January 16, 2025 • 11 mins
Houston Chronicle Texans beat writer Jonathan M. Alexander joins The A-Team to preview this Saturday's Divisional Round game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He talks about the crucial matchups that the Texans will need to win. He also thinks the return of Shaq Mason, shouldn't mean he's inserted back into the starting lineup.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, let's talk about the here and now. John Alexander,
(00:02):
the beat writer of the Houston Chronicle covering the Texans,
joins us here and John over at practice today and
then a chance to visit inside the locker room with
some players. Tell me if you think this sounds about
right at Adam J. Wexler tweeted this out about four
hours ago, and it says do not currently see Joe
Mixon parentheses ankle while practice has opened to media. He
(00:25):
was listed as limited yesterday. Also, we'll see him playing Saturday.
Does that sound about right?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
What was the last thing you said?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I said at the end of the comment that I
posted myself said, also we'll see him playing Saturday afternoon?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Oh yeah, Oh absolutely. I was joking with a fan
on Twitter when I tweeted out that he was limited yesterday,
and the fan was like, Joe Mixon's foot will have
to be literally falling off. I said, no, it would
have to be severed for him not to play. I believe. Yeah, yeah,
Joe Mason is you know you and he's questionable and
(01:05):
there's no way not playing in this game.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
The injury report has been now finally finalized and sent
out Joe Mixon and Robert Woods non participants at practice today,
as we noted earlier, not seeing them both listed as
questionable the hip injury for Robert Woods ziz Al Shaier
limited today and listed as questionable taking Quittorriano continues to
be a full participant as he was for some of
last week. Not yet on the roster as his practice
(01:29):
window is merely open, designated for return, listed as questionable,
but it seems likely so he can be their third
tight end with Kate Stover on IR, he will be
out there, maybe much more so than any of those
I mentioned. If Shaq Mason is practicing this week and
he was a full participant today, do you think Texans
are going to make a change with their starting offensive line.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I think it's possible, you know, I don't think that
they should. I thought that the offensive line combination that
they put out there against the Chargers looked really good.
I thought it had opened a lot of lanes for
Joe Mixon, gave C. J. Stroud a lot of time
in the pocket. I think they should stick with the
offense in lone combination. You know, before Sak Mason went out,
(02:13):
he led right all guards and sets allowed. He struggled
this season, and typically with the Texans when they've had
guys come off serious injuries like they have, they've given
them a week to practice before playing them. So I
think the most likely scenario probably we see the same
(02:34):
lineup and then if they win, and they would make
adjustments or they would have set Mason on hand in
case Jesus is struggling.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
So heading into a game like this, I mean, we
all we all know the storylines of subplots, we know
about the temperature. How do the Texans basically not only
reverse the script or flipped the script of what happened
earlier last month? But really we were talking about this earlier, John,
the fact that these two teams set each other's courses
(03:04):
of you know, destiny, action, whatever over the next several years.
Back on that game in early twenty twenty when the
Texans had a twenty four to nothing lead and then
all you know what broke loose in the second quarter.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, yeah, the Chiefs became a dynasty after that. But
how the Texans flip that is, is they do what
they did against the Chargers last week when they really
dominated them defensively. The key in my opinion is them
stopping to run. When you stop the run, then you
kind of set up third and lost situations. You allowed
the defensive line to get to the quarterback. And I
(03:42):
think that's going to be the key. They can't allow
Kareem Hunt and Isaiah Pacheco to gain yardage, and they
didn't do that in that first game. At first meeting
in December, They've got to stop the run and make
the Chiefs one dimensional and try to get pressure on
Patrick Mahomes as much as possible, get hands on him.
That's what they did with Justin Herbert. Now that's easier
(04:04):
said than done. Patrick Mahomes is one of the best
at extending players. But if you can rush them, then
perhaps then you make things easier for your secondary to
potentially get picked.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Do you regard the Chiefs front or defense as a
hole the way Spags will deploy them against the Texans
as a team that is going to be or has
been tough to run against.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah. Absolutely. I mean you look at the Chiefs, They're
one of the most fundamentally sound defenses in the NFL.
