00:00:00
Speaker 1: What is happening, everybody?
00:00:01
Speaker 2: Welcome into a Monday edition of Texans All Access from the Hyundai Texas Radio Studio. I'm your host, John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. And it's a tough Monday to have to digest everything that took place. on Sunday at Reliant Stadium. Texans fall 36-31. We just had the D'Amico Ryan show, and the coach was great talking about different things the team's got to do going forward, things that he was upset about, but also things that he appreciated about how the team played, especially offensively. So there's a lot to build on. Hopefully that'll be the case going forward. All right, let's kick off this show talking with our pal Andre Ware.
00:00:45
Speaker 1: We wanted to start right there.
00:00:47
Speaker 2: The offense, CJ Stroud, how it went for the quarterback of your football team. Here's what the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner had to say.
00:00:55
Speaker 3: I thought he ran a smooth operation.
00:00:57
Speaker 4: You look at how he how he orchestrated the offense, getting them in the right protections, protecting himself. I thought the ground game really gave him some time because after running the ball so well, they go to play action. He just had time, and I thought he delivered the football, went to the right places, made good decisions all game long.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: It's just unfortunate.
00:01:22
Speaker 4: Two fumbles are going to be talked about at nausea, but he'll be fine. I think he has full control of what they're doing offensively.
00:01:31
Speaker 5: He looks better.
00:01:32
Speaker 4: I was watching him in warm-ups, and he just looks sharper to me. It's not a big looping arm stroke. He's kind of shortened his stroke in the offseason. His spirals tightened itself up. I think CJ's going to be fine.
00:01:47
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm up.
00:01:48
Speaker 2: Too worried about CJ seemingly and I don't know that I was going in I think because training camp was pretty good Dre so I felt good about him going in but I felt really good about this defense going into this game yesterday so I'll ask you this Dre with all that happened to that unit what is the most concerning in your mind going forward.
00:02:09
Speaker 4: I just, you know, there's only one sack yesterday and he wasn't harassed a lot. Now you got to take into account that Josh Allen is a mobile quarterback.
00:02:18
Speaker 3: He's been doing this for a long time.
00:02:20
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just a crazy amount of touchdowns that, that he's accumulated over a very short period of time, but you know, just not getting to him and disrupting him and getting, getting him off his spot to make it a little tougher when they did do that, that he was, trying to give it to him at times, but he was lucky enough to have a couple of interceptions touch the turf. He's a heck of a quarterback, but on the schedule there are going to be others. He just happened to make one more play than the Texans offense did yesterday.
00:02:57
Speaker 7: What about the tweet I sent you guys last night from Super 70 Sports?
00:03:01
Speaker 5: He came up with this note.
00:03:03
Speaker 7: Josh Allen has more career rushing touchdowns than Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Edgerin James, Thurman Thomas, Larry Zonka, OJ Simpson, Herschel Walker, Fred Taylor, LaShawn McCoy, Ricky Waters, Clinton Portis, and Steven Jackson. And he's a 30-year-old quarterback. More rushing touchdowns than all of those guys. That is sick.
00:03:24
Speaker 5: That's amazing. This guy is a Marvel character.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's crazy.
00:03:30
Speaker 4: I mean, he made a couple of throws where you're just oohing and aahing yesterday. And he hit one on an over route where he couldn't step into it because Osiris Torrance, his right guard, was just sitting right in his lap. And he just kind of flicks it, sidearm, but it's accurate as all get out. And the receiver doesn't even break stride. And that's just one of many that he threw yesterday. But he was magical. He's going to have this team in it every game. Every season, he's an unselfish player, unselfish leader that they get behind, and there's no doubt as to why he's had the type of success he's had.
00:04:07
Speaker 2: It makes me wonder how many quarterbacks in that same situation throughout the NFL would have beaten the Texans the way Josh Allen did. But, I mean, I think that's the thing. I think we walk out of there and go... At some point, you still, even though the Texas defense, I don't think, played its best game, you still walk out of there and you've got to.
00:04:25
Speaker 5: Tip your cap.
00:04:26
Speaker 1: Being the guy's the MVP. He was two years ago the MVP. Last year he was second. I don't know if Diana Rossini had anything to do with that.
00:04:32
Speaker 5: We don't know. This year he started off in MVP fashion.
00:04:36
Speaker 2: So from that standpoint, you've got to tip your cap and go, yeah, that guy's pretty good. You've just got to clean some things up. Speaking of clean things up, Dre... how many times have the three of us on a Monday?
00:04:47
Speaker 3: Oh, okay.
00:04:48
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the Texas offensive line.
00:04:51
Speaker 1: Oh man. Well, let's talk about the Texans offensive line.
00:04:55
Speaker 2: Maybe some positives to take from the group yesterday.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: I know they get up to sack early.
00:05:00
Speaker 2: They created the Russo strip sack early and they gave up a sack late, but in between it felt like they were picking up stunts. They were picking up blitzes. CJ had time to scan in the pocket. What were your thoughts about the way the offensive line played yesterday?
00:05:14
Speaker 3: I was thoroughly impressed with how they played.
00:05:18
Speaker 4: I mean, you take that kind of play every single week for 17 weeks.
00:05:22
Speaker 3: If you can get it.
00:05:23
Speaker 4: And, you know, you know that there are going to be adjustments, injuries, things of that sort where guys aren't 100% from this day going forward for the rest of the season.
00:05:32
Speaker 3: Even if they're in the lineup, they're not 100%.
00:05:34
Speaker 4: They're going to deal with something. But, man, what an upgrade, I think, up front. Keelan Rutledge played well. I thought Evan Brown played.
00:05:43
Speaker 3: He played his tail off the others. Ed Ingram, great at run blocking.
00:05:47
Speaker 4: Trip Brown was solid for most of the game. And Ursary, you know, he just did his thing. So that's very encouraging that you don't have to worry about those guys that were not talking about the offensive line. That means they are doing exactly what they're supposed to do, and that's.
00:06:03
Speaker 3: Just doing their job.
00:06:05
Speaker 7: And run blocking well. David Montgomery, Dre, his debut, three touchdowns. You have Woody Marks also running for 42 yards yesterday. They ran for 124 as a team.
00:06:15
Speaker 5: Look, I'm not saying I'll take that every Sunday.
00:06:17
Speaker 7: I'd like a few more on occasion especially, but I might take that every Sunday with this defense as long as they get their act together on that side of the football.
00:06:25
Speaker 5: Thoughts on the running game?
00:06:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I loved it.
00:06:28
Speaker 4: And David was just magical in his approach.
00:06:33
Speaker 3: His body lean, he's a tough back to bring down.
00:06:35
Speaker 4: And then Woody has become, everybody looks at Woody and thinks of this third down back that they drafted out of USC in the fourth round. And he's just in there to get swing passes and things. Woody runs hard. And Woody's a tough out. Every bit as hard as David Montgomery runs. And there are guys around this league that won't sign up to tackle Woody Marks. And yeah, so I think the running game's in good hands when you start talking about the offensive line, the running backs, even the tight ends. Foster Moreau had a game yesterday. Cade Stover put in one of his better games yesterday. The only guy I thought that should have had more impact on the game that maybe didn't was Dalton Schultz. And that's because he led the team last year in receiving games. from a catch standpoint, but you've got to have him step up with his abilities, his skill set, got to inject him a little.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: Bit more into the game plan.
00:07:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, the one thing I thought was interesting, Dred, I said this to Mark, the only skill player that didn't catch a pass yesterday was Bridge Brooks, but he didn't play an offensive snap. So every skill player that played an offensive snap was, caught a ball, all four tight ends, both running backs, and every receiver caught a pass, which I.
00:07:53
Speaker 1: Thought was, it was great.
00:07:55
Speaker 2: I mean, I would have liked to see, like you said, I'd like to see Dalton get a little bit more. Dalton had a couple of key catches on that final drive. But the way that CJ was spreading the wealth out to everybody, getting everybody included. I feel like that's a really good harbinger for hope for this offense that it's, you know, not going to be, you know, just Nico all the time. And then everybody else, maybe just a little bit, it feels like it's going to be, yeah, Nico, cause he's Nico, but everybody else is going to fill in the gaps, especially after losing Jaden Higgins, your thoughts.
00:08:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a good point because at times when you're spreading the wealth like that, I think maybe, what.
00:08:29
Speaker 3: 11 guys caught passes?
00:08:30
Speaker 4: 10, 11 guys caught passes yesterday, and that's spreading it around. So the defense really can't get a beat on it. Well, why don't you throw it to this guy more? I said it because I'd work to Dalton more because it spreads it even more. He can work the middle of the field as good as any tight end in this league. But when you spread it out, now you.
00:08:48
Speaker 3: Can run the football. Defense has no idea.
00:08:51
Speaker 4: What you're doing from, you know, one moment to the next or one series to the next, they're kind of guessing as well. And when you have that type of production in big moments in a game, when you need to go to Nico Collins, when you got to have a play from Nico Collins, you have it because the defense has spread itself to account for everybody and not just Nico. There's no magical button that says, Oh, in the third quarter with seven 57 left, they're going to start throwing a Nico. Let's turn the switch on and, rotate the coverage back over there.
00:09:23
Speaker 3: It's going to be that way.
00:09:25
Speaker 4: He's going to have one-on-one matchups because the Texans are successfully throwing it to everybody. You can hit 10 or 11 receivers, that's spreading it around pretty good. That makes it a lot easier for a talent like Nico.
00:09:37
Speaker 7: All right, Dre, anatomy, the projection of a defensive bounce back, but here's the problem. You're facing a team And you've got to cover Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins. You've got to cover Yoshavas. And they have Gusecki at tight end. And we saw what Kincaid did yesterday. Thoughts on facing the Bengals and holding things in check, if at all possible.
00:10:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, with Chase and Higgins, you're going to have, you know, this is going to be a spicy game on the outside. And by spicy, I mean very competitive with Stingley being an LSU guy.
00:10:11
Speaker 3: And Lassiter, you know, coming back or bouncing.
00:10:14
Speaker 4: Back from yesterday's game. This is going to have a lot of juice to it. Uh, from a defense versus offense standpoint, and you're talking about strength on strength because the bangles are, uh, they are nothing to write home about on the defensive side. They made some improvements or some signings and adjustments.
00:10:32
Speaker 3: In the off season, but.
00:10:34
Speaker 4: I think the strength of that team, obviously, is the offense. And Joe Burrow distributes it as well as any. Don't forget P. Ryan, the running back, as well. Throw him in. He had a decent game yesterday himself.
00:10:47
Speaker 5: So they can run it.
00:10:48
Speaker 4: They can mix the run with the pass. But this is going to be a good game because I think this Texas defense, they're going to want to.
00:10:55
Speaker 5: Bounce back even more.
00:10:56
Speaker 4: So they may have to shut down practice a couple of times and get Will Anderson back. off the field after yesterday and then wanting to right the ship, he may just shut down practice over and over again, getting himself ready this week. So I look forward to a big day from the defense. And if we can get that side of it corrected and give me the exact same stuff we had on offense, minus a fumble.
00:11:18
Speaker 3: Or two, that's the team I think we've been waiting to see.
00:11:23
Speaker 5: Yeah, then they got big sexy Dexy over there. I don't like seeing that, dude. That's for sure.
00:11:29
Speaker 1: This one's for both of you.
