00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hello, Texans.
00:00:00
Speaker 2: Welcome to the show as we are in game week mode always, and especially on a Thursday night when less than three days, less than 72 hours.
00:00:08
Speaker 3: How many hours is it, Johnny? How many hours is it till we kick off? It's 72 minus six, right?
00:00:14
Speaker 1: 72 minus six.
00:00:15
Speaker 2: That would be 66 hours away from kickoff with the Cincinnati Bengals on International Day at Reliant Stadium.
00:00:22
Speaker 3: Noon kick.
00:00:23
Speaker 1: Be there.
00:00:23
Speaker 2: It's not Liberty White Day. That was last week. So I guess it's wear whatever you want to wear day. Wear that rivalries gear. Wear the deep steel dark. Wear whatever you want to wear as long as it's battle red, deep steel blue, liberty white, and get in there and support your Texans against a Bengals team that is feeling very good about themselves, relatively, because they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and forced four turnovers. And we'll talk about all of it with the general, John McClain, the Hall of Famer, joining us right now.
00:00:51
Speaker 3: General, good evening.
00:00:53
Speaker 4: Good evening. Before we get started, I'd like to. Point out a really good story Jonathan Alexander did in the Chronicle today that's on their website as well, on Hannah McNair. And he did a great job. And I would recommend to any Texans fans, you don't even have to be a Texans fan, just you could be a People fan and read Jonathan's story on Hannah. It's very insightful.
00:01:19
Speaker 3: I like that. I like that a lot.
00:01:20
Speaker 4: Very much.
00:01:21
Speaker 5: Jonathan's done a really good job with those behind-the-scenes stories.
00:01:25
Speaker 1: With their chronology. There's no question about that.
00:01:26
Speaker 5: General, we know that you like to take a second, third, sometimes even a fourth look back at the game from the previous week. When you went back and you watched it, was there anything that stood out to you in a rewatch that maybe you didn't catch the first time, maybe a concern or something that maybe people were talking about as a concern, but you're not because you watched the game? Was there anything that stood out from Bill's Texans when you went back and rewatched it, the times that you did?
00:01:50
Speaker 4: First of all, Stroud played really well. And I've seen some people trying to blame the last fumble by him, the strip sack on Koston in the game, which is BS. Trent Brown crossed him the game when he got bulldozed by Greg Rousseau for that strip sack. You know, last year people weren't blaming Josh Allen. When he got sacked eight times by the Texans, they're blaming the offensive line. And I know overall the line did better. And one of the reasons the average per carry wasn't better than it was, they ran the ball in so many short yardage situations. Second and one, third and one, fourth and one. And they get just enough. So there were a lot of carries for zero, one or two yards because of the situation. And the average per carry would have been a lot better. And it's just too bad the right side of the line including Ed Ingram, who gave up a sack. Trent Brown also had that false start. I thought they were going to win the game when they got to the nine-yard line. And I thought Stroud bringing him right behind four times and scoring touchdowns on four out of five trips to the red zone, which, as you guys know, was a huge problem last year. So, as a fan, people should be very, very happy with the way the offense operated, except for that last and then the defense left all of us flabbergasted. Now they've got injuries. They've lost Henry Toa Toa. I don't know if anybody else is out. I went back and watched that, and Kamari Lester will never have another game like that. I look at him to bounce back big time. Reed Blankenship, I don't know what to expect. The guy gave up too many completions, and the running back, Run defense was good. It was better than it was last year when they beat them here in primetime. And so I expect they will shut down the Bengals run. And I think the offense will continue to play well. And I'm sure the defense is going to play better. And they ought to beat the Bengals in this game. And as I'm sitting here tonight thinking about it, you know, the only bad thing I saw on special teams was the field position by the Bills was way too good. And I know Frank Ross was not happy about that. And Kai Kroger, two punts to the four-yard line, and the defense gives up two 96-yard touchdown drives. Kroger was fantastic. He's been fantastic ever since they got rid of Stonehouse. And Kami Farabant, of course, with his 58-yard field goal. That was just a tough game to lose. Had a chance to win at the end. And I think we're going to see them in those situations win many more games than they're going to lose.
00:04:52
Speaker 3: All right, General.
00:04:53
Speaker 2: Last time, and I hope it never comes to this again or this week or ever, but last time C.J. Stroud did not have Nico Collins, or it wasn't the last time because the last time was in the playoffs, but last year there was a game with the 49ers coming off that loss to Seattle on Monday Night Football. No Christian Kirk, no Nico Collins at the time. Those were your top two guys. But C.J. throws for 318. Two touchdowns. Quarterback rating 106. Texans beat the 49ers. And they did have.
00:05:22
Speaker 3: Xavier Hutchinson, who had five catches. Knoll had five.
00:05:25
Speaker 2: And Higgins was good in that game with four catches and a touchdown.
00:05:28
Speaker 3: Obviously, you don't have Higgins now.
00:05:30
Speaker 2: But your thoughts on them putting things together with whoever is available on Sunday to catch a pass for C.J.
00:05:37
Speaker 4: I've always thought good quarterbacks make receivers. And because it doesn't matter who the receiver is, if the ball's not where it's supposed to be, when it's supposed to be, you know, that is very difficult. And if Niko's out with a hamstring injury, I think we'll see more Jalen Noll. He had that great 35-yard catch and run in which Woody Marks had a terrific block, clearing block on that play, Hutchinson. We've seen him enough to know when he gets his opportunities, he'll take advantage of them. Wouldn't be surprised Jared Wayne, see him catch two or three passes, and it's time. Keyshawn Booty has been here long enough to know enough of the offense to be able to contribute. He had the 21-yard catch. He was close to one on the sideline, but he was out of bounds, and I think we'll see more of him. I also think We know Woody Marks is a good receiver. David Montgomery is a good receiver. It's just because he scores so many touchdowns that they didn't use him in that role. Troy, because they had Jameer Gibbs. So I see Marks and Montgomery getting catches. I see, of course, Dalton Schultz will get catches. I'd like to see more of Marlon Klein after his one catch. And Foster Moreau, he had one. A couple. And so I think that the ball will be spread around. I think the running game will be even more effective than it was, and I think the Texans will win the game.
00:07:10
Speaker 5: General, at that point, the offense has got one big, massive problem. figuratively and literally right in the middle of the Bengals' defense, that being Sexy Dexy, a.k.a. Dexter Lawrence. The last time we saw Lawrence, he was with the Giants, and he was tackling our running backs with offensive linemen, and now he's with the Bengals.
00:07:31
Speaker 1: And the Bengals have made some changes. They added Brian Crook at safety.
00:07:34
Speaker 5: They've made some changes up front, but the biggest one was Dexter Lawrence. How big, no pun intended, I guess, is this issue for them with Dexter Lawrence on the inside?
00:07:45
Speaker 4: Well, let's look at those two tackles that they just played against. And Oliver, first-round pick, who was the 6'7 guy?
00:07:53
Speaker 1: Oh, Deion Walker.
00:07:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, Deion Walker. He played great. And so both of those tackles, so if you're going against them, you should be able to know that you're going to have to double-team Dexter Lawrence. Now, Lawrence didn't have a good season last year. I know there were people saying, oh, the Texans need to trade for him. Well, why? You know, he didn't do squad last year. He was heard. Some people said he was mad at his contract. But the year before, he was fantastic. So are we going to get the Lawrence from last year? I'm guessing not because he's got to be pumped up about playing for the Bengals. The Bengals are 1-0. But I think they will use two guys on him. They will not try to double team. I think they won't have to double team the other guys, but you've got to make sure Lawrence is not disruptive because when he's on, that's what he is, disruptive.
00:08:50
Speaker 2: All right, so what do you think of Joe Burrow here and a possible banged-up Joe Burrow? He's certainly not going to be 100%, but what do you think of this attack, the way the Bengals have put it together? You have nightmares all over the place, although Chase and Higgins only combined for five catches last week in the victory over the Buccaneers. Four turnovers does help when you get those, but what are your thoughts, General, on Joe Burrow and the high-flying Cincinnati Bengals passing game?
00:09:13
Speaker 4: Well, I don't think for an instant Joe Burrow is going to be affected physically by the game. The last time the Texans played against him in Cincinnati, he was healthy and they beat him. So now they're playing against him again. The Bengals have better wide receivers than the Bills do. The Bills have better tight ends. And Dalton Kincaid, who didn't play in last season's game, or Ed Oliver for that matter, Kincaid just killed him. And so the Texans have to know that the Bengals are going to try some kind of similar strategy, try to get re-blanketship in coverage. And I can't imagine they say, okay, we're going to go after number three, because if they do, they'll pay for it. And I think... this, the passing game, will be really good for the Bengals. They got a chance to go 2-0. Last year, Burrow was hurt for about half the season. And if he's healthy and if he plays, they're a contender, a contender to win that division, which right now, is there's three really good teams. Two, I think, are contenders. I don't count the Steelers. And then, of course, the Browns are a contender for the first pick in the draft. But the Texans need to win this game. I thought they'd be 3-1 to start the season. I wasn't sure who they were going to lose to. Maybe the Bengals, because I thought they'd beat the Bills. But they need to come back and show everybody Locally and around the country, this defense is still as good as there is or better.
00:10:52
Speaker 5: Two questions, John. Number one, do you put chili on your spaghetti? Number two, as you went through the league this week, if I gave you a buck, it's the dollar bet. You got to put it on the best team that you saw in week one.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: Who would it be?
00:11:07
Speaker 4: The Bears. The Bears were tremendous. I thought the biggest upset was Arizona at the Chargers. The game that surprised me was you lose your starting quarterback on the first series. You bring in a backup, Carson Wentz. He throws three touchdown passes. The Vikings blew out the Packers. The NFC North, top to bottom, is the best division in the NFL. But the Bears' performance, 59 points, right after– Ben Johnson said they want to be the highest scoring team in the league, which would require them to average 38 points, and they certainly are averaging a lot more than that. But I still don't understand at all Arizona with first-year coach Mike Fleur going into the Chargers and beating Jim Harbaugh who won his last seven openers. That week that he called, said Justin Herbert will be the greatest quarterback in the National Football League history, which is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
00:12:15
Speaker 3: It's going to hurt his khaki pants campaign, by the way.
00:12:17
Speaker 1: Okay, wait a second. You put chili on spaghetti like they do in Cincinnati?
00:12:21
Speaker 4: Absolutely I don't put chili on spaghetti. I think that's the most overrated dish I've ever had. I remember Brett Coomer and I went and tried it a few years ago, and we tried to like it. It was just The fact that it was so weird to do it. Now, I love the Montgomery Inn barbecue. It's as good as anything I've ever had here. Wow. Putting chili on the spaghetti makes me want to vomit.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: Okay, I got one for both of you.
00:12:52
Speaker 3: I think Montgomery Inn is good, too. I don't know if it's as good as anything here.
00:12:57
Speaker 1: We went to Montgomery in one year.
