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Speaker 1: What is up? Everybody?
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Speaker 2: Welcome into a Friday edition of Texans All Access from the Honday Texans Radio Studio. I'm your host, John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter, and we are less than forty eight hours away from a trip to Cincinnati against the Bengals. Twelve o'clock local time right here in Houston, one o'clock up in Cincinnati. If you're gonna be at the ball game, so make sure you're there at one o'clock. If you're there at twelve, then no great. You just get to see pregames.
00:00:26
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be a good trip.
00:00:29
Speaker 3: Hopefully.
00:00:29
Speaker 2: There's a lot of news going into this game, there's no question, and we're gonna hit all of that on the show. I'm gonna bring Mark Biden a little bit to talk to Demico Ryans. We're gonna talk to no No Brown. Almost come no Smith. I called the same Houston game last week and they had Noah Smith. Noah Smith made some big plays in that game, and then on Sunday, No Brown made some big plays for the Texans. But it's Noah Brown, New Jersey's finest. Gonna join Drew Doherty here a little bit. He's gonna be in for a little pregame interview a little Drews Dozen Drew's also got a little cutlet with Robert Woods. Bobby Drew also caught up with James Palmer. That's gonna be fun a little bit later the show. And we also had a chance to catch up, as we teased last night, with the General Ben McDaniel's wide receivers coach. He's done a way of a job, so we'll catch up with Ben a little bit later in the show.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: I got my keys, I got my picks, we got everything.
00:01:19
Speaker 2: We got everything you could possibly want on a Friday, and well we've got a really nasty injury report. We'll get to in a little bit, but we got to kick off the show on a Friday like we always do with the head ball coach himself, the Meek go Ryan stepped in the studio with Mark this afternoon.
00:01:35
Speaker 4: All right, coach, they've won four in a row, in the last two they've been plus two in the turnover department in each of those games. How important is ball security? I know it's always important, but extra premium on that in this one, right.
00:01:46
Speaker 5: Definitely an extra premium this week. These guys, they get after the ball. They attack the ball well all right and coveras they do a really good job if you if you mess up, they'll make you pay.
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Speaker 6: Right.
00:01:55
Speaker 5: He do a good job of not only get in the turnovers, but converting all right points off the turnovers. So they do a good job of playing well together. We have to protect the ball, protect the team, and we have to be able to attack the ball on defense.
00:02:08
Speaker 4: I know you want to cut down on penalties, but you always want the guys playing on the edge and with reckless abandon or whatever however you describe it.
00:02:14
Speaker 1: How do you balance all that?
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Speaker 5: Yeah, there is an edge that you must play with, but there is a line that you just can't cross and you have to know, right, how far can you go. We want our guys playing physical, We want them swarm, and we want them playing with an edge, right, And I think that's what it takes right to really really impact your opponent. They have to feel your physicality, they have to feel your edge every time they touch the ball.
00:02:37
Speaker 6: We want multiple guys. They're hitting these guys.
00:02:39
Speaker 4: What are you seeing in this version of Joe Burrow as he matures.
00:02:43
Speaker 5: You're seeing a calm, You're seeing confidence, right, at the line of scrim is being able to diagnose coverages right, diagnose disguises people are disguised, and coverage but he still has the ability, smart guy who can still figure it out and put the ball exactly where it needs to be. But Joe is definitely one of the top quarterbacks in our league. Really like the way he's playing and what he's doing in the offense right is moving because of his leadership, because of his ability.
00:03:10
Speaker 1: What about their defense? What are we looking at here?
00:03:12
Speaker 4: They've given up some yards on the ground, but they don't make it easy, right.
00:03:16
Speaker 5: You can talk about the bend but don't break. But you can run the ball on these guys that think they've given up a lot of yard is in the run game, right, But they are tight. They know when their coverage is exactly where they're supposed to be. They play well together. They're not gonna make many mistakes when it comes to the passing game, and that's where they've been really good. And when you get in the red zone, right, they've done a great job of stopping people when they get into the red zone. So we're gonna have to take our opportunities, take our shots when we get it right. Hopefully we can make them pay on those shots, but if not, we have to methodically drive the ball down the field. Got to find a way to muster some points.
00:03:52
Speaker 4: Frank Ross was raving about their special teams group, saying, this is a really solid established unit.
00:03:58
Speaker 5: Right, well well coached on the special team side. These guys again, you talk about their technique, their fundamentals, that's what they play with, that's what they hang their hats on. Again in a special teams phase, They're not gonna make mistakes, They're not gonna miss a lot of blocks. They're gonna be exactly where it's supposed to be. So we have to be on it right. It's gonna be a really good matchup when it comes to the special teams game, and I think the punt the punt game is gonna be where you know, we can flip this game right. If we can get on our guys, get a block, hopefully we can spring tank for an explosive and department return right.
00:04:29
Speaker 1: Learning to win consistently.
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Speaker 4: I know you want to see that, you want a big one last week, but the Bengals I'm sure has everybody's attention and you're ready for this
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one.
00:04:37
Speaker 1: In a big, big way, right, big game all right for us?
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Speaker 5: Because it's we're coming off of the win, right, and can we put that aside?
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Speaker 4: Right?
00:04:45
Speaker 5: Can we still lock in focus and play with that desperate mindset like we have to get this win no matter what it takes. And I think that's how you continue to learn to win as a team. You have to play with that confidence, play with that desperation each and every snap and knowing that every play is important.
00:05:02
Speaker 1: Coach, thanks a lot, good luck in this one.
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Speaker 3: Thanks Martin.
00:05:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, head ball coach is ready the voice of the Texans Ready. Also ready.
00:05:09
Speaker 2: Noah Brown, He stopped buying, talked to Drew Doherty and gave some pregame thoughts about heading back to the state in which he played his college.
00:05:16
Speaker 1: Ball, the state of Ohio. No Brown with Drew Dorty.
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Speaker 3: Let's go wide receiver. No Brown is the guest this week. No good to be with you. You played on some fantastic squads at Ohio State. Texans are playing in Cincinnati this weekend. Before we get into the matchup, how special is it going to be for you? You're a New Jersey native, But how special is it going to be to get back in front of the crowd where you played, you know, in college.
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Speaker 7: It'll be pretty cool. Other than I think the Hall of Fame game my rookie year. I don't think I've played an NFL game in Ohio yet, so it'll be cool to get back there and see some Ohio State fans.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you played against the Bengals last year, had a really nice day. Four catches, ninety one yards a touchdown. Fun to play that team, And over the last three here with the Texans, you've been explosive. He had a thirty one yard or a thirty four arder in the next game, the seventy five yard touchdown last weekend. In that span since coming back from the injury, eleven catches two hundred and forty seven yards. You're good for twenty two and a half a catch. What's going on?
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Speaker 7: I think just being able to come back off injury reserve and hit the ground running. You know, I did a good job and the training staff did a good job getting me healthy here so that you know when I came back, I had fresh legs and it was ready to go.
00:06:21
Speaker 6: You know, it's week six or something like that.
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Speaker 7: You know a lot of guys are starting to field the season, and I think I came back at the right time and you know, ready to execute.
00:06:28
Speaker 3: What were you seeing as far as possibilities for yourself and first possibilities for this offense in that span where you're having to watch from the sidelines.
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Speaker 7: Uh yeah, I mean just being able to kind of take yourself out of it and see the offense as a whole, see what we're lacking or what we're doing well. And it was a good thing for me as far as it gave me a chance to kind of learn it all the other positions because in the summer I was playing really one, so it gave me a chance to kind of grasp the offense a little bit more with me not being in it.
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Speaker 3: You just brought up something there the summer. We heard CJ Stroud talking about how meaningful it was throwing with you guys over the summer. How meaningful was it for you?
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Speaker 7: It's huge, as you know, first time playing with CJ, first time being in this offense. The more repetitions you can get with the guys you're going to be in there with the you know, the better.
00:07:11
Speaker 6: Off you are on Sundays. And I think it's paying off how.
00:07:13
Speaker 3: Much growth do you think this offense still has thirty nine points to a lot. But we heard you guys almost to a man, every one of you say, hey, we still have some things we can improve upon. What are those things?
00:07:22
Speaker 6: Just consistency.
00:07:23
Speaker 7: I think we do a good job capitalizing on our plays when they're there. But I think and some of the sloppier looks consistenty and your technique can still get to play through and make a positive play for us. So I think that's something that we can continue to strive to get better at.
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Speaker 3: This is a really good Bengals team. They've got an MVP candidate in Joe Burrow the quarterback. Let's talk about their defense. What do you see in that secondary that as you most impressed.
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Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, they're just a sound defense.
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Speaker 7: You know, there's not too many times they're just going to be out of position or blowing the coverage or something like that. So it's good defense is going to compete and challenge everything, and we're up.
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Speaker 6: For the challenge.
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Speaker 3: How much do you guys enjoy the challenge of playing on the road as an offense.
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Speaker 6: It's huge.
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Speaker 7: I think that you know your success on the road as an offense speaks to you know how locked in you are on the game plan and how much you guys trust each other in communication because you know it can get loud and you know, making cans and stuff like that. You guys got to be on it. So I think it's a great challenge for offense and we're looking forward to it.
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Speaker 3: You're a young man twenty seven years old, but you've got six seasons of NFL experience. Now, how much have you found being on a new team. You found yourself to be a bit of a vocal leader? Is it much? Is it little? I mean, where's what's it like there?
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Speaker 7: I kind of picked my spots vocally. I'm not too much of a vocal guy and never really have it. But you know, I take pride in doing things the right way and trying to lead by example, you know, any way I can help it that way, I do my best too.
00:08:37
Speaker 3: Playing back in Ohire is going to be anybody special in the crowd there watching you this weekend.
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Speaker 7: A couple of
old teammates from Ohio State to be out there, but other than that, not too many.
00:08:45
Speaker 6: I don't have any family out there or anything.
00:08:46
Speaker 3: All right, Well, Noah Brown, best of luck, against the Bengals. Best of luck the rest of the way.
00:08:50
Speaker 2: We appreciate the time, sir, appreciate you having all right, great stuff there from dmko Ryans and New Jersey's finest Noah Brown. Like the fact that we've had no on the air a few times this week.
00:09:01
Speaker 3: Mark.
00:09:01
Speaker 2: Some news broke this afternoon, wand Miko is sitting now at the media literally right in the middle of the media session. He reported that t Higgins and Sam Hubbard both out out for the Bengals. Your gut reaction to those two, one on each side of the ball being out.
00:09:21
Speaker 4: I think that Jamar Chase needs to take the day off too, just for his own safety and health, because he's got two big ones coming up here, Johnny with the Ravens and the Steelers. So why not rest your back for those outings? Yes, and you know it's just the Texans. You know he can sit this one out. Look, that's nice. But I learned a long time ago it doesn't matter if Burrow doesn't play. That's something, right, Yes, that's something I am old enough to remember Brandon Allen coming in here in twenty twenty and lighting up the Houston Texans.
00:09:54
Speaker 1: I thought all.
00:09:54
Speaker 4: Right, it's been a horrible season. But if nothing else, you're gonna beat the Bengals with Brandon Allen. No, you aren't, not apparently as that game was that in the high thirties or something like that. Yeah, a lot of points scored in that game. Texas couldn't stop Brandon Allen.
00:10:09
Speaker 1: So I don't know. Look, this is a different team.
00:10:11
Speaker 4: I get it completely, but I don't get too caught up in that stuff. It does help a bit though, Hubbard along the D line, and obviously t Higgins with his playmaking ability. It would be nice if Chase was out, but Burrow's playing any super solid and Johnny we talked about it with Demiko right there. Ball security so important for this one, and I am just hoping that they have shaken off. We talk about flushing it after a loss, flush the win, flush it. It will live forever in our memories and we can reminisce about it for years to come. But right now, these guys need to be dialed into the Bengals because this is crucial.
00:10:47
Speaker 1: That game against Tampa Bay was so epic.
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Speaker 4: I feel like you need a month just to talk about it because there were so many things that happened along the way. There were so many little plays that you forget about. Sometimes your Texans matchup show that slip by the way.
00:11:01
Speaker 1: So I think that.
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Speaker 4: They'll be ready because they've been through it before a few times this season. In the effort to win back to back, they need to be at their very best obviously to beat the Bengals and shake off whatever feeling you had about the win against Tampa Bay. Other than this, Other than this, the fact that you can overcome adversity and how handy that is. You know you can do it, and I think that's a big confidence booster in this game and games to come.
