Johnson Needs To Demand Change

The Texans have 1 player in Andre Johnson who is a lead pipe lock to make it to the hallowed halls of the pro football hall of fame. Outside of JJ Watt the other 50ish players have 0 shot to make it such a high level. What do Johnson and Watt have in common, they aren’t loud mouths and let their play speak for its self. The game against the Oakland Raiders was a statement game in the fact that, the Texans made a statement to the rest of the league, we aren’t playoff contenders.

The Oakland Raiders came in seemingly limping, losing 2 in a row before playing the Texans and even went to a 3^rd string undrafted rookie QB Matt McGloin a day before the game. The Texans went in riding a small wave of momentum from the Texans own undrafted rookie QB Case Keenum. Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak at halftime made a change at QB and put in struggling starter Matt Schaub who had missed the past 3 games due to being a back and being injured. On the final play of the game for the Texans ended in an incomplete pass from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson, the following ensued…. The struggling QB yelled at the over performing future hall of famer WR.

The two even had to be separated on the sideline, and resulted in Johnson running of the field before the game ended. Yea that can’t EVER happen, Andre Johnson has done so much for this team this city. Short of Johnson catching the pass and handing it to the defender there is 0 reason to get mad at Johnson. Post-game when Johnson was asked if he still wanted to be here, Johnson said “I’m under contract”. Bob McNair you need to do something about this situation before it becomes a VERY bad situation. No McNair won’t do anything drastic like that.

If the leaders like Johnson want something to happen, he needs to demand it! Johnson needs to come out be honest, be passionate, and be fiery. He needs to demand change, he needs to share what he wants. It’s so true the one thing we love about Johnson is he is so great and not a diva, but he needs to bring out his inner diva to turn this ship around. If Johnson came out and said “I am done catching passes from Matt Schaub” Case Keenum would be the starter for the rest of the season… If Johnson came out and said “Coach Kubiak is unfair and treats players different and I won’t play for him anymore” Kubiak would be on the next slow boat to China. If JJ Watt and Andre Johnson want something to change on this team, they need to demand it! 

Texans vs. Cardinals week 10 preview

Texans vs. Cardinals: 2 teams going in opposite ways, Cardinals have won 3 of their last 5 games, Texans on the other hand have lost 6 in a row. Cardinals at 4 and 4 are in the mix for a wildcard playoff berth, the Texans on the opposite need binoculars just to see the Titans and Colts who are ahead of them in the AFC South. While both teams are in different places this season the 2 teams do share 1 thing in common, future hall of famers at Wide Receiver. Andre Johnson (813yrds) and Larry Fitzgerald (470yrds) have been rocks for their teams this season and will be a big part of this game.

Texans last week came out strong against a now top 5 team in the Colts. Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak made a change at quarterback in hopes of giving the team a spark. Case Keenum the QB entrusted with giving the team a spark, did just that. He seemingly shocked and stunned the Colts in the 1^st half of that game to the tune of 21, 1^st half points including tossing 3 long bombs to Andre Johnson WR. Then the 2^nd half came, no need to go in to what happened but needless to say the team was confused and out of sorts during the 2^nd half and gave up another come back to the Colts.

This week the gets 2 new changes for this week at the very least, DC Wade Phillips moves up to Head Coach and OC Rick Dennsion takes over as the play caller on offense. Shiloh Keo FS and DeAndre Hopkins WR both down played worry when I asked if there is any concern in the 2 coaches taking over new roles on this team for the week, both gave support for their respective coach.

The Cardinals are coming off a bye week and have had plenty of time to breakdown every aspect of the Texans game. They now have 2 games of film of the newly revamped Texans, they have had plenty of time to see what works and doesn’t work. It took the Colts a half to figure out Case Keenum, can Keenum continue to impress or can he make adjustments if the Cardinals come out and shut him down early.