00:12:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, we definitely did. I've been there a couple of times in my life. Go on.
00:13:02
Speaker 1: Okay, this is for both of you guys.
00:13:04
Speaker 6: All right.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: Okay, it's sizzle fire time. It's hot take time.
00:13:06
Speaker 3: Hot take time.
00:13:07
Speaker 5: Okay, so John, you know how the rating goes, but I'm going to read you some numbers first.
00:13:11
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: Okay?
00:13:13
Speaker 5: Last eight regular season games, quarterback has a record of 8-0. That's first in the league. Yards per game, 263. That's fifth in the league.
00:13:23
Speaker 3: Oh, I know where you're going.
00:13:24
Speaker 5: Passing touchdowns, that's 22. That's first in the league. Rushing touchdowns, four. That's second in the league. Passer rating of 114.3. That's first over those eight last regular season games.
00:13:38
Speaker 1: Here's my hot take. Rate it. One through five. Get your sizzle fires ready. Mark, you go first.
00:13:45
Speaker 5: John, you got a chance to think about it. Trevor Lawrence is a top three quarterback in the NFL.
00:13:50
Speaker 3: Four.
00:13:52
Speaker 1: Really?
00:13:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no way.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: Those numbers.
00:13:55
Speaker 3: Numbers, schmumbers.
00:13:56
Speaker 4: Okay.
00:13:57
Speaker 3: Beat Denver this week again impressively.
00:13:59
Speaker 4: And then?
00:14:00
Speaker 3: And I'll start climbing. Top three?
00:14:02
Speaker 1: Top three, Johnny. Top three.
00:14:03
Speaker 3: How many general managers are taking Trevor Lawrence?
00:14:06
Speaker 6: A lot.
00:14:06
Speaker 3: A lot. You open up the entire league of quarterbacks to draft.
00:14:11
Speaker 4: A lot.
00:14:12
Speaker 1: Top three? There are a lot. All right.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: Well, that's a good discussion. Anyway, General, what are your thoughts? What do you think, General?
00:14:19
Speaker 4: He's had one great season and one great game against a horrible team. I'd say a five.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: Oh, he went all the way to five.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: He went all the way to five. Now, beating Denver last year at Denver was good. General, are you phased if he beats Denver this weekend? Do you change that if he's really good against that defense?
00:14:36
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, if we see Josh Allen... tonight in a few minutes. I think he's the best quarterback in the NFL. Lamar Jackson looked fantastic in their game. And then I have a hard time putting him over Joe Burrow. And then if you look around the NFC, who do we think is the best quarterback in the NFC? Stafford. He had a bad game, but I would put Stafford over him. I would put him in the top five. I would not put him in the top three, and that's just for this season.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: Fair enough. Fair enough.
00:15:16
Speaker 4: I think we need to judge him with Liam Cohen. And Liam Cohen has done a great job there. He is now 14-4 in regular season. But yet Ben Johnson gets all the credit of those two coaches that came in last year. I think Cohen's done just as good a job as Ben Johnson.
00:15:35
Speaker 2: That's why living in Jacksonville, it's good and bad. You stay out of the line of fire with the national media, but you don't get the praise. It takes a long time for them to catch up. So we'll cross that Jacksonville bridge problem when we get to it, General. They're going to be at Denver this week. That'll be interesting to see what happens to the Broncos after the Monday night loss to the Chiefs. But speaking of the Chiefs, they have the Colts on Sunday night football, so back-to-back primetime games for them. And the Colts general, Houston, plays at Indy next week. Texans tried to avoid 0-2 up there, and so were the Colts trying to avoid going 0-2 into that matchup. Are the Colts that bad as they displayed against the Ravens, or are the Ravens that good, or somewhere in between?
00:16:16
Speaker 4: Boy, well, the easy thing is to say somewhere in between, but they did not look good. They didn't look like the team that went 8-2 when Daniel Jones was healthy last season. It wasn't Jonathan Taylor. I think he had almost 100 yards, but it was a big disappointment for them to play that way. Wouldn't surprise me if they start 0-2. And, boy, I think they need to win because the odds are with the Texans coming up there, they're not going to start 0-3. So I think, of course, the Texans need to pull for the Chiefs, but I think the Colts are desperate because if they start 0-2, and I sit there and say this, The Texans finished 0-3, started 0-3 last year, and then won 12 games. So they'll be an example for every team that gets off to a bad start. Remember what D'Amico Rice and the Texans did last year, and they did. They overcame a lot of obstacles, physical, where they had a lot of injuries. But Daniel Jones, I don't think he needs to bounce back, show everybody he's the real deal because he's been so inconsistent in his career. But I'm going to say that the Colts are going to bounce back and beat the Chiefs.
00:17:31
Speaker 5: General, let's say the Jaguars do go and beat the Broncos in Denver for the second time in, I don't know, seven, eight.
00:17:38
Speaker 3: Months, whatever it was. You're really stuck with this Jacksonville thing.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: Well, no. All right, go on. No, but it's more about the Broncos.
00:17:43
Speaker 6: Okay.
00:17:44
Speaker 5: If the Jaguars go in and throttle the Broncos, that would be a loss on the road. They got throttled by the Chiefs on Monday Night Football. Then the Jaguars come in and throttle them. Look, I know that Texas went 0-3 last year, but starting 0-2, especially against two good teams and you don't look good, how much is the panic meter going up in Denver if Denver doesn't get it done against Jacksonville for the second consecutive year?
00:18:05
Speaker 4: There will be a panic meter because they're supposed to have a great defense. Number two, to the Texans, they let it fill in sacks last year and they didn't do anything right against the Chiefs. Sean Payton's a great coach, and we all know that. What are the odds that he's going to start 0-2 Because they do have a great defense. Their running game is better. But if the Chiefs beat them, I think that people are going to start talking about Jaguars are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. And the Broncos are going to be out of it for a while. But I just don't see Sean Payton losing two in a row.
00:18:49
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm going to throw up after you said Jaguars Super Bowl contender. But we have to acknowledge that possibility. And before we get to them in London, after Denver, the Jags have the Patriots at home, the Bengals on the road, the Eagles at home, and then London with the Houston Texans.
00:19:04
Speaker 4: First place schedule.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: I mentioned crossing that Jacksonville Bridge. We won't be crossing a bridge. We'll be flying over the ocean.
00:19:10
Speaker 3: So.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: Let's get to this because the Jags did beat Cleveland to open the season.
00:19:15
Speaker 3: And boy, I would have loved to play Cleveland this past week.
00:19:18
Speaker 2: But general, as an esteemed longtime member of the media, are your expectations for Deshaun Watson to throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns every week? Like he says, the media wants him to or expects him to.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: Thoughts? I thought it was 500 yards. Did he say 400?
00:19:33
Speaker 2: I thought it was 400. Maybe it was 405 touchdowns. It was a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns.
00:19:38
Speaker 3: Put it that way. More than we would expect.
00:19:41
Speaker 4: I think they would like for him to throw two touchdowns and maybe 200 yards, just don't turn the ball over. And that just shows you how toned down he is. watson's got saying stuff like that he hates the media they hate him why he's starting i don't know shadur sanders needs the experience unless they are geniuses and they had this this uh plan to get the first pick in the draft So you put your worst quarterback out there, you let him play, and you let him lose. Now, I hope he plays well enough to where he's going to get to start in Cleveland because those fans are going to eviscerate him. And so that would be something next week to closely follow or to sugar Sanders start. I don't like anything about the way they're handling that situation. They are a legitimate– for the first overall pick, which they want to be. Arizona's supposed to be. I don't think they're going to go win any more games like they did Sunday. And the Jets, we don't know about the Jets because the Titans don't even look like a legitimate NFL team, and the Jets beat them. In Nashville, right now, the worst team in the league, Tennessee Titans.
00:20:55
Speaker 1: Oh, that's music to my ears, General.
00:20:57
Speaker 5: During the offseason, Kansas City Chiefs paid a lot of money to bring Kenneth Walker to the Chiefs, and I remember... We sat in the studio, we chopped it up, we chopped it up with you, and we're like, yeah, it's Andy Reid. We'll see if he sticks to a run game. Well, Andy Reid said, hold my beer, because he decided to hand Kenneth Walker all night, so I'll just make this one really simple, General.
00:21:16
Speaker 1: Are the Chiefs back? Are you buying the Chiefs?
00:21:20
Speaker 4: I'm buying the Chiefs' potential to win the division and make the playoffs as a Super Bowl contender or not at this point. They've got problems up front, and obviously they've solved that running back problem if Kenneth Walker Jr. can stay healthy, and it's interesting because the Seahawks didn't even try to keep him, and there are other talkbacks, Charbonnet, is it Charbonnet or Charbonnet, Zach Charbonnet, he's out with a knee injury, so they're depending on Zarian Price, a rookie, and they did win, but it was close, and I believe that Walker picked right up where he left off when he was Super Bowl MVP. You don't see many Super Bowl MVPs gone the next year, but he looked great. Obviously, the Chiefs offensive line better run blockers than they are pass protectors.
00:22:10
Speaker 1: Yes, very true.
00:22:12
Speaker 2: General, let's talk Hall of Fame now. 25 voters, that's what they've cut the list to. A lot of big names are not voting, and you are one of them. And you're in the Hall of Fame. You are already in Canton. How is this for you? Take us through the journey of this happening a little bit.
00:22:31
Speaker 3: Your thoughts.
00:22:32
Speaker 4: First of all, three years ago, Deion Sanders raised a lot of cane about the committee was putting too many people in the Hall of Fame and there should be an upper tier. And so a lot of Hall of Famers joined Deion and complained. So they changed the bylaws. The Hall did. The committee had nothing to do with it. Changed the bylaws to make it harder to get in. So they said it had nothing to do with Dion. So then, to make it harder to get in, Bill Belichick doesn't get in. Lombardi didn't get in on the first ballot, neither did Tom Landry. So they made it harder. Belichick didn't get in. Everybody went ballistic, and they've taken a blowtorch to the bylaws, and they reduced the committee from 50 to 25 voting members. There will be three alternates who are non-voting. And I have no problem with them dumping me because I did it 33 years, and it was a privilege to do it and represent eight players who are in the Hall of Fame, including Andre Johnson, the first Texan. But there's not going to be any representatives of cities. If I was still on the committee, I would not rep Houston, the Oilers, or the Texans. And even worse is there's no more– Presentation. So if Andre was up this year, let's say JJ, two years, JJ's up, a person from the Hall of Fame will read his stats for two minutes and his accolades, and then they'll throw it open to the floor. There'll be no presentation, nobody fighting for him, no lead person to take the bull by the horns like I would have been. And so it used to be you'd make your five-minute presentation and Then they would throw it open to the floor. And so I worked hard on Andre for three years. He made it to third year. I would have done everything I could for J.J., although J.J., he's going to be a first ballot. And if I wrote that committee, I'm not going to work that hard for all the other finalists. They got rid of the senior category, got rid of the seniors, lump all seniors, like Billy White Shoes Johnson from the Oilers, lump all seniors in. and with the modern era finalists, which none of us liked it. None of us liked any of these changes on the committee, and we said so. And the other thing, there's no senior category. Roger Craig, the great 49ers running back, may be the last senior ever elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame because all these guys are coming out with great stats. We tried hard not to have recency bias. because there's so many from the past that deserve it. Members of the all 75-year anniversary team, 50-year anniversary, all decade. They never even got to be finalists and talked in the room. And so I wish the people who are good friends of mine, but people that got cut, there were a lot of them with a lot of experience. And all the fame should be about experience. Paul Karsky, from Nashville, figured up there's more than 333 years lopped off the committee, 333 years on the committee. So I just, I don't like anything about the way, what they've done, but it's their prerogative to do what they want. And Bill Belichick will get in on the second ballot and they'll all sing hallelujah.
