What does Ryan Mallett Replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick say about the Houston Texans? posted by Texans Fan

The Houston Texans are making a big change to their identify as they are benching starter Ryan Fitzpatrick for fourth-year Ryan Mallett. This will be Mallett’s first start as the Texans take on the Cleveland Browns after their bye week.
Head coach Bill O'Brien made the announcement at his Wednesday press conference of the quarterback change, insisting that the change is coming not because of Fitzpatrick’s performance, or lack thereof, but simply wanting to change things up to see what Mallett can do under center, and see unique qualities he brings to the Texans’ offense.
And this is not a one game experiment as O’Brien plans on spending a few games at the least on the Mallett experiment.
Now while this sounds all well and good to the public. It was just that, sweet talk. The perfect mix of praising Fitzpatrick’s efforts thus far and downplaying Mallett’s assent to starting quarterback is a clear PR move as everyone can see Fitzpatrick’s on-field performance has been less than stellar as the Texans rank 28th in passing offense with 209.7 yards per game. He’s done nothing to elevate Houston’s offense
Ultimately, Fitzpatrick hasn't done anything to elevate the offense, having only thrown for more than 250 yards three times in nine games.
Mallett, a 3rd round draft pick by the Patriots in 2011, has only attempted four passes in his career.
Houston is taking a calculated risk in starting Mallett, as the team needs to see what the 26-year-old can do since he's in the final year of his rookie contract. But with a week Continue reading "What does Ryan Mallett Replacing ..."

The 2014 Houston Texans Report Card posted by Texans Fan

The worst team in the NFL struggled to a 2-14 record last season. Long-time quarterback Matt Schaub self-destructed, and threw an NFL record of pick-six in four straight games. He eventually left in the off-season for the Oakland Raiders, and now the team has to rebuild without their long-term starter.

Coach Bill O’Brien will have to work with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to resurrect the team offense. In case Fitzpatrick fails to live up to O’Brien’s expectations, rookie Tom Savage could take on the job. Savage is young and raw but is blessed with a big arm and could fit well on O’Brien’s scheme of things.

The Texans supporting cast is shaky at best. Arian Foster has been injury prone the past few years and this was evidenced by his eight-game stint last season. The same goes for Andre Brown.

The Texans will have to develop their young players fast if they hope to have a better campaign. Rookie C.J. Fiedorowicz may be a starter this year but because he’s raw and immature, look for him to make a lot of blunders.

The Texans at least have the pieces to protect their quarterback, whether it’s Savage or Fitzpatrick. Center Chris Myers, left tackle Duane Brown and right guard Brandon Brooks surrendered only five sacks last year.

The Tigers used this year’s top pick to get Jadeveon Clowney. While many thought that the team would get a quarterback, the team instead picked what a lot of experts say is the best pass-rushing talent in years. But there will be questions on Clowney’s worth ethic.

Draft Larry Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson? posted by TedLevin

Drafting a wide receiver in fantasy football can be a sticky situation. A receiver’s production hinges on multiple factors and risks.

Does the wide receiver have the quarterback capable of getting them the ball? Does their offense pass enough? Are there other offensive options that open up their game?

Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson were once the top two fantasy wide receivers. Their production is still up there, but they aren’t as reliable as Calvin Johnson or AJ Green.

What if your first choices for receiver are already taken? Perhaps the best two options are Johnson and Fitzgerald? What do the  fantasy football cheat sheets tell you about these two stars?

Larry Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald is one of those guys everyone likes. He’s humble, works hard, and makes huge plays. He’s the type of large, fast, and reliable number one receiver every team wants. He almost helped the Arizona Cardinals win the Super Bowl years ago.

After Kurt Warner’s retirement,  Larry Fitzgerald’s production dropped. Why?

The Cardinals haven’t found a reliable or even decent quarterback to run their offense. Last season they constantly shifted between John Skelton and Kevin Kolb. Those two guys had no business playing as a starting quarterback. They couldn’t get the job done.

Starting a mediocre quarterback wastes Fitzgerald’s talent and diminishes his fantasy potential. He still has the talent and skills to stand out as the top fantasy wide receiver. Now, he’s a questionable pick.

Free Agency 2013: Two Weeks Later posted by Joe Anello

Okay everyone, it’s been long enough since my last check-in that a slew of impactful transactions have taken place in NFL free agency. So without further adieu, let’s go around the league!

(Here are my takes on the moves from day one and days two and three of free agency.)

WR Greg Jennings signs a 5-year $47.5 million deal ($18M gtd.) with the Minnesota Vikings

This move was almost a necessity for the Vikings AND Jennings. Minnesota was in dire straits at the receiver position after they traded away Percy Harvin to the Seahawks. Jennings wasn’t getting any more money than the Packers offered him, so he oddly walked away from that deal and signed with the division rival. He’ll be THE focal point in Minnesota at the receiver position. Maybe this eases Adrian Peterson’s rage over the trading of Harvin. Maybe.

