2017 Houston Texans Season

[eagle eye]

The Texans are preparing for Week 1 of the 2017 season but they have so much more on their plates. Duh! With all the work that is ahead for everyone from Port Lavaca to the Louisiana border it’s hard to not have a discussion are the evil interloper named Harvey. To make matters worse, there is a bunch of rain in the Gulf south of the affected areas and, oh yeah, there’s this Cat 5 hurricane named Irma that could still cross the state of Florida and threaten us with yet another ‘storm of the century’. That’s the bad news, the good news is there is football right around the corner and the best way for the Texans to help out the community is to win ball games. The last time a city was as devastated by a storm it was 2005 when Katrina swamped New Orleans. Technically, Katrina didn’t do the damage but it was the damage Katrina did create that caused the levies to break around the city which caused all the flooding. SE Texas were pummeled by a vicious storm that didn’t pack a lot of punch with high winds but the rain was, as we all know, relentless. The helpless feeling of watching the water rise as the rains fell and the subsequent need by many to abandon their flooded homes. The City of Port Arthur may not ever come back to the population it had before Harvey came. People here still remember Ike in 2008 and Rita in 2005, this might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of people. That said, what people in the area need is a distraction. Enter Texans stage left. What would happen if Houston rides the wave of emotions of a devastated area all the way to a Super Bowl like the Saints did after Katrina? How sweet would it be if the Astros ride this wave of energy and the addition of Justin Verlander all the way to their first World Series win and the Texans ride that wave of emotion and take the people of SE Texas all the way to February with back to back championships? Freaking Awesome, right?

So, that is what is happening now. The Texans are preparing to play Jacksonville this Sunday to begin the 2017 season. The first question for this game was, “Will the game be played in Houston?” for obvious reasons. That question was answered yesterday when it was decided that, yes, the game will be played in Houston. That is good news for everyone concerned except maybe the Jags.

JJ Watt is leading the way for sponsoring the recovery of the victims of Harvey. His foundation which was hoping to raise 500K has ballooned to over $17MM as of yesterday. Watt and his teammates have been out in the community handing out care packages of water, daily essentials and MRE’s to people who need to eat. All this while preparing for Jacksonville. The Jags have QB issues and Tom Savage has looked pretty good this offseason. The Jags may have problems that Houstonians can relate to as they watch Hurricane Irma bear down on the state of Florida.

There is good news to talk about like how the Texans and DeAndre Hopkins have come to an agreement to a long-term deal. That was way back on August 31st. It was a deal that made him the highest paid WR in the NFL that is worth $81MM over 5 years with $49MM guaranteed.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is LT Duane Brown who has been holding out. For his part, Bill O’Brien says he feels good about the team as it sits. Since Brown hasn’t been a party to any of the Texans offseason work O’Brien is happy to push his chips in with Kendall Lamb. If you look at the Texans depth chart on Texans.com Lamb would be the right tackle while Chris Clark is on the left side.

The link below is a look at the Jaguars in a feature called “Know Your Foe”.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Know-Your-Foe-Jacksonville-Jaguars/56b10bb2-8fd2-4805-8456-8dfff70faeaa

[eagle eye]

Houston is home. The Texans have aided in the community in the aftermath of Harvey, they have donated their time and money for the recovery effort. They have been doing all they could for the city they call home. One of the biggest things they can do now is win games. Especially today in the first game of the 2017 season and their first game after the events of the past two weeks. Houston needs a win. The Astros provided a lift with their series sweep of the Mets in their first games back in Houston and that was awesome for the city. The Astros have put a damper on their own momentum and let the city down by totally screwing the pooch in Oakland. Houston needs a booster shot and the Texans can give it to them by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars today. No pressure but, it is a division game and the city will be out in force to support their Texans because they need a distraction from all the cleanup that is still ahead for so many people. The ultimate distraction would be a Texans win. Honestly, I don't see Houston losing today. It will be too emotionally charged in NRG Stadium today. The hopes of the city as well as the expectations for the team coming off back-to-back playoff appearances the people of Houston are wanting their team to take that next step toward a Super Bowl. The fans of Houston want the Texans to do what New Orleans did after they came back after Hurricane Katrina by winning a Super Bowl. Wouldn't that be something. It all begins today and the final score will be...................

 

Houston 27 Jacksonville 13

[eagle eye]

I am withholding my opinion of the QB situation in Houston. I will say that the Texans got a lot more scoring out of DeSean Watson than they got out of Tom Savage. I have seen some good things from Savage but people don’t trust him because 1) he can’t seem to stay healthy and, 2) he doesn’t have a good track record of putting up points.

I can’t blame Tom Savage completely, in fact, he only gets a little of the blame. Why? Did you see that sorry excuse for an offensive line? Your reply would be, “Yeah, they were pretty offensive.” The Jags Calais Campbell set a franchise record for sacks in a half with 4 and the Jags recorded 10 sacks for the game! There are teams who don’t record 10 sacks in a month much less in one game. We will have to see how legit the Jaguars defense is going forward but I can tell you, I’ll bet the Texans will vouch for them.

Other reasons for the Texans failure on Sunday was;

1. No run game to speak of. The Jags D didn’t just rush the passer, they played some pretty

mean run defense too.

2. The receivers for the Texans were dropping like flies. In fact, all three tight ends for the

Texans went down with concussions and their availability for Thursday’s game is that they are

out. Braxton Miller was a no-show and Bruce Ellington went out with a concussion as well.

3. WR depth is an issue anyway because Houston was missing Jalen Strong and Will Fuller.

Strong was out due to a one game suspension while Fuller has been out since early in training

camp with a shoulder injury.

4. The defense didn’t play particularly well. One reason is because of the lame job the offense

did suffering many 3-and-outs which doesn’t give the defense much time to rest before they

have to go back into the game.

 

I hope that Houston can bounce back against the equally bad Cincinnati Bengals who were shut out at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. Today the Texans announced that DeSean Watson will be the starter tomorrow night. No offense to Tom Savage but with the lousy offensive line play you need a QB who is more mobile than Savage is. Hey Rick Smith, thought about giving LT Duane Brown a little salary increase? The O-line could certainly use Brown especially since Jeff Allen suffered an ankle injury.

 

The Texans signed rookie tight end Evan Baylis out of the Oregon to their 53 man roster to given them at least one TE on the roster. CJ Fiedorowicz has been put on IR with a severe concussion while Ryan Griffin and Stephen Anderson will be out with concussions of their own. Here’s Wednesday’s final injury report for tomorrow night’s game.

 

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Game-Status-Report-Texans-vs-Bengals/7872aeac-a0a5-4af2-aee1-0e71ed257f78

 

Rough week for our boys, don’t you think?