They don't do things like one thing extremely great. They
do a lot of things really good and really their defenses.
What held them this season and what's the reason why
they have a fifteen to two records. The offense always
has to make assistent. Their offensive tackles have struggled. They
(04:48):
finally found the right combination now, but the defense is
really was kept them in games. Trent mc duffie is
an All Pro calib and player. Chris Jones is a
monster in correct game. So yes, when you got guys
like that, because Jones, I think is one of the
top two best defensive tackles in the game right now,
They're a tough defense to runner on.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
If the Texans are preparing for a game next Sunday
late afternoon in Buffalo or Baltimore, who do you think
will be their second leading receiver Saturday afternoon in Kansas
City when they win.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Oh, that is a great question. Just based on what
we've seen. I think it would have to be John Matchi.
He has a seventy four with a seventy four or
seventy two yard game earlier of the season. He's shown
that he's capable of doing that. Or it could be
Dawn Shows and we haven't really seen him go to
Dalton Shows. Dawn Shows has oddly shown in the past
(05:41):
that he can do big things for them in the
receiving game, but they just haven't utilized him much in
the passing game as much because of the pressure. But
there may be an opportunity for him in this game.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
So okay, the fact that the Chiefs have been kind
of considered, I don't know, I'm want to put this,
you know, delicately. This is not the most dominant version
of this, you know era We constantly compare the Chiefs
run with the Astros run, right like these these two
teams are going to be in the you know, respective conference,
(06:14):
so as it were championship game of every single season.
Playing to go to that next level feels like But
is that Is there some truth to that, the fact
that the Chiefs just don't look like what we're used
to or are they just simply a sleeping giant and
all this layoff and rest is going to kind of
wake up that beast?
Speaker 1 (06:33):
No?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I think so I would agree with that sentiment. I mean,
you look at their office. They continuously add receivers onto
their roster because of various injuries and losses, and their
offensive line was really an abomination earlier this year, before
they finally got things straight. They couldn't figure out their
tackle situation. So yes, I think the Chiefs have serious
(06:57):
flaws that if they were to meet the right team,
a team that is high at the right time, that
they can lose. Whether that's the Texans, I don't know.
I certainly think that the Bills and the Ravens could
take down the Chiefs for sure, So yeah, I agree
with that said man, I think they could potentially be
taken down this year. I don't see them being a
super Bowl winning team. I don't see them getting a
thirteen talk.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
With John Alexander Houston Chronicle Houston Texans beat writer here
on Sports Talk seven to ninety on the A team.
