The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
09/25 Hour 2 - What Is The Houston Texans Identity
[MUSIC PLAYING] Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible traders, all on America's largest 5G network. [MUSIC PLAYING] Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Phones would be a 24-monthly bill credits for well qualified customers, contact us before canceling entire accounts to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement to bill credit and if you pay off devices early, ctmobile.com. [MUSIC PLAYING] ESPN 97 5K, FNC 979 HD 2, Montville, Houston. Presented by Zata Jewelers. [MUSIC PLAYING] Don't sweat technique. You're back with the killer bees on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5, live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios. Here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branham. Ocho, I added my guy, Xavier Lejet, to my fantasy team, since Adam Thelin is out. Let's go. Ocho, no one cares about your fantasy team. Stop hijacking our segments. But I will ask the fantasy guy that we have on tomorrow, Adam Ronas, who we should target in that Carolina wide receiver room, now that they have the red rocket thrown on the football, and no Adam Thelin. 6-0-8-8, you want to talk about shining stars? There's no brighter shining star than Zimmer and McCarthy. Well played, 6-0-8-8. Boy, Mike Zimmer is another guy that if you thought that what's his name in Baltimore is past his prime as a defensive coordinator, oh my god, Mike Zimmer looks overmatched. They got a new one now, the Baltimore did. Oh, Fangio, we were talking about Fangio. Oh, Fangio's in Philly. He's in Philly, yeah. Fangio, maybe being past his prime, but my goodness, Mike Zimmer looks like it is completely passed him by. We had a caller calling who didn't want to show his face. He said, "The Saints." Can't argue with the offense, for sure. But the defense, they're okay. I like baby Kubiak, but Dennis Allen, no thanks. No thanks. I don't trust a Dennis Allen coach team. I just cannot. I'm agreeing with that completely. And whether he coaches the defense or not, I don't like him as a head coach, and I'm not super sold on him as a defensive coordinator. Yeah. All right, 7-1-3-7-8-0-ESP. What is the Texans' identity? Offensively, defensively. Let's start on the defensive side of the ball. I think they're, I think they're, I really believe they're a pass rush team. I believe that with the guys that they have, and then when they get Autry into the mix as well, but I think they've proven it with Edwards, and some of the guys in the middle that have gotten sacks, that I think that their front seven, and specifically their front four, can get home that can provide a lot of pressure on the edge. And I believe that for me, their identity starts with pass rush. Yeah, I think their identity defensively is pretty, pretty easy. Like, swarm, get after the football. I think they like to play physical, which is my brand of football. You know, I love that. But their pass rush is their strength. Get to the quarterback as quickly as you can. Create chaos on the QB. Try to force him in a mistake. If you're getting to the quarterback quickly, and getting the ball out of his hand quickly, less time that you have to cover. DeMico loves zone. I think it's pretty easy to tell what the Houston Texans are defensively. Comes from their head coach, their philosophy. We want to be tough. The whole acronym is really geared for the defensive side of the ball. Smart work ethic, relentless mindset. Swarm, get after the football. To me, where you start to get into the questioning of the identity of the Texans is really more on the offensive side. I still think that the Houston Texans are having a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to their offense. Defensively, I think we know who they are. Offensively, I don't think they know who they are. I don't think they do. I think a lot of that was muddled up by the fact that when mixin went down after having such a strong week one and the fact that in the off season, DeMico kept stressing. We want to be a running team. We want to run the football. That you obviously got that all mucked up by the fact that he's out, then Pierce was out as well. And then it's kind of a makeshift running back room. But I think that overall, my mind, it looks, I always think as long as CJ strives to quarterback their past first team, that they're a passing team, that they are effective, most effective offensively when they are passing the football. And when you have the weapons that he has to throw to, that's, I would label them easily a past first passing team. - Yeah, I think they want to be an 11 personnel team that goes a lot of three receivers set, but can run the football on you whenever you really need to run the football. I don't think that they can play the way that they want to play because of what they're doing on their offensive line. I think that's why they're in an identity crisis. It's like, okay, we have this personnel, whenever we're looking at our skill position players, whenever we're looking at CJ Shroud, this is how we can move the ball the most efficient way that we possibly can. Oh crap, our offensive line can't protect for that. So that's to me why they're searching. That to me is why they've had moments where they look really good offensively, but they've left either me on the bone, like you go back to the indie game. You score on six of the 10 possessions, two other possessions were productive possessions, but a lot of them stalled out and ended with field goals. You go to the Chicago game. They often looked okay in the first half. You score what, three points in the second half. You were shut out for most of the game against Minnesota. You had one touchdown drive. You moved the ball at times, but penalties, offensive line allowing sacks. You were all of a sudden in-field goal range. Now you're out of a field goal range, you missed a field goal as well. So to me, it's lack of consistency. Why do you have a lack of consistency? 