Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / Episode 60 feat. Houston Stressans - Recapping the Bills-Texans game, Texans defense, and upcoming scheudle

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Episode 60 feat. Houston Stressans - Recapping the Bills-Texans game, Texans defense, and upcoming scheudle · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

• 0:26
  Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
• 0:28
  Twisted podcast. We have a returning guest in
• 0:31
  here and he pretty much covers the Texans, Houston Stressons.
• 0:36
  Welcome back to the show. Just to let everybody else know
• 0:39
  what you do and everything else. Yeah, I appreciate it.
• 0:43
  I'm basically at Texans commenter or Houston Stressons
• 0:46
  which is STRESSANS on pretty much every platform.
• 0:51
  Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube have a website
• 0:55
  as well. Houston stressing.com write
• 0:58
  articles. Haven't been doing it as much
• 0:59
  lately. Merged the whole deal.
• 1:02
  I'm just a fan who is passionate about my team.
• 1:05
  That's pretty much it. Yeah, welcome to have you back,
• 1:08
  man. It's been a while since we had
• 1:10
  you last time and at the start of the season while we're we're
• 1:14
  pretty far in now, but what, 10 games or so?
• 1:18
  12 games, But yeah, we're ready to get going, man.
• 1:22
  Let's dive deep into to what the Texans have been this year.
• 1:26
  So yeah, let's get started. Yeah.
• 1:29
  Appreciate it. All right, all right.
• 1:31
  So this is going to be the first question and I want to know
• 1:35
  where all of us fit in this. And we we let's recap the Bills
• 1:39
  Texans game in Week 12. That was the Thursday night game
• 1:43
  and look at both matchups with CJ Stroud not playing.
• 1:46
  And it was David Mills being the quarterback once again, I think
• 1:49
  for the third game in a row. And the Bills playing in in in
• 1:54
  Houston at NRG Stadium. How did you look at that game as
• 2:00
  a whole together? Because we look at, we look at
• 2:03
  both our teams. I, I, I mean, I, I said the
• 2:05
  Texans game was what's going to be one of the toughest games of
• 2:08
  the year playing in a hostile environment and especially with
• 2:11
  that defense. Like what were your thoughts
• 2:13
  about that game knowing the fact that they ended up with AW?
• 2:19
  I'm not too surprised. I mean, it played out kind of
• 2:22
  how I thought it could or would. I mean, obviously, you know, CJ
• 2:26
  Stroud was out. I was hoping he'd be back, but
• 2:28
  obviously Davis Mills had won two games prior.
• 2:32
  But I mean, like the points you mentioned, like, you know, it
• 2:35
  proves to be a raucous environment, especially on prime
• 2:37
  time games. But you know, this team has been
• 2:41
  built through D'amico Ryan's through the defense.
• 2:44
  The strength of the team is the defense.
• 2:46
  Obviously it was an exciting match up because the Bills were
• 2:49
  the top or one of the top offenses versus the Texans top
• 2:52
  or one of the top defenses. So it was to see, you know, who
• 2:55
  was the best and you know, it was, you know, one of the top
• 3:00
  ranked O lines versus one of the top ranked D lines.
• 3:02
  And you know, I think the big thing is obviously the sack
• 3:07
  numbers are surprising, but I think they were as high as they
• 3:11
  were. You know, people are like, oh,
• 3:13
  they, they finally stepped up. The Texas defense finally did
• 3:15
  this and that. Like to me, the Texas defense
• 3:18
  has always been playing like this.
• 3:19
  It's just a matter of how it looks on the outside based off
• 3:22
  of 1 game script or game flow. Like since our offense has been
• 3:26
  so bad this year, over the past couple years, you know, very
• 3:29
  rarely is our defense playing with the lead, but they can now
• 3:32
  pin their ears, ears back and teams are forced to throw the
• 3:35
  ball deep. Like before teams even play the
• 3:37
  Texans because of Will Anderson junior and the Neil Hunter.
• 3:40
  They change their entire game plan and limit everything they
• 3:43
  do to prevent those guys from wrecking the game as they
• 3:47
  should. Like teams come into the game
• 3:49
  with quick game running the ball screens, they refuse to throw
• 3:53
  the ball deep because every time you do, you risk getting sacked
• 3:57
  or hit and getting a turnover. So you kind of saw as the
• 4:01
  Texans. I know a lot of fans were kind
• 4:03
  of annoyed in the second-half by the conservative play calling
• 4:07
  from the Texans, but, and they kind of want to blame the OSCE,
• 4:10
  but I'm not too certain. That's just not a top down
• 4:12
  approach from D'amico because he knows the strength of our team
• 4:16
  is our defense. We have a backup quarterback in
• 4:19
  once we got a lead, whether it's one or two scorers, the only way
• 4:22
  we're going to lose this game is, is if we turn the ball over
• 4:24
  on offense. And so he tried to shorten the
• 4:27
  game and run the clock out and that's pretty much what they
• 4:30
  did. So and then also too, I mean, I
• 4:33
  think the big element of I was never like, I thought it was
• 4:36
  like a 5050 game, like it's going to be tough like, but I
• 4:39
  think the element of us having our backs against the wall,
• 4:42
  whereas y'all were seven and three, I believe going in,
• 4:45
  right? So y'all had a little more
• 4:47
  cushion. Like I know, I know players and
• 4:49
  coaches don't want to admit about urgency and you're going
• 4:52
  to play as hard as you can no matter what.
• 4:54
  But I mean, a team that kind of has more cushion to lose games
• 4:57
  as opposed to a team that has no cushion to lose games.
• 5:00
  I still feel like that's a big thing in a lot of these games.
• 5:03
  So they had that extra desire and a must win for US season on
• 5:07
  the line yet again. So, but then also the fact that
• 5:11
  Josh Allen has historically struggled against Robert Sala
• 5:15
  defenses. Robert Sala with The Jets, I
• 5:17
  know he's played some good ones, but out of all the games he's
• 5:19
  played, you know, a good portion of the ones that he struggled
• 5:22
  and has been against Robert Sala or Jeff Ulbricht, who was also
• 5:26
  the D coordinator there, who y'all played against the Falcons
• 5:28
  early this year and he looked bad against them.
• 5:31
  And so D'amico Ryan's last year against Amico looked bad, 9 for
• 5:35
  30. This year D'amico Ryan's again.
• 5:36
  So I was weighing that in. You know, for whatever reason,
• 5:40
  he struggles against that system.
• 5:42
  So I knew we had a chance. So but I was just glad for it to
• 5:47
  be on prime time and for everyone to see how good this
• 5:51
  defense is. But then also as a Texans fan,
• 5:53
  my name is Houston stressens because every game is stressful
• 5:57
  as hell under D'amico Ryan's. And you know, that game was a
• 6:02
  microcosm of pretty much every game under D'amico Ryan since
• 6:06
  he's been here since 2023, in the sense that they constantly
• 6:09
  play with their food, their defense always controls games
• 6:13
  and the offense can never put the game away.
• 6:15
  The defense will limit the other offense to even get multiple
• 6:18
  turnovers for you in there. And and you all you do is kick
• 6:20
  field goals and you just barely hang on like the whole game.
• 6:24
  I don't know how y'all feel, but I felt it should have been put
• 6:26
  away much sooner and we just let y'all hang around, let y'all
• 6:29
  hang around. And then even on the final drive
• 6:32
  the same thing got y'all on 4th and 27.
• 6:34
  Let a big hook and ladder happen.
• 6:35
  Like they just can't ever finally put the game away.
• 6:38
  I mean obviously they ended up winning in the end, but they
• 6:41
  made it much closer than what it should have been in my opinion.
• 6:43
  But hey, I mean, end of the day, I'll take it.
• 6:46
  And my take on that too is a lot of Texans fans were frustrated
• 6:50
  when we were O and three and then three and five.
• 6:52
  All five of our losses were one score games and games that were
• 6:55
  down the final minutes against good these playoff teams.
• 6:59
  And I've been arguing, I know people don't like to to hear
• 7:02
  this, but I've been arguing like, look, you know, variance
• 7:06
  is a real thing. Like in our first year we were
• 7:08
  70 and 1 score games and the second year we were 7:00 and
• 7:11
  5:00. So we kind of regressed to the
• 7:13
  mean, but I would expect that to regress back.
• 7:15
  Now we've won three games and now we're three and five in
• 7:19
  those games. So it's starting to even out.
• 7:20
  Yes, you have to make the plays, but you do have to catch some
• 7:23
  breaks. I mean, we caught a break in the
• 7:25
  fact that Gabe Davis was barely out of bounds on that catch to
• 7:27
  be a touchdown or on the 1 yard line.
• 7:29
  So those things start to go your way a little bit.
• 7:32
  So that's that's something I would add to that too.
• 7:34
  Because I look at it this way, so the Josh Allen situation,
• 7:38
  he's never been sacked as much, I believe, since his rookie
• 7:40
  year, which was seven years ago. 8 * 8 times.
• 7:46
  And that to me is very telling. And, and The thing is like, I
• 7:50
  was watching this game and you know, when James Cook was making
• 7:53
  his run and they kept feeding to him every play in one sequence
• 7:58
  and even at 4th and one, like, I didn't understand what was going
• 8:02
  on. And you know, the Bills, that
• 8:05
  game is getting detrimental. And like we said this before we
• 8:08
  started recording this is that I think jobs are going to be on
• 8:12
  the line. And The thing is like you're,
• 8:14
  you're going into your 9th year and you're not making
• 8:17
  adjustments, you're not making improvement.
• 8:19
  And some of it has to be blamed with Brandon Bean because the
• 8:22
  wide receiver core is one of the worst cores we've seen in in the
• 8:26
  Josh Allen era probably, if not they also.
• 8:29
  Didn't use. They also didn't use James Cook
• 8:31
  in the first half. I don't know what the hell was
• 8:33
  going on there. Wish we had an answer to that
• 8:36
  one but. Well, the problem is that and
• 8:39
  The thing is that credit to Demiko Ryan and Matt Burke on
• 8:42
  the defensive perspective, because we said that how great
• 8:46
  the defenses and you know, with the Bills, I'm I wonder where
• 8:51
  this direction of this team is going to be after seasons over,
• 8:55
  because I wouldn't be surprised if there's going to be drastic
• 8:58
  changes with this team. Yeah, I mean, I, I get y'all's
• 9:02
  frustrations and obviously I don't follow y'all's team as
• 9:04
  closely, but I will say, I mean, it's just, it's just funny, like
• 9:08
  an NFL, like, you know, I had an old coach and he would always
• 9:11
  say this thing and I have to tell myself this and I think it
• 9:13
  applies to all of us. But the quote is it's never as
• 9:17
  good as it seems. It's never as bad as it seems.
• 9:19
  Reality that lies in between and that can be said for the Bills
• 9:22
  on both ends. Like to start the year, y'all
• 9:24
  started out what, 4-5 and O whatever it was.