[eagle eye]

The Texans are coming off a somewhat unimpressive win against a totally unimpressive Cincinnati Bengals team. The defense flip-flopped their bad play against Jacksonville the week before and they were pretty impressive against the Bengals last Thursday. Even on a short week the Texans looked fresher and more ready to go than Cincy. Andy Dalton had another so-so game in much the same way he had against Baltimore the week before. At least the Bengals managed to score against Houston but kicking 3 field goals won’t win you many games in the NFL unless you have a couple of TD’s to back them up. The Bengals offense was so inept the offensive coordinator, Ken Zampese, was fired after only two games. Zampese’s offense managed only 3 field goals in two games. This despite having a stable of really good running backs led by Giovani Bernard, a really good tight end in a healthy Tyler Eifort and wide receivers led by AJ Green and Brandon LaFell. Bill Lazor was promoted from QB coach to OC and it’s a daunting job to turn around an offense as impotent as Cincy’s. Especially, when you consider Lazor is not liable to change the playbook much. He can’t, you cannot redo an offense in a 10-day span. You have to toss what hasn’t worked and focus on what does and add a little bit as you go. I doesn’t help matter when the Bengals next game is in Green Bay against a pissed off Packers team. But enough about the friggin’ Bengals, this thread is about the Texans.

Houston is coming off a win and that is a good thing. No team wants to start the season 0-2. Just ask the Jets, Browns and Colts in the AFC and the Giants, Bears, 49ers and Saints in the NFC. Life at 0-2 sucks. The bad thing is Houston will have to travel to Foxborough Massachusetts to play the Patriots this Sunday. If it was the Patriots who got clowned by Kansas City in Week 1 then I would say Houston had a puncher’s chance to win. If it’s the Pats from last Sunday’s smack down of the Saints I would have to say that Houston is in big trouble.

If you wondered why it seemed like the only players that Deshawn Watson seemed to throw to last week was DeAndre Hopkins and Tyler Ervin it’s because he pretty much was. Bruce Ellington was concussed and had to leave the game. Braxton Miller hasn’t shown up yet in a game and all of the starting tight ends from Week 1 are all concussed and one, CJ Fiedorowicz is on Reserve/Injured because of the concussion he suffered against Jacksonville. The guy Houston really needed to step up was Jaelen Strong and after a promising training camp he has been a virtual no-show so far in the regular season. Strong was a 3rd round pick for Houston from Arizona State and in 2 seasons and 2 games he has failed to distinguish himself, even a little bit. Bill Parcells used to say that you need to see something from a player by his 3rd season or you need to move on. That is exactly what Houston has done. Yesterday they gave Strong his outright release.

A bit of good news was announced yesterday as WR Will Fuller V was back at practice for the first time since August 2nd when he broke his collarbone. Fuller was expected to miss 2-3 months because of the injury so it was a big surprise to see him back after only 6 weeks. There is no timetable for his return but the fact he is practicing seems to be saying he will be back on the field within 2, maybe 3, weeks. You never know, it could be less.

Other personnel moves are:

The Texans have signed WR Andy Jones.

The Texans have signed T Jah Reid

LB Brian Cushing has been suspended 10 games for PED use. It is his second such suspension. The first was in his 2nd pro season when he was suspended 4 games.

 

Rookie Zach Cunningham out of Vanderbilt University is having a Heckuva rookie season. He came in the Jacksonville game for Brian Cushing when he suffered a concussion and played very well. He started this past Thursday against Cincinnati and played very well. It is looking like Houston has found another keeper on defense.

 

The Texans got more bad news Monday when it was reported that CB Kevin Johnson will miss at least 6 weeks with a partially torn MCL in his knee. Jonathan Joseph was injured in the Cincinnati game and may be out for a while too leaving Kareem Jackson and a bunch of rookies and wanna be’s to man the secondary. I’m exaggerating of course but it seems like Houston will have its back against the wall in the defensive secondary for a while.

 

It’s sort of amazing how well Bill O’Brien rallies the team around itself when adversity hits. There is definitely adversity facing the Texans now so maybe Houston has a shot at beating the Patriots at home. Maybe.

[eagle eye]

The Texans played their hearts out only to lose on a last second TD pass from the GOAT Tom Brady. Got to give Brady props because he's proven he is the best ever many times over. But, dammit, why not go for a 4th and 1 on the Patriots side of the field and a 2 point lead? Why kick a field goal for a 5 point lead when Brady and Pats will have a little over 2 minutes to drive down for the winning TD? Hindsight is 20-20 but at the time wouldn't you trust the Texans defense to get a stop? That was what Bill O'Brien had to be thinking. Take the points, make the Patriots score a TD to win, rely on the defense to make a stop. Most people thought, yeah, I am down with that. That is until the Pats actually do drive down the field and score the go ahead TD and after Bill Belichick decides to go for 2 to give them a 3 point lead with 23 seconds left in the game. Now, everyone changes their mind; "Why didn't O'Brien go for that 4th and 1. If they make it Texans win. They eat up another minute and half of clock or they make the Patriots use up their time outs and still kick the field goal. Win-win right? If Houston doesn't make it the ball is still in Patriots territory and still you depend on the defense to make a stop. Dammit Houston you had 'em beat. This is a game nobody expected Houston to be even close to the Patriots. The wise guys had Houston as 13.5 point underdogs. You had 'em Houston and you let 'em come back. Houston fall to 1-2 on the season but they are only one game back of Jacksonville and Tennessee and they are tied with Indianapolis who finally played somebody the could actually beat, the Cleveland Browns. Houston will get the opportunity to close that gap with Tennessee as the Texans host the Titans this coming Sunday. Tennessee has a nice ball club and with Marcus Mariota healthy they will be hard to beat but some things we saw in the loss to the Patriots give us hope that Houston can and will beat the Titans this week.

 

What are the things that give us hope?

 

1. Deshawn Watson is looking better every week and he had his best game against the Patriots in THEIR stadium. Watson had his first 300 yard passing game as a pro (301 to be exact). He completed 67% of his passes and he threw 2 TDs. He did throw 2 INTs and both were costly. Rookie mistakes and something I feel he will learn from. If Houston has a check-list they can check off "Franchise Quarterback".

2. Ryan Griffin returned to action following his Week 1 concussion suffered against Jacksonville. He caught 5 balls for 61 yards and a score serving as Watson's security blanket.

3. Houston seems to have finally found a complimentary receiver opposite DeAndre Hopkins. That would be Bruce Ellington. Ellington emerged in training camp and earned a spot on the roster but he had been slowed by injury in the first two games. Last Sunday Ellington had a breakout of sorts grabbing 4 balls for 59 yards and a TD. With Griffin and Ellington giving defenses something to worry about Hopkins was free to roam a bit more than in previous weeks. He came down with 7 catches for 76 yards in a very balanced Texans attack.

 

Things that give you cause for concern?