Most meetings with Pat Mahomes go this way. For a defense,
you get some pressure and it doesn't result in a
positive play for the defense. You put him in bad
down in distance, and somehow he's just one step away
from you bringing him down and forcing upon or creating
a turnover. They did not force a turnover in the
(07:40):
first meeting. They had one sack and four quarterback hits,
which was far far less impactful than clearly the Texans
defense was. A week ago against Justin Herbert, How can
they change that, What must happen to change that? And
what issues, if any, might you see on the Chiefs
O line, which they're not even sure who's playing the
five spots this week.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, you look at the last time that they played,
the chief went with the quick game to try to
mitigate the Texans pass rush. But again, I really think
it started with them being able to run the football
with effectiveness. I think Kareem Hunt average five yards for carry,
that's well over his season average. The Texans are going
to have to stop Kareem Hunting Isaiah Pacheco and not
(08:23):
allow them to get off and may Patch Mahomes continually
continuously passed the ball and then they got to get pressure,
get pressure on Patrick Mahomes. And I think that that
is their formula. On the offensive side, I think c
Stroud has to take care of the football, you know,
he can't turn it over, and they have to be
able to run it effectively. Joe Mixon, I don't know
(08:45):
how limited he could be, but have I mean Damian
Pierce has also played well. So having Joe Mixon and
Damian Pierce together and running the football and the establishing run,
I think it's gonna be really important for the offense.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
So, okay, I was thinking about this and the fact
that you know CJ and I told Wex this earlier
in the show. CJ and company needing to get back
out there on the field to kind of maybe not
gain confidence back, but feel feel better that they had
a successful drive that last regular season game against the
Tennessee Titans. Do you, I hate to I hesitate to say,
(09:19):
is this overblown by maybe the media like us, because
when Demico Ryans is kind of playing into that with
some of his comments. Do you think that's completely overblown though,
or or is that something that really was important, especially
in light of what we saw against the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
No, I think it was extremely important, specifically against the
charge I mean the Titans, they only had one job
of proving, but you got to do that for an
entire four quarters against the Chargers. They did that, and
I think they did need that boost confidence. They needed
to see something go right for them because when things
go wrong for you continuously, you started to believe that
it's going to happen over and over again. I strongly
(09:55):
believe that, So I don't think it's overblown. I think
that they saw that they're capable of producing big plays.
You know, you talk to people in the locker room,
you know, not for publication, but you know they're feeling
a lot more confident a see the pathway to having
a successful offense. So I don't think it's overblown. I
think they needed that to potentially a lot what they
(10:17):
can do now. Of course, the Chiefs are a bigger animal,
and you got to do it on the road this
time with a loud crowd. That's another story in itself.
But I certainly think that they're a lot more confident
this time around than they would have been if it
would have been a much closer game, where if the
offense has struggled a lot more.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I just need a one word answer from you. We
got ten seconds of remaining. You just wrote an article
about all the awesome nicknames on the Texas defensive line.
If you missed it, it's right there on the chronicle.
Your favorite was.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
My fairy was unk that they called Jerry Hughes just
because he's my age And now we got people calling
people my age.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Un That is awful for you, awesome stuff. Appreciate it, John,
Always appreciate you taking the time I appreciate Joe
Well, let's talk about the here and now. John Alexander,
(00:02):
the beat writer of the Houston Chronicle covering the Texans,
joins us here and John over at practice today and
then a chance to visit inside the locker room with
some players. Tell me if you think this sounds about
right at Adam J. Wexler tweeted this out about four
hours ago, and it says do not currently see Joe
Mixon parentheses ankle while practice has opened to media. He
(00:25):
was listed as limited yesterday. Also, we'll see him playing Saturday.
Does that sound about right?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
What was the last thing you said?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I said at the end of the comment that I
posted myself said, also we'll see him playing Saturday afternoon?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Oh yeah, Oh absolutely. I was joking with a fan
on Twitter when I tweeted out that he was limited yesterday,
and the fan was like, Joe Mixon's foot will have
to be literally falling off. I said, no, it would
have to be severed for him not to play. I believe. Yeah, yeah,
Joe Mason is you know you and he's questionable and
(01:05):
there's no way not playing in this game.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
The injury report has been now finally finalized and sent
out Joe Mixon and Robert Woods non participants at practice today,
as we noted earlier, not seeing them both listed as
questionable the hip injury for Robert Woods ziz Al Shaier
limited today and listed as questionable taking Quittorriano continues to
be a full participant as he was for some of
last week. Not yet on the roster as his practice
(01:29):
window is merely open, designated for return, listed as questionable,
but it seems likely so he can be their third
tight end with Kate Stover on IR, he will be
out there, maybe much more so than any of those
I mentioned. If Shaq Mason is practicing this week and
he was a full participant today, do you think Texans
are going to make a change with their starting offensive line.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I think it's possible, you know, I don't think that
they should. I thought that the offensive line combination that
they put out there against the Chargers looked really good.
