and I'm like,
you know what, let me watch this.

Speaker 8 (02:06:56):
He doesn't look good.

Speaker 20 (02:06:57):
Just the way he talks in his body language, you
need a leader. I think the kid is broken. If
they don't score a touchdown or a field goal in
the first two possessions, I would not be shocked if
they go with Tommy Carr, Lloyd Carr's grandson.

Speaker 8 (02:07:12):
Head quarterback. Problem here is either way, Oklahoma defense.

Speaker 20 (02:07:16):
Last year, they were top five in almost every major
statistical category.

Speaker 8 (02:07:21):
And I think they're just as good this year.

Speaker 20 (02:07:23):
John Mateer, you know, he was trying to play after
a fracture finger surgery. That's almost impossible. He looks like
he is in mid-season form. And then they brought a kid,
Lloyd Evans. I didn't know a whole lot about this kid,
but comes over from Colorado State.

Speaker 8 (02:07:37):
He packs a punch here. I like Oklahoma.

Speaker 20 (02:07:40):
Let's say turn the ball over three or four times.
I think they're a clear right side.

Speaker 8 (02:07:44):
Winner of 27-13.

Speaker 4 (02:07:46):
All right, and let's get into a little bit of
NFL here before we get back to the college side and,
of course, the other two games of local note here.
So you get a pretty good one on Monday night,
the return of Patrick Mahomes and also the Broncos. trying
to be able to get back to the AFC championship
get even further this year how do you see that
one shaking out So.

Speaker 20 (02:08:08):
When you look at quarterbacks coming off of injuries, Achilles
injury is by far the worst. They're afraid to plant
off and to run hard. Also, throwing the football, a
lot of times it affects them also. But Petzer performs
as an ACL injury, and this cat is just different
than everyone else. So I talked to a couple people

(02:08:29):
that watched a few days of their training camp and
thought that he looked different. You wouldn't even notice that
he had knee injury and tore his ACL. So he's
ready to go.

Speaker 8 (02:08:39):
Maybe the biggest addition is Kenneth Walker.

Speaker 20 (02:08:41):
I watched last year through the playoffs. I thought he
was a difference maker on offense, making the first guy miss.
Second guy usually would put his helmet in their stomach
and run over him or at least four, three or four.

Speaker 8 (02:08:55):
Other guys gang tackle him.

Speaker 20 (02:08:56):
So I think Seattle misses him here and I think
he's gonna be big in the red zone.

Speaker 2 (02:09:01):
You know, Denver.

Speaker 20 (02:09:02):
Last year, it seemed like they won every close game here.
I think they've got a bonafide number one running back,
but it might take them until mid season to start
using Jonah Coleman from Washington. So I like the chiefs here,
catching them early chiefs, 27, 20.

Speaker 2 (02:09:16):
All right.

Speaker 4 (02:09:18):
And then a game that we'll be paying a little
bit of attention to here. That's the Ravens and the Colts,
especially with the Colts being in the AFC South is
the return of Lamar Jackson going to make a difference.

Speaker 6 (02:09:31):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 20 (02:09:31):
I mean, he's working with a new offensive coordinator. He
looks like he's got full grasp from what I'm hearing
of this new offense here. And he's 100 percent. He
was banged up all year.

Speaker 8 (02:09:43):
And, you know, we talked about an Achilles injury. That's
Daniel Jones here.

Speaker 20 (02:09:46):
So I think they're going to try to throw the
ball short, try to keep harm's way and defenders off
of him.

Speaker 8 (02:09:53):
They lost one of the top receivers.

Speaker 12 (02:09:55):
Uh in in in.

Speaker 20 (02:09:56):
Free agency and that could hurt them here so also
jesse mentor comes over uh new head coach for the
ravens did a great job in his work with the
chargers as long as he had players who were healthy
so i i like them throwing some different looks here
at indy here sometimes you got to lay it even
on the road give me the ravens here minus three
30 to 21 All right.

Speaker 4 (02:10:18):
And on the college side before, like I said, we
close it out with Texas, Ohio State. And then, of course,
the game that we're going to be paying most attention to,
that's the Bills and the Texans here. Your game of
the week is the Aggies taking on the Sun Devils
of Arizona State.

Speaker 2 (02:10:33):
How do you see that one shaking out?

Speaker 13 (02:10:35):
Yep.

Speaker 20 (02:10:35):
Anyone wants to get that game for free? I think
there's a clear right side. This could be a trap game.
If you want to get that game free, just call 800-400-9741.
Give you the Aggies and the Sun Devils on me.
And how about this? We'd never done this before. On
Wednesday night, we sold the Super Bowl rematch Seattle-New England
for a dollar.

Speaker 8 (02:10:55):
Won that.

Speaker 20 (02:10:56):
Gave out last night's game for a dollar. And the
Rams in San Francisco had the under. Easy winner there.