 

1. Why is the defense prone to giving up so many damn points? It looks bad but consider this, Houston gave up 29 to Jacksonville but most of that was attributable to the lousy Houston offense getting run off the field too many times on 3-and-outs. The defense just got freaking tired. In Cincinnati they held the Bengals to just 3 field goals and won the game. I can't explain it but there's just something unstoppable about the Patriots and for one brief shining moment the Texans D did almost make a play. Brady threw a pass to Brandon Cooks near the goal line but Texans safety Corey Moore jumped up and grabbed the ball with both hands. Both feet came down but when he hit the ground he couldn't hold on as the pass fell incomplete. The play before the Texans pass rush strip sacked Brady but his own man fell on the ball. You don't get many chances like that and Houston blew both of the chances they got to ice the game away.

2. There is no 2, I'm just saying don't worry about the defense. They will get better as the new guys in the secondary get more experience.

3. At some point in time Bill O'Brien needs to get better at game management. He also needs to teach Watson a thing or two about clock management. O'Brien is always a standup guy taking all the blame for Houston's losses but it is true and he's the one responsible for back game decisions, he needs to suck it up and truly learn from the mistakes and get better in the moment.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are home after two hard weeks on the road. They beat their old whuppin' dog Cincinnati only scoring one TD in the game and adding a couple field goals. The Texans went to Boston last week and came within a hare's breath of knocking off the defending world champs! That loss is gonna hurt for while and if Houston misses the playoffs or loses the division by one game I'll bet they point to this past week's loss as the culprit. But, that was then and this is now, as they say, and "...you can't cry over spilled milk.", so it's on to Week 4 and the division rival Tennessee Titans.

 

The Titans have some nice weapons beginning with QB Marcus Mariota. He hasn't been dominating, he's ranked 16th out of 32 QBs in passing yards but he's been efficient. He's got a 60% completion rate and an 86 QBR which should tell you he is not going to beat you with his arm. The offense has a pair of nice RB's in DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry. Murray is ranked 10th in NFL in rushing yards and he's moving the ball at a 5.3 YPC clip. Rishard Matthews (who?) is the leading receiver for the Titans with 14 catches for 201 yards and one TD in 3 games. He's the 20th ranked receiver in the NFL. TE Delanie Walker is 2nd on the team in yards and he's ranked 30th in the NFL in receiving. In the NFL all nice often gets you is another "L". The Titans have played the Raiders and lost and they have beaten the Jaguars and the Seahawks. The Jags seem up and down but they are a 2-1 team and they are division rivals. The Seahawks win is a bit peculiar unless the 'Hawks just aren't that good. Maybe Seattle should start concentrating more on the game and less on the protests prior to the game. (Sorry, cheap shot)

On the other side of the ball Tennessee boasts (???) the 26th ranked team in total defense in the NFL. Not so hot, right? Tennessee is ranked 15th in run defense and 27th in pass defense. Houston, by contrast, is 18th in pass defense thanks in large part the 400+ yards and 5 TD's Tom Brady threw for last week. The Texans are ranked 16th in rush defense and 14th overall in total defense. On paper this looks like a cake walk for the Texans on Sunday but you and I both know games are not played on paper. Division games are even more unpredictable because even when one team is down and the other is up the underdog often wins. I'm not sure that phenomenon can be adequately explained. It's just one of the mysteries of the universe, one that will probably never be solved.

 

What is most exciting is was the emergence of QB Deshawn Watson last week in New England. It was his first 300 yard passing game and he led the team to 28 points. The defense accounted for the other 7 points when Jadeveon Clowney recovered a strip sack of Brady and he took it to the house. If last week was Watson's debutante ball then this Houston offense may be about to sprout wings and fly. About friggin' time, right?

 

Houston hasn't partook in the kneeling protests so I'm going to continue to watch them. JJ Watt is one of the best ambassadors a company could have and I believe the players in the NFL do a lot of good in their communities we never know about. I'm not happy about the National Anthem protests, my son is currently serving our country in the US Army, but the actual number of protesters was relatively small, at least until President Trump threw gasoline on the fire and caused entire rosters, coaches and owners into a band of solidarity, not for the ban of police brutality but of the POTUS sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong. Go Texans and, for goodness sake, let sanity make a return in Week 4.

[eagle eye]

Wow, did the Texans ever lay the lumber on the Tennessee Titans. Could you ever imagine Houston would take apart a division rival to the tune of 57-14? I figured that the Texans defense might be a little salty after giving up 5 TD’s passing to Tom Brady the week before. But, the beat down they put on Tennessee was brutal. They allowed just 117 yards passing and only 86 rushing yards. Houston picked off Marcus Mariota and Matt Cassel a total of 4 times and they forced a fumble as well. 5 turnovers and just a smidgeon over 200 total yards allowed. Wow.

The 5 TO’s the defense got set Houston up with good field position but, even if the Texans hadn’t benefited from all the extra possessions they would have flattened the Titans. The Texans, after losing to the Patriots the week before had posted 33 points so it’s no shock that Houston was able to score on Tennessee. What is shocking is they put up 57 points, that kind of thing just doesn’t happen every day. Unlike Week 3 when Houston scored 3 TD’s and kicked 4 FG’s, yesterday the offense put up 7 TD’s and 3 FG’s. Because of all the short fields the Texans had to work with Deshaun Watson only threw for 283 yards but he threw 4 TD’s and ran for another. Lamar Miller and DeAndre Hopkins got a TD each in the passing game while Will Fuller got 2 TD’s in his return to the lineup from the broken collarbone he suffered in training camp. Miller added a rushing TD. As the dust settled at NRG Stadium I think we can safely say the Texans have truly found their franchise QB at last.

One more thing. After four weeks I think we can safely say Houston has found their franchise kicker too. The young man from the University of Hawaii named Ka’imi Fairbairn has shown nothing but ice in his veins since he first came to Texans camp. So far he’s 9 for 9 in FG attempts and 11 of 12 in extra point attempts. It doesn’t seem to matter to Fairbairn how long the FG is he’s made it. Fairbairn beat out veteran kicker Nick Novak early in training camp and he hasn’t slowed down since.

[eagle eye]

After just destroying the Tennessee Titans last week Houston has their hands full to overflowing this week with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. Houston has got them at home and on prime time so maybe they can turn around recent history and beat the Chiefs. This will be the Texans second prime time game. The first was a Thursday night affair in Week 2 when they scored just one TD in the game but they beat the Bengals 13-9 because Houston's defense did not allow the Bengals a TD in the game. In Week 3 Deshaun Watson had his breakout game on the road in Boston where he lead the way to putting up 33 on the Patriots. Unfortunately, Tom Brady did his thing and hung 36 on the Texans for a truly heartbreaking loss. Last week of course Watson built on what he started in New England and he led the team to a dominating 57-14 win. I purposely didn't mention the opening day loss to Jacksonville because I'm chocking that one up to Hurricane Harvey hangover. I actually can't wait to see the rematch, something tells me it won't be pretty for the Jaguars.

