Texans All AccessThe GM Speaks: Nick Caserio in studio | Texans All Access
What is going on? Everybody?
Happy Wednesday to you, New Year's Day. My gosh, I buried the lead. It's New Year's Day. Happy twenty twenty five to all of you out there. I'm your host for this evening, John Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter, and I know there are a lot of people hurting, not only in this area, but obviously in New Orleans with what transpired very very.
Early this morning.
So our love, thoughts and prayers go out to everybody New Orleans, everybody affected. Just an incredibly horrible situation. Sugar Bowl that was supposed to be played tonight will be moved till tomorrow. Don't know if we played at night, but they're treating us as a terrorist situation there in New Orleans. So Georgia and Notre Dame will end up playing tomorrow as it appears right now.
We'll see if things change.
But man, what a difficult way to wake up this morning to see that news of what happened in New Orleans. And I know Sheriff Houston Sheriff's office commented about the work that they're doing in Houston to make sure something like that does not happen here in our area. I just hate that it happened in New Orleans. It's a place that I love dearly. My wife and I took our honeymoon there when we were teachers and we weren't making squat for money, and that place meant and means a lot to us, and I know it means lots of people here in the Houston area. So thoughts out to everybody in New Orleans. Now, as we always do on this show, we talked football. We try and take you away from whatever and bring you into our football world for just a little bit and talk ball, have some fun, stay on the radio, and that's what we're gonna do here this evening, and on a Wednesday, we start that off as we always do with general manager Nick Casserio. Now, when we talked with Nick this on Tuesday, you guys always know we talk with Nick on Tuesday. So this was probably up on YouTube last night. Some of you've heard it, some of you saw it. But if you're listening and going, wey, why aren't they talking about what happened to Ne Orleans. That's why we definitely would have asked Nick's thoughts on it, because I know he probably feels the same as I.
Do, but we did this on Tuesday.
So this is Nick Casario, general manager your Houston Texans on with Mark and.
Myself joining us in studio now.
Executive vice president and general manager, Nick Cassario.
Nick, Happy New Year.
How's it going, Jen, It's good to see you. Happy New Year?
All right, here we go with a typical week. I would say, even though you have New Year's now, but after all the rigamar role of three games and eleven days, back to a typical work week. Probably good to have this and then the playoffs next week.
You know you're in.
Yeah, Look, we got two weeks in front of us, so first and foremost and focus will be on Tennessee. Kind of go through a normal week, out the extra day yesterday with the kind of the bonus Monday, if you will. Tuesday, you know it was a normal off day, and then we'll finish out the week Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, travel, Saturday, play Tennessee on Sunday.
Have an idea we're playing when we're playing.
After the Tennessee game, so back to work, back to business, and that's where we are.
So I know we always talk about advanced prep. So in advanced prep, we know it's one of three teams.
One of them we just played last week, or I guess that's what it is.
One we have played this year, the other two trying to think we played that we played the other two.
So do you do advanced prep for all three teams? Nick? At this point?
Do you wait until Saturday night to see Rabs and the Steelers? How do you kind of go with the advanced prep for the playoffs? No, it's a great question.
You sort of have to start some of the work here a little bit, because what you want to be able to do is after the Tennessee game, transition to whoever the next opponent is. So number of the pro scouts will be assigned specific teams. So of the teams that we could potentially play, put together the advance scott and report, and then the idea would be after the game on Sunday, whoever we think it is or if it's definitive, then we'll just be able to get that information out to the staff. So then we come back coming on Monday. We're sort of ready to go. Even though we haven't played. We're somewhat familiar with some of the teams, other than maybe LA that's probably the one team that's a little bit of an X factor here. So but other than that, we do we have to put a separate from the coaches in the playing preparation. We have to from a advanced scouting standpoint, just put some work in place.
Coach Ryan saded like he wanted to get back to the basics here. Let's play some good football. Let's get back to playing the game that we love and we know how to play well.
You see it that way as you face Tennessee on Sunday.
Yeah, it's really a big summation of our season. We've kind of sat here multiple weeks and we've played good football at times. Other times we just haven't executed him. We go back and look at the Tennessee game week twelve, it's kind of some respects the synopsis of our season. Gave us some explosive plays, turn the ball over a little bit. I think we were penalized eleven times, so just trying to minimize some of those bad plays. Tennessee played better than we did. We understand that this is a challenging opponent that has a number of skilled players in a lot of different areas. So focusing on Tennessee trying to play a good football game, doing the things that are conducive to winning. Put on ourselves in a position where we can go ahead and go out there and play good football as a team, which this time of the year, that's the most important thing.
We've had this yere nick before where week seventeen. I don't want to use the word irrelevant, because any game is relevant, but it's not going to change seeding. We're into playoffs. We want to be seemingly as healthy as possible. How much does that become a part of it, Like, Hey, we want to be as healthy as possible. Yeah, we won't play great football, but man, we got to have the guys. We need to be able to play that playoff game.
Yeah, every game takes on significance whenever it is, whatever the circumstances are. So fortunately been kind of in this situation multiple times and the last week, you know, we've handled it differently at different points. So I think ultimately you have to do we have to do. Demico has to do what you know, we feel as best for our football team. What do we think we need understanding of the cognizant If a player has a health issue or concern then maybe are we better off waiting another week or whatever the case may be. So in the end, we're gonna need our whoever we have, whoever is available to us this week and next week, Like those are the players that we're gonna win with.
Can't worry about who we don't have. Also're gonna do his focus on the players that we do have.
So each week is going to be different, each team is going to be a little bit different, and you just have to have it, take inventory of where you are as a team, and ultimately make the decision that you feel makes the most sense no.
Matter who you facing the postseason. This is good prep. I know you want to be better at stopping the run than you were against Derek Henry. You got Tony Pollard here, had a good game last time. He's a thousand, thousand yard backs, so it's a good test.
Yeah, really good back.
I mean ran for one hundred yards over one hundred yards in the first games. A thousand yard rusher, and he's really kind of a multipurpose back because he's just not a runner. He's a very capable receiver as well, so good athlete, good with the ball in his hands, capable of making explosive plays because of his speed. So the run game will be important, I'd say this time of year in most games, like the ability to run the ball, stop the run, and cover kicks like those are the things that you're gonna have to be be able to do in order to be a good physical football team.
Are you trying to sneakily steal my scoutez?
You got it?
Here with it, joh the gun.
I'm just my last.
Report because we've already but we can. Let's start in there.
Week twelve, we got a chance to see these guys.
We didn't see Taj Spears uh and he was part of the mix this past couple of the past couple of weeks and look pretty good doing it. How have they changed from Week twelve? Nick, I know it's not gone exceedingly well for them. There is talk about them playing both quarterbacks Mayson Rudolf and Will Levis. What what's changed most about the Titans in the Scotland report that you see, Yeah.
The big thing, it's always personnel related more than anything else schematically, like from the start of the season until now, you know, the run game they do a really good job. Coach Coach callahan square. They both do a really good job in a running game. They ran the ball effectively and have two really good backs who are capable of gaining the yards. And their ability to create explosive plays. We saw that, you know, with Chick on the big play there in the third quarter or whatever it was.
And Ridley is always a factor.
So they do a good job schematically in a running game and then creating some explosive plays as well. You know, they've turned the ball over a little bit, you know, probably more than they would like, So the ability to take the ball away in an r N control of the football or take care of the football is going to be important. But it seems like they've kind of solidified the offensive line, which is a little bit of a moving part, and think Latham has kind of been to one constant there from the beginning of the year. They've had a number of young rookie players who have played well for them this year on both sides of the ball, but they present challenges offensively because of their skill more than anything else.
All Right, what about this streak you have going on on the road in the division, because you have to go back to what twenty twenty one, twenty twenty one, when the Texans last lost an AFC South game on the road. Is there anything too that I know it spans different coaching eras and that kind of thing, but you've been here the whole time time.
Yeah, I mean each week it's really one game at a time, one week at a time, and just doing enough that particular week, so you can't necessarily worry about I mean, streaks are streaks, but all streaks are made to be broken. It's ultimately about playing good football. So that's what it's going to take. So can't really get too caught up in But we've talked on this show. Everything starts with a division, so we're in a position fortunately we continue to play football because of what we've done in the division. So we think we just want to go out there and play good football against division opponent, like he'll beat us in week twelve, So we just want to try to play better football and make sure we're doing the things that are conduced with the winning This week against Titans.
Nick, have you seen Tovandre get better and better each week? I mean he's a guy obviously big. There were some questions about conditioning. Oh, he's not going to be able to make in the NFL because he can't play that much. It's almost as if he's got in the NFL, and it's really not bothered him.
I think he's played every single game. What have you seen for the big fella.
And how tough is he to account for just because of sheer size and athleticism.
No, he's played really well.
So when you look at the combination of him and Jeffrey, Jeffery is a problem by himself, regardless of where he lines up, and it's about his skill AND's about how hard he plays as well.
But deve Andre has done a good job.
He's obviously a factor in the running game, but he's done a decent job with some power rushes because once he gets going vertically, it's just hard to sit down and block a guy and fifty pounds. So you had the fumble recovery kind of the second man strip there a couple of weeks ago. That's stiff arm. So you're talking about a big, strong, athletic player who presents problems on the inside part of the defense. So sov Andre has played well and going back to the rookies and Brownlee has done a really good job from start to finish at corner. Then they've had a bump them inside a little bit and play some nickel with McCrary being out. So they have a number of good young players who have given them a lot of good plays during the course of the year.
We haven't had a chance to catch up since the back to back with Kansas City and Baltimore. And I know, two very different games, very competitive against Kansas City and Baltimore. How do you look at that one? Do you look at it as well?
That just wasn't our day.