• 9:27
  So y'all were beating teams like we thought the Ravens were this
• 9:30
  and that. Turns out that first game going
• 9:31
  against the Ravens, like the Ravens aren't what we thought
• 9:33
  they were. And you kind of had an easy
• 9:35
  schedule. And then you play some teams
• 9:37
  where, you know, maybe the Falcons aren't as bad as we
• 9:40
  think, even though the record's this.
• 9:41
  Same with the Dolphins. I know the record sucks, but I
• 9:43
  mean, and so like I I say that to say this like, yeah, the
• 9:48
  Texans won that game and it looked bad for me, all of them,
• 9:50
  but my perspective is like a non bias.
• 9:53
  Again, not knowing as much as y'all, like I, I think Joe
• 9:56
  Brady's a great OCI thought of Joe Brady was Roc in that game.
• 9:59
  We went by multiple scores. I think that obviously I I I
• 10:03
  agree with you know, that y'all sentiment on like Brandon Bean
• 10:07
  and, you know, not getting Josh Allen weapons.
• 10:10
  But that's also the path they chose to go.
• 10:12
  That's it's tough. They chose to invest in the O
• 10:15
  line. Yeah, I mean, when you're paying
• 10:18
  a quarterback, whatever it is, you know, and so.
• 10:21
  And. If you're paying him to do that,
• 10:23
  then I would prefer that approach because my opinion is
• 10:28
  receivers are a dime a dozen. You have your handful of guys
• 10:31
  who are just absolute game changers.
• 10:32
  But outside of that, to drop off from like, you know, the next
• 10:36
  level tier guys to all the way down low is not that big of a
• 10:39
  difference. I mean, CJ Stroud in his rookie
• 10:42
  year, I mean, obviously in hindsight you look now, but
• 10:44
  going into the year, his weapons were considered worse in the
• 10:47
  league. And you had guys like Noah Brown
• 10:49
  and Robert Woods, like balling out like a good quarterback can
• 10:52
  make those guys better. And we've seen Josh Allen do of
• 10:54
  that. So I think it was just partially
• 10:56
  a bad matchup for y'all in the sense that the current iteration
• 11:00
  of this offense right now with the health wise for the Bills is
• 11:03
  based off of Josh Allen being Superman.
• 11:05
  Y'all solid against the Bill, the Bucks, they would, you know,
• 11:08
  flush him out of the pocket and he would scramble and it was
• 11:10
  like backyard football. But this was bad for y'all
• 11:14
  against us in the sense that we have the Neil Anderson and Will
• 11:18
  the Neil Hunter and Will Anderson junior who can now
• 11:20
  contain edge and continue to pursue.
• 11:23
  I mean, you saw him that one sack play by Will where he
• 11:25
  initially went for him and fell and keep pursuing him and still
• 11:29
  got the sack, whereas that play against another team might have
• 11:32
  been a touchdown, You know, So like, I don't, I mean, I can't
• 11:37
  speak for y'all and I don't mean to like act like I know that's
• 11:40
  just my unbiased outside opinion.
• 11:43
  And y'all very well could have won that game.
• 11:45
  We almost blew it. But I mean, it shouldn't have
• 11:47
  been as close as what it was. But you know, and guys being
• 11:53
  out, we talked about before the show, the Keon Coleman thing's
• 11:55
  crazy. I mean, him being inactive, I
• 11:57
  don't know if he changes the outs outcome of that game or
• 11:59
  not. It's just one game and y'all
• 12:01
  still almost won. And you know, yes, y'all can
• 12:05
  improve upon stuff. But the big thing for me too,
• 12:08
  like I like I touched on earlier, is, you know, the way
• 12:11
  the Texas defense is built is is genius.
• 12:13
  I mean, it starts with it starts with Will Anderson junior and
• 12:17
  the Neil Hunter. You have two of the top 10 edge
• 12:19
  rushers on the same team. And then to compliment that, you
• 12:22
  have Derek Stingley junior and Kumari Lasseter, 2.
• 12:25
  I've, I think the top ten corners in the league.
• 12:28
  Kumari Lasseter is extremely underrated.
• 12:30
  Maybe he's not top 10, but he's up there.
• 12:32
  And so with just four players, your entire defense is built.
• 12:35
  You're built around Russian coverage.
• 12:37
  You have two guys who can pressure the quarterback and
• 12:40
  then if they don't, you have two guys who can now make him hold
• 12:43
  on to the ball longer now allow them to pressure the
• 12:46
  quarterback. So like that core 4 is just
• 12:48
  insane, bro. And so, given the short week and
• 12:52
  and y'all being banged up, it was just, you know, and again, I
• 12:56
  really do think that the urgency of this Texans team, like, you
• 13:00
  know, maybe if the roles were reversed and we were the team
• 13:02
  with, you know, the cushion to be able to lose and y'all are
• 13:05
  the hungry team, y'all might have won.
• 13:06
  So I get his things now, but I still think the Bills are a good
• 13:10
  team. Well, you were talking about the
• 13:13
  defense. Let's get into that because I
• 13:16
  mean, you, you, you, you named half the guys, but you didn't
• 13:20
  even name the middle guys to the linebacker Al Shahir.
• 13:23
  Tool tool EJ speed. I mean you guys are stacked on
• 13:28
  every front man, even your even your safeties and Jalen Petrie
• 13:32
  and Jayden Reed. When like when you're fully
• 13:35
  healthy, it's like insane. So how far can can do you
• 13:39
  believe that this Texans team can go with this number one
• 13:43
  defensive unit? I mean, I've been saying it
• 13:47
  before the season, this team, this defense has a chance to be
• 13:50
  historically great. And I still believe that, like,
• 13:53
  as good as they've been, they should be even better if they
• 13:56
  had an offense that was worth a damn.
• 13:58
  I mean, all these points you've seen giving up like even in
• 14:01
  y'all's game and gave up a fucking kick return, they've
• 14:04
  given up punt returns several times.
• 14:07
  Plenty of times the offense is given the ball on the other end
• 14:09
  and all that gets a field goal or the offense will turn over
• 14:12
  themselves and now the defense now has to go, you know, 3 and
• 14:16
  out to force a field goal on their own end.
• 14:18
  So I mean, a lot of fans when we were O and three and three and
• 14:22
  five, we're down and out. I've never lost faith because of
• 14:25
  the fact that you just wanted to our defense, like we've been in
• 14:28
  every single game because of our defense, no matter how bad play
• 14:32
  has been on offense, no matter how much of A learning curve and
• 14:36
  struggles there are at the new offense and the O line finding
• 14:38
  its way, etcetera. So to me, like, you know, if we
• 14:42
  get in the playoffs, we got a chance against anybody.
• 14:44
  I mean, I know y'all are frustrated with Alan, the way he
• 14:48
  performed, but you know, a good portion of it goes to OK, well,
• 14:51
  how much of that was actually the Texans defense?
• 14:53
  So like with that, with that mindset, like if the Texans
• 14:56
  defense can do that to the MVP and one of the best offenses in
• 14:59
  the league, who can't they do that too.
• 15:02
  So and now if you just say, OK, like if the defense can play on
• 15:05
  that level in which like you said, we didn't even have Jalen
• 15:08
  Petrie, who in my opinion is the biggest X Factor on that team.
• 15:12
  He is a safety converted to a nick nickel corner, which I've
• 15:17
  been having to preach this for years.
• 15:18
  People look at him like he's a slot corner.
• 15:21
  He is not your typical slot nickel corner.
• 15:23
  He is a linebacker. He is a safety playing
• 15:26
  linebacker. So now you can run your 425 and
• 15:29
  he's your third linebacker at the star the Sam, but he can
• 15:32
  also cover. He's also versatile.
• 15:35
  He's a blitzer like he completely chained.
• 15:37
  He unlocks so much for D'amico Ryan's and his creativity and
• 15:41
  he's been out, you know, and so when he's in the game, it's
• 15:43
  like, good luck, you know. But you know, that being said,
• 15:47
  like, I think they have a chance.
• 15:49
  Like I'm not like I'm not going to sit here.
• 15:51
  I got kind of learned myself like after the first year, like
• 15:54
  I got kind of hyped up and you know, got all excited, but like,
• 15:57
  I'm not going to be overconfident, but like we have
• 16:00
  a chance to win every game we're in and but they can't make a
• 16:03
  run. It all comes down to the
• 16:04
  offense. And I personally think obviously
• 16:07
  last year didn't go the way we hoped with Stroud in the
• 16:09
  offense. But you know, I think Stroud
• 16:12
  still played a great season last year, overcoming a lot, a lot of
• 16:16
  the deficiencies with Bobby Slovak and the coordinator and
• 16:19
  the terrible pass protection scheme and the terrible
• 16:21
  personnel in the online in the interior and a lot of injuries
• 16:25
  at receiver last year down the stretch.
• 16:28
  And so this year he started off slow, but I think a lot of that
• 16:30
  was new weapons at receiver. A lot of it was them learning
• 16:34
  the new offense, not running the right routes or not.
• 16:37
  Now they're empowered to make decisions in this Josh McDaniels
• 16:40
  type offense where they can run hot routes or adjust the route
• 16:43
  based off of this leverage or that coverage.
• 16:45
  And there were plenty of times where Stroud would throw the
• 16:47
  ball and be behind a receiver in the family.
• 16:49
  Oh, what's he doing? He sucks.
• 16:50
  He missed them. It's like, no, the receiver was
• 16:52
  wrong. Coupled with the online, we've
• 16:55
  been kind of running musical chairs.
• 16:56
  We just had our best iteration of our line against you guys
• 16:58
  since Trent Brown came back and now Ed Ingram was back too.
• 17:02
  So you know, and they've also the online has not been as bad
• 17:04
  as people think. And and Nick Kaley, I do have my
• 17:08
  concerns or criticisms with him, but he's growing as a first time
• 17:11
  play caller. And you know, the biggest thing
• 17:14
  that he's done to help this offense and help the pass
• 17:16
  protection is the emphasis on getting the ball out quick.
• 17:20
  And Stroud is improving And and what I saw is CJ Stroud, in my
• 17:24
  opinion, had his worst game as a pro against the Seattle
• 17:27
  Seahawks. They literally ran Cover 6 on
• 17:30
  the backside. They just doubled Nico and he
• 17:33
  would stare down Nico every play.
• 17:34
  They didn't do anything crazy. They didn't blitz.
• 17:36
  And he just was somehow it was a weird game, like he just maybe
• 17:40
  the extra long bye or he just was stuck on Nico.
• 17:44
  And then the next game Nico's out and you play the Niners who
• 17:48
  had a bunch of injuries but still a good defense and it's
• 17:50
  Robert Sala. We're forced to blitz the shit
• 17:54
  out of them to try and overcome a lack of pass rush.
• 17:57
  And CJ Stroud diced them up. He made he read the defense
• 18:02
  every time, made the perfect read, perfect play every time.
• 18:05
  It was one of his worst games against Seattle versus one of
• 18:09
  his best games, in my opinion, against San Francisco.
