The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
09/24 Hour 2 - How Should the Astros Handle Yordan Alvarez Rest of the Season?
[MUSIC PLAYING] After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon AT&T at tmobile.com/keepandswitch. Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service ported 90-plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. [MUSIC PLAYING] Go sweat the technique. Live in the Barentechs Community Bank Studios, it's the killer bees. Now back to Joel and Jeremy. Go straight out to the HR and P. Guest line being joined by World Series Champion Josh Reddick. He'll be participating in the going yard, a home run derby, a constellation filled in Sugar Land. Saturday, October 5th, cannot miss event. Roy, Oswald's going to be there. He's going to be throwing some BP. I guess he's a PO. He's a pitcher only. Andrew Jones, Rafael Pomerro, Jose Conseco, Johnny Manziel, Antonio Brown, a few of the headliners. And of course, our guy, Josh Reddick. Josh, I'm going to throw down a few bucks on this with Brian and Blankers here. Why should I throw down $100 on you to win this thing, Josh? Oh, I'm offended that you're only throwing $100 down. First of all, I'll share zero confidence in your guy. Well, I like that bet because I think the only problem I'm going to have is the man hosting it as far as they can take on because this guy, if you haven't seen, it's still pretty big. The big human hand needs to hit the ball pretty far. So I haven't really hit a lot in the last three years. Since I came back from Australia, I've embraced the hanging up the bat and the cleats, but the last week or two, I've been getting back in the cage and not my pitching machine to get back into somebody hitting shape to just, you know, shed dead red and pull heaters. And, you know, I've got the wizard royos while I'm in my butt. I got a career holder against that guy in the show. So I'm going to feel pretty comfortable against that guy throwing that in practice. Are you telling me your experience with the Savannah bananas coupled with the fact that, I mean, you can ask for a random drug test might help you get by the one challenger you've seen. I mean, I mean, you buy a few for for looking at every character than what we're dealing with here. I mean, it just depends. I mean, it depends. Everybody's out. You know, there are people who are out of the game. There's no telling what's going on in the world now. So I think the drug test is something that I think everybody is going to bypass on this one. Josh Reddick joining us. I'm not a man. Let them use what they got. Let them use what they got to use. Then when I beat them, it makes me look that much better. Yeah, why not? HRP guest line Josh Reddick joining us. You can, you can purchase your tickets to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys website. So make sure that you do that. And it's not lack of confidence in you, Josh. It's more lack of funds in my bank account. I do work in radio after all. Josh, I wanted to, we were kicking this around yesterday. You know, the Yordon Alvarez News is something that's, it's frustrating. And it's kind of just part of the Astro season in 2024. If it's not one thing, it's another. When it comes to the Houston Astros, people are thinking that I'm crazy. I want Yordon to hustle less. I know that sounds outrageous, but I don't need the big man trying to stretch out doubles. I don't need him stealing six bases this year. I want him to hit home runs. I want him to be in the lineup. Am I nuts for telling them to dog it a little bit? I mean, there's, there's, there's closing cons to statements, statements like that because he's such a big impact on that team in that lineup that, you know, you kind of want to see him kind of ease up a little bit more, especially considering his past injury with new legs. I mean, I think there's just something where he's going to have to come to terms with me, because when you get in that box, man, you get that ball in that gap, and there's no stopping you. That adrenaline kicks in, got to push the limit, got to get that double to get in scoring with this. And it's really hard to kind of kick back on that, but if you understand the fact that how important your legs are in this game, he's going to have to step back and look at it and go, man, if I don't hit a 100% shirt double that I could just trot in there on, then he's going to have to trot in the first base and worry about it from then on. I think that's just something that's going to help his career in the long run. And obviously help up that team in the long run and the current run. So I think it's something that I think we all think in, but if baseball, people in baseball fans, it might not be something that we want to say out loud. So I'll say out out there, everybody. Yes, we probably want your on to slow down a little bit. - There you go. Josh, I'm curious too, because of the fact that we've basically treated it as bad as the start got off, this team got off too for the start of the season, how they've turned it around, and how people fear this roster when it's healthy, that we've started to kind of get ahead of ourselves a little bit and start planning for the playoffs, talking about which pitchers are going to be available, what your rotation might look like. But is there any level of concern after dropping that game last night? Like, hey, the Mariners aren't dead yet, and you don't want this thing to get too dicey with these five games left to play. - No, I don't think there's any reason to panic. I mean, they put themselves in such a good spot right now, 'cause you got to look at the big picture, shallow backs against them all. You should get into playoffs. Only thing I really worry about now is getting that division and I think that's something that is the last thing in that clubhouse is meant to be to panic or worry about getting to that point. Granted, in Seattle, it's magnified 10-fold, 100-fold because of where we're at this season. So yeah, look back in March, April, May, when this came with absolute garbage. Let's call it what it is, you know, garbage. And you know, they were just getting it done, and what they've done to turn that around is just, that Tigers teach volumes for not only what that team can do, what that organization can do, because I think the only concern going into it was the starting pitching. You know, you're back in your bullpen was set with your three guys, and you know, the starting pitching became the issue because you lose guys like Garcia, you lose guys like Christian Javier, you lose guys like Justin Burland, and you're like, well, crap, there's a part of our rotation right there, and then you get some later news, and then now you got these guys like Blancos, those are no hairs, just absolutely shoving this whole year. You got guys like Eric Gaddy, 100 Brown, who completely turned things around in the first month and a half of the season, so I think there was a big issue, because we knew that lineup could hit, the lineup was all it was never in question, and the creative part is they had this big turnaround with their biggest piece in their lineup, and Kyle Pucker, so that just doesn't show you how deep and how great they do a job of not only getting guys ready for the big league, but just showing them in and they're right away at 260. Josh Reddick joining us on the HRNP guest line, you can catch them on the shin, there's some pre and post game stuff, you can also catch them on Saturday, October 5th, at Constellation Field in Sugar Land for the going yard, a home run derby, you can get your tickets at the Sugar Land Space Cowboy website and go to timetogoyard.com, find out more information there. Josh, what do you think is the potential of this team once it does get to the postseason, if they do? - Oh, it's guys, the women, I think they have all the abilities to make it all the way, they just gotta get hot. The playoffs are all about being hot, playing team, forming a little baseball and doing everything right. When things start to go haywire and go out of hand, that's when the teams in the post seem to