We got to get it out of our minds because obviously you want to correct those things, but you want to move forward and get momentum for the postseason.
And really both games we had opportunities.
So going back to the Kansas City game, we kind of had the was seventeen sixteen. You get the fourth down stop and then we're at midfield and then we'll go three and out, and then we just couldn't garner enough momentum and then any end, they just made a few more plays than we did. The same thing against Baltimore as well. It's ten to two, we have the ball down there in a three yard line. We went four on fourth down, which you know, Tomico, you know, wanted to get points. Was the right decision, you know, to try to play aggressively, and you know we didn't convert it, you know, and we weren't able to keep him off the long field. They hit the explosive play to Mark Andrews and then it's seventeen to two, and then it just kind of was hard to catch up.
So say, both games we had our opportunities.
Which goes back to what Tomiko talked about, like this game is just going out there playing good football, executing from start to finish, and I think that'll be the challenge for us here this week.
Nig I don't know if we've had a chance to talk to you since claiming Deontae Johnson, and I know we talked about the trade deadline and one of the things that you mentioned which was true, is that you made a number of waiver claims. I mean, Derek Barnett coming here was huge over the second half of the twenty twenty three season. This one was later than I think any of the others getting him in week seventeen.
As you go out to week eighteen.
The expectations are different for everybody in this bill at the thought of a guy coming in, what he can learn, what he can do. What's your thoughts about bringing in Deontay this late in the season, and what do you think he can provide for the team.
Yeah, our philosophy is always just look to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. You don't really know when that's going to happen, whether it's week eight, week twelve, week sixteen. So we look at the waiver wire every day. Pro scouting staff does a great job and then we have discussions about it. We talk about it as a staff. Ultimately you make a decision, well this makes sense or not. I think the situation with Tank maybe you know said, hey, he missed some opportunity for us to bring in a good football Player's a lot of experience. So Deante's been a productive player in this league for a number of years, a skilled player, even going back to his Toledo days. I mean, this is a player you know actually had the opportunity to work him out and spend the day on campus with him when he was coming out. I think it was near him in Woodside, I think, or around the same time. So he's got a good skill set, he's athletic, he's fast, he's got good quickness, he's been productive. So when you get a player this late, obviously you can't teach him everything. You just want to try to give him some small doses so he can go out there and actually practice and then if he has an opportunity to play, go out there and perform at a you know, at a high level.
It really puts a test on your wide receiver group overall, though, the injury to Tank, and again that's not something we talked about since the last time we got together. So as a group, what are you thinking here moving forward?
Yeah, No, that's a group that's been taxed here at different points. So we kind of played without and played without Digs for a period here. I play without Tank even Nico missed a few games there. But we've talked about this, even going back to beginning of the year. We felt that, you know, the depth in that room was really good. Was the strength of the team. You know, Metch has had his opportunities, he's taken advantage of them. Hutch seemingly in each game when we throw them the ball, he makes it play. So it's about other players getting opportunities. You know, jay Wayne had to be he was elevated a couple of times. So we feel comfortable with the players that are here at Deontae to that mix. So we'll take four or five receivers to the game, however it is, and then see if we can go out there and just take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.
We've also had injuries at this seemingly the nickel position where Jaylen's been banged up, then Jimmy gets banged up.
Nick, What can you tell us about Miles Bryant.
This guy's since his days back to Washington, you always felt like a guy when you watch him in the field. He might have been the smallest guy in the field, but it felt like he was a playmaker, like he was gonna make a play no matter what. What can you tell us about Miles and what maybe he can bring to that nickel position when he's there.
Yeah, he's a very smart, experienced, instinctive player, has position versatility. I mean, I think he played I don't know, seven hundred and eight hundred snaps last year New England between safety corner, slot corner, so he's taken some snaps there inside the formation, so has a good awareness, has a good understanding of how to play football. Here's another player who's made the most of his opportunities in his career. Wasn't drafted, but he's a great kid, works really hard, he's very smart, he's instinctive, runs well, so he has a good skill set. So he's gone in there. He went into the other day against Baltimore log some snaps. So we'll kind of see what makes the most sense here. Kamari's been in there, Miles was in there. We'll just figure out, you know, who makes the most sense. But we've had multiple players in there, and I think we kind of felt this was a position you're probably going to need multiple players, and that's really kind of come to fruition.
Well, Kate Stover, Johnny and I have visited with him a couple of times this year and recently as a matter of fact, since the appendectomy recovery. He got out there pretty quick Nick and he says he likes playing that fullback, h back whatever it is, that extra role because you can move around a lot. And that's a player who spent a lot of training camp just learning how to play tight end.
Yeah, Kaid's a smart, tough, versatile, instinctive player. He's improved continually as the years progressed. The more you give him, the more he can handle. And that's where you always start with kind of a baseline of whoever the player is and then add small doses as you go. But Kade's ability to kind of play multiple spots enhance his overall value.
And we've talked about this.
He's made some plays in the kicking game as well, and you're probably not going to find a tougher player on a football team, you know than Kate's Stover.
So glad he's here.
He's helped us, you know, in a number of different areas here this season. Looking forward to finishing year strong with him and what the future holds, you know, for him in our program.
And if you ever want to learn more about beef production, he's the expert.
Yeah, he's the expert in that.
Candi absolutely, Nick, I don't know if you've ever been completely persuaded, but thinking a kid, maybe think of I mean, obviously you had us with the Patriots where you guys looked at players like Julian Edelman, You're like, I don't really know what we're gonna do with him. We'll find something that dude ends up playing nickel. He played punt return to it obviously settles in to be one of the best solid receivers.
What best receivers we've ever seen.
Have you ever been persuaded by a guy's second sport, Like you see him play football and you're not totally convinced, But do you see him play a second sport or he's in a different sport and you're like, man, maybe there's something there. I like the way he plays basketball, Man, he's a wrestler, or whatever the case might be. I've ever been persuaded by a guy because he's had kind of a second sport.
That really you think can help him. It's interesting that they bring that up. There's never a direct correlation. While you see a player do this in this sport, it's going to translate over to the NFL, because the reality is they're all kind of starting from scratch. It's really about their mindset and then the combination of the player in and of itself, and then the coaching staff and just the ability to kind of think outside the box a little bit. Fortunately, been a part of some situations like that. Going back to Chris Hogan, you know, cross player ended up being a pretty good receiver for a number of years. Steven Neil, who was a very accomplished amateur wrestler didn't play college football, signed him in a practice squad and then he ended up having an eight to nine year career, you know, and he worked hard, took coaching, got better. So I think if you have a player with the right mindset who's willing to put the time in, you really never know how it's going to turn out. And you're seeing multiple examples throughout the league, even looking at the Chargers using Matt Locke the defensive tackle at fullback. Ricard has kind of made that transition even with the Eagles and Jordan Malatta, who had a rugby background, wasn't really a football player. Now he's become one of the best left tackles in the league. So it's not always going to work out all the time. But I think if you have an open mind and then just take the individual player and just their mindset, their thought process, how they work, how they approach it, and see if they make some progress along the way, then ultimately you just kind of let let you know, nature run its course.
A little bit.
You ever played lacrosse.
I've played with my daughters throwing the ball, but I never actually played lacrosse.
So it's a great sport. Yeah, honestly, I wish I would.
Have learned it.
You're good at it.
Yeah, I was too consumed by baseball, playing baseball since I was six years old, so I didn't even know what lacrosse was. We actually had at our high school and I was trying to figure out what this sport was. But it's a great sport, honestly. Not to get into lacrosse discussion, but I think what Paul Rabel has done for the sport of lacrosse has been phenomenal. His impact and the way they've grown it, both on the male and female side. I think there's a professional women's lacrosse team that he are, a league that like they're promoting that he started. But his impact on the game has been significant. So had the good fortune of you know, meeting Paul on the way. But I mean, look, it's a tremendous sport and a couple of our my daughters have actually just experimented with it, and I think it's a great sport for all young kids to try if they have the opportunity.
And Jim Brown played it at Syracuse about that I was to the.
Sport that we had here, because that's the sport I would have thought about, probably in front of baseball, because I mean, I love baseball too. I get to Brown, I had never seen the cross and I see some of the lacrosse players, I'm like, whoa these guys A lot of them played football in high school but then decided to focus on the.
Cross running, changed direction, hand eye coordination, coordination.
It's amazing to see what those guys can do with a stick and direct the ball, make people missing space.
I mean, once I saw Hogan sign with you guys, I thought this is going to be interesting because I got.
A feeling he's a pretty good athlete, and it turned out he was a really good athlete.
All right.
So there's something called the scepter and it's handed out from Good Morning Football Kyle Brandt for Angry Runs.
Now.
Damian Pierce won Angry Run of the Year two years ago, but this week he just won another sceptor for his return. Yes, this is breaking news, we saw it in the Morning show. But he had that tremendous kickoff returned go all the way, but he knocked over several people along the way, and it could have been a game changing play at that point. But he's found a way to If he gets his hands on the ball, it's going to be exciting and he's trying to make a difference even though he doesn't get all the carries.
No, he's shown that over the course of his career when he gets the ball in his hand, good things can happen. And he's worked really hard, talking about like a skill he necessarily didn't have, but he's worked really hard. You Frank has spent a lot of time with him, and there's some nuances that are involved and understanding how the returns blocked and what we're trying to accomplish. But once you get the ball in your hands and you let your run instincts take over. Damien's hard to tackle. He's got good lower body strength, he's slow center of gravity, he's strong with the ball in his hands.
And there's been multiple examples.
Not only were the kickoffers in the other day, but even going back to the touchdown run against the Patriots and then the kickoff returned last year with the Browns. So it's a skill that he's learned and acquired, and he's embraced it and he's helped our team in that particular area.