00:11:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know that game happened in twenty twenty with Brandon Allen and the Bengals. For some reason why, I don't know why, I'm not seeing it on the schedule. I thought it was later in the year, but I could be wrong.
00:11:39
Speaker 1: Later.
00:11:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a week sixteen, okay, thirty seven to thirty one, Yeah, thirties.
00:11:43
Speaker 1: I knew, and I knew it was up there.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: But it was Brandon Allen, former razorback slicing you up. You want to hear his numbers?
00:11:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, go ahead. It was colossal. What he did that day.
00:11:53
Speaker 2: Twenty nine of thirty seven, two touchdowns, three hundred and seventy one yards a rating of one twenty six point five. T Higgins did catch six passes for ninety nine yards and a touchdown. Former Texan great Alex Erickson had six for eighty eight in that game. Oh and AJ Green had four for sixty four in that game.
00:12:20
Speaker 4: So Texan great Alex Erickson, he got him the next year, right right, We got him the following Yeah, we got him in twenty wasn't that he was?
00:12:28
Speaker 3: No?
00:12:28
Speaker 1: I said that in jest.
00:12:30
Speaker 2: Drew Sample had one catch against US for eight yards and went for a touchdown, just like the other night against the Bills.
00:12:36
Speaker 4: Not to be crucised with Joe Sample, former jazz musician who's from Houston.
00:12:40
Speaker 1: Three people have gotten that. Yeah, I would not have gotten that. I could have.
00:12:44
Speaker 2: I would have been here all day. You could have given me all kinds of hints and I would have I would have never gotten that. I think the I think both of them, those those absences will be felt. I feel like there are two ways where app you know, hey, this guy is out of the game. Like we've played, We've played eaves. Teams have played us. You know, we had what Lamry Tunel out of the Pittsburgh Steelers game. Yeah, and we played Austin Deculus and Jared Christian against Alex Heighsmith all day and gave up zero sacks.
00:13:12
Speaker 1: Is that did that really happen? It did happen?
00:13:15
Speaker 4: That was that was as against the Steelers and you held them to six points and you just rolled right.
00:13:21
Speaker 2: I saw it with my own eyes. I don't know about your eyes. I saw it with my eyes.
00:13:24
Speaker 1: It happened. Point being, you can have kind of one here one there.
00:13:28
Speaker 2: I think where the Texans are the Texans are up against it is they have.
00:13:32
Speaker 1: So many, so many, so many.
00:13:34
Speaker 4: But Johnny one goes out, another comes in, you have a Nico problem. Woods comes back. Things like that happening. Right linebackers. You know we were
worried about Cashman maybe earlier in the week, Well, don't worry as much. Right things happen to replace the player that you're missing. So look, and in the course of last week's game, you lost your place kicker and a running back kicked the field goal.
00:13:59
Speaker 1: This team can do that.
00:14:01
Speaker 4: So they feel very confident and I think that they're coming together. Remember the Bill O'Brien Thanksgiving thing. Look, I don't know where this is going at four and for I don't know where it's going. I got a feeling they're gonna be able to at least hang at the five hundred level for a while, right, But we'll see, And I'm hoping for a whole lot better, by the way, because I think it has This team has the potential to go on a little run at some point and really make it interesting.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: But we'll see how it plays out.
00:14:25
Speaker 8: We don't know.
00:14:25
Speaker 4: We don't have a crystal ball, but the Bill O'Brien Thanksgiving thing. They are not who they are gonna be yet. And I say that very carefully here, especially a young team, right, what is their identity? It's in progress, it really is, And last week was a big building block toward whatever identity they ultimately establish here. If they're gonna go on a winning streak, you get the feeling they're gonna need to run the ball at some point a lot better than they are now. But when you have the man with the Golden arm, maybe you can win more.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: Than you lose that way, and I'm eager to see it.
00:15:00
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any question that you were talking about foreign you know, Texas being four and four, and I heard something Sean Seth talking about this today, and I think it's easy for a lot of us to go, dang, it won those games in Carolina and Atlanta, and then.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: We'd be six and two.
00:15:15
Speaker 2: I think four and four is exactly where this team probably should be because it very easily the States could have easily scored and it got in the end zone and won that game.
00:15:22
Speaker 1: You could have lost last week. Yeah, it could have lost last week.
00:15:25
Speaker 4: I think here's here's the thing, though, Atlanta and Carolina should have what it could.
00:15:29
Speaker 1: Have been a split? Okay, that I agree with.
00:15:31
Speaker 4: After watching Carolina Thursday night football, I thought, how did this happen?
00:15:36
Speaker 1: All right?
00:15:36
Speaker 4: So unexplained things, how they built the pyramids, Stonehenge, what happened to the Lost City of Atlantis, and how the Carolina Panthers beat the Texans. Those are all in the same group to me. Okay, Stonehenge is interesting really if you think about it.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: Student, But you think that just some guys decided, hey, we're going to carry a bunch of really big boulders and like put it in this in this circle, and.
00:16:02
Speaker 4: Like my ten year old is obsessed with stoneheads, really special about how they can transport those stones from another island in the British Isles and bring them over. But it was gonna be a big hassle. But it could have happened. It could have worked. Look, I don't believe in aliens building stoneheads of the pyramids. I'm not one of those people. Somehow it happened. I don't know how they did it, and.
00:16:21
Speaker 1: You got it.
00:16:22
Speaker 2: I think what's fascinating and looking just at the AFC AFC back to AFCA is there's one, two, three. There are four teams that have six wins or better. I mean, it's not a whole heck of a lot.
00:16:44
Speaker 4: Kansas City, Kansas City, Baltimore Jags, Dolphins, Baltimore Jags, Dolphins.
00:16:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the four teams that have six wins, that's and you, I mean you were now the Dolphins have played nine games. You only played eight. The Ravens have played in nine. You beat the Jaguars they've played eight, and the Chiefs have played nine. So you could be within a game or two of those teams, depending on you know, obviously what happens this weekend, and it's it's weird because maybe we're just out of practice thinking about what could be down the road, playoffs potentially, all that kind of stuff. But there's such a glut in the AFC of teams at four and four, four and five, five and three, like in that mix, and you just, man, you wish you could knock off one of those five and three teams. Now you've beaten the Steelers and you beat the six or two Jags, But if you could knock off the Bengals and make them five and four and you're five and four, now you've got tiebreaker over them, got tiebreaker over the Steelers, and you're gonna play the You're gonna play Cleveland.
00:17:43
Speaker 1: So you could have that opportunity there. But I just I don't know.
00:17:47
Speaker 2: The more that I've thought about this game, I don't I don't mind being the underdog. I don't mind for everybody in the NFL network saying we're picking the Bengals.
00:17:57
Speaker 1: I kind of think this team likes it that way.
00:17:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think this team is still sort of trying to figure out how it plays as a favorite. But I think as an underdog, they love to show and prove those people wrong.
00:18:09
Speaker 4: Let me ask you this because you and I won't have a chance to talk before Sunday on the air during the broadcast. But when you look at the way the Bengals have gotten their five victories, and it's been a little bit different every time, but the last two in particular, taking the ball away, holding onto the ball, and Burrow went nuts at San Francisco. Through the year, it threw for over three hundred yards against the forty nine ers. We all know that's tough to do. I still think that they're a little different, and Demico Ryan's talked about this with the media, a little different than they were a couple of years ago. But it's a good different for them. It's working for them. And Burrow's more mature. He just said it in the interview. So how do
we look at the Bengals here in this situation. They're mature enough to know don't have a look ahead game and blow it here because you have two divisional games right in the crosshairs after the Houston Texans leave town.
00:18:59
Speaker 1: Yet I've just like with CJ. Straud, this is a great equalizer of sorts.
00:19:03
Speaker 4: When you have a guy who can just torch people through the air like this, that comes in very handy. And they talk about defense traveling, Well, yes it does, but so does a good aerial attack if you could be on the mark and look the bodies change a little bit time to time.
00:19:18
Speaker 1: Injuries.
00:19:19
Speaker 4: You know, you played without Tank Dell for a couple of games earlier. Whatever it was, you were able to overcome that on occasion. Let's see if they could do it this week without Nico and whatever they put together.
00:19:30
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:19:30
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I mean you're right, the great equalizers is having number seven. And I you know, I look at this Bengals defense. I think for me, the first three four games, I just don't even I don't even consider Burrow isn't healthy. The Titans beat them twenty seven to three. I mean it sounds blow them out. It doesn't make it doesn't make any sense. I mean that's six first downs against the Browns.
00:19:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, six.
00:19:52
Speaker 2: I mean Burro couldn't even move Burrow. The key for them is Burrow is back to being Joe Burrow. Now it'd be without te Higgins, that's one of the weapons. But through seven or eight other receivers the other day. Yeah, So I'm not I just I just think the Bengals are in such a groove. You have to disrupt it in some way, shape or form. You have to do something a little different. But what the Bills couldn't do was they couldn't bring Burrow down. But they also didn't force him to make quick decisions. They Joe made quick decisions on his own, but he'd get out of the pocket.
00:20:24
Speaker 1: They got some they got him to move.
00:20:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, they just couldn't finish it. I think you've got to You got to hit him a little bit. You've got to just knock him around a little bit. I'm not saying illegal, I'm just saying knock him around a little bit. You got to get guys back there. You might have to bring six against five. You know, you might have to roll the dice a little bit and place the man coverage, maybe have a couple of fire zones, and just change the look for the offense live. I still don't think the offensive line is great for them. Well, I still don't let.
00:20:49
Speaker 4: Me ask you this though, because the Texans had a couple of wins earlier. You held the Jacks to seventeen in their building, but held the Steelers to six. And I know the Steelers offense isn't the Bengals offense, But how did they do it? And this is a completely different situation, but it reminds me of it because going to Cincinnati in twenty fifteen, the Texans held the Bengals to six points in their building and undefeated at the time, Bengals team with a lot of weapons, a lot going for them, they were eight in oher and you held them to six points. And this is a Texans team that two games prior gave up one hundred and fifty points to Miami.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: No, what was it.
00:21:25
Speaker 4: It was a lot of points in its fifties whatever, it was forty two and half, forty two at the half, forty two.
00:21:32
Speaker 1: At the half. Yeah, sorry to bring that up.
00:21:34
Speaker 4: And then two games later you're holding the Bengals to six and eight. No Bengals team in their place, So anything can happen.
00:21:41
Speaker 1: The d could suddenly come up with a great performance here. You just don't know.
00:21:46
Speaker 4: Look, you talk about Jamar Chase, t Higgins, t Higgins out, Jamar Chase still playing. Look a few weeks ago we went to Carolina. Do their receivers scare you a bunch? Except for Thielan No, No, Mingo had a good game against the Texans and he couldn't do anything last night. So you just don't know. In this league, be it your best Noon Sunday. You get the most positive, motivating coach out there.
00:22:09
Speaker 1: Let us see what he can do with these guys.
00:22:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's gonna be a fun one. There's no doubt about it. Now, I will give you my specific keys to will win over the Bengals next and it does include Jamar Chase playing, but T Higgins is not. Does that change my keys? We'll find out next right here in Texas All Access.
00:22:28
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back to.
00:22:29
Speaker 2: This Friday instion of Texas All Access from the Hyundai Texans Radio studio. I'm your host, John Harris, Football Ano Sadelin reporter for your Houston Texans. It's time to get into my keys to the game, a big one against Cincinnati. It's interesting when this game was, uh, well, when the schedule is announced and I looked at this game. When this was I was like, this could be an interesting one for a number of different reasons.
00:22:51
Speaker 1: All right, Smike smack dab in the middle of the year, could injuries play a role? Yes? You know what were the teams records going to be? Are They're gonna be hot. Yes, what's c J. Strov gonna be at this point? I mean, is he gonna make this one of the best quarterback duels of the weekend.
00:23:09
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, this is gonna be fun on a lot of different levels. This is a very good football team the Texans are facing now. Before we get into the Keys, and these feed into the Keys, the injury report.
00:23:23
Speaker 1: And this is kind of ugly. It's kind of ugly. And by kind of ugly, I mean like really ugly. Texans have No.