take advantage of it 'cause that's why they're there. You can't really give extra outs to teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers or teams like the Cleveland Indians, they're gonna make you pay for it however they can and especially in that post season because every pitch matters, they're better than they do their seats. So they've got all the pieces to get it right, they just have to one, obviously stay healthy and just make sure they're managing everything the way they need to. Josh Potter does a great job of managing that lineup and giving those pieces in there when he needs to, but the bigger thing for him is how he does his bullpen and we know when the playoffs come into play, especially that first round, you clearly only need three starters. You shove another one of your guys in the bullpen that we worry about three or four, five innings. Five innings match in the playoffs in the first round with all you can expect out of your starters and just play match up some men on them. They match up well, they've got three of the best back in bullpen arms and then Taylor Scott's healthy, that's the complete of the story because you got a six inning guys low, we just didn't give up runs. - Josh, you mentioned it, I was gonna go to their next. Look, I think we all believe that, you know, the first three starters are pretty much set and you have a lot of trust in those guys. bullpen has been taxed all year. bullpen lately had some hiccups, including this weekend in that series against the Angels. And now you mentioned a Taylor Scott, who's they're trying to get some rest for, who's on the mend. Naris hasn't looked good and your big three in the back have had some issues. How concerning is that going into the playoffs? - I don't think it may be concerning. I think it, you just answered the conclusion of the question of it because they are so taxed. I think they're just getting into those days in September where it's just, it's kind of hard. And when you look at it, you know, they're just gonna have to get that break and I think that break in between the regular season and the playoffs is gonna be a huge, big rest for them. But, you know, when the playoffs come into play that's a different kind of ball game. You know, you're drilling the different rush and when you're, especially when you're a leaf pitcher man, those numbers are completely out the window because those guys pitch on period drilling and you just worry about those guys when you need to. And I don't think they're having an issue and, you know, they're just pain-filled, they'll figure it out. They'll get through the soreness and they have pain. They'll find ways to mend that pain and go out there and perform if they're willing. - Josh Reddick joining us on the HR&P guest line. Josh, you've heard it in tons of playoff games, 74 playoff games, 246 played appearances in those playoff games. We in Houston have been very spoiled with the Astros getting to the playoffs. You're obviously a big part of that World Series champion in 2017 and you touched on it a little bit there. What is so different about postseason baseball versus the regular season? - I think it's just a different way for you to lock in as a player because everything matters. I think there's just that sense of urgency that, you know, you've got to be focused 100%. There's no slacking off in any aspect. On off the field is just about preparing yourself for that seven-game series and just going out of there and giving everything you've got to get to the next level. Or get that win for that night when you're working on that task. Hey, but I just think that, you know, the glamour, the media and blowing it up so much now with social media and everything there's so much coverage now. I think it makes it harder to get that kind of locked in. But, you know, when it comes down to it, when that first pitch is thrown, there's nothing up in the world that matters. In that baseball game at the moment, and I just think that when you're in a postseason game, you're just in a different level of tunnel vision. Josh, look, I mean, we know you were an above average outstanding defender. Your whole career, you were a well-rounded player. You look at the Astros right now. Jake is struggling at the plate, but he's a really good defender. Hayward's a guy that looks like he's been, he's obviously been a huge shot in the arm for this team, but he's got some pop. He can hit. He's still athletic with a good arm. How do you draw the line when putting the line up together and look at the defense going? I'm gonna sacrifice a little defense maybe, but I'm gonna put a better bat in the lineup in Hayward versus Jake's my guy in center field to play defense, whatever he does on offense is just a bonus. - I think that with all the analytics in the game today, I think they play, you play match ups at that point. You know, if you're facing a tough righty, who's hard on a righty, then you get Hayward doesn't bat. Until you get to that, you know, that late in the game, where you used to see like the Jake Mariznik come in to center field and the outcome completely shift and you take one guy out. So I think that's just a matter of where it is. If you're, you know, set a thing, pinning, night pinning up and that guy is, you know, pretty far away from getting that last plate appearance, you're up by two or three, you're gonna focus on that defense. I think it just depends. You get a tough righty, you get Hayward the at bat, fight game, Myers comes in for wherever you need to replace in the outfield and vice versa. You know, if you start Jake, you get the stuff lefty, Hayward doesn't play against lefties anymore. So he's gonna be down anyway. And then you wait for that, you know, righty, lefties match up later in the game to pinch hit and then you just make your straight up swap. So analytics become that big thing, especially with those guys. - Josh Reddick joining us on the HRNP guest line that'll be headlining the going yard, home run derby, a constellation field on Saturday, October 5th being joined by Andrew Jones, Rafael Palmero, Jose Conseco, Johnny Manziel, or he owes Walt's gonna be there. The nature boy, Rick Flair, a guy that you know well, Josh will be there as well. So it's gonna be a lot of fun that night. There's the old woo that you used to walk up to. I'm curious your perspective of Kyle Tucker. You know, you saw him come up whenever he was a rookie, a young player, he's matured into one of the best right filters in baseball. What have you seen with his development over the years? - He's been growth, growth within himself, growth within the game, and growth is a human. I mean, when he first came up, he looked like, we used to call him the pen 'cause he would look like a bowling pen. You know, kind of lower half of skinny, thicker middle, and it's kind of framed out at the top. But he really filled it together. Just becoming a guy, you know, trying to get things done, you know, trying to play the game right now. But when you came up, he just seemed a little timid. And you know, things were kind of tough with him because he came into such a great ball club. And when you come up in the Houston Astros in 2017-18, there were some pretty elite ball clubs to make your debut against 'cause you just got good, good guys everywhere, just expecting greatness from the start. And I think it was a little much man because, you know, you all know Kyle Tucker wasn't a minor if he was, you know, one of the best baseball players in the history of the game and the minors. He had all that, I think so. I think that coming up there and realizing that, you know, everybody around him is great at this level that he just got to go that far. He just really turned him to the complete hitter who doesn't take it back pitches, goes everywhere, goes left, right, the go-go beat pitch as we saw. So he's really becoming to a well-rounded player. Who knows the game well? - Josh, let's get off and get under one of your favorite subjects. Your dog's taking on Alabama. This big game, this Saturday, I don't know if you're going or not, but I know you're gonna be dialed