00:11:31
Speaker 2: Late in the game, it might have been on that game winning or the last drive, I think, of the Bills may have been before that, but it was in the fourth quarter. When Henry went out, I don't know what Henry's status is going to be. But that was already a position that we're kind of eyeballing, just a little side eye, like, we better stay healthy here. And then, unfortunately, Henry gets banged up. If Henry is out for even just a week, it's for both of you.
00:11:56
Speaker 5: Dre, you go first.
00:11:57
Speaker 2: How problematic is that if we don't have Henry for this one against the Bengals?
00:12:03
Speaker 4: He's so good in coverage and just his overall understanding of the defense and helping guys get lined up and making adjustments and things of that sort, along with Aziz, that you lose a leader, you lose one of the two quarterbacks. I think there are two in Aziz and Henry. You lose one of those guys, and that's tough to replace. You mix in the fact that Hanson, who will probably step into that spot if Henry can't go, missed a bunch of the preseason because he was hurt. So you don't know how healthy he is and how thin that thing is behind, you know, how long can he go, basically.
00:12:39
Speaker 3: So it's a concern.
00:12:41
Speaker 4: It was good to see Henry just kind of get himself up and get off the field. But, man, I think it's a huge loss if he can't go this week.
00:12:51
Speaker 5: Absolutely huge loss.
00:12:52
Speaker 7: Jake Hansen, however they put it together, this is going to be interesting. And we saw that if you can get matched up on a tight end, it's tough for any linebacking crew to deal with these tight ends. Whoever they have to cover backs out of the backfield. It's going to be difficult. But, hey, this is what it is. You have to have your depth rise up. We talked about it all offseason long. The ice was thin at linebacker once EJ Speed went out.
00:13:18
Speaker 5: You know what just hit me?
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Do you remember us in the opener at home last year, who we played?
00:13:24
Speaker 5: Tampa.
00:13:24
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay on a Monday night. You remember what Tampa did to us offensively? They ran for 162 yards. Nobody did that for the rest of the year for the most part. So, all right, you had your tough performance, but now go get it right. So hopefully that's what they do. That just hit me like this year was the passing game. Last year it was the running game. And I remember us talking about this, Dre. We were talking about how weird it was that Tampa Bay ran as well as they did.
00:13:50
Speaker 5: Now it was week two.
00:13:52
Speaker 1: You're still looking at some new stuff.
00:13:54
Speaker 2: But I felt like offensively they handled whatever Buffalo was thrown at them, but defensively it didn't feel like they handled Buffalo as well.
00:14:01
Speaker 5: Dre, I've got one for you. Go ahead.
00:14:05
Speaker 7: Well, you know how we're always thinking, why do coaches stop doing what's working? Even against the Texans, we're like, oh, I'm glad that coach stopped doing that because we were having trouble stopping it. Now you're going to throw it or do whatever doesn't work, and thank you very much. Last night against the Cowboys, the Giants, they kept doing what was working. And far be it for me to give the Giants credit for anything, but since it's against Dallas, it's very enjoyable. They were throwing to Singletary these little short passes on the left side constantly, either running to the left, throwing to the left.
00:14:35
Speaker 5: They threw one to neighbors, all as.
00:14:37
Speaker 7: Part of this fourth-quarter drive that basically put the ice on the game for them. It was beautiful to watch them execute this, and it was also beautiful to see the Cowboys lose.
00:14:47
Speaker 5: I just thought I'd bring that up.
00:14:49
Speaker 3: No, it's a great point. And I just I was over the moon in enjoyment.
00:14:55
Speaker 4: And not because it's the Cowboys that that happened to, because that is how I believe football should be played.
00:15:01
Speaker 3: If it works, why would you go away from it?
00:15:04
Speaker 5: He can just keep doing it.
00:15:05
Speaker 4: And if they're going to be dumb enough to stay in the same defense, then I'm going to continue to do it over and over again.
00:15:10
Speaker 3: It's as though you put.
00:15:11
Speaker 4: A guy in man-to-man coverage. All week long, I've been studying this guy. I know when he has this position on my receiver, I can get this or that. And he's not that good of a coverage guy. So that's my matchup, no matter who the receiver is on him. Give him a complex. Make him doubt himself. Make him take him out of the game. Think about it. When they reinsert it, go right back at him again.
00:15:35
Speaker 3: So you just, you have to play mind games like that. And if they're going to give it to you over and over again, hey, you.
00:15:41
Speaker 4: Do exactly what Jackson Dart and Motor did yesterday. You keep running it. That dates all the way back to high school with me. And how many times have you heard this one with my head coach.
00:15:51
Speaker 5: Del Ferris?
00:15:52
Speaker 3: Our bread and butter was wing right 21 pitch.
00:15:56
Speaker 4: And that's Lawrence McClain pitching to him, help lead around the right side with a.
00:16:01
Speaker 3: Tight end blocking down.
00:16:02
Speaker 4: And if you couldn't stop it, you were going to see wing right 21 pitch all night long. We might change it up and go 49 just to get you flowing to the left a little bit.
00:16:12
Speaker 3: But we come right back with it over and over again.
00:16:15
Speaker 4: I just think it's a lost art in football, throwing a hit throughout slants. Those things are lost arts because they're easy for the quarterback. You have to figure out a way to make the game easy, and when you do, you stick to it and make the defense adjust. Then you have a backup plan ready to go once they make the adjustments.
00:16:35
Speaker 2: But you got these genius young offensive coordinators now that want to show everybody how smart they are.
00:16:43
Speaker 3: I got it on my call sheet. I got to call it. We worked on it.
00:16:47
Speaker 4: We had three whole reps of this this week.
00:16:49
Speaker 3: It's on my call sheet. We got to call this.
00:16:52
Speaker 5: It's crazy.
00:16:54
Speaker 2: I learned that lesson a long time ago. I remember one night I had a manila folder covered. I had like 200 plays on it. And I tried to call everything. And it was like, this is stupid. I reduced everything down to about 25. I was actually talking to Kevin Barbet, who's the offensive coordinator at Tulsa, because I did that game. And he's like, I've gone through the same thing. You go through that same situation. You go into these games, especially early in the season. You got all this stuff that you wrote on napkins and drew on napkins that you got on your play sheet, and you feel like you got to call it. And then when it comes down to it, if something's working, you go to it five, six, seven times a game, and that's what you end up running. And it was a great lesson for me to learn from You as a young coach, like if this works, let's just keep going to it.
00:17:36
Speaker 1: Dre, I don't know if you got a chance.
00:17:37
Speaker 2: To see any of the Ohio State-Texas game, but just knowing what ended up happening, Texas coming back from behind, Arch Manning making some plays, but Texas getting a win over a good Ohio State team, showing some mental toughness, showing some physical toughness.
00:17:56
Speaker 1: How big.
00:17:57
Speaker 2: of a win for Sark was that? More than anything else for Sark, how big of a win was that?
00:18:04
Speaker 4: Well, I think it was huge, and I think he felt it coming into that night or the evening into the game because he was so salty at halftime.
00:18:13
Speaker 3: He was salty after the game. You know, it's kind of a deep....
00:18:19
Speaker 4: Relief, if that's the correct term, just to kind of gather himself a little bit.
00:18:24
Speaker 3: I think he'll be all right now, but that was huge for him.
00:18:28
Speaker 4: If they lose that game in the manner that it was happening up until halftime, it's not going to be pretty in Austin for Arch or for Sark. Neither one of them would be going out to the grocery store, but hey, they can go anywhere they want today in the city of Austin and not have to pay for a thing.
00:18:48
Speaker 5: Yeah, and the schedule's pretty tough.
00:18:49
Speaker 7: I mean, all those teams have tough schedules.
00:18:51
Speaker 5: So what do you have this weekend, my friend?
00:18:55
Speaker 4: Going into Manhattan, Kansas to cover two lanes, traveling in to see Kansas State.
00:19:01
Speaker 3: It's always a good trip.
00:19:02
Speaker 4: That trip usually reminds me of a good Western movie because if you go into Kansas State and you fly into Kansas City and make that drive, then it's just the scenic view that you get is that of a Western. And I'm sure that, you know, some filmmaker has either gone in there and shot scenes or say, if not, they missed an opportunity because that's what it looks like to me. But it's a good place to go to a football game, get in, get out, get back to Houston and get ready to watch the Texas get their first win against the Bengals.
00:19:34
Speaker 7: That's the way we want to see it. Dre, thanks so much for the time as always.
00:19:38
Speaker 5: All right, guys. Thanks a bunch.
00:19:41
Speaker 2: That's our dude Andre Ware. He had to call for Temple and Penn State on Saturday. Made it to Houston to have the Texans. and the Bills call. We had a good call. It was a good broadcast. Really good broadcast. Hopefully you got a chance to listen to it. But appreciate it if you did.
00:19:58
Speaker 1: If you don't, go find it. It's on some podcast somewhere, I'm sure. But we had a good time with that call.
00:20:03
Speaker 2: We were hoping that it would be one final touchdown that Mark could give a celebration to.
00:20:08
Speaker 6: Which.
00:20:09
Speaker 2: As you heard, Mark was struggling with the voice a little bit near the end of the game this morning as well. It was a little touch and go. That's why I stepped in for the D'Amico Ryans show. That was a nice little substitute teacher jumping in, which was kind of fun. But it would have been nice for Mark to really blow up the vocal cords with a little rock and roll to get a win.
00:20:29
Speaker 1: But it didn't happen.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: And now it's got to happen against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
00:20:34
Speaker 1: Again, noon kick.
00:20:36
Speaker 2: International Day at Reliant Stadium as Joe Burrow and company come to town. I think it's the first time they've been here since 2020. The COVID season.
00:20:47
Speaker 1: Yikes. COVID season. Just anything with the COVID season. Not good. Not good.
00:20:53
Speaker 2: Now, last time we faced the Bengals was in 2023 in Cincinnati. Came away with a big time win. They're 33-30, I believe it was. High-scoring affair. I don't know if this one will be that high-scoring. Hopefully, the defense will get it together. But we got that to look forward to on Sunday. All right, also looking forward to it is the general, John McClain. He stepped in with us. Lots of good stuff with the general next on Texas All-Access.
00:21:17
Speaker 1: What is happening, everybody?
00:21:18
Speaker 2: Welcome back to this Monday edition of Texans All-Access. I'm your host, John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. And like a lot of you, still looking the wounds from 36-31. Man, oh so close to getting that W over Josh Allen on a number of ways. Whether Kamari Laster picked off the pass, would have kept the 31-30, or getting inside the 10-yard line and scoring a touchdown at the end, it would have made it 37-36 or even 39-36 if you get to two. They could have come down to kick a field or gone to overtime. I mean, that very easily could have been a game in the 40s if you did that. Didn't make the interception, didn't score inside the 10, walked out of there with an L against one of the best teams in the league. Thing is, you're one of the best teams in the league. So eight lead changes, went back and forth all day. I said this to many people, and I heard Sean say this this morning. I echo those sentiments. If you had no dog in a fight, you loved that football game. You loved it. I mean, you just ate that thing up. But if you're a fan wearing Houston Texans colors, you didn't like that game in any way, shape, or form. But I find it fascinating how the narratives could swing and would have swung. Think about if Kamari does pick it off, you get a first down, you win the game. Now all of a sudden Josh Allen can't get it done in the second half. Texas defense bowed up after a rough first half. Look at CJ Stroud and the offense get it done in a big win. All those would have been great. Now you've got defense is horrible, a lot of mistakes. What really is this Texans defense? Boy, that was a rough outing. Are they ever going to get it back together? Oh, it was so wrong, this, the offense. You know, at the end, couldn't get it to all. So it's like the narrative's flipped when you don't make the plays that you very easily could have made.