 

This week's game against KC will be a stout test. The defense will need to figure out a way to stop the NFL's leading rusher Kareem Hunt all the while dealing with a suddenly dangerous Alex Smith at QB. It's no surprise tho because Smith has never had a receiver with the speed and hands of Tyrik Hill. If you are lucky enough to have KC's version of The Triplets on your fantasy team you have not been disappointed. The Texans could figure out how to stop Tom Brady but against the Bengals and Titans they have been a real force. On the offensive side the Chiefs may not have faced a QB like Deshaun Watson. The Texans have gotten some weapons back that will help them attack the Chiefs stout defense. TE Ryan Griffin came back last week to strengthen the TE position. Will Fuller V also made his first appearance of 2017 after suffering a broken collarbone in training camp. Fuller was on the receiving end of 2 Watson TD passes. Of course Houston has mainstay WR DeAndre Hopkins and newcomer Bruce Ellington has been good enough that the Texans actually let Jalen Strong go. Lamar Miller and D'onta Foreman are becoming a nice one-two punch out of the backfield. Unfortunately, Houston has lost the services of RB Tyler Ervin after he suffered a season ending knee injury against the Titans.

 

The Texans offense will have to figure out a way to protect Watson from a rejuvenated Justin Houston and a very tough Chiefs defense. Houston needs to beat KC even though three out of the last 4 times they've played Houston lost. The win came in the season opener last year when Houston finally beat the Chiefs 19-12. Previous to that in two regular season games and the Divisional Round of the 2015 playoffs KC handed Houston a 30-0 beat down. None of those teams featured what looks to be Houston's franchise QB of the future and, most importantly, the present. Deshaun Watson is a dynamic player who has been on the biggest stages so let's see what he can do. Of course the defense has to do some damage too and with the emergence of Kareem Hunt and Alex Smith it won't be easy. The Chiefs are coming off a tough last second win over the Redskins this past Monday night. They got an oh-by-the-way TD on a strip sack in the waning seconds but that 29-20 game was much closer than the final score might make you think. Catching the Chiefs on a short week might be all the edge the Texans need to handle the last unbeaten team in the NFL.

 

As a lifelong Cowboys fan I hate to admit it but Houston is looking like the best pro football team in Texas and that isn't something you could say very often in the past.

[eagle eye]

The Texans 42-34 loss to Kansas City put the lid on the bottle of Choke-a-cola that had been filling since Saturday when Oklahoma blew and 11-point lead and ended up losing to unranked Iowa State. I’ll bet there are some out there who didn’t even know ISU was even a D-1 school much less a member of the Big Twelve. A side bar here was that Texas won which makes the OU loss sting even more. Did I mention I am no Longhorn fan? Surely, I must have.

Sunday comes along and the Astros squander a 3-0 lead and loses 10-3 to the Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALDS. At the tail end of the Astros game the Cowboys began their day building a 21-6 lead over the Green Bay Packers but things started falling apart when they allowed the Packers to score a TD just before halftime to tighten the score to 21-12. Two points were squandered when the normally reliable Mason Crosby missed both extra point attempts but, in the end, it didn’t matter. In the second half, just like the week before against LA, the offense forgot how to score for a big chunk of the final two quarters. The Packers outscored the Cowboys 23-10 but even at that Dallas had a 31-28 lead with 1:13 left in the game. Unfortunately, that was just too much time and Green Bay scored a TD with 11 seconds left in the game to steal a 35-31 victory.

Then the kicker. The Texans were beaten 42-34 but the loss was just a part of the issue. KC was flat better than Houston but you continue to see the potential of QB Deshaun Watson but, even though the Texans put up 34 points, it wasn’t enough because the defense had no answer for the Chiefs balanced and explosive offense. It didn’t hurt the Chiefs any to have Tyrik Hill return a punt 82 yards to extend a 13-point KC lead mid-way through the 4th quarter. Besides losing a game the Texans lost Whitney Mercilus early in the 1st quarter to a chest injury and later in the half JJ Watt was lost for the game and possibly for the year because of a broken leg. Watt’s injury deflated the home crowd as it sank in disbelief over the loss of their beloved JJ. The Texans team suffered a quarter and a half hangover too before they righted the ship and made a game of it. The long-term ramifications might not be so bad considering the Texans had the No. 1 defense in the NFL last year without Watt for the final 13 games of the season but Watt has become the emotional and spiritual leader to the people of Houston and his injury is considered tragic. Absolutely unfair on a Karmic scale given what Watt has meant to the recovery efforts for the people of Houston. Hector has fallen and the walls of Troy are worse for the loss.

[puddin tane]

The Texans 42-34 loss to Kansas City put the lid on the bottle of Choke-a-cola that had been filling since Saturday when Oklahoma blew and 11-point lead and ended up losing to unranked Iowa State. I’ll bet there are some out there who didn’t even know ISU was even a D-1 school much less a member of the Big Twelve. A side bar here was that Texas won which makes the OU loss sting even more. Did I mention I am no Longhorn fan? Surely, I must have.

Sunday comes along and the Astros squander a 3-0 lead and loses 10-3 to the Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALDS. At the tail end of the Astros game the Cowboys began their day building a 21-6 lead over the Green Bay Packers but things started falling apart when they allowed the Packers to score a TD just before halftime to tighten the score to 21-12. Two points were squandered when the normally reliable Mason Crosby missed both extra point attempts but, in the end, it didn’t matter. In the second half, just like the week before against LA, the offense forgot how to score for a big chunk of the final two quarters. The Packers outscored the Cowboys 23-10 but even at that Dallas had a 31-28 lead with 1:13 left in the game. Unfortunately, that was just too much time and Green Bay scored a TD with 11 seconds left in the game to steal a 35-31 victory.

Then the kicker. The Texans were beaten 42-34 but the loss was just a part of the issue. KC was flat better than Houston but you continue to see the potential of QB Deshaun Watson but, even though the Texans put up 34 points, it wasn’t enough because the defense had no answer for the Chiefs balanced and explosive offense. It didn’t hurt the Chiefs any to have Tyrik Hill return a punt 82 yards to extend a 13-point KC lead mid-way through the 4th quarter. Besides losing a game the Texans lost Whitney Mercilus early in the 1st quarter to a chest injury and later in the half JJ Watt was lost for the game and possibly for the year because of a broken leg. Watt’s injury deflated the home crowd as it sank in disbelief over the loss of their beloved JJ. The Texans team suffered a quarter and a half hangover too before they righted the ship and made a game of it. The long-term ramifications might not be so bad considering the Texans had the No. 1 defense in the NFL last year without Watt for the final 13 games of the season but Watt has become the emotional and spiritual leader to the people of Houston and his injury is considered tragic. Absolutely unfair on a Karmic scale given what Watt has meant to the recovery efforts for the people of Houston. Hector has fallen and the walls of Troy are worse for the loss.

 

no choke on the Texans part...they got owned

 

sooners suck..

[eagle eye]

I love you too puddin'.