in. How your dog's gonna do against Bama? How you feeling about them to compete for another naddy? - I tell you, man, it's always nerve-wracking when you're playing Alabama as a Georgia fan, no matter what year it is, but after watching that horrible game last weekend against Kentucky, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. On the road, I'm a little nervous. All my be feeling okay, but going to the Tuscaloosa, I don't know, I'm a little nervous. I'm not saying I'm down on them, but okay, what they feel like they do last week, they're gonna get to, you know what, King. - First time that Alabama is a home dog since George W. Bush was in office. - Bit of wild. - Yeah, that's crazy. - Josh, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with us hanging out. We enjoy watching you on the shin, and I know you're gonna hit a bunch of dingers at the Going Yard Home Run Derby Saturday, October 5th. - Take care, and please help me guys, always a blast. - Josh Reddick, 2017 World Series Champion, he, Andrew Jones, Rafael Pomerro, Jose Conseco, Johnny, Manzel, a certain letter there that you can drop in, Antonio Brown, and Johnny Home runs as a Antonio Brown, gonna hit into this thing, I don't know, but it's gonna be fun to watch. JUCO Baseball, King of JUCO is gonna be there, not King of Switch, King of JUCO is gonna be there, and the Nature Boy Ric Flair, they got the Nature Boy. They got the Nature Boy out there, Willin, Dylan, Kiss, Dylan, Jet Raiden, Son of a God, is gonna be out there on October 5th, the constellations, Gator, Boot, Weren, I mean, we'll have so much fun. - I'm keeping these alligators down, so much fun. - On October 5th, more information, time to go yard.com, you can get your tickets now, if you go to the Sugar Land Space Cowboy website, just Google and Sugar Land Space Cowboy, and you'll go straight to that, so I think you'll have a banner up on it right now too. So thanks to Josh for coming on, and that'll be a lot of fun. Saturday, October 5th, the Going Yard, Home Run Derby. Good conversation with the World Series Champion. He got into Yordon Alvarez, there Yordon Alvarez is giving quotes in the Astros Clubhouse right now. What is he saying about his knee? It was the news yesterday, good news or bad news? It is the B's on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. (upbeat music) - ESPN 97.5. (upbeat music) - Coming to you live from the Feri-Tex Community Bank Studios, it's the Killer B's. - On ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. - Here's Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham. - Alex on Twitch saying, no Booker T, boo. Booker T couldn't get out of the infield. They knew who to ask. Brian's shaking his head, no. He couldn't get out. - He's a terrible person. - He's a light hitter. He's a light hitter of the Booker T. Have you played golf? - There's no Patrick Flair is actually swinging a stick. - No, he's just gonna woo up and down the field. - He's probably there. - Woo! - I can be able to keep his skater boots down. - I could see, I could see Rick Flair wanting to take a few swings down. - Come on, no way. - He hit a wrestling match like 10 months ago. - He's gonna still rush hiss from Johnny Manziel. - No, he damn near died like three times in the ring. - Okay, right. - So legit. - Right, and now he did a wrestling thing which they can make sure that they monitor. He can hurt himself severely trying to swing a baseball bat. - It's way harder to wrestle a match than to swing a baseball bat. - At this point, he's way harder. - Okay, great. If he was doing a real match, he wasn't doing like a risk. - He was doing a real match. - Okay, but it wasn't gonna be like the kind of athleticism that they use with their good guys competing there. - True. - But I mean, he took the bumps, he bled, he didn't, he didn't, he did a spot, it was not a vise. - Way more difficult than swinging a softball bat. Way more difficult. - And I can see him trying to do it. - Doing what he did in that match. - Hold on. - Are you literally debating this? That it's harder to swing a softball bat. - No, I'd say that in his day. - Than to wrestle a match. - It's easier for him to get hurt, swinging a bat trying to hit a home run than what he was doing in that. - He was hospitalized for the match and had to stay in the hospital for several days, right? - Yeah, he did, yeah. - The last one? - Yes, the last one. - He almost died. - They did a big thing, Ric Flair's last match and he legit like kind of went out three times that they thought he was bad. - It was like Mickey Rourke in the wrestler. - Yeah, he was bad. - He was real bad. - He's not gonna be hospitalized for taking a couple of cuts. - Okay, you don't know that. If he's already gone through that, I would be concerned about him swinging a bat and hurting himself. - I think he's stubborn enough to do it. - I've said a lot of mean things about Booker T, I don't think I've ever said anything as mean as what Blankers are saying right now, quite frankly. - I'm concerned about him hurting himself. - You're concerned about Jourdan Alvarez hurting himself? - Yes. - Yeah, he's currently hurt. Joe Aspotis said yesterday that the MRI shows that it is a knee strain. He's out for the Mariner series. He said he's hopeful, hopeful that he could come back before the end of the regular season. He was asked, I think sports and team might have asked him today. If today was the playoffs, would he play? Aspotis said he couldn't answer that. Jourdan Alvarez in the clubhouse, minutes ago, this courtesy of Brian McTaggart on Twitter. Jourdan Alvarez said that he's able to walk much better today after not being able to put much weight on his knee yesterday, although he wasn't the dugout laughing and smiling. He is hopeful, he's hopeful he can take some swings this weekend, but there's still some inflammation in his knee and he lacks mobility. Quote, time is going to decide. - Well, let's give him as much time as possible. Let's get the win you need. One of the wins against the Mariners you need tonight and not have to worry about him and literally put him on ice. We know that he doesn't need any rehab stints in Sugar Land when he comes back. Let's just give him as much time as he needs to be ready for whatever is to come in the postseason. - He's a, Jourdan Alvarez is a little bit extra. He can be a bit dramatic a little bit. Time is going to decide. Now Jourdan's great, so him saying this quote, I feel like he's gonna hit five home runs in the wild card series. - Yeah, I'm not worried about it if he is, as long as he's able, if you pencil him in the lineup, then I believe that he'll do some good things. - Quote, time is going to decide. So he's hopefully can take some swings, still some inflammation, lax mobility, stop sliding in the second base, big man. We need you in the lineup. That's way more important than you taking extra bases. But do you think yesterday's news was good news? Again, a spot out for the series. They're hopeful that they get them back before the end of the regular season. A spot it was asked if he thought this was good news. A spot has said he does think the prognosis was good news. Do you think what we learned yesterday about Jourdan's knee was good or bad? - I think it was good. I think because of the fact that immediately when you start thinking knees, you start thinking about MCLs and PCLs and ACLs and all the different things that can happen to a knee that can really, really, really put you on the shelf. Aside from a bruise, and I know that those can be very detrimental in the long term when we found out what the Astros were doing with bone bruises this year, but aside from just being like a bruise or a wound that he could come back at a day or two, I think this was very good news because I was thinking the worst and fearing that as good of a season as this has been the way they've salvaged it, turned it around and been encouraging us every single day, this would have been the one that I don't think that they could have gotten over. - I'm with you on that. I feel like without Jourdan, there are odds of winning the World Series