00:23:32
Speaker 2: Six and seven, but eight players out in this one, and they include Andrew Beck ankle, elbow's shoulder out, not participate practice all week. Nico Collins his CAF got worse. He went from limited to d m P DMP.
00:23:48
Speaker 1: He's out.
00:23:49
Speaker 2: Kicker Kyme Fairbairn famously out
from last weekend. That continues the quad. Jake Hanson linebacker out, hamstring in hand, Revin George still out with the foot, Damian Pierce dealing with the ankle.
00:24:00
Speaker 1: He's still out. Henry Toatoa had a concussion, has a concussion. He is out. He's in the protocol.
00:24:06
Speaker 2: Jimmy Ward hamstring out. On top of Harry Hassan Ridgeway, and m J. Stewart who put on ir after last week's game. Wow, Now there are a few names I didn't mention. They're questionable. Stephen Nelson did not practice all week dealing with a back neck, He's questionable. Jerry Hughes the full participant in practice today dealing with a back. He's also listened as questionable. Robert Woods, who will hear from a little bit later in the show. He is also questionable. But I got a feeling that Robert Wood's gonna play. Those are all full participants.
00:24:44
Speaker 1: Man, the full participant list is just so long. This injury board is just my god.
00:24:51
Speaker 2: Now the Bengals side of life is not all about of Roses T. Higgins excellent wide receiver for the Bengals. There number two Guy hamstring out, Sam Hubbard the counter to Trey Hendrickson on the other side ankle out.
00:25:11
Speaker 1: Those are big for the Bengals. Doubtful Josh Tupeau.
00:25:16
Speaker 2: I've never seen a doubtful play, so you're almost canna assume he's gonna be out defensive lineman his shoulder. Charlie Jones wide receiver, punt returner. He with a thumb issue. Really speedy rookie from Purdue. He's questionable last and certainly not at least as Jamar Chase. You saw him on Sunday night fall hard on a deep ball. There has been a lot of conjecture, a lot of talk he's less as questionable. There are many who think he won't play. There are some that think he's gonna give it a shot. So when we get to our keys, it's gonna be kind of a big old question mark. So let's get to our keys. There's your injury report. Let's get to our keys. Let's talk about that Bengals offense. First, Bengals are five and three. We know that the offense is. It's interesting, seventy six yards per game on the ground. They're last in the NFL rushing passing game. They're two sixteen yards per gain, it's eighteenth. Now, the last two games they've gone over three ninety seven total offense and both ran it pretty well against the Niners, not as much against the Bills. But they've only turned over six times and they're plus nine to turna of margins, So that really kind of amps things up. Now you know the names, you've watched the Bengals in the Super Bowl Burrow Mix and Chase Higgins Boyd. They also added Orlando Brown Junior this year to bolster up the line.
00:26:33
Speaker 1: So let's get to the.
00:26:34
Speaker 2: Keys, and let's start with Joe Burrow first. This guy's calm, he's cool, he's poised. He handles anything that comes his way, and he can whatever you take away from him, he'll take something else.
00:26:45
Speaker 1: Well, you want to take this away from me, I'll do this.
You drop eight. I'll throw checkdowns all day. That be a running game.
00:26:52
Speaker 2: You take the checkdowns away and you clamp down, you strap down on shorter intermediate routes, I'll go deep.
00:26:59
Speaker 1: He can beat you in a lot of different ways.
00:27:02
Speaker 2: But I think to beat him, I think you have to disrupt his rhythm and tempo in some way, shape or form.
00:27:08
Speaker 1: And he gets the bills.
00:27:09
Speaker 2: He got in a rhythm early just throwing some short just old dart throws his tight ends to his backs.
00:27:14
Speaker 1: He got Jo Mix it involved in the passing game early. That makes it get the ball in space.
00:27:18
Speaker 2: That seemed to work, and that troubles me because there are a lot of different ways that he can get the ball to his guys.
00:27:24
Speaker 1: He threw it. I think eight different receivers. Now Higgins was one of them.
00:27:28
Speaker 2: He's out. If it's second key, that's Jamar Chase. And I don't really know what to think about Tamar Chase. He's questionable. If he's healthy, he's got the full packet size, speed ball skills, confidence, we're oute running. He's got a connection with Joe Burrow. He has it all, but no Tee Higgins. You might be able to double team Jamar Chase. We'll see if Chase is gonna give it a go. This might be a wait and see until ninety minutes beforehand and see whether he can go. If he can't go, then the Texans get to key number three. You gotta get the pressure on Joe Burrow. I don't care how you do it.
00:28:03
Speaker 1: The Browns move Miles Garrett all over the place.
00:28:06
Speaker 2: Texas don't really have a guy that can do that, So they're gonna have to do it with their scheme. Scheming up, get into exotics on third down, those kind of things. There might be some things that they're gonna be able to do, but they got to get some pressure on Joe Burrow. Defensively, Bengals give up one hundred and thirty yards per game on the ground.
00:28:21
Speaker 1: They give up two hundred and thirty four through the air. That's twenty second in the league.
00:28:24
Speaker 2: Total offensive go three to sixty four or twenty seventh in the league, but they have fifteen turnovers generated. And that's the big key. Trey Hendrickson's a stud. He's the big key with no Sam Hubbard. He is tremendously difficult to block. He slides underneath blocks. He's long, he's strong, he's quick, He's everything you want to edge rusher.
00:28:42
Speaker 1: He is really tough. Texas got to take care of him.
00:28:44
Speaker 2: Some chips, some doubles might be needed, maybe the m He's got it on his own, but Trey Henderson is tough.
00:28:49
Speaker 1: Secondly, he got a block. DJ Reader simple as that.
00:28:52
Speaker 2: There's really nobody on the Bengals defense that scares me more than DJ Reader.
00:28:56
Speaker 1: I'll be honest. I love my keenumber three. I love ke number one.
00:29:00
Speaker 2: Hendrickson k number one. I'll get the three in the second, but DJ reaiders the one. If you want run the ball, you got a block. Ninety eight got to and then finally the slot guy, Mike Hilton. He's five seven five eight one seventy five point eight small sky in the field, and he's arguably the best pound for pound player on the field.
00:29:15
Speaker 1: He makes plays all over the field. He's incredibly difficult to prepare for.
00:29:19
Speaker 2: In twenty seventeen with the Steelers, he blitzed us and had three sacks at five eight one hundred eighty pounds.
00:29:25
Speaker 1: He can kill the game. He can flat out kill the game. Texans can't let it. There are your keys to the game.
00:29:30
Speaker 2: We get back which ot with Ben McDaniels in a little Bobby Trees, Robert Woods as well on Texans All Access. Welcome back to Friday initiative Texans All Access from the Today Texans Radio studio. I am your host, John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter, and I and Mark Vandermier were lucky enough to catch up with wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels.
00:29:52
Speaker 1: Great stuff. We love Ben in the studio. I think we could go non football with Ben and we'd have a really good time.
00:29:59
Speaker 2: But we talked a lot of ball, uh, and then Mark had a little kind of off the wall question at the end and answered it about the way I expected. I had a feeling that this is going to be the answer, and I'll tell you why. But here's Ben McDaniels with me and Mark.
00:30:12
Speaker 4: I'm visiting with us now in the hun Day Texans Radio studio. It is passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels.
00:30:19
Speaker 8: Coach.
00:30:20
Speaker 1: How's it going doing good?
00:30:22
Speaker 3: Hey?
00:30:23
Speaker 1: Did the receivers do anything this week? This is this is interesting.
00:30:27
Speaker 4: What did you make of that epic day? You have three guys go over one hundred yards?
00:30:32
Speaker 1: It was amazing?
00:30:33
Speaker 8: Yeah, it was.
00:30:34
Speaker 9: It was a great day. Credit to those guys. Uh, making the plays when it's your turn, you know. We talk about that, and I think I think that day was a credit to that. You don't always know, you know. You know, there's some plays that we might we might draw up and and and hope that the ball goes to a certain place early in the progression, but you really don't know. But but uh, yeah, those those guys executed well and in some critical spots, which is the thing to me that really separates you know, yourself in a game like that, being able to make the plays when required. We talked about it as competitive excellence. You know, it's my turn, I can make it. I do make it in critical.
00:31:21
Speaker 1: Spots, coach.
00:31:22
Speaker 2: Outside, looking in, it appears that each and every one of those guys in the room, yes, they're happy for themselves, but they're almost even happier for their teammates for making the plays. You know, Niko has three catches the other day for fifty four yards. You think,
okay, well he's gonna be one of the hundred, right, and he's not. But it felt like Nico was just as happy for everybody else making the plays. It feels like that's the kind of room you have, which and it was they stereotype of wide receiver, their divas and want theirs, all that kind of stuff, But it feels like these guys are happy for each other when they're making the place.
00:31:52
Speaker 9: You're right, whatever you see, You're right in what you're seeing and watching. They really enjoy each other's successes, celebrate each other's successes. It's a credit to building that room, you know, and and I have you know, a small piece in that, but a credit to everybody else with with Meek and and Nick, you know, putting the right people in that room that that are that that type of player, that type of personality, and and it's good for our team.
00:32:20
Speaker 1: Ben McDaniels with us.
00:32:21
Speaker 4: Is there any better play to show on the board as far as teamwork, execution the end result than the Noah Brown seventy five yarder because you get the block by Dell, you get an outstanding toe tap down the sideline for a seventy five yard score.
00:32:35
Speaker 1: Amazing stuff. Yeah, it was, It was.
00:32:38
Speaker 9: It was a great reaction by Tank to find work. We talked about finding work when we don't get the ball and and he had a great reaction to that. He probably won't appreciate me saying that I actually don't think he should have been quite there. I'd have liked him to be deeper down the field. But his response and his will and unselfishness to help the play, that's that's how Tanks built.
00:33:05
Speaker 2: Coach Robert Woods just having a veteran of his status and you know, missed him the last couple of weeks. What's it like having Robert here and how has he helped the group? The fact that he's been around, he's as they say that he's seen some things. But what's it like having Robert and what's it like having him potentially back? He's back in practice on Thursday. What's it kind of been to have Robert in the.
00:33:26
Speaker 9: Room all the things that you ask me about about the room and how it's made up, and you know, things that you get to watch on the field that shows itself. He's you know, he's made up of all those things and he he's responsible to lead that room and he does, and he's a He's a great example really in every way, both from a football talent standpoint, which is its own thing, but approach to the game, unselfishness, just being a great teammate and leader.
00:34:00
Speaker 1: Which is why is it captain?
00:34:01
Speaker 8: Well?
00:34:01
Speaker 4: A lot of said about CJ and Tank Dell having a friendship, and I know CJ gets along with everybody, but having a friendship, what does that kind of thing mean? As far as chemistry goes? And then onto that ben, how do you develop chemistry? How does it start?
00:34:17
Speaker 1: Is it organic? Is it there or not? How can you develop it and nurture it?
00:34:22
Speaker 3: Yeah?
00:34:22
Speaker 1: I think it's all those things.
00:34:24
Speaker 9: I think some of it's natural, some of it is organic, but you definitely have to put the time into you know, just you just can't hope that it's that way, and you got to put the time in on the field and off the field, and that's the credit to those guys.
00:34:38
Speaker 8: I would agree.
00:34:39
Speaker 9: I feel like every time, you know, you know, CJ kind of feels that way about everybody, you know, So it's a credit to him putting in the time with his teammates.
00:34:48
Speaker 1: Coach.
00:34:48
Speaker 2: One of the things we're talking to Nico, it's probably a few weeks back, and we're talking about yards after the catch and we're talking about how that's become really a big deal for him, and he said, yeah, you know, the coaches talk to me and we talk about that all the time. When I turn up after I make it catch, I'm six four two fifteen, Hey, like run the damn ball, you know, become a running back. What was a kind of coaching point to him about that was as simple as catch the.
00:35:12
Speaker 1: Ball, turn up and run. Was as simple as that in some.
00:35:15
Speaker 9: Ways, yeah, in some ways, Like every guy has different traits, you know, every guy's built differently, but Nico's built a certain way that if he's if he's carrying significant speed, speed equals power for him, and both of those things are paining the ass on the defense.
00:35:35
Speaker 8: Yep.
00:35:35
Speaker 9: So to be able to tackle somebody that's running fast. Carrying a lot of speed and power is to his advantage. So it's just it's really just stressing that to him and really awesome to see him take off with it and make it part of his game.
