The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
11/08 Hour 3- DJ Bien Aime Joins in to Talk Texans vs Detroit Lions
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It's a little tart, a little tangy, you can't get any better than that. Give yourself a boost today with this sweet sparkling wine from Stella Rosa. I raise a glass to my good friend DJB NMA because of the fact that he's not just going to do one segment. You get a double banger, two segments of DJ on a Friday and to that I raise a glass and I will salute one Brian. I will raise a glass and make my toast to the Rockets big game tonight against Oklahoma City. It's been a fun start to the season and I'm glad we have meaningful Rockets basketball in the city again. After they went away for a few years. There you go. DJ, you're not going to raise a glass to anybody because that's as crowded as you can get. It's very tasty by the way. I don't drink it. Why don't you put your pinky on? Because I'm not fufu. You got to stick your pinky on. The sheet says this is perfect to share with a few loved ones or just yourself. Which is what you can do when you love regardless. I mean I guess but I want you to go on to them. Why not? But you love yourself. I do love myself. There you go. But you know more people in this world should love themselves. Yeah great. It's a healthy fact. In Texas fans should love them. Are going to need to love themselves after something. Yeah let's get into that. Be calm for a lot. Enough of this fufu. Let's raise a finger. Well not not yet. Let's talk about this Texans game and what a lot of people have raised a finger to was the Jets game. Yeah. And since then I'm sure your job has been made easier by the fact that social media has been completely calm and not worried or concerned at all about the offensive line or anything to do with our favorite football team. But this is a chance to get back on the national stage, set the record right, set the tone and make amends for what happened Thursday night on a short week. The big question to me is we hear the comments coming out of camp this week. We hear everybody talking. But we don't even know what the changes might be or who is actually going to fill in for Kenyon Green do we? I mean if Jared Patterson is good at go he'll fill in I think that's pretty easy. But wait a minute now. If they're keeping it this secret Jeremy never talked about this earlier. Is there and the fact that they would not say no to the chance that they could move Titus. You don't think that that's a possibility? I think it's on the table. I think it's on the table. I just feel like on the offensive line I probably let me tie doesn't want to play left guard though. That's that's the thing. We know that but again if you're Jeremy Branham you don't care about feelings. Yeah. For sure. But again like is Blake Fisher. That's where I'm at. If is Blake Fisher a better right tackle than Jared Patterson is at left guard. You know that that's a fair question. It is. You know because again but I will say this though and I think the way the NFL is looking the way the NFL is changing like I would rather have the tier of my office line stout versus my my tackles like when if your guy has good pocket presence like TJ does I rather have a great interior officer line or from a past blocking standpoint compared to you know with oh so so tackles versus really good tackles and so so to below average interior officer line because the way teams are looking like now you can really really affect the quarterback with stunts games things of that nature and you can really throw them off because pressures in the face that they're going to drop their eyes and now instead of trying to get the ball downfield they're over here worried about what's literally in front of the versus fit to the side and peripheral if they're good enough they've trained themselves to be able to feel it and move while keeping eyes downfield DJ what do you feel like the confidence is in the building right now that they fixed some of their offense line is just I mean they put Chris Strauss right there to talk to the media they they've been saying that seemingly since week one like we know what the problem is we've seen we we know the stunts are giving us issues but the same things keep happening like do you feel like they have a confidence that they're closer to getting this fixed I think I think the confidence is is solid I don't I think because I think at this point right we're in we're in week 10 still an issue so for me if we're in week 10 still a problem you know confidence goes down as time progressive a problem is still persisting the confidence is going to start to weigh in just a little bit you know it feels like it's it's a little bit of coaching a little personnel it feel like they can't do anything right in that aspect of times right because you go into the Jets game who comes with the idea to single block Quinn and Williams with King and Green I don't know if the King and Green is probably happy about that no how can you be yeah it's like wait wait like cuz thing about it from his perspective he's getting chewed out all the time so if it's like yo y'all fooling me out I'm not doing my job obviously I know I'm not doing this playing as well as I need to play I've been benched why would now you guys ask me to now block you feel you can get right against one of the best dt yeah yeah one-on-one by myself like I get it like I'm an NFL player but still like that's not a recipe for success for me you know I'm saying like even even if just playing the time you see like a really really good right tackle going against a really good edge rusher and they still have a tied in the chip block running back the chip block like you you think the Lane Johnson if he goes against TJ watt the Eagles aren't gonna send a tied-in item have a running back chip item of course they are because it's still TJ watt and if you mess a good thing with O line and offensive line play right if they mess up