- 5/17/2025
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00:00The whole NFL schedule is out, and my biggest takeaway is that the Texans still do have some
00:05luster as far as the league is concerned. They got four primetime games. They're spread out
00:10nicely. They're not in three consecutive weeks like they were last year, weeks 9, 10, and 11.
00:17That got rough. But they've got, in fact, for the second straight year, Seth, the season opener at
00:22home, the home opener, is in week two, and it's a primetime game. It was Caleb Williams and the,
00:28Caleb Williams and the Bears last year coming to NRG Stadium in week two. This year,
00:33it's Baker Mayfield and the Bucs. Monday Night Football week two, after facing the Rams,
00:38the Texans do in their opener in L.A. I guess the only one thing I wondered about is whether,
00:43man, okay, that Chargers, when you talk about the Christmas Day game, right now the Christmas Day
00:48games are already scheduled and what have you, but theoretically the Texans could still play on
00:52Christmas if they decided to add a Christmas Day game. So, because that Chargers game,
00:58would be played December 28th if it was on a Sunday. Yeah. But they could be a team that
01:04played. So, that's the only, the one little, I'm holding it out. You mean like they could
01:08flex it into Christmas is what you're talking about? No, they could just add a Christmas Day
01:12game. There's no, they haven't been scheduled yet. Right now, they just have to turn when they
01:18play the Chargers. Oh, okay. That Chargers game could get, yeah, flexed into a new slot that they
01:23negotiate with Netflix. Where's the Christmas Day game broadcast this year? The Christmas,
01:27there's three Christmas Day games this year. Oh, and they're all different platforms. Yeah,
01:31they're all, yeah, and it's not Christmas on a Thursday. So, there's already a Thursday night
01:34game. So, I don't think there's any danger of that. I'm just saying it could happen. I'm just
01:38saying, yeah, I don't, I don't, I don't think it could, but. It wouldn't be a flex. It would just
01:41be scheduling them because right now they're to be determined. Yeah, I guess. I guess. Those TBDs
01:46usually mean Saturday or Sunday. So, so anyways, how did the league do with my wish list? Because
01:52Christmas Day, no Christmas Day game was on my wish list. They didn't give us a Christmas,
01:56no holiday games for the Texans. So, you get to enjoy your turkey or your ham, your opening
02:01presents, whatever it is you do on your holidays, you get to enjoy it. Thank you, Ben. Yes. I get
02:05a green check mark. The league really screwed me later, though, on one of these. So, we got
02:10that. Now, you and I differed on that one, I think, and you and I differed on wanting to
02:13get Cam Ward early. We actually have a text from somebody that said, hey, guys, I'm a
02:18little nervous about Cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans. Should I be nervous about Cam Ward?
02:23Yeah, you should be nervous about any rookie quarterback, always and forever. Going back
02:27to Vince Young when the teams don't have a real good feel for what they can and can't do
02:32yet, and you don't know how the quarterback's team is going to use him, and then if they can
02:39scramble like Cam Ward can and make some spectacular throws, just like Anthony Richardson last year,
02:45even though he wasn't a rookie, or Anthony Richardson in his first year when he was a
02:48rookie, yeah, it's just a huge wild card that you don't have the advantages that you might
02:54have later in the season when you start to realize seeing Cam Ward this early, but at
02:59the very least, they'll have three games of game film on him if he starts week one versus
03:04game one, obviously. Yeah, yeah. Weeks four and 11, they face the Titans, so they get
03:09the Titans at home in week four and then in Tennessee week 11. Yeah, rookie quarterbacks
03:15in general, think about the various quarterbacks who have won rookie of the year and then gone
03:20on to underperform later in their career. You just, they can, it's a huge wrench in the
03:27gears. You just, you could get the best version of him, you could get the worst version.