Nick, we talked last week before you said, you guys are starting your draft meetings. How does that work with playoff games? Are you are guys at playoff games? Are you are are you sending to certain guys to playoff games? Are certain teams or just players that you still have questions about? How you kind of handle the playoff situation for your draft scouts.
Yeah, it's interesting sometimes those games are like off limits relatively like the normal scouting protocol. Normally during the season you get a credentially get the sideline for the game. You know, when they're playoff games, it takes on a little bit of different significance. But you know, with the Texas Bowl here and in our stadium, so it's not definitely actually I saw I've seen LSU and Baylor play a couple different points.
But it's always good to get another look.
You're not necessarily looking for anything new, maybe just a follow up from something from earlier in the year. So, but as far as specific to the playoff games, you know, there's probably not too much you can glean, you know, from a live look, you're just continue to gather information.
So but it's creeping up on us.
So I mean, we're going to be the Senior Bowl before we know it, and then the middle of February we're going to have our next round of draft meetings.
So the train keeps moving, there's no question about it.
Johnny was saying warm ups. Sometimes he sees scouts looking at the players in warm ups as opposed to well in addition to being in the game and at the combine, this comes up to you like to watch them milling around and interacting and going through whatever they're going through to get ready.
No, really, you're just looking for an opportunity to observe the player in a different environment or maybe there's something. Pregame is usually interesting too, because you can see how they approach their warm up, what are they doing, what's their process. Maybe you haven't seen a player catch live or they're doing a drill, reactually able to see something a little bit different, or to go back there at pregame and catch punts. So it's always an opportunity to learn and gather more information, so it not necessarily earth shattering but it's just more part of the information gathering process.
Okay, now we have a question here, and this is a big development. Okay, well, Demiko, we gave them this situation with the new year, New Year's resolutions.
He asked me about New Year's resolutions, because I've never really had any.
We must say, all four hang on a second, Okay, all right, I had to give my hypothetical here. He has to give up one thing, one of these four barbecue text mes, pasta, or fish, and he took barbecue, and we couldn't help but thinking this is your influence on him. Maybe Nick, I don't know. So he said he needs to work out. He could beat my ass. So like whatever he says, like he's b.
Because he was trying to like, all right, I'm trying to watch myself. We we both said pasta. We know you can't give up pasta.
There's no way, not a big pasta consumer necessarily.
I have it maybe once or twice a week, so our kids love it.
Carbs and things like that.
You're just a little bit of variation.
You're not giving up fish, so forget about that stand.
So I have to give up one of those.
Yeah, yeah, for you this is easy, but probably would give.
Up the text mechs even though I don't eat text mes.
That's easy. I'll give it up. Quit smoking, I don't stop drinking. You stop drinking on.
Actually, when we go out to dinner and that ridge, she loves ribs. So it's great. They all have different.
Thanks a lot of good luck this week.
Thanks fellas.
I love our interviews. I love Scott and Rport.
I love just getting to know some of the BTS stuff, behind the scenes stuff. I love with preparation. But when we ask Nick things about food, things you would take out of your Christmas meal, all that kind of stuff. I just love where that discussion ends up going. We always have a blast with him. Now, a guy that we have not had in studio often. I think we had him back in May or June. Could play a big role on Sunday against the Titans. That is former Washington Husky, former New England Patriot Miles Bryant Nickel safety corner, defensive back.
Yeah, Miles Bryant plays them all and he's on with us. Next.
Right, you're in Texas All Access. Yes, sir, you heard the man. It's Texans All Access. John Harris Foot playing all the sideline reporter still trying to kind of calm myself down after watching one of the greatest college football games I've ever seen, Texas and Arizona State. If you missed it, my god, you missed a great one. An incredible comeback by Arizona State. The little engine that could just kept fighting back camp Scatabo Heisman finalists.
Was an absolute you.
Know, he wasn't a Heisman finalist, should have been a Heisman finalist, was an absolute dude. He threw a touchdown, he ran I think he ran for two. He caught a huge pass to the fourth quarter. So Arizona State's down by sixteen. It is twenty four to eight. They tie it at twenty four. Texas comes down, kick afield. What's gonna be over right? He misses the field goal, so Arizona State now has a chance, and on third and ten, sever.
Catches the ball in Arizona State across the middle.
It is definitely targeting. Definitely Texas fans, you could miss me with it. Whatever you're gonna say that, it is definitely target It's the definition of targeting. He got the ball, he's defensives receiver and hit him in the head. That's the definition of targeting. Go read the rule book, and they didn't call it. They said it was no targeting. That would have been a first down. Arizona State could have kept the drive together but didn't. Texas couldn't score. They went in overtime. Arizona State scores first thirty one to twenty four, lead, fourth and thirteen. Quinn Ewers throws a touchdown in Matthew Golden kicked extra points ty to thirty one. You flip it the other way, Gunnerhilm first play of the drive, touchdown, then yours to Golden for the two. Thirty nine thirty one, and then Sam Levit's pass quarterback for Averzonla State is picked off by Andrew micaba At, an Austin native. Austin Micabo who usually played who played for Clemson and transferred back home to Austin. Had a great ball game that would steal it. Longhorns win thirty nine thirty one, and now the Longhorns play in the Cotton Bowl and they will play the winner of the Rose Bowl Oregon v Ohio State. So you're gonna get Oregon Texas or you're gonna get Ohio State. Texas in the Cotton Bowl. That is tremendous. And Texas has been to a Cotton Bowl since two thousand and three. I think it's two thousand and three season they played LSU. Roy Williams was a receiver for Texas. I remember that, but things have changed since then. So Texas gonna play the winner of Oregon Ohio State from the Rose Bowl in the Cotton Bowl. Congratulations to Sark didn't have the greatest game. Texas was a two touchdown favorite and Arizona State played its guts out. I mean, that was one of the greatest college games I have ever seen. Now, our next guest played in the playoff. Our next guest played in a playoff game. He played in the Rose Bowl. That is going on with Oregon Ohio State as a member of the Washington Huskies. Miles Bryant, defensive back, was a freshman. He played in the playoff and I asked him about that. Here we talk about his time in Houston, what he thinks about playing the Titans on Sunday. Here's Miles Bryant one on two with Mark and.
Myself in studio with us. Now, Miles Bryant, Texas defensive back Miles, how's it going?
Happy New Year, Good, Happy New Year.
All right, here we go training, getting ready, practicing for the Tennessee Titans regular season finale. What's it like to get ready for a game where you know you're already in the playoffs and this doesn't really affect seating, but you want to play well. You want to show up, do a good job. How's it going for you getting ready for this one?
It's going well. I'm excited for it.
You know, opportunity to go out there and play, and like you said, you want to go out there perform well. I think even though, like you said, there's no kind of consequence with winning or losing in terms of seating, I think at this point of the year, you want to roll into the playoffs with good momentum.
You want to, you know, play some of your best ball.
Are your best ball at this time of the year, so it's very important, Miles.
Most players will have a designation offensive tackle, wide receiver. For you, it's this dB Nickel safety corner. I mean, you've played them all throughout your career. Watching you from your days in Washington till now, it feels like you're most comfortable at the nickel position, and it feels like that's a position where you got to take all of those defensive back assets and kind of put them into play at that position. What's it like kind of playing inside the formation at that spot as opposed to maybe playing deeper at safety or playing outside of corner.
Yeah, I think it's kind of like you said, taking all those qualities and then I think you also.
Got to add in the linebacker.
That's that's certain things that you know, our defense may ask you to where you got to get in there play the run.
So I mean it's a lot of fun. You get in there. You know, you're always around the action.
You know, a lot of offenses they like to attack the middle of the field, right, So the nickel plays. Sometimes you play corner, you might not have a target at that game. Sometimes you play safety. You might just you know, be in the deep part of the field.
And that's why you're doing guests all you're doing.
So, I mean in the nickel, at the nickel spot, you're always around the action, You're always at the point of attack.
So I think it's a lot of fun. Yep.
Well, and in the situation the team is now Jelen petreout, Jimmy Ward out. What's happen like for you to see those guys go out and now you're gonna get more playing time in all likelihood, I know they're going to movie around and everything. And how is that for you to approach that and practice and in games?
Yeah, I mean it was tough losing those guys, but I think I learned a lot from them. I mean, even you know, Jalen being younger than me, I just sat back and then you know, we would be in the meeting room out of ask him what he saw here or what he thought here, you know, how he made that play or what he could have done better.
And then same with Jimmy.
So I mean it's an opportunity to go out there and you know, just play the game. I love go out there and just perform and you know, try to get a win against Tennessee.
You feel like you want to lobby for blitzes because I would think, if I'm playing that position, coach, come on, let me go get the quarterback, let me let me go to the backfield, hand off or whatever. I want to go attack the backfield. How is that?
Yeah?
I mean it's a lot of fun.
You know, getting being able to you know, get penetration in the backfield or you know they want you to cover a guy in the slot. I think, no matter the opportunity, I think it's a lot of fun.
Last week it's Derrick Henry, I mean Derrick Henry. This week it might not be a guy's size like Derrick Henry. Uh with Tennessee and don't know whether the two backs they have.
Are going to play or not.
What's kind of your scattering report thus far, Miles and what you see from Tennessee, especially the running backs.
Let's start about, you know, stopping the run, because that's one of.
The first parts you've got to do playing that role, playing the running backs, playing the run.
Game for Tennessee. What's the key against those guys this week?
I think it's just having everybody at the point of attack, you know, no matter who's you know, carrying the ball for them, just you know, making sure guys are you know, in the right gaps. And then once we're in the gap, you take care of what you gotta do, whether that's getting off a block or you know, just setting the edge and doing that, and then you know, just coming off and making attackle so I think it's just you know, having guys swarm to the ball.