[eagle eye]

The news went from bad to worse as the Texans announced that both Whitney Mercilus and JJ Watt are done for the season. Mercilus has a torn pectoral muscle that required surgery to repair and Watt suffered a tibial plateau fracture. Basically what that means is, according to Wiki, “A tibial plateau fracture is a bone fracture or break in the continuity of the bone occurring in the proximal part of the tibia or shinbone called the tibial plateau; affecting the knee joint, stability and motion.” If you follow football closely you could almost get an associates medical degree as you learn about the wheres and what fors of the parts of an anatomy that gets twisted, broken, fractured or otherwise abused in the course of a football season. And you wondered why players hold out for more money?

As a corresponding move the Texans signed a couple of players to the team to fill the voids left by Messrs Watt and Mercilus. First off, the Texans signed LB Lamarr Houston formerly of the Raiders and Chicago Bears. In 2014 Houston tore his ACL and missed most of the season. He came back and played well in 2015 but early in 2016 he tore the opposite ACL celebrating a sack when the Bears were down by 20 points. He is trying to make a comeback from the 2nd ACL surgery but the Bears lost faith in him and released him. If he can get back to pre-injury form he is a good player that the Texans can use and you would hope that ill-fated sack dance taught him a lesson in restraint.

Next up Houston signed DE Kendall Langford formerly of the Rams and the Saints. Constant battles with injuries have derailed Langford since 2012. Obviously, Langford is no JJ Watt but if the Texans can help him get back into pre-2012 form they might just have something.

Houston made some other deals today

The Texans released CB Johnathan Banks and T Jah Reid

The Texans claimed CB Marcus Williams off waivers from the NY Jets and they also signed G Dorian Thompson off the Arizona Cardinals practice squad.

The Texans are getting busy to host the Cleveland Browns Sunday – that would be the 0-5 Browns. Talk about a trap game! The Deshone Kizer experiment in Cleveland appears to be over as Cleveland announced they will throw former Stanford QB and Browns 2016 5th round draft pick Kevin Hogan into the fire. Hogan came in last week for an ineffective Kizer and led the Browns to 2 scores. He did make a couple of mistakes that ultimately cost the Browns the game. Cody Kessler has fallen out of favor for the Browns as he languishes on the bench as the Browns 3rd string QB. With Hogan getting the start Sunday he becomes the 28th QB to start for the Browns since 1999. The Texans can relate to a QB carousel that is hopefully settled at last with Deshaun Watson.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are coming off their bye week and hopefully the time off was just what the Texans needed to propel them into the rest of the season. There was good news in the form of LT Duane Brown ending his holdout and reporting to the Texans facility last week. This week he was activated and will make his debut against the Seahawks in Seattle tomorrow.

 

That is unless the Texans decide not take the field because something Texans owner Bob McNair said at the NFL owners meetings recently. McNair, at an owners meeting with a select number of players and NFLPA chairman Demaurice Smith said in an aside comment to the media that, in effect, the players were not going to run the business of the NFL by using an unfortunate choice of words to describe the situation. McNair said that "...the inmates were not going to run the prison." This is an old saying that is really, 'the inmates are not going to run the asylum' is not borne of racism but of owners or bosses who were not going to let employees run the business. It has never been, in my lifetime a racist comment but that hasn't stopped the media and some of the players from taking racial offense to what McNair said. DeAndre Hopkins and D'onta Foreman didn't even participate in practice yesterday because they were pissed off at McNair. Every damn thing you say can be twisted into a racist comment if that is your agenda. It was an unfortunate choice of words by McNair which he's apologized for and, to me, this is much ado about nothing.

I am in a running debate on Facebook with my grandniece's father because he sees no issue with the real racial slur gesture by the Astros Yuli Gurriel in last night's Game 3 of the WS. These two incidents are not even the same from my point of view and I really can't believe McNair's comment, which was not the best response to the question, and what Gurriel did demeaning Yu Darvish can even be compared. As for Hopkins and Foreman missing practice, that is a total team no-no and they should be fined for missing practice. They probably won't because that's how things seem to work. If you do something counter to the team and you can blame somebody else then it seems to be okay. Maybe the inmates ARE running the asylum.

 

Houston is getting players back from injuries and they should be prepped for the last half of the season. This player protest situation is just so old. Jerry Jones said during their bye week that any player not standing for the National Anthem or doing anything that disrespects the flag or our country would be benched. He's the only owner who had stones enough to make a stand. This incident with McNair's comments is beyond stupid and Hopkins and Foreman should be fined for missing practice. Up to this point the Texans have avoided being a subject in the National Anthem protests but not now. God knows what will happen during the Anthem in Seattle. I just hope the Texans continue to stand and respect the flag and not copy teams like Seattle who lead the protest march.

 

I still hope Houston stomps a mudhole in the Seahawks. For one, I don't like Seattle and 2. I don't like Pete Carroll and 3. I think Michael Bennett is a colossal dickhead. Go Texans.

[eagle eye]

With all the crap over the remarks by Texans owner Bob McNair last week and all the crap from players like DeAndre Hopkins and D’onta Foreman and the newly activated LT Duane Brown you knew something had to give.

What gave was a trade deadline deal sending Brown to Seattle for CB Jeremy Lane and a 2018 5th round draft pick and a 2017 2nd round draft pick. It also needed some work to fit Brown’s contract into the Seahawks salary cap. Enter Russel Wilson who reworked his salary to free up enough cash to fit Brown under the cap.

Houston getting Lane was a big win-win for the Texans. First, they got rid of Browns huge salary cap hit and they got rid of Brown who had held out the first 6 games of the season and was one of the Texans who were vocal in response to McNair’s comments last week at the NFL owner’s meeting. No use rehashing that deal. McNair made an unfortunate comment that, of course, the players took offense to. What ended up happening was most of the Texans knelt during the National Anthem to spite Mr McNair. The second win was getting much needed cornerback help in Lane.

The real takes from the Seattle game was that Houston found out they could do without Brown in the first 6 games and they needed a cornerback in the worst way. It was ridiculous how easy Russell Wilson cut through the Texans secondary. The secondary is definitely Houston’s Achilles Heel right now and Lane should help as long as he can stay healthy.

Will Fuller V has come back from his broken collarbone to be a real factor and the best thing is he is actually catching the ball. He certainly is a big step up from Jalen Strong. My question is where the hell is Braxton Miller? He’s healthy and on the roster. You would have hoped for more in this his second season with Houston. In 5 games played this season he has just 5 receptions for 10 yards and a TD. Not what you would expect from Houston felt was a high impact player when Houston drafted him last year.