03:31Well, if Cam Ward is a thing right out of the chute, like, see, you know, like by week
03:35four of C.J. Stroud's rookie year, he was dicing up the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know,
03:39like his, you know, it took C.J. a couple, a couple of games to get his legs under him
03:43and then he was off to the races after that, his rookie year. If that's who Cam Ward is
03:47for the Titans, that first five game stretch of the season might be the hardest stretch
03:51for the Texans because they face Matthew Stafford on the road, Baker Mayfield in week
03:56two. And we know, I mean, Baker was really good last year. Who knows if Liam Cohen is
04:02able to get Trevor Lawrence back to where the, where, to, to where his pay grade says
04:06he should be. And then week five is Lamar Jackson. Like Cam Ward is supposed to be your
04:11break in that Cam Ward at home is supposed to be your break in that first five weeks.
04:16If Cam Ward is a rookie of the year caliber quarterback, that's a, that's kind of a, that's
04:21a tough stretch right there to start off the season of quarterbacks for the Texans defense.
04:24That's some good tests right there. Um, so that's number two. So I'll take a ding on
04:30that one. They satisfied, they satisfied both me and Seth on that one. I think, um, I wished
04:35that they would have said two LA games or maybe an LA game and a Seattle game, maybe get them
04:42on a single road trip. So the team can just go out there one time, spend a week out there.
04:47So the fans could make a week of it too. For sure. The fans that wanted to go out there
04:50and have themselves a nice vacation, just go out and spend a week in Southern California.
04:55Yeah. Yeah, man. They, they didn't do anything of the sort. They put the Rams in week one,
05:00the Seahawks at a nine o'clock central time, start a Monday night football in week seven.
05:05And then the chargers, as Seth mentioned week 17, uh, that's the weekend after Christmas.
05:10Yeah. They didn't do good on that one for me. I'm a, this is a, I actually like it kind
05:15of being bookended like that in terms of also it spreads out the long travel and the, whatever
05:19challenges that present is spread out nicely. You're right about that. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
05:23You know, when they, um, when they face the Seahawks, so they'll have a long travel on a Monday
05:27night, but it's after the bye week. Yeah. You get the Rams. It's at, it's the first week
05:32of the season and then you've got a home game the next week. So that's relatively easy.
05:37Then the chargers is sandwiched by two home games also. So they, in terms of how the West
05:43coast travel could really ding you, they, the, it's about as good as it could be.
05:48If it wasn't going to be my double dip, I would want it to be the way they laid it out. So
05:51that's a really good point. Yes. Plus CJ's got some time to recuperate, maybe save some
05:55money up for his catering bills. Cause I'm guessing he's going to have a bunch of team dinners
05:59at, at his home or wherever it is. I'm guessing he's bought a nice place for his mom out in
06:03Southern California, but you know, that costs a penny. So he'll have, he'll have an entire
06:09season's worth of game checks to pay for that second go around. Yeah. This, this is not
06:13like having your basketball team over. There's 53 hungry dude. Um, so that's number three.
06:20These are my wishlist things that I put out there earlier this week. We're two for three
06:24so far. No late by week. I'm going to give them a ding on that. The NFL except it's a little
06:30early. Like if I want to get picky, like week nine would be perfect week six. I'll take it.
06:36And to me, it's better than what they had last year with the bi-week in week 14 or whatever it
06:41was. I like it simply because it's, it gives Nick Caley a chance in his first year as an
06:47offensive coordinator to have a week to sit back and self-scout, look at where things went right.
06:53Look at where things went wrong. It's, I mean, it's, it doesn't, it's one of these things. It seems
06:57like, uh, like NFL teams shouldn't have to contend with something like this. Like don't
07:01they have all the best analytics at their disposal and everything psychologically there. It's hard
07:06when you're immediately game planning for the next opponent to really sit back and digest what did go
07:12well, what didn't. So he gets a nice break after five games to see where, okay, we really, we got to
07:17focus on this. We got to focus on that. I like, I like the early bi-week for this year's scenario.
07:22Yeah, I do too. I, that, that Kaylee regrouping and kind of assessing things five weeks in
07:26is, is really, and, and look, look who they play right before the bi-week is Baltimore.