LT Jake Long signs a 4-year, $36 million deal ($16M gtd.) with the St. Louis Rams

Shabam. And the real domino in the tackle game falls. Long’s extended physical delayed this deal from getting done sooner, but he’s now a Ram. If he’s legitimately healthy and returns to form, the Rams aren’t going to miss that money in the slightest. So what does this mean for incumbent LT and former second-round pick Roger Saffold? Uh… it means he’s on his way to the right side. Or to a trade. Once Long was signed, it set a real benchmark for other tackles on the market, as we’ll see later.

The Final Drive: 2013 Divisional Round posted by Joe Anello

The 2013 Divisional Round is completed! The best weekend in football lived up to the hype, with crazy finishes (double overtimes) and historic performances. Let’s not put off this any longer. It’s time for The Final Drive!

(12-6) Baltimore Ravens 38

(13-4) Denver Broncos 35

After the Ravens were forced to punt on their opening possession, this game got crazy… fast. Trindon Holliday took that punt return back 90 yards for the first score. A 59-yard pass to a streaking Torrey Smith (who was torching Champ Bailey deep most of the day) from Joe Flacco tied the game up. On Denver’s ensuing drive, a pass from Peyton Manning tipped off the hands of Eric Decker into the arms of Corey Graham, who boomeranged it to make the score 14-7 Ravens. Manning took the ball right back and marched his team 74 yards in 11 plays, ending with a pinpoint pass to old friend Brandon Stokley on the side of the endzone. 14-14. Were you still breathing at this point? A score from both teams in the second quarter kept the game tied at 21 going into halftime. And the drama did not subside in the start of a crazy NFL weekend.

Denver Head Coach John Fox will (and should) catch a lot of flak for not even attempting to try to get in field goal range with two timeouts and 20-plus seconds left on the clock. (As we would see later in the weekend, that’s not an impossible feat to accomplish.) Fox got extremely conservative in the offensive play-calling, leaning on the run too often when he had one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time on the field. (Though doesn’t Peyton have full authority to change those calls at the line? Hm.) Not going for a third down conversion late in the fourth allowed the Ravens to get the ball back with just enough time to make something happen. And they certainly did.

The Opening Drive: 2013 Divisional Round posted by Joe Anello

Alright everyone, it’s my favorite football weekend of the entire season! At this point we have the eight best teams left in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy, including the two greatest QB’s of our era in the AFC and a crazy Saturday night rematch in the NFC. I have stumbled out of the gates with my picks, currently standing at 1-3 after the wild card round. I owe that to every favorite covering last week and my apparently desperate need to pick against almost all of them. This week shall be different! I hope. Let’s get to The Opening Drive of the Divisional Round! (As always, point spreads are obtained from VegasInsider.com.)

(11-6) Baltimore Ravens at

(13-3) Denver Broncos

4:30 PM ET, CBS

This is the first of two AFC rematches that were completely one-sided in the first go-rounds. The Broncos slapped around the Ravens 34-17 in week 15, part of their 11-game winning streak to end the regular season and claim the one seed. In that game, Peyton Manning had very pedestrian numbers, but was bolstered by ground game that featured 45 carries, the most of any Manning team in his career. Their 163 yards pounded a then-short-staffed Raven defense. This game will be different, in that Baltimore is much healthier now. Ray Lewis is back, as is linebacker Danel Ellerbee. Still, the Raven corners are average at best, so they’re not going to be able to contain Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker on the outside.

The Final Drive: 2013 Wild Card Round posted by Joe Anello

Wild Card weekend in the NFL is a wrap! Note that this late posting is a testament to the dangers of kitties. (When you’re allergic to them.) There were bad offenses, great defenses, and ugly injuries to be found in the four match-ups, so let’s get through all the stories in The Final Drive!

(13-4) Houston Texans 19

(10-7) Cincinnati Bengals 13

The first half was a show of ugly offense, with three field goals by the Texans and only a pick-six by the Bengals to account for all the points on the board. Houston suffered because of failed third down conversions and a drop from Andre Johnson at the goal line, forcing them to settle for kicks. Andy Dalton threw a costly interception, but it was essentially wiped away as Leon Hall picked a Schaub pass and ran it back 21 yards to take a momentary lead. But the Bengal offense didn’t score at all in the first half. They barely improved.

In a trending theme of Saturday passing statistics, Cincinnati had -6 net yards passing at halftime. That prompted a “U-G-L-Y. You ain’t got no alibi. It’s ugly.” from Mike Mayock at halftime. (You have no idea how much Microsoft Word just hated that sentence.) When the Texans came out in the third quarter and mounted a touchdown drive, it practically was an insurmountable lead. The Bengals had no chance.

On a key drive in the fourth quarter, (while they were only down six), the Bengals were closing in on the redzone when they had to burn a timeout (play-calling disaster). On the ensuing play, they lost five yards due to a false start penalty. Then they went for it on fourth down (and failed), meaning the six point lead held.