'Cause they don't really know what they are offensively right now because their offensive line cannot block a stunt if their life depended on it. I don't think they know yet. - I think the bigger thing too, and that is no matter what they want to be, it's what can they be. And that's to your point on the offensive line. Like they would like to be and they want to be a team that's dynamic offensively, that can throw the football and also can run the football like you said, whenever they want. And that offensive line is limiting everything that they do. And we might not get an answer until they figure out what's going on with the offensive line and how to get that kind of more continuity. - Yeah, they gotta get better there. That's gonna be the governor to their offense. And it's gonna be the governor of how good they can be. Because if this is what they are, if who they are in their first three games is what they are for the entire season. If who they are will not be unburdened by what will be. I think they're screwed. I think they're at best a 9-10 win team that AFC South Division champion, Brian's it's way into the playoffs. And I think they're one game, two games toast in the playoffs. They're not more than a divisional round team. If this is the production you're getting from the offensive line. - And that's where the problem lies too is because of the fact that in years past, especially last season, you would say, "Hey, there hasn't been a lot of continuity "on the offensive line. "They've had some problems, "but it's also because guys are missing." You look at that offensive line last week and we don't know how healthy juice was. But when you look at that offensive line, you would expect those are the five guys that I would expect to be out there. So then if I have the five guys that I want out there, what can I do or why is there a problem that I didn't foresee having because of the guys that I solidified, the guys I drafted highly, the guys I paid well, the guys that I put in place to be my starting five, this is it. And right now they don't look like they're getting it. Based on that theory, they should be better. Like if the continuity is a thing and they're working on it and they're improving at it, what you are in the first three games shouldn't be who you are in the next three games or the final three games. So I guess that's the good news. I guess that it's, hey, you know, there's nowhere to go but up because we're at rock bottom. But if they're a bottom third offensive line in the NFL, I don't think that they could do the things that they really want to do. I don't think they can sit there in a lot of three wide receiver sets. I don't think the run blocking's been very good either. The pass protection's been worse than the run blocking and you had a really good game in week one of the Colts run defense, doesn't look all that great. You can't be who you want to be. It does limit you, it does put a governor on it. - If you're a less than team and you're three weeks in and you say, hey, you know, our offensive line isn't great, that's one thing. But when you are with the expectations the Texans have and you look at the amount of money they've spent to lock up Howard and Tunsel and the draft picks that they used, you know, and the fact that they made a trade and are paying Shaq and then when you get juice and you get Kenyan and you use high draft picks on them, you look at it and say they've put all the resources they could possibly put into a line that they expect big things from and three weeks in, if you're not getting them, it can't be because they didn't play a lot in the preseason or they need more reps and snaps and things like that. They should be ready to go and because they are the guys that you want to be out there too, that's more concerning. - 3, 3, 5, 8, Tunsel not practicing is the main problem. He's been practicing since the start of the season, maybe not a whole lot in preseason, but I don't think that Tunsel's errors are because he's not practicing. I think whenever you're looking at the lining up thing, I think there's a little bit of stubbornness there. Like, hey, you know, one time, okay, I get that. They're not officiating it consistently, one time it happens, but then you fix it after that one time because you do know what the rule is. I mean, Dameka Ryan said the same thing on Monday that we know where we need to be lining up, you gotta man up and go do it. The false start stuff isn't because of lack of practice. That's because he's trying to get a little bit of an edge by judging and guessing the snap count. Now, where the not practicing thing can really come into play is when you're talking about passing off coverages, whenever you're looking at a stunt, when a defensive tackle is taking out layer of me, Tunsel, and your defensive ends running a little curl up the middle, but most of the times whenever they've had trouble with that communication and that exchange of coverage, usually it's the interior offensive line with your guards and center. - Yeah, the push is coming up through the front and the stunts are coming up mainly through those gaps, but when you look at it too, there's something to be said about the fact that 'cause they were trying to pass the blame onto the fact that you got a crew that calls that a lot because that's the point of emphasis, but at the same time when you look at it, you gotta be smart enough to know, hey, I got a crew that's gonna call this a lot. All I gotta do is when I get down to get into my stance, make sure that my head lines up with the hip of my center and regardless of where I'd like to be and how I'd like to play this defensive end, that's where I gotta be. - How many illegal formations of the Vikings have? - Yeah, I don't think they had one calls in there. - You can't give me an excuse when the other team doesn't have a single one. - Now, I will say from the standpoint of practicing silent counts, if you know that you're on the road because Minnesota's got the crowd behind them, that the silent count and being prepared for the very loud crowd, they should be doing that though. We hear about teams all the time pumping music and how they'll say it. - That's not gonna be, that's not gonna be a factor on the legal formation. - No, no, no, no, I'm talking about just the false start. - The false start or the head bob. - Right, right. - By Juice Scruggs. 7-1-3-7-80-ESP and HRMP listener line. What do you think the Texans offensive, defensive identity is? And also rank the three and O teams, the O and three teams. Who are you in on? That's still O and three, I know Blanchor's answer. Who are you out on? That's three and O, 7-1-3-7-80-3-7-7-6. It's the B's on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. If you like some of those teams, you hate some of those teams, you'll take advantage by betting on or against them. Brian, I'm here to tell you about my favorite sportsbook and casino and that's betUS.com. Football is back and it's time for you to get in on the action. You should already be going into week four of the season. I endorsed one sportsbook and casino and that's betUS. If you want a game plan to win, then check out betUS. BetUS went large for you this season with a huge offer, a 125% sign up bonus in your first three deposits. That's right, a 125% bonus in your first three deposits. BetUS offers value. Other sportsbooks simply do not. 