Speaker 4 (02:11:03):
2-0.

Speaker 8 (02:11:05):
You want to get.

Speaker 20 (02:11:05):
Tonight's border war, Missouri and Kansas, just a dollar.

Speaker 8 (02:11:10):
ParamountSports.com. There you go.

Speaker 4 (02:11:13):
That's where you can find the man in the Aggies
favored by... 14 in this one. That one will kick
off tomorrow over there in College Station. All right, get
you out the door on these last two. Let's start
first with the college side. Texas, Ohio State, how do
you see this one going?

Speaker 8 (02:11:29):
So I went back and studied the film from last year.

Speaker 20 (02:11:31):
Texas was moving up and down between the 20s, outstatted
Ohio State 336 to 203. Problem was in the red zone,
most specifically inside the 10-yard line, play calling from Steve
Sarkeesian was horrendous.

Speaker 8 (02:11:46):
The execution, I.

Speaker 6 (02:11:48):
Mean, horrific.

Speaker 20 (02:11:50):
And what did they do?

Speaker 8 (02:11:51):
They were smart.

Speaker 20 (02:11:52):
In the offseason, they said, we need players that can
make plays against top-level teams. They brought in Cam Coleman,
maybe the third-best receiver in the country, behind Jeremiah Smith
and Tony from Miami. And also Hollywood's mother from North
Carolina State, very underrated running back. They've been rotating between five,
six guys the last three years. I think he's a

(02:12:14):
next level running back. And now it's gonna help out
Ryan Wingo. Ryan Wingo was the number one last year
for Texas, wasn't able to shake the number one defenders
for Ohio State. But now when he's matched up in
the slot against the number two cover corner, the number
three cornerback, He looks good this year.

Speaker 8 (02:12:32):
He'll have some success.

Speaker 20 (02:12:33):
And I actually think Texas has an advantage in the
trenches here. I think that Indiana and Miami exposed this
Ohio State offensive and defensive line. They lost some guys,
key guys to the NFL there. Give me Texas. They
finally win the big one here. 28 to 20.

Speaker 4 (02:12:50):
And the one that gets you out the door on,
of course, is the Sunday between the Texans and the Bills.
I am really kind of surprised that it is stuck
right there at that one, one and a half with Buffalo.
Are you kind of, or is the sharp money not
come in yet? And could you see that start to
come in on the Texans?

Speaker 20 (02:13:07):
Well, there is a lot of bets coming in on Buffalo,
but I think more of the sharp money from what
I'm hearing, I talked to a lot of sportsbook directors offshore,
the bets that they really respect are coming in on
the Texans.

Speaker 8 (02:13:21):
Talked to a couple people.

Speaker 20 (02:13:23):
When you guys held joint practices with the Raiders, and
they were shocked. They said, Uh, Houston's defense was just
off the charts.

Speaker 8 (02:13:31):
Good.

Speaker 20 (02:13:32):
And, uh, of the four units, I think Houston's defense
is the best. I know Buffalo's offense is good, but
it might take them a little bit of time to
gel their defense, especially, uh, big games was, wasn't great
for Buffalo here. So, uh, yeah, you got some things
going on with them too. Joe Brady moving from the
booth to the field, Pete Carmichael, their offensive coordinator, uh,

(02:13:55):
will be in the booth here so I just think
that that Houston's defense will get a couple takeaways I
also think that CJ Stroud was playing with a concussion
still in the playoffs he just was not right and
should be ready to go here and I think you'll
see a different effort from him and a little bit
better offensive line I love David Montgomery his blitz pickup

(02:14:17):
is second to none he's that good and they were
missing that also so let's go with a Wrong team
favored Houston Texans straight up 24-21.

Speaker 8 (02:14:27):
There you go.

Speaker 2 (02:14:28):
It's going to be a fun one. No question about it.

Speaker 4 (02:14:31):
We always look forward to being able to talk the
action with Lee Sterling, Paramount Sports. Find them online at ParamountSports.com.
You can also find them on Twitter at Paramount Sports. Lee,
it's always great to catch up with you. We'll do
so again at this very time next week. And as always,
good luck this weekend.

Speaker 13 (02:14:47):
Thank you.

Speaker 8 (02:14:49):
See you, Dan. Take care.

Speaker 2 (02:14:50):
All right, there you go. Lee Sterling, again, Paramount Sports.

Speaker 4 (02:14:53):
And, yeah, I mean, that was one of those that,
like I said, Josh, that Baylor play, that was nice.

Speaker 2 (02:14:58):
And then I got a little greedy on it.

Speaker 4 (02:15:01):
I got a little greedy is I will always do
where there's one big ticket, and then I do kind
of a little hedge action in there.