00:35:51
Speaker 4: Ben McDaniels with US Passing game Coordinator and receivers coach coach. How does the offense evolve from week to week? You're in training camp, you don't know what you're going to going to be running week ten, but you know you have your plays and do you prune some plays off the play tree as the season goes on add others? How do you handle that week to week as you roll through the season.
00:36:12
Speaker 9: Yeah, most most defenses dictate, you know, where the pruning starts, you know, and where you pull from the library. You know, we talk about that a lot of playbooks or libraries, you know, right, and you pull you pull different pieces at different times, and the defense really dictates you know, a lot of things that way. We certainly have some things that find their way into most game plans regardless, but definitely every week you're looking to just fine tune and put you know, specifically what needs to be in that plan relative to the defense.
00:36:46
Speaker 4: Is it the Dewey decimal system in the library. Is that a dated reference reference? Okay, very dated, very okay, but you know it.
00:36:55
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm old enough to know it. I've got an iPhone. That's my corner spencer. Oh, he
knows.
00:37:06
Speaker 3: We're good.
00:37:07
Speaker 1: Coach Bengals.
00:37:08
Speaker 2: This week, Condund gone to change its safety with Jesse Bates now being in Atlanta and some other some other pieces have changed around a little bit. But they got one of my favorite players of all time, Mike hil Him back there. The plays the slot. What are you kind of seeing from the secondary of the Bengals and what makes them a tough matchup this weekend?
00:37:25
Speaker 1: Yeah?
00:37:25
Speaker 9: Uh, young and talented players with a mix like you're talking about of a veteran or two that that adds significant value to the secondary, the young guys out on the edge. I was with DJ Turner at Michigan and know some of what he's about, and obviously they think highly of him. And uh, and then Camp Taylor britt second year player, really physical, really confident in who he is as a player. He's made He's made a bunch of plays already this year. And then the same eighties are are interchangeable in a lot of ways and do a lot of things for them and have have talent of their own right. So young talented with some veteran presence, you know, and it's a tough challenge for us.
00:38:15
Speaker 1: Coach.
00:38:16
Speaker 4: You talked about finding work and the blocking part of the receiver game is so important in the running game or anything else. Obviously, Yak, as we saw let this past Sunday, how hard is it to get certain guys to buy in. Maybe not on this team because it looks like everybody's into it on this team, but overall, that willingness has to be there in addition to the execution.
00:38:35
Speaker 9: I mean, I just stress in our room that we're trying to impact the game on seventy plays a game, and you know, I mean it's you know, on average, somewhere in that in that range. And man, if we're not if we're not really trying to impact the game, you know, on seventy plays a game, I'm not really sure what we're trying to do out there. So whether it's in a running game, whether it's in a passing game, whether it's you know, finding work. Because I didn't get the ball thrown to me, man, I still have a chance to impact the game in a positive way. You know, football is fun that way, you know, and and it's really awesome when there's there's guys that take that to heart.
00:39:13
Speaker 2: Coach, we talked about the young guys, talking about T, talk about Nico. How about a veteran Noah Brown. What he's brought to you know, first game against Baltimore, gets hurt, he's gone for four weeks and the offense kind of started to fight us UF a little bit, and I know, Markt I talked about, Okay, I know's coming back, Like what is he what's he kind of bringing to the offense? And then bang it's a deep over route against the Saints And then every game since he's made big plays, culminating in that game against the Buccaneers last week.
00:39:38
Speaker 1: What's Noah brought to this offense? Yeah?
00:39:41
Speaker 9: Knowas what you're watching on the field is really how he's built. He's tough, he's fast, and he's strong, and he plays that way at all times, whether it's in a passing game or the running game. And the balls found him here this past week for sure, and really awesome to see him have a career day like that.
00:39:59
Speaker 8: You know, a guy that man.
00:40:00
Speaker 9: He works hard at it. He loves the preparation part. He takes football very serious. And to see him have a rewarding day like that no surprise at all, despite it called it being a career day.
00:40:15
Speaker 4: That he's He's capable of having a day like that, all right, One more coach other than football?
00:40:19
Speaker 1: What is your favorite sport to watch with all that downtime you have?
00:40:23
Speaker 4: Which is not but if you did have downtime, what is your favorite sport to watch other than football.
00:40:29
Speaker 1: I'm always going to watch the Majors and golf. Knew that. I knew that was coming.
00:40:33
Speaker 9: I'm always going to watch the Majors and and Master's time is one of the best times of the year, no doubt, other than football season. But I'm a big NASCAR guy, Okay, got into that a lot of years ago, and I think it's a pretty cool team sport.
00:40:48
Speaker 8: Despite the perspective.
00:40:50
Speaker 9: You know, you've been to a libraries I have been to I have, and I just just the energy of it and uh, the intensity of it, and uh just yeah, it's I think that there's a lot a lot to it despite you know what you.
00:41:05
Speaker 4: May or may not well interceive it. Probably a lot of people that that impact that. Yeah, it probably didn't surprise you when Joe Gibbs had success in NASCAR after having success in football.
00:41:16
Speaker 9: Right, Yeah, I don't know a lot. I don't pretend to know a lot about the inner workings, but I do.
00:41:21
Speaker 4: I do.
00:41:22
Speaker 9: I do pretend to know that there's a lot of people that factor into you know, those teams and.
00:41:28
Speaker 8: And uh and so I've I've enjoyed it.
00:41:30
Speaker 9: Uh And it's just one of those off season sports that I got a shot to watch.
00:41:34
Speaker 2: If you if you like the NASCAR Coach, you got to check out the Netflix series on F one.
00:41:39
Speaker 9: Yeah, everybody told me about Yeah, everybody told me about it.
00:41:44
Speaker 1: You'll you'll you want to dive into F one just as much as you do Nascar. Really cool. It's a long list, it'll be an off seasons coach likes a lot. Good luck. See, I knew the Golf ancer was coming.
00:41:57
Speaker 2: I just I don't know why it has had this feeling like, yeah, golf, I don't know what it is, but just had a feeling golf was gonna be the answer. Now, since it's kind of a wide receiver segment, Drew had a chance to catch up with Robert Woods Bobby Trees. So let's take a listen to what Robert has to say heading into this one against the Bengals.
00:42:18
Speaker 3: Robert Woods has a feel to be back in the practice field, to be back
in the mix with everybody.
00:42:22
Speaker 10: Feels good being back out there competing, getting my rhythm back and being able to just go out there and be back.
00:42:27
Speaker 1: With the guys.
00:42:27
Speaker 3: Hey, you've done this a while.
00:42:28
Speaker 1: How quickly?
00:42:29
Speaker 3: How long does it take to actually get your rhythm back when you miss a little bit of time?
00:42:32
Speaker 10: First touch, just being able to get out there on the field, get in that first touch, being able to connect with CJ, get the drive going. I feel like it's gonna be a great energy in the atmosphere. Is the upcoming Sunday that would be enough to.
00:42:43
Speaker 3: Get me going. What do you think about this? Fingles secondary?
00:42:46
Speaker 10: I think they're experienced group, played very well. Mike Hilton back there, controlling everything, kind of leading them guys in there, really just playing and solid, solid defense.
00:42:54
Speaker 1: Knick's got back.
00:42:55
Speaker 10: There, played with him in LA knowing he knows how to fly around and attack the ball a second and there he knows how to find ways to get turnovers.
00:43:03
Speaker 3: Last thing for me. Bobby slow E said earlier this week, Hey, this team, they put together a really good half talking about you guys, and then struggle either in the next game or the next half to do So what does it take. What's it gonna have to happen? If you get that consistency going where we can see the explosiveness all the way through.
00:43:18
Speaker 1: Just getting going.
00:43:19
Speaker 10: I feel like once we get going and have that same belief that every play we run that we're gonna get positive yards and execute, just knowing that whatever it takes, whatever their defense, and we're gonna will our way to positive yard, I think that would be changed.
00:43:33
Speaker 1: I think now is the time to do so.
00:43:36
Speaker 10: We're in the middle of the year, middle season. This is where teams make that jump to getting ready for that for the next level of playoffs and contentions set themselves up.
00:43:45
Speaker 1: So I feel like our time to do so.
00:43:47
Speaker 3: Do you think the music should be louder when I interview you?
00:43:50
Speaker 10: No, I think this is a great great interview, great music, and great vibe for this weekend at Cincinnati.
00:43:57
Speaker 3: It's all you, man. I just asked the questions.
00:43:58
Speaker 1: Thanks Rober vessel Man.
00:44:01
Speaker 2: I love getting a chance to talk to that guy, and I love the fact that he is on this team and back and hopefully he is going to be able to be on the field. He's a full participant today in practice and he was. He was one of the he was one of the few to be a full participant in practice, as we outlined in our previous segment giving you the keys to the game and the injury report, and you know all.
00:44:21
Speaker 1: That because the injury report it really kind of drives the keys for this
one against the Bengals.
00:44:26
Speaker 2: So we went through all of that, but if you did miss it, Texans are without eight players. Andrew Beck, Nico Collins, Kayami Fairbaron, Jake Hansen, Brevin Jordan, Damian Pierce, Henry Toatoa, and Jimmy Ward.
00:44:42
Speaker 1: Three are questionable.
00:44:43
Speaker 2: Steven Nelson has not participated all week, so that's gonna be a tough one, but he is questionable. Jerry Hughes questionable the back, but he was a full participant in practice, which is good. And then Robert Woods was a full participant in practice for the Texans. Questionable, but at least he was back full. He's kind of moved it up each week or each day, so it'd be great to see number two back on the field for.
00:45:04
Speaker 1: The for the Bengals. If you missed it, big news.
00:45:07
Speaker 2: T Higgins out, Sam Hubbard excellent defensive and pass rusher, edge setter out. Doubtful defensive lineman Josh Tupo with his shoulder questionable.
00:45:18
Speaker 1: Charlie Jones a full participant.
00:45:20
Speaker 2: He's party turner, speedy rookie Jamar Chase limited the last two days in practice with a back.
00:45:27
Speaker 1: He is questionable. Now that one's gonna be one to watch, as we talked about. But I don't know. I'm kind of fifty to fifty. I don't really want to say one way or the other.
00:45:35
Speaker 2: I think there's some people that believe Jamar Chase is not gonna play because they got to play on Thursday night against the Ravens, that it would be more important to play against the Ravens than to play against the Texans. It remains to be seen. But I went through all that. But just in case you missed the injury report, there was. It's uh, it's not pretty. It's not pretty, but at least you have some guys back that I was a little worried.
00:46:00
Speaker 1: About the beginning of the week.
00:46:01
Speaker 2: You got Will Anderson, Blake Cashman, John Gernard Larrmy Tunsel. Those guys are all back and they were DMPs or limited throughout the week, but it was good to see them full participants of practice. So that's enough of the injury report. Man, I'm done talking about that thing. Man, it is just ug lee not ugly. Are the two TV faces and voices you're gonna hear next. Drew Doherty, who is one of the best hosts you're gonna find Texans TV. Does a great job, does sidelines for our preseason games along with me, so he is one of my great friends. James Palmer has been a friend for a very long time. He's not with the NFL network doing a bang up job. Those two got together, good old pals.
00:46:42
Speaker 1: Sharing some time. That's next. I'm Texans All Access. Welcome back to this edition of Texans All Access. We got one hour DWN when I were left to go.
00:46:50
Speaker 2: I'm your host, John Harris, football and sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. Time to catch up with our palf NFL network. James Palmer sat down with Drew.
00:46:58
Speaker 3: I'm gonna read you three quotes and I want you, James to tell me which two are real and which one's a lie. You're familiar with this game, it's two true a lie?
00:47:08
Speaker 8: Okay, Okay, okay, there direct.
00:47:10
Speaker 3: Quotes from James Palmer NFL Network. Here we go.
00:47:14
Speaker 6: Okay.
00:47:14
Speaker 8: Quote one.
00:47:16
Speaker 3: I think CJ. Stroud's walking into a pretty good situation. Dot dot dot. People were almost just overthinking it. I think end quote. That's one. Here's another one.
00:47:27
Speaker 8: Okay.
00:47:29
Speaker 3: Just look at how he layers the ball. Look at how every ball is thrown for the receiver to make a play with it. That's two.