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And I took the Astros under team total of 3 and 1/2 runs. Under 3 and 1/2 runs, Seattle winners, Branham's 2 and 0. That's what you do. Benedict Branham is the best better that has ever existed. Well, you had the best intel in the world. You got to see the post game show and see who was drinking and knew the fact that with those guys probably being a little slow today and Seattle still having plenty to play for, that was probably two good bets. Yeah. Shay Whitcomb committed four errors today. He was one off a major league record. And what was the third base from the Angels? Didn't he commit three and an inning and 1/2? Win. Against the Astros this weekend? Oh, sure. Oh, yeah, 3 and 4 innings. We were talking about 3 and 4 innings. Yeah, so we've seen some less than from the fielding perspective. Maybe I got to re-evaluate if I'm taking Whitcomb on my roster over Greg Kessinger for a defensive purpose, at least. Four errors. Did you see Anthony Rendon, the normal third baseman for the Angels, has joined the 50/50 club? 50 game suspension, 50 days on the IL. 50, congratulations to Rice Al, Anthony Rendon. Joining the 50-- it's an illustrious crowd. It is illustrious, an illustrious club to make the 50/50 club. Especially when-- Congratulations to Anthony Rendon. Throw in all his comments pre-season too about, you know, I care about my family first and, you know, and then I'll worry about this is my career. It's like, bro, you've barely played and you're sucking up $280 some million. Yeah, not great. Astros lose 8 to 1 today. Who cares? Space City Kev, I really hate to even say it like this, but I'm going to lost it, how to describe it. But I think particularly with Tonsu and Howard, they're just kind of entitled winers. Look at how they responded to the criticism after the Vikings game. Seriously, just take some accountability and fix your own mistakes. I like that part of it. I said that about Tonsu from the jump when he started trying to say, well, yeah, they called my number, but it's on everybody with a mccontinuity standpoint. And I think there's something to be said about, you know, true veterans that are leaders in a locker room and with an offensive line step up and say, it's on me. And then it's on us. It's on me because I was making the mistakes. I got to be better. And then you can also parlay that into-- and as a unit, we have to be better. We'll clean it up. We'll fix it. We'll make it work. I didn't like the way either guy responded because, you know, from the standpoint of Howard, Howard was the first guy to say it. That was the first crew of the year that was working the game where all the illegal procedures were called. Yeah, I think it's fine for you to, like, not love what they say. I think you're entitled to that opinion. I think it's fair to have that opinion. But the accountability and then fixing your own mistakes, how are you fixing that in the post-game media session? Like, that's going forward. Like, so take some accountability. Fix your mistakes isn't happening in the 30 minutes to 60 minutes that are immediately after the game. It's what do they look like week four going on? So, like, just take some accountability and fix your own mistakes. Well, let's see what it looks like weeks for in the rest of the way. Because if Laramie Tunsell doesn't commit another penalty or an illegal formation penalty, same thing with Titus Howard. And Titus Howard played well against the Vikings. I thought he was the best offensive lineman. But if they go unpinolize the rest of the year, couldn't you say they were accountable and fix their own mistakes? Sure, that's fine. But, I mean, just own it at the time and in the moment from what we just saw and how bad it was, just own it and say, and it probably would dispel a lot of the extra questions coming your way after the fact to just say, we got to be better, I got to be better, I can't have six penalties in a game regardless. And we're going to go back to fixing it, we'll be better. Yeah, I just don't think that that really matters. OK, I do. I mean, I think-- How does it matter in terms of production on the field? Because I think it shows sometimes a little-- one, it can show immaturity. And two, it can show a lack of overall commitment to the job, the profession, and what you are responsible for doing when you don't at least own it and say, I'm not dumping this on anybody else. I had my number called six times. That's a horrible look. And overall, I got to be better and look myself in the mirror and then expect that we're going to be better. OK, what would you rather have? Him being accountable in his media session and then being penalized five times the rest of the year in each and every game or acting like he acted, and maybe not taking accountability in the moment, and then not being penalized in the rest of the year? Why can't I have both? Why can't I have a guy that's mature enough and a veteran presence that can say, you know what? I have to be responsible. So I'm going to start with me and then overall, I'm going to fix-- I'm going to work-- my best to fix me. We're going to work on us. And then do both. Why can't you say both? Because we're arguing which one matters the most. OK, but of the same thing, yeah, of course you want the performance first because that's what truly matters at the end of the day. But I want a guy that at least can own up for the mistakes that you made and how bad you looked from what we just saw. Yeah, I get that. I just think the accountability comes to what you put on film the rest of the way. I think that matters more than how you're answering some reporter's questions. Would it be a perfect world if you have both? Would fans be a little bit more at ease? Would Laramie tons of-- he's like, yeah, that's my bad. It won't happen again. Yes, yes, absolutely. But does that matter more than actual production on the field? Absolutely not. So that's why I take a fence, more nitpicky, to the fictional mistakes. How do we know he's not going to fix the mistakes? Because of how he handled 30 minutes in a presser? Not even a presser. We see a lot of Laramie tonsil to be lesser than in terms of what we would expect of a guy that's at the top of his profession, paid very well, that's relied upon as much as he has in terms of being available and doing other things that we've talked about. But I think it's the same way as CJ comes out and just says, hey, it starts with me. If they play bad, no matter who else played bad, or the offense didn't work, it starts with me. And then we go from there as a unit, and you like that. The fact that there is maturity in the room to say, hey, look, I'll own it first and foremost for my entire unit to say, I got to be better. Yeah, I rather have that too than make excuses and blame. But I don't think that is the end-all be-all in taking accountability. I think the end-all be-all of taking accountability is not being penalized the rest of the year. I think