Speaker 2 (02:15:08):
But for Baylor, I said, you know what? I got
to say, he really convinced me that Baylor could win
this game outright. So I'm going to go with him.

Speaker 4 (02:15:16):
And I mean, good on Dave Miranda for trying to
roll the dice, go for two and just a hell
of a tackle by the guy for Auburn to keep
him out of the end zone.

Speaker 2 (02:15:24):
And it's just like, I was one yard away. That's
how it goes. You went money line on it? Yeah,
I went money line Baylor.

Speaker 4 (02:15:30):
And it was one, which legally I did, by the way,
I made that bet in a Louisiana casino.

Speaker 2 (02:15:37):
So we're all good on that. Don't come after us.
I don't need it. I don't want it.

Speaker 4 (02:15:42):
And yeah, you know, it's all good. But yeah, that
was one of those. It's always fun whenever you go
stay at a casino. And then that Sunday or whenever
you're leaving, you start going through your tickets and you're like, yep,
that one goes in the trash. That one too. Yep,
that one as well. Oh, oh, oh, we got one
that won. So there you go. Thank you, LSU, for
being able to help me out with that. Yes, again,

(02:16:03):
you can find Lee Sterling also on ParamountSports.com, and you
can also find him at Paramount Sports online. 713-212-5790 is
the number to get in on the phone lines. Definitely
do want to get back into a little bit more
of the Texans conversation because, well, somebody out there is

(02:16:24):
matching the chorus of people who believe in these Texans
this season, and the reason why, well, it might shock you.
We'll talk about it here as we continue on the
Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. It's been jam-packed this
afternoon here on the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790,
as we have had, I mean, guests just pretty much

(02:16:44):
around the clock.

Speaker 2 (02:16:45):
We had Nick Wise from.

Speaker 4 (02:16:47):
WDAE 95.7 there in Tampa to give us the Rays
side of this weekend there as the Astros and Rays
will fire up that series tonight. Five o'clock Astros on deck.
Get you going for that one. The A-team, Adam and Adam,
going to be getting you set up for that first pitch.
You also had Aaron Wilson joining us, our Sports Talk
790 Texans insider, getting the Bills side of things from

(02:17:11):
Christian Rao from Locked On Bills Hit, and also Lee Sterling,
who just joined us, and our good buddy Mike Hardball-Harch
from AM1300 The Zone in Austin to be able to
talk that game. Then still got one more coming up
in about 10 minutes. Our old buddy from the Comcast
Sports Houston Day's, James Palmer. Of course, you know, he's

(02:17:35):
all over the NFL coverage with not only NFL on prime,
but also bleacher report as well. Does a podcast with
Steve Weiss as well. So look forward to talking some
more NFL with JP coming up here in just a few,
but somebody out there is a huge believer in these
Houston Texans where we've been hearing a lot of people

(02:17:59):
either say this team in the AFC or that team
in the AFC.

Speaker 2 (02:18:03):
Like as we were just talking with.

Speaker 4 (02:18:05):
Lee Sterling right there, you know, Josh, Another team that
I'm kind of like, they're not all the way out
of this and they're not done is the Kansas City Chiefs.
I think the Chiefs still have one last really good
push in them. And I could see it this season.
I could see them that my homes is able to
bounce back, have a great season. And a huge part

(02:18:26):
of that is going to be Monday night against Denver.
They come out and look strong against them and they
win that game. Then it's probably people saying, okay, like
this isn't just going to be between Denver and LA.
Like this is going to be where this is a
three team race for this division title. But I mean,
On the surface and believing in this Texans team, I

(02:18:47):
definitely am on board with Aaron Schatz from FTN.

Speaker 2 (02:18:51):
It's a fantasy site.

Speaker 4 (02:18:52):
He was on with Good Morning Football this morning and
talking about the Texans where he said they are by
far the best team in the AFC where he says
the only thing that is going to derail them from
doing that is if their offense is below average. He goes,
CJ Stroud was a below average quarterback last year. And

(02:19:12):
if that offense can be just above average, which is
probably what 13th, 14th, something like that in the NFL,
if they can be middle of the pack of an offense,
that's a good enough team to be able to go
to the super bowl. And that to me is something
that you hear where clearly that's with what D'Amico Ryan's

(02:19:33):
said the other day about the offense where remember he said,
they've got to be great because you know, we need
them to be able to match the defense, which I
don't think there's anybody around here thinking that that's going
to be the case, but maybe there's like a happy
medium right there.

Speaker 2 (02:19:46):
And I would think that that's it.

Speaker 4 (02:19:48):
That if this offense is say total offense this year,
13th in the NFL with this defense, I think you
would probably have to agree.

Speaker 2 (02:19:57):
Yeah, that's, that's a team that can get there.