I thought it had opened a lot of lanes for
Joe Mixon, gave C. J. Stroud a lot of time
in the pocket. I think they should stick with the
offense in lone combination. You know, before Sak Mason went out,
(02:13):
he led right all guards and sets allowed. He struggled
this season, and typically with the Texans when they've had
guys come off serious injuries like they have, they've given
them a week to practice before playing them. So I
think the most likely scenario probably we see the same
(02:34):
lineup and then if they win, and they would make
adjustments or they would have set Mason on hand in
case Jesus is struggling.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
So heading into a game like this, I mean, we
all we all know the storylines of subplots, we know
about the temperature. How do the Texans basically not only
reverse the script or flipped the script of what happened
earlier last month? But really we were talking about this earlier, John,
the fact that these two teams set each other's courses
(03:04):
of you know, destiny, action, whatever over the next several years.
Back on that game in early twenty twenty when the
Texans had a twenty four to nothing lead and then
all you know what broke loose in the second quarter.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, yeah, the Chiefs became a dynasty after that. But
how the Texans flip that is, is they do what
they did against the Chargers last week when they really
dominated them defensively. The key in my opinion is them
stopping to run. When you stop the run, then you
kind of set up third and lost situations. You allowed
the defensive line to get to the quarterback. And I
(03:42):
think that's going to be the key. They can't allow
Kareem Hunt and Isaiah Pacheco to gain yardage, and they
didn't do that in that first game. At first meeting
in December, They've got to stop the run and make
the Chiefs one dimensional and try to get pressure on
Patrick Mahomes as much as possible, get hands on him.
That's what they did with Justin Herbert. Now that's easier
(04:04):
said than done. Patrick Mahomes is one of the best
at extending players. But if you can rush them, then
perhaps then you make things easier for your secondary to
potentially get picked.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Do you regard the Chiefs front or defense as a
hole the way Spags will deploy them against the Texans
as a team that is going to be or has
been tough to run against.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah. Absolutely. I mean you look at the Chiefs, They're
one of the most fundamentally sound defenses in the NFL.
They don't do things like one thing extremely great. They
do a lot of things really good and really their defenses.
What held them this season and what's the reason why
they have a fifteen to two records. The offense always
has to make assistent. Their offensive tackles have struggled. They
(04:48):
finally found the right combination now, but the defense is
really was kept them in games. Trent mc duffie is
an All Pro calib and player. Chris Jones is a
monster in correct game. So yes, when you got guys
like that, because Jones, I think is one of the
top two best defensive tackles in the game right now,
They're a tough defense to runner on.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
If the Texans are preparing for a game next Sunday
late afternoon in Buffalo or Baltimore, who do you think
will be their second leading receiver Saturday afternoon in Kansas
City when they win.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Oh, that is a great question. Just based on what
we've seen. I think it would have to be John Matchi.
He has a seventy four with a seventy four or
seventy two yard game earlier of the season. He's shown
that he's capable of doing that. Or it could be
Dawn Shows and we haven't really seen him go to
Dalton Shows. Dawn Shows has oddly shown in the past
(05:41):
that he can do big things for them in the
receiving game, but they just haven't utilized him much in
the passing game as much because of the pressure. But
there may be an opportunity for him in this game.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
So okay, the fact that the Chiefs have been kind
of considered, I don't know, I'm want to put this,
you know, delicately. This is not the most dominant version
of this, you know era We constantly compare the Chiefs
run with the Astros run, right like these these two
teams are going to be in the you know, respective conference,
(06:14):
so as it were championship game of every single season.
Playing to go to that next level feels like But
is that Is there some truth to that, the fact
that the Chiefs just don't look like what we're used
to or are they just simply a sleeping giant and
all this layoff and rest is going to kind of
wake up that beast?