that matters more. I think it's more tangible, it's more real. But I think it's all part, it's all intertwined. I don't think so. I think it can be, because I think I want a guy that is going to set the example that I will look in the mirror first before I point fingers. Well, that's why I gave you the proposition of which you rather have, because it defines on what is more important, what is more valuable. I mean, certainly at the end of the day. It either makes excuses and press conferences, and then plays well the rest of the year, and doesn't get penalized, or, hey, it's my bad. I'm going to be better next week, and then is not better next week. Certainly at the end of the day, the performance is what matters the most, because the results aren't only going to be, the results aren't in a writer's notepad or computer. The results are what they do on the field the rest of the way. I'd like a guy that does both, though, in terms of at least owning the mistakes that they made. Yeah, I get that. I get that. I'm just, to me, it's more which is more valuable. The action or the words, and I think actions matter more than words. I really don't care a whole lot what a player is saying to the media. I care if a player plays well. I care if a player is going to contribute to winning. I care if the illegal formations are completely gone the rest of the year. And, like, look, if Laramie Tunsel doesn't have an illegal formation the rest of the year, is it fair to say that Laramie Tunsel accepted responsibility and fixed the mistake? Sure, I mean, but it's not just those, either. It's also the false starts. It's all intertwined there as well. But, yeah, of course, the results are going to be-- Yeah, the false starts in there, too. Like, if he doesn't get penalized the rest of the year, is it fair to say that he took responsibility and fixed his own mistakes? Yes. Yeah, and I think that's more valuable than, "Hey, my bad, guys, my bad media. I'm going to fix this." 409 Josh, in general, if someone doesn't emit, there is a problem. They see nothing to work on. As Tunsel ever said, penalties are a problem for him. They've been a problem a long time. I think people are looking at one quote from Laramie Tunsel after the Vikings game, and then taking that like it's the only thing he said. There are other quotes that Laramie Tunsel had after Sunday's game where he's like, "That's unacceptable. That's on me. I have to be better." I mean, yeah, I mean, look, like I said, at the end of the day, the results are what matters the most. But I want a guy that is a force and a mature veteran in the locker room to be able to own everything that just happened because it was ugly. And we know people saw it just as much as he saw it, and you can't run from that. One, two, six, four, Brandon, you're creating a straw man. It's not an either-or-show-me-a-situation where someone who doesn't take accountability fixes their mistake. It's an intentional process, and it starts with taking accountability. They don't have to necessarily do it publicly. When they get asked the question, you don't shy away from the engine with an excuse. This is also the power of taking one quote that a man said in five minutes and running with the one quote and not the four minutes and 45 seconds of the other things he said. Laramie Tunsel also took responsibility for the penalties. Laramie Tunsel also said that it's not good enough, but we're looking at the one quote that he was given about the illegal formations not being called correctly, and everybody said, "Well, Laramie Tunsel's not taking "it's accountability, and he's making excuses." When the other four and a half minutes was him saying, "My bad, I got to fix that." - Yeah, I mean, look, I don't know how many people spend any time at all listening to the postgame quotes, except for what they see on Twitter or on the news, but at the same time, when asked the question and when talked about how's the best way, in my opinion, how's the best way to handle it, you're right. Results are the first thing I want to see on the field, but I want to see a guy that puts it all together to be someone that at the other lineman in the room can respect knowing that, hey, you know what, he's owning it, we got to own it, and we all got to be better and we'll all work on it. - Yeah, Jonathan Alexander had a metal bag thing today, and he was talking about how Laramie Tunzel was accountable in the postgame. But we see the one quote, and everybody runs with a one quote because a player played bad and is like, "Oh, look at this guy not taking accountability," 'cause you saw one quote, but the other 10 quotes are him taking accountability. So like the whole straw man, like you're doing that, like you're doing the straw man, because you're taking the one quote and running with it, like it's everything that he said when it's not. - But it's also to the standpoint of what, right, but it's also like when Lance got triggered about the fact, and I think his last straw was that final quote because we also knew some things about his past, about the fact that if the team wasn't in it and didn't have a chance to win anymore, that a thumb injury could cost him way more time than it should have, that you start to question his desire, the fact that they had to bribe him to practice. Those are the things that people, they hear those things in the media too, but that kind of helps formulate their opinion on something like this. - I mean, I'm definitely looking at it from the vacuum of what happened Sunday. Like if you had the bigger picture view, there was a lot of questionable things that Laramie Tunsel's had happen in his career. All right, 713-780-3776. We'll talk to Mike Greenberg at 450 for coming up next. We'll talk to our guy Garrett. Stress and her blessing. What are we stressing or blessing about this week? It is the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. - Scott, so we go to the break a word from a good friend, Doc Linville. Doc Linville best in the business at the Neograph Procedure and PRP Treatments. He does so much more, he does spot treatments, he does plastic surgery, he does Botox, but what he does that I have personal experience with our PRP Treatments and the Neograph. If you don't know what either one of those are, and I think you've heard the term in sports with the PRP Treatments, it works for your hair too. 