07:31Like that might be where we're like, you know what? They could really use a bi-week
07:34the way they played against Baltimore the last two years, you know, it's the, the, the Ravens are by
07:39far the team that's got the emotional, the most emotional space in my head right now. And I look at
07:45the Ravens because you haven't competed against them at all. The last three times you've played them
07:49just that you've, you've got to get over that hump somehow. And they're a, look, they're, they're
07:55different. I mean, they're a tough physical football team and some of the matchups just
08:03become a matter of like, all right, who's, who swings a bigger bat and in this matchup. So I
08:10like the, the actual visceral part of beating the Ravens. That would be a big win before a bi-week
08:15if they can win that one. Yeah. You haven't been on the same field with them by and large,
08:18you know, like figuratively on the same field with them in any of the games you played since
08:22CJ Stroud and D'Amico Ryans have got here. It's been three blowouts. You've been competitive
08:26at times within the games. The two, the two games in Baltimore in 23 were competitive at
08:32halftime score wise, but the dam breaks and it's the Ravens just bludgeoning you. Now the
08:37Christmas day game was an ass kicking Christmas day day. Well, you know, there was just no contest.
08:41The playoffs game. Yes. The Texans were down with their wide receivers and numbers, et cetera,
08:46et cetera. The first half was competitive, but part of that was that the defense was playing a game
08:51plan that was very much boomer bust. They were blitzing way more than they had before. And it was,
08:57I was really nervous at the half. Cause I thought they, I don't know if they can keep this up.
09:01They just can't keep putting themselves at risk like this. Well, and the only touchdown they scored
09:05was on a 70 yard punt return by Steven Sims. They weren't, the offense was doing nothing to take
09:10pressure off the defense at all in that game. Um, so yeah, the Ravens, the only thing that would
09:15be better than the Ravens right before the bi-week would be getting the bi-week before you play the
09:18Ravens. So you got another week to get ready for them. That would have been the only thing that
09:21would have been better, but no late bi-week. So we liked that last thing I requested. And this was
09:25the biggest middle finger that the league had to me. I think Seth feels differently about this one
09:30because he's just not as big a wuss as I am. Um, but I said, you know what? This Kansas
09:35city game, you know, since Patrick Mahomes got there in the afternoon, early afternoon window on
09:43a Sunday on a pleasant October day, how can we get the Kansas city game early in the season,
09:49noon start off the grid, go in, take care of your business, get out. None of this cold weather,
09:57none of this prime time, and certainly not both. And the league was like, okay. Yeah. Give it two
10:02buzzes, Ben. That's a week 14, December 7th. I think it is. It's the, it's week 14. It's early
10:10December, Sunday night football at Arrowhead stadium. They're like, Sean, you need to grow up
10:15and be a man, grow a set, drop them. Your, your, your stones need to drop. You need a prime time
10:22game in Kansas city. And you know what? I've had 12 hours to talk myself into it. And I've talked
10:27myself into it. I'm as excited as you are about this. Now I was, it goes against my request,
10:31but I have no choice, but to get excited about the opportunity that exists in Kansas city,
10:36going back into a place that, uh, look, uh, CJ Stroud had an emotional breakdown on the football
10:41field while he was there and then made some really bad mistakes after his emotional breakdown.
10:45You got to exercise those demons. Okay. This is like, there's a lot at stake here in terms of being
10:51a bonafide genuine NFL team here. And you gotta, you just get going and do it in a, what could be a
10:57basically like a playoff type environment. It's not that late in the season, but it's late enough
11:02in the season in a prime time game versus the chiefs that, uh, the, yes, yes. I'm, but I'm,
11:07I'm very much looking forward to it. Oh, I, yeah, I reserve the right to change that opinion.
11:13Well, it's 14 weeks in, so we'll see the Texans will
11:15done plenty of day of the year. Um, but I would say overall, uh, overall a fun schedule, you know,
11:23just enough prime time games. Uh, the, uh, you know, the, I think the way it sets up,
11:28I think it sets up nice at the end of the year, three out of your last four games are at home and
11:31all the home games are against teams that were, you know, six, seven, eight win teams last year.