So, Miles, you are undrafted, do you feel like when you're undrafted it's a different mindset and you're fighting to make the team. You're on practice squad sometimes sometimes not on the active roster. What is the approach and how does that affect the way you go about your business?
Yeah, I think initially coming into the league, it was kind of like felt like the the odds were against me in a sense, and then once you get into the league, you kind of see, you know, how things happen.
And I think it's a very week to week league. So I mean, for me, just.
Coming in since day one, I just tried to make sure I was prepared whether I was playing that week or whether I was just you know, helping out on the scout team. And I think that's been my mindset, you know, the past five years, just whether I was starting that week, you know, just trying to be prepared to go help the team win.
So, Miles, did you have that moment earlier career where you're like, yeah, I wasn't drafted, but man I could play with these dudes. Like did you have that kind of moment, whether it's earlier, your first training camp or a preseason game or whatever the case might be, where you're like, I can't play with these guys, man, Yeah, I deserve to be here.
Did you ever have kind of that moment early in your career?
Yeah, I think it was the first play of my training my rookie training camp. I ended up getting an interception and seven or seven. Yeah, so I was like, you got kind of yeah, that kind of could show them that I could play. And then from there, just you know, each day, each moment, you know, each rep, just try to get better, no matter who I was going against, whether I was on scout team going against Julian Edelman at the time, or I was on the defensive team and I had a scout receiver going against me, just you know, trying to get better, trying to you know, sharpen the craft.
Miles Bryant with us, we talk about swarm. What a swarm mean to you? What's the message to the players about swarm?
I mean special work ethic, relentless mindset. I think just going out there and you know, just playing fast, playing physical and just trying to trying to everybody coming together to you know, get get the gold done.
Very good.
So you're from Pasadena if I remember crack right, yep, But you go to University Washington and while you're at Washington, you guys ended up playing in the playoff while you were there, right, was that correct?
Yeah? That was my freshman that was your freshman year. What was that like?
Because we got the playoff going on on New Year's Day?
You know, they played Boise State and Penn State. What was that like?
Because Washington at that point had not been in the playoff mix and all of a sudden, you guys have this tremendous year and you make that run and I know you ran into Alabama, which is a really good team at that point.
But what was it like being in that college football playoff? Miles?
Man?
The atmosphere was crazy. I think.
We played in Atlanta, Yeah, and the what was it the Georgia doing with Georgia Dome?
I think it might have been the last game there.
But the atmosphere was crazy, just you know, going out there and kind of felt like it was all Alabama versus US. Ye granted the location, yeah yeah, yeah, so, but no, it was crazy. I think the atmosphere was like second to none. And then I think you look back at that game and then you see all the NFL players from both sides, both sides of the game side, Yeah, and it's just like it's ridiculous. Yeah, I don't know from their side, like Jalen Hurts, Marlon Humphrey, Minka Fitzpatrick. I think Jonathan Allen, Deron payin like a bunch of guys.
So there was that was a load. That was a loaded team.
Yeah.
That twenty sixteen team was Ruben Foster linebacker. I mean, that dude was scary. I mean, that was That was an incredible team. But that was such a great run by Washington. What was it like kind of going through that season and at that time, there's only four teams in the playoffs, right, so there's no guarantee.
Now you got twelve, you guys probably would have gotten in.
But what was it like kind of going through that at Washington where you guys are trying to build a program back up where.
It needed to be.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I mean for me, it was my freshman year. I actually walked on that year and I was able to get you know, a lot of plays, a lot of snaps because we were beating teams bad, so I was able to get in that late third quarter and get some reps in.
But no, it was a lot of fun.
I think the guys that were before me, like Buddha Baker, Kevin King, Sidney Jones, just learning from those guys, seeing how they practice, seeing how they prepared, and then I mean each each game day it was a lot of fun because I mean we knew we were going to beat the other team across from us, and I mean each week, I feel like it was I don't know, I feel like every every game we had like a collective one. It wasn't like it was just one guy, you know, John Ross, Dante Pettis, Miles Gasking, our big special teams play just yeah, guys, guys just making plays.
It was a lot of fun.
Miles Bryant with us. You left college football before COVID, So now when you look at college football and all the craziness, the NIL stuff, the portal, the way it's all set up right now, what's your action to the state of college football today.
It's kind of tough. I feel like for.
I don't know, fans and players, it's kind of it's kind of hard to necessarily. I mean, you have your team if you if you're an Arkansas fan or Missouri Michigan State fan, like that's your team. But it's kind of like you don't become enamored with the players how we once, did you know what I mean?
Like you had a guy for four years?
Yeah, you had a guy three four years to where it's like, all right, I grew up like even Robert Woods when I was in high school and Woods at s S, so like I got to see him grow and become you know who he was at SC. So I think I think you lose that kind of aspect of it, which I kind of don't like. And then you also got the business aspect of it to where the nil people you know might stay at an extra year. I saw quinn Ewers got offered six million dollars from whatever school to stay next year. So I mean it's kind of I don't know, I feel like it's kind of tough to follow just guys moving year to year now, But I don't know, it's it's the current state. You gotta you just gotta weather as a player, coach, a fan.
So you're talking about Robert and obviously from Pasadena, California where the Rose Bowl being played, Oregon, Ohio State. Who did you grow up watching? Who were your guys growing up? Was there like somebody you looked at and thought, Okay, I want to be like him, I want to play like him. Was there anybody that that you really love, that that was a guy you whatere, offense, defense, whatever it might be, but it's the guy that you just loved watching and that was your guy growing up.
Yeah, I think it's mostly offensive guys. But growing up, you know USC had that run, Yeah, Carrol Lendale, Lionert Brendale. So I think mainly it was Reggie Bush. Everybody wanted to be Reggie Bust.
Why you wore the five? Uh?
In college? I wore it because it was the best available.
But when I was when I was in Pop Warner, I ended up wearing five because of Reggie Bush.
So I think Reggie Bush was like the pinnacle. He was like the main one. And then I mean it was mainly.
Guys from USC, like Woods was one, Marquise Lee, Nelson, Aguilore, Dwayne Jarrett, Mike Williams.
Oh yeah, we're bringing up some names now.
Yeah, I think teams were ridiculous too. Yeah, I mean, let's not get it twisted. I mean, Vince Young beat them by himself, but that was it. Other than that Lendale and Reggie, I mean that those teams were unbelievably good.
Thunder and lightening, those two. Yeah.
Matt Leoner was a Texan for a few minutes back in twenty eleven, so Myles Bryant. A couple more forty quick ones. Houston. What do you think You grew up in southern California, you went to you dubbed, you spent four years with the New England Patriots Organization? What do you think of being in Houston? I love it as a place to live.
Yeah, I love the food. Everybody always asking me about it.
I'm like, the food is second or nothing you could just it's ridiculous. Whatever you want can't go wrong. I think when I first got here the weather was tough.
It was like a little warm than.
May May June, and then going into camp it was hot, like right when you step outside, just walking to the car, you sweat.
But coming from New England, it makes me.
Appreciate Like today I was out there practicing just a T shirt on, no long sleeve or hoodie. This time here you got to layer up out there. So I mean, I'm loving Houston.
It's like you put the deposits in in the summer and then you get to reap the benefits of it in December. You know, all that interest comes back to You're like, yeah, check it out, shorts, a T shirt. Meanwhile, they've got blizzards and snow and all that kind of stuff going on. So yeah, weatherwise, you get through the tough part of well basically what may through September.
Even longer this year, maybe longer. Yeah, you're golden at that point. It's awesome. It's awesome after that, I mean, that's why you live here.
But then in August it's one oh five, and you're like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna make through? When you've got that long practice in pads, the first one. I always feel for you guys when you go through that first one in pads, I'm like, how are they gonna make it through?
Today?
There's no way to make it through to I mean, I don't know how you do it.
No, I just take it to play at the play at a time.
That's true. Time.
One more, what's your excitement level for the postseason, because no matter what happens on Sunday, you're in next week at this time we'll be talking about playoff game and the opportunity to move on.
What do you think?
Very excited.
I've been to the This will be my second out of my five years going to the postseason, so it's been for me like a two year drought, and I mean that's one of the reasons I came here because we have a competitive team and we got a you know, chance to go far in this thing. So I mean, I'm very excited just to go out there and you know, compete, compete in January and hopefully feverbrwhere outstanding.
Miles, thanks a lot for joining us.
Good luck, I'm proud, thanks for having me.
Yeah, when you saw guys at the age of Miles Bryant from LA we're number five.
It was all about Reggie Bush, who was supposed.
To be the first round pick of the Texans in two thousand and six, but it didn't turn out that way.
So there you go. All right, injury report is out. What does it tell us anything at all?
Can we glean from this injury report that came out this afternoon. We'll talk about that next right here in Texans All Access. Welcome back Wednesday edition of Texans All Access with me John Harris, football Analyst sideline report for your Houston Texans. We are getting ready for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Kick is at noon.
I know they had to wait until Sunday night to be able to put all that news out, but we're playing at noon on Sunday. There's no consequence either way. The only consequence of this game really is well, I know a lot of you might have over nine and a half, so there's that, but it doesn't affect the Texans seed.
You heard Miles talk about it. This game has nothing to do with seeding.
But you want to play well, There's no question you want to play well anytime you go out and it's against the Titans, a team that beat you earlier in the year. Now, they only consequence really is that Tennessee wins, they might drop as many as six to seven spots in the draft, and that's massive in this draft, absolutely massive, especially if you're looking for a quarterback, which it might be. Now, the first piece of news as it pertains to this game pertaining to the quarterbacks is that Brian Callahan isn't totally convinced of his quarterback rotation yet. They're both getting first team reps in practice. With Mason Rudolph we started last week and Will Levis. There's talk about, well, you know, we still want to see what Levis can do. We still want to see this, We still want to see that. I gotta think their mind is made up and their mind is telling them we don't have a quarterback for the future because Mason Rudolph is a really good backup. He's not a great starter. Will Levis is really kind of neither of those. He's a really good athlete. And the Levis career has kind of gone exactly like I said it was going to go a couple.