without Jourdan goes critically down. I wouldn't say it's zero, but they go down tremendously. I think it's good news too. I thought I was more on the bruise than the sprain, turned out to be a sprain. So maybe there is some credibility to the wet infill for grabbing as opposed to softening a blow because they said it was a knee strain, not a knee contusion. - And I watched the replay several times that I'm going unless it was the initial impact. - That's what I thought. - Yeah, otherwise a strain or a sprain or anything like that, you would think you hyperextend or the knee would really get jolted like the dozen football and other things. It was just the immediate impact when he went down and that's why I always go that route with the wet clay infield. - If it was a bruise, I think it would have helped it. But because it's a strain or a sprain, they called it a sprain. - I'm not sure which one they used. - Either one or the same, right? - A sprain might be a little bit more severe than a strain, I think, but don't quote me on that. I just-- - But it's still like ligament damage. - Okay. - Yeah, it's not like a bruise, you know what I mean? - Right, right. - So I think that that's like the wet infill I think is more like a decent argument because it's a strain or sprain as opposed to a contusion. 'Cause I think if it was a contusion, he said spraining knee. - If it was a contusion, I think it would have softened the blow. But sprain is like there's some little bit of cholting going on which you can make the case A that wet infilled kind of grabbed at it and made it anchor as opposed to a gliding slide. Although you're on probably had something to do with it too 'cause he does just kind of just, he kind of hammers his knee into the ground. - He does go down and it's a whole lot of weight going down when he's going at that rate of a speed too. It's like bowling a china shop. Now you're not trying to stop it, you're trying to slide it. There's gotta be a lot of impact on that joint. - And I knew Josh read a new ball because he was like, yeah, he's, let me say the quiet part out loud. Yeah, it's probably better if you're on, takes it easy a little bit. - Yeah, I mean, we've seen this across sports when you're best player and you mentioned Barry Bonds, but you a girl across different sports, your best player gets a pass in a lot of situations where there's a chance that anything extra could cause any kind of an injury 'cause he's so impactful and so necessary to the success of your ball club. We've seen it with Akim and different rockets over the years. We've seen it, you know, even in football where you're not gonna get mad at some of your, you know, the best receivers in football, like even a Tyree kill that like to get down, make business decisions at the time. Those business decisions are extremely beneficial to your team too, not just his career in making sure he stays on the field. We saw it when you didn't do that with Tank Dell, what happened last year in a small sample. - Guess the date. When do we see you were on Alvarez again? - Play-offs. - October 1st, what playoff? - When they get to the playoffs, that's when you're gonna see them unless it's absolutely necessary. Unless this thing goes completely sideways and they've got to get wins in the Cleveland series that you could see him maybe in the last two games of the Cleveland series. To me, as long as they solidify the division, you don't see him till playoffs. - I think we see him once in Cleveland. I think we see him once. - Even if they wrap it up. - Yeah, I think he'll DH and I think he'll get two plate appearances and they'll pull him, like a spring training game, just to see some live pitches in the track. 'Cause I mean, you play, the playoffs start if you make it. They start next Tuesday. We're a week out of the wild card series beginning, which you can listen to the Major League Baseball playoffs and when the Astros play in them, right here on ESPN 97.5, a week away. - Yeah, look, I would say that we've seen enough of him to know he doesn't need rehab stints. When he comes back, he seems like he is, you know, as on it as he was before he left. So I'm not gonna worry about all of that. But if push comes to shove, as long as things, the cards fall the right way and you don't need him, I don't need to see him until the playoffs. - Yeah, Virginia State, remember when a teammate choked Harper for not hustling the first. That was Papplebond and Papplebond's an idiot. Like I mean, but Harper was young. If Harper was doing that now though, there's no one that would mess with him. If you were on Alvarez was coasting the first base, no one's messing with him. - But the weird thing is that Harper's the kind of guy now that would bark at guys for something like that. He's done it, I think even this year with some of the things with hustle plays where he has a tendency to get on his teammates now. But yeah, he was that guy early in his career. Now it seems like he's that kind of that salty veteran. - Yeah, I mean, Harper still isn't gonna coast. Like Harper on a routine ground ball and a short isn't gonna bust it to first base. Jose Altuve doesn't bust it to first base on routine double plays to short. - Yeah, Bragman doesn't bust it a lot either 'cause that's one of the ones even my daughter points at all the time and goes, "Why isn't he running harder?" - I don't really care though, by the way. I don't want them to be like an a routine ground ball to short in a game on July 23rd. I don't want them to. I really don't. - We've kind of understood too, especially with guys, even if they don't have a tendency to have leg injuries but Altuve's had his, Bragman's had his. But you get it, the importance is the big picture and having these guys around as much as possible 'cause where they do the most damage is when they're in the batting lineup and we know what Bragman means defensively too. If it means you get those two things and you sacrifice him trying to, you know, get a knockout, a hit, fine. - If you're one of my best three, maybe four hitters, I want you to check out and not hustle during the regular game. - I appreciate Peña and the fact that what do you think-- - Yeah, but he's not one of your top three hitters. Like he has to hustle to get hits. - But I was gonna say he's what top three in the league in terms of infield-based hits because he's got the speed. I appreciate what Peña does but I certainly don't expect yiner and Yordon and Altuve and Tucker or Bragman to do that. - If Peña hit like Yordon, he wouldn't have them in the infield hits. - Probably right. - He wouldn't, he wouldn't, 'cause he knows he needs as many hits as he can get 'cause he's not that great of a hitter. So let me hustle and run down to first base. You know, here was Radik too, by the way, talking about saying the quiet part out loud about Yordon Alvarez coasting a bit. 'Cause he's such a big impact on that team in that lineup that you know, you kind of would hope to see him kind of ease up a little bit more, especially considering his past injuries with his legs. So I mean, I think there's just something where he's gonna have to come to terms with because once you get in that box, man, you get that ball in that gap. There's no stopping you, that adrenaline kicks in, gotta push the limit, gotta get that double to get in scoring position. It's really hard to kind of kick back on that, but if you understand the fact that how important your legs are in this game, even have to step back and look at it and go, man, if I don't hit 100% shirt double that I could just trot in there on, then I'm just gonna have to trot in the first base and worry about it from then on. I think that's just something I've gotta help his career in the long run. And you know, obviously help out that team in the long run and the current run. So I think it's something that I think we all think in, but as baseball people and baseball fans, it might not be something that we want to say out loud. So I'll say out out for everybody. Yes, we probably want Yordon to slow down a little bit. - Woo, Josh Radik, no more applause. We have