00:23:08
Speaker 1: Didn't happen.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: Got to get it done against Cincinnati in week two. Getting it done for us right now is the General John McClain. And, of course, right off the bat, got to get the General's gut reaction to what happened on Sunday.
00:23:22
Speaker 8: First of all, the positives. I thought C.J.
00:23:25
Speaker 6: Stroud, anybody that was holding their breath about his performance in the playoffs had to be very, very impressed. He brought him from behind four times. Great drive at the end of the first half. Took him to the nine-yard line before Ed Ingram and Trent Brown gave up sacks. People were trying to blame Stroud for that last sack. Roof soldiers blew by Trent Brown and stripped him. That was not Stroud's fault. And the one thing, the running game, they got David Montgomery.
00:23:58
Speaker 8: Because he's a touchdown machine. Eight touchdowns rushing in a part-time role last year, Texans had nine. 33 the last three years, Texans had 34. To have three, including a catch.
00:24:10
Speaker 6: He's a very underrated receiver.
00:24:13
Speaker 8: He looked good.
00:24:13
Speaker 6: And the offensive line, except for the last series, I thought was improved. And, of course, the one thing we all just knew they could count on, The defense played its worst game since D'Amico Ryans has become the head coach. And yes, Josh Allen, maybe the best quarterback in the NFL. And if they hadn't dominated him the last two years, we all wouldn't be so shocked. But while we wring our hands over it all week, they're preparing for Joe Burrow and better receivers than the Bills have.
00:24:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't like hearing that, General. I mean, they are better. Hopefully they're going to end up playing better. So let's look at that defense from that standpoint, General. It's been a great defense the last couple years in particular. It was really solid in D'Amico's first year. What is most concerning about, and not just with the Bengals coming to town, I'm just talking about concerning in general about the defensive performance yesterday in your estimation?
00:25:11
Speaker 6: Well, the last thing we would have worried about is the pass rush. Pass rush was not good. Bills did a great job on Will Anderson Jr. and Daniil Hunter. They didn't get up the middle what they usually get. The injury to Henry Toto is very concerning. But overall, when you don't get the quarterback, your DBs are susceptible, and every DB looked like they gave up a big play. Greek Blankenship, that's alarming. Now, Kamari Lester is one of the best corners in the NFL. That should be the worst game he ever plays. You know, he makes plays. You know, he was staying up last night thinking about that interception he dropped in the end zone and how it could have changed the course of the game. I feel confident the defense is going to bounce back. I think everybody does. They have too many great players. They got great coaches, players. They just came out and got obliterated by a team that I picked to go to the Super Bowl. In fact, I picked the Texans to win that game by three and the Texans to lose the NFC Championship game in Buffalo's new stadium, and the Bills go to the Super Bowl and play the Rams.
00:26:27
Speaker 4: Ooh.
00:26:27
Speaker 5: All right. Well, we'll see what happens here.
00:26:29
Speaker 7: General, how good is Cincinnati, you think, after their victory over Tampa Bay? They won the turnover margin battle.
00:26:35
Speaker 4: 4-1.
00:26:36
Speaker 7: What do you think of the Bengals coming in here and the kind of test they have for the Texans' defense because they've got a lot of weapons as well, maybe more?
00:26:45
Speaker 6: Do you guys realize every team that won won the turnover battle? So that's pretty darn simple, isn't it? Win the turnover battle and your odds are tremendous that you're going to win. They beat Joe Burrow in Cincinnati the last time They played Cincinnati and Borough, and he's an MVP candidate. A lot of people think they're a candidate to win the AFC North, but I tell you what, it'll be a great test for the defense because they need to bounce back big time, and it needs to start up front.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question about that, General. The Colts get it handed to them. The Titans.
00:27:33
Speaker 2: Get it handed to them. The Jaguars played Cleveland, so we know how that went. So what was more surprising, the fact that the Ravens gave it to the Colts to the level that they did, or the fact that the Titans at home got stuck right in the face by the New York Jets?
00:27:52
Speaker 6: No, everybody was predicting the Jets to win that game. Titans looked terrible again. New coach, new offensive coordinator, Cam Ward didn't look any better than The biggest surprise to me was the Colts and the way they got hammered by the Ravens with a new head coach, a new play caller, first time. Guy looks like he's in high school. And then Lamar Jackson with.
00:28:20
Speaker 8: His $ 84.
00:28:21
Speaker 6: Million cap figure played great. And that was the one that surprised me. I thought the Ravens would win. I thought it would be closer. Now the Ravens, I believe, are playing the Titans. That's going to be ugly. And people in Nashville are really, really upset because they didn't think that the Titans showed any improvement preseason. And they kept saying, well, you know, we're not running anything. Well, they ran something, and they looked awful.
00:28:53
Speaker 7: Wait, back to the Ravens and the Colts, though. It's hard to measure things after week one. Like, are the Colts that bad? Are the Ravens that good? Go deeper for me into the Colts' situation. That Ravens' defense, yeah, everybody's healthy week one. I'm not exactly sure of their total health situation, but I know that Derrick Henry was healthy. They racked up over 500 yards on the Colts' defense. What about the Colts, General?
00:29:18
Speaker 6: Derrick Henry had three touchdowns, and he had, I think, 144. Something yards. Jonathan Taylor was just short of 100, but their passing game, Daniel Jones didn't look like he was 100% healthy when they swear that he is. And the Ravens let a lot of guys go. Isaiah likely looked great for the Giants. last night, and they didn't miss him at all. And they just looked tremendous on offense. Lamar Jackson, most of his problems last year were created by injuries. But if Daniel Jones doesn't play the way he did before he was injured with an 8-2 record last year, The Colts are in trouble. And, of course, the Jaguars never lost through four touchdown passes, but they didn't play anybody. Deshaun Watson's first pass was intercepted. But the Jaguars look great.
00:30:12
Speaker 8: But you know what?
00:30:13
Speaker 6: They should have played at home against the Browns, who may be right up there with the Titans. I thought the Jets and thought the Cardinals. How about Jim Arbaugh losing his first opener? and doing it to Matt McClure and the Cardinals. So right now it's Cleveland and the Titans look like the worst teams in the league. And for Jackson's fans who were down last year, first game, go right as went to new England and beat the Patriots.
00:30:43
Speaker 2: Oh, almost more importantly, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle in week one, two last year. So both Superbowl teams last year lost in week one. So it's a good point. General tonight, It's Broncos v.
00:30:56
Speaker 4: Chiefs.
00:30:57
Speaker 1: It's not really a question.
00:30:57
Speaker 2: About the game, General, but what about Patrick Mahomes coming back off an ACL?
00:31:02
Speaker 1: He came back before.
00:31:03
Speaker 3: It's before nine months.
00:31:05
Speaker 1: He's apparently ready to go.
00:31:06
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts about Mahomes' return off the ACL?
00:31:11
Speaker 6: He's got an undrafted pre-agent playing left tackle because Josh Simmons is out. They've got issues up front, issues at receiver. They should be better running the ball after spending a lot of money on Kenneth Walker, who was MVP. I think he was the MVP of the Superbowl.
00:31:29
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:31:31
Speaker 6: And so they got him to improve their running game. The defense is going to be good, but I'm taking the Broncos. I think Denver is a Superbowl contender. Great defense, great pass rush. Bo Nix is supposed to be healthy. Fact of the matter is that Bo Nix had not been hurt in the playoffs last year. It might've been Denver going to the Superbowl. to play Seattle. Plus, Sean Payton's a great head coach. He's turned over his play calling, and I don't know if it's the first time he's ever done it, to Webb, Davis Webb, who is going to be the next up-and-coming young coach to be a head coaching candidate, and I can't wait to see how it goes, but I'm going with the Broncos.
00:32:14
Speaker 5: What's the biggest surprise?
00:32:16
Speaker 7: Cardinals over the Chargers in L.A., not that that matters, and Giants over the Cowboys last night, or the Vikings with 22 fourth-quarter points, and Carson Wentz putting up 39 in a win over the Packers at home.
00:32:32
Speaker 5: Biggest surprise of those three, General.
00:32:34
Speaker 6: Cardinal's supposed to be one of the worst teams competing for the first overall pick. All balls won his last seven openers, no matter where he was coaching, and they went in there and they whooped him.
00:32:47
Speaker 5: And.
00:32:48
Speaker 6: So I think Arizona definitely. Minnesota, Kevin O'Connell's a great coach. Wes Phillips is a great offensive coordinator. It's interesting they went with Wentz and poor old J.J. McCarthy. Some point they're going to try to unload him to the Chargers so Harbaugh and McCarthy can be reunited from their Michigan days. And Wentz has played well at times in his career since he got hurt after he was an MVP candidate. So it was a great performance and then You know, how sweet was it last night watching the Giants and John Harbaugh beat the Cowboys? Jackson Dart had a great game. And I was kind of hoping the Cowboys and Texans would be unbeaten in their fourth game. But people now, they're saying the Giants are going to be the new Patriots. Giants are going to the Super Bowl. Last night, they looked like they might.
00:33:44
Speaker 4: Please.
00:33:44
Speaker 5: Please.
00:33:46
Speaker 7: We need to see if the Cowboys are any good first before we evaluate this one. Week one, weird stuff happening, no doubt. By the way, why can't we get Wes Phillips a job? He's been a good OC for a while. He's been a good assistant.
00:33:59
Speaker 6: He has been, and one thing is, though, Kevin O'Connell follows the plays, gets all the attention. Josh McCown is the quarterback coach. He gets attention, but Wes Phillips is the one. If the Vikings were to win that division, I think we'd have three generations of of head coaches in the NFL, Bob, Wade, and Wes.
00:34:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Wade still has a winning record as a head coach. How about that? This should be pointed out.
00:34:24
Speaker 7: And Baby LaFleur was not calling plays at his last stop, and he's undefeated right now with.
00:34:30
Speaker 5: The Arizona Cardinals. Just thought I'd point that out. Good for him. Yeah, I liked it.
00:34:34
Speaker 7: All right, General, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it, as always.
00:34:38
Speaker 6: Thank you, guys.
00:34:39
Speaker 2: Always love having John McClain, the General, on with us on Texans All-Texas. It's always fun to talk ball with John. Coming up, let's do a little Texas audio jukebox.
00:34:49
Speaker 1: C.J.
00:34:50
Speaker 2: Stroud went to the mic after the game. What did he have to say about things that happened on Sunday? Good, bad, and things that need improvement, which I guess is bad.
00:35:01
Speaker 1: Either way, C.J. Stroud next right here on Texans All-Access. What's happening, everybody?
00:35:06
Speaker 2: Welcome back to this Monday edition of Texans All-Access. I am John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. It's time for a little Texans audio jukebox with C.J.
00:35:18
Speaker 1: Stroud.
00:35:20
Speaker 2: He went to the podium after the game. Plenty of questions, plenty of thoughts. One of the first ones, overall performance of the offense.
00:35:30
Speaker 1: What did C.J.
00:35:31
Speaker 5: Think?