it could ruin the entire game right so why even put that on the table you know I remember I was doing my own TV thing with a pep and chance a pep on you know air he mentioned how when he used to be the Colts offensive coordinator every time they play the Texans he got a call from Jay Mercer and Jay Mercer would always say the game plan is to double team JJ you are right you know and it's not like you know our grand the coast didn't have a good offers a line during his tenure there with Andrew Luck but still even they did you always got a send extra help that wins so the fact that they didn't send extra help to King Green is insanity because they did it the week before it before his buckner so why aren't you doing that with King Green you know so get TJ at the KPRC 2 app and the KPRC plus live stream whenever he and Chancellor Johnson and Pep Hamilton do talking football I appreciate I appreciate the home of Lisa Hernandez on top of that DJ again there's a lot of coach speed coming out of course a lot of fluff that I don't like the fact that Casaria went out with Vandermeer and Johnny and basically was like I mean the trade deadline it's you know it's for teams one guy's not gonna change everybody but one guy could have changed it to some degree because to your point which I've been harping on to this hasn't gone away in a week or two it was started with the penalties it started with the tonsillitis and then it's gotten all the way to the point that here we are in week 10 and you can't tell me that there isn't some veteran out there that might be at least serviceable because as you and we all three of us talked about and it came to fruition Kendrick Green can't play dead and he's on the roster so even if you found depth that could have helped you right like that coupled with the fact that we're still talking about the line and we got a six and three team that people are talking about like they're one of the worst teams in the league it's extremely frustrating yeah and I get the anger I get the anguish I get all of that I do semi agree with Nick about it because I'm I'm of the monster there's somebody available that's worth that's quality that you could put out of guard they wouldn't be available I'm I'm pretty staunch in that I'm Nate Davis in Chicago Baltimore head his name is but you they had the guy that a guy that used to be a starter and then the numbers games he got left out used to be used to be start but at the same time they're better than Kendrick Green for sure but I don't think you put in any of those guys like it's gonna change the issues that they're having you know because again like their issues is more of a chemistry communication issue so they have a chemistry communication issue bringing somebody else has no chemistry or communication with these guys they're trying to build that on fly I don't know if that's gonna improve it that much to an extent I think that you got some of the better plans really be improved their communication but again like there's times where Kendrick Green just you know unfortunately can't block some of the guys in front of him either so I mean I think what the issue is they didn't do enough in offseason to improve your office line so that's the big issue they banked on juice and they banked on Keny Green getting way better and those guys haven't got much better um even honestly I feel like well Keny Green didn't play last year but is he is he that much better than he was his rookie year not necessarily right so I think that's kind of where they banked on and where they kind of came up short and they they they try to hit a homerun on that and they missed yeah so I mean kind of all what you just said DJ we've heard some audio from guys like Chris Sims there's been a lot of like wild speculation about the Texans and I call their handling protection Sims went as far as to say they're not teaching CJ protections there's been a question back and forth is that CJ is the juice calling the protections which would kind of go to the maybe the question of their communication like who from what your feel of it who's calling the protections and are they I know it sounds ridiculous but are they teaching CJ project protections like Chris Sims is a insinuating yeah absolutely yeah for sure teaching CJ protections he just he doesn't call I mean it's just how they they operate you know the couch and a hand tree like guys don't handle the center handles protection and that's how that's how this is Miami that's how it is in San Francisco that's how it is probably in Green Bay obviously that's how it was in New York when Salah was there with Michael Fleur you know was that Wilson he was the center of Conner Governor and he was handling the protection that's just kind of how it goes juicy handling the protections and guys have told me that he he's doing a good job there it's just more like there are times it's just for me it feels like it's more of a communication thing across the board and again like King and Green struggling there and you sometimes also possibly hearing they're making the wrong line call but I have one guy telling me like there are times where you know the call might not even reach the tackle right because it's dead because you know because a lot of the issues with a kind of protection sometimes happens to obviously at home but their bigger issues are on the road you can tell like guys really aren't on the same page because they can't and you know get the call all the way across the board so I think it's more that than any thing out they may be juicing to a bad job of like being vocal making sure that everybody knows what it cuz the center of the old line is the quarterback of the old line so I think that um he obviously is being taught protection but it's not it's not his job he's mentioned now he's wanted to you know at times take over that and you know call some protections but that's you know that's not in his I think when you talk about those kind of things and I'm on the same page with you