00:47:37
Speaker 8: Okay.
00:47:39
Speaker 3: Here's the third one, Drew Doherty. You have the hair of the dominant lion on the serengetti, a jaw line chiseled out of marble, and a tan that makes the mahogany trees blush. So you'll understand when I, James McGillicuddy Palmer make this proclamation at the midway point of the season in twenty twenty three, C J. Stroud will have thrown fourteen touchdowns, one pick, and have the Texans primed to make a playoff run in your one.
00:48:04
Speaker 8: No, okay, and which post is the lie? It's between one and two? Which is the lie?
00:48:12
Speaker 3: Jokes aside, though, like that's pretty you. You were the first two, you were on the money with it. I mean, we've seen four different guys have one hundred yard receiving days. We've seen yards after the catch, upon yards after the catch, upon yards after the catch. You got a guy in Tank Dell who's not the prototypical size. You've got Nico Collins doing it, Dalton Schultz, Noah Brown, who I know you know about because he's an Ohio State guy. But a lot of people sort of around the league, unless you were a Cowboys fan, you didn't know a whole heck of a lot about the guy. The dude exploded last weekend, and since he came back from injury, he's had a thirty one yard reception or longer in each of the three games. I mean, he's c j Stratus is doing it with different people. How did you know? And what do you think about what you've seen since?
00:48:55
Speaker 4: Then?
00:48:55
Speaker 11: Well, let's start with the group around cj because we can talk at length about C. James And so I was just kind of looking at what was there and a couple of things jumped out, I mean, one with Nico, a few conversations with Andre Johnson that I had kind of jumped out at me where the two had worked privately a lot, and he had told me, like, with the with the right quarterback, with the right guy that can put the ball, you know, in the right spot for him, I think he can.
00:49:20
Speaker 3: Be really a big threat.
00:49:21
Speaker 11: And he's pacifically said in the red zone like and it's funny because on our show we've talked a lot about like kind of the big bodied receivers kind of like it's it's been a difficult thing to find in the league lately, and that's why it kind of fades in the red zone have kind of diminished in a sense.
And the Texans had one, and obviously he had a great mentor and one of the best big body receivers we've seen in recent memory and Dre and he kind of told me, like, with the right guy that knows where to put the ball, he can be, you know, I think a really good, really good receiver.
00:49:48
Speaker 3: That's one I had heard so much.
00:49:49
Speaker 11: About Tank Dell in the draft process, just as kind of one of those explosive guys that just can make plays. It's kind of like I'm sitting here in Denver, like a Marvin mins who's really been in the old the explosive receiver for the Broncos. Like, just a couple of these guys coming out, we're kind of doing it. And then I just thought, you know, the Panthers tried to do it with my opinion, with Adam Thiel, and the Texans did it with Dalton Schultz, and it's working out with Dalton Schultz. In terms of a veteran that's reliable, that is going to be there for you, I don't think, in my opinion, a smart, savvy veteran tight end could be more important to a young quarterback. Maybe tackles right, and you know what, CJ's got those, even though they've had a million guys play on the offensive line. So I kind of just thought he was set up from what was in front of him and what was around him, and specifically the way they ran the football last year, which that's been the surprising thing. Drew right, Yeah, weird all thought that they would be running the football great and that would help CJ. But that's been something they're still trying to figure out. And obviously there's been some injuries and things like that. But I just thought he was put in a position to succeed by everything that was around him. I just didn't know he would click with his offensive coordinator like this, because nobody knew who the.
00:50:57
Speaker 8: Hell Bobby was.
00:50:58
Speaker 11: Yeah, and now I mean, I'm having him on my show because I want everybody to know who Bobby is.
00:51:04
Speaker 3: Talking with James Palmer of the NFL Network, you know, after the first time, I think it was after the Steelers win, there was some excitement and somebody on Twitter, some random person was like, he's going to be a head coach next year, and somebody responded to it like with some explotives and just basically saying, keep your filthy mits off of him. And yeah, it was not that nice. But Bobby slowk you cannot undersell how important that guy's been. And it's funny. I got to interview Stroud in Kansas City with Will Anderson moments after those two were picked, and I don't remember what the question was. I think it was an excitement about, hey, what do you think about this offense you'll be in and he immediately started breaking down. It was a glimpse right off the bat of Okay, this kid is detailed, because he started talking about Slowick and Bill Lazer and Jerrod Johnson, the quarterbacks coach who has a nice relationship with He basically went through the three or four guys that he's always going to be interacting with, and this is you know, late April, and shouted him out, called him out and said I can't wait to get to work with him. And you know, everything he said and everything we saw from him at Ohio State is kind of just translating to the pros.
00:52:11
Speaker 8: Now. It's weird, Yeah, it it really is. It's it's funny.
00:52:15
Speaker 11: The quote that you read of me being a genius about saying maybe we all overthought this, I think is kind of right. I mean, there was this stupid S two test thing that came out and the you know, I talked to slow it the other day and he was like, yeah, just ask CJ what he thinks if you like, say it to his face about his lack of mobility and see what happens.
00:52:36
Speaker 8: Yeah, and see how angry he gets.
00:52:38
Speaker 11: And and that was kind of a joke because he didn't really have to use his legs if you watched enough film, it wasn't really part of his games in half.
00:52:45
Speaker 3: He's very judicious with it now and when he chooses to do it. It's good things happen.
00:52:49
Speaker 8: You know, it really is, and that's essentially what you have to be.
00:52:52
Speaker 11: I mean, I'm not going to compare him to Burrow, and that's what they're going to go against. But like nobody thinks about how good Burrow is on the move. He's a far better athlete than people give him credit for. And I don't think anybody was talking about his mobility when he was coming out and he was the number one pick overall. But man, you go watch him move. I mean, the dude is I've talked to people and since Anti the dude hit like twenty one miles an hour, Like he can move and get himself out of situations.
00:53:15
Speaker 3: And CJ's equally the same and can throw in the run.
00:53:18
Speaker 11: But the two things, and I talked to David Shaw about this, who's you know, the former Stanford coach and a big part of.
00:53:23
Speaker 8: Our draft process at NFL Network, And.
00:53:26
Speaker 11: The two main things I was told by scouts by Ryan Day by inviting people is like how he layers the football and I mentioned that in the quote, and how he goes through progressions with his feet, which a lot of scouts said was kind of rare at the collegiate level that his feet are before his eyes. And when you know, I talked to David about this. He was like, it's like Andrew lock That's what he said to me. And he had Andrew at obviously at Stanford. He's like, the ability to understand trajectory and velocity on all of your throes is something that is just it's just not taught, he said, right, the best ones have it. And he's like, CJ does it with these And that was one of the biggest things Ryan Day told me, just understanding what needs to be put on each ball for each route, and that's a huge Those two things to me were like, well, this is like NFL quarterback play, Like.
00:54:16
Speaker 8: How are we not figuring this out?
00:54:17
Speaker 11: Like if okay, he goes through his aggressions with his feet, balls out quick, it's a
short release. If he can make every throw, he's got a strong arm. But why are we overthinking this? Cause those two things to me make you an NFL quarterback.
00:54:28
Speaker 3: And David Shawbrey, Yeah, and you bring up the footwork, the eyes, the progression. It's lended itself well clearly to the NFL, but it's one of the reasons. He's only thrown a pick.
00:54:39
Speaker 4: And.
00:54:41
Speaker 3: Richard, Damn, you're gonna say, oh, it's a rookie, therefore he will throw some picks. That's just part of the process. You just accept it. You're not mad. You know it's gonna happen. But he hasn't thrown any picks except for the one, and on the one he three. They actually got the ball back on the play they forced to fumbel in Texas. He got a fresh set of down So it's like, it's hilarious that happens. But it's not like he's just throwing little flares and short stuff. I mean, the guy is a killer on the deep stuff. Past per yards attempt eight point one, that's third in the NFL. He's third the NFL in passing yards per game right now. I mean he's going deep. He hit nine completions of twenty one yards or more just last weekend alone. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I know we're just talking about CJ. Stroud, but I think we're kind of getting to onion layer. We're just kind of peeling one little layer off because what's next. What does this guy do next to get better?
00:55:34
Speaker 11: Well, I think a big part of this, and you mentioned the explosive plays is I think, and it's funny when I talk to slog about this. I think Bobby's done a brilliant job in terms of what they designed up front and how they have their blocking schemes. And it's not just vanilla. It's complex at times, and what they've done to protect him. You can't do the things we're talking about right true if he's not protected, and I think with all the shuffling that they've had, they had their worst blocking performance in the first game of the season.
00:56:06
Speaker 3: Ye if that doesn't show you like it's gonna happens the Ravens to exactly, And moving.
00:56:11
Speaker 11: Into the Ravens right now, we're looking at him like, I think they're the most complete, maybe dominant team in football right now, both sides of the ball.
00:56:17
Speaker 6: And so.
00:56:19
Speaker 11: If it was against the Ravens and it was your first game of the season and you've only gotten better from there, in a sense, like you're showing that they're taking the coaching. The coaching is there, and the protection upfront is there. And so I do think if you look at his numbers when he's under pressure, they dramatically change which will happen with a lot of quarterbacks outside of you know, Patrick Mahomes maybe, And I mean some people look into those numbers too deeply. Obviously you're not going to go deep under pressure. So like, oh his yards per a tempo down. I was like, well, you're under pressure, man, like you're probably gonna dump it off. I think where he goes from here, honestly, is just you keep adding those you mentioned layers, You keep adding those rink Now, okay, we've done this. They're starting to become a book on them. They're starting to become a book on the offense.
00:57:04
Speaker 4: You know.
00:57:05
Speaker 11: It's it's like a hitter just getting called up into the bigs. There's no book on what he struggles.
00:57:10
Speaker 8: With and what he does well with.
00:57:12
Speaker 11: And he's like teeing off on pitchers early and then he can't hit the low and away curve and it's you know, the books out. I think they just have to stay a step ahead Drew right, Like, it's just keep adding a wrinkle to what you do. And I think all of this works because of the trust between him and Slower.
00:57:28
Speaker 3: James Palmer of the NFL Network is our guest, and James, I'm not going to crown anybody because it's it's still only haven't even reached the halfway point. They'll be they'll be at the halfway point at halftime of this game. Yeah, four and four, you're taking on one of the heavyweights in Cincinnati. But after that, you've got the Cardinals coming up, You've got the Broncos coming up, You've got a lot of teams within your division coming up. It's not I mean, I've been saying this all season long. When people have asked me, they'll bring up the thought of the playoffs. My theory is, why the hell not you? Nobody said they're gonna win the Super Bowl? But why can't they They're at five hundred here November. Why can't they go on a bit of a run and stack a few victories? You go over five hundred the rest of the way, probably you're going to be in the playoffs at least in the hunt. But why can't you be getting why can't you slide on.
00:58:11
Speaker 1: In this year?
00:58:12
Speaker 8: Exactly?
00:58:13
Speaker 11: I think right now where they stand, I think we were all realistic at the beginning of the season, is what do you do year one? You make sure CJ has growth, that he's on the right path that you know you have your franchise quarterback and you're going into year two going, all right, how do we build on what I think Nick Cassaria's had really good drafts each of the last two seasons, and how do we build with this young nucleus now, Like it's completely fine to change your goals, Like you look at where you're at now, you're like, Okay, in the first half of the season, I think we established what we wanted to accomplish for the duration of the season, which was the quarterback spot. All right, Now we're winning games like no moral victory is in a sense, like, let's make a playoff push, and we know what's changed in the building already. We know the direction the building's already headed, and we know the way it already feels in there. Imagine what a playoff push would do in the second half of the season to catapult this team into year two with Demiko Ryans and CJ. Stroud And I mean, they're doing this with such a great group of young players and all they need to do is sniff winning ways and they grow
exponentially.
00:59:19
Speaker 3: Hi, James Palmer, Let's leave with this last question and think about it. You brought up the drafts that Casario has had the last few years. Look at the free agent class, like coming into this season with guys like Schultz who you mentioned, Sheldon Rankins on the interior of the defensive line, He's never gonna get interior defensive linemen are just not going to get a bunch of shine but him, Denzel Perriman, some of the others. What might it look like next year with another draft class, get the Browns first overall pick and another free agency.