Speaker 4 (02:20:00):
And that's a team that can do some damage because
I understand it's week one, but like watching Seattle the
other night, and it doesn't sound like that. Sam Darnold's
going to be out that long. But you know how
Seattle wins. It's running the football, and it's being able
to play good defense. It's not because of Sam Darnold.
I understand they have Jackson Smith and Jigba, and he's
really good, and he showed it with that huge catch

(02:20:21):
and run that he had against the Patriots on Wednesday night.
But still, I mean, that's not why they win ballgames.
He can help them, but it's not going to be
what their calling card is. For the Texans, I would
say it's kind of the same thing. I think if
you see a game with the Texans, say, up 27-17,

(02:20:42):
entering into the fourth quarter on Sunday, that's going to
be when D'Amico Ryans goes to Nick Caley and says,
give me your best runs.

Speaker 2 (02:20:49):
That's what I need. I need your best run plays
right now.

Speaker 4 (02:20:53):
I need this offensive line to be able to prove
that they can move guys off the ball and that
we can be able to chew up time doing it
that way. Because the last thing that he wants in
any world... is to have his defense on a short
field with the Buffalo Bills having an opportunity to be
able to either tie or take the lead or do
any of those things. If they got an opportunity to

(02:21:15):
be able to preserve that lead, that's what you're going
to see this offense do.

Speaker 14 (02:21:20):
100%.

Speaker 5 (02:21:20):
I lean towards this being a lower scoring game that
most of the totals I'm seeing is at 44.5. And
I did a little research on this. The Texans last year,
They didn't go over a total that high until the
Ravens game. Remember when basically all the Ravens were injured
and CJ threw like five touchdowns and all that. The
first game against the Rams for the Texans last year,

(02:21:42):
really low score.

Speaker 2 (02:21:44):
A lot of low scoring defensive type games.

Speaker 5 (02:21:46):
So I got to think if D'Amico gets any type
of lead, he's going to be fine with running the football,
taking field goals.

Speaker 2 (02:21:53):
That's probably how they want to play this. Just take
all the time off the clock for Josh Allen.

Speaker 4 (02:21:57):
Well, I mean, there is part of you, though, too,
that again, I mean, seeing this team, this offense and
hearing what we've heard about this offense that I do
want a cannon shot out of the gate. It would
be nice to be able to see you get out
in your first couple of drives and be able to
come away with it with points because that's not something
we saw last year, but it was also, too, first-time

(02:22:18):
play caller on the road, taking on one of the
best teams in the NFL, which, by the way, did
you see our good buddy Bill Plaschke?

Speaker 2 (02:22:24):
He stepped in it again.

Speaker 4 (02:22:26):
As I've told you, dude, there are people out there
that are always one foot on the banana peel or
just happen to take a step to their right.

Speaker 2 (02:22:32):
And there's a rake right there. He is one of them.
I saw you trolling him on Twitter. I saw that.

Speaker 4 (02:22:36):
Well, no, dude, I'm telling you, that's why the buildings
in Vegas are as big as they are is because
of people like him.

Speaker 2 (02:22:42):
Like what a dumb thing to say. Oh, they're going
to go undefeated.

Speaker 8 (02:22:45):
In what world, Bill?

Speaker 4 (02:22:49):
Trust me, if there is a take that that guy
has and you have a way to be able to
profit off of it, fade him and you will win.
It's remarkable, honestly, that he can be this wrong at
all times.

Speaker 2 (02:23:06):
I hated that.

Speaker 5 (02:23:06):
Guy ever since he was on Around the Horn all
the time. Every time he would give a take, I
would be like, this guy is a complete moron. And
that has not changed. That was when he was the
most enjoyable. And when I was in Atlanta, he obviously
got into the crosshairs with us because they went after
the tomahawk chop. And then they said something about basically

(02:23:27):
inferring that their reservations are at Waffle House. It's like, wow,
you couldn't sound more elitist if you tried. But at
the same time, though, too, if you're going to at
least be a D, well, then at least be good
at your job. So then, you know, we can say, OK, well,
they at least have that going for him. He doesn't
have any of those things working for him. No, I

(02:23:47):
just and all the pearl clutching from him, especially from
the Astro scandal and and even way after it happened.

Speaker 2 (02:23:53):
I don't know if you saw this. They put out
like fake cards with fake cards.

Speaker 5 (02:23:57):
Fake stories basically about the Astros and George Springer and
lying about charity work and just all this incorrect lying PR.
And in LA, they just left these cards all over
the place. And there were some members of the media
that even fell for that stupid crap.