Of years ago. So pat me on the back. How about that?
No, I'm kidding, but we're probably gonna see about them, Brian Callian said, Now a guy we may not see.
It's ta J Spears.
Now we missed Spears the first time. I want to say he was dealing with a concussion then too, but he was not. He did not participate in practice today, as it appears he's still in a concussion protocol now. With Tony Pollard, we did see him. He's dealing with the ankle issue. He's limited, but kind of just number of people I follow from Tennessee, there's not a whole lot of positive feelings about either one of them playing. And I mean not about them being good or bad, just they're not thinking either one of them is going to play. So we could maybe not see Spears and Pollard. We might see Julius Chestnut for the Titans this Week eighteen game.
And obviously back a few years ago this Week seventeen.
I'll then forget when we went to Indianapolis at the end of the twenty seventeen season and there were guys starting in that game on both sides, and it was like, who are these guys that could be the Titans lineup. I don't think Texas line up because we all know the Texans, but it could be the Titans lineup on Sunday. So for the Texans, I don't know if I'm gonna get too hot mothered about guys that didn't practice on Wednesday for this one. Danika Autry's been dealing with a knee for Anish for a while. Fully fought Acossi dealing with ankle still, Kamari Lasser with a quad and Shaq Mason's been dealing with that knee issue since he got hurt against Kansas City. So I, in all honesty, I don't know that I want to see any of those four on Sunday anyways. But again, you still got to fill out a forty eight man roster. Nico Joe Laramie. Those are all rest days for the veterans. Christian was limited. They were all limited. Christian Harris limited with the ankle, Jeff Acuda limited with a concussion. Juice Scruggs. Nice to see him back at practice for a bit. He's dealing with that foot issue. He missed a couple of games. He missed three games, Yeah, because he got hurt in the Jacksonville game, so he missed Miami, Kansas City, Baltimore.
Good Seed.
Juice at least back at practice, limited capacity, full participant, Will Anderson Junior, Nick Broker, both of them dealing with hand issues now on the Titan side, a couple of these guys, I mean they sit out this game. I'm okay with it, Tyja Spears being one of them. Arden Key outside linebacker edge rusher deal a hand issue. He did not participate at the walkthrough that the Titans had today. Nick Folk the kicker deal with the abdomen issue, Tyler Boyd.
Whider she were dealing with the foot. Tony Polter was a.
Limited participant in practice dealing with an ankle issue, and a couple of linemen were back Jalen Duncan and Dylan Raidns. But I'd like to see, like Jeffrey Simmons did not participate, reason doesn't want to play on Sunday, and I'd be okay with that, but that's that's not gonna happen. Jeffer Simmons gonna play against the Texans. He loves to play against the Texans. He'll have an opportunity on Sunday. So yeah, both teams a little banged up. It's interesting from the Titans side, all the talk there from their media, you gotta lose this game because if you win it, you could drop from one or two in a draft all the way down to eight or nine, and that's a big drop.
But you know, the Titans are gonna want to win this game. They're gonna want to beat us.
But we'll see, depends on how healthy are certain guys. Can they get some out of this guy and then maybe some down for I don't know, it's gonna be an interesting play on Sunday, to say the least. Now, the guy calling the action for the Titans on Sunday is our good friend Mike Keith coming up. It's men behind the mics, Mark Vannermier the Voice of the Texans with Mike Keith, the voice, the longtime voice of the Tennessee Titans.
That's next to Texans Auxis.
We got one hour in a book, says We start twenty twenty five Texas All Access shows and we will take you all the way through the Texans seasons.
Where are All Access shows?
Are Texans Monday Shows Texans All Access Matchup Edition. So we'll take you all the way through for however long the Texans play, and we know it's longer than this week. We just don't know the opponent as we get into the playoffs. We do know this week it's the Tennessee Titans. And since the Titans have been in Tennessee, there has been one voice for that organization, and that is the Voice of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Keith. We always have a blast talk with Mike. He's become a good friend over the years. I love his voice. I love listening to him well when the Titans aren't playing so good, because yeah, it's better when they're not played so good when they were great with Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill. But I love Mike. He is a fantastic broadcaster, fantastic dude. And he sat down with Mark to discuss this matchup on Sunday.
Titans Texans joining us now in Texans Radio. It's the voice of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Keith, and we just caught up a few weeks ago. Mike, and that game that we preview did not go well for the Houston Texans. It went extremely well for the Tennessee Titans. And I know not every other game has, but what went well in that game that you feel like can be duplicated for the Titans. I know there's only one game left in this season, but they've done some things well despite the record.
You know what was interesting about that game, Mark, is that was the Titans' best performance of the year, and yet they still had a turnover that resulted in a touchdown for the other team. They still had a turnover on their way into scoring on the fumble that happened with Levis and Pollard. They still gave up a bunch of sacks in the ballgame. They still had a lot of the problems they've had all year, but they made so many big plays during the course of the ballgame they overcame the mistakes, and that's what it would take to win again this week. This team has thirty three turnovers on the season, so an average of two per games. They're minus sixteen in turnover ratio. And what's really fascinating when you break down numbers is if you take the Titans and the Texans, the Texans are plus ten in turnover ratio eighteen turnovers. The Titans are minus sixteen in turnover ratio thirty three turnovers. If you look at all the numbers between the two teams, there's not an appreciable difference in a lot of areas, particularly total offense, total defense, things of that sort. But that's the appreciable difference is the turnovers. That's the difference in being a nine win team and on your way to the playoffs and being a three way team whose season is going to be over at three point fifteen on Sunday, and I think that's what they would have to find a way to overcome. December has been just disastrous for this team, and in so many different ways it has happened. At moments for this ball club. They'll be playing well and then all of a sudden, the bottom will fall out in run defense, or suddenly penalties crush any chance they have, or red zone mistakes. I've never seen a season quite like this that a ball club has not been able to get in any sort of rhythm at all because in large part of penalties, turnovers, and unfortunately for the Titans quarterback play, You're just not going to win with twenty one touchdowns and twenty one interceptions. It's just not going to happen.
So Brian Callahan has said that Will Levis and Mason Rudolph would both play in this game.
What about Levis?
What do you need to see from Levis in a half a player, whatever he gets to make you feel better about the offseason, and just talk about him in general, Mike and his progress or lack thereof, or whatever you're seeing this year out of Will Levis in his second season, it's.
Just been up and down. Mark, I mean That's what it comes down to. It's been up and down. Everything about what's happened with Will Levis has been all over the road. And early in the season he made some horrific mistakes. He came back after an injury and started to play better, and then in the first Jacksonville game he missed two open receivers in the end zone and a ten to six loss had been the following week, he just had a disastrous stretch and a performance against Cincinnati and you know, four turnovers. They had to take him out of the game. And so Mason Rudolph's played and Mason's been okay. But the thing is Will is a much more spectacular talent. I mean, you saw in the game in Houston. He can throw it now, I mean he can flat wing when he's on, he's really on. But then he'll throw the interception, He'll make the mistake, he makes an incorrect read at an inopportune moment. My feeling on Will is that Will is not done. That Will could be a real candidate to be one of those quarterbacks who continues to develop through the course of his career and becomes a more stable player as he goes That you can count on. Remember this too about will Will's under contract for two more years and Mark because he was a second round pick, he doesn't cost that much money. I mean, he's not a thirty million dollar player. I think there's a very good chance Will Levis is back on this roster next year. So what will it be like for Will Levis for the first time in five years to potentially be playing in the exact same system two years in a row. His last two years, it can touch it didn't happen, and it's certainly coming from Penn State to Kentucky had made a change, So you can go back even further, and then it's two years in the NFL. It's been something different in two seasons. So what would it be like for him to have this opportunity. The Titans have to fix the quarterback position. Will Levis is not going to do anything on Sunday to make them decide that he's the guy for twenty twenty five, but he could certainly give himself some confidence. He could give them a little more confidence, and he could put himself in the mix to compete going into the twenty twenty five offseason.
On the bright side, Tony Pollard the pickup. I know he's fumbled a couple of times, but thousand yard season, four point three per carry, had a good game against the Texans last time. This looks like a pretty good pickup. I know he's not Derek Henry, but it's not his fault, so to speak, that things aren't going as well as you want them to. He's had a pretty nice campaign.
He really had. He really really has a good pick up. He's from Memphis and so he's got a lot of following here, much like the you know, the guys from the state of Texas are popular with the Texans, guys from the state of Tennessee are popular with the Titans fan base. So people really really were pulling for him to do well. And then he's done that on a bad team. He has been a bright spot and he's played with a painful ankle injury for the second half of the season, and last week they just had to tell him, you're not gonna play. We just can't play. You're gonna have to sit down. Otherwise I think probably what would have happened Mark and he may play this week, we don't know yet, but his numbers probably would have equaled Derrick Henry's numbers with US a year ago, and you know, that's a pretty good standard. Last year the Titans won six games, and this year they're going to win either three or four. And to have him put up those kind of numbers on a football team that has not been that good would be really, really impressive, because you know, the issue with the run game when you're losing is how many times do you have to go away from it in the second half or how many times do you have to go away from it when you fall behind in the first half. So if this is a football team that's got eight or nine wins, I think you're probably talking about a guy who's a thirteen hundred and fourteen hundred yard rusher and probably a Pro Bowl caliber selection. Tony's Tony's been a highlight. I think if you made the case he was the Titans offensive MVP for this season, I think that would be a very fair case to make. But you know, and there have been several of those free agents who have certainly not been disappointments on this ball club. He would be at the top of the list of a free agent signing who has been a plus for the Titans this year.