00:26:02
Speaker 2: You think that some of the names who were eliminated are responsible for Belichick not getting in?
00:26:07
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just kind of strange.
00:26:08
Speaker 4: No, they leaked out that he was one vote short. There were 50 on the committee. If 11 said no, then somebody didn't get 80 percent of the votes. So 39 of us could have voted yes.
00:26:20
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
00:26:21
Speaker 4: And then we were all lopped in together. because we're on the same committee. Most people have no clue about the rules. They asked me if I wanted to serve on another committee, and I said, no, thank you, because I didn't want to be part of the group that lopped it off from 125 to 50. They wouldn't even tell us who's on that committee. We know it's a bunch of Hall of Famers. They released Bill Pulliam, and they released Tony Dungy, And James Lofton, I'm told, resigned. Don't know if he was asked to come back. And they're all in the Hall of Fame. And some of the guys that were cut did everything they could to not just help people they represented or teams they represented, but others as well. And anyway, I hope it works out the way the Pro Football Hall of Fame wants it to. I'll still go back. I've been there 50 times. I love the people there. They're great. They gave me that opportunity to go behind the scenes where the door knock on Andre Johnson's house. I wrote a humongous thing for the Texans website about it. So they let me go in the middle of the night through the Hall of Fame at two in the morning one time. Nobody had ever done that. And I wrote a column about how different it was to go at two in the morning. So they treated me great. They just didn't want me on their committee anymore. And I didn't ask. I didn't ask why.
00:27:49
Speaker 3: All right.
00:27:49
Speaker 2: Well, you're in the Hall of Fame, and you're our Hall of Famer, and we appreciate you very much, John.
00:27:54
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for visiting, as always.
00:27:55
Speaker 4: Guys, thank you very much, as always, and good luck to the Texans against the Bengals.
00:28:01
Speaker 3: Luck has nothing to do with it. All right. Maybe a little luck would be good. Could use a little luck. Not going to deny it. It is part of sports.
00:28:07
Speaker 6: Okay.
00:28:08
Speaker 2: Johnny Harris answers rapid fire. We'll just go hurry up offense with questions next, including what about the receiving group? What needs to be done? Joe Burrow.
00:28:18
Speaker 3: Other games going on this weekend.
00:28:20
Speaker 2: We've got a lot to do before the close of business tonight and in advance of Thursday night football. It's Texans Radio. Moving on here in the Hyundai Texans Radio studio, Mark Vandermeer and John Harris with you as we get into it for week two, Bengals, Sunday noon, 9 a.m. with Texans Countdown presented by Modelo Especial. And the gang will be ready to rock from Reliance Stadium. Can't wait for this international day. Like I said yesterday, wear what you want to wear.
00:28:48
Speaker 3: This is not.
00:28:49
Speaker 2: Battle Red, Liberty White, Deep Steel Blue. It's whatever you want to wear on Sunday.
00:28:54
Speaker 3: I like that. Okay.
00:28:55
Speaker 2: I think I said that in the first segment, too. Anyway, Johnny, let's get to questions for Johnny. Rapid, fire, quickie. I mean, not that rapid, but we're going to move through these fairly quickly here.
00:29:05
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:29:05
Speaker 2: And I've got a few either-ors and more likely to happen type questions and who you got type questions. I'm going to start right here. If with no Nico, if with. No, Nico.
00:29:17
Speaker 3: Give me the leading pass catcher for the Houston Texans.
00:29:24
Speaker 1: Going Dalton Schultz. Receptions.
00:29:27
Speaker 3: I like this. Receptions. Yeah.
00:29:29
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about yards here.
00:29:30
Speaker 3: I'm talking about receptions.
00:29:32
Speaker 1: Well, I was going to go yards, Jalen Knoll.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:29:36
Speaker 1: I was going to go receptions, to old Schultz.
00:29:38
Speaker 3: I think that's a good one.
00:29:39
Speaker 2: Schultz last year in the game with no Nico and no Higgins two catches and CJ threw for 318 in this game. X led the way with five. Knoll had five, though. It was a three-way tie. X, Knoll, Berrios. Braxton, where are you now? Where is he now, by the way?
00:29:54
Speaker 1: Giants.
00:29:55
Speaker 4: Okay, good for you.
00:29:55
Speaker 1: Well, the last I remember, he was with the Giants.
00:29:57
Speaker 3: And the Alex Earl reunion never happened.
00:29:59
Speaker 1: Apparently not.
00:30:00
Speaker 3: I don't think so. So too bad for him, or maybe just he's just fine.
00:30:03
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think kind of good for him, the more I see.
00:30:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, probably right, actually. But yards, it was close. It was Hutchinson with 69, Knoll with 63. The world changes. I might go X in this one as well. I just think he's so handy.
00:30:17
Speaker 3: He might have more catches than anybody, but we'll see how they put it all together, and we'll talk more about that manana.
00:30:23
Speaker 2: Okay, next one. Chase Brown, running back for the Bengals. You are familiar with his work. Johnny, people are hearing about Chase Brown. Everyone knew about James Cook last week, led the league in rushing last year. But here we have Chase Brown, and he could be a big problem.
00:30:37
Speaker 3: Give me a comp. Give me who Chase Brown is. Describe Chase Brown to the listeners.
00:30:42
Speaker 5: Chase Brown is like the hamster on a hamster wheel with muscles because he is relentless. He never stops. He is strong as an ox, but he just goes and goes and goes and goes and goes and goes. He's just going to keep pounding the rock, and he's compact, so he doesn't take a lot of big shots. He'll deliver them because he is an explosive runner that way. But he gets overshadowed because, well, it's the Joe Burrow offense. And there's Jamar Chase. Oh, Chase and Higgins are the best receiving duo. And then there's Mike Gasicki. Chase Brown ends up being number four or five on the list. And that's an absolute shame. I remember when the Bengals drafted him, I thought, ooh, I could see that developing because of what they like in their running backs. I mean, you think of the guys they've had over the years. they're built differently, but they run similarly. He can catch the ball in the backfield. Joe Mixon can catch the ball in the backfield. Joe ran hard. Joe was much bigger than Chase Brown, but Chase runs it hard. He gets to his spots. He gets north and south really quickly. And if you don't bring a full-on 100% tackle, he's going to break through that, and he's going to embarrass you if you do that. So he's the kind of guy that defensive players don't love facing because on play one– In play 31, he's going to be the same effort, the same intensity each and every time.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: Okay. Good description, Chase Brown. I like it.
00:32:14
Speaker 1: All right.
00:32:14
Speaker 2: The Texans did not blitz much last week, did not send extra people much after the quarterback. The Bengals watched what the Bills did, and they had the DiCaprio meme going, pointing at the TV.
00:32:25
Speaker 4: Oh, look, wait.
00:32:26
Speaker 3: Wait, they protected him. Yeah.
00:32:28
Speaker 2: It's possible against this defense with Will and Daniil on the edges. Clowney, too, doing some stuff. He had a sack. But you tell me, will the Texans send extra people more this week? Will they take some chances, gamble, whether it's Petrie or somebody else? Aziz coming up the gap. Are they going to blitz more?
00:32:45
Speaker 1: Well, it depends.
00:32:48
Speaker 5: I think it depends on their level of comfort with whoever plays that linebacker spot opposite of Z's.
00:32:52
Speaker 1: I'm thinking Jake Hansen. And I know they trust Jake. Jake can run. He can move. He's very smart.
00:32:58
Speaker 5: So I think it has to do kind of with how they feel about the cover guys. Look, Kamari and Sting, Higgins and Jamar Chase. So if you're going to blitz, you're probably playing man. How do you match up with Gesicki? Do you feel good about that matchup with Gesicki? Do you put Kalen on Gesicki? Because Kalen's probably a better cover guy, but then you lose his range in the middle of the field. To me, it all depends on whether they feel comfortable, how the game is going, with A, what the Bengals are doing. How many people the Bengals are putting out in a route? Are they protecting with just five? If they're protecting with just five, then our four have got to win. But if they're using backs and tight ends to stay... then, yeah, you might bring an extra guy. You might feel good about bringing maybe even two, depending on what you're doing. But I do think they're going to kind of play it by ear early. How are the Bengals going to protect?
00:33:52
Speaker 1: Let's see. Do they want to get four and five out in a row?
00:33:54
Speaker 5: You'd love to. But that might not be something you can do. And I think the Bills found that out. They couldn't put five guys out in a row.
00:34:00
Speaker 1: Couldn't do it.
00:34:00
Speaker 5: Because you feel like you put five in a row, you feel a lot better because you've got a lot more options, especially for a veteran quarterback. You put five in a row, those two are going to eat. They're going to face two big, hulking tackles and that they're going to beat with their speed and their quickness. But I think that you'll see Chase Brown chip. I think you'll see Gasicki at times stay in. I think you'll see some 12 personnel where Gasicki will go on a route, but the other tight end will stay in with Chase Brown to block, and they'll have just three in a route, and they're going to get those three to win. So the Texans have got to at some point bring extra people to speed up Joe Burrow.
00:34:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's tough, man. He's so accurate. You give him time to throw even with only three in the route. That could be a problem for the Texans.
00:34:39
Speaker 2: We'll be watching the chess match on Sunday. Okay, more questions for Johnny here. We were talking about Justin Herbert a little bit in the first segment, but Trevor Lawrence more specifically. And Johnny, when we talk about who would you take and this kind of stuff, the whole world would have taken Herbert over Lawrence. for many years. Has it changed yet? And I know you might change your opinion. You think others have as well. Look, head-to-head playoff game. Lawrence won it. Last year, big head-to-head. The Chargers were destroyed by the Jaguars last year. And now you have Herbert opening with that whatever it was against the Cardinals performance. And if Lawrence goes into Denver this week and looks good, ouch, this could be a big problem for the Justin Herbert lover's other than Madison herself, but you tell me, where is this going?