The match up will come down to the Texans D vs. the Cardinals O….. The Texans last week allowed touch down after touch down to Andrew Luck and crew. While Carson Palmer is no Andrew Luck you can make an argument Palmer has better toys. Texans minus Brian Cushing can still win, JJ Watt and Antonio Smith bring the pressure and collapse the pocket the problem is not many others bring the pressure. The Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd vs. Kareem Jackson and Johnathan Joseph should be a good match up. You worry if the game comes down to 3 points, can Randy Bullock knock it in for the win or the tie.

Below is audio from Antonio Smith DE and Duane Brown LT who talked a little bit about the upcoming game today

Arian Foster Out For The Season

Texans Running Back Arian Foster will miss the rest of the season and will be out with a back (lumber) problem. The buzz is Foster will have surgery sometime this week, last week Foster injured his back early in the game and was ruled questionable for a return, and then ruled out for the rest of the game. The report is Monday the team will IR Foster and the team will have an open roster sport. Throughout the preseason and season Foster has been dealing with hamstrings and back issues, but has not missed a regular season this season till now.

Foster this season has had 542 yards on 121 carries and was projected to go over the 1000 mark again. Texans going forward will have Ben Tate as the feature back with Deji Karim who are also the teams only remaining veteran RB’s and the will team also have undrafted rookie free agents Dennis Johnson and Ray Graham on the roster.

Randy Bullock Isn't Worried About His Job

The easiest job in the NFL is being the 2nd string QB, and the toughest job in the NFL is a struggling field goal kicker. Houston Texans Randy Bullock has had a tough career; he was drafted by the team in 2012 and entered camp with veteran Shayne Graham to push him and help him get ready to be an NFL player, but during the preseason he was injured and the team placed him on IR. This season Bullock started the year without any competition. Bullock and Kubiak both played down the no competition factor early in the preseason saying that undrafted rookie Punter Andrew Shaprio, out of Fresno State, was really pushing Bullock, which in its self should have been worrisome. At the time people saw the potential in Bullock and kinda moved on and worried about other aspects of the team.


Bullock this season has an NFL worst 61.9 field goal percentage, Bullock is a perfect 6 for 6 on kicks inside 39 yards. The problem is when you inch on in to the 40 plus yard range Randy is a little bit shaky, 7 for 15 to be exact. While you could say it’s not his fault the coaches keep throwing Bullock out, you do expect a lot of a guy the team spent a 5th round pick on. Bullock mentioned during Friday’s open locker room last week it really wasn’t the wind from the open roof he was just off “there was a little bit of wind but they (the kicks) were just a hair off”. Bullock missed field goal after field goal against the Colts and even the eventual game tier.

The Texans this week brought in 3 kickers for tryouts. This is nothing out of the ordinary, as the team brings a different position group in every week. The players brought in were 2 ex Texans, Neil Rackers and Shayne Graham, and ex Panther Justin Medlock. Even with the team bringing in eventual “maybe” replacements he didn’t worry about his job stating, “I was never really worried about it, it never crossed my mind”. He may not say it yet but the heat has got to start getting to him, NFL Kickers need ice running through their veins. Everyone seems to have an opinion on poor Randy Bullock, even yesterday on national TV NBA analyst and former Houston Rockets Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy compared Bullock to a designated free throw shooter that couldn't make a free throw… Bullock today tried to deflect everyone’s anger saying “none of those fans or anything matter right now, it’s more what’s in here the locker room those are the guys whose opinions that really count, they have confidence in me, I have confidence in myself and the outside noise is outside noise that’s all it is.”
 

NFL Week 10 Power Rankings

1 - Kansas City Chiefs -Their still undefeated…. But the biggest win of their season was the Cowboys?? Big test vs. the Broncos this week

2 - Seattle Seahawks - Eeked out the last two games vs. Rams and Buccaneers, where is the team that beat the piss out of the 49ers

3 - Denver Broncos - John Fox to be replaced by Jack Del Rio they still got Peyton Manning, no need to worry.

4 - New England Patriots - Oh damn Tom Brady finally woke up, well I guess the down fall of Brady was premature.