00:35:32
Speaker 9: I thought, you know, first, I mean, just can't turn the ball over. You know, the first drive, you know, that gives him three points, so. That makes it a little easier for them at the end. But I thought after that, you know, we settled in pretty good. I thought the protection was great. I thought we ran the ball. I thought, you know, I was accurate and made some throws. I used my feet a little bit. So a lot of positive things. But, you know, when you don't win, you know, it's, you know, things you always can fix. And even when you do win. But, you know, we'll try to address those issues and, you know, get back to the board. But I thought overall as offense, you know, we had a pretty good day. Just can't come out in the second half and get 2-3 in the house. That's really big time for us. We got to be able to. you know, either flip the field or go get some points.
00:36:10
Speaker 2: I'm glad CJ brought that up because that was a point that I made during the broadcast was the offensive inefficiency last year in the second half. There were full-on halves of games last year where the Texans' offense didn't show up.
00:36:25
Speaker 1: There would be a quarter plus. I remember Jacksonville.
00:36:29
Speaker 2: I mean, it was all the way until probably late third quarter, where they finally kind of got it going a little bit. But for a quarter and a good, decent chunk of the second half, couldn't move the ball. Second halves were kind of the bugaboo. And CJ hit it right there. First drive out at 24-21. You throw the touchdown to Nico.
00:36:51
Speaker 1: Come back out. You get in the ball. You go three and out. Get the ball back.
00:36:55
Speaker 2: Go three and out to start the second half. I remember saying at that point, look, this is something that plagued them last year. This has got to change. They've got to be better in the second half. Offensively, they got better. They did better things in the second half. But CJ's right. It's got to be more consistent. They can't have those drives that just go three and out in the second half.
00:37:16
Speaker 1: They've got to be better.
00:37:17
Speaker 2: And I thought CJ pointed it out very, very well and eloquently there.
00:37:21
Speaker 1: All right.
00:37:22
Speaker 2: That first drive is going to be one that I think everybody wants to forget, if we're being honest. I think everybody would love to move on from that first drive. But after that, it felt like the offense got in a pretty nice rhythm. Here's TJ talking about getting in that groove, getting in that rhythm after that first drive.
00:37:40
Speaker 9: Yeah, you can say that. I mean, the first throw I had was a third and 15, you know, so I'm not really in rhythm yet. But once I started, you know, Kel started getting, you know, the ball in my hand and we were able to, you know, build some rhythm. I thought I played, you know, good. I thought I put the ball where I needed to. But yeah, of course, you don't want to start the game like that. But I think, you know, it's all about how you respond. I thought I responded well.
00:38:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think CJ hit it on the head. I think his analysis right there of his performance is dead on. I think they did find a little bit of groove, throwing the football, found a rhythm, throwing the football, putting him in good situations. I don't think it got behind the sticks a ton. The problem was when they did and the timing of it. I mentioned that first drive in the second half. That's when Demo got the chop block. I mean, it was a completed pass. You're going to move down the field. But Demo got the chop block, and that brings you back to like third and 20, second and 20, whatever it was. And you end up getting off the field on a three and out. And that's exactly what you didn't want. So it's hard to have that happen to you as a quarterback. But you move on. There were plenty of situations when they weren't in that situation. They weren't in long distance situations. And they were able to move the ball, find things they wanted in the offense.
00:38:56
Speaker 1: It was pretty nice.
00:38:57
Speaker 2: And one of the reasons they found things in the offense was because of the running game and because of the running.
00:39:02
Speaker 1: Backs, David Montgomery and Woody Marks.
00:39:05
Speaker 2: CJ was asked how those two helped him and helped the offense on Sunday.
00:39:10
Speaker 9: It's great for us. You know, Woody played great today. And, you know, Demo, I think they both, you know, ran the heck out the ball. I thought our whole line played great. We were half our hat a lot of times. And those guys were making safeties and corners miss and get on the field. So I'm really proud of those guys, and I think if we can run the ball like that.
00:39:28
Speaker 5: It would be good for us.
00:39:29
Speaker 2: One of the interesting aspects of this game was, to me, the end of the first half and the second half because.
00:39:37
Speaker 1: Both teams got busy in the final two minutes of the half. I mean, it was 17-14.
00:39:49
Speaker 2: When the Bills got the ball, moved it down, that's when DJ Moore caught the pass on the sideline, flew upfield, gave them a 24-14 lead. Texans had, I think it was a minute 38 left, if I remember correctly, in the first half. Boom, boom, boom, zipped it, a seed to Nico Collins for a touchdown. That made it 24-21. Then the drives at the end of the game. Obviously, Josh hits that deep ball. to Josh Palmer one play after he knew it through interception to Kamari Lassiter. Then CJ got the ball and moved it down the field and got them down to the nine yard line. Unfortunately, the drive ended there after a couple of sacks, but the offense was able to move the ball in the first half and the second half. You're CJ talking about those two drives at the end of the first half, at the end of the second half.
00:40:42
Speaker 9: One of them we gave up a sack, the other one we didn't. We gave up two at the end, but You know, you can keep the ball going, you know, forward. I think, you know, that's how you get touchdowns. But those are tough. Like, you know, it's tough to get down on the 10. And, you know, you got about 20 seconds left. You got to be able to punch the ball in. And it's going to be hard. But, I mean, you have to do it. We're at a timeout. So, you knew the ball either had to go in the end zone out of bounds or you got to clock it fast. But, you know, gave up the sack there and kind of ruined our momentum a little bit. But I believe that, you know, I thought we did a great job getting down, giving ourselves a shot.
00:41:14
Speaker 5: So.
00:41:15
Speaker 9: A lot of positive things to learn from, but, you know, of course you want to end them with the win.
00:41:19
Speaker 2: I'm struck by every time CJ talks about an in-the-half situation, in-the-game situation. He talks about the two-minute drill. That dude understands exactly what's going on. He knows exactly what's going on in a two-minute drill, and I feel for him because I know he wanted to put that one in the end zone for, you know, for all of us, for himself, you know, go get a win for his team, and they're right on the precipice of doing that. But, trying to find a receiver, took a sack.
00:41:48
Speaker 1: And it's interesting.
00:41:50
Speaker 2: Give me a kind of peek behind the curtain. We talk about this on the broadcast all the time. And Andre talks about it. There are certain situations you just cannot take a sack. But there's a difference between taking a sack and getting sacked in that situation, in my estimation. And what happened to CJ was he got sacked. It was not he took a sack. He didn't hold the ball too long. Offensive lineman got beat too quickly.
00:42:14
Speaker 1: And D.L.
00:42:15
Speaker 2: Walker was able to sack him before he even really had an opportunity to get the ball out to just even throw it away. And then, of course, Greg Russo on the next one ended the game a couple of plays later. And so I hate it from that perspective when it's like, oh, he took a sack. No, he got sacked on that one. There are times he's taken sacks when he probably held it a little bit too long.
00:42:37
Speaker 1: He didn't there.
00:42:37
Speaker 2: He just didn't have an opportunity to find anybody getting open. Had to take the timeout. It was the last timeout you had. And then it was really tough for the next couple of plays. And, of course, Russo gets a sack and finishes it on the final one. But other than that, I thought the pass protection was pretty on good. But I like the way that CJ handles end of halves, end of games.
00:42:57
Speaker 1: I really do.
00:42:58
Speaker 2: I think he's very smart in those situations. And the Texans are going to win a game this year because of the way that he handles games.
00:43:06
Speaker 1: Those end-of-game, end-of-half situations this year. We've seen it before. We'll see it again. I love it from that perspective.
00:43:14
Speaker 2: Now, D'Amico said in his press availability after the game and with me, and again, as coaches show, we did enough offensively to win the game. Here's what CJ had to say about coaches' comments.
00:43:25
Speaker 9: I'm probably going to keep that in the locker room, but I think, you know, I have the utmost respect for our defense. I play against them every day. I think they're amazing. I think, you know, it didn't shake our way today, but You know, if we get a couple of those turnovers, you know, at the end, I think, you know, we're smiling up here. So I have total respect for those guys. And I think, you know, if we keep playing and, you know, we keep doing what we need to do, we'll be exactly where we need to be.
00:43:49
Speaker 1: No question about that. CJ hitting that one right on the head. And I'll tell you this.
00:43:53
Speaker 2: There wasn't a defensive player, not one, you could find in that locker room last year to say anything of a negative nature about CJ Stroud after that playoff game last year.
00:44:04
Speaker 1: You sure as hell are not going to hear C.J. Stroud say a damn thing about that defense. Not at all. They have tons of respect for each other. They are great.
00:44:10
Speaker 2: Teammates for one another. And I love the way that C.J. answered that question. That defense will pick this team back up. The offense will pick them up as they go through. And I think C.J. said it all right there. You know, look, you get one takeaway and we're all up here smiling. It was that close. Even in not playing the best of games, they still had that opportunity late in the game to get it done.
00:44:32
Speaker 1: All right.
00:44:33
Speaker 2: I mentioned that end-of-half drive, end-of-game drive, and that end-of-game drive was going really, really well until it didn't. Here's CJ's thoughts on that final drive.
00:44:47
Speaker 9: Yeah, I thought I did a good job starting with a positive play in that two-minute. Got down there, you know, and then can't get stoned, made it like that. I think that, you know, that sack really kind of, you know, made it a little tougher. But even then, we still had a chance, but You know, I just, I'm trying my best to protect the ball, but also to make plays. You know, we needed seven right there, so I can't be, you know, super conservative. I got to be able to take shots, but sometimes it doesn't roll your way. So, I mean, we'll try to fix that and then, you know, go forward.
00:45:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, that two-minute drive was really going the exact way you wanted it to. You ended up getting the timeout back due to a Bills penalty. And because of that Bills penalty, I mean, you really were sitting in a good situation. You Had one timeout left. He had the ball at the nine. I mean, you'd like to be ahead in a game. You'd rather not have to go down on a two-minute drive. You'd like to be able to spend the two-minute drive either handing off in your four-minute offense or taking a knee. But you had an opportunity to go win a game with a touchdown. And Jay Noel made plays on that drive. Dalton Schultz had a couple of really nice catches to start that drive off. So, They did what they needed to do in a two-minute drive until they got inside the 10-yard line, which that's going to be tough because at that point, the Bills decided, look, we're rushing three and dropping eight.
00:46:07
Speaker 1: And that's tough.
00:46:09
Speaker 2: The red zone in and of itself is tough to throw into when it's six guys dropping in coverage and you're rushing five or seven dropping. When you're dropping eight in the coverage, it's tough, really tough. And they had to change it up at that point.
00:46:24
Speaker 1: So unfortunately... One of those three.
00:46:26
Speaker 2: Guys able to get through on two key plays to give the Bills a 36-31 win. CJ thought he was very good through the two touchdown passes. Thought they didn't throw interceptions, really didn't put the ball in harm's way pretty much all game long. I mean, he made good throws, made good decisions all throughout the game. And if that man ascends from that point forward, this team is going to win a lot of football games in 2026. There's very little. Question about that. All right, that's going to do it. We got Westwood one coming up. Big Monday night battle. Chiefs and Broncos. Patrick Mahomes has spent 274 days rehabbing that torn ACL. He suffered the week after the Texans beat them at Arrowhead. The Chargers came in the next week. Tore his ACL. He's been rehabbing. He's been getting ready for this game. You'll hear that next right here on 95.7 The Fan. A big thanks to Andre, to John McClain, Indy Kalou, to my man Mark Vandermeer. Hopefully his voice is going to get better. And to all of you for listening. Everybody at 95.7 The Fan, thank you very much.
00:47:33
Speaker 1: We'll see you tomorrow, buddy. And as always, go Texans.