but I think that a couple of things can be true I think Greg Cosell really nailed it in the fact that it's not to the level of David Carr and having CTE every time you drop back but a lot of the issues are not just that there's the rush is coming but in the internal clock in CJ's head he he's thinking hey I'm getting rushed a whole lot quicker than I was a year ago no matter who was on the offensive line for short for sure yeah no I agree that I mean last year his time to throw was close to 3.2 seconds but like he was middle of the pack in the NFL in terms of um pressure rate right which speaks to like the old line was doing her job in terms of blocking they just could have a run block well enough and now that should have run blocking great but they can't home power block very effectively I think a lot of it too is again um you know uh they their old line last year had more I mean granted you know Titus miss a decent amount of time you had George fan but you know shock was playing a little bit better they had more veterans on the interior but then again Jerry Patterson played a lot at center um and I guess you say Michael Deeter just having that veteran presence might have helped a little bit too but I also think teams have a better idea on how to attack Bobby so it's um past protections you know I'm saying so I think a lot of this year I don't want you to wear exposed because exposed make it seem like you know something was a fraud right now you've exposed it for who they really are you put it on tape enough and people start to understand that hey you know it's not just the stun it's the spin it's the way you react when you see what's coming right but you stay with it too long there's a lot that goes into it because throwing straws are out there to me at first I was like whoa they're throwing the throwing them to the wolves and just letting them fend for himself but then when you hear the things that he's talking about it goes to what you just said communication and then the way that the continuity works on the offensive line something's changed yeah because the three veteran guys I don't know for whatever reason but I would think those guys have the same level of communication they've had the same level experience they are paid at a certain level to say they're supposed to be pretty damn good at their jobs right and it's all the way across the board it's easy to point at left guard but it's continuity across the board yeah I know which is which is so surprising um because at the end of the last year that wasn't necessarily an issue and you had four well get it granted George fan was playing at right tackle but again like you still had like veteran guys and across the board so I think it's more teams have a better idea on what Bobby actually do what his protection ideas are because even though like yeah um teams coming in well last year they could have an idea based off of what Kyle Shanahan did but at the end of the day that necessary isn't going to be what Bobby does and now they have a really really good idea on what situation what they like to call and things of that nature and they've been able to counter it so you know unfortunately they haven't been able to fix it I can't believe we've gone this far in the conversation without mention Nico Collins name which it's I hope you can shed some light on this mystery because I mean we we heard the reports that you know he put past the test he was ready to go but then he wasn't activated Wednesday Thursday he's activated today do you what do you take it do what do you take it this is this is this more game ship or is this it comes in eco yeah um but why did it take so long that's a good question I mean I think they're a little bit nervous basically I've talked to they're a little bit nervous and not couldn't want to be aggravated um and you know they're pretty cost me to come to hamstrings um they're very like I don't know last year when Stingley heard his hamstrings he was out eight weeks and I'm pretty sure he could have came back a little bit earlier but he would but he was out eight weeks so um when he comes to hamstrings like you know again like Damien Pierce out for a few weeks and his was he we didn't even see him get hurt on his hamstrings he missed like I want to say two to three games so sometimes they're just very cautious and because they don't want it to pop back up because it's very clear with Niko they need them like if they if they want to get anywhere this year Niko has to be healthy balling because I was looking at some of the numbers when CJ had Niko granted he had Niko and Stefan but with Niko the first five weeks he was third in passing 10th in touchdowns and 10th in passer rating since then I think he's like 17th in yards he's throwing like four touchdowns and he's completely like I think it's like 18 for completion percentage so the drop off is Steve Granite the last six quarters have been without Stefan Diggs but still you still have Stefan and Tank and you you you had your worst game of your career from a passing standpoint and even the game with a pace to put up 41 like 41 he only had he had under 20 yards passing so it's been very clear granted you know Olai and things of that nature so it's a multiple of things but Niko was like his get out of jail free card well not only that when you're talking about the the perfect storm you're dealing with offensive line issues what's the way that you handle it you go off script you get out of the pocket you move the pocket you roll out well who was a security blanket well every time he got out of the pocket he found Niko the timing was there the throws were there he knew where he was going to be you know Niko knew what he had to do and now suddenly you want to get a throw to Metche in particular in the Jets game where it's like that's Niko that's right on time yeah yeah I remember that because like you know that was that should have been a touchdown yep you know I'm saying like I don't know Zach when you're talking about