played in 1300 games. Like, Brandon, you know what you're talking about. You know what you're talking about. - Hey, knowledge, me. - Five, seven, one, three, seven, eight, zero, three, seven, seven, six, cash 'em or trash 'em. What are you cashin'? What are you trashin'? Seven, one, three, seven, eight, zero, three, seven, seven, six, it's the B's on ESPN 97.5 at ESPN 92.5. I know ball and I know Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is back. Make plans for Saturday, October 5th, Sunday, October 6th for Oktoberfest on the KEMA boardwalk. It is so much fun. Go ahead and put it in your calendar now. German beer, German food, live music, cornhole tournaments both days, stein holding competitions both days, costume contest and much, much more. Go to KEMAboardwalk.com, figure out the schedule, figure out the day that you're going, go both days. It's free for you to attend. Walk around, doesn't cost you a thing. So head out there, October 5th, October 6th, Saturday and Sunday. Beer tickets, beer steins, and food tickets can be purchased at the event or online today at KEMAboardwalk.com. So go ahead and lock in those plans now. Some great beer, Shiner, Oktoberfest, Shiner Bach, Blue Moon, Belgian White, Yingling, Oktoberfest, bunch, bunch more, but those are just some of the highlighters. Souvenir Steins are available for purchase. Right now, KEMAboardwalk.com. And how about this lineup of food? Schnitzel on a stick, oh, so good. German beer brought worse, sausage on a stick, German potato salad, sauerkraut, soft pretzel with the beer cheese, always so good. So get out there for great beer and for great food. Saturday, October 5th, live music from 1 till 10, Stein holding competition, corn hole tournament at night, then on Sunday, October 6th, we'll have all that fun over again. Live music, noon till 9, Stein holding competition at 5, and corn hole at 5.30. Go to kEMAboardwalk.com right now, see the full schedule events, the concert lineup, purchase your tickets now, beer tickets, beer steins, food tickets, all right now at kEMAboardwalk.com. - ESPN, 97.5. - Prepare for overreaction on my mark. - It's that time of the week where overreactions are welcome. - He say Muhammad Ali was the greatest of all time, but he never fought Cassius Clay. What was he afraid of? Boom, hot take. - It's cash him, that is so good, but that's exactly right. - Or trash him. - This is your hot take. - Seems like an overreaction. - With a killer B, give us a hot spoonful of your opinion. - What do you cash in, what do you cash in? 713-780-3776, blankers, what you got? - First one I got is that the Cincinnati Bengals, as bad as their defense looked last night, are still going to make the playoffs in the AFC. - Trash. - Trash. - Trash. - You know, in threes, a huge hole to climb out of. I think they've done it before. A different Bengals team, you mentioned the defense, looking bad. - They don't know if it gets a college offense yesterday and look that bad defensively. They're running games, not very good. I don't see them getting to the 10 wins, I think is going to be needed to make the AFC. Maybe if they were in the NFC, AFC, ah, ah, not happen to trash. - Should we look at their division? I mean, would you look at the division? - No, look at their division. - The Browns aren't great, the Ravens aren't great. The Steelers, I don't believe it. - The Ravens are better than the Bengals. - They are, but I don't know that they're going to be the Steelers before you know. - Or you know, they are now. Let's see what they are at the end of the year. I just don't believe in their quarterback. - Even if you're a better team, you know, last 14 games, you've got to make up three games with the ground. If that's a spoiler, it is a fact. - Trash. - Yeah, I'm trashing it. Look, I'm a huge believer in Joe Burrow. You guys know I spent the entire offseason talking up with the second best quarterback in the league. But they're all in three, I'm out. I think they can rebound to have a respectable season when eight, get to eight wins, get to nine wins, but like Jeremy said, I don't think that's good enough in the AFC or the AFC. If it was the NFC, I could see them sneaking in, but I'm out of them for the AFC. - I think that they, I think it's plausible. I think it's in play, but no, it's not going to happen. Blonde haired, like what was the song? Was it Cindy Loper, Cindy Loper? What did she say, Blond's have fun or whatever? - Girls just want to have fun. - What was Blond's? - Oh, whatever. Blond's aren't as good at quarterbacks in the NFL. It's better to have dark hair to be a good quarterback in the NFL than it is to have Blond here. - I think the last Blond- - Kerry Pratchett- - Who were a scyocin? - Overrated and Bill Sarri was overrated. Look at all the greats. Look at all the great quarterbacks. They have dark hair. Tom Brady, dark hair, Peyton Manning has dark hair. Who are the best quarterbacks right now? Pat Mahomes has dark hair, Lamar Jackson has dark hair, Josh Allen has dark hair, CJ Stroud has dark hair. It was a poor decision by Joe Burrow to turn Blonde. That's the reason the 2024 bangles aren't going to make the playoffs. - It's a Blond. I don't like the way the Monday, I like two Monday night football games. I don't like the way that Monday night football, I don't know how you trashed that, by the way. But Blond quarterbacks have been good. - Trash. - Trash. - You're trashing fact and evidence. Anyways, I like two Monday night football games. I don't like how they overlap each other as much, which got me back into my old tangent. I don't like how Sunday games overlap each other. You have all these great games that are going on at the exact same time. You should make these as standalone as you possibly can. Just like the NCAA tournament. The NCAA tournament became a lot more fun win when they started to stagger the games throughout the day. So you had basketball game, basketball game, basketball game all day long, instead of having every game starting at the exact same time. So again, the NFL should go to a staggered schedule model. How many games can there be in one week in the NFL? 16, up until you get to the bye weeks, there are fewer. But the most you can have is 16. You're gonna have a Thursday night game. You have a Monday night game. You're gonna have a Sunday night football game. The rest of the games staggered the starts by 30 minutes, please. That way we can watch these exciting finishes in their own way. Instead of having to kick around red zone channel or flip the channel back and forth, sometimes regional restrictions. Sometimes we don't have red zone channel. Make all of these games on national TV. Start them at noon, 12 31, 1 32, 2 33, 3 34, 4 35, 5 36. Every NFL game should have its own start time. That way the finish can be a standalone finish instead of all of them starting at once. Stagger the NFL kickoff's on Sunday. - I forgot how passionate you were. - This is such a good idea. - I heard this one before. - Such a good idea. I'll do it once a year. - I actually, I'm forgetting to see as much football as possible. I think that just with the viability of all the teams and the schedules, I could see it being three in a certain time frame, in certain windows just because they want that the prime time games to be so standalone with no overlap. But I'm for it. I would cash it because I want to see as much football as possible. - I think you trashed it the first time I said it. - I'm more likely to do it now because of the fact that with my time I'd run around and stuff like that, I'd like to, when I get back to the house, have games that still I can see finishes on. - Yeah, I'm gonna trash this. I trash it because I wouldn't go as far as you would. I like the idea of at least a little bit of a stagger 'cause I like what they did on Monday night. But I don't need every game having its own 30 minute window because to me that's one that diminishes red zone because if you have games by itself in the clutch, then red zone isn't as interesting if there's only one game going on. I also think it would create chaos for fantasy football, setting