Speaker 1: What is happening, everybody?
00:00:01
Speaker 2: Welcome into a Monday edition of Texans All Access from the Hyundai Texas Radio Studio. I'm your host, John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. And it's a tough Monday to have to digest everything that took place. on Sunday at Reliant Stadium. Texans fall 36-31. We just had the D'Amico Ryan show, and the coach was great talking about different things the team's got to do going forward, things that he was upset about, but also things that he appreciated about how the team played, especially offensively. So there's a lot to build on. Hopefully that'll be the case going forward. All right, let's kick off this show talking with our pal Andre Ware.
00:00:45
Speaker 1: We wanted to start right there.
00:00:47
Speaker 2: The offense, CJ Stroud, how it went for the quarterback of your football team. Here's what the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner had to say.
00:00:55
Speaker 3: I thought he ran a smooth operation.
00:00:57
Speaker 4: You look at how he how he orchestrated the offense, getting them in the right protections, protecting himself. I thought the ground game really gave him some time because after running the ball so well, they go to play action. He just had time, and I thought he delivered the football, went to the right places, made good decisions all game long.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: It's just unfortunate.
00:01:22
Speaker 4: Two fumbles are going to be talked about at nausea, but he'll be fine. I think he has full control of what they're doing offensively.
00:01:31
Speaker 5: He looks better.
00:01:32
Speaker 4: I was watching him in warm-ups, and he just looks sharper to me. It's not a big looping arm stroke. He's kind of shortened his stroke in the offseason. His spirals tightened itself up. I think CJ's going to be fine.
00:01:47
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm up.
00:01:48
Speaker 2: Too worried about CJ seemingly and I don't know that I was going in I think because training camp was pretty good Dre so I felt good about him going in but I felt really good about this defense going into this game yesterday so I'll ask you this Dre with all that happened to that unit what is the most concerning in your mind going forward.
00:02:09
Speaker 4: I just, you know, there's only one sack yesterday and he wasn't harassed a lot. Now you got to take into account that Josh Allen is a mobile quarterback.
00:02:18
Speaker 3: He's been doing this for a long time.
00:02:20
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just a crazy amount of touchdowns that, that he's accumulated over a very short period of time, but you know, just not getting to him and disrupting him and getting, getting him off his spot to make it a little tougher when they did do that, that he was, trying to give it to him at times, but he was lucky enough to have a couple of interceptions touch the turf. He's a heck of a quarterback, but on the schedule there are going to be others. He just happened to make one more play than the Texans offense did yesterday.
00:02:57
Speaker 7: What about the tweet I sent you guys last night from Super 70 Sports?
00:03:01
Speaker 5: He came up with this note.
00:03:03
Speaker 7: Josh Allen has more career rushing touchdowns than Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Edgerin James, Thurman Thomas, Larry Zonka, OJ Simpson, Herschel Walker, Fred Taylor, LaShawn McCoy, Ricky Waters, Clinton Portis, and Steven Jackson. And he's a 30-year-old quarterback. More rushing touchdowns than all of those guys. That is sick.
00:03:24
Speaker 5: That's amazing. This guy is a Marvel character.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's crazy.
00:03:30
Speaker 4: I mean, he made a couple of throws where you're just oohing and aahing yesterday. And he hit one on an over route where he couldn't step into it because Osiris Torrance, his right guard, was just sitting right in his lap. And he just kind of flicks it, sidearm, but it's accurate as all get out. And the receiver doesn't even break stride. And that's just one of many that he threw yesterday. But he was magical. He's going to have this team in it every game. Every season, he's an unselfish player, unselfish leader that they get behind, and there's no doubt as to why he's had the type of success he's had.
00:04:07
Speaker 2: It makes me wonder how many quarterbacks in that same situation throughout the NFL would have beaten the Texans the way Josh Allen did. But, I mean, I think that's the thing. I think we walk out of there and go... At some point, you still, even though the Texas defense, I don't think, played its best game, you still walk out of there and you've got to.
00:04:25
Speaker 5: Tip your cap.
00:04:26
Speaker 1: Being the guy's the MVP. He was two years ago the MVP. Last year he was second. I don't know if Diana Rossini had anything to do with that.
00:04:32
Speaker 5: We don't know. This year he started off in MVP fashion.
00:04:36
Speaker 2: So from that standpoint, you've got to tip your cap and go, yeah, that guy's pretty good. You've just got to clean some things up. Speaking of clean things up, Dre... how many times have the three of us on a Monday?
00:04:47
Speaker 3: Oh, okay.
00:04:48
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the Texas offensive line.
00:04:51
Speaker 1: Oh man. Well, let's talk about the Texans offensive line.
00:04:55
Speaker 2: Maybe some positives to take from the group yesterday.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: I know they get up to sack early.
00:05:00
Speaker 2: They created the Russo strip sack early and they gave up a sack late, but in between it felt like they were picking up stunts. They were picking up blitzes. CJ had time to scan in the pocket. What were your thoughts about the way the offensive line played yesterday?
00:05:14
Speaker 3: I was thoroughly impressed with how they played.
00:05:18
Speaker 4: I mean, you take that kind of play every single week for 17 weeks.
00:05:22
Speaker 3: If you can get it.
00:05:23
Speaker 4: And, you know, you know that there are going to be adjustments, injuries, things of that sort where guys aren't 100% from this day going forward for the rest of the season.
00:05:32
Speaker 3: Even if they're in the lineup, they're not 100%.
00:05:34
Speaker 4: They're going to deal with something. But, man, what an upgrade, I think, up front. Keelan Rutledge played well. I thought Evan Brown played.
00:05:43
Speaker 3: He played his tail off the others. Ed Ingram, great at run blocking.
00:05:47
Speaker 4: Trip Brown was solid for most of the game. And Ursary, you know, he just did his thing. So that's very encouraging that you don't have to worry about those guys that were not talking about the offensive line. That means they are doing exactly what they're supposed to do, and that's.
00:06:03
Speaker 3: Just doing their job.
00:06:05
Speaker 7: And run blocking well. David Montgomery, Dre, his debut, three touchdowns. You have Woody Marks also running for 42 yards yesterday. They ran for 124 as a team.
00:06:15
Speaker 5: Look, I'm not saying I'll take that every Sunday.
00:06:17
Speaker 7: I'd like a few more on occasion especially, but I might take that every Sunday with this defense as long as they get their act together on that side of the football.
00:06:25
Speaker 5: Thoughts on the running game?
00:06:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I loved it.
00:06:28
Speaker 4: And David was just magical in his approach.
00:06:33
Speaker 3: His body lean, he's a tough back to bring down.
00:06:35
Speaker 4: And then Woody has become, everybody looks at Woody and thinks of this third down back that they drafted out of USC in the fourth round. And he's just in there to get swing passes and things. Woody runs hard. And Woody's a tough out. Every bit as hard as David Montgomery runs. And there are guys around this league that won't sign up to tackle Woody Marks. And yeah, so I think the running game's in good hands when you start talking about the offensive line, the running backs, even the tight ends. Foster Moreau had a game yesterday. Cade Stover put in one of his better games yesterday. The only guy I thought that should have had more impact on the game that maybe didn't was Dalton Schultz. And that's because he led the team last year in receiving games. from a catch standpoint, but you've got to have him step up with his abilities, his skill set, got to inject him a little.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: Bit more into the game plan.
00:07:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, the one thing I thought was interesting, Dred, I said this to Mark, the only skill player that didn't catch a pass yesterday was Bridge Brooks, but he didn't play an offensive snap. So every skill player that played an offensive snap was, caught a ball, all four tight ends, both running backs, and every receiver caught a pass, which I.
00:07:53
Speaker 1: Thought was, it was great.
00:07:55
Speaker 2: I mean, I would have liked to see, like you said, I'd like to see Dalton get a little bit more. Dalton had a couple of key catches on that final drive. But the way that CJ was spreading the wealth out to everybody, getting everybody included. I feel like that's a really good harbinger for hope for this offense that it's, you know, not going to be, you know, just Nico all the time. And then everybody else, maybe just a little bit, it feels like it's going to be, yeah, Nico, cause he's Nico, but everybody else is going to fill in the gaps, especially after losing Jaden Higgins, your thoughts.
00:08:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a good point because at times when you're spreading the wealth like that, I think maybe, what.
00:08:29
Speaker 3: 11 guys caught passes?
00:08:30
Speaker 4: 10, 11 guys caught passes yesterday, and that's spreading it around. So the defense really can't get a beat on it. Well, why don't you throw it to this guy more? I said it because I'd work to Dalton more because it spreads it even more. He can work the middle of the field as good as any tight end in this league. But when you spread it out, now you.
00:08:48
Speaker 3: Can run the football. Defense has no idea.
00:08:51
Speaker 4: What you're doing from, you know, one moment to the next or one series to the next, they're kind of guessing as well. And when you have that type of production in big moments in a game, when you need to go to Nico Collins, when you got to have a play from Nico Collins, you have it because the defense has spread itself to account for everybody and not just Nico. There's no magical button that says, Oh, in the third quarter with seven 57 left, they're going to start throwing a Nico. Let's turn the switch on and, rotate the coverage back over there.
00:09:23
Speaker 3: It's going to be that way.
00:09:25
Speaker 4: He's going to have one-on-one matchups because the Texans are successfully throwing it to everybody. You can hit 10 or 11 receivers, that's spreading it around pretty good. That makes it a lot easier for a talent like Nico.
00:09:37
Speaker 7: All right, Dre, anatomy, the projection of a defensive bounce back, but here's the problem. You're facing a team And you've got to cover Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins. You've got to cover Yoshavas. And they have Gusecki at tight end. And we saw what Kincaid did yesterday. Thoughts on facing the Bengals and holding things in check, if at all possible.
00:10:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, with Chase and Higgins, you're going to have, you know, this is going to be a spicy game on the outside. And by spicy, I mean very competitive with Stingley being an LSU guy.
00:10:11
Speaker 3: And Lassiter, you know, coming back or bouncing.
00:10:14
Speaker 4: Back from yesterday's game. This is going to have a lot of juice to it. Uh, from a defense versus offense standpoint, and you're talking about strength on strength because the bangles are, uh, they are nothing to write home about on the defensive side. They made some improvements or some signings and adjustments.
00:10:32
Speaker 3: In the off season, but.
00:10:34
Speaker 4: I think the strength of that team, obviously, is the offense. And Joe Burrow distributes it as well as any. Don't forget P. Ryan, the running back, as well. Throw him in. He had a decent game yesterday himself.
00:10:47
Speaker 5: So they can run it.
00:10:48
Speaker 4: They can mix the run with the pass. But this is going to be a good game because I think this Texas defense, they're going to want to.
00:10:55
Speaker 5: Bounce back even more.
00:10:56
Speaker 4: So they may have to shut down practice a couple of times and get Will Anderson back. off the field after yesterday and then wanting to right the ship, he may just shut down practice over and over again, getting himself ready this week. So I look forward to a big day from the defense. And if we can get that side of it corrected and give me the exact same stuff we had on offense, minus a fumble.
00:11:18
Speaker 3: Or two, that's the team I think we've been waiting to see.
00:11:23
Speaker 5: Yeah, then they got big sexy Dexy over there. I don't like seeing that, dude. That's for sure.
00:11:29
Speaker 1: This one's for both of you.