it's funny like there are two plays to Metche where it felt like you know could have been really big plays in that game and you know just not having that timing or now we say that confidence because I think he has pretty good confidence in Metche but in a day like confidence in somebody in chemistry with somebody two totally different things right like I can have all the confidence in the world I can do radio with you and believe we can knock out a part but we still gotta build that chemistry granted we know we hit it out of the park it's like Golan's dating life he can have all the confidence in the world but he is where he struggles with is the chemistry that's true that's true that's true you know Golan is a little bit of a lunatic so that makes sense why you know he struggles there sometimes but that's okay we still love him right but again you know not everybody can have chemistry like you and me at the um at the horse race track you know we did a whole show we did a whole show three hours you know what I'm saying but you know um again CJ has that chemistry with Niko it's dating all the way back to second he was a starter last year no doubt all right so there's a little bit of the the the the Texans nuts and bolts now let's get into the brass tacks of the actual Lions game so we're gonna take a quick break we're gonna come back and we're gonna continue with DJB enemy the the beat writer for ESPN covering your Houston Texans before we do that I want to tell you about my good friend before we do that I want to say about good friend doc Linville doc Linville best in the business at the Neograph procedure and at PRP treatments if you don't know what that is what you're struggling with hair loss I'm here to tell you it's the answer it's the answers that get you that lush hair that you always had when you were 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you listen to us you listen to me you want to talk to him and you want the info go to 975 hair calm right now get a free consultation everybody off the street pays a hundred fifty bucks you don't pay a cent no signing on the dotted line no money out of pocket no commitment to be made just a Q&A after they explain everything to you to see but might be the solution to your hair loss it was for me it was for Granato it can be the same way for you to check him out today tell him I sent you by there right here in the med center go to 975 hair com coming to you live from the Veritex community bank studios it's the killer bees on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 here's Joel Blanket Jeremy Brannam hey happy to say DJB NMA is going to be with us for another segment right here for you leading into Sunday night football with your Texans and the Detroit Lions the Thunder kitties coming in one of the hottest teams in the NFL and your Texans trying to get right quick as we've been talking about with the problems with the offensive line the offense getting Nico back all those things you look at it DJ and for me it's like look watching that green bay game against Detroit a week ago they were able to run the football Josh Jacobs was able to run on the Detroit defensive line we know that the one thing that has been right about the Houston Texans even with the offensive line is Joe mixin has been a dog DAWG he is he has been carrying this football team in a lot of ways can the Texans efficiently and successfully run the football against this Detroit team I think so I think so they've proven it throughout the year when they have Joe they can run a ball on damn near anybody so I would say absolutely and the thing is they can do it they can do it when it's an obvious run situations and when their passing attack isn't working and all they can do is run and there's been times where they still been able to run which is very impressive which is why Joe mentioned every game he's finished he's held 100 yards rushing the only game where he wasn't able to have them as excessive as the Bears he got hurt but he got hurt in a third related like early third quarter he wasn't even having that much success in that game but they've done a good job being able to run the football this year with Joe and I think that I'll continue and it has to because if not when because I don't think Nico's gonna play this week by the way I want to make that really yeah they don't so you don't need to activate no they don't usually one practice usually isn't enough for for the Texans okay I remember I remember you heard the national reports and you heard Aaron Wilson and other people saying oh he's ahead of schedule and he's he's running at full speed again and all these things yeah but you know they're you know sometimes they're just they're cautious when it comes to soft tissue injuries which is you know bear to them so so I think that if they can't run the ball if they can't run the ball and they have to rely on their their passing attack only it could get pretty bad and not pretty bad but it could be very dangerous in a in a tricky situation so Tom from Jersey is calling in DJ with a question for you from me specifically Dom what's going on killer bees Dom from Jersey is in the age I will be there Sunday night I'm here for my bachelor party this weekend getting married excited about this Texan game I'm excited about the roof being open I'm excited about those fire red helmets Niko's got a play I don't want to hear it any other way Rico Niko needs to play he looked healthy today dance it around on the field he needs to be out there Sunday we are going to dominate the lion I'm Owen 12 being the Houston Texans live in person that changes this Sunday oh boy I'll be in the blue lot getting ready for this game go Texans Owen 12 though Dom Owen 12 I love you for calling all the time and being loyal to us your loyalty to the Texans is in question DJ has every right to do that your loyalty to call in on an interview segment and not ask a question is something that needs to be questioned as well and if you lose you