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Check 'em out today, go to 975hair.com. ♪ ESPN 975 ♪ ♪ We're locked in with a killer bees on ESPN 975 and 925 ♪ ♪ Live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios ♪ ♪ Here's Joel Blanket, Jeremy Branham ♪ ♪ Blessing or stressing ♪ ♪ Our guy Garrett, ♪ ♪ Mom on Twitter at Texan's commenter ♪ ♪ Houston stresses everywhere, everywhere ♪ ♪ Killing it on the social media game ♪ ♪ What are we blessing or stressing today, Garrett? ♪ - Well, we got a lot, I'm gonna try and get a mix of some positive and some negative, but I gotta start off with the hot topic, which is Bobby Slowick's play calling. Are we blessing or stressing his play calling? I know it's been a hot topic on the radio and social media. I'm gonna remain mildly blessed, and I'm definitely not stressing nearly as much as a lot of people are. I understand the frustrations, but there's a couple reasons why it's not super alarming to me. One is we've played two really good defenses back-to-back weeks and the bears and the Vikings. Another reason why, too, is the run game hasn't been very good at all. So it's kind of hard to set up the rest of your play calling based off of that. I know a lot of people think that, oh, he's a filled the ball down the field. Like, well, you know, defenses are running too high safeties, we're forced to run it and we can't run it. So, and really the biggest issue as to why is because of the O-line communication issues, obviously the penalties, we get stuck in third longs for that. So, I'm still blessing. - Yeah, I think from my standpoint, what I would add to that is it's week three and the fact that you are still kind of learning the identity of your team. You're Ben without your best running backs, if you believe that Pierce was number two and the fact that, as we talked about earlier this week, that, you know, as you go through these situations, you didn't have to deal with that until this game against the Vikings, that you tried to get back big chunks instead of taking what the defense was giving you when Flores was so dynamic in the way he was bringing things at you, take the underneath, take what they're giving you and then at a certain point, maybe that big chunk play will open up. - This is one that I wanna hedge 'cause it's hard for me to say blessing about it, but I'm blessed in it more than I'm stressing it. I think that Sloake is getting a lot of criticism that might be out of his control a bit. Like when I look at the offense and the issues with the offense, this isn't so much play calling. It's more protection. And I think that they're trying. Like there's many times they're keeping six or seven in past protection and they're still losing. They're still losing. So it's hard to call plays when your offensive lines getting manhandled and the Vikings are getting pressure anytime you want. I love to hedge it, but I'll go stressing over, or I'll go blessing over stressing. - Okay, I like it. I mean, I guess some of the stuff too is Bernard getting, you know, paired up on a rookie tied in too. I mean, if he's keeping that specifically, you can stress on that, but. - Yeah, that's not great. - Yeah, that's definitely a big deal. But next up I got, are we blessing or stressing the fact that the Astros may potentially face AJ Hinch and the Tigers in the first round? I think I'm stressing, man. I mean, the Tigers, I believe are the hottest team in baseball since the All-Star break. They got some great young pitching and you know, early on in the career of AJ Hinch for the Astros, it felt like he kind of had our number. I know this year I believe we've fared better, but I don't know, man, it kind of gives me, you know, some scares there. So I know what you guys think. - Yeah, I'm blessing the fact that I don't care who they play. I think this isn't about who they play. This is about who they are. And if they come to the table and they bring their best lineup and they bring what they have on this roster, I think that, you know, whether you play Detroit or Minnesota or whoever the case may be, I'm gonna feel pretty good about the Astros' chances no matter who their manager is. 'Cause, you know, there's a good deal of time that now has passed between when AJ was here and who the players he knows. He's done a hell of a job. And I think that it's a big accomplishment for them in itself just to get there. Whereas I think that with bigger fish to fry and with the veteran-laden team that the Astros have, Yordon is the biggest concern. But if they're healthy, I'll take them against Detroit no matter who their manager is. Yeah, I stress whoever the opponent is in the playoffs. I get a little scared of everybody. I'm a big softy. So I'm stressing it. Plus like the storyline of this, like AJ Hinch, back to his roots, the team that fired him and then beats the dynasty as the Astros and closes the window on the dynasty forever. Plus they have the A.L. Cy Young. Honestly, I would be stressing all of these teams. Kansas City is very good. If Minnesota sneaks in, that means they got hot. If Seattle, Seattle's pitching staff scares me. So quite frankly, I'd be stressing all of them. But yeah, I'm stressing the Tigers and AJ Hinch. Of course I am. And you could even argue that Tigers are kind of the Astros when we were kind of emerging too, from rebuilding on the up and up. But yeah, next up for me, this one is going to be for the Texans this Sunday. Are we blessing or stressing the fact that we're playing a desperate Jags team who's 0 and 3? You have one side where they're 0 and 3. You could say that they're bad. So we're playing a bad team. But on the flip side, you have a team that's up against the ropes. I'm going to say I'm mildly stressing. I think we'll fare well, but it's a divisional game. It's already something to where weird things can happen. You know your opponent from playing them twice a year. And I'm kind of concerned too. I think we'll win, and we should win. But I know the temperature from a lot of fans this week is after watching that Monday night game, their expectations are, if we don't blow them out, then we aren't good. That's not the case. So that's a big reason why I'm stressing. Yeah, I'm not going to stress this because of the fact that Jacksonville, and no matter who you would play, I wouldn't want to play Buffalo this week playing as bad as they played last week. But if I'm playing Jacksonville, whether I beat them by 40 or being by 4, I just need to know that they're better on the offensive line. I need to know that there is more continuity on both sides of the ball. I need to know that some of the most glaring, noticeable things that we saw that were negatives with this team are cleaned up. And against a team like Jacksonville, I'll take it. Because they don't look like a very talented team. They don't look like the team that a lot of people thought they were going to be going into the season. But my main and first focus concern is going to be on the Texans cleaning up their messes. And if they clean up their messes, then I'm not going to be stressing because I think that they're going to be fine. A three six one says y'all sound like a bunch of bad words stop being scared. I'm blessed in this one. There's three oh and three teams