00:11:31
Speaker 2: Late in the game, it might have been on that game winning or the last drive, I think, of the Bills may have been before that, but it was in the fourth quarter. When Henry went out, I don't know what Henry's status is going to be. But that was already a position that we're kind of eyeballing, just a little side eye, like, we better stay healthy here. And then, unfortunately, Henry gets banged up. If Henry is out for even just a week, it's for both of you.
00:11:56
Speaker 5: Dre, you go first.
00:11:57
Speaker 2: How problematic is that if we don't have Henry for this one against the Bengals?
00:12:03
Speaker 4: He's so good in coverage and just his overall understanding of the defense and helping guys get lined up and making adjustments and things of that sort, along with Aziz, that you lose a leader, you lose one of the two quarterbacks. I think there are two in Aziz and Henry. You lose one of those guys, and that's tough to replace. You mix in the fact that Hanson, who will probably step into that spot if Henry can't go, missed a bunch of the preseason because he was hurt. So you don't know how healthy he is and how thin that thing is behind, you know, how long can he go, basically.
00:12:39
Speaker 3: So it's a concern.
00:12:41
Speaker 4: It was good to see Henry just kind of get himself up and get off the field. But, man, I think it's a huge loss if he can't go this week.
00:12:51
Speaker 5: Absolutely huge loss.
00:12:52
Speaker 7: Jake Hansen, however they put it together, this is going to be interesting. And we saw that if you can get matched up on a tight end, it's tough for any linebacking crew to deal with these tight ends. Whoever they have to cover backs out of the backfield. It's going to be difficult. But, hey, this is what it is. You have to have your depth rise up. We talked about it all offseason long. The ice was thin at linebacker once EJ Speed went out.
00:13:18
Speaker 5: You know what just hit me?
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Do you remember us in the opener at home last year, who we played?
00:13:24
Speaker 5: Tampa.
00:13:24
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay on a Monday night. You remember what Tampa did to us offensively? They ran for 162 yards. Nobody did that for the rest of the year for the most part. So, all right, you had your tough performance, but now go get it right. So hopefully that's what they do. That just hit me like this year was the passing game. Last year it was the running game. And I remember us talking about this, Dre. We were talking about how weird it was that Tampa Bay ran as well as they did.
00:13:50
Speaker 5: Now it was week two.
00:13:52
Speaker 1: You're still looking at some new stuff.
00:13:54
Speaker 2: But I felt like offensively they handled whatever Buffalo was thrown at them, but defensively it didn't feel like they handled Buffalo as well.
00:14:01
Speaker 5: Dre, I've got one for you. Go ahead.
00:14:05
Speaker 7: Well, you know how we're always thinking, why do coaches stop doing what's working? Even against the Texans, we're like, oh, I'm glad that coach stopped doing that because we were having trouble stopping it. Now you're going to throw it or do whatever doesn't work, and thank you very much. Last night against the Cowboys, the Giants, they kept doing what was working. And far be it for me to give the Giants credit for anything, but since it's against Dallas, it's very enjoyable. They were throwing to Singletary these little short passes on the left side constantly, either running to the left, throwing to the left.
00:14:35
Speaker 5: They threw one to neighbors, all as.
00:14:37
Speaker 7: Part of this fourth-quarter drive that basically put the ice on the game for them. It was beautiful to watch them execute this, and it was also beautiful to see the Cowboys lose.
00:14:47
Speaker 5: I just thought I'd bring that up.
00:14:49
Speaker 3: No, it's a great point. And I just I was over the moon in enjoyment.
00:14:55
Speaker 4: And not because it's the Cowboys that that happened to, because that is how I believe football should be played.
00:15:01
Speaker 3: If it works, why would you go away from it?
00:15:04
Speaker 5: He can just keep doing it.
00:15:05
Speaker 4: And if they're going to be dumb enough to stay in the same defense, then I'm going to continue to do it over and over again.
00:15:10
Speaker 3: It's as though you put.
00:15:11
Speaker 4: A guy in man-to-man coverage. All week long, I've been studying this guy. I know when he has this position on my receiver, I can get this or that. And he's not that good of a coverage guy. So that's my matchup, no matter who the receiver is on him. Give him a complex. Make him doubt himself. Make him take him out of the game. Think about it. When they reinsert it, go right back at him again.
00:15:35
Speaker 3: So you just, you have to play mind games like that. And if they're going to give it to you over and over again, hey, you.
00:15:41
Speaker 4: Do exactly what Jackson Dart and Motor did yesterday. You keep running it. That dates all the way back to high school with me. And how many times have you heard this one with my head coach.
00:15:51
Speaker 5: Del Ferris?
00:15:52
Speaker 3: Our bread and butter was wing right 21 pitch.
00:15:56
Speaker 4: And that's Lawrence McClain pitching to him, help lead around the right side with a.
00:16:01
Speaker 3: Tight end blocking down.
00:16:02
Speaker 4: And if you couldn't stop it, you were going to see wing right 21 pitch all night long. We might change it up and go 49 just to get you flowing to the left a little bit.
00:16:12
Speaker 3: But we come right back with it over and over again.
00:16:15
Speaker 4: I just think it's a lost art in football, throwing a hit throughout slants. Those things are lost arts because they're easy for the quarterback. You have to figure out a way to make the game easy, and when you do, you stick to it and make the defense adjust. Then you have a backup plan ready to go once they make the adjustments.
00:16:35
Speaker 2: But you got these genius young offensive coordinators now that want to show everybody how smart they are.
00:16:43
Speaker 3: I got it on my call sheet. I got to call it. We worked on it.
00:16:47
Speaker 4: We had three whole reps of this this week.
00:16:49
Speaker 3: It's on my call sheet. We got to call this.
00:16:52
Speaker 5: It's crazy.
00:16:54
Speaker 2: I learned that lesson a long time ago. I remember one night I had a manila folder covered. I had like 200 plays on it. And I tried to call everything. And it was like, this is stupid. I reduced everything down to about 25. I was actually talking to Kevin Barbet, who's the offensive coordinator at Tulsa, because I did that game. And he's like, I've gone through the same thing. You go through that same situation. You go into these games, especially early in the season. You got all this stuff that you wrote on napkins and drew on napkins that you got on your play sheet, and you feel like you got to call it. And then when it comes down to it, if something's working, you go to it five, six, seven times a game, and that's what you end up running. And it was a great lesson for me to learn from You as a young coach, like if this works, let's just keep going to it.
00:17:36
Speaker 1: Dre, I don't know if you got a chance.
00:17:37
Speaker 2: To see any of the Ohio State-Texas game, but just knowing what ended up happening, Texas coming back from behind, Arch Manning making some plays, but Texas getting a win over a good Ohio State team, showing some mental toughness, showing some physical toughness.
00:17:56
Speaker 1: How big.
00:17:57
Speaker 2: of a win for Sark was that? More than anything else for Sark, how big of a win was that?
00:18:04
Speaker 4: Well, I think it was huge, and I think he felt it coming into that night or the evening into the game because he was so salty at halftime.
00:18:13
Speaker 3: He was salty after the game. You know, it's kind of a deep....
00:18:19
Speaker 4: Relief, if that's the correct term, just to kind of gather himself a little bit.
00:18:24
Speaker 3: I think he'll be all right now, but that was huge for him.
00:18:28
Speaker 4: If they lose that game in the manner that it was happening up until halftime, it's not going to be pretty in Austin for Arch or for Sark. Neither one of them would be going out to the grocery store, but hey, they can go anywhere they want today in the city of Austin and not have to pay for a thing.
00:18:48
Speaker 5: Yeah, and the schedule's pretty tough.
00:18:49
Speaker 7: I mean, all those teams have tough schedules.
00:18:51
Speaker 5: So what do you have this weekend, my friend?
00:18:55
Speaker 4: Going into Manhattan, Kansas to cover two lanes, traveling in to see Kansas State.
00:19:01
Speaker 3: It's always a good trip.
00:19:02
Speaker 4: That trip usually reminds me of a good Western movie because if you go into Kansas State and you fly into Kansas City and make that drive, then it's just the scenic view that you get is that of a Western. And I'm sure that, you know, some filmmaker has either gone in there and shot scenes or say, if not, they missed an opportunity because that's what it looks like to me. But it's a good place to go to a football game, get in, get out, get back to Houston and get ready to watch the Texas get their first win against the Bengals.
00:19:34
Speaker 7: That's the way we want to see it. Dre, thanks so much for the time as always.
00:19:38
Speaker 5: All right, guys. Thanks a bunch.
00:19:41
Speaker 2: That's our dude Andre Ware. He had to call for Temple and Penn State on Saturday. Made it to Houston to have the Texans. and the Bills call. We had a good call. It was a good broadcast. Really good broadcast. Hopefully you got a chance to listen to it. But appreciate it if you did.
00:19:58
Speaker 1: If you don't, go find it. It's on some podcast somewhere, I'm sure. But we had a good time with that call.
00:20:03
Speaker 2: We were hoping that it would be one final touchdown that Mark could give a celebration to.
00:20:08
Speaker 6: Which.
00:20:09
Speaker 2: As you heard, Mark was struggling with the voice a little bit near the end of the game this morning as well. It was a little touch and go. That's why I stepped in for the D'Amico Ryans show. That was a nice little substitute teacher jumping in, which was kind of fun. But it would have been nice for Mark to really blow up the vocal cords with a little rock and roll to get a win.
00:20:29
Speaker 1: But it didn't happen.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: And now it's got to happen against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
00:20:34
Speaker 1: Again, noon kick.
00:20:36
Speaker 2: International Day at Reliant Stadium as Joe Burrow and company come to town. I think it's the first time they've been here since 2020. The COVID season.
00:20:47
Speaker 1: Yikes. COVID season. Just anything with the COVID season. Not good. Not good.
00:20:53
Speaker 2: Now, last time we faced the Bengals was in 2023 in Cincinnati. Came away with a big time win. They're 33-30, I believe it was. High-scoring affair. I don't know if this one will be that high-scoring. Hopefully, the defense will get it together. But we got that to look forward to on Sunday. All right, also looking forward to it is the general, John McClain. He stepped in with us. Lots of good stuff with the general next on Texas All-Access.
00:21:17
Speaker 1: What is happening, everybody?
00:21:18
Speaker 2: Welcome back to this Monday edition of Texans All-Access. I'm your host, John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. And like a lot of you, still looking the wounds from 36-31. Man, oh so close to getting that W over Josh Allen on a number of ways. Whether Kamari Laster picked off the pass, would have kept the 31-30, or getting inside the 10-yard line and scoring a touchdown at the end, it would have made it 37-36 or even 39-36 if you get to two. They could have come down to kick a field or gone to overtime. I mean, that very easily could have been a game in the 40s if you did that. Didn't make the interception, didn't score inside the 10, walked out of there with an L against one of the best teams in the league. Thing is, you're one of the best teams in the league. So eight lead changes, went back and forth all day. I said this to many people, and I heard Sean say this this morning. I echo those sentiments. If you had no dog in a fight, you loved that football game. You loved it. I mean, you just ate that thing up. But if you're a fan wearing Houston Texans colors, you didn't like that game in any way, shape, or form. But I find it fascinating how the narratives could swing and would have swung. Think about if Kamari does pick it off, you get a first down, you win the game. Now all of a sudden Josh Allen can't get it done in the second half. Texas defense bowed up after a rough first half. Look at CJ Stroud and the offense get it done in a big win. All those would have been great. Now you've got defense is horrible, a lot of mistakes. What really is this Texans defense? Boy, that was a rough outing. Are they ever going to get it back together? Oh, it was so wrong, this, the offense. You know, at the end, couldn't get it to all. So it's like the narrative's flipped when you don't make the plays that you very easily could have made.