00:35:32
Speaker 5: Well, what it's seemingly doing is it's going the way of the draft report, because the draft report for Herbert in 20, I think I had him at number 14, and I felt like he was a project. I felt like Trevor was more ready-made to come into the league in 2021, and then he got stuck with that Urban Meyer situation, and Doug comes in, and he's riding a roller coaster, but now, He's got some stability. He's got some good weapons. And he's starting to throw it. I watched that game the other night with the Browns, and I was just like, wow, that throw. Oh, man, that throw.
00:36:08
Speaker 1: He looks good.
00:36:09
Speaker 5: Now, the Browns couldn't generate pass rush pressure, but even when they did, he delivered the ball really well. Now, against us, and sometimes you have that team that you just can't play well against, and Trevor's had his struggles against us. Now, at 23, the game here, with the ball off the crossbar, he had a really good game. We broke down in man coverage a number of times. He took advantage of it. But he hasn't had great games, even last year. They put up 29 points, but not a lot of that was because of him. The earlier game, week three, he made that throw to Brian Thomas.
00:36:43
Speaker 1: We blew coverage. He didn't do a ton in those games, but.
00:36:47
Speaker 5: It's what he did those last eight games, or last seven games, plus that game he had the other day against the Browns. I almost discount that because it's the Browns. And I know the Browns' defense was not good.
00:36:58
Speaker 1: It looked bad. It looked really bad.
00:37:03
Speaker 5: But Trevor's taken those strides to go above Herbert, where I think it's more, hey, where people were like, oh, it's Jacksonville.
00:37:10
Speaker 1: Oh, he's underrated.
00:37:11
Speaker 4: No, no, no.
00:37:12
Speaker 5: Trevor's legit. He's absolutely legit. Now, I asked earlier, you and McClain, I said, top three, that was the hot take. Is he the top three? And you guys were four and five. Yeah, I think that's definitely a hot take because– Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, you know, any of those guys you're taking ahead of him.
00:37:30
Speaker 1: But he definitely has gotten into the top five, top seven picture without a doubt.
00:37:34
Speaker 5: And to me, he is ahead of wherever Herbert is.
00:37:37
Speaker 1: Not even close.
00:37:38
Speaker 2: The year is young. He had a good year last year. Liam Cohn might be the real deal. Did I tell you I talked to Liam Cohn at the owner's meetings about UMass background?
00:37:45
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:37:45
Speaker 3: Because he's the quarterback there.
00:37:46
Speaker 1: That's right.
00:37:46
Speaker 2: It's very cool to catch up with him about that. Anyway, more questions for Johnny. McClain picked the Colts over the Chiefs. Is he crazy or is he crazy like a fox?
00:37:57
Speaker 5: Well, I can't figure out. I'd like the Colts to lose, I think. I'm pretty sure I want the Colts to lose. No, we want the Colts to lose.
00:38:07
Speaker 3: Yes, every AFC South. I don't care if they're 0-2, they're going to be mad. I don't care. Let them lose.
00:38:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, let them lose.
00:38:12
Speaker 3: We played them at both 0-3 in 2018, and we beat them to go to 1-3. They were 0-4, right? Right, right. And they still beat us in the playoffs that year. Yuck.
00:38:25
Speaker 1: Exactly.
00:38:25
Speaker 3: But I'll take 0-2 for the Colts, please.
00:38:27
Speaker 5: I feel like watching that team the other day against the Ravens.
00:38:31
Speaker 1: And look, the Ravens are very good.
00:38:35
Speaker 5: I think the Colts will bounce back and play with more effort, more juice, I would think. But that looks like a team that's teetering. That's teetering on the, you know, if the Chiefs could kick them in the teeth.
00:38:48
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:38:48
Speaker 1: You know, and then hopefully we can go in there and do the same.
00:38:51
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:38:52
Speaker 1: That that team is like, nah.
00:38:53
Speaker 3: We could see Jeff Saturday back before halfway point. Yes. Just kidding.
00:38:58
Speaker 1: I'd be all about it.
00:38:59
Speaker 5: But I just feel like that Colts team, it feels like it's a Colts team that needs something good to happen. They need something good to kind of get any kind of confidence, and I don't know where that comes from. Maybe it comes from JT. They did run the ball all right with JT. It was about the only thing they did. Defensively, they didn't stop the run. They didn't stop the pass. They couldn't throw it exceptionally well. Really, they could run it with JT, and that needs to be their identity. We're going to run JT 20 to 25 times and hope that play action off of this.
00:39:29
Speaker 1: I mean, Tyler Ward.
00:39:30
Speaker 5: Should be a big factor in those kind of games he really didn't do anything um every time they threw to him it was like for two yards and the Ravens tackle him right there the receivers don't scare you so from that standpoint I don't I just can't see the Colts going in Other than if the Chiefs just completely step all over themselves, Kenneth Walker fumbles the ball. I just can't see the Chiefs losing that game to Indianapolis with what I saw from both teams this past weekend.
00:39:58
Speaker 3: The Chiefs looked so well coached in the Monday night over Denver.
00:40:02
Speaker 1: They stuck to the run. They stuck to the run.
00:40:04
Speaker 2: When you're running a play that's 80 years old or whatever, you know that you've got some good things going on. Does Watson start next week versus Carolina? He's playing the Bucs this week on the road. Home opener next week. Does he start? Does he throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns?
00:40:20
Speaker 3: Does he start?
00:40:21
Speaker 1: No, the media is expecting him to do that, apparently. I mean, the self-awareness.
00:40:25
Speaker 4: My goodness.
00:40:27
Speaker 5: Is self-awareness a rating on Madden?
00:40:30
Speaker 3: Self-awareness.
00:40:31
Speaker 1: I mean, if it is, it's a zero.
00:40:32
Speaker 3: I like that.
00:40:33
Speaker 1: It's a zero.
00:40:34
Speaker 5: If this goes poorly, I don't think there's. I don't want to say there's not any way they can start. It's going to be a nightmare.
00:40:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, they can't start him.
00:40:42
Speaker 1: They can't. If this goes badly, they cannot start him.
00:40:45
Speaker 3: I've got to tell you what, though.
00:40:46
Speaker 1: Back at home in week three.
00:40:47
Speaker 3: Shadur must not be doing very well in practice.
00:40:48
Speaker 4: I guess.
00:40:49
Speaker 2: Because how do you not play him? This is not your future no matter what. You know it right now, even after week one. If he had exploded against the Jags, you'd have to do that to convince the Clevelanders.
00:40:59
Speaker 3: And I would think the organization itself, that he could be the answer.
00:41:02
Speaker 5: This is what happens when you don't make the right decision when you... know what the decision should be. And I present to you the 2023 Denver Broncos. When Sean Payton took over that job, what did he realize right away?
00:41:16
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson.
00:41:17
Speaker 1: Was not it.
00:41:18
Speaker 6: Yep.
00:41:18
Speaker 1: He knew Russell Wilson wasn't it. And he's like. Bite the bullet.
00:41:22
Speaker 3: Do it.
00:41:23
Speaker 5: Rip the Band-Aid off. We shouldn't have given this money, but we did. Rip the Band-Aid off. Take the hit money-wise, cap-wise. Yep.
00:41:30
Speaker 1: But we're not going with that.
00:41:32
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:41:32
Speaker 1: We're not going with it.
00:41:33
Speaker 5: Say what you will about Bo Nix, whatever. But they won since Sean Payton has been there. They won that year after going and getting Nix. Took the hit. Nix is on his rookie contract. We'll see whether he gets the big contract or not. Denver could be 0-2 this year as well. Denver knew what the decision had to be. Cleveland's known, and they won't do it. No, Denver got it right, but Bo Nix, is he the answer?
00:41:58
Speaker 3: Who knows?
00:41:59
Speaker 1: That we don't know yet.
00:41:59
Speaker 3: It's all a work in progress. It's the NFL. It's a beautiful thing. Very much.
00:42:03
Speaker 2: And we don't have very much show left, but we will get to the best of the day as the Texans practiced day two of practice for this prep week for the Cincinnati Bengals. This was the hard practice today. Tomorrow's going to be a fast Friday, walkthrough Saturday. Bengals, Texans, Sunday kickoff at noon. We will conclude the show next year with some final items, including Houston Methodist minutes. It's all coming up here on Texans All Access. Our final journey tonight.
00:42:31
Speaker 3: It's not a journey.
00:42:31
Speaker 2: It's a really short segment, actually, in advance of Thursday Night Football. But let's get to it here. Texans injury report. Here are the highlights or lowlights, however you want to look at them. Genevion Clowney, ouch. He's got a knee problem. So we'll find out what the game status report says tomorrow. But today, not exactly a go. So Nico Collins, that's the big story. With the hamstring injury reported yesterday, Did not practice. I am not optimistic about Sunday, of course, but hopefully it's not that serious. There was another report out there that said it's not that serious. Whatever that means, grade one, I don't know, but you got to go without Nico and find a way to get it done. We'll talk more about that tomorrow night. Also, Ed Ingram, groin problem. So this is interesting. If Ed can't go, does Wyatt Teller come up to replace him? Again, more on that tomorrow. But these are the highlights or lowlights of the Texans injury report. Now let's get to Houston Methodist Minutes with Dr. Robert Flannery. Our dehydration series continues. What about cramping? You see guys cramping up in football games all the time this time of year.
00:43:38
Speaker 3: You see it with your youth league as well. What's the deal? Talk about it, please, doctor.
00:43:43
Speaker 6: I think dehydration is a big part of it, but I've seen players get cramps in their you know, 32 degree weather when it's snowing. So you can get cramps. We don't really completely understand the mechanism of it. There is something to the excitation of the muscle fibers that causes them to cramp. But dehydration is also a big part of it. And so really, if you want to stay at your best, your body weight can decrease. play a part of this. I don't recommend checking your body weight every day unless you're doing some sort of strenuous activity. 2% of body mass loss can lead to decreases in performance. And so if you've got a 150-pound kid, it could be as little as three pounds can affect their performance and lead to decreased reaction time, slow recovery. and then ultimately muscle cramps. I've seen guys that are at practice in some of these pre-season camps lose 10, 12 pounds of body weight just from sweating and working out. Now that's 4% or 5% of their body weight, and we want to make sure that they get that back before they get to the next practice. So checking your body weight before and after strenuous activity is a good idea. as long as you're checking the weight with wearing the same clothing. If you're wearing a hoodie and shoes before practice and then after you're wearing a swimsuit, that's going to affect the body weight. So you want to be wearing roughly the same amount of weight when you weigh yourself.
00:45:21
Speaker 2: There's Dr. Robert Flannery of Houston Methodist. It's the official health care provider of the Houston Texans. Houston Methodist, leading medicine. All right, that's going to do it for the show. Plenty more tomorrow as we set you up for Texans Bengals. Don't fret about the injury situation.
00:45:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough.
00:45:36
Speaker 2: All teams are dealing with things and are going to all throughout the year. Depth is the key here, and the Texans do have a lot, so we'll see how they handle the situation on Sunday. A lot more about that in the Friday evening program. Thursday Night Football is next. Thanks so much for listening.
00:45:51
Speaker 3: Go Texans!