in the NFL. One of them's the Jags. Yes, give me bad teams. Let me play bad teams, especially after a loss. I'll agree with you that I don't think this is going to be like a layup. I agree with you that the divisional games are going to be kind of gritty. They're going to be kind of tough. They're usually going to be closer than what you think. I haven't seen the spread on this one this week. So I don't even know how I feel about the Texans again. It's spread seven. Like do I think Jacksonville could cover that number? Yeah, I think they could cover that number. I think it's hard to cover big numbers against divisional opponents. So I agree with that logic of it. But coming off a loss, playing a team that hasn't won a game in the NFL, yes, they'll be desperate. But I think they're more bad than they are more desperate. I'm a blessing that they have the Jags coming up this weekend. Love it. So this next one's coming from my wife, Anita. Shout out, Anita. Love you, babe. Mrs. Mrs. Stressing. Mrs. Stressing. That is right. This will be actually her perspective on it. She wants to know, are we blessing her Stressing, CJ Stroud's pre-game outfits? And she says that she is Stressing. I am holding back judgment because my sense of fashion is terrible, but I will defer to my wife so if she's Stressing, then I'm Stressing. Did she say that she's ever worn the same outfit? I think, if not, something eerily similar. Yeah, because Jeremy pointed this out previously and I wasn't aware. And then when I was made aware and saw the video in the pictures, I was like, yikes. Yeah, fashion these days, people would be critical of me every day because I wear, quote unquote, gym clothes. But yeah, that's a tough look. Yeah, I'm blessing this one. I am an old man that wears hats and t-shirts to work. Blankers, he's always wearing stuff. He's ready for a pickup game at any time. We can be commenting on players that are in their 20s and what they wear. So I take myself out of this conversation. If CJ Stroud feels good, hope he plays good, looks good, all of that. So yeah, I'm a, I'm blessing what CJ Stroud's wear on Game Days. Garrett from Houston, Stressing. You can find him on Twitter at text and comments or look anywhere on social media and you see if you're blessing or Stression. We'll do it again next week. Garrett, appreciate you. Appreciate you guys. All right, coming up next, Mike Greenberg. We'll be joining us when we return. It is the bees on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. We got a big one coming up Saturday night at six o'clock. The 18th ranked Iowa State Cyclones coming to town as the Houston Cougars look for the upset. First big 12 home game of the year and U of H has a deal for you. Family night special, four tickets, four hotdogs, four drinks for just $80. Where else are you gonna get that kind of entertainment for the entire family, for just 80 bucks? Lock in the deal now, uhcoogers.com/tickets or just call 713 go Cougs. Not only is it family weekend, but it's also Hispanic heritage game. That's near and dear to my heart. So come out out, celebrate on campus as the Cougars host the undefeated 18th ranked cyclones. First ever match up on the gridiron between these two teams with the kickoff at six, but come out early. Cougar walk at 330 plus, we're gonna be expanding the Bud Light backyard beer garden, which now features food, drinks, tailgate games. So come on out, hang out before the game. A night of thrilling plays, hardening action, unforgettable moments. And the weather is gonna be beautiful on Saturday night. So get out there and enjoy. $80 takes care of the family of four with the family night special, four tickets, four hotdogs, four drinks for just $80. Go to uhcoogers.com/tickets or call 713 go Cougs to get your family night special. Come early, be loud and wear red. You're listening to ESPN, 97.5. Now back to the killer bees. On ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Live from the Paratex Community Bank studios, here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branham. Did you catch Booker T, hijacking our show, running his imaging twice during the killer bees? Did you catch that? What did you brony? Powerful man. He's wrong. He's trying to have any Fade, our show. He knows you guys have heat. He's trying to make some money. Anyone lost the match. That wasn't lost on me, Booker. You can't come into our, I guess he did do it. You can't come into our program and run back-to-back commercials on the killer bees, Booker. That's the last time it happens on my watch. You got it? Or I'll hit you with a spinner runy and a fake punch. Booker T. Got some pull, that's a power. What the heck? You say Kakuchi, first time that the Astros have lost a game when you say Kakuchi has started. I actually kind of like it. He pitched fine. And look, you get the loss out of the way. Get the loss out of the way. 'Cause you knew one was coming. Just get out of the way. That way he can go back to being undefeated in the playoffs. Yeah, and I wasn't even thinking about that perspective. I was thinking about the fact that he still gave you shut out baseball for six innings from against a lineup that is playing for everything. They're still putting everything out there. And he had a lesser than behind him. So win loss are indifferent. I don't think any of us and your bet was right on spot that I would have done the same thing. And the fact that I just didn't trust the fact that they were going to be all there today because they celebrated until the wee hours of the night. Yeah. The fact that you went out against a good Mariners lineup or that's playing for something and you shut them out, I'm good with it. He ended up getting the loss, but he went six innings, gave up two unearned runs, struck out eight, four hits, one walk against a Mariners team that is desperate. So Kukuchi dealt again. Kukuchi continues to be great for the Astros in low-key. I kind of like that he got the loss out of the way. Just low-key, low-key. That's fine. I think that this is one where nobody needs to be stressing too much in terms of blessing and stressing. I know what you did. Yeah, no one needs to be stressing over the next three, four games starting today, four games total, left in the regular season. 