00:23:08
Speaker 1: Didn't happen.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: Got to get it done against Cincinnati in week two. Getting it done for us right now is the General John McClain. And, of course, right off the bat, got to get the General's gut reaction to what happened on Sunday.
00:23:22
Speaker 8: First of all, the positives. I thought C.J.
00:23:25
Speaker 6: Stroud, anybody that was holding their breath about his performance in the playoffs had to be very, very impressed. He brought him from behind four times. Great drive at the end of the first half. Took him to the nine-yard line before Ed Ingram and Trent Brown gave up sacks. People were trying to blame Stroud for that last sack. Roof soldiers blew by Trent Brown and stripped him. That was not Stroud's fault. And the one thing, the running game, they got David Montgomery.
00:23:58
Speaker 8: Because he's a touchdown machine. Eight touchdowns rushing in a part-time role last year, Texans had nine. 33 the last three years, Texans had 34. To have three, including a catch.
00:24:10
Speaker 6: He's a very underrated receiver.
00:24:13
Speaker 8: He looked good.
00:24:13
Speaker 6: And the offensive line, except for the last series, I thought was improved. And, of course, the one thing we all just knew they could count on, The defense played its worst game since D'Amico Ryans has become the head coach. And yes, Josh Allen, maybe the best quarterback in the NFL. And if they hadn't dominated him the last two years, we all wouldn't be so shocked. But while we wring our hands over it all week, they're preparing for Joe Burrow and better receivers than the Bills have.
00:24:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't like hearing that, General. I mean, they are better. Hopefully they're going to end up playing better. So let's look at that defense from that standpoint, General. It's been a great defense the last couple years in particular. It was really solid in D'Amico's first year. What is most concerning about, and not just with the Bengals coming to town, I'm just talking about concerning in general about the defensive performance yesterday in your estimation?
00:25:11
Speaker 6: Well, the last thing we would have worried about is the pass rush. Pass rush was not good. Bills did a great job on Will Anderson Jr. and Daniil Hunter. They didn't get up the middle what they usually get. The injury to Henry Toto is very concerning. But overall, when you don't get the quarterback, your DBs are susceptible, and every DB looked like they gave up a big play. Greek Blankenship, that's alarming. Now, Kamari Lester is one of the best corners in the NFL. That should be the worst game he ever plays. You know, he makes plays. You know, he was staying up last night thinking about that interception he dropped in the end zone and how it could have changed the course of the game. I feel confident the defense is going to bounce back. I think everybody does. They have too many great players. They got great coaches, players. They just came out and got obliterated by a team that I picked to go to the Super Bowl. In fact, I picked the Texans to win that game by three and the Texans to lose the NFC Championship game in Buffalo's new stadium, and the Bills go to the Super Bowl and play the Rams.
00:26:27
Speaker 4: Ooh.
00:26:27
Speaker 5: All right. Well, we'll see what happens here.
00:26:29
Speaker 7: General, how good is Cincinnati, you think, after their victory over Tampa Bay? They won the turnover margin battle.
00:26:35
Speaker 4: 4-1.
00:26:36
Speaker 7: What do you think of the Bengals coming in here and the kind of test they have for the Texans' defense because they've got a lot of weapons as well, maybe more?
00:26:45
Speaker 6: Do you guys realize every team that won won the turnover battle? So that's pretty darn simple, isn't it? Win the turnover battle and your odds are tremendous that you're going to win. They beat Joe Burrow in Cincinnati the last time They played Cincinnati and Borough, and he's an MVP candidate. A lot of people think they're a candidate to win the AFC North, but I tell you what, it'll be a great test for the defense because they need to bounce back big time, and it needs to start up front.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question about that, General. The Colts get it handed to them. The Titans.
00:27:33
Speaker 2: Get it handed to them. The Jaguars played Cleveland, so we know how that went. So what was more surprising, the fact that the Ravens gave it to the Colts to the level that they did, or the fact that the Titans at home got stuck right in the face by the New York Jets?
00:27:52
Speaker 6: No, everybody was predicting the Jets to win that game. Titans looked terrible again. New coach, new offensive coordinator, Cam Ward didn't look any better than The biggest surprise to me was the Colts and the way they got hammered by the Ravens with a new head coach, a new play caller, first time. Guy looks like he's in high school. And then Lamar Jackson with.
00:28:20
Speaker 8: His $ 84.
00:28:21
Speaker 6: Million cap figure played great. And that was the one that surprised me. I thought the Ravens would win. I thought it would be closer. Now the Ravens, I believe, are playing the Titans. That's going to be ugly. And people in Nashville are really, really upset because they didn't think that the Titans showed any improvement preseason. And they kept saying, well, you know, we're not running anything. Well, they ran something, and they looked awful.
00:28:53
Speaker 7: Wait, back to the Ravens and the Colts, though. It's hard to measure things after week one. Like, are the Colts that bad? Are the Ravens that good? Go deeper for me into the Colts' situation. That Ravens' defense, yeah, everybody's healthy week one. I'm not exactly sure of their total health situation, but I know that Derrick Henry was healthy. They racked up over 500 yards on the Colts' defense. What about the Colts, General?
00:29:18
Speaker 6: Derrick Henry had three touchdowns, and he had, I think, 144. Something yards. Jonathan Taylor was just short of 100, but their passing game, Daniel Jones didn't look like he was 100% healthy when they swear that he is. And the Ravens let a lot of guys go. Isaiah likely looked great for the Giants. last night, and they didn't miss him at all. And they just looked tremendous on offense. Lamar Jackson, most of his problems last year were created by injuries. But if Daniel Jones doesn't play the way he did before he was injured with an 8-2 record last year, The Colts are in trouble. And, of course, the Jaguars never lost through four touchdown passes, but they didn't play anybody. Deshaun Watson's first pass was intercepted. But the Jaguars look great.
00:30:12
Speaker 8: But you know what?
00:30:13
Speaker 6: They should have played at home against the Browns, who may be right up there with the Titans. I thought the Jets and thought the Cardinals. How about Jim Arbaugh losing his first opener? and doing it to Matt McClure and the Cardinals. So right now it's Cleveland and the Titans look like the worst teams in the league. And for Jackson's fans who were down last year, first game, go right as went to new England and beat the Patriots.
00:30:43
Speaker 2: Oh, almost more importantly, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle in week one, two last year. So both Superbowl teams last year lost in week one. So it's a good point. General tonight, It's Broncos v.
00:30:56
Speaker 4: Chiefs.
00:30:57
Speaker 1: It's not really a question.
00:30:57
Speaker 2: About the game, General, but what about Patrick Mahomes coming back off an ACL?
00:31:02
Speaker 1: He came back before.
00:31:03
Speaker 3: It's before nine months.
00:31:05
Speaker 1: He's apparently ready to go.
00:31:06
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts about Mahomes' return off the ACL?
00:31:11
Speaker 6: He's got an undrafted pre-agent playing left tackle because Josh Simmons is out. They've got issues up front, issues at receiver. They should be better running the ball after spending a lot of money on Kenneth Walker, who was MVP. I think he was the MVP of the Superbowl.
00:31:29
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:31:31
Speaker 6: And so they got him to improve their running game. The defense is going to be good, but I'm taking the Broncos. I think Denver is a Superbowl contender. Great defense, great pass rush. Bo Nix is supposed to be healthy. Fact of the matter is that Bo Nix had not been hurt in the playoffs last year. It might've been Denver going to the Superbowl. to play Seattle. Plus, Sean Payton's a great head coach. He's turned over his play calling, and I don't know if it's the first time he's ever done it, to Webb, Davis Webb, who is going to be the next up-and-coming young coach to be a head coaching candidate, and I can't wait to see how it goes, but I'm going with the Broncos.
00:32:14
Speaker 5: What's the biggest surprise?
00:32:16
Speaker 7: Cardinals over the Chargers in L.A., not that that matters, and Giants over the Cowboys last night, or the Vikings with 22 fourth-quarter points, and Carson Wentz putting up 39 in a win over the Packers at home.
00:32:32
Speaker 5: Biggest surprise of those three, General.
00:32:34
Speaker 6: Cardinal's supposed to be one of the worst teams competing for the first overall pick. All balls won his last seven openers, no matter where he was coaching, and they went in there and they whooped him.
00:32:47
Speaker 5: And.
00:32:48
Speaker 6: So I think Arizona definitely. Minnesota, Kevin O'Connell's a great coach. Wes Phillips is a great offensive coordinator. It's interesting they went with Wentz and poor old J.J. McCarthy. Some point they're going to try to unload him to the Chargers so Harbaugh and McCarthy can be reunited from their Michigan days. And Wentz has played well at times in his career since he got hurt after he was an MVP candidate. So it was a great performance and then You know, how sweet was it last night watching the Giants and John Harbaugh beat the Cowboys? Jackson Dart had a great game. And I was kind of hoping the Cowboys and Texans would be unbeaten in their fourth game. But people now, they're saying the Giants are going to be the new Patriots. Giants are going to the Super Bowl. Last night, they looked like they might.
00:33:44
Speaker 4: Please.
00:33:44
Speaker 5: Please.
00:33:46
Speaker 7: We need to see if the Cowboys are any good first before we evaluate this one. Week one, weird stuff happening, no doubt. By the way, why can't we get Wes Phillips a job? He's been a good OC for a while. He's been a good assistant.
00:33:59
Speaker 6: He has been, and one thing is, though, Kevin O'Connell follows the plays, gets all the attention. Josh McCown is the quarterback coach. He gets attention, but Wes Phillips is the one. If the Vikings were to win that division, I think we'd have three generations of of head coaches in the NFL, Bob, Wade, and Wes.
00:34:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Wade still has a winning record as a head coach. How about that? This should be pointed out.
00:34:24
Speaker 7: And Baby LaFleur was not calling plays at his last stop, and he's undefeated right now with.
00:34:30
Speaker 5: The Arizona Cardinals. Just thought I'd point that out. Good for him. Yeah, I liked it.
00:34:34
Speaker 7: All right, General, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it, as always.
00:34:38
Speaker 6: Thank you, guys.
00:34:39
Speaker 2: Always love having John McClain, the General, on with us on Texans All-Texas. It's always fun to talk ball with John. Coming up, let's do a little Texas audio jukebox.
00:34:49
Speaker 1: C.J.
00:34:50
Speaker 2: Stroud went to the mic after the game. What did he have to say about things that happened on Sunday? Good, bad, and things that need improvement, which I guess is bad.
00:35:01
Speaker 1: Either way, C.J. Stroud next right here on Texans All-Access. What's happening, everybody?
00:35:06
Speaker 2: Welcome back to this Monday edition of Texans All-Access. I am John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. It's time for a little Texans audio jukebox with C.J.
00:35:18
Speaker 1: Stroud.
00:35:20
Speaker 2: He went to the podium after the game. Plenty of questions, plenty of thoughts. One of the first ones, overall performance of the offense.
00:35:30
Speaker 1: What did C.J.
00:35:31
Speaker 5: Think?