Speaker 4 (02:24:10):
Well, it's not surprising when you're a clown, you one
way or another, even outside of your makeup, you will
find a way to put that nose on and those
floppy shoes. And he definitely does on a daily basis.
So good for him. All right, let's go ahead and
transition back to the Texans conversation because that's a good
place to be. And somebody who is the anti-Bill Plaschke

(02:24:30):
is our good buddy James Palmer from NFL on Prime
and also Bleacher Report. We'll catch up with him as
we continue the Texans conversation, getting you set up for
Sunday right here on the Dan Matthews Show Sports Talk 790.
On a Friday, it's the Dan Matthews Show Sports Talk 790.
The Astros in Tampa to take on the Rays. 5
o'clock Astros on deck. Get you set for that. Strohs

(02:24:53):
interplay tonight. Three games in front of the Rangers. First
place in the AL West. And of course, Texans take
on the Bills on Sunday. Talking that much more. Our
good buddy James Palmer from NFL on Prime. Bleacher Report
as well. Also does the podcast with Steve Weiss. JP,
always great to catch up with you, man. I mean,
I guess we get a hell of a one right

(02:25:15):
out of the gate for the Texans, a team that
you're very familiar with. How do you look forward to
this game on Sunday and how do you, how do
you see it playing out?

Speaker 6 (02:25:24):
Yeah, I mean, hell of a test out of the gate, right?
It's a team that's given Josh Allen some fits, and
let's be honest, his defense gives everybody fits, doesn't matter
who you are. I was at joint practice in Carolina
with my buddy Steve Smith watching practice between the two fields,
and I found myself every time Bryce Young was dropping
back and something was going wrong, whether it was an

(02:25:46):
interception maybe by Kalen Bullock, or I think he had two,
or it's a sack, and I'm like, counting every time going,
they have.

Speaker 14 (02:25:53):
11, right?

Speaker 8 (02:25:54):
They don't have 12.

Speaker 6 (02:25:54):
They don't have 13 on the field with this Texas defense.
Like that's how swarming they have become and how good
this group has a chance to be. And so it is,
it is a group that I think we all expect
to take another step. And they're going against an offense
that I think is going to be very different than
we've seen. I think DJ Moore changes the math. for

(02:26:16):
the way this bill's offense operates. So I'm really excited
to see how they operate with DJ. They now have
a threat outside the numbers. A number of teams that
I've always talked to just always said, we don't have
to worry about anything outside with Buffalo. Like it's Khalil Shakir.
It's both tight ends in between the numbers. It's James
Cook in between the numbers. If he is in the
passing game, like everything's there, we can clog the bill.

(02:26:38):
And now DJ Moore kind of spreads you out a
little bit more from everything I've gathered. Dan, honestly, it's
been really, really good between him and Josh Allen. Josh
actually has somebody out there he can trust. So I
do think we're going to have a little bit of
a different bills offense than we've seen maybe since Diggs
was there in all honesty. And so I do think
they're better. But man, I'm really excited. You know, everybody

(02:27:00):
wants to watch, you know, what a lot of people
think is the player in football and Josh Allen go
against what I think it's almost universal at this point,
the best.

Speaker 8 (02:27:08):
Defense in football.

Speaker 12 (02:27:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:27:09):
And we'll get to the Texan side of it here
in just a second, but I had a guest on
from Buffalo earlier and I'm kind of curious to get
your thoughts on this too, James of like, It seems
like Josh Allen has kind of been able to escape the, oh,
he can't win this, he can't do that kind of
conversation in the past. But if he doesn't get through
this season of reaching the AFC or maybe even the
Super Bowl, do those conversations start to kind of ratchet

(02:27:32):
up nationally with him?

Speaker 8 (02:27:33):
I think it depends on how it goes.

Speaker 6 (02:27:37):
I mean, obviously, I think he would be the first
to admit he didn't play good enough against Denver. I
was at that game. I was in the room when
you could see that the emotions had gotten to him
and the tears coming down his face at that podium.
I think the reason that we have this disbelief with
Josh is, and I've been to almost every one of
these playoff games he's played in, um it's oftentimes not

(02:27:59):
his fault it really isn't like he usually plays really
really well in a lot of those games and so
i do think that's why we have kind of that
feeling with him is like okay he he has put
the team on his shoulders oftentimes the way they've been
built he's had to do that and he's had to
play like superman and oftentimes he does find a way

(02:28:19):
to do it but then his kryptonite is What we
believe is maybe the best quarterback we've seen since Brady,
and that's Patrick Mahomes. That's where most of his losses
and big games have come about. And most people also
said that the Chiefs were just a better organization put
together from coaching to complexity to the defense to everything.

(02:28:40):
And that's where Josh has come up short. Now, if
there's a, you know, a playoff run that falls short
this year. And again, it's, he turns the football over
a number of times in that game. I do think
maybe it does start to change a little bit and, and,
you know, I, whether that's fair or not, we'll see,
but I do think the pressure that's on him and

(02:29:01):
Joe Brady and maybe, you know, Tara Pagula as well,
the owner, um, made a big change. And you've been
right there for a while here. You're expecting now to
get above what has been sustained success, honestly. And I
think there's more pressure in Buffalo than people realize.