5 - Indianapolis Colts - Andrew Luck was able to overcome the loss of Reggie Wayne, Luck again was able to make a COMEBACK…. Are the Colts ever out of a game?

6 - New Orleans Saints - Just got beat by the J-E-T-S JETS JETS but they still are fairly good, Rod Ryan goes back to Dallas this week Ye Haw!

7 - San Francisco 49ers - Had a bye week and they look good, they are rushing 153 yards a game, that is pretty good!

8 - Detroit Lions - Like the 49ers had a bye week and this Calvin Johnson fella looks good

9 - Cincinnati Bengals - Every time you start to believe in them they rip your heart out…. Really a loss to the Dolphins?

10 - Chicago Bears - DA Bears made it pasted the Packers after Rodgers went down, and guess who is coming back… Cutler to start this week.

11 - Green Bay Packers - Had Packers at 10 and Bears at 11 but this week Packers lost, and they lost Aaron Rodgers so they could slide farther.

12 - Dallas Cowboys - Cowboys barely made it out of Minnesota and now will face the Saints, I bet Rob Ryan has some tricks up his sleeve.

13 - Carolina Panthers - Reeled off 4 in a row, and will now go to San Fran to face that buzz saw, can Newton be the better QB in this game?

14 - New York Jets - They came back after being showed up by the red headed stranger and beat Drew Brees oh and Chris Ivory found his groove.

15 - Arizona Cardinals - Beat the Hawks had a bye and now get a chance to beat the Texans, which would give them 2 wins over last years playoff teams

16 - Cleveland Browns - They went through QB's like nobody else and they still have a chance

17 - Miami Dolphins - Only one game they had no business winning and they stopped a 4 game losing streak by beating the Bengals.

18 - Tennessee Titans - A dark horse playoff team, and they get Jake Locker back for the remaining stretch

19 - Washington Redskins - Just when you write off the Redskins they go and win a game, their still in the NFC East race crazy right?

20 - Philadelphia Eagles - Hi-O 7 TD's from Nick Foles was exciting but can it really last

21 - San Diego Chargers - If only they could string some wins together they be in the mix for a wildcard 

22 - Buffalo Bills - Had a chance with EJ Manuel and he is coming back so maybe there is some upside.

23 - New York Giants - Can you say the hottest 2 win team in the NFL, your damn right you can…. They are still in the NFC East race.

24 - Oakland Raiders - Terrelle Pryor looks to be a real deal, I feel like Al Davis would be proud.

25 - Baltimore Ravens - Yea the mighty keep on falling like a rock, where they stop nobody knows

26 - St Louis Rams - 3 straight loses but these guys haven't quit, you wish they hadn't lost Sam Bradford, but they got a TOUGH game vs. the Colts upcoming

27 - Houston Texans - Holy Moly a change at QB gave them a spark, till HC Gary Kubiak fell to the ground on SNF, the season fell at the same time he did.

28 - Pittsburgh Steelers - Beatings by the Raiders and than an absolute beatdown by the Patriots will make you a sucky team

29 - Atlanta Falcons - This team is as confusing as the Texans they were suppose to be a great team, what HAPPENED.

30 - Minnesota Vikings - You wonder how they manged to beat the Steelers, and now the Redskins come calling on Thursday.

31 - Jacksonville Jaguars - Whomp whomp no QB no defense and they suspended troubled WR Justin Blackmon off the team.

32 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Just like Jacksonville expect they also have no head coach, if their were 40 teams, they'd be number 40.