• 18:12
  And then Fast forward the next week to Denver against a top
• 18:15
  ranked defense in Denver, even though Certain was out and just
• 18:18
  over 1/4, he was doing the exact same thing.
• 18:21
  In my opinion. He was the same guy.
• 18:23
  So to me, I was like, OK, like he's finally got the defense
• 18:26
  clicking. You know?
• 18:27
  Nico being out the week prior was a blessing in disguise
• 18:30
  because part of it was he didn't trust those other receivers.
• 18:33
  But since Nico was out, he was forced to have to trust them.
• 18:36
  So you know before that when you have Nico, Nico was also a
• 18:39
  double edged sword because he's a freak.
• 18:42
  He can kind of stunt the growth of a young quarterback because
• 18:45
  rather than trying to take chances and throw it elsewhere
• 18:47
  is like, fuck it, I'll just go to Nico because even when I'm
• 18:50
  wrong, he'll make me right. And so that became a thing.
• 18:53
  But the fact that he had that Niners game and was forced to
• 18:56
  trust Jalen Knoll and Jaden Higgins and all these guys, you
• 19:01
  know, prove to him, yeah, you can trust me.
• 19:03
  And then now when Nico came back, now a defense can play you
• 19:06
  on. It's like, OK, you want to
• 19:08
  double Nico? Now I can throw it to these
• 19:09
  other guys one-on-one. Or you know, if I start to do
• 19:13
  that now, I get one-on-one with Nico.
• 19:15
  So I think that he was really turning a corner and that
• 19:19
  concussion hit was very unfortunate.
• 19:20
  So my current outlook is that coupled with what we just saw
• 19:23
  with the defense, like it's about to get rolling.
• 19:26
  Like, I know I'm biased, I'm a fan, but like, and like I've
• 19:29
  said, all we need is an average offense, but I think this
• 19:32
  offense can be a top ten offense with the way Stroud is the
• 19:35
  quarterback and what we've seen. So I think they can go as far as
• 19:39
  I want to go. Who would you?
• 19:41
  Say has been The X Factor defensively, besides the big
• 19:44
  names, you mentioned a whole bunch of big names, but if
• 19:47
  there's a name out there that hasn't been talked about that
• 19:50
  should be talked about, who would that be?
• 19:53
  Oh, that's tough. I mean, I, I have to give you a
• 19:55
  bunch. Like obviously Jalen Petrie, he
• 19:57
  didn't play against you all, but he's The X Factor in the sense
• 19:59
  that he's so unique with his skill set.
• 20:02
  But people are also finding out about Caitlin Bullock too.
• 20:05
  I mean, yeah, I, I, I just, I came to the realization after
• 20:09
  that game is like, he might be a freaking all pro dude.
• 20:12
  Like the way he's playing, he had three turnovers, 2
• 20:14
  interceptions, forced fumble. You know, he compliments that
• 20:18
  defense well too. Like you got, like I mentioned,
• 20:20
  obviously the the two pass rushers, the two lockdown
• 20:23
  corners. And then now you have a ball
• 20:25
  Hawking ranging free safety who can go sideline to sideline and
• 20:28
  make game changing plays. So he's a real X Factor too.
• 20:32
  So I mean, you have to throw it somewhere, whether it's the
• 20:34
  corners or the middle of the field.
• 20:36
  And you know, you kind of have to pick your poison.
• 20:40
  But and then I would I would acknowledge as well Aziz Al
• 20:43
  Shire in the sense that I would say that he is the leader of the
• 20:46
  captain of the defense. I mean, you know, he's been with
• 20:50
  the Miko Ryan since San Francisco.
• 20:51
  So he knows the system. He's a true leader.
• 20:54
  I know he gets looked at in a certain light and I think, which
• 20:57
  I think is the wrong opinion of him just because the way he
• 21:00
  plays the game. But people will assume he's a
• 21:02
  bad guy or a thug or this or that.
• 21:04
  He's actually a really good dude, very down to earth.
• 21:07
  And he is the the rock and the leader that defense.
• 21:13
  So how would you categorize the way the, the the offensive line
• 21:17
  is played this year? I know you guys have had some
• 21:19
  issues in the past with some of the some of the players, so a
• 21:23
  lot of penalties taken this and that.
• 21:25
  But this year, how, just talk about this year, how, how would
• 21:29
  you think they've played so far in, in your opinion?
• 21:34
  I've been, I've been all over this and like trying to
• 21:36
  appreciate like they've been, they've been good to slightly
• 21:39
  above average and all we've needed was an average online and
• 21:42
  they've done that and then some. And you know, I don't
• 21:45
  necessarily agree with the approach that Nicosia took.
• 21:49
  I mean, I just use simple deductive reasoning.
• 21:51
  OK, our offense was the weak link, OK, The online was OK, It
• 21:54
  was the interior line. So my logic was, OK, go and get
• 21:58
  a good interior offensive lineman and for agency, which we
• 22:00
  didn't. And then, OK, if you didn't now
• 22:03
  draft a guy, there was guys like Tate, Ratlage, etcetera that
• 22:06
  were there that could have changed things for you.
• 22:08
  But you know, they went with this approach.
• 22:10
  They they've gambled and said that all the struggles were
• 22:14
  coaching. They fired Bobby Slovak, hired
• 22:16
  Nick Kaley, they fired their offensive line coach and
• 22:19
  promoted Cole Popovich internally and they have fixed
• 22:23
  that. So I would say last year, a
• 22:25
  majority of their issues were mental, you know, just not even
• 22:28
  knowing who to pick up and guys were just rushing untouched,
• 22:31
  which is unacceptable. And that has been all but
• 22:34
  eliminated. Like you don't see, you see
• 22:36
  rarely any mental mistakes, which I can live with.
• 22:38
  But now you have some times where they're getting beat
• 22:41
  physically, which which you can live with as long as not every
• 22:43
  time. So they did kind of get lucky
• 22:47
  with that. Ingram, even though I said when
• 22:48
  we got him, like, hey, give him a chance.
• 22:50
  I know he was bad at Minnesota, but skiing matters, new new
• 22:54
  environment matters and he's been a huge piece for us.
• 22:58
  Left guard had just been the issue.
• 23:00
  You know, they went with Lincoln Tomlinson, a a veteran kind of
• 23:03
  aging and they finally moved on from him.
• 23:06
  And then it really wasn't until Trent Brown came back where they
• 23:09
  found something in there. We're now Trent Brown could play
• 23:11
  right tackle and now Titus Howard can play guard for you,
• 23:15
  left or right guard. So that is a massive piece for
• 23:19
  us. But you know, their approach, I
• 23:20
  don't necessarily agree with it. I like the versatility and
• 23:23
  flexibility alignment, but I don't want that to be like the
• 23:26
  bedrock of how you do it. Like it should be there in case
• 23:29
  things go awry and ours have gone awry because of injuries
• 23:32
  and because of lack of production.
• 23:34
  But you know, like I said, a big part of it is the philosophy and
• 23:38
  scheme of Nick Kaley getting the ball out quick and then, you
• 23:41
  know, giving good play calls and having hot routes and options,
• 23:43
  but also ingraining that into the quarterbacks.
• 23:46
  You can see that it's a concerted effort.
• 23:48
  So but yeah, so I mean, they've been, they've been good enough
• 23:54
  despite all of that. So and I think that they will
• 23:56
  continue to get better. And like I said against you all,
• 23:59
  that was the first iteration of our online, which is Ursery at
• 24:03
  left tackle, which Ursery? I love the pic or I love him.
• 24:06
  But that was also bold to me as Caserio to trade away Laramie
• 24:11
  tonsil Pro Bowl left tackle. And then, OK, that's fine.
• 24:15
  You get a bunch of capital. My logic was that's fine as long
• 24:18
  as you now go beef up your online as a result, which we
• 24:21
  really didn't use that capital to do so.
• 24:23
  But Ursery, they put a lot of pressure on this kid to come in
• 24:27
  and like, fix all of our problems.
• 24:28
  And it's not really fair to him. And he's shown some great
• 24:31
  flashes, some bad flashes and what you would expect from a
• 24:34
  rookie. So hopefully he can continue the
• 24:36
  upward trend. But then, yeah, left guard
• 24:39
  currently is Titus Howard, center is Jake Andrews.
• 24:42
  That's another spot where they kind of just said, OK, we'll
• 24:44
  just get this guy that we know from the Patriots because our
• 24:47
  online coach is from there and so is Nick Haley.
• 24:50
  And he's been average, just slightly below average.
• 24:54
  But I guess at the very least he he handles the mental
• 24:57
  communication side of it, which I guess you could be happy with.
• 25:00
  And then right guard Ed Ingram has been one of the biggest
• 25:03
  surprises in football. And then right tackle, you know,
• 25:06
  obviously we had Titus Howard there before, but now it is
• 25:11
  Trent Brown. And then they've also played a
• 25:14
  lot of jumbo package with Blake Fisher as a as a third tackle as
• 25:19
  well. So I think I think they're much
• 25:22
  better than most people think and the public is starting to
• 25:24
  catch up to it. Talk about Davis Mills as a
• 25:28
  quarterback. I know that he was a starting
• 25:30
  quarterback before CJ Stroud was drafted a few years ago and
• 25:35
  holding it down on a three-game winning streak.
• 25:38
  And we'll talk about CJ in the next question, but like talk a
• 25:41
  bit about Davis Mills, his overall quarterback as a person
• 25:45
  and getting the job done. Yeah, man, money mills.
• 25:50
  It's so funny. Like, you know this in sports in
• 25:53
  general and any topic or any fan base, like it just feels like
• 25:58
  people like want to make a topic binary.
• 26:00
  Like it's either like this extreme or this extreme like
• 26:04
  Davis Mills, the prime example, like as a backup, people want to
• 26:08
  say like, oh, he's the worst backup ever or he's the best
• 26:10
  backup ever. I mean, I've been, I've been a
• 26:14
  big supporter of him. He's gotten a lot of hate.
• 26:16
  Like I think he's a damn good backup.
• 26:18
  I think he's a top five backup. I think he could start for four
• 26:21
  or five teams in the league right now.
• 26:23
  And I think he proved that. You know, obviously he went
• 26:25
  three and O, you know, we lost the Denver game he came into.
• 26:29
  And you know, I think part of it is is him him playing really
• 26:35
  well and making plays and making clutch plays, but he also didn't
• 26:38
  play perfect. But like what matters is is he
• 26:41
  did his job. Like he got paid to come in and
• 26:44
  try and keep his team afloat and he saved our season multiple
• 26:46
  times. And so, you know, you can say
• 26:49
  that with all also that having to mean that he's better than CJ
• 26:53
  Strouds and start over him. So that's like kind of the
• 26:55
  annoying thing for me. And the and the fan base right
• 26:58
  now is like two things can be true.
• 27:01
  He can and this is what it's always been.
• 27:03
  He's always just been a really, really good backup.