Speaker 1: Hello, Texans.
00:00:00
Speaker 2: Welcome to the show as we are in game week mode always, and especially on a Thursday night when less than three days, less than 72 hours.
00:00:08
Speaker 3: How many hours is it, Johnny? How many hours is it till we kick off? It's 72 minus six, right?
00:00:14
Speaker 1: 72 minus six.
00:00:15
Speaker 2: That would be 66 hours away from kickoff with the Cincinnati Bengals on International Day at Reliant Stadium.
00:00:22
Speaker 3: Noon kick.
00:00:23
Speaker 1: Be there.
00:00:23
Speaker 2: It's not Liberty White Day. That was last week. So I guess it's wear whatever you want to wear day. Wear that rivalries gear. Wear the deep steel dark. Wear whatever you want to wear as long as it's battle red, deep steel blue, liberty white, and get in there and support your Texans against a Bengals team that is feeling very good about themselves, relatively, because they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and forced four turnovers. And we'll talk about all of it with the general, John McClain, the Hall of Famer, joining us right now.
00:00:51
Speaker 3: General, good evening.
00:00:53
Speaker 4: Good evening. Before we get started, I'd like to. Point out a really good story Jonathan Alexander did in the Chronicle today that's on their website as well, on Hannah McNair. And he did a great job. And I would recommend to any Texans fans, you don't even have to be a Texans fan, just you could be a People fan and read Jonathan's story on Hannah. It's very insightful.
00:01:19
Speaker 3: I like that. I like that a lot.
00:01:20
Speaker 4: Very much.
00:01:21
Speaker 5: Jonathan's done a really good job with those behind-the-scenes stories.
00:01:25
Speaker 1: With their chronology. There's no question about that.
00:01:26
Speaker 5: General, we know that you like to take a second, third, sometimes even a fourth look back at the game from the previous week. When you went back and you watched it, was there anything that stood out to you in a rewatch that maybe you didn't catch the first time, maybe a concern or something that maybe people were talking about as a concern, but you're not because you watched the game? Was there anything that stood out from Bill's Texans when you went back and rewatched it, the times that you did?
00:01:50
Speaker 4: First of all, Stroud played really well. And I've seen some people trying to blame the last fumble by him, the strip sack on Koston in the game, which is BS. Trent Brown crossed him the game when he got bulldozed by Greg Rousseau for that strip sack. You know, last year people weren't blaming Josh Allen. When he got sacked eight times by the Texans, they're blaming the offensive line. And I know overall the line did better. And one of the reasons the average per carry wasn't better than it was, they ran the ball in so many short yardage situations. Second and one, third and one, fourth and one. And they get just enough. So there were a lot of carries for zero, one or two yards because of the situation. And the average per carry would have been a lot better. And it's just too bad the right side of the line including Ed Ingram, who gave up a sack. Trent Brown also had that false start. I thought they were going to win the game when they got to the nine-yard line. And I thought Stroud bringing him right behind four times and scoring touchdowns on four out of five trips to the red zone, which, as you guys know, was a huge problem last year. So, as a fan, people should be very, very happy with the way the offense operated, except for that last and then the defense left all of us flabbergasted. Now they've got injuries. They've lost Henry Toa Toa. I don't know if anybody else is out. I went back and watched that, and Kamari Lester will never have another game like that. I look at him to bounce back big time. Reed Blankenship, I don't know what to expect. The guy gave up too many completions, and the running back, Run defense was good. It was better than it was last year when they beat them here in primetime. And so I expect they will shut down the Bengals run. And I think the offense will continue to play well. And I'm sure the defense is going to play better. And they ought to beat the Bengals in this game. And as I'm sitting here tonight thinking about it, you know, the only bad thing I saw on special teams was the field position by the Bills was way too good. And I know Frank Ross was not happy about that. And Kai Kroger, two punts to the four-yard line, and the defense gives up two 96-yard touchdown drives. Kroger was fantastic. He's been fantastic ever since they got rid of Stonehouse. And Kami Farabant, of course, with his 58-yard field goal. That was just a tough game to lose. Had a chance to win at the end. And I think we're going to see them in those situations win many more games than they're going to lose.
00:04:52
Speaker 3: All right, General.
00:04:53
Speaker 2: Last time, and I hope it never comes to this again or this week or ever, but last time C.J. Stroud did not have Nico Collins, or it wasn't the last time because the last time was in the playoffs, but last year there was a game with the 49ers coming off that loss to Seattle on Monday Night Football. No Christian Kirk, no Nico Collins at the time. Those were your top two guys. But C.J. throws for 318. Two touchdowns. Quarterback rating 106. Texans beat the 49ers. And they did have.
00:05:22
Speaker 3: Xavier Hutchinson, who had five catches. Knoll had five.
00:05:25
Speaker 2: And Higgins was good in that game with four catches and a touchdown.
00:05:28
Speaker 3: Obviously, you don't have Higgins now.
00:05:30
Speaker 2: But your thoughts on them putting things together with whoever is available on Sunday to catch a pass for C.J.
00:05:37
Speaker 4: I've always thought good quarterbacks make receivers. And because it doesn't matter who the receiver is, if the ball's not where it's supposed to be, when it's supposed to be, you know, that is very difficult. And if Niko's out with a hamstring injury, I think we'll see more Jalen Noll. He had that great 35-yard catch and run in which Woody Marks had a terrific block, clearing block on that play, Hutchinson. We've seen him enough to know when he gets his opportunities, he'll take advantage of them. Wouldn't be surprised Jared Wayne, see him catch two or three passes, and it's time. Keyshawn Booty has been here long enough to know enough of the offense to be able to contribute. He had the 21-yard catch. He was close to one on the sideline, but he was out of bounds, and I think we'll see more of him. I also think We know Woody Marks is a good receiver. David Montgomery is a good receiver. It's just because he scores so many touchdowns that they didn't use him in that role. Troy, because they had Jameer Gibbs. So I see Marks and Montgomery getting catches. I see, of course, Dalton Schultz will get catches. I'd like to see more of Marlon Klein after his one catch. And Foster Moreau, he had one. A couple. And so I think that the ball will be spread around. I think the running game will be even more effective than it was, and I think the Texans will win the game.
00:07:10
Speaker 5: General, at that point, the offense has got one big, massive problem. figuratively and literally right in the middle of the Bengals' defense, that being Sexy Dexy, a.k.a. Dexter Lawrence. The last time we saw Lawrence, he was with the Giants, and he was tackling our running backs with offensive linemen, and now he's with the Bengals.
00:07:31
Speaker 1: And the Bengals have made some changes. They added Brian Crook at safety.
00:07:34
Speaker 5: They've made some changes up front, but the biggest one was Dexter Lawrence. How big, no pun intended, I guess, is this issue for them with Dexter Lawrence on the inside?
00:07:45
Speaker 4: Well, let's look at those two tackles that they just played against. And Oliver, first-round pick, who was the 6'7 guy?
00:07:53
Speaker 1: Oh, Deion Walker.
00:07:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, Deion Walker. He played great. And so both of those tackles, so if you're going against them, you should be able to know that you're going to have to double-team Dexter Lawrence. Now, Lawrence didn't have a good season last year. I know there were people saying, oh, the Texans need to trade for him. Well, why? You know, he didn't do squad last year. He was heard. Some people said he was mad at his contract. But the year before, he was fantastic. So are we going to get the Lawrence from last year? I'm guessing not because he's got to be pumped up about playing for the Bengals. The Bengals are 1-0. But I think they will use two guys on him. They will not try to double team. I think they won't have to double team the other guys, but you've got to make sure Lawrence is not disruptive because when he's on, that's what he is, disruptive.
00:08:50
Speaker 2: All right, so what do you think of Joe Burrow here and a possible banged-up Joe Burrow? He's certainly not going to be 100%, but what do you think of this attack, the way the Bengals have put it together? You have nightmares all over the place, although Chase and Higgins only combined for five catches last week in the victory over the Buccaneers. Four turnovers does help when you get those, but what are your thoughts, General, on Joe Burrow and the high-flying Cincinnati Bengals passing game?
00:09:13
Speaker 4: Well, I don't think for an instant Joe Burrow is going to be affected physically by the game. The last time the Texans played against him in Cincinnati, he was healthy and they beat him. So now they're playing against him again. The Bengals have better wide receivers than the Bills do. The Bills have better tight ends. And Dalton Kincaid, who didn't play in last season's game, or Ed Oliver for that matter, Kincaid just killed him. And so the Texans have to know that the Bengals are going to try some kind of similar strategy, try to get re-blanketship in coverage. And I can't imagine they say, okay, we're going to go after number three, because if they do, they'll pay for it. And I think... this, the passing game, will be really good for the Bengals. They got a chance to go 2-0. Last year, Burrow was hurt for about half the season. And if he's healthy and if he plays, they're a contender, a contender to win that division, which right now, is there's three really good teams. Two, I think, are contenders. I don't count the Steelers. And then, of course, the Browns are a contender for the first pick in the draft. But the Texans need to win this game. I thought they'd be 3-1 to start the season. I wasn't sure who they were going to lose to. Maybe the Bengals, because I thought they'd beat the Bills. But they need to come back and show everybody Locally and around the country, this defense is still as good as there is or better.
00:10:52
Speaker 5: Two questions, John. Number one, do you put chili on your spaghetti? Number two, as you went through the league this week, if I gave you a buck, it's the dollar bet. You got to put it on the best team that you saw in week one.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: Who would it be?
00:11:07
Speaker 4: The Bears. The Bears were tremendous. I thought the biggest upset was Arizona at the Chargers. The game that surprised me was you lose your starting quarterback on the first series. You bring in a backup, Carson Wentz. He throws three touchdown passes. The Vikings blew out the Packers. The NFC North, top to bottom, is the best division in the NFL. But the Bears' performance, 59 points, right after– Ben Johnson said they want to be the highest scoring team in the league, which would require them to average 38 points, and they certainly are averaging a lot more than that. But I still don't understand at all Arizona with first-year coach Mike Fleur going into the Chargers and beating Jim Harbaugh who won his last seven openers. That week that he called, said Justin Herbert will be the greatest quarterback in the National Football League history, which is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
00:12:15
Speaker 3: It's going to hurt his khaki pants campaign, by the way.
00:12:17
Speaker 1: Okay, wait a second. You put chili on spaghetti like they do in Cincinnati?
00:12:21
Speaker 4: Absolutely I don't put chili on spaghetti. I think that's the most overrated dish I've ever had. I remember Brett Coomer and I went and tried it a few years ago, and we tried to like it. It was just The fact that it was so weird to do it. Now, I love the Montgomery Inn barbecue. It's as good as anything I've ever had here. Wow. Putting chili on the spaghetti makes me want to vomit.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: Okay, I got one for both of you.
00:12:52
Speaker 3: I think Montgomery Inn is good, too. I don't know if it's as good as anything here.
00:12:57
Speaker 1: We went to Montgomery in one year.