[eagle eye]

The worst possible thing in the world that could happen to any team is have your franchise QB go down for the season with an injury. You all remember in 2015 what happened to the Cowboys when Tony Romo broke his collarbone, the team went through a litany of QBs from Brandon Weeden to Matt Cassel to Kellen Moore and none of them won a single game for the Cowboys. Houston has had QB problems for years including the entire tenure of Bill O'Brien as head coach. It may be, the only team more inept at fielding a quality QB is the Cleveland Browns and you know what their history is. At least the Texans have made the playoffs in 3 of the 4 years O'Brien has been the head coach. Never better than a 9-7 team the Texans still plowed through to the playoffs and even won a couple of games along the way. I seemed right from the moment that Deshaun Watson entered the game in Week 1 after halftime that Houston had at long last found the guy to lead them into the next decade. That's all Houston was needing right? They had the #1 defense in the NFL last season and they've been riding that defense for, well, since JJ Watt came to town. Along the way in this 2017 season Houston ran into some terrible luck. JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus both went down for the season in the first half of the game against the Chiefs in Week 4. They also lost Brian Cushing for most of the season to a suspension because he tested positive for PEDs. You can't take 3 starters off the field and expect to go anywhere on defense but down. At that, the defense has been dealt another severe blow because the DB's, the entire secondary, has totally sucked the big one. It's made life hard for the Texans. How hard? Try this on for size. Beginning in Week 3, with just a game and a half of NFL experience under his belt, Deshaun Watson led the Texans offense to score 33, 57, 34, 33 and 38 points and the Texans lost 3 of those 5 games! Two were heartbreaking losses to New England and Seattle when the defense gave up game winning drives to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. So here is where Houston stands right now, they have a 3-4 record and are a game behind Tennessee and Jacksonville in the AFC South and they have lost their QB to an ACL tear for the rest of the season. Looks mighty bleak doesn't it?

 

So, Houston is going into Week 9 with nothing but rubber bands and glue holding the team together. The Texans tried to trade to upgrade the defense. There were going to send 10 year veteran OT Duane Brown to Seattle for a cornerback but the deal fell through when the CB couldn't pass the team physical. The deal didn't fall completely apart because instead of a player and 2 draft picks over the next 2 years the Texans got 3 draft picks. That's all well and good but it don't help out right now. Not only that but the team was sort of pissed that they lost Duane Brown in the trade. Okay, fine. We'll go to the old tried and true 'next man up' thing. Trouble is the Texans O-line is kinda banged up and they have a statue playing QB now in Tom Savage. What set Watson apart from Savage is that Watson has about 10 times more talent than Savage. Watson is more athletic, has a stronger arm and he got a good football IQ. Savage was the starter in Week 1 but after struggling for a half against Jacksonville Bill O'Brien has seen enough and put Watson in. Click, the light went on. It wasn't perfect but the kid is a rookie after all. The Texans sputtered to an opening day loss to the Jags that has a much to do with hangover from Hurricane Harvey as it did the Jags play on the field. Watson struggled through a tough win in Cincinnati including a long touchdown run, the only TD of the game, to give Houston a 13-9 win. Then O'Brien started turning Watson loose and it was Katie bar the door for Houston's offense. When you average nearly 40 points a game over a 5 game span you figure to win most, if not all, of those games but the defense is not what it was last year. Houston resigned TJ Yates to back up Savage and if Savage again struggles to lead Houston to score points we could see Yates become the starter. Yates did lead the Texans to their first ever playoff win back in 2011 as a rookie so he's got that on his resume but that was a defense dominated team and Yates was the Texans version of Trent Dilfer. A nice bus driver who didn't do anything spectacular. Houston needs more than a bus driver, much more, but there is no Dak Prescott on the Texans roster. Deshaun Watson was the Texans Dak and he was well on his way to winning Rookie of the Year before this tragedy. (Okay, a little mellow-dramatic but from a Texans perspective, it really is tragic.)

 

The good thing about all this is the team can use this as a rallying point. Find that something inside that raises them up to a potential they didn't know they had. If that's the case there is no better opportunity for them with today's game against Indianapolis. It's a division game against a team that up until a year or two ago used to just wear them out on a regular basis. That's what Peyton Manning and a healthy Andrew Luck will do for you. Now it's Indy's that is in the dumps. They have no O-line to speak of and their defense is okay but had Watson still been healthy it's possible Houston would have hung 40 on the Colts. The Texans are also at home with fans coming off that World Series victory so the NRG Stadium crowd ought to be jacked up. It would be really great is Savage learned something from Watson. He certainly had a great view of what it takes to lead an offense to score a lot of points. Maybe the Texans defense will figure out what they have been missing to this point. That's my hope going into today that Savage and the rest of the Texans manage to find a way to beat the Colts to launch them into the second half of the season on a positive note.

[eagle eye]

What can I say, the Texans season is over. Without Deshaun Watson the Texans went from scoring 30 points or more per game to a single touchdown. Tom Savage actually had a chance to pull out last week's game against Indianapolis but between Tom Savage's poor execution and Bill O'Brien's poor play calling they let the opportunity to win slip through their fingers. The notion that Tom Savage is no Deshaun Watson is painfully obvious and Houston may not win another game if he can't raise his game up a few notches. The Texans are currently in 3rd place in the AFC South, 2 games behind the Titans and Jags who are both 5-3 and without what used to be the NFL's #1 offense to lead the way it's going to be a long 2 months in Houston. So here's an example of what it's like to be a fan in Houston Texas, your Astros win their first ever World Championship in baseball with a parade and everything. You are on top of the world and life is grand. Then, you turn around and somebody kicks you right in the nuts. Obviously, the kick in the nuts serves as the symbolic loss of Deshaun Watson and such is life for a Houston sports fan. I'm serious, the other pro sports teams in Houston should immediately go to confession and saying countless Hail Mary's to ward off the bad luck headed their way. Houston lost Deshaun Watson for goodness sake. What will happen next is anyone's guess but I venture to say it can't be good. You'd think the bad Karma began and ended with Harvey but that is obviously not the case. Lock up your kids, board up your windows because the disasters may not be over yet. Will it be the Dynamo? Or maybe the Rockets? Perhaps team tennis is going to be taking a hit. I wonder if it will hit semi-pro leagues like the Skeeters baseball team? No, they have been done playing since September unless of course this Judas goat plays forward into 2018. Oh man!!!!! Hail Mary full of grace....................................................................................

[eagle eye]

Same song different verse, Texans offense sucks without Deshaun Watson. You have to give the defense a bit of a pass because when your offense gives up 4 turnovers in a game and your back is against the wall constantly it’s hard to fault them too much. That said, I don’t think it’s too much to ask to expect the defense to hold the other team to a field goal once in a while. I’m just saying.

Tom Savage was responsible for 4 turnovers in the game, 2 INT’s and 2 fumbles, plus the fact that he can’t seem to make a throw to save his life. I think you can safely say you can stick a fork in this Texans team’s chances to make the playoffs.

There is just not that much good you can say about being pummeled 33-7, there’s just not.