• 27:06
  Like, that's why can't it just be that like, why does that now
• 27:09
  have to be extrapolated? Like, oh, well, is he better
• 27:11
  than Stroud? And I mean, if you look at the
• 27:13
  games like, you know, the the the comeback against the Jags,
• 27:18
  you know, we caught breaks in that game.
• 27:20
  We had two or three passes that he threw that got tipped and
• 27:22
  like we're nearly intercepted that would have ended the game.
• 27:25
  You know, and this is not me discrediting you.
• 27:28
  I'm just like making a point to shed out some light as far as
• 27:31
  when people were talking about him versus Stroud.
• 27:34
  And then also you go to the Titans game, he wins 16 to 13.
• 27:37
  Like if that's Stroud in that game, he's getting ripped to
• 27:39
  shreds for only scoring 13 points on the Titans until the
• 27:41
  fourth quarter and having to convert 1/3 and long to do it.
• 27:44
  But then Mills does it and oh, he's the best quarterback ever.
• 27:47
  He had that long third and whatever, you know, and then I
• 27:50
  guess the Bills, like that game should not have been close.
• 27:53
  Like he was given chance after chance after chance to put the
• 27:56
  game away and he couldn't do it. But then now people go, the OC
• 27:59
  didn't let him throw. Like, yeah, we ran more than the
• 28:01
  second-half, but he still had chances to throw.
• 28:03
  Yeah, he had a couple drops, but he missed a lot of throws and a
• 28:06
  lot of reads. And again, I'm not shitting on
• 28:09
  him. I'm just saying like the reality
• 28:11
  is, is he is what he did. He's a great backup, you know
• 28:15
  and so, but like you, if you juxtapose that everyone wants to
• 28:18
  say, Oh well, he was three and oh, and his starts well, like
• 28:20
  and C JS first three starts we lost.
• 28:23
  We could have easily won all three of those games if some of
• 28:26
  these bounces go the other way. The first game against the Rams,
• 28:28
  who now I was preaching when we lost like this is a legit Super
• 28:31
  Bowl contender. It's pretty damn obvious now
• 28:33
  they're one of the best teams in the league.
• 28:35
  We we're going down to win the game and under a with under a
• 28:39
  couple minutes to go and our running back fumbles the ball
• 28:42
  inside the 20. So that's one play right there.
• 28:45
  You go from beating the Rams to losing the next week against the
• 28:48
  bucks. We have Henry Tooto with the
• 28:50
  blitz and he has Baker Mayfield in his grass from the backfield.
• 28:55
  Let's him gets out on the 4th and 12 and he gets a first down.
• 28:58
  They go on to win the game. That can change their then all
• 29:00
  of a sudden now Strouds 2. And oh, and then the third game
• 29:03
  against the Jaguars, we had two turnovers late in the red zone.
• 29:07
  Nico Collins caught it to go down to take the lead in the
• 29:09
  final minutes and fumble the ball.
• 29:10
  So it's like, you know, people fail to like weigh in these
• 29:14
  other factors. So I say all that to say this
• 29:18
  like Mills did a hell of a freaking job.
• 29:21
  He earned every penny. I love that we signed him to an
• 29:24
  extension. He saved our season forever.
• 29:27
  Thankful for him. But that doesn't mean that he is
• 29:30
  better than Stroud or start over Shroud.
• 29:34
  Let's get to CJ Stroud. He's been out a few weeks with
• 29:36
  the concussion and, you know, let's talk about his season.
• 29:42
  See what he's, you know, I know his first rookie season was just
• 29:46
  unbelievable. And he kind of, you know,
• 29:48
  progressed a little bit last year when, you know, it's all
• 29:51
  about adjustments in this league.
• 29:52
  So tell us about how he's done so far this season overall.
• 29:59
  Yeah. So this new offense with Nick
• 30:01
  Kaylee, he came from the Ram Sean McVay, but he was also in
• 30:05
  New England and kind of like the Josh McDaniel tree.
• 30:07
  So he's kind of a hybrid, but he basically, if you had to put him
• 30:12
  in a box, he leans more to New England.
• 30:14
  And So what that would mean is this is an offense that empowers
• 30:18
  the players, which I love. Like Texans fans get freaked out
• 30:21
  anytime they hear the word Patriots.
• 30:23
  But basically it means receivers now have the option to run
• 30:28
  different routes based off of what the defense gives you,
• 30:31
  rather than just saying, hey, you run this route no matter
• 30:33
  what. No, hey, if this guy is outside
• 30:35
  leverage, you can run here. Or if it's this covered, you can
• 30:37
  do that. And so, but the the thing about
• 30:40
  that is, is not only do the receivers have to learn it, but
• 30:43
  the quarterbacks have to know it and they have to think the same
• 30:46
  thing on the same age. So it's something that takes
• 30:49
  time and it's risky. So you're empowering the
• 30:52
  players. But if a receiver is reading it
• 30:55
  wrong and the quarterback is trusting it to be in the right
• 30:57
  spot and he's not that mistaken, become fatal and now look like
• 31:01
  an errant pass or become like a pick 6.
• 31:03
  So that's been a big part of it, coupled with the fact that
• 31:07
  there's new weapons, Jaden Higgins, Jaylen Noel, Christian
• 31:10
  Kirk, Xavier Hutchinson playing a bigger role.
• 31:14
  And they're all having to, you know, learn this new offense
• 31:17
  with it. But like, to me, Strout has
• 31:19
  picked that part up and it's been on the on that the whole
• 31:21
  time. And even to like as far as
• 31:24
  sitting in a zone, like on a simple dig route, if you're Nico
• 31:26
  Collins and you're, you know, running a dig versus man,
• 31:30
  obviously you keep running away from your man.
• 31:31
  But if it's zone coverage, as you run the dig, depending on
• 31:35
  the zone covers, there's multiple windows.
• 31:37
  And when you're in between defenders where you slow down or
• 31:40
  even sit, you know, like if you're open, stay open.
• 31:43
  And he had to adjust there too, or times where he kept running
• 31:47
  and Stroud would throw behind him and it looks like Stroud
• 31:49
  missed them. So there's been an adjustment
• 31:51
  for the receivers. And that was some of the
• 31:54
  struggles early on, in my opinion, which was getting miss
• 31:58
  incorrectly blamed on CJ Stroud for being inaccurate or whatever
• 32:02
  it may have been. And then, you know, he had he,
• 32:06
  he's been needing to improve on stepping up into the pocket,
• 32:11
  which I think he has started to do.
• 32:13
  I think he might have had some struggles early, which to me was
• 32:16
  probably because of PTSD from last year because he had two of
• 32:20
  the worst interior offensive line in the league and Kenyon
• 32:22
  Green and and Shaq Mason. So not only did you get
• 32:25
  pressured last year a lot, it was always up the gut, unblocked
• 32:29
  pressure. And so, you know, he's had to re
• 32:32
  establish that trust to be able to step up into the pocket.
• 32:35
  And so obviously if you had to choose on an offensive line
• 32:39
  where you would rather have a weak, weak link at whether it be
• 32:42
  on the outside or inside, you would choose the outside because
• 32:44
  now at least a quarterback could step up into the pocket and
• 32:47
  avoid the rush, which is what we were starting to see.
• 32:50
  So initially he was kind of shaky there and he's improved
• 32:53
  there. He started to improve in an area
• 32:56
  that I which I wanted him to improve at, which is running the
• 32:59
  ball. This is also something that you
• 33:00
  can tell Nick Kaley has emphasized to him is making
• 33:04
  quick, decisive decisions. Obviously we talked about
• 33:06
  getting the ball out quick, but that also goes with the run
• 33:09
  game. Something that Patrick Mahomes
• 33:10
  is a lead at is, hey, if you are playing off or two man or you
• 33:15
  know, soft coverage and there's a quick 568 yards that I can
• 33:19
  just take off and get now with my feet, I'm going to go do it.
• 33:23
  But that has to be in the manner where it's you're not going to
• 33:26
  put yourself in jeopardy. You're going to go get what you
• 33:28
  can get and slide or get out of bounds real quick.
• 33:30
  So he had gotten better than that and been using his legs
• 33:33
  more. Still not great at being
• 33:35
  decisive and oddly enough to he's been a terrible slider.
• 33:39
  You can tell he's not comfortable running.
• 33:41
  So there is risk with that. I mean, you saw in the in the
• 33:43
  Broncos game when he got hit, he made the right decision, but he
• 33:47
  kind of got caught. 1, he did it late, he was indecisive and two,
• 33:51
  when he did do it, he was indecisive as to when to slide
• 33:54
  or not slide. So that part is tough.
• 33:57
  But I think he's he's gotten better.
• 33:59
  I mean, to me, he still is a very cerebral quarterback.
• 34:03
  He can read a defense with the best of them.
• 34:06
  And I don't feel like he's been getting stumped mentally.
• 34:09
  And his accuracy and arm strength is always there.
• 34:12
  But you know, as you get pressured and early in the year,
• 34:15
  maybe there were some pressures more than the word.
• 34:17
  Now with the online shuffle, you might have saw some throws that
• 34:20
  looked errant, maybe because you rush things and your mechanics
• 34:23
  go awry. But that's something that will
• 34:26
  never go away. Like he he has that and I feel
• 34:28
  like it started to come back. But yeah, so I mean, some of a
• 34:32
  slow start, I would blame most of it on receivers online.
• 34:35
  And then and even him to like, I think another part of this
• 34:39
  offense is he now has the freedom to set the pass
• 34:43
  protection. So he'll call out the Mike
• 34:45
  linebacker, which can also dictate the run game.
• 34:48
  And now he has more freedom to can plays and an audible plays
• 34:53
  at the line of scrimmage. So, you know, I think he was a
• 34:55
  little bit rusty there. I was a couple things is one I
• 34:58
  assumed right off the right off the bat, they would give him the
• 35:01
  full keys to the car to, you know, make all these changes
• 35:04
  call hot routes this and that feels like that may not been the
• 35:07
  case. And then lately they kind of
• 35:10
  give them more freedom, freedom to do so.
• 35:12
  But also, you know, he hadn't done it in a couple years and he
• 35:15
  hadn't done it in the NFL. Like he obviously did it in high
• 35:17
  school and college. But so you know, it, it was a
• 35:20
  little bit of a learning curve there.
• 35:22
  So sometimes the pass protection may have been bad because he may
• 35:25
  have missed called the pass protection or didn't call the
• 35:27
  best 1. So I feel like he started to
• 35:30
  improve in that area. But to me, you know, he's still
• 35:34
  the guy. And like, I just hate, I hate, I
• 35:37
  hate that he got hurt in the Broncos game because in my
• 35:40
  opinion, because I watched the tape to all 22, he was balling,
• 35:43
  bro. Like he turned a corner.
• 35:45
  Everything was starting to click online was on the same page,
• 35:48
  receivers on the same page. And so I just hope that there's
• 35:51
  not like a step back and that he can kind of continue the path he
• 35:54
  was on. I want to talk about a a
• 35:59
  mysterious situation with Joe Mixon here because he was a big
• 36:03
  focal part of the offense last year.