00:59:46
Speaker 11: I think what you got to see is your mindset start to switch, right, Like, you start being very strategic with your free agency plays. You start changing from what we've seen over the last couple of years. And this was because of obviously the situation they were in, like will you come play for the Texans? Like that was kind of like a please come play for the Texans, like we need bodies? Tis like yeah, and now and now you look at it, and you look at the way I mean, CJ's probably the most talked about NFL player over the last week in the league.
01:00:17
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, that's that's remarkable.
01:00:19
Speaker 11: And what that does I mean when you're in a city like Houston I've lived there.
01:00:23
Speaker 8: You you love living there, true, and you.
01:00:26
Speaker 11: Got your quarterbacks sitting there bro Hug and Lebron on the sideline of a Rockets game. The perception of your organization is different for free agents. When you have a leader in Demico Ryans and you have a bright offensive mind to Bobby slogan, you have a quarterback and you have young players succeeding in free agency, or perception of your organization changes, and that's huge. When a guy's thinking about two three teams and you're putting in pieces and you're not reaching and overplaying. I think that's where the Texans hope to be after this season, and I think there's a really good chance they can be.
01:00:59
Speaker 2: Like the way you think, JP, I like the way you think. All right, coming up next, straight up and against the spread. I got a lot of games to do in a short amount of time. It's do it next right here in Texans All Access. All right, welcome back to this initiation to Texans All Access. It's gonna be your fastest two and a half minutes of the years. I picked these games straight up and against the spread. Appreciate you being with me. John Harris, Football and the sideline reporter and let's get go and get my music, Let's rock. The Colts are taking on the Patriots in Germany, and all signs are pointing to bad thanks for the Patriots. So I'm going with the Colts in favored by two and a half. I think the Colts will win this thing and they will cover that two and a half. I hate to say it, but the Colts will get the five hundred with a win. I want the Patriots to win. I can't believe I'm saying that, but I want the Patriots to win. But the Colts are gonna do it. They're gonna cover that two and a half. Packers taking on the Steelers. This one's kind of ugly. I don't even know what the over under is. I just know Pittsford favor at three and a half and Pittsburgh can win by four. Steelers win, Steelers cover Titans. Going to the Bucks. Let's go Bucks. Bucks are fair by. I think Will Levis gets it handed to him here. The Bucks are banged up. Don't know what Jamel Teen's gonna play, don't know if Carlton Davis is gonna play. But I need the Bucks to win. So the Bucks are gonna win. That's how I'm gonna speak it to existence, and they're gonna cover that one. Browns Ravens. The Browns are without their two starting tackles against the Ravens in Baltimore.
01:02:18
Speaker 1: Baltimore's faired by six and a half. Go Ravens cover the six and a half and win out right.
01:02:23
Speaker 2: Niners taking on the Jags, San Francisco's favorite in Jacksonville, coming off both of them coming off of by That's gonna be interesting game. But I'm gonna roll with the Niners because well, we need the Niners to win. So let's get the Niners a win by more than three. Hopefully brock Perty bounces back and the Jags will fall to six and three. Saints taking on the Vikings. Vikings will have Josh Dobbs. It's in Minnesota. I think the Saints are playing better, though reality kind of hits as you start preparing for this one. I think the Saints are gonna win this game, and they'll win it by more than three. They gotta revenge on their mind from the game six years ago. How about that Falcons taking on the Cardinals in Era Zona. Atlanta's favored by two because Kyler Murray's coming back for the Cardinals doesn't matter. Falcons are gonna get the win and cover. The two Lions taking on the Chargers out in La Detroit favorit by three. Lots of Lions fans in the stands. Therefore, I'm gonna give the Lions a win, but I'm gonna get the charges of cover. I know it's three point spread, but the line's gonna win a very close one or two point game. Charges are gonna get the cover Giants. Cowboys. Giants are starting Tomy DeVito, so you need to know Cowboys lay the seventeen Commanders taking on the Seahawks.
01:03:29
Speaker 1: Gina will get it done at home.
01:03:30
Speaker 2: And cover the six, and the Raiders will beat the Jets by more than one, so they'll win and cover. Coming up next, let's do a little Drews dozen with no Brown and let's relive the ult eleven.
01:03:41
Speaker 1: Plays of last week's win over Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
01:03:45
Speaker 2: We go one final segment of this edition to Texans All Access from the Hunday Texans Radio studio.
01:03:50
Speaker 1: And a sign for a little Drew's Dozen with Noah Brown.
01:03:55
Speaker 3: Noah Brown, your first job ever was.
01:03:59
Speaker 6: First I was football.
01:04:01
Speaker 3: No other jobs. No grocery store in, no mowing lawns, no snow shoveling snow sir. Nothing.
01:04:05
Speaker 4: Huh.
01:04:06
Speaker 3: That's a good first job to have, absolutely
getting paid to play.
01:04:10
Speaker 4: I like it.
01:04:10
Speaker 3: Do you any nicknames?
01:04:12
Speaker 6: Not too many?
01:04:13
Speaker 7: NB A five, but most people just call me Noah, Noah.
01:04:16
Speaker 8: I got you.
01:04:17
Speaker 3: How did you come up with eighty five? By eighty five?
01:04:19
Speaker 7: The number eighty five was given to me when I first came out of Ohio State. I wore eighty at Ohio State. I wore twenty one in high school before that, so no significance to it, but I just stuck with it when.
01:04:29
Speaker 6: I got it.
01:04:29
Speaker 3: Is the number just number. Do you have a favorite of all those?
01:04:32
Speaker 6: I wouldn't say have a favorite of all of them.
01:04:33
Speaker 7: I think I probably been wearing eighty five the longest ode of all of them now, so we'll stick with that.
01:04:37
Speaker 3: That's not a bad one to stick with. It's been working for you. What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning, brush my teeth?
01:04:43
Speaker 12: Yeah?
01:04:43
Speaker 3: Do you wake up with an alarm or do you just wake up on your own alarm?
01:04:46
Speaker 8: Yeah?
01:04:46
Speaker 3: If you didn't have an alarm when would you wake.
01:04:48
Speaker 6: Up, I'd be paying some fines late.
01:04:51
Speaker 3: Well, no, let's say it's a vacation day. You don't have to be in anywhere. When do you When would you wake up?
01:04:54
Speaker 6: Probably around nine ten?
01:04:56
Speaker 3: Yet there because you've been waking up so early, you can't do the sleeping and thing. Okay, that's what you do when you wake up. What's the last thing you do before you put your hand on the pillow at night and go to sleep?
01:05:05
Speaker 6: Same prayer?
01:05:06
Speaker 8: Yeah?
01:05:06
Speaker 3: Is it the same prayer? Every night? Is a different one?
01:05:08
Speaker 6: No, just depending on how I'm feeling, what's going on.
01:05:11
Speaker 3: If you were not a football player right now, what would you be doing?
01:05:14
Speaker 6: Man, I'm not sure. Probably coaching football.
01:05:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, singular focus. When did you fall in love with the game? How old were you?
01:05:21
Speaker 7: I was probably, I say fall in love with it maybe senior year of high school. Actually tried to quit football my sophomore year high school. Why to play basketball? Basketball is my main sport mostly growing up?
01:05:35
Speaker 6: Yeah?
01:05:35
Speaker 3: You miss hoops at all?
01:05:36
Speaker 8: I do.
01:05:37
Speaker 7: I still play sometimes in the off season, but you know, definitely better decision I.
01:05:41
Speaker 6: Made going on football, No doubt.
01:05:44
Speaker 3: There have been a lot of great basketball players that have played here for the Texans. DeAndre Hopkins he played at Clemson for a little bit before just turn into football full time. Bruce Allington was a receiver. He played at South Carolina. Who else on this team currently would round out a starting five? You're on it? Of course? Who are the other four?
01:06:00
Speaker 7: I'm gonna have to go George Fenn just because I know he played some some basketball in his past.
01:06:04
Speaker 3: He's a big guy.
01:06:05
Speaker 6: We'll go CJ.
01:06:06
Speaker 7: CJ's always talking about basketball. After that, it's kind of it's kind of a toss up. I just gut here first off season, haven't gotten to see anybody really move around on the court.
01:06:14
Speaker 6: So yeah, I got a three on three team.
01:06:17
Speaker 3: There you go. Yeah, it's TBD. Gotta get five. Okay, which would you rather? If you forced you to do this? I don't want to know where you live, but how far away do you live from the stadium?
01:06:26
Speaker 6: Like mileage fifteen minutes?
01:06:27
Speaker 3: Fifteen minutes? Would you rather have to walk home in one hundred five degree heat or walk home and it's twenty eight degrees and snowing.
01:06:35
Speaker 6: Ooh, twenty eight degrees and snowing? All right?
01:06:38
Speaker 4: Is that?
01:06:38
Speaker 3: Because of the New Jersey background, a little bit.
01:06:40
Speaker 6: Yeah, I just be being hot is not a good thing for me.
01:06:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, I got you. The person doesn't matter who it is, where they're from. But the person who makes you laugh the most.
01:06:49
Speaker 6: Is who probably my good friend Trayvon from back home.
01:06:52
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, what's Trayvon do that makes you laugh?
01:06:55
Speaker 6: Just for the jokes.
01:06:56
Speaker 7: Everything's positive, everything's a joke with him. So you know, a good guy to talk to.
01:07:00
Speaker 3: The teammate who gets you most amped up is Jimmy or JG.
01:07:05
Speaker 6: Really, yeah, I said those two before the games.
01:07:07
Speaker 7: They always come with something powerful, getting us ready to go, getting us e amped up.
01:07:10
Speaker 6: So I say those two who calms you down the most? Rob Uh.
01:07:13
Speaker 7: Rob's a a good veteran presidents who you know if if coaches are getting on us or he he's always got a voice or reason and something to kind of focus you back in.
01:07:22
Speaker 3: So I said, so Robert Woods, Alright, the place you would like to travel to most Greece? Greece? Alright, where's the f uh like, most exotic place you've ever been so far?
01:07:33
Speaker 6: Most exotic place.
01:07:34
Speaker 3: Or the favorite place outside of the States You've been?
01:07:36
Speaker 6: Jamaica.
01:07:37
Speaker 7: I've only been in Jamaica and Mexico, Costa Rica as well.
01:07:40
Speaker 3: A those are three good ones. Alright, first animal you would put in the arc your Noah, of course.
01:07:45
Speaker 6: So first and my dog. Your dog got a French bulldog named Gusto. That's kind with me.
01:07:51
Speaker 3: Holds Gusto.
01:07:52
Speaker 6: Gusto just he's about ten months.
01:07:54
Speaker 3: Ten months, okay, so he's still a puppy.
01:07:56
Speaker 6: Uh huh.
01:07:56
Speaker 3: Alright.
What does Gusto do that makes you love him? And what does Gusto do right now that kind of makes you get a little annoyed?
01:08:03
Speaker 6: I say eleven of the most.
01:08:04
Speaker 7: He's just always around me, you know, just uppric because I'm out here in Houston by myself right now. So having my daughter there is always a plus. I say, wait, guys, get on my nurse. He'll chew up shoes sometimes, or you know, you're using the bathroom in the house. He's still a puppy.
01:08:18
Speaker 6: Yeah, so things like that.
01:08:19
Speaker 3: That's always. Yeah, that's that's that's tough. What's the nicest pair of shoes he's gotten into.
01:08:24
Speaker 7: He chewed up with a pair of Jordan forest not too long ago. Yeah, we wasn't the best thing to come home to.
01:08:31
Speaker 3: Oh man, See, I'm an old man, I'm in my forties and I remember when those camps. I was like in junior high when those camps, So I can understand.
01:08:37
Speaker 6: How cool that is.
01:08:38
Speaker 3: That's tough. Who's your favorite all time retired NFL player, Tiki Barber? Tiky Barbara?
01:08:44
Speaker 8: How come?
01:08:44
Speaker 7: Growing up in Jersey, the Giants were my favorite team and he was my favorite player on the team.
01:08:48
Speaker 3: So all right, it's could you bring up New Jersey because we're gonna finish with this. We're putting in the top five of these Jersey athletes. You gotta rank them. You Why did I say it like that?
01:08:58
Speaker 4: You?
01:08:59
Speaker 3: You Carl Lewis, the sprinter, Olympian, Brian Cushing, former linebacker here, Bill Parcells, he was an athlete, but he's a coach, and Tony Soprano.