Well, and it seems like Ridley, if he's healthy, he's a thousand yard guy and he's just about there with a game to go. And he's been a pretty good pick up as well. I mean, he gets solid numbers.
I know that.
Again, it hasn't been the passing attack you hope for with the turnovers, but Ridley has done some good things.
Yeah, Ridley's really good play. He's explosive and the Titans had not had that since the trade of AJ Brown and so to get an explosive player in that mix, and to do it that way with Calvin being able to run the way he can, he's a guy another good pre agent pickup. I think they'll try to get him the ball enough to Sunday or on Sunday to get him to one thousand yards. Got off to a really rough start and decided to kind of bear down and do things the right way and do the extra and he's been a really good player over the last ten games. So I think from from that standpoint, you've got ian We're talking about Tony Pollard and Calvin Ridley. They're both going to be back next year, and so I think you've got some good building blocks there. Now the Titans need another explosive receiver, They need another player who can really make things happen. But to have him already on board and doing the job that he has, Yeah, he's been what they hoped he would be, no doubt.
All right.
So defensively, Landry has the eight sacks. He had the sack on CJ. Stroud late in the last game. Simmons is Simmons, you have a lot of pieces to work with moving forward. Who are some of the players you're excited about, not necessarily Sunday, but moving into the future twenty twenty five and beyond.
That's Andandre Sweat is where you have to start. He's been more than anybody could have hoped. You know. The reputation was that he was out of shape and that you know, he'd be hard to motivate, and he's than none of that. He's played really good football for the Tennessee Titans. And at three hundred and seventy pounds, he's an amazing talent. And so knowing that they have he and Jeffery going together in the future is very exciting. On that interior, Harold Landry just I mean, he's just a workmanlike player, Harold is probably not ever going to be a fifteen sacked guy, but if he gets double digit sacks, if he gets two sacks on Sunday, then he will have double digit sacks in his last three complete seasons. Of course, he did not play in twenty twenty two because he tore an ACL and training camp, so he's done a lot of good things. He plays the run too, and so he's that complete guy. You can use him as a defensive end, you can use him as an outside linebacker. Taydan's big question is they're going to have to figure out what they're going to do at linebacker because they're very thin, and there's a real possibility that they'll use their seventh different combination at inside linebacker this week. Very possible that happens. Safety having to figure out a lot of things about what they're going to do there going forward with a Moni Hooker, Money's going to be there, but who's going to be with him at the other spot. And some of the young corners have come on. Brown Lee has come on, Darryl Baker has come on, but guess what, they're young corners and so Chido Owouse need more from him going down the stretch here, and they got a little more last week and then hopefully get la Jerious Snead back next year because they just got very little out of him due to an injury that turned out to be really, really bizarre.
Mike Keith, Voice of the Titans with us.
All right, let me reach back for a moment, because I don't know if you saw the Steve McNair show on Netflix. I want to know what the reaction was in the city about watching that. See a lot of disturbing stuff there, but I'd like reliving some of the good stuff with Steve McNair. I wish we had a little bit more of that, but it was what it was. What was the reaction in Nashville when people watch that.
Well, I think you get into a lot of the things that people are interested in as far as documentary style things and podcasts and people like all the true crime stuff. You know, so you knew you were going to get a lot of that. There was nothing in that that people here didn't know, So I think it was designed a great deal more for the broader audience that you know. You if you didn't know the Steve McNair story from fifteen years ago, which most people around the country didn't. Then I get where it was probably very very interesting. But from here and having lived through it and lived through the subsequent investigations and the people who have conspiracy theories about all of it, which quite frankly have been debunked, and you know, all of it, it's just still incredibly sad. And Steve was a different guy, you know. He was a different guy from the standpoint that he grew up so poor, and I think there was a little bit of a Mickey mantle to him that he didn't know that he was going to probably be around until he was seventy, so he didn't always make the best choices about his life. And yet when he came back here after his couple of seasons in Baltimore, I had a conversation with him that was easily the deepest conversation I had ever had with him, And it was like, you know, two grown ups. It wasn't like a broadcaster and a player. It was like two guys who were dads. And I really enjoyed it, and I thought to myself, Man, I really looked forward to seeing him around over the next few years and watching his boys grow up and all of these things, and just a few months later he was gone. And it's a tragedy, I mean, the whole thing in so many different ways, a tragedy about a guy who was very complicated but is still the guy who is seen as this franchise, at least this incarnation of the franchise's fates, and Eddie George has taken over a lot of that because he knew he needed to. He knew it was he and Steve, But once Steve was gone, Eddie really felt like he needed to be that face and that voice at critical moments. But I think Eddie would tell you that to the fan base, it was Steve because of how he played and how tough he was, and you know, kind of everything that went with him. He's what people probably in thirty two NFL cities would want their guy to be. You know, he had so much of that for people, So wrong answer your question, but you know, it's been fifteen and a half years and we still haven't recovered from the loss of statement there.
Well, it's been even longer since losing the Super Bowl.
I wanted you to weigh in on this.
Debate we were having, and I don't know what it's like to do either one. But Charlie Casly always said it's worse to lose the Super Bowl than any other game, and I would figure it's got to be worse to lose the championship game because at least you go to the Super Bowl. Now you went to one of the most dramatic Super Bowls ever, Tennessee Titans versus the Rams.
You'll lose by a yard.
It's an incredible ending, really, and I got to imagine the feeling in the moment was awful.
But what do you think of that?
Would you rather lose in the AFC Championship Game or go to the Super Bowl and lose it.
So the twenty two days that we had from the Music City Miracle game to the Super Bowl. It's the twenty fifth anniversary of that, by the way, which is hard to believe. So January January will be the twenty fifth anniversary of the Music City Miracle. And moving forward to Super Bowl thirty four, winning a game in Indianapolis that everybody picks you to lose, beating Jacksonville for the third time in Jacksonville in a season where they lost to nobody else, and then going to the Super Bowl without a week off. I mean, we went almost straight from Jacksonville to Atlanta. There's a massive ice storm that week, and so for what we do, it's crazy. It's the greatest twenty two days of my life. And if I could, if I could give that as a gift to every broadcaster, that's the gift I would give them. So I disagree with Charlie Cashery wholeheartedly. He's a much more refined football man than I will ever be. I'm just a broadcaster. But as a broadcaster, that experience was life changing. It was you had everything. I will say this, I have never felt after a loss ever back when I was a player in high school, covering college, being involved with the NFL, I have never felt the way I did after losing a Super Bowl. I'm almost ashamed to say how crushed I was after losing that Super Bowl because it is just a game, right, you know, it's just a football game. But you literally do want to cry. And I don't know how much of it was that game or just the fact that that ride was ending. You know, we had a parade here, We had a parade here two days after the Super Bowl, right, you think about that, despite I mean, have you ever heard of that ever? I mean, so that whole experience was just fantastic. And again, if I can hand that off to the people that I love in this business, I would so do it because it's it had everything in it. It was the ultimate story of what you never expected in every way shaping.
Form well said, and I always thought that I'd love to go, love to be there, want to win it, of course, but would love to be able to have that opportunity. And I love what you said about giving a gift to the other broadcasters. I wish you could do that, but we can't. We just have to see how it plays out on the field.
Mike.
It's always so enjoyable to visit. And we want to thank you for the time.
Mark, thank you so much for the time.
I can't tell you the number of times now Mark Vannery and I have sat in this studio or the one next door since I got this building at twenty fourteen and talked about that what will it be like to go to Super Bowl?
What would it be like? What would this town do?
I Mike makes a great point there, talks about a parade two days after or the Titans ended up losing. I think that would happen in Houston. I think there would be a parade for us going to the super Bowl. I think there would be a parade for us regardless of the outcome after the super Bowl. That's how much I think this town, this city wants to go to a super Bowl no matter what. I don't want to go there and lose forty nine to two. But I wouldn't think that would happen because I think this team, no matter what, can compete with anybody.
You gotta bring your a game to do it, and it would be tough.
But that said, just getting to the super Bowl and experiencing that, seeing your guys on NFL Network, everybody at podiums talking about the season, I mean, it would just be It would be fantastic. But it's got taking one at a time. And this week it's the Tennessee Titans, who are voiced by and all their games voiced by Mike Keith. So it's good to catch up with Mike. Can appreciate he stepping up to Mike with Mark. When we get back, Drew Doherty joins me as we go in the lab. We get a little geeky with this one. Of course, and who are gonna be our cream of the crop players now Drew and I recorded are in a lab earlier on Wednesday before the injury.
Report came out. So my guy was listed on the injury report. It's a killer.
But you'll hear who I have to say if he plays, because he has been fantastic as a rookie for this team this year.
That's next up, Texas Axas.
It is time for the SLB stats Challenge. I'll give you the number. The number is ten now twenty twenty one, stick with me two, twenty twenty two, three, twenty twenty three, three, twenty twenty four two two three three two adds up to ten. That's ten straight wins over the AFC South on the road. That is an incredible number. I wonder if Peyton Manning and the Colts did that back in the day. Maybe, but they're looking for win number eleven on the road in a.
Row against the Vision opponents.
It's incredible to have won that many games, especially when you had two teams at twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two that want to combine four and three makes seven. He won seven. Five of those were in the division over those two years. So that is your stats challenge. Go to Houston Texans dot com to learn more about the SLB Stats Challenge. Now, if we want to get even more geeky on this show, staper Drew Doherty nine to go in the lab.
Take a listen.
Happy New Year, John, How you doing?
Oh? Happy New Year twenty twenty five to everybody out there. Man, twenty twenty five, it seems so longer. I remember my son was born in two thousand.
It's like, man, that's twenty five years ago as.