[eagle eye]

What is going on here? Do you mean to tell me Houston actually won a game? Are you saying the offense actually scored more than 7 points? Yep. That’s what they are all saying. Houston defeated the Arizona Cardinals 31-21 at NRG Stadium yesterday. Tom Savage didn’t suck (even though he did throw a pick) the defense was solid even though they did give up 21 points to the Blaine Gabbert-led Cardinals. Arizona, just a couple of short years ago was in the conversation about what teams were legit contenders for a Super Bowl and now they are just a middling ball club. Really all Housto did was to prove they are a little less idling than Arizona but after 2 straight losses since losing Deshaun Watson I’ll definitely take it. Houston is 4-6 on the season now and if they can actually build on yesterday’s success they have an outside shot at a playoff spot. Think I’m crazy? Check this out. Aside from division leaders New England, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Jacksonville the best records at the 6-4 Tennessee Titans, the 5-5 Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens and 6 teams including the Houston Texans at 4-6. Mathematically Houston has a better shot at making the playoffs than Dallas. You figure that one out if you can. The road won’t be easy but Houston's next 6 games have 4 playoff contenders. All 4 of those games are on the road. If Houston can manage to go 3-1 in those games and 5-1 overall they have at shot at yet another 9-7 playoff season.

[eagle eye]

It's hard to imagine that it's been two weeks since I last posted on this thread. To be honest, there isn't much to write about. After an unexpected 30+ point outburst against the Arizona Cardinals 3 weeks ago the offense fell right back into that ineptitude hole in losses to Baltimore and Tennessee. They might get another win when they play the San Francisco 49ers tomorrow but, then again, they might not. The Niners now have Jimmy Garoppolo starting, he won his first start last week in a narrow victory over the Chicago Bears, so it will be interesting to see HIS progression. On the Texans side I have zero confidence in Tom Savage. I wanted to see him get a real shot to prove himself but all I can see he proved is he's really not even backup material. So, the Texans will be playing at 12 o'clock tomorrow at NRG Stadium and it might be the Texans best shot out of their last 4 games to get to 5 wins unless they figure out how to beat the Colts in their place in the season finale. Realistically, the Texans will be lucky to notch 5 wins but on the flip side it should get them a top ten pick in next year's draft.

 

Dear God, all I want for Christmas is for Deshaun Watson to never be hurt again. Or JJ Watt just because he's probably the new millennium Captain America.

[eagle eye]

What can be said about the 2017 Houston Texans season that hasn’t been said before. Last week with TJ Yates the Texans showed that maybe Tom Savage wasn’t the whole problem with the Texans offense. Or maybe it’s that there isn’t a franchise caliber QB on the Texans roster. Like the Cowboys 2015 season when Tony Romo went down and the Cowboys went through 4 different QBs and they won just one game out of 12 tries because Dallas lost their franchise caliber singal caller. Same team that went 12-4 in 2014 with the only difference being the QB was gone.

Next year Deshaun Watson, JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus will be back. Given the so-so success of the Texans we might wonder about whether Rick Smith or Bill O’Brien will still have job when the season ends. O’Brien has never won more than 9 games in a season but this will be the first year he’s lost less than those same 9 games.

Bob McNair is a pretty tolerant man but how long will he put up with mediocrity? Who knows. Right now, with two games left I don’t care.

It doesn’t mean the players are just going through the motions. A lot of guys are playing for their jobs so the games should still be competitive. Assuming you have a tv to watch them on.

[eagle eye]

There is no reason to worry about what will take place in Houston's final two games. Honestly, it would be in their best interest to lose them both. There is no advantage at all to winning either or both games but there is a big disadvantage to winning. It will cost them a draft spot. Right now Houston is standing with a big group of teams with a 4-10 record. The Browns are unleading the pack at 0-14. They will be getting the #1 pick in 2018's draft unless they trade it away again. The Browns have amassed a crap-load of draft picks with all their wheeling and dealing the past couple of drafts but so far nothing has come of it. The next team in line would be the NY Giants at 2-12 followed by the 3-11 Colts. Then comes the logjam at 4-10. The 4-10 teams are;

1. Houston

2. San Francisco

3. Chicago

4. Tampa Bay

They also have 3 teams right behind this group at 5-9, the Jets, Bengals and the Broncos.

My point is Houston to have a top 5 draft pick needs to go 0-2 in their final two games. They will be playing the Steelers this Sunday at home and conclude their season playing the Colts in Indianapolis. If Houston does lose both games and Indy loses Sunday but beats the Texans in Week 17 the Colts will own the tie-breaker over Houston and the Texans could potentially earn (?) the 3rd pick in the draft.

Reaching for silver linings here, work with me.

[eagle eye]

Houston is continuing its march to a good draft pick after being pummeled by the Pittsburgh Steelers, at home, yesterday afternoon. Going in they already knew they got help in the draft position sweepstakes because San Francisco and Chicago both won. Thank you Jimmy Garoppolo and Mitch Trubisky. Tampa Bay continues its futility with a loss keeping them tied with Houston for the 3rd worst record in the NFL. The fact that Tampa can actually score points gives you hope that the Bucs can actually pull out a win in their season finale this week against New Orleans but it's not likely. Houston travels to Indy this week and you hope the Colts close out their season with a win. If the Colts win they will have swept the Texans in both games meaning Houston would end up with the 2nd or 3rd pick in the draft depending on how the tie-breakers between Houston and Tampa go. This is a helluva thing to have to talk about with the season not even over with.

 

Houston found out that Tom Savage wasn't the answer. They have since found that TJ Yates isn't either. Yesterday the Texans turned to rookie from Old Dominion Taylor Heinicke. We won't ever know if he would've made a difference as he threw one pass for ten yards and was subsequently concussed and was out for the rest of the game. Maybe he'll get his chance in Indy. What's clear is aside from Deshaun Watson nobody playing QB for Houston could put up enough points to win a game. The Texans over the last 8 games without Watson are averaging 13.5 PPG and you throw out an anomaly game in which Houston scored 31 in a win against Arizona the Texans would be averaging 11.2 PPG. You can't win in the NFL scoring 11 points in a game. Even if the Texans defense was the same dominating unit it was in 2016, which it most certainly isn't, the Texans would still be a sub .500 team.

 

All it boils down to is this, on December 31st I am an Indianapolis Colts fan. I won't be able to watch the game any more than I will be able to stomach watching Dallas get the hell kicked out of them by Philadelphia Sunday. This whole football season has been like watching a horror move in which the heroes are all bested by the bad guy. For my money, this horror show can't end soon enough. Good riddance 2017. I hate your guts except for the Astros and they won in spite of you're hateful self.

[eagle eye]

The Texans gave me a scare by taking a 13-7 lead into halftime in the season finale in Indianapolis but they managed a second half collapse to eventually lose 22-13. For some reason, the Colts despite owning the tie-breaker by sweeping the Texans are getting the 3rd pick in the draft. What's even worse is Houston won't be getting the 4th pick. No, they traded that away to Cleveland for the right to pick Deshuan Watson. The Browns also got the Texans 25th pick in the second round in the same deal. What that means is Houston will not have a first or a second round draft pick in 2018 and the Browns will have 3 extra picks, including the first and fourth picks in the first round, they will either trade away or screw up. Based on past performance the Browns will squander the picks. They passed on taking either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz in the 2016 draft when they had the first pick and they ended up with Deshone Kizer. The Browns are making sequels to the movie Draft Day on an annual basis but all their wheeling and dealing has netted them nada, squat, nothing. It is quite possible the Browns will use their pick on Baker Mayfield and it will be a sad day for Mayfield to have to go into the dawg pound from hell.