Speaker 1 (06:33):
No?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I think so I would agree with that sentiment. I mean,
you look at their office. They continuously add receivers onto
their roster because of various injuries and losses, and their
offensive line was really an abomination earlier this year, before
they finally got things straight. They couldn't figure out their
tackle situation. So yes, I think the Chiefs have serious
(06:57):
flaws that if they were to meet the right team,
a team that is high at the right time, that
they can lose. Whether that's the Texans, I don't know.
I certainly think that the Bills and the Ravens could
take down the Chiefs for sure, So yeah, I agree
with that said man, I think they could potentially be
taken down this year. I don't see them being a
super Bowl winning team. I don't see them getting a
thirteen talk.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
With John Alexander Houston Chronicle Houston Texans beat writer here
on Sports Talk seven to ninety on the A team.
Most meetings with Pat Mahomes go this way. For a defense,
you get some pressure and it doesn't result in a
positive play for the defense. You put him in bad
down in distance, and somehow he's just one step away
from you bringing him down and forcing upon or creating
a turnover. They did not force a turnover in the
(07:40):
first meeting. They had one sack and four quarterback hits,
which was far far less impactful than clearly the Texans
defense was. A week ago against Justin Herbert, How can
they change that, What must happen to change that? And
what issues, if any, might you see on the Chiefs
O line, which they're not even sure who's playing the
five spots this week.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, you look at the last time that they played,
the chief went with the quick game to try to
mitigate the Texans pass rush. But again, I really think
it started with them being able to run the football
with effectiveness. I think Kareem Hunt average five yards for carry,
that's well over his season average. The Texans are going
to have to stop Kareem Hunting Isaiah Pacheco and not
(08:23):
allow them to get off and may Patch Mahomes continually
continuously passed the ball and then they got to get pressure,
get pressure on Patrick Mahomes. And I think that that
is their formula. On the offensive side, I think c
Stroud has to take care of the football, you know,
he can't turn it over, and they have to be
able to run it effectively. Joe Mixon, I don't know
(08:45):
how limited he could be, but have I mean Damian
Pierce has also played well. So having Joe Mixon and
Damian Pierce together and running the football and the establishing run,
I think it's gonna be really important for the offense.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
So, okay, I was thinking about this and the fact
that you know CJ and I told Wex this earlier
in the show. CJ and company needing to get back
out there on the field to kind of maybe not
gain confidence back, but feel feel better that they had
a successful drive that last regular season game against the
Tennessee Titans. Do you, I hate to I hesitate to say,
(09:19):
is this overblown by maybe the media like us, because
when Demico Ryans is kind of playing into that with
some of his comments. Do you think that's completely overblown though,
or or is that something that really was important, especially
in light of what we saw against the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
No, I think it was extremely important, specifically against the
charge I mean the Titans, they only had one job
of proving, but you got to do that for an
entire four quarters against the Chargers. They did that, and
I think they did need that boost confidence. They needed
to see something go right for them because when things
go wrong for you continuously, you started to believe that
it's going to happen over and over again. I strongly
(09:55):
believe that, So I don't think it's overblown. I think
that they saw that they're capable of producing big plays.
You know, you talk to people in the locker room,
you know, not for publication, but you know they're feeling
a lot more confident a see the pathway to having
a successful offense. So I don't think it's overblown. I
think they needed that to potentially a lot what they
(10:17):
can do now. Of course, the Chiefs are a bigger animal,
and you got to do it on the road this
time with a loud crowd. That's another story in itself.
But I certainly think that they're a lot more confident
this time around than they would have been if it
would have been a much closer game, where if the
offense has struggled a lot more.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I just need a one word answer from you. We
got ten seconds of remaining. You just wrote an article
about all the awesome nicknames on the Texas defensive line.
If you missed it, it's right there on the chronicle.
Your favorite was.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
My fairy was unk that they called Jerry Hughes just
because he's my age And now we got people calling
people my age.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Un That is awful for you, awesome stuff. Appreciate it, John,
Always appreciate you taking the time I appreciate Joe
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