00:35:32
Speaker 9: I thought, you know, first, I mean, just can't turn the ball over. You know, the first drive, you know, that gives him three points, so. That makes it a little easier for them at the end. But I thought after that, you know, we settled in pretty good. I thought the protection was great. I thought we ran the ball. I thought, you know, I was accurate and made some throws. I used my feet a little bit. So a lot of positive things. But, you know, when you don't win, you know, it's, you know, things you always can fix. And even when you do win. But, you know, we'll try to address those issues and, you know, get back to the board. But I thought overall as offense, you know, we had a pretty good day. Just can't come out in the second half and get 2-3 in the house. That's really big time for us. We got to be able to. you know, either flip the field or go get some points.
00:36:10
Speaker 2: I'm glad CJ brought that up because that was a point that I made during the broadcast was the offensive inefficiency last year in the second half. There were full-on halves of games last year where the Texans' offense didn't show up.
00:36:25
Speaker 1: There would be a quarter plus. I remember Jacksonville.
00:36:29
Speaker 2: I mean, it was all the way until probably late third quarter, where they finally kind of got it going a little bit. But for a quarter and a good, decent chunk of the second half, couldn't move the ball. Second halves were kind of the bugaboo. And CJ hit it right there. First drive out at 24-21. You throw the touchdown to Nico.
00:36:51
Speaker 1: Come back out. You get in the ball. You go three and out. Get the ball back.
00:36:55
Speaker 2: Go three and out to start the second half. I remember saying at that point, look, this is something that plagued them last year. This has got to change. They've got to be better in the second half. Offensively, they got better. They did better things in the second half. But CJ's right. It's got to be more consistent. They can't have those drives that just go three and out in the second half.
00:37:16
Speaker 1: They've got to be better.
00:37:17
Speaker 2: And I thought CJ pointed it out very, very well and eloquently there.
00:37:21
Speaker 1: All right.
00:37:22
Speaker 2: That first drive is going to be one that I think everybody wants to forget, if we're being honest. I think everybody would love to move on from that first drive. But after that, it felt like the offense got in a pretty nice rhythm. Here's TJ talking about getting in that groove, getting in that rhythm after that first drive.
00:37:40
Speaker 9: Yeah, you can say that. I mean, the first throw I had was a third and 15, you know, so I'm not really in rhythm yet. But once I started, you know, Kel started getting, you know, the ball in my hand and we were able to, you know, build some rhythm. I thought I played, you know, good. I thought I put the ball where I needed to. But yeah, of course, you don't want to start the game like that. But I think, you know, it's all about how you respond. I thought I responded well.
00:38:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think CJ hit it on the head. I think his analysis right there of his performance is dead on. I think they did find a little bit of groove, throwing the football, found a rhythm, throwing the football, putting him in good situations. I don't think it got behind the sticks a ton. The problem was when they did and the timing of it. I mentioned that first drive in the second half. That's when Demo got the chop block. I mean, it was a completed pass. You're going to move down the field. But Demo got the chop block, and that brings you back to like third and 20, second and 20, whatever it was. And you end up getting off the field on a three and out. And that's exactly what you didn't want. So it's hard to have that happen to you as a quarterback. But you move on. There were plenty of situations when they weren't in that situation. They weren't in long distance situations. And they were able to move the ball, find things they wanted in the offense.
00:38:56
Speaker 1: It was pretty nice.
00:38:57
Speaker 2: And one of the reasons they found things in the offense was because of the running game and because of the running.
00:39:02
Speaker 1: Backs, David Montgomery and Woody Marks.
00:39:05
Speaker 2: CJ was asked how those two helped him and helped the offense on Sunday.
00:39:10
Speaker 9: It's great for us. You know, Woody played great today. And, you know, Demo, I think they both, you know, ran the heck out the ball. I thought our whole line played great. We were half our hat a lot of times. And those guys were making safeties and corners miss and get on the field. So I'm really proud of those guys, and I think if we can run the ball like that.
00:39:28
Speaker 5: It would be good for us.
00:39:29
Speaker 2: One of the interesting aspects of this game was, to me, the end of the first half and the second half because.
00:39:37
Speaker 1: Both teams got busy in the final two minutes of the half. I mean, it was 17-14.
00:39:49
Speaker 2: When the Bills got the ball, moved it down, that's when DJ Moore caught the pass on the sideline, flew upfield, gave them a 24-14 lead. Texans had, I think it was a minute 38 left, if I remember correctly, in the first half. Boom, boom, boom, zipped it, a seed to Nico Collins for a touchdown. That made it 24-21. Then the drives at the end of the game. Obviously, Josh hits that deep ball. to Josh Palmer one play after he knew it through interception to Kamari Lassiter. Then CJ got the ball and moved it down the field and got them down to the nine yard line. Unfortunately, the drive ended there after a couple of sacks, but the offense was able to move the ball in the first half and the second half. You're CJ talking about those two drives at the end of the first half, at the end of the second half.
00:40:42
Speaker 9: One of them we gave up a sack, the other one we didn't. We gave up two at the end, but You know, you can keep the ball going, you know, forward. I think, you know, that's how you get touchdowns. But those are tough. Like, you know, it's tough to get down on the 10. And, you know, you got about 20 seconds left. You got to be able to punch the ball in. And it's going to be hard. But, I mean, you have to do it. We're at a timeout. So, you knew the ball either had to go in the end zone out of bounds or you got to clock it fast. But, you know, gave up the sack there and kind of ruined our momentum a little bit. But I believe that, you know, I thought we did a great job getting down, giving ourselves a shot.
00:41:14
Speaker 5: So.
00:41:15
Speaker 9: A lot of positive things to learn from, but, you know, of course you want to end them with the win.
00:41:19
Speaker 2: I'm struck by every time CJ talks about an in-the-half situation, in-the-game situation. He talks about the two-minute drill. That dude understands exactly what's going on. He knows exactly what's going on in a two-minute drill, and I feel for him because I know he wanted to put that one in the end zone for, you know, for all of us, for himself, you know, go get a win for his team, and they're right on the precipice of doing that. But, trying to find a receiver, took a sack.
00:41:48
Speaker 1: And it's interesting.
00:41:50
Speaker 2: Give me a kind of peek behind the curtain. We talk about this on the broadcast all the time. And Andre talks about it. There are certain situations you just cannot take a sack. But there's a difference between taking a sack and getting sacked in that situation, in my estimation. And what happened to CJ was he got sacked. It was not he took a sack. He didn't hold the ball too long. Offensive lineman got beat too quickly.
00:42:14
Speaker 1: And D.L.
00:42:15
Speaker 2: Walker was able to sack him before he even really had an opportunity to get the ball out to just even throw it away. And then, of course, Greg Russo on the next one ended the game a couple of plays later. And so I hate it from that perspective when it's like, oh, he took a sack. No, he got sacked on that one. There are times he's taken sacks when he probably held it a little bit too long.
00:42:37
Speaker 1: He didn't there.
00:42:37
Speaker 2: He just didn't have an opportunity to find anybody getting open. Had to take the timeout. It was the last timeout you had. And then it was really tough for the next couple of plays. And, of course, Russo gets a sack and finishes it on the final one. But other than that, I thought the pass protection was pretty on good. But I like the way that CJ handles end of halves, end of games.
00:42:57
Speaker 1: I really do.
00:42:58
Speaker 2: I think he's very smart in those situations. And the Texans are going to win a game this year because of the way that he handles games.
00:43:06
Speaker 1: Those end-of-game, end-of-half situations this year. We've seen it before. We'll see it again. I love it from that perspective.
00:43:14
Speaker 2: Now, D'Amico said in his press availability after the game and with me, and again, as coaches show, we did enough offensively to win the game. Here's what CJ had to say about coaches' comments.
00:43:25
Speaker 9: I'm probably going to keep that in the locker room, but I think, you know, I have the utmost respect for our defense. I play against them every day. I think they're amazing. I think, you know, it didn't shake our way today, but You know, if we get a couple of those turnovers, you know, at the end, I think, you know, we're smiling up here. So I have total respect for those guys. And I think, you know, if we keep playing and, you know, we keep doing what we need to do, we'll be exactly where we need to be.
00:43:49
Speaker 1: No question about that. CJ hitting that one right on the head. And I'll tell you this.
00:43:53
Speaker 2: There wasn't a defensive player, not one, you could find in that locker room last year to say anything of a negative nature about CJ Stroud after that playoff game last year.
00:44:04
Speaker 1: You sure as hell are not going to hear C.J. Stroud say a damn thing about that defense. Not at all. They have tons of respect for each other. They are great.
00:44:10
Speaker 2: Teammates for one another. And I love the way that C.J. answered that question. That defense will pick this team back up. The offense will pick them up as they go through. And I think C.J. said it all right there. You know, look, you get one takeaway and we're all up here smiling. It was that close. Even in not playing the best of games, they still had that opportunity late in the game to get it done.
00:44:32
Speaker 1: All right.
00:44:33
Speaker 2: I mentioned that end-of-half drive, end-of-game drive, and that end-of-game drive was going really, really well until it didn't. Here's CJ's thoughts on that final drive.
00:44:47
Speaker 9: Yeah, I thought I did a good job starting with a positive play in that two-minute. Got down there, you know, and then can't get stoned, made it like that. I think that, you know, that sack really kind of, you know, made it a little tougher. But even then, we still had a chance, but You know, I just, I'm trying my best to protect the ball, but also to make plays. You know, we needed seven right there, so I can't be, you know, super conservative. I got to be able to take shots, but sometimes it doesn't roll your way. So, I mean, we'll try to fix that and then, you know, go forward.
00:45:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, that two-minute drive was really going the exact way you wanted it to. You ended up getting the timeout back due to a Bills penalty. And because of that Bills penalty, I mean, you really were sitting in a good situation. You Had one timeout left. He had the ball at the nine. I mean, you'd like to be ahead in a game. You'd rather not have to go down on a two-minute drive. You'd like to be able to spend the two-minute drive either handing off in your four-minute offense or taking a knee. But you had an opportunity to go win a game with a touchdown. And Jay Noel made plays on that drive. Dalton Schultz had a couple of really nice catches to start that drive off. So, They did what they needed to do in a two-minute drive until they got inside the 10-yard line, which that's going to be tough because at that point, the Bills decided, look, we're rushing three and dropping eight.
00:46:07
Speaker 1: And that's tough.
00:46:09
Speaker 2: The red zone in and of itself is tough to throw into when it's six guys dropping in coverage and you're rushing five or seven dropping. When you're dropping eight in the coverage, it's tough, really tough. And they had to change it up at that point.
00:46:24
Speaker 1: So unfortunately... One of those three.
00:46:26
Speaker 2: Guys able to get through on two key plays to give the Bills a 36-31 win. CJ thought he was very good through the two touchdown passes. Thought they didn't throw interceptions, really didn't put the ball in harm's way pretty much all game long. I mean, he made good throws, made good decisions all throughout the game. And if that man ascends from that point forward, this team is going to win a lot of football games in 2026. There's very little. Question about that. All right, that's going to do it. We got Westwood one coming up. Big Monday night battle. Chiefs and Broncos. Patrick Mahomes has spent 274 days rehabbing that torn ACL. He suffered the week after the Texans beat them at Arrowhead. The Chargers came in the next week. Tore his ACL. He's been rehabbing. He's been getting ready for this game. You'll hear that next right here on 95.7 The Fan. A big thanks to Andre, to John McClain, Indy Kalou, to my man Mark Vandermeer. Hopefully his voice is going to get better. And to all of you for listening. Everybody at 95.7 The Fan, thank you very much.
00:47:33
Speaker 1: We'll see you tomorrow, buddy. And as always, go Texans.