The Texans, on the other hand, have a legit franchise QB in Watson. They need O-line help bad but a quality lineman may need to come via free agency and will be very expensive.

Speaking of offensive lineman, the feel good story of the year has to be centered around David Quessenberry the offensive tackle from San Jose State drafted by the Texans in the 6th round of the 2013 draft. During training camp his rookie season he injured his foot badly enough to be placed on IR. In June of 2014 he was diagnosed with lymphoma and immediately underwent treatment for the cancer. Over the next two years Quessenberry received treatment for, and ended up being cured, of the cancer. To the Texans credit DQ was kept on the Texans practice squad during treatment and rehab. This past season he didn't make the final 53 but he was again on the practice squad. On December 19th DQ was elevated to the 53 man roster and he was, after a 4 year ordeal, active for his first NFL game on Christmas Day against the Steelers. Congratulations to Quessenberry and a big shout out to the Texans for showing such loyalty to Quessenberry during his difficult times.

On the other hand, Texans Rick Smith is taking an indefinite leave of absence to be with his wife who has been diagnosed with cancer. The Texans have assured him he will not be relieved of his job while he is at his wife's side during her cancer treatment. The Texans, i.e. Bob McNair, has hired an independent firm to locate a temporary replacement for Smith as the Texans prepare for the draft this April. This also probably means Bill O'Brien will not be quitting or being fired so he will be back in 2018. I think this is a good thing for him and the team.

 

Last post on this thread. So long 2017 I'm not sorry to see you go!

[eagle eye]

There is a lot to discuss in Texan-land but it’s hard because the information is sketchy at best.

What we do know is Bill O’Brien has been given a contract extension that will pay him through the 2022 season. You guys can debate that deal around the water cooler or you can give your opinion here. I love to see what you all think about keeping O’Brien around.

Another thing we know is current/former GM Rick Smith has taken an extended leave of absence to be with his wife as she battles breast cancer. It should be noted that O’Brien’s extension came after Smith bowed out of the picture.

We also know that Texans owner Bob McNair has hired Brian Gaine to be the new GM. He is also signed through the 2022 season. We also know that Bill O’Brien was going to asked to be released from his contract if he had to continue to try to work with Rick Smith. It seems the two don’t get along very well. This came before Smith announced his leave of absence.

What we don’t know is anything about Brian Gaine. As usual the Texans website gives nothing but the announcement of his hire and the extension of O’Brien’s contract. No details, no background, nada. I’ll say right now that the Texans website is a LOT less informative than the Cowboys site and it’s frustrating as hell. The Bleacher Report doesn’t do much better in regard to any info on Brian Gaine so I turned to my old standby -- Google -- to find out about the man who will be guiding the Texans upcoming draft and free agent signings and possible replacements in the coaching staff (more on that later). So, what I found is a mini bio of Gaine on NFL.com. Gaine comes from the Bill Parcells tree as Parcells hired Gaine 3 different times. In 1999, after spending 4 years in the NFL as a practice squad player, Parcells hired Gaine to be a scout when Parcells was Head Coach of the NY Jets. In 2005 when Parcells was hired as HC of the Cowboys Gaine came along as Director of Pro Scouting. His term ended in 2007 but Parcells again hire Gaine as his Assistant Director of Pro Personnel through the 2010 season and he was promoted to Director of Pro Personnel for the Dolphins for the 2011 season. He was again promoted by the Dolphins to Assistant GM and held that post in 2012 and 2013. Gaine came to Houston and was the Director of Player Personnel from 2014 to 2016. In 2017 Gaine worked for the Buffalo Bills as their Vice President of Player Personnel. Of course, he is back in Houston now and apparently since both Gaine and O’Brien are from the Parcells coaching tree (remember Bill Belichick was a Parcells assistant) they think alike which led O’Brien to agree to a contract extension instead of handing in his resignation. It has to be noted that the Texans talent upgrades between 2014 and 2016 were pretty significant. During this time Houston added Jadeveon Clowney, Alfred Blue, Xavier Su-o’filo, Jay Prosch and Andre Hal among others in 2014. In 2015 the Texans added Christian Covington, Kevin Johnson and Bernadrick McKinney and others to the roster and in 2016 among the players added to the roster were Will Fuller, Braxton Miller, KJ Dillon, DJ Reader, Tyler Ervin, and Nick Martin. All six were draft picks and all contributed to the team over the last two seasons. Don’t forget about adding Lamar Miller as a free agent in 2016. Now, you have to mention the Brock Osweiler signing but as we all now know Osweiler was signed over the objections of Bill O’Brien and by proxy against the advice of Gaine.

What all this means is there is stability in the Texans chain of command and it will behoove Bill O’Brien to take all the players injured in 2017, JJ Watt, Whitney Mercilus, DeSean Watson among others and lead the team to a successful season. Oh yeah, the AFC South is no long the pushover it has been with the emergence of Jacksonville and Tennessee there won’t be anyone winning the division with a paltry 9-7 record any time soon. The pressure is on Bill O’Brien now. No excuses mister. It’s win or you’re out the gate.

[eagle eye]

Houston will have to find a new DC because their current DC, Mike Vrabel has a new job, as head coach of the Tennessee Titans replacing now former head coach Mike Mularkey who went 20-21 in parts of 3 seasons as the head coach of the Titans. The Titans made a return to the playoffs this season but after being blown out by the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs Mularkey’s services were no longer deemed needed by the Titans brain trust.

As Texans fans, we all know Vrabel. Stellar 14-year career as a player including 3 SB wins with New England. Vrabel was an assistant coach under Urban Meyer from 2011-2013. He was the Texans linebackers coach from 2014-2016 and the DC for the Texans in 2017. It seems Vrabel has been on an upward trajectory since he became a coach after his playing days were over.

The Texans have made Romeo Crennel the DC. He was given the title assistant head coach after spending 3 years as the DC for the Texans and he got to oversee Vrabel who was promoted to DC last year.

Also, in Tennessee long time NFL player, coach and defensive guru Dick LeBeau was let go after the announcement of the hiring of Vrabel. LeBeau is 80 years old and he said he’s fine with retirement if the situation in Tennessee didn’t work out. It hasn’t worked out but LeBeau is one of the great defensive minds in NFL history and he sure would be a big asset to any team that would hire him.

Last week the Texans hired a new special teams coach, Brad Seely who was let go after Oakland head man Jack Del Rio was fired after the season. Last Friday the Texans hired Seely’s assistant ST coach from Oakland Tracy Smith. The Texans also hired former Dolphins RB coach Danny Barrett who replaced Charles London who was fired. The team also promoted Anthony Midget, who was the assistant secondary coach under John Butler who was also fired after the season ended. It kind of looks like Bill O’Brien is restocking the coaching shelves with his guys.