Texans health update

During the rain and wind while you were indoors the team took to the field another day with Case Keenum as QB 1. Coach said the team practiced well and with “good energy” coach said. Today not taking the practice field for the Texans were RB Arian Foster, LG Wade Smith and MLB Daryl Sharpton. Coach did describe that it is no biggie that Wade Smith did not practice and it will be this way the whole season. “It’s just routine” in reference to Smith continuing to miss practice time, he also followed with “he’ll only practice 2 days a week weather he likes it or not”. Coach Kubiak also mentioned that Arian Foster still could be in the mix come the end of the week “he went out and stretched, did some stuff, did some walkthrough” but he knows Foster will do everything he can to be there. Below is coach Kubiak talking about all the 3 new running backs he signed on Monday…

Gunslinger Gets A Second Start

Texans last week went about the mindset of checking the tape and improving going forward. Today coach Kubiak named the Gunslinger Case Keenum the starter for Sunday Night Football against the AFC South leading Indianapolis Colts. The saying all along was when Matt Schaub is healthy he will get his starting job back, and spoiler alert Schaub is healthy and will back up Keenum.

Coaches must have seen something from Case Keenum that no other QB has given them this year. Keenum in one game was able to do something we haven’t seen in a long time, give the team a down field passing attack. If not for a pass that went straight through the fingertips of Garrett Graham you could have seen a team go in and beat the best team in the NFL (Chiefs).

Case Keenum will now have plenty of time to get ready for the Colts, not having to split time with TJ Yates like going in to the Chiefs game. He will now take all the snaps as QB 1 as the starter going in to the game with Colts. Teammates on offensive and defensive have made it clear that Keenum brings that certain something to the QB position a certain X-factor that the team needs in these remaining games. Coach Kubiak made it clear that Keenum is only the starter for the Colts and like always will continue to evaluate going forward

Texans to add 5

After what can only be described as Bloody Monday or interesting footnote that will definitely be needed to be added to the wiki page at the end of the season. Sam Montgomery, Willie Jefferson and Cierre Wood all 3 undrafted rookies were cut on the Monday following a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs 17-16. As a result of that game standout MLB Brian Cushing was also lost for the season with a broken leg, with 4 roster spots open the team decided to add a 5th spot by cutting MLB Tim Dobbins.

With injuries to running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate the team was left with Greg Jones as the only active back. Per John McClain the team is adding 3 running backs including adding RB Ray Graham from the teams practice squad. Joining him in the roster will be 2 backs he competed with in camp, Deji Karim and Dennis Johnson will be joining the team on Monday. Also joining the team are MLB’s Tavares Gordon and Jeff Tarpinian. These 5 guys fill the void left by the open roster spots the team created last week.

NFL Hot & Cold plus The Texans

1. Kansas City Chiefs – Well they are the only 7-0 team in the NFL so it’s kinda a no-brainer. QB Alex Smith may not be the greatest thing on earth but they got this good RB named Jamaal Charles and a hell of a good defense.

2. Denver Broncos – They are coming off a loss and scored the fewest points they have this season (33) but still have this guy named Peyton Manning and that makes them better than 99.9 percent of the other teams.

3. Seattle Seahawks – If the Chiefs have the number 1 defense, than the Seahawks defense is 1.1 they are just about the same as the Chiefs, but have a better game manager at QB.

4. New Orleans Saints –A magical final minute from Tom Brady doesn’t make the Saints not good, they are still miles ahead of last year’s Saints.      

5.  Cincinnati Bengals – Young team, good defense red headed QB, what’s not to like? Oh losses to the Bears and Browns but they are still damn good.

22. Houston Texans – For a team with so much talent to be in such a disarray, has to madding for Texan owner Bob McNair and Texans fans.

28. Oakland Raiders – Yeah they aren’t very good, but they have a promising QB in Terrelle Pryor so the rest of the season is to see if he is the future.

29. New York Giants – They are a GIANT pile of po*h a flaming disappointment and this year Eli is the complete inverse of his brother.

30. Minnesota Vikings - The team has a stable of QB’s that shouldn’t be on anybody’s team, if they didn’t have Adrian Peterson and Jared Allen they would be the laughing stock of the league.

31. Jacksonville Jaguars – unlike Tampa Bay these guys have just a little bit more of an upside, but don’t get me wrong they are still a joke.

32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – This team has no hope and there is a good bet the coaching staff is gone at years end this team is ripe for the picking if you’re a team in need of help.