lineups and checking if guys are in or outside. That I would hate. But if you did something to where you go from two windows, moon and three to four windows, let's say noon, stagger at one, and then three, stagger at four. I'd be in on that. But to have complete like every 30 minutes, a new game is starting, I'd be having that. - You didn't like the way college basketball did this tournament. - Yeah, but it's to have way more games. I think it's more necessary for them than it is. - Also, I see the other round of 32, you have 16 games. The only way I like the Monday night double header is when it's like East Coast, West Coast. - Street? - Yeah, I don't like, half hour to an hour is not enough window for me. I'd like to watch as much of both games as I could on Monday night. - 585, 5.5 not gonna work because of TV contracts. You would have to negotiate in the new deal, but you could. I mean, ESPN has ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, you stagger it there. CBS has multitude of channels and they work with Turner. NBC has a bunch of channels as well, so it's doable. It would just have to be negotiated. Current contract, you're right. Phil Sims and Boomer Asaiusen says 0 5 2 2. Those guys are bums, bum, bum, 5 7 9 8. Go ahead. - I said both of them. I was trying to think of the other one. - 5 7 9 8, I'm cashing the blonde take. Mystery solved on why Trevor Lawrence has been trash. Great point. Then will Levis have blonde hair too? - Uh, yeah, she's blonde. - Yeah, she's blonde. - You should have known her. - I know, that was a failure on my point. Maybe that's what threw me over the top that made my will Levis, made my hypothesis, a theory, into a thesis. I think that's how it works. What's your casher? - Isn't Brady Sandi, not Sandi Brown, he's kind of a tweener. - He's kind of a tweener. - Yeah, that's pretty dark. - That's pretty dark. - I'm just saying it 'cause he's the greatest of all time, so I'm trying to get a little button. - Did you go that way? - Yeah, Jasper said that I'm racist estimate. No, I'm not. I'm Harris is what I am. Dark hair. - And I'm Mexico. - Or better athlete. So what do you got? - Well, it's funny that we bring up blonde quarterback from Trevor Lawrence 'cause my casher trashed it. And I came up and I thought of this while I was watching Trevor Lawrence just put on an absolute bleep show in Buffalo last night. Look, maybe this is way too optimistic or maybe this is trying to hang on from what I thought of Trevor Lawrence as a collegiate prospect. But I think Trevor Lawrence is gonna eventually, once he complicates things, 'cause he's got like a four-year contract that the Jaguars can't really get out of. But whenever he gets out of Doug Peterson, wherever he gets out of Jacksonville, he's gonna follow the path of a Geno Smith, of a Baker made field. He gets with an actual offensive guru. Let's say he goes to Green Bay. Jordan loves gone hypothetically. I know that's not gonna happen. But with an offensive genius that can mold quarterbacks, goes to a Kyle Shanahan. One of these places, Trevor Lawrence gets back to at least 90% of what we thought of him as a prospect and becomes a really good quarterback in about three or four years. - I'm gonna trash it simply because I just make that, with the money he's making and the fact that by the time he's done in Jacksonville, he's gonna have another coach or two. They're gonna keep throwing things at him. And I just don't believe, and I never, I didn't believe in him all that much prior. And Jeremy and I have had these conversations in the past. I just didn't see enough to think that he was worthy of all the hype and the number one pick and everything that came bestowed to him when he came into the league. But I don't believe in Trevor Lawrence. That was ugly last night. I think he's relegated in his next job to be in a backup by that point. - You don't think Doug Peterson's a great offensive coach? - I don't. - Okay. I think, I'm gonna trash it. I think that Trevor Lawrence is going more than Carson Wentz route, where he had some moments of really good play for a period of time early in his career. Carson Wentz, I believe, got paid as well. - Oh yeah, he got a big deal of feeling. - And then he kind of just faded away in his career, kind of a career backup, had some moments to start, really was very average at best. I think Lawrence is following the Carson Wentz path of riches, but very, very little production. Yeah, I'm out on Trevor Lawrence. - It's sad. - That was sad last night, man. I mean-- - He threw an interception to a myth. That's how bad Trevor Lawrence is. - Yes, he gave tomorrow Hamlin his first ever interception. - He depends on how you position next, 'cause other people on the internet positioned it even worse than that. - A ghost? - No, a dead person. - How do you think it goes? 'Cause I mean, two of them ran right into him knocked himself out for eight weeks and he did it and now Trevor Lawrence is throwing the ball to him. - To bar Hamlin's doctor death. - He escaped death and now he's killing quarterbacks. - Oh man. - It's too bad and how many's left? - CJ Stroud plays the Bills in two weeks. - CJ Stroud in two weeks. - Can we arrest CJ Stroud against Dr. Death de Mar Hamlin. Eric the driver, Young doesn't start for the Panthers again this season, also called it last week. The Dalton would look much better in this offense. You're right about that. Any Dalton would look like the right rocket. - Boy, what do you throw? - 300 plus and a couple of touches and no pick. - He's the only quarterback that sees him to do it, yeah. - So does Young start again this season? Cash or trash? He said he doesn't start. - I think he does. - I think he does too. - Whether it be by injury or at a certain point, they're out of it and they gotta see what they have and Bryce Young again, he'll start again. - See the injury aspect that makes it an easy cash. But if you throw in the caveat of it would not be injury related, will he still start? - Yes, because of the fact that they're gonna be out of it and Andy Dalton's not gonna come back next year to be your starter that they're gonna see what they have in Bryce Young again. - I mean, I know it's three weeks in, so everyone's only a couple of games out, but they are only one game out and it is the end of South. I mean, if Andy Dalton plays well and they're in the playoff race, I can't see them making the move. But if, like you said, they are out of it, then yeah, they go back to Bryce. - Kinda get the sense, can alles done like them. We look at the offense on our Dalton, we look at it on our young, night and day. - There's definitely evidence that says right off the top that if he's making that change that quickly, that he probably doesn't think there's enough to work with for right now. - What does Andy Dalton say about the dark light hair theory? Is he an outlier? - Hey, where does the witness ginger fall into the dark light hair scale? - I think it's an abnormality. - I think it's something. - And a? - I think it's something. - I think so, too. - Yeah, it's not applicable. - Yeah, 8576, Cashier Trash Fromber 7 plus strikeouts tonight, those are probably a bet to me. And Mariner's strikeout a lot. Oh, Cashier that is well. For a Cashier Trash, the NSE East will have three head coach openings this off season. - Mike McCarthy. - Mike McCarthy N. I don't think they can get rid of, I don't think you're in a dable. - I don't think so either. - I think they give him a chance with another quarterback. - I can see Sirionna being gone. - Although, Malik neighbors might say Daniel. - Sirionny McCarthy, I think he can too. - I think three. - Yeah, I don't think they get the three. - I would trash. - See, I think Dable and Sirionny are on the fence. Not guarantees. So I would say two is the number. I wouldn't, or maybe even two and a half. I can't go up to three. You know, the only thing that gives that a chance is the fact that Tepper is such a wild card and he's been known for like quick hooks with coaches he just hired that he might pull. - Tepper. - I mean, not Tepper, not Tepper, I'm sorry. The, I could see the Giants saying, look, we gave him enough of a chance in New York. - Yeah. - Yeah, the Mera family. - Me too, but I think he's 50-50. And I think Sirionny's less than 50-50. - Yeah, I agree with that. - So then housing gets a three. I think three is possible. But I can't, I can't cash that. Cause I think, I think Dave was 50-50. I think Sirionny's less than 50-50. So that doesn't give me up to three. - Yeah, I think you're right. The number's probably better at two, but I think there is a chance for three. - 3, 2, 0, 9, cash this. You're not as done for the year. The doctors are liars. - I think he's done for the regular season. I just said it. - I don't think he's done for the playoffs. - Who, I'm going to trash this simply on a trachality. We never heard anything from the doctors. We never heard anything from the doctors. We heard from Spada and they lie all the time. - The time, about the MRIs and things. Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah, so I'm trashing this. Cause I never heard from a doctor. - And we never see a press release? I never saw a press release from the escrow. - No, they never tell us what the doctor says. Brandon T, Cashor, Trash, Asherous, cuts the division tonight. - I'm going to cash it. - I'm going to brand them foot in mouth this for the sake of the city of Houston and trash it. Because I'm known to put my foot in my mouth and then things I say turn out to be false. They do not come to fruition. They turn out to be terribly wrong. So for the sake of Houston, I'm going to brand them foot in mouth this into existence. I'm trashing the Astro's clinical vision tonight. That way we can bad take bull of army on Thursday and be like, "Ha ha, you're an idiot." But I'm doing it for you, Houston. - Brian? - I will cash it, but I think my Jeremy's so obviously telling us he doesn't believe what he just said that he cancels out the idea of the foot and mouth geeks. - Cashor, Trash, Blanker, that's mean. Cashor, Trash, Blankers can't go a whole segment without saying the word fact. - Facts. - I don't know if you said facts. - I don't remember you saying facts. - I don't know. I say obviously. - Jeremy says facts. I don't remember you saying it very often. - Why are you saying facts? - Oh, don't tell me this is good. - Yeah. - 2.1. - Y'all need to research what the red rocket means before you call Andy Dalton that again. I don't care. I know what a red rocket means. It's Andy Dalton. Pride and Joy of Katie, Texas, baby. That's what it means. - This man is the red rifle though. - Oh, that's right. I was going to say it is his nickname, but his red rifle. - Yes, this red rifle. - Red rocket to me. - Jasper, I've heard gingers don't have souls, so maybe Dalton wouldn't get the ghost treatment from Hamlin. - Ooh. - Ooh. Interesting. - Interesting. - Twisting it. - I see ya. - Halloween's around the corner. - I see ya. - I'm sticking to this dark hair thing though. I think it's a good one. - I think it's a good one. - A film don't lie. Film don't lie. The Branham baddie. What I saw on film watching this one back. It is the bees on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. - This is ESPN 97.5. (upbeat rock music) - Now back to the killer bees. - On ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. - Live from the Peritex community bank studios, here's Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham. - You have aged. Scugger's taken on 18th ranked, undefeated Iowa state. - On Saturday, September 28th, 6 o'clock. It's gonna be beautiful, beautiful Saturday evening. So get on outside, watch Houston, watch Iowa state, family weekend, Hispanic heritage game, a night of thrilling plays, hard hitting action, unforgettable moments. And they have a family night special going on right now. Four tickets, four hot dogs, four drinks, just $80. Where else can you get that sort of family deal to watch some underrated Big 12 football? Number 18 team in the country, Houston Cougars playing their first home Big 12 game of the year, looking for the outside. All of that for just $80 and you're sitting outside in beautiful weather. I mean, it's a deal that's too good to be true. Go to uhcoogers.com/tickets, 713 go Cougars to get your tickets now. Come early, be loud, wear red. Gonna give away a pair of tickets right now to caller number four, to 713-780-3776. So call number four, go into Houston, Iowa state, Saturday at six o'clock, to 713-780-3776. Six, all right, time for the the Branham Batty. Branham Batty, this is the alter ego, turn on my football. What do they call leather heads? What else do they, what are the other things they call football knowers? - Greedire, or something like that. - They don't call it seam heads as baseball. Leather heads is kind of the old helmets. I don't know any of them. No, what are the cliches you give to football knowers? 713-780-3776, I just call myself the Branham Batty whenever I turn the film cap on. Whenever I turn the football side of things on. Here are some things I noticed, blankers. Watching the, because film don't lie, film don't lie. The offensive line was worse on film. It was so much worse on film blankers than it was in the game. Like the theory of you have six or seven guys to block five and you're not getting it done because they're throwing stunts at you because they're throwing games at you because they're disguising their rush because they're delaying the rush. The Texans were clueless, clueless defending games, and they have been. This isn't new. It just kind of ignored it in victory in weeks one and two. We saw it in the second half against Chicago. We're talking about it with DJ. The offensive line was worse on film. They have no idea what to do when they're blocking games and stunts. Even if they have more bodies. I saw seven on five couldn't handle it, free rusher. Six on five, at least three times couldn't handle it, free rusher. They can't pass off assignment, communication is poor. I don't know what the coaching looks like throughout the week, but that could potentially be poor. They have multiple guys that are being double teamed and allowing free rushers with games. They cannot handle it right now and they're getting killed with it. - That's inexcusable for an NFL team. That is inexcusable for an NFL team and that needs to be fixed immediately and you're right. It's cohesion, it's communication, and we talk about it all the time, what spots on the offensive line. It's not just about handling your area of the field and doing your job. It's how do you work in unison with the rest of your unit? That's extremely disappointing. - And because of the line being bad, I think you're seeing some collateral damage off of that. Like some domino effects to that. Like we want a lot of 11 personnel because we think it suits this team, right? You have Nico, you have staff, you have tank. Okay, play three receiver sets, 11 personnel. You can't do that when you distrust the offensive line to protect because you want to go 12 personnel, play two tight ends to do what? To help the offensive line. So like, you do have the personnel to play 11, but you can't do it because you can't block. So as Bobby Sloake has to play 12 personnel to try to keep his quarterback upright. - Yeah, that's a scary proposition and that's something that, you know, whether it has to be addressed and maybe, you know, I don't know if that means, you know, enhancing the fact that do you need another blocking tight end? I mean, do you have to-- - I want to see Irv Smith. - I think that if you already have one on your roster that has NFL experience, it can't be any worse than what you got and because you lost Jordan, I really believe that you got to try somebody else there 'cause Dalton Schulz ain't gonna put his nose on somebody and be able to sustain a block. - And Cage Stover's worse. - Yeah, and he's just-- - And he's worse than Schulz. - Yes, he's wrong. - As a blocker, he is worse than Schulz had tied in to. Like Schulz had bad film blocking. Stover's was way worse. - Just go look at the Grenard plays alone and he made them look silly. - How 'bout the holding play on play