01:09:10
Speaker 7: We're gonna go into order, you said, so, Carl Lewis, I believe you said Cushing after that, yep, Bill Parcels.
01:09:16
Speaker 6: And then I'm gonna go meet and then I'm gonna go.
01:09:18
Speaker 3: Tony because Tony's uncle didn't think he was a varsity athlete.
01:09:21
Speaker 6: Ranks.
01:09:22
Speaker 3: Okay, well that's a good ranking. Noel Brown, thank you for the time.
01:09:26
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I know Brown was instrumental in the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I figured, you know what final segment, let's relive it with my ultimate eleven plays of the game against the Buccaneers.
01:09:39
Speaker 1: If you missed it, let's live it one final time.
01:09:42
Speaker 2: Give us a good feeling going into the weekend getting ready for the Bengals. We start at number eleven and this ends up being one of the funnest drives of the game because of how it ended.
01:09:52
Speaker 1: It was not fun because the Texans couldn't get an the end zone. That was not fun.
01:09:56
Speaker 2: But to get to a spot where they could start thinking about a touchdown at number eleven, it was c J. Stroud finding his guy, Noah Brown. Noah all day, he led the team in receptions. We'll get to obviously his biggest one, but this one's for thirty one yards.
01:10:13
Speaker 1: It was in the fourth quarter.
01:10:15
Speaker 2: The Texans were tied thirty to thirty and hopefully gonna go up thirty eight to thirty and hopefully the name Daria Gumbwally, as much as we love him, was not gonna be hurt on his day, and they could get there with this throw right here from c J. Stroud to Noah Brown first and ten Tampa Bay thirty six. Stroud takes the snap, fakes the gift, stepping up CJ firing Gawnfield.
01:10:39
Speaker 3: To his left.
01:10:40
Speaker 4: Flag down, Noah Brown at the ten. Noah Brown Russell let a bound to the five yard lines. Flag down in the secondary.
01:10:46
Speaker 6: What's this.
01:10:48
Speaker 1: First and goal? Texans? If it stands, Noah Brown is going Holy defense number twenty four.
01:10:58
Speaker 4: A third is to fly Carlton Davis the third picked it up. Texans say pick up that flag. We'll take the plane of Noah Brown and was on fire first.
01:11:09
Speaker 8: Yes, he is.
01:11:10
Speaker 3: He is like a guy like a.
01:11:13
Speaker 1: Cat that hadn't eaten in a while.
01:11:14
Speaker 2: Noah has been absolutely fantastic from the time he came back. And I know after no One out I think Noah I think he was injured after that first Ravens game and then he went on IR and the offense started clicking. I know there were a lot of people thinking, well, Okay, Noah's coming back, but you know, really, what's he gonna do? I mean, you got your receivers, you got you got Robert Woods, you got Tanked Dell, you got Nico Collins, whereas no Brown fit in it. Well, no Brown fits in it really nicely, and with Robert Woods out, Noah had to step up. And that's what that's what you need. You need positions with depth, and the receivers have shown that. Uh four guys that have just made place consistently, and no Brown has been one of those. So we'll get back to Noah in a little bit. He has a big catch on the final drive right before a spike that them in position to go win the game. He had that catch right there and the result of that was that Texans couldn't go any further, so Daria had to kick the field goal.
01:12:08
Speaker 1: So it was on that drive right there where no one made that catch.
01:12:10
Speaker 2: So Noah made a lot of big plays and obviously one you're gonna hear a little bit later. Now, let's get to number ten and a guy that I fell in love with during training camp that was killed, Khalil Davis, And I remember he had signed and I saw him walk on the field the first day and I was like interesting. Now, I will tell you a lot of times, I'm probably more in favor of shorter, quicker, leveraged defensive lineman. I like Grady Jarrett. I always loved Aaron Donald Because of that, I love shorter stouter. You know, DJ Reader was not six ' five, you know, he's six two maybe, but so strong, powerful and quick.
01:12:49
Speaker 1: Well that's why I saw Khalil Davis.
01:12:50
Speaker 2: Then I went over and watched pass rush one on ones and Pats the very first day, and I'm like, holy cow, this guy's got something. He
has got something, and he has just played at a highlight level when he has got in the game. And obviously, with Hassan Ridgeway going down, Rankins being out, Clil Davis, Kurt Heinisch, Malik Collins, those guys had to step up because that was all they had.
01:13:12
Speaker 1: And in the late third.
01:13:15
Speaker 2: Quarter, when the momentum is really rolling, on third down, Baker Mayfield went back to pass and on the left side of the defensive formation, the Texans ran a pick stunt like you would run a pick playing basketball, you know, like a pick and roll, Like you have a guy running towards the defender, he sets the pick, the ball handler goes around and he's got a lot of room.
01:13:36
Speaker 1: Well that's exactly what this was.
01:13:38
Speaker 2: Will Anderson dove hard inside on the guard and when he did, the tackle went with him. Khalil Davis then looped around and he was face to face with Baker Mayfield, who then was unable to throw the ball. Khalil Davis wrapped him up. And I want you to listen to the crowd reaction because we have not heard this crowd reaction in a very long time. A number ten, Clil Davis with a sack of Baker Mayfield the third quarter and.
01:14:02
Speaker 4: Everybody's fired up. Third down and ten Buccketeers from there. In nineteen Mayfield shotgun three receivers, Watts that Wright one back, the air's gonna snap down.
01:14:13
Speaker 1: Mayfield backs up. Here's pressure, He's gonna go down.
01:14:18
Speaker 4: Khalil Tavis brings down Mayfield at that ten.
01:14:22
Speaker 12: I've loved this kid ever since the preseason, and all he does is make plays.
01:14:27
Speaker 1: Okay, So let's get to number nine.
01:14:28
Speaker 2: And number nine comes with a little bit of a story, and I'm gonna tell you the story in the second play. But it was two big plays by Jalen Petree. The first one is a tackle for a loss in the fourth quarter that I thought was gonna be the defining play of the game because the Bucks were driving their down threes thirty three thirty. It got a first down, and on first down they essentially destroyed a run play, but it was Petrie who ended up with the final tackle on the running back. I think it was Chase Edmonds at the time, and it set up a big loss of the Bucks. I thought that that's the play, so I put this one at nine to A. P.
01:15:03
Speaker 1: Tree's showing blitz Mayfield, hands off to Edmunds and he's brought down.
01:15:08
Speaker 4: Now he stays up in the backfield that he slips down and buried by Petrie cracking up forty three yard live broke a tackle. Did well to do it, but he round back into p Trie and friends and it's a big loss.
01:15:20
Speaker 1: So okay, the story comes with nine B.
01:15:22
Speaker 2: Now this happens in the third quarter and the Bucks trying to remember what the score was at the time. But the Bucks said the lead, they put another touchdown up on the board. No matter how the Texans are moving the ball, it's gonna it's gonna be tough. And
so the Texans showed at the Skies in the secondary and it turned out that they were gonna play cover one and blitz the overhang player. So that put Jalen Petrie in man coverage on Trey Palmer. So Palmer runs the deep over out. Now Palmer runs into fourth three range and Jalen is staying as close to him as humanly possible, and at the last second is the ball's arriving. Jalen reaches out and full on dives and gets four fingers on the ball and knocks it away.
01:16:09
Speaker 1: But as he does, he hits the ground. Here's that play at nine B. Then the story makefield.
01:16:16
Speaker 4: He fakes the give Mayfield, throws down field and knocked away.
01:16:20
Speaker 1: Petrie got in the way of it as the ball was intended to the speedy Trey Palmer. Second and ten.
01:16:27
Speaker 12: What a play, What a play by Petrie just the last second to get his left hand on the football to not get away.
01:16:36
Speaker 1: So I see that thing the whole way.
01:16:37
Speaker 2: I'm standing maybe maybe ten yards away from the whole thing, and so I'm watching the interaction. I see Jalen make the knock away, and I'm like yeah. And then Petrie Dove got up and started running back for the huddle, and as he did, I looked and I was like, I saw something that I use all the time. There was a bird bee's lip bam on the field. I mean, I could see it clear as day and I'm almost running after it. I'm like, I'm just looking at it seeing did anybody does anybody seeing this? Like there's a Bert's be's lipbomb? And I was like, that wasn't there before? So I can't figure out. I'm like, well, Palmer didn't hit the ground, So was that Jalen? The Jalen have Burt's bees?
01:17:22
Speaker 1: Like he put it? Where the heck was he having? Where was Burt's be's Like where was he carrying his Birt's be's lipbam?
01:17:29
Speaker 3: So?
01:17:30
Speaker 2: On our Monday Coaches Show before we started, I was like, you know what, I got to ask coach this because he's played the game and I've played it, and I'm like, I'd never heard of anything. And I was like, Coach, have you ever heard of a player like putting in this case, Bert's Bee's lipbam in like his shorts or your belt, your sock or whatever during a game. And before I could get before Coach would answer, he's kind of looking at me. And before I could get any further, Omar Majubar, are pr director, who is just incredible, walks over and goes he starts laughing, and he goes he goes, hey, Jalen was miked up for the game, and apparently he was in the huddle offering Bert's bees to everybody in the huddle, like you gotta stay high traded, and we just broke out laughing, and I was like, Coach, I think he had it in his pants, Like, I think he had it in his game pants and when he landed, they popped out, and Omar was like, yeah, I'm pretty sure he had it. So we got to get the confirmation of Jalen Petrie. But it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen of a player carrying Burt's Be's lipball. Now I think I would have put it in
my sock, but I don't know. I mean, maybe it gets down to your foot and you don't want that.
01:18:43
Speaker 1: I don't know.
01:18:43
Speaker 2: Maybe I just keep it on the sideline and I just use it on the sideline. So I got to get to the bottom of this with Jalen Peatrie. But I just thought it was funny enough. He made those two huge plays and I was like, I gotta tell the story. So there you go, Jalen Petrie carrying Burt's Bee's in his football pants. I think we got any confirmation, all right, So that's it. Let's get to number ten and the Texans end up putting up ten points in the first half, and they got three from and people are gonna forget this. A huge, enormous fifty yard field goal from Kymie Fairban.
01:19:14
Speaker 4: Fifty yard field goal attempt left tash mark north end zone up rights by fairbaron Here's Weeks with the snap, here's the hole by Johnson.
01:19:22
Speaker 1: The kicker is up been good.
01:19:24
Speaker 4: Fairbar drills it from fifty to cut it back to a one score game.
01:19:28
Speaker 1: Seventeen ten. Texas needed that one in a big way.
01:19:32
Speaker 2: Now, I'm not totally sure if that's when it happened, or if it was on the ensuing kickoff, I don't know, but it was about that point that we saw well, we didn't see Kymie Fairban on the sidelines, and that was when my antenna went up, Like wait a second. I could do math pretty quickly, and usually I see Cam and Kyme kind of working together, and I'm seeing Cam by himself, and I then walk the sideline. I can't see Kaymie anywhere, and I'm like, then I see Camp talking to Dariya. I'll give you that story a little bit later because I actually had a report from the sideline, so I'll have that for you a little bit later. But Kimi's field goal comes in right there, a big one at number eight. All right, it's get the number seven. One of the more unique plays. And again I need some confirmation on this to know whether this was an ad lib or this play was actually in the playbook, because if it's in the playbook, it's staying in a playbook. And if it wasn't in the playbook and it was ad lib, it should go into playbook. I've always wanted to run this play. I thought about it forever, but Devin Singletary and CJ. Stroud pulled it off. It was a zone option back to the quarterback that was just ridiculous. It comes into number seven handoff.
01:20:37
Speaker 4: Singletary hops to his left after starting right, and the ball goes to ct left side forty thirty five yard line for a first down. What sick? Sick?
01:20:48
Speaker 1: Good? A reverse option? Yeah? Reverse option? Like I mean, well, what is that? And again, like I said, I've always wanted to try it. I've always thought about that play, like I think you could run it and you could really mess with some minds.
01:21:03
Speaker 2: But I don't know that I've ever seen an executed like that, So I tried to get confirmation from Motor.
01:21:07
Speaker 1: When he came out, I was like, did you do that on purpose? I don't know if you heard me.
01:21:10
Speaker 2: I think he was just kind of celebrating, yes, sir, So I don't know if I don't know, So I gotta get a confirmation on that with you.