Speaker 4 (02:29:19):
Again, he's James Palmer, insider for NFL on Prime, co-host
of the 89 Show with Steve Smith Sr., and also
NFL insider with Bleacher Report, joining us here on the
Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. You mentioned that Texans
defense and defense I think one of the most intriguing
additions they made this offseason was going out and getting
Reed Blankenship. What does he add to that already very

(02:29:42):
stellar group?

Speaker 6 (02:29:44):
You know, Reid played in a really, really good secondary, obviously,
that was coached, let's be honest, really, really well. I mean,
Christian Parker ends up, you know, coaching that group the
last couple of years for Vic Fangio, and Vic thinks
the absolute world of him. He goes to Dallas and
blows their doors off in his interview and is now
the new defensive coordinator in Dallas. And in my opinion,

(02:30:05):
and a lot of people around the league, is a
rocket ship to being a head coach. And so I
say that as in he was coached extremely well. He's very,
very bright. He allows a secondary that can take chances
at times, not be burnt by taking chances. You can
jump routes. Lassiter can jump things. take an extra chance

(02:30:27):
on something knowing there's, I don't want to say a
safety net, but a guy who just plays really, really
intelligently in the middle of the field. And I do
think there's a lot of value to that. I think
Kalen gives a little bit of that because of the
way he kind of plays over the top and lurks
with some things and allows it. Now I think you
allow it to go even a step further. I think
communication when you have a defense like this down the back,

(02:30:51):
down the spine, as some people call it, is really,
really important. I think his intelligence allows you to be
able to go and do that. And, and so what
you need is you need players, you need playmakers. They
have tons of them, but also you also need guys that,
that can be a coach on the field and understand
the scheme and understand.

Speaker 8 (02:31:10):
The way it's put together.

Speaker 6 (02:31:11):
I think that's a glue guy oftentimes. And then those guys,
those guys usually let your star shine.

Speaker 2 (02:31:17):
And then, as you mentioned, I mean, you and Steve
Smith Sr.

Speaker 4 (02:31:20):
Out at the Texans and Carolina Panthers joint practice, you
got a pretty good look at this offensive line.

Speaker 2 (02:31:25):
What did you think?

Speaker 11 (02:31:26):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 6 (02:31:28):
It's improved. It really is. I mean, they got some
glass eaters in there now. I do think that is
a big difference. I think what has been kind of
the issue, and I've talked to some people about this,
is if you have an offensive line that is improved
and you have guys that you can trust, but maybe
there's a weak link or a weak link or two

(02:31:48):
on your line, you know how to fix those issues, right?
You know how to coach and scheme around them. Like, okay,
this let's just say, for example, you know, our right
tackle is struggling right now. So let's make sure some
of the, some of the things we use formationally and schematically,
you know, assist that. And CJ knows where, you know,
maybe that pressure and that, and that breakdown can come from.
He's had to deal with like the ball snapped and

(02:32:11):
he's not sure who's going to miss their assignment. He
wasn't sure who was going to blow, you know, their
blocking assignment or somebody's going to get beat quickly. Like
you have no idea what that does for a quarterback
that every time they're getting the football, they're going, I
don't know who's gonna, to wreck this play in front
of me so i gotta keep my eye on all
five of them that's not the case anymore and i
think there's a lot better cohesion in that group up

(02:32:33):
front they definitely you know have been they're battle tested
from camp now like let's be honest like that's a
group that really has had obviously a better test than
maybe anybody maybe denver i don't know i'm trying to
think who who went through camp repeatedly with a defensive
line in front of them like that I do think
that now there's a better understanding of how this is

(02:32:54):
going to operate up front. And I do think they
got a better personality. And I do know CJ really,
really likes this group.

Speaker 2 (02:33:02):
Get you out the door on this one.

Speaker 4 (02:33:03):
Again, James Palmer, NFL on Prime, Bleacher Report, The 89
Show with Steve Smith Sr. Joining us here for a
few minutes on the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.
One from the AFC, one from the NFC. Those two teams,
who are people not talking enough about heading into this season?

Speaker 6 (02:33:22):
I've gotten that asked a couple of times the last
week as we prepare for week one. There's so much
parity in the NFL. that it's, it's hard to have
a sleeper, right? Like there's just, it really is to
have a team come out of nowhere is really, really hard.
It really is. I don't think we're talking about the
Ravens enough. I really don't like that was my Superbowl

(02:33:42):
pick a year ago, in all honesty.

Speaker 7 (02:33:44):
And, and Lamar.

Speaker 6 (02:33:46):
Jackson is still one of the best players in this league,
still one of the hardest players to, to defend and
scheme for. And it's just, he breaks the math repeatedly
for what you want to do. I have heard unbelievable
things about Declan Doyle. Like, I mean, I know he's
a young guy and he's been with Ben Johnson. He's
been with Sean Payton. He is a, a unbelievable teacher.