11:37Middle screen brought up a great point about, uh, the first game of the season versus the Rams,
11:42which is that the Rams notoriously or famously do not play their starters at all in the preseason.
11:50And then Rams fans get frustrated when the Rams get off to a rusty looking start. So it's a huge
11:56test. It's a huge test having the Rams in week one, the Rams have an excellent defensive line.
12:02The Texans have an offensive line that we don't even know what it looks like yet. That's a big test
12:08for that Texans offensive line on the road in week one. The one saving grace might be that,
12:13all right, at least, at least the Rams players might be a little bit rusty. The defensive line
12:18though, they're the defensive line rush factor. It's probably the position group where it matters
12:23the least. They're going to have really fresh legs because they take care of their starters. So,
12:27uh, this is very much for me about can the, can the Texans offensive line put up a fight and be
12:34respectable against that Rams defense. If they actually beat the Rams defensive line, I'll be
12:38as happy as I could possibly be after a week one regular season game. Cause that's going to be a
12:43very, a very promising beginning. Yeah, this is the, this is, you know, without looking at the
12:49entire schedule. I mean, obviously Baltimore's got a really formidable front, uh, Kansas city has
12:53Chris Jones. They've got some Karloftis. They've got some guys right out of the chute that this
13:00offensive line could get. I would say I like the, the other part that is intriguing to look ahead
13:05to since we're fresh off the draft is the various rookies, the high profile rookies you're going to
13:10see. So, uh, Travis Hunter in week three, followed by cam ward in week four. That's big. Uh, gray Zabel
13:19drafted by the Seahawks. And a lot of people really wanted the Texans to, and perhaps the Texans were
13:25trying to trade up to get gray Zabel. When gray Zabel came off the board, that's when the Texans were really
13:29looking to potentially trade at that point. So yeah. Um, Mikel Williams is the rookie of the
13:3649ers pass rushing edge guy. I not as big a buzz factor in the Texans. We're never probably going
13:42to draft an edge rusher. And, but then, um, Tyler Warren, the tight end for the Colts in weeks 13 and
13:4818 a, because it's the Colts B because the Texans have been miserable against tight ends as of late.
13:54So is Tyler Warren a huge impact or a huge factor in those games? And then, Oh, the other big one,
14:00Ashton Gentian week 16. Oh, the Raiders rookie running back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Hopefully
14:06he's banged up by then. Nothing debilitating, nothing career ending, but hopefully they've fed
14:10him the ball like 30 times a game up till there's a bunch of quotes from Ashton Gentian about like,
14:15wow, they weren't joking about how long a season this is. Right, right, right. Hopefully if we Google
14:20in week 16, if we Google Ashton Gentie rookie wall, there's 15 articles that pop up, you know,
14:27remember to like Damian Pearson, his rookie year, how outstanding it was. And yet those last few games
14:33before he got injured, he wasn't the same. It was a combination I think of the, you know,
14:40the league figuring out what they were doing with him, but then also just whatever physiological wall.
14:44Yeah. You know, it's interesting because Damian Pierce was not the featured back in Florida. He was
14:49really good, but he wasn't the featured. Ashton Gentie ran for 2000 yards last year. He might be
14:53more callous to it. You know, like he, he might be more and Boise state was a playoff team last year.
14:58So he's already played a 15 game season, you know, like he's, he's damn near played an NFL season in
15:04his career. You know, the last four games of Damian's rookie year in 2022, after he came off a really nice
15:10stretch of like close to a hundred yards or over a hundred yards, uh, eight yards, eight yards,
15:1673 yards, 78 yards that, that 78 yard performance, the average 3.5 yards per carry. Yeah. And then he,
15:23and then he missed the last few games, right? Didn't he twist an angle? Those were the four
15:26games before his injury. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was, then he was done for the season.
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