• 36:05
  If not, he was probably the offensive MVP for the Texans.
• 36:09
  And what were your thoughts about his his injury and what
• 36:13
  happened? And they ruled him out for the
• 36:15
  rest of the year And and I really want to know what was
• 36:18
  going on with that. I mean, none of us really know.
• 36:22
  Like, you know, I hear stuff from different reporters like
• 36:25
  off the record or fans. And it sounded like obviously he
• 36:29
  had an initial injury to his ankle from multiple hip drop
• 36:33
  tackles, which was a new rule made to protect the players.
• 36:36
  And both times he got injured by that, they did not throw the
• 36:41
  penalty or find the player that did it.
• 36:43
  But I suspect he got surgery on that ankle like a tightrope
• 36:48
  surgery to kind of like, you know, it almost like a
• 36:50
  maintenance surgery. And then from there, it sounds
• 36:53
  like something went awry, whether it was the same ankle or
• 36:56
  foot or another one. And maybe it's one of those
• 36:59
  things where you're rehabbing and so you're a little weaker in
• 37:02
  one area, so you might overcompensate another and and
• 37:05
  get another injury. Like that's like the most
• 37:07
  logical, rational thing that I can think of.
• 37:10
  And that makes sense. And maybe based off what you've
• 37:12
  heard. So, and then it just sounds like
• 37:14
  it's just maybe it was something like that and maybe had a
• 37:17
  procedure done and it's just been like a weird, fluky, freaky
• 37:20
  deal as far as recovery goes. Like, you know, you hear stuff
• 37:24
  about blood circulation and him doing all these like crazy
• 37:27
  therapies and then, yeah, and then he gets ruled out.
• 37:30
  You know, that's from Ian Rapoport.
• 37:33
  And then Joe Mixon, quote, tweeted him and said, how does
• 37:37
  this guy know more about my body than me?
• 37:39
  So like, it goes from oh, shit, yes, we got an update.
• 37:42
  He's out where Joe Mixon's like, I'm not out, motherfucker.
• 37:45
  Like basically what he's saying. So you're like, OK, what's going
• 37:47
  on? And so like, as a Texans fan,
• 37:50
  you're like, what in the hell, bro?
• 37:51
  Like, like, what is it? It's just a bizarre thing.
• 37:55
  So I am I'm in the minority that like, I've been holding out hope
• 37:59
  the whole time. I thought he would have been
• 38:00
  back earlier. And then that report came out.
• 38:03
  And then I saw mix like, oh, yeah, maybe he will be back
• 38:05
  later. But I mean, the one thing that
• 38:08
  we all know is they definitely miss him.
• 38:10
  Like Nick Chubb has been OK, Woody Marks has been pretty
• 38:16
  good, but he's still a rookie and he's still learning and, you
• 38:19
  know, he's still improving. But you know, last year the and
• 38:24
  I would say when we talked about online earlier, I was talking
• 38:26
  about pass pro. They do struggle at run
• 38:29
  blocking, especially on the interior.
• 38:32
  And this is a team that wants to run on the inside.
• 38:36
  So that's kind of an issue. And we've seen that show it's
• 38:40
  ugly head against some of the best interior defensive lines.
• 38:43
  Like our short yardage is terrible, like the Seahawks, the
• 38:46
  Bucks, several games where our goal line, you know, offenses
• 38:51
  and short yards have been terrible.
• 38:52
  But you know, he was a back that last year was also terrible run
• 38:57
  blocking in a wide zone scheme. But he was making it look much
• 39:00
  better than it was just by making stuff shake.
• 39:02
  So we missed that improvisation for sure.
• 39:06
  But I still like I'm, you know, if he comes back, cool.
• 39:09
  I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back late.
• 39:11
  But I mean, regardless, it's it's it seems like it's it feels
• 39:16
  like the Texans got caught off guard.
• 39:18
  Like the way they've been messaging this, like they didn't
• 39:21
  know they. And what pisses me off is like
• 39:24
  now he gets ruled out. You had a chance at the trade
• 39:27
  deadline to go address the running back position.
• 39:30
  Some fans don't like it and think it'd be a waste of money
• 39:33
  for a rental. But like if Breece Hall was
• 39:36
  going for a third and if you were confident you could bring
• 39:39
  him over here and sign him to an extension.
• 39:41
  And if you knew, which it sounds like they knew that Joe Mixon
• 39:44
  would be out to go sign him because like I just mentioned,
• 39:48
  the run game, the run blocking hasn't been great, but like a
• 39:52
  game changing back could drastically overcome a lot of
• 39:55
  that and make it look better. So that's that's what's
• 39:57
  frustrating to me. Let's talk about the running
• 40:02
  backroom a little bit. You guys signed Nick Chubb in
• 40:04
  the offseason and he's he was starting out to be the RB one.
• 40:10
  And then Woody Marx, you know, kind of outplayed him this one
• 40:14
  week and he looked really, really good, really explosive.
• 40:18
  And and it's kind of been a little bit of a tandem leading
• 40:24
  more, a little bit more towards Marx, I would think, right.
• 40:27
  And so how would you categorize what the running backroom is as
• 40:33
  a whole in the absence of Joe Mixon so far and how they've
• 40:36
  performed? I mean, it's like average I
• 40:39
  would say, you know, I was. I still think Chubb isn't bad
• 40:45
  relative to what people think. I mean, he's definitely not a
• 40:47
  world beater, but he shows flashes where he looks great,
• 40:51
  like he shows like bursts and cuts other times and not so
• 40:55
  much. Sometimes his vision looks
• 40:57
  lacking too. But lately Woody Marks has been
• 41:02
  getting more of the snap share, which people have wanted.
• 41:05
  But you know, a big part of that was is he's a rookie.
• 41:08
  He's more of a receding back, but he's showing that he can be
• 41:12
  your every down back. But the mental side of the game
• 41:15
  is definitely part of it. Past, you know, past protection,
• 41:20
  blitz pick, blitz pick up. There's even plays where he was
• 41:23
  out there and like ran to the wrong side and the ball's being
• 41:26
  handed off here. So like that stuff doesn't
• 41:28
  matter. You know, like obviously you
• 41:30
  want the best, most talented guy out there, but you know, there
• 41:34
  is an element of like it does take time for them to get the
• 41:37
  offense down and and pass pro. He's had some like really,
• 41:40
  really good plays where he's a beast and just knocks a guy in
• 41:42
  his ass. He's got a couple where it's,
• 41:45
  you know, a mental side of it and not quite perfect.
• 41:47
  So but I mean, he's pretty much the RB 1 and I do like this new
• 41:53
  mix. What I've noticed in the past
• 41:54
  two or three games with Woody marks getting the majority of
• 41:58
  the snaps and then now Nick Chubb coming out of the chain to
• 42:01
  pace back is when Nick Chubb comes in now he is fresh and
• 42:05
  he's highly effective in a 5 to 8 carry role as opposed to a 10
• 42:10
  to 15. And so I think that is, you
• 42:13
  know, the best with what we can do.
• 42:15
  So, and it's like further on the backs to, you know, Nick Kelly
• 42:20
  wants to be a physical downhill running team inside the tackles
• 42:24
  and fullback's a big part of that.
• 42:25
  And Jacob Johnson or fullback has been out for a lot of the
• 42:28
  year. And so we've bought in British
• 42:30
  Brooks, who's a fan favorite, but he's an undersized 220 LB
• 42:35
  converted running back. And so he's inexperienced and
• 42:38
  undersized. But Jacob Johnson coming back
• 42:41
  recently is a big boost to our run game from the fullback
• 42:44
  position because he's like 2 4260 like a true fullback as
• 42:49
  opposed to British Brooks. So but yeah, it's just an
• 42:52
  average room overall. Woody Marks has done a lot of
• 42:55
  good. One thing that I've been
• 42:57
  frustrated with with with the Texans running backs is like
• 43:00
  they never seem to bounce a run outside.
• 43:03
  They always try to stick it in the middle.
• 43:05
  Lately they've been bouncing outside more and Nick Kaley to
• 43:09
  like especially in the short yardage goal line situations, he
• 43:11
  just runs the same fullback dive or inside duo run rather than
• 43:15
  bouncing it outside. But now we're starting to see
• 43:18
  Kaylee. OK, I'm going to call a toss
• 43:20
  crack or some kind of outside runs and those are working.
• 43:24
  So you know the adapting part there.
• 43:26
  So there is promise between all the.
• 43:31
  Let's talk about the wide receiver corps here.
• 43:33
  And if you look at the wide receiver corps, Nico Collins is
• 43:37
  one of the best wide receivers in the sport, of course.
• 43:40
  But knowing what Nick Kazario did, the GM of the Texans, he
• 43:44
  emphasized a bit of the draft, drafted Jaylen Noel and Jayden
• 43:47
  Higgins. And then you also have Christian
• 43:49
  Kirk and Xavier Hutchinson talk specifically about Jayden
• 43:53
  Higgins and Jaylen Noel and what their ceilings could potentially
• 43:57
  be. Yeah, so this is what's been
• 44:00
  frustrating for me and Texans fans is I love both of them,
• 44:03
  Jaden Higgins and Jalen Dole, but these are two receivers that
• 44:07
  they drafted. Jaden Higgins is another Nico
• 44:11
  Collins in the sense that he's your typical ex receiver, you
• 44:14
  know, 64220 and they both run 4/4.
• 44:18
  Typically you only have one of those guys on your offense.
• 44:21
  This from like the way the skill sets mesh, but OK, cool, you got
• 44:24
  him. You got best player available
• 44:27
  and then you got Jalen Noah, which you had just signed
• 44:29
  Christian Kirk as your slot receiver.
• 44:31
  But yeah, we needed more depth of receiver, but like you know
• 44:34
  that that's good. So you 4 went the option for
• 44:37
  online to get those guys, which is OK, cool, we got those guys
• 44:41
  now. We didn't freaking play them to
• 44:42
  start the year. Like again, I understand the
• 44:46
  elements of rookies. Like I mentioned with Woody
• 44:48
  Marks, it takes a little bit while to adapt or adjust.
• 44:51
  But then part of that, too is, you know, these guys are more of
• 44:54
  a spread offense, you know, where they get out wide and do
• 44:58
  stuff, but then you want them to come in and run this offense and
• 45:02
  be in the middle and blocking in the C gap and doing all this
• 45:05
  insert motion. And so that's what was
• 45:08
  frustrating to me. But I mean, the talent on both
• 45:11
  of them is insane. Higgins has been getting more
• 45:14
  run more often than Jalen Knoll, but you know, part of that too
• 45:19
  was Xavier Hutchinson actually had played a great camp and and
• 45:22
  played pretty good early on. And you know, a big part of this
• 45:25
  offense too, with a lot of these newer NFL offenses is, you know,
• 45:30
  they want the receivers involved in the run blocking game.