(02:34:07):
And from the early indications of, Lamar has bought in
full tilt with it. And I'll be honest, their new
head coach, maybe just a change of the voice of
the energy with Jesse mentor. Like the people I talked
to with the chargers were like, he walks into a
room and it's a superstar in the making. Like it
is a guy who just owns the entire room. So

(02:34:30):
this was not a bad team. The injuries obviously hit
them bad. You know, some things went the wrong way.
does Baltimore just come back out with, with a new
voice and a new offensive philosophy and play great. You know,
the every year that Lamar Jackson had a new offensive coordinator,
he's won the MVP. So maybe this is the third time.

(02:34:50):
And the third time he wins MVP, that would be
the one that I think nobody's really talking about in the, uh,
in the AFC and the NFC. I don't know why
nobody's talking about Detroit. Like I really don't like they
got Buffalo week two.

Speaker 12 (02:35:04):
That's our game.

Speaker 6 (02:35:05):
Um, In week two here, I think it's a really,
really good team. And then by injuries on the defensive
side of the ball, I do think.
On the offensive side of the ball. They've got a
lot of really good offensive minds in there, from David
Shaw to Mike Kapka to obviously Dan Campbell. I don't
know why nobody's talking about Detroit. Those would be the

(02:35:26):
two teams that I think deserve more credit that missed
the postseason last year that could really make a run
this year.

Speaker 4 (02:35:32):
That's the other thing, too, with you with NFL on Prime.
Now I think that with you and Herbie, it's the
most Buckeyes on TV per capita of any broadcast out there.

Speaker 6 (02:35:42):
What do you guys think this weekend?

Speaker 2 (02:35:44):
What are we going with?

Speaker 4 (02:35:47):
I was actually going to ask you that because I
know who you're going for, but.

Speaker 2 (02:35:55):
I think that Texas has made.

Speaker 4 (02:35:56):
The right improvements. I'm a believer in what Sarkeesian's built
this year. I think they do get a bounce back
tomorrow night.

Speaker 6 (02:36:03):
Yeah, listen, I was actually just talking to my dad
about this before we jumped on, who's just as big
a Buckeye fan as I am, and we were going
over the game. I was just like, listen, I just
hope we don't think we're going to get the same
player that we faced at the beginning of last year,
that players don't think that they're getting the same Arch
Manning that they faced at the beginning of last year,
because that's just certainly not the case. And I just
really think Sark and his group are going to make

(02:36:23):
sure that Jeremiah Smith doesn't beat them.

Speaker 8 (02:36:25):
I believe he's the.

Speaker 6 (02:36:26):
Best player in college football. He could have been in
the NFL as a senior in high school. That's literally
how good people think he is. They're just going to
make sure Jeremiah Smith doesn't beat him. And if somebody
else steps up, There's not a Cardinal Tate on that
roster right now at Ohio State. Who else steps up
to try to go out and beat Texas? I think
it's going to be a blast. I love that we
have games like this this early in the season.

Speaker 2 (02:36:46):
September, it's the thing that cures all. There's no question
about it.

Speaker 4 (02:36:50):
He's James Palmer again, as you heard him mentioned, NFL
on Prime, and they've got the Lions and Bills coming
up next Thursday night also. You find his work with
Bleacher Report and on the 89 Show with Steve Smith Sr. But, JP,
I know this is always a very busy time of
the year. We always appreciate the chance to catch up
with you, and I'm sure sometime later on this season

(02:37:11):
we'll be bothering you.

Speaker 8 (02:37:13):
Yeah, hit me up, Danny.

Speaker 15 (02:37:14):
You got it.

Speaker 4 (02:37:15):
There you go. Again, James Palmer. Appreciate it, buddy. He
joins us for a few minutes here on the Dan
Matthews show.

Speaker 14 (02:37:21):
All right.

Speaker 4 (02:37:22):
So, obviously, a lot to still unpack from the weekend
that is a head get you set up for that.
But then one quick thing though, that I do want
to jump on before we close up shop here on
a Friday edition is just simply, and it's said in
a Jay-Z song and it applies here.

Speaker 2 (02:37:41):
It's a business comma, man. And that was found out.