'Cause these are all just, you know, get some guys, some ABs, get some other guys, some rest and just get through the rest of these games healthy because you know where you're going to be. You know that you're going to be at home and playing three-game series, set it up for that. Yeah, I wonder how they handle it. Like, I'm pretty sure how they're going to handle it. Like, I think, like, some guys have to get reps in at bats. Like, you can't go a week without playing. So you're going to see starters, but I wonder if they handle like spring training where you're pulling some guys out, halfway through the game kind of, like, they did breakment today. They gave them the old senior day treatment. Jose Atouve was off today. Breakment, I'm sure we'll get a day off. Pay me, I'm sure we'll get a day off. Tucker's not playing all three games, but it's going to be interesting how they handle it. Like, it's going to be more spring training at Cleveland than it is like, end of the regular season. Yeah, the guys, you know, the G-Men were getting into it about the fact that this was the swan song and the goodbye the way they handled breakment, but I thought it was a classy move to handle breakment that way. And I'm not looking at it in terms of the big picture and what this means long-term. I just like the fact that you can sit some guys, rest some guys, especially breakment with his arm, pain just played almost every game. Those are guys that have to get rest. Yeah, I think that, I think they handled that well. Like it's, I also don't think it carries any weight. Like, it's more of one of those. Let's do this, let's give them the ovation just in case. - Right. - I don't think that it's any sort of clue on what they're going to do. - Not me either. - With Alex Breakman in the off season. All right, let's go out to the HRNP guest line. Being joined now by Mike Greenberg. ESPN's Mike Greenberg from Greenie. You can catch him on Sunday NFL Countdown. He's got a new book out too. Got your answers, the 100 greatest sports argument settled. It's good for guys like you and me. It came out yesterday. It's available on Amazon now in the book, Greenie and Producer Himbo. It tackled the 100 most debated questions in the sports talk world and provided 100 lists that will tell you who is the best of the best in football. Basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing and more. This book comes out just a year and a half after the two released. Got your number, the greatest sports legends and the numbers they own. Greenie, thanks so much for taking a few minutes to hang out with the killer bees. I'm curious your point of view. You know, kind of being national, we're local, we see it a little bit differently. Your view of the Houston Texans and where they are going in a year two of D'Amico Ryan's and C.J. Stroud. - Well, I thought Sunday was a little bit of a wake-up call. You know, it's interesting. We had this conversation on the Countdown Show. First of all, hello guys and thanks for having me. On the Sunday Countdown Show, I described the game with the Vikings this past Sunday as a measuring stick game for the Vikings. And Teddy Bruski jumped me on the air and said, why isn't it that for the Texans? Who exactly is it they've beaten? Why is it we're so convinced that they're the team that people are sort of making them out to be, having beaten the Colts and the Bears. Teddy was sort of in a, they need to show me kind of mode. And, you know, three hours later, we all saw what happened. So I think it was disquieting. I'm still a believer. I think the coach is phenomenal. I think the quarterback is phenomenal. I think teams have bad days. And I think Brian Flores is defensive. It's gonna make a lot of quarterbacks look bad this year. But it has to have been a wake-up call. I think it's don't just grow all the way up to the sky. And that was, it felt like a little bit of a step back. I still think that the team that beat in the division, I've run that thing. I don't think that that's particularly even close. But largely division stinks. Are they as good as and ready to go toe to toe with Kansas City, Buffalo, whoever else winds up being the best teams standing at the end of the AFC? My gut feeling is they will be. But this was a step back, there's no, there's really no other way to say it. - Mike, look, we know you're a die-hard Jets fan. Take it from a die-hard Packer fan. It was excruciating for me when you got on the air in Rogers train over a year before he was available. And, you know, got the word out there, but you got your guy. It's been kind of up and down so far with him. And I've seen signs of the old air. And what is your expectations for this season? What would be a satisfying season for you realistically? And then what would be disappointing? - Well, I mean, so there's so many different layers to that. I mean, disappointing, let's sort of finish the season. It would be devastating. You know, players get hurt all the time. So if he misses a week here or there, that's not what I'm talking about. But if he has something happen like what happened last year, I may have to give up watching the sport. (laughs) So someone else may have to take over for me. I just don't know that I can do it anymore. Disappointing, I think, would be if the Jets remain relatively healthy and they don't make the playoffs. I think that would be a major disappointment. With the Jets, as most people probably know, have the longest current playoff drought of any team in the four major sports. So for me to sit here and say, they need to go from a team that has not played in a playoff game since January of 2011. So sit here and say that not making the Super Bowl would be a disappointment, would be setting yourself up to tell you, right? It's not, I don't think it's impossible, but it's not realistic. What I think are realistic expectations that Rodgers continued to build on what we saw last Thursday night and stays healthy, is I think the Jets could challenge Buffalo for the division, the Bills were great. And I think they have a chance to be among the last teams standing. Like I could see them and the Texans and the Bills and the Chiefs being the final four in the AFC. I could easily see that. I'm surprised at how good Baltimore hasn't been, at how good Cincinnati hasn't been. I'm not sold at Pittsburgh as enough offense to be there all year long. I mean, it's very early in the season, so some of those things will turn themselves around. But I think realistically, yet to the playoffs, win a game, it will be crushing in the short run if they don't go further than that. But I think realistically that it would be setting yourself up for failure to demand anything greater than that. - ESPN's Mike Greenberg joining us on the HRNP guest line, his new book Got Your Answers, the 100 greatest sports argument settled, can be found now on Amazon. Mike, who do you think's the best team in the NFL through three weeks? - I think Minnesota is the best team in the NFL. And I don't know that that means they're gonna stay that way. I think they've been the best team in the NFL through three weeks. I mean, they wiped a field with San Francisco and the Texans and those are two teams that I think we, popular Super Bowl picks. I know that the 49ers are banged up, but the Vikings are playing without, they're tight end who's gonna come back. They've