• 45:34
  Like I mentioned, that's that's the element of the Sean McVeigh
• 45:37
  offense. We see quite a bit with this is
• 45:39
  the insert motion where the receiver now goes into the C gap
• 45:43
  and they're blocking backers and kicking out and stuff like that.
• 45:46
  So anyhow, but like Higgins has been getting involved sooner and
• 45:52
  more often, even Noel and and he's been a touchdown machine
• 45:57
  dude. Like he's he's a big body
• 45:59
  receiver, you know, especially in the red zone.
• 46:01
  They'll put him in the slot. He'll get a mismatch.
• 46:03
  Like I can't tell you how many touchdowns he's caught over the
• 46:06
  middle in the red zone. And you know, he he is someone
• 46:11
  too that I suspected a big game against the Bills because you
• 46:16
  know, Nico Collins in the first couple games that Mills played,
• 46:20
  a lot of defenses played Mills like a backup quarterback.
• 46:23
  And they left Nico Collins one-on-one.
• 46:26
  And Mills repeatedly showed, hey, I'm a backup quarterback,
• 46:29
  but I can still take advantage of that.
• 46:31
  And that's what CJ Stroud was seeing.
• 46:32
  He was getting Nico doubled all the time.
• 46:34
  So the Bills came out and doubled Nico.
• 46:36
  And so who got one-on-one? Jayden Higgins.
• 46:39
  He had a bunch of targets. He could have had a even bigger
• 46:41
  day. He got missed on a couple so but
• 46:45
  and he's still developing. So he's a dog.
• 46:48
  Jalen Dole's a dog. He's a guy that a lot of Texans
• 46:51
  fans are frustrated doesn't get more snaps.
• 46:53
  Christian Kirk has been out snapping him.
• 46:55
  So, you know, I think there is an element of, you know, not
• 46:58
  quite knowing the offense or not being physical enough to block
• 47:01
  in these run plays. But I mean, you, you can't deny
• 47:05
  when he's out there and when Christian Kirk was hurt and
• 47:08
  we're actually spreading the ball out and throwing it that
• 47:11
  he's electric and he's a playmaker.
• 47:12
  Like he's a physical contested catch guy for a small guy.
• 47:16
  He'll go up and get it. So yeah, they're both studs.
• 47:19
  I'd like to see both of them get involved even more and more.
• 47:22
  And I feel like, like I said, right before Stroud got hurt, he
• 47:25
  started to trust these guys more.
• 47:26
  So I'm excited to see how that works when shot comes back.
• 47:29
  So. Let's talk about D'amico Ryan's
• 47:32
  and the job he's done. How much credit does he deserve
• 47:35
  for what's going on with the Texans this year and everything
• 47:38
  else? You mentioned about the defense
• 47:40
  earlier, which is pretty much what you're predominantly built
• 47:45
  on. So just talk a bit about him and
• 47:48
  the job he's done so far this year.
• 47:51
  Yeah, he's done a great job. And so, you know, I give him
• 47:54
  criticisms here and there. But like, again, just because
• 47:58
  you may give somebody criticism doesn't mean you're saying fire
• 48:00
  them or this or that. Like some fans, in my opinion,
• 48:03
  have unwisely said to fire him when things got bad.
• 48:06
  But he's weathered the storm. Like a lot of the stuff he says,
• 48:09
  Like it may be annoying to fans, like saying we're close or, you
• 48:14
  know, or just saying stick with it or whatever it may be.
• 48:18
  It's true. Like and he you know, when we
• 48:22
  had the vacancy for this new head coaching hire, I had the
• 48:25
  mindset or philosophy of I want to offensive coach because it's
• 48:29
  a quarterback driven league, offensive league.
• 48:32
  And I don't want to have to replace an offense of
• 48:35
  coordinator or find one every year, which that has proven to
• 48:38
  be a concern. But on the flip side, like we
• 48:41
  all saw on Thursday, we're seeing what a truly dominant
• 48:45
  defense can do. And that's all from him.
• 48:46
  Like he built that entire defense.
• 48:49
  All those draft picks are his. It's no question that he's the
• 48:51
  one who found those guys based off of their character and their
• 48:54
  skill sets alone and also to fit his scheme.
• 48:58
  So that coupled with the fact that I feel like defensive guys
• 49:03
  also former player, they're just better leaders.
• 49:06
  I mean, I feel like that's something I under under weighed
• 49:10
  when I had that logic about getting offensive coaches, you
• 49:13
  know, in the NFL, man, like these guys are getting paid
• 49:16
  millions of dollars and there's some of the biggest alphas in
• 49:19
  the world and no. And you and you want to go and
• 49:22
  get some young genius offensive coordinator just because he
• 49:26
  calls good plays, you think that will automatically mean he's a
• 49:30
  good head coach? I don't think that's the case.
• 49:32
  I mean, you see guys like Mike McDaniel and so on so forth that
• 49:37
  yeah, they might be a genius, but like, are these guys
• 49:40
  commanding the locker room? You know, like when the Texans
• 49:43
  were O and three and three and five, it could have gotten real
• 49:46
  ugly if he wasn't a true leader and if they didn't respect him
• 49:49
  and his message. So from that element and and
• 49:54
  he's just a damn good dude. Like they talk about swarm,
• 49:56
  which is a special work ethic and relentless mindset.
• 50:00
  So they have types of guys that they they want swarm type of
• 50:04
  guys. So when they draft guys, maybe
• 50:07
  Keon Coleman is the antithesis of this where he may not be a
• 50:11
  swarm guy because he's missing meeting stuff like that.
• 50:14
  So people that they think are character concerns, especially
• 50:17
  in the draft, they won't even pay any attention.
• 50:19
  So they've built a solid, solid foundation.
• 50:23
  And and that's what I've seen is year over year as it layers and
• 50:26
  stacks, the core of this team is like going to be more and more
• 50:29
  of the type of guys that he wants.
• 50:31
  And so like even on the defense against you guys, we were down,
• 50:35
  OK, CJCJ, Garner, Johnson, he was a free agent and maybe
• 50:39
  didn't fit the Swarm, but you know, they're they're more
• 50:41
  willing to take chances on those guys because it's less
• 50:43
  investment. You can kind of, you know, shut
• 50:45
  off of them sooner. But he was our starter, right?
• 50:48
  And then he wasn't Swarm and wasn't playing the defense
• 50:51
  complaining and was getting play calls wrong and cost us games.
• 50:54
  So then now MJ Stewart, Swarm guy who's just been a special
• 50:58
  teamer backup, comes in, plays great at strong safety, and then
• 51:01
  he gets hurt the game before. And now Jalen Petrie's also been
• 51:05
  out. So now we're down to starters in
• 51:06
  the secondary, but they have two Swarm guys and Miles Bryant.
• 51:11
  And then Jalen Read, a rookie that has drafted step in and
• 51:13
  play great. So I thought he's done a great
• 51:16
  job building the roster, keeping the team together, staying level
• 51:21
  headed, never too high, never too low.
• 51:23
  I mean, he's the perfect man for the job.
• 51:28
  So let's talk about Nick Kaley as the OC and comparing it to
• 51:32
  Bobby Slowick and looking at the fact I know Bobby Slowick, a lot
• 51:36
  of people thought that you, you had him as AOC winning
• 51:40
  back-to-back divisions. But some people question is his
• 51:43
  plays and getting Nick Kaley. We talked about it when you were
• 51:46
  here last time and compare both of them.
• 51:48
  What do you see a difference in? Do you think Nick Kelly's still
• 51:53
  the guy but being the OC moving forward?
• 51:58
  You know, I kind of thought this initially and even more so in
• 52:00
  hindsight now. Like the Texans very easily
• 52:03
  could have ran it back with Bobby Slovak.
• 52:06
  Like, yes, he had a lot of issues that popped up in the
• 52:09
  second year. But you know, it's a wide zone
• 52:12
  offense that's real technical, takes time to learn for
• 52:16
  everybody in the in the room. And you know, you could have
• 52:20
  made the argument of like, let's give it another year, but you
• 52:23
  know, D'amico was wanting to win now and it sounds like he
• 52:26
  listened to Stroud. He wanted more freedom in the
• 52:28
  offense. So that's the difference is you
• 52:31
  go from a Shanahan wide zone scheme to now a Patriot McVeigh
• 52:35
  type where it's more inside run and the quarterback now has
• 52:38
  commanded the offense, setting the protection, etcetera of
• 52:40
  receivers being able to run option routes, etcetera.
• 52:45
  So that's a big difference. But as far as like the person
• 52:47
  personality, they're both first time play callers, which is a
• 52:51
  gripe by a lot of people. And so he's learning on the job,
• 52:54
  but I do think that he's more energetic and more passionate,
• 52:59
  which people appreciate. He seems to be more
• 53:02
  collaborative with the players. It, it felt like from what you
• 53:05
  heard and saw was slowic. It was kind of like my way or
• 53:08
  the highway. Like this is what we're doing no
• 53:09
  matter what. Whereas it sounds like Kaylee
• 53:11
  will talk to players and and get their feedback on stuff and
• 53:14
  implement what they want to do, which I think is the correct way
• 53:17
  to go about it. You know, a lot of fans have
• 53:20
  been wanting to fire him since the beginning.
• 53:22
  I think he's done a decent job. I think he's shown some promise.
• 53:27
  I think things are starting to click.
• 53:30
  He still has bad situational awareness at times and he still
• 53:34
  shows a bunch of tendencies. One example is our third down
• 53:38
  back Daria Gunbowale. Anytime he's in the game, it is
• 53:42
  a 99.9% chance that it's a pass and they will put them in on 3rd
• 53:47
  and twos 3rd and fours down that you could be running the ball
• 53:51
  and they basically tell you, hey no, we're going to throw it.
• 53:53
  So that is something that just drives me crazy.
• 53:57
  And then obviously the short yardage, you know, you can give
• 53:59
  him some gripes for the play calling in those situations,
• 54:03
  part of its personnel, but he's been pretty bad in those
• 54:05
  situations. And then even the Bills game,
• 54:08
  you know, going into the game, the game plan to me is pretty
• 54:11
  simple. We like to run the ball inside.
• 54:13
  That's his MO Cool, fine. Y'all were the 32nd, 31st ranked
• 54:17
  run defense in terms of yards per game.
• 54:19
  That was y'all's weakness and y'all were the first, first or
• 54:21
  second in terms of yards allowed per game passing, right.
• 54:24
  So it's like, should we try and pass the ball or run the ball?
• 54:28
  And those first two drives, they were averaging like 8 yards per
• 54:31
  carry. Oh man, I can't remember it was
• 54:34
  the first or the second drive, but you literally run the ball
• 54:37
  down the field and then you start passing it like just keep
• 54:40
  running the ball like. And so that's where I thought he
• 54:43
  kind of outsmarted himself. But then in the second-half when
• 54:45
  y'all made adjustments, whatever it was, to now stop the run, now
• 54:49
  he tried to run the ball when he shouldn't have ran the ball and
• 54:51
  he should have passed. So like, it's just stuff like
• 54:53
  that, like he could have put the game away in the first half of
• 54:55
  my opinion if he would have just ran the ball down y'all's
• 54:57
  throats. Like it was all, it was there
• 54:59
  all day. And then, you know, so there's
• 55:01
  stuff like that. But I still give him a pass.