Twenty five years ago.
Yeah, I ho was hear twenty five and January eleventh, it was just like, where did the time go?
Where did time go? I know you feel that way too, because I.
Remember when I remember seeing your twins my first summer, first training camp with the Texans. They were in a two twins, they were in a twin troller, and now they're just out and about living.
Like k the aircraft carrier. Yeah, exactly, we need to turn.
I think was enormous, but it had to be yet.
Yeah, get two kids in there, a sweethearts.
Yeah they are.
They're eleven now and they'll be amazing twelve at the end of May, happy near to you, Happy near to you. Watching listening the three of us, John, Me and you. We're gonna have a nice little time here today because the end of the regular season is here. You have at least two more football games to go, and if things go your way, you're gonna play much deeper into January, maybe even February. So rest is on the docket. Whether it's a full game, a half game, a quarter game, doesn't matter. You've gotten more rest because you play it on a Wednesday and you've had those extra three four days to get some time for you. So that's been a good thing. I think that's gonna help help things out. But by the way, this is in the lab presented by Exfinity in case you're wondering anyways the value of a mini buy. We say that mini by term usually when you're playing on a Thursday and you get that weekend off.
Oh, it's like a mini bye.
We've said it many many times over the last decade, really longer than that, even But what do you think the benefit of that mini buye might be?
Now?
It coincides with the holidays, but I imagine some self scouting has continued to go on and you get a little bit more time to do that. Some scouting for who your potential playoff opponents might be has happened as well. Could be the Steelers, could be the Chargers, the Broncos. Maybe we don't know, but those are the likely candidates, likely suspects. But self scouting over this many by, because there's a lot of things you can fix, John, there's a lot of things you can get better.
Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I mean you should be self scouting all the way to the super Bowl. And I think the biggest thing for the players drew at this point of the year. And you and I have talked about this at times over the years. You're in this building in week fifteen, on week fourteen on stand on a service level. When the offensive line and defensive line are getting out of their meetings and walking to the locker room, they are barely able to get down a hallway like it is. I mean, they've got to think to take a step. I mean it's they're beat up that much. I'll never forget seeing DJ Reader in his second year. So his second year was twenty sixteen, and he and will Folk were playing together. But now DJ was a true starter and he was staying on the field for probably eighty eighty five percent of snaps, and he was getting double team down almost every snap. And I just remember seeing him. He had slides on. He was going on a hallway and it was taking him. I was all the way down by the radio studio. He was a way by the auditorium team auditorium. Yeah, And there wasn't much room from the team auditorium to the cafeteria. There's a little distance from here to cafeteria. I nearly beat him to the cafeteria. I could see him, so I kind of picked up my walk a little bit so I could say hey to him.
And I got near him.
And I was just like, man, you're beat up. He's like, yeah, but I'm playing on Sunday, Like he just he was gonna play.
I was respected him for that. But those guys are so beat up.
So if you give them three extra days of rest, yeah, I mean that's enormous to even get your body back to just some sense of normalcy. I mean, even getting to get back to eighty five.
Percent down from sixty five percent, I think is big.
So for the players, I think there's definitely that rest aspect for the coach.
I think it's a mental break.
Coaches need to have that mental break when you have when you've had the games that Texas have had, the close finishes against good teams and the intense game in short weeks and primetime games, you need a mental break for a couple of days.
You need to check out.
And I know what, and I mean not even not even coaching or playing, but just being around the team.
When we had that weekend.
Last weekend was the first weekend for me that I had Saturday and Sunday off. There had been probably seventy five percent of the weekends this fall where I worked both Saturday and Sunday with a college game that I was calling and then our game or try to have or I was moving, you know, And that was always tough because that was obviously self inflicted when we traveled to Way games. But last week was the first time I had a Saturday and Sunday and I literally I just checked out. I just I watched Red Zone, I watched NFL games, I went and got went to my favorite bakery and got my Sardo breett. I mean, I did all those kind of things that I just just checked out and there's a part of me that would love for this team to just check out for a couple of days, and how much you feel refreshed from that to charge into the last part of this season.
You took us off in a tangent, and I'm gonna go tangent off of that tangent because you brought up Grave Dave DJ Reader, my favorite Texans ever. Yes, he's now a Detroit line an important part of that defense, and.
They're they're coming along. Man, they're really really good.
But anyways, before they the game that they played here, which Texans.
Had so much.
They were so much that game, but pregame, but pregame, I'm on our sideline, the Texans sideline round about the twenty, and I see him come out to stretch and he's doing the high legs and I just kind of get in a spot where I know, like I can see him and he can see me. And when I see him kind of scan the crowd to see I just go like a nice four scump type of wave and he kind of smiles and stop and does this yeah, And so it was nice to see DJ. And then I got a video from deep our old pal Dp city about two days later because they come towards that end zone and I was like, Okay, I'll get over there and maybe i'll you know, we'll get.
A bro hug or whatever.
And I get kind of close and they're doing these one on one drills with their coach, and off to the side, Melissa Stark is interviewing. So she was interviewing somebody, and I'm like looking like this looks like I'm looking at Melissa Stark like total creep.
And hey, she's very good at what she does. She's very pretty.
Yeah, but I was just trying to get a uh like a bro hug from DJ Reader. But she, she shaid, deeply clipped this video that somebody else had taken and then like zoomed in on the corner where I was, and it's like the leering Drew Doherty looks.
We used to say that about our friend Billy Ucci.
You're lurking, leering, lurking.
But it was all for DJ Reader because I'm a bit because I you and I both saw him in Cincinnati a year ago when Texans won that one and got to say hello to him. Then, so ingrats to DJ Hope you go all the way to the Super Bowl and you lose to the Texans in the Super Bowl.
But yeah, second time around, Yeah, that's a game.
You know, I feel like that Detroit game is one that left the stain that hasn't completely it's gone. You know, you think about what that could have meant. Probably you win that game. You're definitely not losing to Tennessee. Yeah, you're you know, you're probably going a little bit of a little bit of a run maybe and see where you are at that point. But you know what you are what you are right now, You're nine to seven and you've got the division wrapped up, and now you play the Tennessee Titans who beat you in your building. You've got this road division streak going on that has been phenomenal, and you have no idea who's.
Gonna play in that game.
Yeah, you think everybody, But are there guys that are are just are playing through nicks and bumps and bruises that could use a week and off. Probably could every guy use the weekend off? Probably, But you gotta fill out a forty eight man game day roster. So it's gonna be interesting on Sunday.
Yes it is.
We're gonna talk about Sunda we're gonna get into our Cream of the Crop award winners who we think will be a Cream of the Crop award winner.
But before we do, John, we got to raise a glass. So let's raise the medelo to.
A new year, new beginnings, and the promise of many, many good things. We don't know where this year is gonna take us, where this postseason is gonna take us, but it's good to be in the postseason because you and I and Texans fans for many, many years, most recently twenty twenty one, twenty two didn't get to worry about January football.
That's right, So I'm all for it. I'm raising a glass of that.
Now let's move on, our good pal, Randy macho Man, Savage the crop. Thank you, macho Man. Yes, it is time for that Cream of the Crop award winner. And you know, interestingly enough, we took a break for Christmas last week and there was no Cream of the Crop award winner because didn't do it, and maybe that's why the Texans lost. So we can get the mojo back, John, and this week cream of the Crop my choice will be the interior offensive line. You've made that choice many times this season and they've got to come up big because you are facing a pair of monsters if they do play in. Jeffrey Simmons and Devandre Sweat, those guys wrecked you in this last game that they played here. The Titans beat the Texans. They beat them up, and it was bad. Those two were key reasons why. So you got to keep them free and clear of CJ.
Stroud.
You got to keep them free and clear of your run game because you want to generate some run game, get that thing going as you get into the playoffs, because I would imagine Bobby Slok wants to show some things that are different to opposing defenses and maybe hold some things back as well. But you got to get things going forward in a forward direction, and that doesn't happen without your guys guard center guard, whoever they may be. Like we mentioned resting, starting and so on and so forth.
Whoever they may be.
You gotta play really, really well there to get things cracking for twenty twenty five.
You are on it. You know how, I you know how.
I think we've been around each other to know enough to know that Jeffrey Simmons and Devandre Sweat have been absolutely awesome. Awesome together, awesome individually, and they're a tough uh.
They're tough out.
So no matter who's playing in there, those two have got to be controlled. And the crazy thing was they really weren't getting loose on you in the game against the Titans until the fourth quarter. Yeah, and then they started doing things inside and reckon your pass rush and sack and CJ and then the whole thing kind of fell apart.
I'm gonna go with the guy that if we did.
So.
After the game against the ravens Omar Majub who came who's our pr superstar came over and was like he looked at me and always going to play. After the game, he knew that he looked at me and he was like Townsend, Yeah. I was like, nah, don't worry about it's not gonna have one. Because it was that kind of game. The only two points were scored by the guy that I am making my Creamy the cropper this week and as Kamara last ye and I think Kamara Laster. I just remember back the draft night and I remember they said his name, and I just I got excited about what he could do in this defense. I thought eventually I thought he'd played the nickel and Corey Onunlin defense pass game coordinator sat in with me and Mark two weeks ago, I think, and we were asking abou Kamara, and I asked him, I said, was the plan basically got to the point of was the plan originally put Kamara at the nickel and then let him play there and then eventually he might go out the perimeter corner or maybe leave at the nickel. He says that was a plan, and then he just was like, we had to have him on the field every single play, and so then we moved into the perimeter corner and obviously the rest is history. But he's played some nickel as they've kind of moved some things around, and he does a hell of a job because he's a tremendous cover corner and he is really really physical, Like he he's the prototype Nickel in this defense because he blitzes pretty well, He tackles exceptionally well. He can cover man and man on guys inside where which is where you think you lose with a kind of linebacker mentality like Nickel, but he tackles well and covers well. So there's a part of me that thinks you know, maybe this offseason Texans look at a guy that can play the perimeter corner they feel comfortable with, and they just leave Kamara at the nickel, or they get Jalen Petrie back healthy, Camara can stay outside. Either way, I think they've got some options. Wants to get everybody healthy. But for me, Kamara Laster is gonna be that guy. He's got to help on the run game. You know, covering Calvin Ridley is always a challenge, and we go back to I don't know how many guys are gonna rest, how many guys you want to rest. You know, Derek Stingley has played. I think I think Sting's played every single game. You know, maybe sting sits a half well, that puts you know, Kamari on in the field for the full game with Jeffacuda or whomever.