01:21:17
Speaker 1: But we'll work on that. But what a great play by Motor.
01:21:20
Speaker 2: He's getting He's getting dumped like Zion, A column went low on him, and so Devin is flipping it. He's running left, so typically option quarterbacks would flip with their left hands so they can kind of brace for the hit. Devin kind of entrusts his left hands, so he flips it with his right hand and CJ catches it perfectly.
01:21:38
Speaker 1: I mean his perfectly.
01:21:39
Speaker 2: Now, what CJ does normally is sort of football, and with no score Texans driving, he threw an absolute dart on an RPO to Nico Collins. This will tell you what kind of game this was that this throw. This touchdown comes in number six on the ultimate eleven.
01:22:00
Speaker 1: Go wide left strap packs to get throws Tenico on the slam.
01:22:02
Speaker 4: Nico into the head zone, touchdown Houston.
01:22:10
Speaker 7: C J.
01:22:11
Speaker 4: Stroud to Nico Collins first six and the Texans take the lead on Tampa Bay.
01:22:16
Speaker 2: It was a part of me when the Texans took that seven to nothing lead that thought, Okay, Tampa's lost three in a row. I don't say they're gonna mail it in, but all right, just kind of chalk this one up. They've been on the road a couple of weeks. They wear a buffalo on Thursday night, had them mini bye and then came to us. I thought, okay, maybe they're gonna pack it in. No, no, no, They ended up being an incredible, incredible heavyweight fight on Sunday what it needed. Where the two plays at five A and five B twenty three sixteen, third quarter, third and eleven. The Texas has gotten nine yards from a singletary run second and one. I'm on first down, he can make it second and one second down. I think it was incomplete pass. They go for third and one and it's a holding. Vidavea got held. I think Dieter ended up holding him. He needed to because Vey is just too much. So it ends up being third and eleven and c J. Stroud goes back to pass. Now he's got all kinds of receivers on this play. He's got four receivers, I'm sorry, three receivers are running back out in the route. His loan tight end is Dalton Schultz, but Dalton is helping blocking. He's not out in a route. But CJ is buying time because he can't find anybody open. He's buying time, and Schultz realized everybody was kind of taken care of, so he just kind of floats down field and then CJ ends up buying enough time to like, Okay, I've I've moved round enough, Dalton, you see what you can do.
01:23:37
Speaker 1: And then this happened and he comes in at five a.
01:23:39
Speaker 4: CJ gets the snap, pocket collapsing, Stroud still working, throws over the middle, Hitch Schultz stef arm Schultz to his right, forty five forty thirty five thirty hit out of bounce up a twenty nine yard line.
01:23:52
Speaker 1: How did he do it? First down? Texans.
01:23:55
Speaker 2: The two linebackers for the Bucks, I think are they make up one of the best duos in the league.
01:24:01
Speaker 1: Lavte David and Devin White. The Lote.
01:24:04
Speaker 2: David made a play early in that game where he ran from the backside and made a tackle for a loss on the opposite side. I saw live and I saw it happen, and I don't know that I've seen a play like that in a long time. So he's one of the best tacklers. They're two of the best linebackers together in the league. And on that play, Schultz gets out of the tackle of Levante David and then he flat runs over Devin White on the sideline and that charged everybody up and he gave the Texans a first down. So on the following play, the Texans decided, you know, we got a little momentum, let's dial one up and see if we can get it.
01:24:40
Speaker 1: And they did it. Five B.
01:24:42
Speaker 2: Tank Dell runs the stutter and go on Carlton Davis and CJ. Stroud drops a dime in the back of the end zone. This set five B and listen to the crowd again.
01:24:51
Speaker 4: DJ and the gun gets the snap, pumps now fires deep down the right side and tame down touchdown to Blustuds.
01:25:00
Speaker 1: TD to tech don no Kudes. Texans down one.
01:25:08
Speaker 4: CJ Stroud with some lightning on this drive the throat of Schultz. The Schultz catch had run for the first and now tell to the end zone. That got the lead to twenty three twenty two.
01:25:22
Speaker 2: Texans would miss on the two point conversion, so they still trailed by one, but you could tell at this point the offense was rolling. It was about at this point that we went to a break and we were kind of lamenting the fact that they hadn't scored the two point conversions and finally said, hey, we're fine, We're gonna score another two or three times, which absolutely was dead on. So I feel good about that. I made a prediction. It was good and it led to the two plays at number four. Twenty three to twenty two. Quarter flipped over and the Texans got another drive going and they got down in the low red zone again. After a couple of tricky run plays went nowhere, a third down pass was incomplete the n Eco collins this fourth down, so down by one, the Miko Ryans had decision to make. Does he put Dario goombually out that to kick a field goal or does he go for it fourth and goal from the eleven. Now, Daria's field goal ended up being twenty nine yards, so he could kicked the field goal to take a twenty five to twenty three lead, but at that point the Miko felt better about, you know what, let's go for this. And what a decision that was because CJ. Stroud found Dalton Schultz at four a for a touchdown to take the lead.
01:26:39
Speaker 4: Fourth and goal from the nine, Stroud gets the snap. Stroud quick throw right side, caught, touchdown Dalton Schultz. The Texans are in front on fourth and goal. They convert. What a rocket brook CJ. Stroud to the tight end. Four touchdown passes DJ strouds. Four different receivers have caught them and then finally you get a two point conversion. Texans relied on number seven's legs, not his arm, to take a thirty to.
01:27:11
Speaker 1: Twenty three lead. They're going for two.
01:27:14
Speaker 4: Stroud takes the snap, he's gonna run it and CJ gets across.
01:27:19
Speaker 2: They get the tooth and the Texans are up seven on Tampa bay Man. That was fun up to that point. Now before there wasn't as much fun. Texans were down seventeen to ten and a half. The Bucks got the ball to start the second half, went down and kicked the field goals, so they took a twenty to ten lead, so it was imperative that the Texans put the ball in the end zone and put the ball in the end zone fast.
01:27:43
Speaker 1: Now I was thinking five plays, seven play drive, you know, something like that. But go put the ball on the end zone. I was not thinking one play.
01:27:50
Speaker 2: But it was one play and it comes in here at number three, no Brown ran a crossing route and this is when I knew, you know, the first half we had talked about this a little bit that CJ was kind of off a little bit. It felt like, you know, he missed Tank on a deep ball which he normally would hit. A couple of the throws were just kind of off of the When he made his throw. As soon as he makes the throw, I immediately think, Okay, he's good because it's a throw. It's a throw, he's made a line. It's a crossing route to Noah Brown, but it's a crossing route with some teeth. I mean, it's a good twenty five to thirty air yard throw. And he put it right on the money where Noah Brown didn't have to stop, and that was good because Tank gave him a block. And then the fun began and number three. Noah Brown takes it to the hoh seventy five yards to make it twenty to sixteen. It's at number three.
01:28:36
Speaker 4: CJ fakes the GiB CJ planting and he throws down field over the middle and he's got a man Brown look side fifty forty lock sideline, full throttle, twenty fifteen.
01:28:46
Speaker 1: Ten five fighting from a goal line head.
01:28:49
Speaker 4: He's got it touchdown Houston rock and roll seventy five yards.
01:28:57
Speaker 1: What a block by tank tail?
01:29:00
Speaker 12: I mean you gotta have unselfish players to be successful offensively, and some guys just have to flat out do the dirty work every once in a while. You all can't be stars. And if the block by tankdal I mean freeze up. Noah Brown, boy, he.
01:29:18
Speaker 4: Tightrope that sideline, barely stayed in bounds and fought off a defender right inside the ten to get to the goal line.
01:29:27
Speaker 2: It was Davis, and he stiff armed him and to get across. Okay, I thought long and hard about two to one, not too too hard. I feel bad for Daria Goomblewalle because this play normally would be number one, but because of the way the game ended, it's not. Now had Deyandre Houston Carson been able to hang on to the fumble, this would have been number
one, and the fubber recovery probably is somewhere in the altern eleven two. But he Mike Evans knocked out his hands recovered it the Bucks score and so it made the last forty six seconds more memorable than it needed to be. But score tied at thirty ball at the eleven yard line, do you go forward again or do you try a running back at kicker to see if you could take the lead. I can't even imagine what Tmiko Ryans was going through. We've talked about this after the game. We talked about on his Coaches show. He seemed very calm in the moment and was relying on Frank Ross or Frank's like, yeah, he's got this, He's got this. And that's why you saw Frank so excited because he vouched for Dara, and when you do that to the head coach, it's got to come through.
01:30:39
Speaker 1: Well, Daria Goomblewallee came through.
01:30:41
Speaker 2: It's the first made field goal by a non kicker punter since two thousand and four. Wes Welker did it with the Patriot I'm sorry with the Dolphins. That's how long ago it was nineteen years ago. Daria Goomblewalle's field goal comes into number two and it's glorious.
01:30:58
Speaker 1: Oh, they're going to try a field goal.
01:31:00
Speaker 4: Here we go with some dramatic stuff here for Frank Ross's Special Teams unit. A Gunbowale will try it a twenty nine yard attempt from the left. Hash Mark Weeks will snap, Cameron Johnston will hold a Gunbowale, the running back for the lead snaps down the kick us off. But it's good. Story of Goobale for three and the Texans are back in front. Are you kidding?
01:31:31
Speaker 12: We may be watching the changing of the game today and how it's played and how rosters are filled out.
01:31:40
Speaker 2: Unbelievable, yeahmra, I mean his game was truly the whole game was unbelievable. And he came down to forty six seconds left. Now, the last drive is tremendous and I could have put every plan in the drive. He throws the check down, the Shoultz don't gets out of bounds. He throws the second All right, don't take time out, so there's a second one of Dalton. He is stacked near your sideline. They gotta take a time out. With thirty one seconds left. CJ hits Noah Brown.
01:32:10
Speaker 1: Two.
01:32:11
Speaker 2: I believe it was I don't know, somewhere on the forty yard line, but they gotta go up and spike it. They spike it their sixteen seconds left. Now you're thinking, sixteen seconds left? Can I get one more throw over the middle, spike it and maybe take one shot at the end zone. You'd like to get to the sideline, but they're not gonna let you get to the sideline. Right right, they're not gonna let you get to the sideline. Well, these last two plays are absolutely magical. The first one is CJ hitting Tank on the sideline to the fifteen yard line to stop the clock after the spike.
01:32:44
Speaker 4: Second and ten at the forty one yard line of the Bucks, CJ and the gun one back.
01:32:47
Speaker 1: Here's the snap.
01:32:48
Speaker 4: Stroud looking, Stroud throwing deep and he's got Tank down along the sideline.
01:32:53
Speaker 1: But if you make the catch, yes in the red zone at.
01:32:58
Speaker 4: The fifteen yard line, now you got time to make a couple of take a couple of shots to the end zone.
01:33:04
Speaker 1: If it's quick. It's three of them with.
01:33:07
Speaker 4: Ten seconds to go, Del looking at the replay. One foot down, two feet down, the toe tapper, nice drag of the left foot.
01:33:19
Speaker 2: You saw the little black tire shreds or whatever pop up, and you thought, okay he made that catch. Okay, good. Now ten seconds left you at the fifteen yard line. You got a couple shots for the end zone. I mean it's still a low percentage. You gotta go to the end zone. You can't get tackled shore of the en zone. The game's over. This has to go to the end zone.
01:33:41
Speaker 1: And it did. Is that number one b the game winner?
01:33:45
Speaker 4: Strouding the gun empty backfield after motion first down of the Bucks, fifteen, ten seconds to go.
01:33:50
Speaker 1: CJ gets the snap. CJ looking throwing to the end zone. Yes, slid so with the rest up, said Rock and pro. My goodness, wanta come back?
01:34:06
Speaker 2: Oh yes, what a comeback? What a comeback? Hopefully there won't be a comeback this weekend. Hopefully it'll just be full throttle. Get to win at Cincinnati and fly home with the dub. A lot of work with a lot of injured players, a lot of guys out to be able to do that. But gotta go fight. And if I know anything about this, team. They'll fight, there's no question about that. Appreciate Noah Brown, True Doherty for being here for sure, James Palmer, Mark Vandermer, Demko, Ryans, Ben McDaniels, Robert Woods.
01:34:35
Speaker 1: All of you for listen. We'll see next time, everybody, and as always, go Texans,