The Opening Drive: 2013 Wild Card Round posted by Joe Anello

It’s that time of year. The NFL Playoffs are upon us, and with it come the unmitigated disasters that are my picks against the spread. (Which means I’m not picking winners or losers, but I’m predicting if a team will win by or keep it closer than the designated spread. Odds are grabbed from VegasInsider.com.) We’ve got some stellar match-ups as well, so without any further BS, it’s time to start the playoffs with this Wild Card edition of The Opening Drive!

(10-6) Cincinnati Bengals at

(12-4) Houston Texans

4:30 PM ET, NBC

In typical playoff fashion, the Wild Card round starts with what is most likely to be the most lackluster match-up of the weekend. This solid Bengals team (that apparently no one outside of Cincinnati believes in) heads to Houston to face a Texan squad that was in near free-fall the last month of the season. It’s not exactly thrilling drama (even though it is a rematch of last year’s playoff game), but this I think game is going to very tight. The Bengals can’t explode offensively and the Texans haven’t been lighting up the scoreboards lately. They’d prefer to get Arian Foster going anyway, which means a slower paced game, full of that exciting clock management stuff. Cincy has a shot at getting passes completed on the outside if A.J. Green can handle the one-on-one match-up with corner Jonathan Joseph. I believe he can, so Andy Dalton has to be able to find him consistently in order to free up the running game and the underneath passes to tight end Jermaine Gresham.

The Final Drive: Week 17, 2012 posted by Joe Anello

Oh man. The drama from week 17 in the NFL was palpable! I don’t have time to lather you up with a witty intro, so let’s get right into The Final Drive!

(10-6) Cincinnati Bengals 23

(10-6) Baltimore Ravens 17

Well the Ravens probably didn’t want to win this game. Consequently, they looked a tad disinterested. Not a lot to talk about here though. Moving on!

(6-10) Tennessee Titans 38

(2-14) Jacksonville Jaguars 20

This game had no playoff implications whatsoever, but I wanted to touch on the fact that the Titans scored FOUR touchdowns in a span of five minutes without touching the ball on offense. Darius Reynaud ran back two punts for scores while Zach Brown pick-sixed Chad Henne twice. That’s impressive as hell. But it might not be enough to save Mike Munchak’s job.

(11-5) Indianapolis Colts 28

(12-4) Houston Texans 16

Anyone else really interested in seeing how Houston performs in the playoffs? They went from almost the de facto number one seed with a bye all the way down to the three spot with what should be a tough game against the Bengals coming in round one. For the Colts, they might be emotionally peaking at the right time. It’s time for Luck to show his stuff in the postseason.

(9-7) New York Giants 42

(4-12) Philadelphia Eagles 7

It was a mighty effort against a crappy opponent, but the Giants’ losing their prior two games was too much to overcome. They’re 9-7 once again, but this season they have nothing to show for it. Maybe next year Eli. And I’ll likely be acknowledging Andy Reid’s final season/career in Philly tomorrow, when I’m writing about his dismissal. EEP!

The Opening Drive: Week 17, 2012 posted by Joe Anello

This is it everyone. The final week of the 2012 NFL season. Only a few months ago we were trying to figure out if the Cardinals were for real and if Peyton Manning would ever fully recover. (No and Yes, are those answers, by the way.) Now, in the final slate of games, we will discover who will make it into the playoffs and the bottom feeders’ order in the April draft. Let’s get into the games with The Opening Drive!

(10-5) Baltimore Ravens at

(9-6) Cincinnati Bengals

Baltimore could maybe get to a three seed with a win here, but the Bengals can’t change their slot at all. Honestly, both teams aren’t going to care about winning this game. The Ravens want to play the Colts in round one of the playoffs, I’m sure. That means they need to stay in the four spot. In the three, they’ll just see the Bengals for a second straight week. Cincy just has to get ready for the Patriots. Ugh.

(12-3) Houston Texans at

(10-5) Indianapolis Colts

Let’s see how strong #ChuckStrong really is! Now he’s back on the sidelines and the Texans are in town and looking to grab home field throughout the AFC playoffs. I don’t think the Colts are good enough to hang with Houston unless the Texans get really dumb and don’t pound the rock with Arian Foster. Houston should seal up the one seed here. Something else to watch for? See if J.J. Watt can break the single-season sack record.

Texans star J.J. Watt on PUP list after back surgery (Yahoo Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo Sports

AP Source: Texans star J.J. Watt has back surgery (Yahoo Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo Sports

Ex-Pro Bowl RB Foster reaches deal with Dolphins (Yahoo Sports)

[read full article]

From Yahoo Sports

Houston Texans sign first-round pick WR Will Fuller (Yahoo Sports)

HOUSTON (AP) -- The Houston Texans have signed receiver Will Fuller, who was the 21st overall pick in this year's draft. [read full article]

From Yahoo Sports