So I'm going with Kamara Laster. I think it's a good one.
These rookies have played extremely well this year, probably better than anybody. Imagine the fact that you've got for your top four draft picks end up being starters basically on your team, and not the starters, but can retribute ralid impact contributors. So I'm gonna go Kamara Laster for this one.
John, I wish you could measure I wish there was a unit of measurement you could use for confidence. There's not, you know, but before the season started, had a chance to I think it was I think it was during OTA's had a chance to interview Kamari one on one. I wasn't at the draft and he wasn't. He wasn't really at the draft either, because he was not a Day one pick, but I just remember being struck by his confidence and a lot of times, look, you don't get to the NFL if you're not confident. Every guy we've ever talked to has got confidence in abundance, but his is different and his is not any false bravado either. I can't remember what the question was, but it was something along lines of when did you know that you belonged and you could play in the NFL? And he he was not being cocky when he said these, but he said probably my freshman year when I got to campus, at my first practice at Georgia. Because I looked around and I was starting and everybody else around me, I knew would be playing in the NFL and probably be in.
A pro bowler.
I'm paraphrasing what he said, but basically, he's known since then, and he thought he was good going in. But that's cemented and solidified because think about who he.
Was playing with back in the day.
I mean that the.
First time across that rock.
Stars, but he was holding his own with those guys, holding his own against those guys. And I just remember when he walked out of that meeting, I don't know he's gonna do on the field. I had no idea, but I thought that guy's really confident guy. I mean, I've seen confident guys, but not like that. Yeah, it was it was herts and I wish you could quantify like he's got ninety eight rampules of you know, confident.
I mean you can't.
But whoever, if you, if you had to put everybody side by side, he's probably up at the tippy top on the Texans as far as confidence.
What's funny you say.
About that is I remember talking to him felt.
The same way.
Then we talked to Kaylen Bullock when Kaylen was drafted.
I believe it's block block. He pronounced it block.
He did pronounced it block thought block. Yeah, So Kalyn Bock Kaylen Block.
Anyways, Kaylene is drafted, and I remember talking to him and I asked him about being in Houston meeting. What was it like all that kind of stuff, and you did you get on the board drops some places? Oh yes, sir, man I killed that. I mean like I was like a boy. He is supremely confident.
Yeah, and then it's sort of way like hello.
It wasn't like, yeah, you know, hey, I'm gonna be in the Pro Bowl nine times, think six years. It was, you know, just but very self assured. And then I thought about Kamario. I was like, that could be kind of fun. And those two are Kareem and Jjo like they travel everywhere together, the two of them together, best of friends.
That's really when I was walking in today it's New Year's Day. I was walking in running thirty is sure and I'm not flexing like I'm some hard you know lunch paale worker. Anyways, when I was walking in down the hall, those two were walking in the locker room together. Kimer what they're saying, but they're just they're with each other, hanging out.
All the time.
Yeah, I'll leave where you see four you see twenty one and vice versas.
It was like the same thing with Kareem and j Joe.
Wherever you saw twenty five, you saw twenty four all the time for years.
What a nice young secondary those two.
Yep.
Petree Stingley, cooking scot and still gotta keep everybody healthy.
Amen.
All right, so those are our cream of the croppers Tennessee. Gonna be a fun trips. Close out the season with a bang. Lots of Texans seasons have and regular seasons have ended in Nashville. This one will end in Nashville regular season wise. Let's end on a high note. And yeah, let's get twenty twenty five started the right way. Hey, always love doing this with you, John, I always love doing this with you. Thank you for listening and for watching. We appreciate it. Couldn't do without you yourself. So until next time. We're talking about a playoff game next week. But until then, so long, and this is in the Lab presented by Exfinity.
All right, we get back.
We will go around the world of football, American football. Of course, a lot of things going on, news about the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, all of that, and what's going on in the NFL. Next right here in Texans All Access. We got one final segment of this edition of Texans All Access from London, Texans Radio Studio. I am your host, John Harris, football analyst, side line reporter, and then we'll turn it over to you. Area forty five coming up after me, and I always hesitate, who's going to be honest, No, it's Area forty five. I know that on the holidays you just never know who's stepping in what's going on. But either way, Area forty five will be on Sports Radio six ' ten coming up. Okay, around the world of football in the NFL, I'll bring say the world of football because college football. I'm kind of taking a stage on January first, as it typically does.
Now.
There was supposed to be three games today, but because of the tragedy that occurred on Bourbon Street, Bourbon and Canal last night and early this morning, fifteen.
People have died.
At this particular moment, that game the Superdome is just literally a driver in, you know, three wood away from where that took place. And because of the incident being considered a terrorist incident, the game tonight will get moved the Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia will move to tomorrow. Now there's been talk about whether that game will move up in time. I think there's one of the I think the Gator Bowl is tomorrow as well. So there has been some push from ESPN, Georgia and Notre Dame to move that game up earlier because now you're losing a day of prep if you win the game, because the winner of that will play Penn State in the Orange Bowl. So they want to move that thing up. Sounds like everybody wants to do it now, it's just a matter of can they get the clearance from FBI local officials to be able to do that. But the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans postponed until tomorrow night, and again thoughts of prayers go go out to the families impacted. So many were there for the Georgia Notre Dame game. So many people go to New Orleans for New Year's Eve. Just an absolute It's one of those things you wake up to you and see it.
It's one of those.
Notifications on my phone at seven o'clock in the morning and you just, I mean, I literally started.
Crying because I love that city. I love New Orleans. Of other people that city. I love the people that go down there and visit, spend their money there. I just everything about it and just gut punch of gut punches.
Now on the field with the playoff game today, Texas beats Arizona State Mark and I actually watched that game all the way to its conclusion, and what a game it was. Texas was a thirteen and a half point favorite against Arizona and Camps Campscataboo. And if you haven't seen Camp Scataboo, shame on you, because that dude is an absolute baller. He should have been a Heisman finalist. I said it at the time. I'd say it again. On my ballot, it would have been Ashton Genty, who was fantastic. Literally, Travis Hunter been in Campscatterbury. Those have been my three. They Academy was fantastic in the game, didn't get much early, was thrown up on the sideline, was caught on video saying, you know, I'm done with this.
I mean, come on, we gotta be better. I mean he's just really kind of going off. Well. They were down sixteen in the second half, missed a.
Couple of field goals, got stopped at the two yard line, but then they got a safety, kind of got back in it. Texas scored to make it twenty four to eight. Then Skataboo on fourth and two through about forty yard touchdown on a half back pass. They scored the two, got the ball back. Then Scataboo catches the ball down, the field goes in his scores. Then he scores the two. They tied at twenty four. Texas misses the field goal. Arizona State can't do anything with it. Controversial non targeting call by Texas should have been targeting. Texas fans, you can, like I said earlier, you can miss me with all that.
That's targeting. That's the definition of targeting. Was missed.
Don't know why, but the game goes in overtime. Arizona State scores looks like they may have the game. It's fourth and thirteen for Texas. Quinny Ewers drops a bomb on Matthew Golden touchdown.
Tied up.
Goes the second overtime Gunnerhelm touchdown from Ewers. Matthew Golden two point conversion from Ewers. They go out thirty nine to thirty one. Arizona State gets the ball down inside the twelve yard line. Tried to round a wheel route, gets picked off by Austin native and Clemson transfer Andrew maccaba, and that's it.
One of the greatest college football games I've ever seen. Is unbelievable.
Texas will now go to the Cotton Bowl for the first time to two thousand and three when they played LSU. Roy Williams was a wide receiver at Texas and that was in the old Cotton Bowl. So they go to the Cotton Bowl to take on the winner of the Rose Bowl, Oregon in Ohio State and Manas Ohio State look good. So you get Texas, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon in the Cotton Bowl. That's as good as it gets. You'll get Penn State Notre Dame or Penn State Georgia in the Orange Bowl in the semifinals. Like I said, Georgia and Notre Dame will play tomorrow as the game has been postponed until then. Let's go to the NFL. The Chiefs will start Carson Wentz on on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Makes a ton of sense that he would start. You're gonna rest guys, well, Patrick Mahomes' first and foremost, especially dealing with that ankle issue.
So Mahomes will.
Rest on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Expected that. Now the math on this, let's do it together. They've last played Christmas Day, that was when we played, so the twenty fifth, and they get to buy so they'll rest this weekend, then they get the bye week, and then they'll play in the divisional round. It's about three and a half weeks that Mahomes and company will get a chance to rest for the divisional playoff round game. And if the Texans were to win there the wildcard round game, more than likely they would play those rested Chiefs at Arrowhead. My goodness, all right, that's gonna do it for tonight's show. Appreciate everybody for being here with me, Mark Drew, Nick, Miles Bryant, Mike Keith, all on the show.
Appreciate it you guys listening. Happy New Year to everybody.
Thoughts and prayers to everybody in New Orleans and those impacted by everything that took place in New Orleans New Year's Day, early early morning.
Love you guys so much. We'll see tomorrow and as always, go Texans.