one? - Yeah. - Holding play on play one. That was Grenard two. He was beat all day long. Grenard was running all over him. I thought other than poor offensive line play that the offense was actually okay. Like it was actually all right. Like they were moving the ball. There was multiple times. Like they were at the 25, 30 yard line, penalty, penalty, penalty sack and now you're looking at a long field goal. That was that happened on the first drive, or the second drive with Kaimi. Like you were down inside the 25. You take a sack, Kaimi all of a sudden looking at a 50 something yard field goal and misses. You had multiple drives into their half of the field that got you nothing because once you got there, you either gave up a critical sack or you committed to penalties like four in a row. - See, that's where I think on D'Amico's comments afterwards and yesterday, I think there is some truth to the fact that they looked like they had plays that would move the football. They had positive plays that way, but because everything was being drawn back and sucked back and sucking the life out of you because of the offensive line between the penalties and the missed blocks, you really couldn't get any momentum. - I thought Shroud actually played really good. I thought Shroud played really well considering the offensive line breakdowns. There was a couple of moments when he was trying to do too much. The second interception was one of those, like 37, you're down multiple possessions. Like he tried to force a ball that led to an interception, not a good play, but in that situation, you can kind of understand the mindset. The first play of their second possession after he threw the first interception, that was tipped not his fault. He had two check downs that were easy plays for like five to seven yards that he normally makes a hundred times out of a hundred. I think he was trying to get it all back in one play, looking for a deep ball, had to like scramble out, got like a couple of yards. I did notice he got a little bit of gun shy. Like he's great with his anticipation throws. He makes a lot of throws before his receivers, even like breaking before he starts his cut. Like when his receiver still has like outside leverage on a defender before he makes it, you know, inside and gets inside leverage. I noticed he was a little gun shy on that. And I think it was because of the offensive line. So that stood out to me. - 'Cause that's the one that you mentioned that we talked about yesterday that I said it looked like he got happy feet per se because of the fact that it was just all day and it was coming from every direction. And to your point, that one that I keep referencing is that running back out of the backfield with a linebacker on him. And before the running back could even look up, look over his shoulder to see where the ball was. He had a guy in his face and still put that ball the only place it could be. - Yeah, he made some great throws. Like considering the pressure he was under, he made some great throws into the face of pressure, a pressure, and I do feel like he got happy footed whenever he was a beat late with the anticipation throws. So it was like the very next step. Like I'm a little late here, now I can't go to it, where normally he's making that throw, but because of the offensive line and the pressure he was facing, he was a little gun shy. And then it's like, okay, that's not there. Let me take off. A few times he took some hits escaping, which I don't like him doing. Like there was a couple of times where he's like lunging forward, not even really for like the line to gain, not even really for first downs where it's like, hey, Stroud, I need you for 17 games, man. I understand you're losing this game and you're trying to do all your might. But can we not take some of these hits that you're taking? - This is our yordon discussion all over. - And I'm not talking about the sack. - No, no, I know the one you're talking about. - He goes head first and he's lunging forward, but it's not to get to the line and two defenders are converging on him. And it's like slide right there. Just please just, you know, make a business decision, but take the safest route possible because of the fact that he was under such duress all game. But because without him, it's like yordon with the Astros. Without him, you are nothing. Yeah, he was taking some hits. I don't like him taking. And I admire the competitiveness, but I need you for 17 games more than I need your competitiveness when you're traveling in week three. I threw some shade a little bit at Digs yesterday for the Texans, like getting him numbers because he was playing at Minnesota. Digs was great. Digs was really good in this game. He was fighting for extra yards. He was like, he was, I wouldn't say he was breaking tackles, but he was fighting some tackles to gain him an extra yard or two. And on at least two occasions, got him the first down. So I thought that I threw a little shade his way. Like, oh, Texans are giving him the football at Minnesota. He was really good. So my bet on that. Different than CJ, same kind of situation goat, though, two guys converging on him on the right sideline. And he was trying to make sure he got the first down. And a lot of receivers make business decisions on a regular basis, head out of bounds or just hit the turf. And he split both defenders, put his head down and got the yardage. Yeah, and I admire that from receiver. Like I don't need my quarterback doing that, but I like him when my receiver does that. And then in terms of like, what does this offense need to do because their offensive line is playing so poorly? I thought the quick pass game worked a lot. Like it really worked well in this game. And if the Texans can't trust their offensive line, I think they need a lot more of the quick pass again. I questioned why they didn't try it more. Even to start the second half when nothing else is working, the fact that you have, we talk about how many weapons they have and so many even cam out of the backfield can catch the ball and do some things with what we saw in the preseason. I questioned why they didn't just, I think that they thought that that was more of a getting to the point of an insurmountable lead way earlier than they had to. They were trying to get everything in chunks. Whereas I think you could have created chunks by doing some of those short passes. And they're looking for like a six run homer. I think that especially going forward because of where your offensive line is at, I think the quick passing game has to be used way more often. And honestly, there were times where they did it and it worked, illegal formation back it up. And now you're looking at a first and 15 or a second and 12 or a third and nine. And it's like, okay, maybe not the greatest play to call with this down in distance. - Plus with tank and digs, both being so effective in the slot or in that intermediate pass range, you connect on a few of those. The defense starts to kind of collapse a little bit more. Now you can possibly look for that bigger play over the top with Nico. - Yeah. So look, give me a little bit more of that. Dre says Schultz is the opposite of digs. I think he might be right, Dre. I hate to say it, but I think he might be right. Well, there's two of them, but the one that was so glaring was that one that CJ threw a beautiful ball to, but there was one on the sideline too, where he just had to give a little bit more effort and it looked like he was just kind of like, oh, hum. - And the effort on the blocking side, not great. And then I mentioned earlier in the show, the effort whenever he was, you know, he dropped the ball. It was rolled a fumble on the field, later overturned. His chase down was, it left a lot to be desired. All right, Texans lost this one by 27 points. It was a devastating loss. Did they lose Super Bowl contender status? It is the B's on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. That I got to tell you about the greatness that is pro Don Coops. Look, it's the season. 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