00:12:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, we definitely did. I've been there a couple of times in my life. Go on.
00:13:02
Speaker 1: Okay, this is for both of you guys.
00:13:04
Speaker 6: All right.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: Okay, it's sizzle fire time. It's hot take time.
00:13:06
Speaker 3: Hot take time.
00:13:07
Speaker 5: Okay, so John, you know how the rating goes, but I'm going to read you some numbers first.
00:13:11
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: Okay?
00:13:13
Speaker 5: Last eight regular season games, quarterback has a record of 8-0. That's first in the league. Yards per game, 263. That's fifth in the league.
00:13:23
Speaker 3: Oh, I know where you're going.
00:13:24
Speaker 5: Passing touchdowns, that's 22. That's first in the league. Rushing touchdowns, four. That's second in the league. Passer rating of 114.3. That's first over those eight last regular season games.
00:13:38
Speaker 1: Here's my hot take. Rate it. One through five. Get your sizzle fires ready. Mark, you go first.
00:13:45
Speaker 5: John, you got a chance to think about it. Trevor Lawrence is a top three quarterback in the NFL.
00:13:50
Speaker 3: Four.
00:13:52
Speaker 1: Really?
00:13:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no way.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: Those numbers.
00:13:55
Speaker 3: Numbers, schmumbers.
00:13:56
Speaker 4: Okay.
00:13:57
Speaker 3: Beat Denver this week again impressively.
00:13:59
Speaker 4: And then?
00:14:00
Speaker 3: And I'll start climbing. Top three?
00:14:02
Speaker 1: Top three, Johnny. Top three.
00:14:03
Speaker 3: How many general managers are taking Trevor Lawrence?
00:14:06
Speaker 6: A lot.
00:14:06
Speaker 3: A lot. You open up the entire league of quarterbacks to draft.
00:14:11
Speaker 4: A lot.
00:14:12
Speaker 1: Top three? There are a lot. All right.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: Well, that's a good discussion. Anyway, General, what are your thoughts? What do you think, General?
00:14:19
Speaker 4: He's had one great season and one great game against a horrible team. I'd say a five.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: Oh, he went all the way to five.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: He went all the way to five. Now, beating Denver last year at Denver was good. General, are you phased if he beats Denver this weekend? Do you change that if he's really good against that defense?
00:14:36
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, if we see Josh Allen... tonight in a few minutes. I think he's the best quarterback in the NFL. Lamar Jackson looked fantastic in their game. And then I have a hard time putting him over Joe Burrow. And then if you look around the NFC, who do we think is the best quarterback in the NFC? Stafford. He had a bad game, but I would put Stafford over him. I would put him in the top five. I would not put him in the top three, and that's just for this season.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: Fair enough. Fair enough.
00:15:16
Speaker 4: I think we need to judge him with Liam Cohen. And Liam Cohen has done a great job there. He is now 14-4 in regular season. But yet Ben Johnson gets all the credit of those two coaches that came in last year. I think Cohen's done just as good a job as Ben Johnson.
00:15:35
Speaker 2: That's why living in Jacksonville, it's good and bad. You stay out of the line of fire with the national media, but you don't get the praise. It takes a long time for them to catch up. So we'll cross that Jacksonville bridge problem when we get to it, General. They're going to be at Denver this week. That'll be interesting to see what happens to the Broncos after the Monday night loss to the Chiefs. But speaking of the Chiefs, they have the Colts on Sunday night football, so back-to-back primetime games for them. And the Colts general, Houston, plays at Indy next week. Texans tried to avoid 0-2 up there, and so were the Colts trying to avoid going 0-2 into that matchup. Are the Colts that bad as they displayed against the Ravens, or are the Ravens that good, or somewhere in between?
00:16:16
Speaker 4: Boy, well, the easy thing is to say somewhere in between, but they did not look good. They didn't look like the team that went 8-2 when Daniel Jones was healthy last season. It wasn't Jonathan Taylor. I think he had almost 100 yards, but it was a big disappointment for them to play that way. Wouldn't surprise me if they start 0-2. And, boy, I think they need to win because the odds are with the Texans coming up there, they're not going to start 0-3. So I think, of course, the Texans need to pull for the Chiefs, but I think the Colts are desperate because if they start 0-2, and I sit there and say this, The Texans finished 0-3, started 0-3 last year, and then won 12 games. So they'll be an example for every team that gets off to a bad start. Remember what D'Amico Rice and the Texans did last year, and they did. They overcame a lot of obstacles, physical, where they had a lot of injuries. But Daniel Jones, I don't think he needs to bounce back, show everybody he's the real deal because he's been so inconsistent in his career. But I'm going to say that the Colts are going to bounce back and beat the Chiefs.
00:17:31
Speaker 5: General, let's say the Jaguars do go and beat the Broncos in Denver for the second time in, I don't know, seven, eight.
00:17:38
Speaker 3: Months, whatever it was. You're really stuck with this Jacksonville thing.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: Well, no. All right, go on. No, but it's more about the Broncos.
00:17:43
Speaker 6: Okay.
00:17:44
Speaker 5: If the Jaguars go in and throttle the Broncos, that would be a loss on the road. They got throttled by the Chiefs on Monday Night Football. Then the Jaguars come in and throttle them. Look, I know that Texas went 0-3 last year, but starting 0-2, especially against two good teams and you don't look good, how much is the panic meter going up in Denver if Denver doesn't get it done against Jacksonville for the second consecutive year?
00:18:05
Speaker 4: There will be a panic meter because they're supposed to have a great defense. Number two, to the Texans, they let it fill in sacks last year and they didn't do anything right against the Chiefs. Sean Payton's a great coach, and we all know that. What are the odds that he's going to start 0-2 Because they do have a great defense. Their running game is better. But if the Chiefs beat them, I think that people are going to start talking about Jaguars are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. And the Broncos are going to be out of it for a while. But I just don't see Sean Payton losing two in a row.
00:18:49
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm going to throw up after you said Jaguars Super Bowl contender. But we have to acknowledge that possibility. And before we get to them in London, after Denver, the Jags have the Patriots at home, the Bengals on the road, the Eagles at home, and then London with the Houston Texans.
00:19:04
Speaker 4: First place schedule.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: I mentioned crossing that Jacksonville Bridge. We won't be crossing a bridge. We'll be flying over the ocean.
00:19:10
Speaker 3: So.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: Let's get to this because the Jags did beat Cleveland to open the season.
00:19:15
Speaker 3: And boy, I would have loved to play Cleveland this past week.
00:19:18
Speaker 2: But general, as an esteemed longtime member of the media, are your expectations for Deshaun Watson to throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns every week? Like he says, the media wants him to or expects him to.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: Thoughts? I thought it was 500 yards. Did he say 400?
00:19:33
Speaker 2: I thought it was 400. Maybe it was 405 touchdowns. It was a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns.
00:19:38
Speaker 3: Put it that way. More than we would expect.
00:19:41
Speaker 4: I think they would like for him to throw two touchdowns and maybe 200 yards, just don't turn the ball over. And that just shows you how toned down he is. watson's got saying stuff like that he hates the media they hate him why he's starting i don't know shadur sanders needs the experience unless they are geniuses and they had this this uh plan to get the first pick in the draft So you put your worst quarterback out there, you let him play, and you let him lose. Now, I hope he plays well enough to where he's going to get to start in Cleveland because those fans are going to eviscerate him. And so that would be something next week to closely follow or to sugar Sanders start. I don't like anything about the way they're handling that situation. They are a legitimate– for the first overall pick, which they want to be. Arizona's supposed to be. I don't think they're going to go win any more games like they did Sunday. And the Jets, we don't know about the Jets because the Titans don't even look like a legitimate NFL team, and the Jets beat them. In Nashville, right now, the worst team in the league, Tennessee Titans.
00:20:55
Speaker 1: Oh, that's music to my ears, General.
00:20:57
Speaker 5: During the offseason, Kansas City Chiefs paid a lot of money to bring Kenneth Walker to the Chiefs, and I remember... We sat in the studio, we chopped it up, we chopped it up with you, and we're like, yeah, it's Andy Reid. We'll see if he sticks to a run game. Well, Andy Reid said, hold my beer, because he decided to hand Kenneth Walker all night, so I'll just make this one really simple, General.
00:21:16
Speaker 1: Are the Chiefs back? Are you buying the Chiefs?
00:21:20
Speaker 4: I'm buying the Chiefs' potential to win the division and make the playoffs as a Super Bowl contender or not at this point. They've got problems up front, and obviously they've solved that running back problem if Kenneth Walker Jr. can stay healthy, and it's interesting because the Seahawks didn't even try to keep him, and there are other talkbacks, Charbonnet, is it Charbonnet or Charbonnet, Zach Charbonnet, he's out with a knee injury, so they're depending on Zarian Price, a rookie, and they did win, but it was close, and I believe that Walker picked right up where he left off when he was Super Bowl MVP. You don't see many Super Bowl MVPs gone the next year, but he looked great. Obviously, the Chiefs offensive line better run blockers than they are pass protectors.
00:22:10
Speaker 1: Yes, very true.
00:22:12
Speaker 2: General, let's talk Hall of Fame now. 25 voters, that's what they've cut the list to. A lot of big names are not voting, and you are one of them. And you're in the Hall of Fame. You are already in Canton. How is this for you? Take us through the journey of this happening a little bit.
00:22:31
Speaker 3: Your thoughts.
00:22:32
Speaker 4: First of all, three years ago, Deion Sanders raised a lot of cane about the committee was putting too many people in the Hall of Fame and there should be an upper tier. And so a lot of Hall of Famers joined Deion and complained. So they changed the bylaws. The Hall did. The committee had nothing to do with it. Changed the bylaws to make it harder to get in. So they said it had nothing to do with Dion. So then, to make it harder to get in, Bill Belichick doesn't get in. Lombardi didn't get in on the first ballot, neither did Tom Landry. So they made it harder. Belichick didn't get in. Everybody went ballistic, and they've taken a blowtorch to the bylaws, and they reduced the committee from 50 to 25 voting members. There will be three alternates who are non-voting. And I have no problem with them dumping me because I did it 33 years, and it was a privilege to do it and represent eight players who are in the Hall of Fame, including Andre Johnson, the first Texan. But there's not going to be any representatives of cities. If I was still on the committee, I would not rep Houston, the Oilers, or the Texans. And even worse is there's no more– Presentation. So if Andre was up this year, let's say JJ, two years, JJ's up, a person from the Hall of Fame will read his stats for two minutes and his accolades, and then they'll throw it open to the floor. There'll be no presentation, nobody fighting for him, no lead person to take the bull by the horns like I would have been. And so it used to be you'd make your five-minute presentation and Then they would throw it open to the floor. And so I worked hard on Andre for three years. He made it to third year. I would have done everything I could for J.J., although J.J., he's going to be a first ballot. And if I wrote that committee, I'm not going to work that hard for all the other finalists. They got rid of the senior category, got rid of the seniors, lump all seniors, like Billy White Shoes Johnson from the Oilers, lump all seniors in. and with the modern era finalists, which none of us liked it. None of us liked any of these changes on the committee, and we said so. And the other thing, there's no senior category. Roger Craig, the great 49ers running back, may be the last senior ever elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame because all these guys are coming out with great stats. We tried hard not to have recency bias. because there's so many from the past that deserve it. Members of the all 75-year anniversary team, 50-year anniversary, all decade. They never even got to be finalists and talked in the room. And so I wish the people who are good friends of mine, but people that got cut, there were a lot of them with a lot of experience. And all the fame should be about experience. Paul Karsky, from Nashville, figured up there's more than 333 years lopped off the committee, 333 years on the committee. So I just, I don't like anything about the way, what they've done, but it's their prerogative to do what they want. And Bill Belichick will get in on the second ballot and they'll all sing hallelujah.