• 55:04
  I still think he's young and he's learning and I still think
• 55:07
  it's has room for growth and we'll continue to do so.
• 55:12
  Let's talk a bit about the division and and sorry, let's
• 55:18
  talk about a bit about the division, the AFC South.
• 55:20
  And your first of all, you got the Colts in the eight and three
• 55:25
  surprise this year. I mean the Jaguars seven and
• 55:28
  four. You guys are six and five.
• 55:31
  And then, you know, Titans are just a joke.
• 55:33
  But let's talk about a bit about the Texans.
• 55:37
  And if you feel like you know that there's a possibility here,
• 55:41
  you know that and the Colts lost yesterday if you guys can't kind
• 55:46
  of climb your way up to the top there.
• 55:50
  Yes, I know we talked about it before, but I, I definitely
• 55:54
  wasn't out on the Texans. I know it looked grim for a
• 55:57
  while, but, you know, I kind of looked at the big picture of
• 56:00
  things and, you know, it is a division that's been
• 56:04
  historically like, you know, looked down upon and laughed at.
• 56:07
  And right now it looks kind of decent.
• 56:09
  But I think a big a big part of it is is, you know, I've talked
• 56:14
  about for us the Texans and in terms of us being able to win
• 56:16
  the division, it comes down to me, to our defense.
• 56:20
  And this is just a bigger overarching thing for me that I
• 56:22
  try to preach to NFL fans in that, you know, early in the
• 56:26
  year, we all try and proclaim these teams as being really good
• 56:31
  or these teams being really bad and this and that when you know,
• 56:34
  going into the year and it's based off of what you think
• 56:38
  going into the year based off of the perceived strength of
• 56:41
  schedule. But we fail to remember that
• 56:43
  every year things change drastically in the NFL.
• 56:46
  So for example, the Colts start out eight and two and there's
• 56:49
  this talk about them being the best offense in the last decade.
• 56:54
  And then you go and look at the games.
• 56:56
  They haven't played any good rush defenses.
• 56:59
  And anytime they played a decent rush defense, they either lost
• 57:02
  or almost lost. Like the Broncos game should
• 57:04
  have lost, Rams game they lost and now the Chiefs.
• 57:08
  That's like the best run defense they've played outside of the
• 57:10
  Rams, I believe, and they lost and they should have lost by a
• 57:13
  lot more. But point being is you know,
• 57:17
  it's early and you don't know who's who.
• 57:19
  And then on the flip side, the Texans, they were O and three
• 57:23
  and and and three and five and the teams they lost to are all
• 57:27
  playoff teams. They're all damn good teams and
• 57:29
  they are all really good rushed defenses and interior rushed
• 57:33
  defenses, which matches up bad for our offense.
• 57:35
  So matchups do matter. Schedules matter.
• 57:39
  And you know, like you can't just make these proclamations
• 57:42
  too early. The NFL is a league full of
• 57:45
  parity. Things always find a way to get
• 57:48
  closer to even than they do as far as separating.
• 57:51
  So and then you couple that with the fact that the Colts, now,
• 57:54
  they have a tough schedule, but they also have two games against
• 57:57
  the two teams each that are behind them in the Jaguars and
• 58:01
  the Texans. So like, you know, whereas the
• 58:03
  Texans and Jaguars have played most of their division games
• 58:06
  outside of that against the two other competitors.
• 58:09
  So the Texans are very much still alive.
• 58:14
  They almost controlled their own destiny in a sense, like if they
• 58:16
  went out, they won the division. I know that's a tough task, you
• 58:19
  know, having to beat the tight, the Colts twice and the Chiefs
• 58:25
  as well as the Chargers. But you know, with what I just
• 58:27
  saw with that defense and if the offense can do what I've had
• 58:31
  seen lately with Stroud, I think it's it's possible.
• 58:34
  So, but still very much wide open.
• 58:37
  The Jaguars are a team that's still surprising.
• 58:40
  They're kind of hard to figure out.
• 58:41
  Like they look good one week, look bad the next.
• 58:43
  I'm still not a believer in Trevor Lawrence at all.
• 58:46
  I mean, they should have lost that game against the Cardinal,
• 58:48
  but they still somehow won. So, you know, I think I think
• 58:53
  it's the it's the Texans to take and they just got to take care
• 58:56
  of business. But it'll be interesting to see
• 58:58
  how it plays out for sure. So the Texans have to face the
• 59:03
  Colts twice in the remaining schedule and talk about that
• 59:08
  upcoming games because those games are going to be pivotal,
• 59:11
  detrimental for both teams because those two games could
• 59:14
  determine the division. And you look at the Colts, I
• 59:16
  mean, Jonathan Taylor probably is the best running back in the
• 59:20
  game right now. And that Daniel Jones is the
• 59:22
  quarterback. And no one expected, like you
• 59:24
  said, nobody expected the Colts to be in first place right now.
• 59:27
  But what lies ahead and what what What would it take for the
• 59:31
  Texas to beat the Colts? Yeah, it'll be tough.
• 59:35
  As far as the Colts go, like basically what I was saying was,
• 59:38
  I mean, to me, their whole success is predicated off their
• 59:41
  offense, which their whole success on offense is predicated
• 59:44
  off of the run. And it works great in the 1st
• 59:48
  810 games because they played terrible run defenses and
• 59:51
  Jonathan Taylor is a beast and their online is good, but how
• 59:55
  much of that is being inflated by the opposing units they've
• 59:58
  played? Now they have to play the Texans
• 1:00:00
  run defense, which is one of the tops in the league and so Daniel
• 1:00:04
  Jones now. You know, has less 2nd and short
• 1:00:06
  3rd and shorts less play action. A lot of his success is based
• 1:00:09
  off of play action, right? So I mean, you know, Jonathan
• 1:00:12
  Taylor against Amico Ryan's has had a great game and an average
• 1:00:18
  game and a decent game. So like we have held him in
• 1:00:21
  check before. He's played three games against
• 1:00:23
  the Texans with Amico Ryan. So he has shown that ability to
• 1:00:26
  shut him down. So I like their chances and I
• 1:00:29
  don't think their defense is very good.
• 1:00:31
  Their defense is easier than most of the defenses we have
• 1:00:34
  played thus far. So I like our chances.
• 1:00:38
  I'm not sitting here saying we're going to, you know, beat
• 1:00:40
  them for sure or whoop them. I think it's winnable games is
• 1:00:45
  basically what I'm saying, Whereas, you know, a lot of
• 1:00:48
  stuff I've heard from Texans fans and other fans prior.
• 1:00:50
  They all we got to play the Colts.
• 1:00:51
  So the best team ever. You might as well, you might as
• 1:00:54
  well tank this and that. They're so good.
• 1:00:55
  Like, no, that's not what it is. Like we're on the same playing
• 1:00:58
  field Like and also to there we're we're two games back now.
• 1:01:02
  As bad as things have been for the Texans and the Colts could
• 1:01:04
  have easily lost several more games.
• 1:01:06
  They had a game against the Broncos in which they missed a
• 1:01:10
  game-winning kick, but then got a penalty and then made it.
• 1:01:13
  They had a game against the Cardinals in which there was a
• 1:01:16
  pass interference in the end zone for them to lose, which
• 1:01:18
  they did not call. And I believe they had the
• 1:01:21
  Falcons game in Germany or London that they could have very
• 1:01:24
  easily lost in overtime. So that's very easily they could
• 1:01:27
  have three more losses and we could have a better record than
• 1:01:29
  them. So like if you put things into
• 1:01:32
  context without just surface level, it's not nearly as bad as
• 1:01:35
  it seems. Let's talk a bit about the AFC
• 1:01:39
  playoff picture and how and how wide open things seem to be.
• 1:01:46
  You got the Patriots, who have just been great this year.
• 1:01:48
  You know, you got the Broncos, who have been really, really
• 1:01:51
  good, too. You talked about the Colts.
• 1:01:54
  I mean, then you got the Ravens. Six and five.
• 1:01:56
  Chargers 7:00 and 4:00, Jaguars seven and four and the Bills
• 1:02:01
  7:00 and 4:00. And then you got some teams on
• 1:02:03
  the bubble with the Steelers, Texas Chiefs of Dolphins,
• 1:02:06
  Bengals. So what do you, what are your
• 1:02:09
  thoughts on how wide open this is this year and who do you see
• 1:02:13
  as some of the the teams? Who do you think the teams will
• 1:02:16
  be that make the playoffs in the end?
• 1:02:19
  Yeah, it's definitely more open and more parity.
• 1:02:22
  And you know, teams like the Chiefs and the Texans struggled
• 1:02:26
  early, but I mean, I wouldn't count them out.
• 1:02:29
  But I mean, I think, and even the Ravens too, even though the
• 1:02:31
  Ravens are winning and don't look that good, I mean, I think
• 1:02:35
  experience matters. Like same thing for the Bills.
• 1:02:38
  I know we talked prior and y'all were concerned about them.
• 1:02:40
  I think the Bills definitely make the playoffs.
• 1:02:42
  And I know y'all are down on Sean McDermott.
• 1:02:44
  You know, I questioned you guys last year whenever y'all had a
• 1:02:47
  lot of injuries and got rid of digs.
• 1:02:50
  But what I realized from y'all last year was Sean McDermott was
• 1:02:54
  the reason why y'all had a lot of success in my opinion,
• 1:02:56
  because of the same things that I was thing about the Biko.
• 1:02:58
  Ryan's a defensive minded head coach who's a leader, who's the
• 1:03:01
  glue of that team, who keeps the team together.
• 1:03:04
  And he's built, he's built this team.
• 1:03:06
  He's been there for what, 8-9 years?
• 1:03:09
  So he just like I mentioned, D'amico has swarm guys.
• 1:03:12
  I guarantee you there's an element of that with Sean
• 1:03:14
  McDermott too. So he's built a core foundation
• 1:03:16
  of having the right guys in the locker room.
• 1:03:19
  So that team has that intangible as far as veteran leadership and
• 1:03:26
  and a winning mindset. So I think that speaks volumes.
• 1:03:29
  Like when you have that established that can win you X
• 1:03:32
  amount of games alone and throughout a year.
• 1:03:33
  So especially in those ones down the stretch where you've been
• 1:03:36
  there done that. So I think the Bills will
• 1:03:38
  definitely still be there. And you know, honestly looking
• 1:03:41
  now is to see our seven and four.
• 1:03:43
  The Patriots are 10 and two. I'm gonna look at the rest of
• 1:03:46
  the Patriots schedule. I mean, I know y'all feel like
• 1:03:48
  it may be out of control, but you'll have a game against them.