Speaker 4 (02:37:44):
We'll talk about it right here as we continue on
the Dan Matthews Show on a Friday, Sports Talk 790.
The new show, Sports Talk 790, hanging out with you
for a few more minutes before Adam Clanton, Adam Wexler,
go ahead and make their way in here and take
you up until Astros on deck at 5 o'clock where
they will get you set for the Strohs and the
Rays tonight in Tampa. As the Astros come into this series,

(02:38:07):
winners in two out of their last three. Taking out
the Phillies yesterday 2-1 to get you there. So you've
got that working for you. You also have the Texans
and Bills coming up on Sunday. I mean, guest-wise today,
we've covered it all. We got you set for the
Astros and the Rays with Nick Wise from... WDAE there
in Tampa. Got you set for Texas and Ohio State

(02:38:30):
tomorrow night with our good buddy Mike Hardball-Harge. And then,
of course, doing all of the both the Texans side,
Bills side, and then also to the action side as
well with Lee Sterling from Paramount Sports, James Palmer that
we just heard from, and also Christian Rao from Locked
On Bills hit earlier. jumping on with us but I

(02:38:53):
mean as far as this game goes Josh I mean
you know just getting ready for Sunday I mean I
think that you see a Texans team that plays loose
and also is able to just say you've got the
talent in these spots don't try to do too much
you're a good enough team to be able to win
this game I think Texans win this one 28-24 Okay.

Speaker 5 (02:39:13):
I think it's going to be a lower scoring game.
I think it's going to be like 2017 Texans.

Speaker 2 (02:39:19):
2017 Texans. Could see that, too.

Speaker 8 (02:39:20):
Could see that.

Speaker 4 (02:39:21):
I mean, it's almost one of those that Kaimi Fairbairn
comes out there to kick, and people are like, damn it, man.
I hate seeing that guy. But, I mean, if it
ends up in a win, then that's the good thing.
That's what you want. Astros and Rays, I mean, as
we mentioned, you're going to face a couple of tough
pitchers this weekend. Rasmussen tonight, and then you get Peralta
on Sunday. I would like to be able to win

(02:39:44):
two out of three, but if it turns out that
you come out of here salvaging a game, then a
three-in-three week, again, against that stretch that you've just gone
through or that you will have gone through when we
talk back with you on Monday, I think that that's
a good place to be coming into the final homestand
of the season.

Speaker 14 (02:40:03):
Absolutely.

Speaker 5 (02:40:04):
Look, you're with house money now that you won that
Philly series. So just don't get swept. You got the
Royals coming up. Don't slip back into the Astros team
that loses to bad baseball clubs.

Speaker 2 (02:40:14):
So that's it. Just don't get swept. Win a ball
game here. That would be the hope. All right.

Speaker 4 (02:40:20):
So Susie Colbert has not done a ton of interviews
since she was let go a couple of years ago
from ESPN, but she was on the Sports Media Network.
Richard Deitch podcast because she's actually about to start up
a new role with Scripps Sports Network. And one of
the things she talked about was getting the call that,

(02:40:41):
of course, she was going to be let go from ESPN.
And it came from Norby Williamson, who, of course, has
had his name mentioned before. And one of her things
that she had brought up was, I have a year
left on my contract. They were like, yeah, here's the deal.
All right, we're laying you off. And if you speak
despairingly about the company, then you run the risk of

(02:41:04):
having that final year of your contract voided. And she
was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I've been the
exemplary employee for y'all this entire time. And her exact
words was, I've been the ultimate good soldier. All the
crap I've seen, I have never said one negative thing
about this company. Why do you think I'm going to
start now? He's like, oh, you know, I just had

(02:41:26):
to say that. It's again, I mean, it's one of
those that when you get let go, especially in this business,
like there is no like nice off ramp to be
able to unless you do it yourself. Like unless you
go to management, you say, hey, I'm going to go
ahead and step away because I've taken another role or

(02:41:47):
I'm getting out of business, whatever it is. then maybe
you might have an opportunity to kind of exit on
your own terms. But like, it's one of those that
I've seen it before with even legendary people that I've
worked with, that it's like, are you not going to
give them an opportunity to say goodbye to their audience?
It's like, no, that's not how this works. Like, it's just,
you can do it yourself on social media. But aside

(02:42:10):
from that, it's your let go. And that's really the
end of it. And it is also one of those
things that I would say that probably all everywhere in life,
not just in this business, but anywhere that you don't
want to be the one who spills the tea afterwards,
which maybe it was Susie. She's like, Hey, I've got
a new job. What do I care? I'm not going

(02:42:32):
to get hired back on over there. So, you know,
she shares details like this, but yeah, it is kind
of like one of the, and another thing that she
had talked about was, you know, like not hearing anything
from them. where it's like I gave you 27 years,
not even a thank you or best of luck.

Speaker 2 (02:42:48):
Cold business, man. Cold business. You're damn right it is. Well,
you know what?

Speaker 4 (02:42:52):
We try to keep it as warm as possible here
as you got Adam and Adam coming your way next.
Got the Texans, got the Astros this weekend, all of that,
much more to cover with you on Monday. He's Joshua Jordan.
I'm Dan Matthews. It is the Dan Matthews Show. We'll
talk to you in 68 hours.

Speaker 2 (02:43:09):
Goodbye now.

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