00:26:02
Speaker 2: You think that some of the names who were eliminated are responsible for Belichick not getting in?
00:26:07
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just kind of strange.
00:26:08
Speaker 4: No, they leaked out that he was one vote short. There were 50 on the committee. If 11 said no, then somebody didn't get 80 percent of the votes. So 39 of us could have voted yes.
00:26:20
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
00:26:21
Speaker 4: And then we were all lopped in together. because we're on the same committee. Most people have no clue about the rules. They asked me if I wanted to serve on another committee, and I said, no, thank you, because I didn't want to be part of the group that lopped it off from 125 to 50. They wouldn't even tell us who's on that committee. We know it's a bunch of Hall of Famers. They released Bill Pulliam, and they released Tony Dungy, And James Lofton, I'm told, resigned. Don't know if he was asked to come back. And they're all in the Hall of Fame. And some of the guys that were cut did everything they could to not just help people they represented or teams they represented, but others as well. And anyway, I hope it works out the way the Pro Football Hall of Fame wants it to. I'll still go back. I've been there 50 times. I love the people there. They're great. They gave me that opportunity to go behind the scenes where the door knock on Andre Johnson's house. I wrote a humongous thing for the Texans website about it. So they let me go in the middle of the night through the Hall of Fame at two in the morning one time. Nobody had ever done that. And I wrote a column about how different it was to go at two in the morning. So they treated me great. They just didn't want me on their committee anymore. And I didn't ask. I didn't ask why.
00:27:49
Speaker 3: All right.
00:27:49
Speaker 2: Well, you're in the Hall of Fame, and you're our Hall of Famer, and we appreciate you very much, John.
00:27:54
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for visiting, as always.
00:27:55
Speaker 4: Guys, thank you very much, as always, and good luck to the Texans against the Bengals.
00:28:01
Speaker 3: Luck has nothing to do with it. All right. Maybe a little luck would be good. Could use a little luck. Not going to deny it. It is part of sports.
00:28:07
Speaker 6: Okay.
00:28:08
Speaker 2: Johnny Harris answers rapid fire. We'll just go hurry up offense with questions next, including what about the receiving group? What needs to be done? Joe Burrow.
00:28:18
Speaker 3: Other games going on this weekend.
00:28:20
Speaker 2: We've got a lot to do before the close of business tonight and in advance of Thursday night football. It's Texans Radio. Moving on here in the Hyundai Texans Radio studio, Mark Vandermeer and John Harris with you as we get into it for week two, Bengals, Sunday noon, 9 a.m. with Texans Countdown presented by Modelo Especial. And the gang will be ready to rock from Reliance Stadium. Can't wait for this international day. Like I said yesterday, wear what you want to wear.
00:28:48
Speaker 3: This is not.
00:28:49
Speaker 2: Battle Red, Liberty White, Deep Steel Blue. It's whatever you want to wear on Sunday.
00:28:54
Speaker 3: I like that. Okay.
00:28:55
Speaker 2: I think I said that in the first segment, too. Anyway, Johnny, let's get to questions for Johnny. Rapid, fire, quickie. I mean, not that rapid, but we're going to move through these fairly quickly here.
00:29:05
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:29:05
Speaker 2: And I've got a few either-ors and more likely to happen type questions and who you got type questions. I'm going to start right here. If with no Nico, if with. No, Nico.
00:29:17
Speaker 3: Give me the leading pass catcher for the Houston Texans.
00:29:24
Speaker 1: Going Dalton Schultz. Receptions.
00:29:27
Speaker 3: I like this. Receptions. Yeah.
00:29:29
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about yards here.
00:29:30
Speaker 3: I'm talking about receptions.
00:29:32
Speaker 1: Well, I was going to go yards, Jalen Knoll.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:29:36
Speaker 1: I was going to go receptions, to old Schultz.
00:29:38
Speaker 3: I think that's a good one.
00:29:39
Speaker 2: Schultz last year in the game with no Nico and no Higgins two catches and CJ threw for 318 in this game. X led the way with five. Knoll had five, though. It was a three-way tie. X, Knoll, Berrios. Braxton, where are you now? Where is he now, by the way?
00:29:54
Speaker 1: Giants.
00:29:55
Speaker 4: Okay, good for you.
00:29:55
Speaker 1: Well, the last I remember, he was with the Giants.
00:29:57
Speaker 3: And the Alex Earl reunion never happened.
00:29:59
Speaker 1: Apparently not.
00:30:00
Speaker 3: I don't think so. So too bad for him, or maybe just he's just fine.
00:30:03
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think kind of good for him, the more I see.
00:30:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, probably right, actually. But yards, it was close. It was Hutchinson with 69, Knoll with 63. The world changes. I might go X in this one as well. I just think he's so handy.
00:30:17
Speaker 3: He might have more catches than anybody, but we'll see how they put it all together, and we'll talk more about that manana.
00:30:23
Speaker 2: Okay, next one. Chase Brown, running back for the Bengals. You are familiar with his work. Johnny, people are hearing about Chase Brown. Everyone knew about James Cook last week, led the league in rushing last year. But here we have Chase Brown, and he could be a big problem.
00:30:37
Speaker 3: Give me a comp. Give me who Chase Brown is. Describe Chase Brown to the listeners.
00:30:42
Speaker 5: Chase Brown is like the hamster on a hamster wheel with muscles because he is relentless. He never stops. He is strong as an ox, but he just goes and goes and goes and goes and goes and goes. He's just going to keep pounding the rock, and he's compact, so he doesn't take a lot of big shots. He'll deliver them because he is an explosive runner that way. But he gets overshadowed because, well, it's the Joe Burrow offense. And there's Jamar Chase. Oh, Chase and Higgins are the best receiving duo. And then there's Mike Gasicki. Chase Brown ends up being number four or five on the list. And that's an absolute shame. I remember when the Bengals drafted him, I thought, ooh, I could see that developing because of what they like in their running backs. I mean, you think of the guys they've had over the years. they're built differently, but they run similarly. He can catch the ball in the backfield. Joe Mixon can catch the ball in the backfield. Joe ran hard. Joe was much bigger than Chase Brown, but Chase runs it hard. He gets to his spots. He gets north and south really quickly. And if you don't bring a full-on 100% tackle, he's going to break through that, and he's going to embarrass you if you do that. So he's the kind of guy that defensive players don't love facing because on play one– In play 31, he's going to be the same effort, the same intensity each and every time.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: Okay. Good description, Chase Brown. I like it.
00:32:14
Speaker 1: All right.
00:32:14
Speaker 2: The Texans did not blitz much last week, did not send extra people much after the quarterback. The Bengals watched what the Bills did, and they had the DiCaprio meme going, pointing at the TV.
00:32:25
Speaker 4: Oh, look, wait.
00:32:26
Speaker 3: Wait, they protected him. Yeah.
00:32:28
Speaker 2: It's possible against this defense with Will and Daniil on the edges. Clowney, too, doing some stuff. He had a sack. But you tell me, will the Texans send extra people more this week? Will they take some chances, gamble, whether it's Petrie or somebody else? Aziz coming up the gap. Are they going to blitz more?
00:32:45
Speaker 1: Well, it depends.
00:32:48
Speaker 5: I think it depends on their level of comfort with whoever plays that linebacker spot opposite of Z's.
00:32:52
Speaker 1: I'm thinking Jake Hansen. And I know they trust Jake. Jake can run. He can move. He's very smart.
00:32:58
Speaker 5: So I think it has to do kind of with how they feel about the cover guys. Look, Kamari and Sting, Higgins and Jamar Chase. So if you're going to blitz, you're probably playing man. How do you match up with Gesicki? Do you feel good about that matchup with Gesicki? Do you put Kalen on Gesicki? Because Kalen's probably a better cover guy, but then you lose his range in the middle of the field. To me, it all depends on whether they feel comfortable, how the game is going, with A, what the Bengals are doing. How many people the Bengals are putting out in a route? Are they protecting with just five? If they're protecting with just five, then our four have got to win. But if they're using backs and tight ends to stay... then, yeah, you might bring an extra guy. You might feel good about bringing maybe even two, depending on what you're doing. But I do think they're going to kind of play it by ear early. How are the Bengals going to protect?
00:33:52
Speaker 1: Let's see. Do they want to get four and five out in a row?
00:33:54
Speaker 5: You'd love to. But that might not be something you can do. And I think the Bills found that out. They couldn't put five guys out in a row.
00:34:00
Speaker 1: Couldn't do it.
00:34:00
Speaker 5: Because you feel like you put five in a row, you feel a lot better because you've got a lot more options, especially for a veteran quarterback. You put five in a row, those two are going to eat. They're going to face two big, hulking tackles and that they're going to beat with their speed and their quickness. But I think that you'll see Chase Brown chip. I think you'll see Gasicki at times stay in. I think you'll see some 12 personnel where Gasicki will go on a route, but the other tight end will stay in with Chase Brown to block, and they'll have just three in a route, and they're going to get those three to win. So the Texans have got to at some point bring extra people to speed up Joe Burrow.
00:34:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's tough, man. He's so accurate. You give him time to throw even with only three in the route. That could be a problem for the Texans.
00:34:39
Speaker 2: We'll be watching the chess match on Sunday. Okay, more questions for Johnny here. We were talking about Justin Herbert a little bit in the first segment, but Trevor Lawrence more specifically. And Johnny, when we talk about who would you take and this kind of stuff, the whole world would have taken Herbert over Lawrence. for many years. Has it changed yet? And I know you might change your opinion. You think others have as well. Look, head-to-head playoff game. Lawrence won it. Last year, big head-to-head. The Chargers were destroyed by the Jaguars last year. And now you have Herbert opening with that whatever it was against the Cardinals performance. And if Lawrence goes into Denver this week and looks good, ouch, this could be a big problem for the Justin Herbert lover's other than Madison herself, but you tell me, where is this going?