played much of the way without their second best receiver, Jordan Addison. Their defensive coordinator is elite. And Brian Flores is a great example of someone, I think who, some people just cut out to be great coordinators and maybe not to be head coaches. His head coaching tenure in Miami looks worse. You know, the way you've seen them since his departure, but he is an elite coordinator. So I think they've been the most impressive team through three weeks, followed maybe closely by Buffalo. And Alan looks so good that offense is diverse, that offense is multiple. The new coordinators, I'm such a good job there, Joe Grady. The defense is, they've patched it together. At Sean McDermott and coach defense, man. And they've had, they've lost so many good players on that side, but they still look pretty good. So I would say to this point, the Vikings and the Bills have been, have looked to me like the two best teams. Mike, I'm curious because you are one of the faces of ESPN now and you've got so much on your plate with NBA countdown and Sunday NFL countdown and get up in the mornings. And I'm curious and also appreciative of your loyalty to still do your radio show. Is that something just because of the fact that it's kind of one of the things that really got you going and then really, you know, blew everything up? Or is it the, I'm just curious the background behind that because obviously you have so much on your plate. - I just enjoy it. I mean, you know, you guys, you don't need me to tell you there's nothing more fun than discerning a microphone on a talking. You know, everything else I do involves a great deal of structure and planning and sort of rigid framework and radio remains just a blank canvas every single day that I can sit down to and paint any way I wish for two hours. So yes, it is where my roots are from. Long before there was a mic and mic, I was doing radio in Chicago. I started out in radio in 1991. And so I will always love it. But the very simple answer to your question is, I do it because it's fun and not too many people get to do a job that is fun. - But it is most definitely fun. - And now an author too, a couple of times over and your new book got your answers, the 100 greatest sports argument settled. You can find it on Amazon. What's your favorite argument or two? - So here's the thing. I can't choose between them because there are 100 good ones. So what I have been doing in these conversations, let me quickly explain what the book is. So we decided that if there is one thing that all sports fans love to do, which are you. So you like, you think he's the best. I think he's the best, whatever the case may be. We like to sit and debate and argue it. So Humberland, I sat down and we identified the 100 best sports arguments. And then using extraordinary research, we just settled them once and for all. You will never lose a bar room argument again, as long as you live and Humberland includes 100 sneaky Humber trivia questions, which are great fun. But so the way I will do, the way I've been doing these interviews is, I will literally just open it up to whatever page it comes to and I'll read you that page. Who were the top 10 sports prodigies? This is absolutely one of my favorites. Top 10 sports prodigies. - Secretary. - The Secretary was a horse and does not count as a prodigy. So the top four are LeBron James at number four. Serena Williams at number three, Tiger Woods at number two. And each of them could have made a pretty legitimate claim to being the number one prodigy. Tiger Woods was on the Mike Douglas show when he was three years old. Serena Williams was interviewed by CNN when she was nine. LeBron James was on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was 17. However, and each of them wound up being arguably the greatest in the history of their sport. So we had to decide which one faced the most pressure in their youth. So I will call to your attention. The first interview Wayne Gretzky ever did, was for a newspaper. He keeps a copy of that newspaper article with him to this day. The headline reads, "Hole, Richard, Al, and Gretzky." Arguably the three greatest players in history at that point, and Gretzky, that was the headline. That was written when Wayne Gretzky was nine years old. And so we decided that that was a level of pressure that no other athlete had met. So Wayne Gretzky is the number one sports prodigy followed by Tiger Serena LeBron James. And the rest of the top 10 is Michael Phelps, Sidney Crosby, Ken Griffey, Jr., Nadia Comineche, Bob Feller, and Bryce Harper. And there are 100 just like that. So if you or anyone you know, anyone in your life loves sports debate, loves sports conversation, loves sports arguments, you will never lose a sports debate. Again, there are a hundred of them just like that. And I will also briefly tell you, if I may, that one of the pieces of feedback that we got from our book two years ago, was because we wanted so much in it, it was a big and expensive package. So we told the publisher, because we wanted our audience to not have to worry about this, the book is less than $15. We wanted it to be under $15, it's $14.95. And Amazon is actually running a special on it for the release. So if you order on amazon.com right now, got your answers as the title of the book, the author is me, it's under $14. And that's what we wanted as a way of trying to make it easier and more affordable for all of the people who listen to us on the radio every day and beyond. So that's the book and we couldn't be more thrilled with the way it's being received. - Whenever to win arguments with my co-hosts, I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna buy one for my co-hosts, but I'm not gonna give it to him. - Oh, I see. I'm not gonna give it to him. Mike, thanks so much for the time and I look forward to reading Got Your Answers. - Oh, thanks for having me on. - And Mike Greenberg of ESPN, Got Your Answers, the 100 greatest sports argument settled, came out yesterday, I get it on Amazon, Greenie talked about the deal you can get now, it's affordable, any sports lover would love it in the book, Greenie and Producer, Himbo, tackle the 100 most debated questions in the sports talk world. And it sounds very, very good. We appreciate Greenie for the time. All right, who do you wanna play in the first round? 713-780-3776, it is the B's on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. - Listen up, ESPN 97-5. - Owning a rental property sounds like a dream until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. Determine a competitive rent price, market the property, schedule the showing screen, tenant's draft at the lease at a rent collection, handle maintenance request, maintain communication. - Whew, sound complicated? 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