• 1:03:52
  They play the Ravens and the dolphins.
• 1:03:54
  I mean, I wouldn't completely throw out the division.
• 1:03:56
  It's, you know, probably not very likely, but I think you'll
• 1:03:59
  definitely are a playoff team. Denver to me, obviously, you
• 1:04:03
  know, it's it's tough. It's hypocritical to call them
• 1:04:09
  not as good as what they are at 9:00 and 2:00.
• 1:04:11
  But I mean, you know, they obviously it looks like, I mean,
• 1:04:15
  they may not even win the division either.
• 1:04:16
  I mean, I know they're three games up on the on the Chiefs,
• 1:04:19
  but looking at it now, I mean, they got somewhat easy schedule,
• 1:04:22
  but they got Packers, Broncos, Chiefs, charters.
• 1:04:24
  They could lose that division. The Chiefs could still win that
• 1:04:27
  division. I know that sounds crazy.
• 1:04:29
  I just look just looking at it now.
• 1:04:30
  But even if they don't, I do, I do see them regressing and
• 1:04:34
  losing at least two to three more games and not being this
• 1:04:37
  dominant number one seed. And if they were, I wouldn't be
• 1:04:40
  that terrified of them, even though they're a good team,
• 1:04:42
  great defense. Bo Nicks does not scare me.
• 1:04:45
  That offense is putrid. But looking at the Chiefs, I
• 1:04:48
  mean, they got Cowboys, Texans, Chargers, Titans, Broncos,
• 1:04:52
  Raiders. I mean, they could very well
• 1:04:54
  make a run there. This is where you see these
• 1:04:57
  teams like the Chiefs and the Bills, like things may not be
• 1:05:00
  going y'all's way, but y'all still have a chance.
• 1:05:02
  So Baltimore IC taking the AFC North, they may not be.
• 1:05:07
  They may get to 10 wins. They may even win it with just
• 1:05:09
  nine wins. I see the Colts losing 2 to four
• 1:05:13
  more games and the Texans or Jaguars potentially winning the
• 1:05:15
  division. And so I think the Colts would
• 1:05:17
  still make the playoffs. So Patriots, Broncos, Colts,
• 1:05:22
  Ravens, Bills, Texans would be 6 for sure.
• 1:05:27
  For me, I would think Pittsburgh is out.
• 1:05:31
  And so I think that would leave Casey.
• 1:05:33
  And I think that that's how I think that would put Casey in
• 1:05:36
  and that would put I would I would take Jacksonville.
• 1:05:40
  I think Jacksonville, Pitt and Chargers are the three teams
• 1:05:42
  that are most likely to be out of that picture that are
• 1:05:44
  currently in it. I still think the Texans win the
• 1:05:48
  division. I said that prior to the season.
• 1:05:49
  I'm going to stand by it until I'll prove it wrong.
• 1:05:52
  But to wrap this episode, and this is the final question of
• 1:05:56
  this episode and this this has to do with the upcoming
• 1:06:00
  extensions with CJ Stroud and Will Anderson.
• 1:06:03
  And I know that Will Anderson's one of the best edges up and
• 1:06:07
  coming at least. And you know that he's going to
• 1:06:09
  get paid. And CJ Stroud the way
• 1:06:11
  quarterbacks are game paid, I mean, he quarterbacks the number
• 1:06:15
  one position in football. What do you think the contracts
• 1:06:18
  are going to be? Man Will Anderson for sure.
• 1:06:24
  Top two, at least at his position.
• 1:06:29
  I mean we all saw it in that game prime time, the game
• 1:06:32
  changer he is. And you know a lot of people
• 1:06:34
  want to hyper focus on sacks, but you know him and will have
• 1:06:38
  been making an impact on every game even though their sack
• 1:06:41
  numbers haven't been that high. But now all of a sudden they
• 1:06:43
  are. And it's such a fickle thing
• 1:06:44
  where guys can get 3-4 sacks in a game and go from being nowhere
• 1:06:48
  near the sack lead to towards the top.
• 1:06:50
  So like that to me is a very surface level stat and doesn't
• 1:06:53
  tell the whole story. So I think he has been worthy of
• 1:06:57
  that. But then, you know, we're
• 1:06:58
  starting to see these plays happen and he should be getting
• 1:07:02
  more of those stats. If this offense starts to get
• 1:07:05
  leave and play the way it should be and can be, it should really
• 1:07:08
  explode. So I forget off top of my head
• 1:07:11
  what that number is, but I think he'll be right there with Miles
• 1:07:14
  Garrett just below. I don't know if he'll beat him,
• 1:07:16
  maybe just a notch below Miles Garrett or maybe he'll just tie
• 1:07:19
  it or barely beat him. And then as far as Stroud goes,
• 1:07:25
  that's kind of what he's playing for right now.
• 1:07:26
  I know obviously he's playing to win and and whatnot.
• 1:07:28
  But I mean, you know, and I I'm confident he will show that he's
• 1:07:33
  worth that. But you know, a lot of people
• 1:07:35
  are like, oh, Mills came in, won three games.
• 1:07:36
  You don't need to pay this quarterback.
• 1:07:39
  I don't think that's true. I mean, we've seen franchises
• 1:07:42
  that, I mean, just look at the Vikings, for example, like they
• 1:07:45
  drafted JJ McCarthy and he's not panning out.
• 1:07:47
  And then they had guys prior that they were able to compete
• 1:07:50
  with but still weren't top tier guys.
• 1:07:52
  I mean, when you find a quarterback that you know can
• 1:07:55
  and can do everything that you need, make throws, read a
• 1:07:58
  defense has like the leadership, the integrity, all that stuff,
• 1:08:02
  you don't let it slip away. I mean, y'all know first hand
• 1:08:04
  with Josh Allen, like he's completely changed y'all's
• 1:08:06
  franchise. So like y'all are a perfect
• 1:08:08
  example. Like, yeah, a quarterback is
• 1:08:09
  worth every penny. So yes, I don't know where
• 1:08:13
  Stroud will be. I would think in the 60s, low
• 1:08:17
  60s. Like it does feel like his value
• 1:08:18
  has maybe gone down a little bit with the start of the year, but
• 1:08:21
  I feel like there's a lot in front of them.
• 1:08:23
  And if his team makes a run in the playoffs, I mean, it could
• 1:08:26
  be, it could be even more. But right now I'd put them in
• 1:08:29
  the low 60s. And I know a lot of people would
• 1:08:32
  currently that are texting stands think that that's
• 1:08:34
  overpaid. But to me it's not.
• 1:08:36
  And then something to keep in mind too, is both of these guys
• 1:08:38
  would have fifth year options they could exercise.
• 1:08:40
  So they would have one more year left and then a fifth year
• 1:08:43
  option. So you're really not going to
• 1:08:44
  steal the hits of these until like 2 plus years down the road.
• 1:08:47
  So and at that point when you do start to have to take these cap
• 1:08:50
  hits, like now the salary cap has increased by two, two plus
• 1:08:54
  years. So currently when you sign the
• 1:08:56
  deal, it seems bad. So that's one thing I've liked
• 1:08:59
  about Nick Casario is he's been proactive in signing guys.
• 1:09:02
  He's not afraid to reset the market.
• 1:09:04
  I mean, just look at Nico Collins, He was, people thought
• 1:09:07
  that was an overpay and now it's one of the best contracts in
• 1:09:09
  football. Even Daniel Hunter, he was like
• 1:09:11
  a top paid defensive edge when he got his extension.
• 1:09:15
  Now he's like top five and that's now a steal.
• 1:09:17
  So you know, that's something to keep in mind.
• 1:09:20
  So I say you get it done as soon as you can.
• 1:09:24
  Well, Mr. Houston stresses, we appreciate you doing this
• 1:09:27
  episode once again. It was a great episode.
• 1:09:29
  By the way, your episode, the episode you were on, is still
• 1:09:32
  the number one stream in our podcast.
• 1:09:33
  But where can we find you with social media and everywhere
• 1:09:37
  else? I appreciate that man.
• 1:09:39
  You guys are fun to talk to Yeah, so it's either at Houston
• 1:09:43
  stress insurance or at Texans commenter on pretty much every
• 1:09:46
  platform. I do a weekly live stream.
• 1:09:48
  It's also on Apple and Spotify. It's second guessing GUESSAN
• 1:09:52
  with stress and just type in Houston Texans football, you'll
• 1:09:55
  find me. But yeah, I appreciate it,
• 1:09:58
  enjoyed the talk and you know, best of luck to you guys the
• 1:10:00
  rest of the way. I know, I know you're down, but
• 1:10:03
  your other colleague isn't. But I think the Bills will be
• 1:10:05
  right there in the end, like they always are.
• 1:10:06
  Man, y'all need to layoff McDermott, man McDermott.
• 1:10:11
  I mean, and it's funny too, Like the Ravens were doing the same
• 1:10:14
  thing. Like they're all saying fire
• 1:10:15
  John Harbaugh. I'm like, y'all are tripping,
• 1:10:17
  bro. Like, no, I had a bunch of
• 1:10:19
  injuries and this and that. Like this guy has a track
• 1:10:21
  record. He has one bad year and you
• 1:10:23
  know, and it's not even done. And they're gonna win the
• 1:10:24
  division. It's hard.
• 1:10:26
  It's hard to find good coaches. I've tried to.
• 1:10:28
  I've, I've, I've said this to Rocky many times.
• 1:10:32
  It's and that's why Mcdermott's lasted so long.
• 1:10:34
  I think it's because it's just hard to find good coaches in the
• 1:10:38
  NFL, man. You know, you've seen how many
• 1:10:40
  coordinators go try and be head coaches and then they're, you
• 1:10:44
  know, in a year or two they're back being coordinators again,
• 1:10:47
  you know, so. There's a lot of intangibles,
• 1:10:49
  dude. I mean not only play calling,
• 1:10:51
  but managing people hiring, you know, motivating.
• 1:10:54
  Term it's great at is managing people you know and having.
• 1:10:58
  And you can't really measure that, right?
• 1:10:59
  I mean, how do you measure that? You can't, right?
• 1:11:02
  But thanks for joining us, man. Again, it was awesome.
• 1:11:06
  You know, hopefully your season goes better to have the rest of
• 1:11:10
  the way as well as ours. I mean, we're fighting for the
• 1:11:13
  same playoff spot. So but it looks of it looks like
• 1:11:16
  that seventh spot or if you can, if you guys can win the
• 1:11:19
  division, then it won't be a problem.
• 1:11:20
  But yeah, but yeah, good luck to you guys too, man.
• 1:11:25
  Great having you. Thanks.
• 1:11:27
  Yeah, I appreciate it. All right, so we'll place the
• 1:11:30
  description below where you can find Houston stresses, but till
• 1:11:33
  next time, take care, be kind to each other.
• 1:11:36
  Signing out from the Sports Ave. Twister podcast on Monday,
• 1:11:40
  November 24th, 2025.