00:35:32
Speaker 5: Well, what it's seemingly doing is it's going the way of the draft report, because the draft report for Herbert in 20, I think I had him at number 14, and I felt like he was a project. I felt like Trevor was more ready-made to come into the league in 2021, and then he got stuck with that Urban Meyer situation, and Doug comes in, and he's riding a roller coaster, but now, He's got some stability. He's got some good weapons. And he's starting to throw it. I watched that game the other night with the Browns, and I was just like, wow, that throw. Oh, man, that throw.
00:36:08
Speaker 1: He looks good.
00:36:09
Speaker 5: Now, the Browns couldn't generate pass rush pressure, but even when they did, he delivered the ball really well. Now, against us, and sometimes you have that team that you just can't play well against, and Trevor's had his struggles against us. Now, at 23, the game here, with the ball off the crossbar, he had a really good game. We broke down in man coverage a number of times. He took advantage of it. But he hasn't had great games, even last year. They put up 29 points, but not a lot of that was because of him. The earlier game, week three, he made that throw to Brian Thomas.
00:36:43
Speaker 1: We blew coverage. He didn't do a ton in those games, but.
00:36:47
Speaker 5: It's what he did those last eight games, or last seven games, plus that game he had the other day against the Browns. I almost discount that because it's the Browns. And I know the Browns' defense was not good.
00:36:58
Speaker 1: It looked bad. It looked really bad.
00:37:03
Speaker 5: But Trevor's taken those strides to go above Herbert, where I think it's more, hey, where people were like, oh, it's Jacksonville.
00:37:10
Speaker 1: Oh, he's underrated.
00:37:11
Speaker 4: No, no, no.
00:37:12
Speaker 5: Trevor's legit. He's absolutely legit. Now, I asked earlier, you and McClain, I said, top three, that was the hot take. Is he the top three? And you guys were four and five. Yeah, I think that's definitely a hot take because– Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, you know, any of those guys you're taking ahead of him.
00:37:30
Speaker 1: But he definitely has gotten into the top five, top seven picture without a doubt.
00:37:34
Speaker 5: And to me, he is ahead of wherever Herbert is.
00:37:37
Speaker 1: Not even close.
00:37:38
Speaker 2: The year is young. He had a good year last year. Liam Cohn might be the real deal. Did I tell you I talked to Liam Cohn at the owner's meetings about UMass background?
00:37:45
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:37:45
Speaker 3: Because he's the quarterback there.
00:37:46
Speaker 1: That's right.
00:37:46
Speaker 2: It's very cool to catch up with him about that. Anyway, more questions for Johnny. McClain picked the Colts over the Chiefs. Is he crazy or is he crazy like a fox?
00:37:57
Speaker 5: Well, I can't figure out. I'd like the Colts to lose, I think. I'm pretty sure I want the Colts to lose. No, we want the Colts to lose.
00:38:07
Speaker 3: Yes, every AFC South. I don't care if they're 0-2, they're going to be mad. I don't care. Let them lose.
00:38:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, let them lose.
00:38:12
Speaker 3: We played them at both 0-3 in 2018, and we beat them to go to 1-3. They were 0-4, right? Right, right. And they still beat us in the playoffs that year. Yuck.
00:38:25
Speaker 1: Exactly.
00:38:25
Speaker 3: But I'll take 0-2 for the Colts, please.
00:38:27
Speaker 5: I feel like watching that team the other day against the Ravens.
00:38:31
Speaker 1: And look, the Ravens are very good.
00:38:35
Speaker 5: I think the Colts will bounce back and play with more effort, more juice, I would think. But that looks like a team that's teetering. That's teetering on the, you know, if the Chiefs could kick them in the teeth.
00:38:48
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:38:48
Speaker 1: You know, and then hopefully we can go in there and do the same.
00:38:51
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:38:52
Speaker 1: That that team is like, nah.
00:38:53
Speaker 3: We could see Jeff Saturday back before halfway point. Yes. Just kidding.
00:38:58
Speaker 1: I'd be all about it.
00:38:59
Speaker 5: But I just feel like that Colts team, it feels like it's a Colts team that needs something good to happen. They need something good to kind of get any kind of confidence, and I don't know where that comes from. Maybe it comes from JT. They did run the ball all right with JT. It was about the only thing they did. Defensively, they didn't stop the run. They didn't stop the pass. They couldn't throw it exceptionally well. Really, they could run it with JT, and that needs to be their identity. We're going to run JT 20 to 25 times and hope that play action off of this.
00:39:29
Speaker 1: I mean, Tyler Ward.
00:39:30
Speaker 5: Should be a big factor in those kind of games he really didn't do anything um every time they threw to him it was like for two yards and the Ravens tackle him right there the receivers don't scare you so from that standpoint I don't I just can't see the Colts going in Other than if the Chiefs just completely step all over themselves, Kenneth Walker fumbles the ball. I just can't see the Chiefs losing that game to Indianapolis with what I saw from both teams this past weekend.
00:39:58
Speaker 3: The Chiefs looked so well coached in the Monday night over Denver.
00:40:02
Speaker 1: They stuck to the run. They stuck to the run.
00:40:04
Speaker 2: When you're running a play that's 80 years old or whatever, you know that you've got some good things going on. Does Watson start next week versus Carolina? He's playing the Bucs this week on the road. Home opener next week. Does he start? Does he throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns?
00:40:20
Speaker 3: Does he start?
00:40:21
Speaker 1: No, the media is expecting him to do that, apparently. I mean, the self-awareness.
00:40:25
Speaker 4: My goodness.
00:40:27
Speaker 5: Is self-awareness a rating on Madden?
00:40:30
Speaker 3: Self-awareness.
00:40:31
Speaker 1: I mean, if it is, it's a zero.
00:40:32
Speaker 3: I like that.
00:40:33
Speaker 1: It's a zero.
00:40:34
Speaker 5: If this goes poorly, I don't think there's. I don't want to say there's not any way they can start. It's going to be a nightmare.
00:40:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, they can't start him.
00:40:42
Speaker 1: They can't. If this goes badly, they cannot start him.
00:40:45
Speaker 3: I've got to tell you what, though.
00:40:46
Speaker 1: Back at home in week three.
00:40:47
Speaker 3: Shadur must not be doing very well in practice.
00:40:48
Speaker 4: I guess.
00:40:49
Speaker 2: Because how do you not play him? This is not your future no matter what. You know it right now, even after week one. If he had exploded against the Jags, you'd have to do that to convince the Clevelanders.
00:40:59
Speaker 3: And I would think the organization itself, that he could be the answer.
00:41:02
Speaker 5: This is what happens when you don't make the right decision when you... know what the decision should be. And I present to you the 2023 Denver Broncos. When Sean Payton took over that job, what did he realize right away?
00:41:16
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson.
00:41:17
Speaker 1: Was not it.
00:41:18
Speaker 6: Yep.
00:41:18
Speaker 1: He knew Russell Wilson wasn't it. And he's like. Bite the bullet.
00:41:22
Speaker 3: Do it.
00:41:23
Speaker 5: Rip the Band-Aid off. We shouldn't have given this money, but we did. Rip the Band-Aid off. Take the hit money-wise, cap-wise. Yep.
00:41:30
Speaker 1: But we're not going with that.
00:41:32
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:41:32
Speaker 1: We're not going with it.
00:41:33
Speaker 5: Say what you will about Bo Nix, whatever. But they won since Sean Payton has been there. They won that year after going and getting Nix. Took the hit. Nix is on his rookie contract. We'll see whether he gets the big contract or not. Denver could be 0-2 this year as well. Denver knew what the decision had to be. Cleveland's known, and they won't do it. No, Denver got it right, but Bo Nix, is he the answer?
00:41:58
Speaker 3: Who knows?
00:41:59
Speaker 1: That we don't know yet.
00:41:59
Speaker 3: It's all a work in progress. It's the NFL. It's a beautiful thing. Very much.
00:42:03
Speaker 2: And we don't have very much show left, but we will get to the best of the day as the Texans practiced day two of practice for this prep week for the Cincinnati Bengals. This was the hard practice today. Tomorrow's going to be a fast Friday, walkthrough Saturday. Bengals, Texans, Sunday kickoff at noon. We will conclude the show next year with some final items, including Houston Methodist minutes. It's all coming up here on Texans All Access. Our final journey tonight.
00:42:31
Speaker 3: It's not a journey.
00:42:31
Speaker 2: It's a really short segment, actually, in advance of Thursday Night Football. But let's get to it here. Texans injury report. Here are the highlights or lowlights, however you want to look at them. Genevion Clowney, ouch. He's got a knee problem. So we'll find out what the game status report says tomorrow. But today, not exactly a go. So Nico Collins, that's the big story. With the hamstring injury reported yesterday, Did not practice. I am not optimistic about Sunday, of course, but hopefully it's not that serious. There was another report out there that said it's not that serious. Whatever that means, grade one, I don't know, but you got to go without Nico and find a way to get it done. We'll talk more about that tomorrow night. Also, Ed Ingram, groin problem. So this is interesting. If Ed can't go, does Wyatt Teller come up to replace him? Again, more on that tomorrow. But these are the highlights or lowlights of the Texans injury report. Now let's get to Houston Methodist Minutes with Dr. Robert Flannery. Our dehydration series continues. What about cramping? You see guys cramping up in football games all the time this time of year.
00:43:38
Speaker 3: You see it with your youth league as well. What's the deal? Talk about it, please, doctor.
00:43:43
Speaker 6: I think dehydration is a big part of it, but I've seen players get cramps in their you know, 32 degree weather when it's snowing. So you can get cramps. We don't really completely understand the mechanism of it. There is something to the excitation of the muscle fibers that causes them to cramp. But dehydration is also a big part of it. And so really, if you want to stay at your best, your body weight can decrease. play a part of this. I don't recommend checking your body weight every day unless you're doing some sort of strenuous activity. 2% of body mass loss can lead to decreases in performance. And so if you've got a 150-pound kid, it could be as little as three pounds can affect their performance and lead to decreased reaction time, slow recovery. and then ultimately muscle cramps. I've seen guys that are at practice in some of these pre-season camps lose 10, 12 pounds of body weight just from sweating and working out. Now that's 4% or 5% of their body weight, and we want to make sure that they get that back before they get to the next practice. So checking your body weight before and after strenuous activity is a good idea. as long as you're checking the weight with wearing the same clothing. If you're wearing a hoodie and shoes before practice and then after you're wearing a swimsuit, that's going to affect the body weight. So you want to be wearing roughly the same amount of weight when you weigh yourself.
00:45:21
Speaker 2: There's Dr. Robert Flannery of Houston Methodist. It's the official health care provider of the Houston Texans. Houston Methodist, leading medicine. All right, that's going to do it for the show. Plenty more tomorrow as we set you up for Texans Bengals. Don't fret about the injury situation.
00:45:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough.
00:45:36
Speaker 2: All teams are dealing with things and are going to all throughout the year. Depth is the key here, and the Texans do have a lot, so we'll see how they handle the situation on Sunday. A lot more about that in the Friday evening program. Thursday Night Football is next. Thanks so much for listening.
00:45:51
Speaker 3: Go Texans!