can call in and own it but you are going to get hammered by everyone in the blue lot and everywhere else if you don't get a victory after all oh yeah I know Owen 12 is crazy that's terrible let's take cruise route I would just stop showing up Owen 12 like how do you how do you did well all his games in 2021 no he's he spread out like I think he goes to a couple a year or whatever but like first of all do you do you claim that out loud because that literally is something that you look at and go you're bad luck dude yeah Owen 12 let me see I mean I've never gone I mean you know my record in the games that I covered was pretty bad at one point it was actually like really up until last season I think my the record and games that I covered had to be seven no no no no because four plus three yeah so seven the math for 21 you're not analytics guy are you 37 so it was 731 37 37 and 1 because the first year I ever covered the hula oval Cardinals was 2018 when Bobby Petrino got fired and they went to in tonight year my first year coming to Jets 4 and 13 my first year coming to Texans 3 13 and 1 I heard he wasn't a very good motorcycle driver yeah I don't think so either no but that's okay but I don't know if Niko's gonna I mean I don't think Niko's gonna play so I know he should be out there he's dancing all that etc etc but I don't know if he's gonna so the odds are definitely completely stacked against yeah because yeah yeah I mean I thought how do they buck the trend how do they beat the Detroit Lions yes they're at home stop the run stop the run because you're a golf ball you're gonna play I don't think I basically see now that's a problem there then too yeah yeah yeah I mean it's not ideal I mean I mean hey stop the run for his year golf in the third and long since he's like 25th and 30 longs this year I think he's he's 30 longs like third and seven and longer force him into those situations he's been good in those situations but still you have a higher success rate when you force teams into consistent 30 longs um you gotta be good in the red zone you know what actually even going on how they finish in second half I think they're gonna be tight in the first one well we know they won't make it adjustments I think they make it just I well it's not pointing it's something that's going on in the second half yeah there is they're not scoring touchdown yeah so they're red zone efficiency goes from like 73 percent in the first half for touchdowns the 39 and second half 31st in the NFL the red zone efficiency is bad across the board defensively it's roughly around the same in terms of percentages teams just don't get there as often first half versus second half but second half you know what teams get there they do they do capitalized for whatever reasons um but offensively it's like do like I think they've had four games this year where they better save that one they haven't scored touchdowns in second half bears they've gone over three games without a touchdown in the second half really yes yes well they've only outscored an opponent one time in the second half the entire season Patriots that's bad that's awful yeah I know so you're not exactly painting a picture of the most of success for the Texans on Sunday because if Foley's out they're gonna have a tough time stopping the run we know that you want to get a pass rusher on the statue that is Jared Goff and Will's not playing I mean you know and now Nico might not play it's another we do it and take out popped up on the report even Sunday if Joe if you can get if you can get Joe run in um I think it's one of those games Joe's gonna stop the run too right he's gonna get there in the D line well you can you you can you know minimize the game shorten the game just a little bit you can shorten the game a little bit by running off effectively but I would say um this is gonna be a great opportunity for CJ to learn how to play like a game manager and really manage the game where all right so you're gonna outgolf golf well I mean you know golf has been pretty close to this year and so has five yard ten yard passes yeah but that's what's something you got to do you know what I'm saying like I'm I know CJ can do it it's not something we've been accustomed to doing he's more like he wants to cut your throat right but this might be one of those game where you kind of got to like think and dunk your way all the way up the field and be fine with being patient and and being staying within the flow of the game and not trying to do too much because I throw in 10 to basically a punt or a field goal right so your point you want to run a clock too right because you don't want to give a team that's been blowing the doors off a team and putting monster points on the board right you know as you want to limit it how many times they touch the football yeah absolutely and that can help you especially if you can run the football that's what happened we get in the Jets game the Jets game reverse the suggested to the Texans in the second half they really like shrunk the game I think they only had if my memories correct I mean they might have like what four possessions could adjust the I mean obviously unfortunately I want to touch and touch and touch the touchdown but all their touchdown driver were long they weren't they weren't short drives yeah and again adjustments were made all over the board we just didn't see them but but but when you look at this game it's like well what if they lose right because everybody's so down already everybody's acting like this team it's just you know the the sky is falling but if you lose to a good football team the main thing is are you competitive are you are does the line look better I don't know what that means because you're already going to be pointing at hey you're not playing with will you probably not playing with both you're probably not playing with Niko Brian asked like we saw tank Dela show up on the injury reports today okay well that's good to hear because if you don't have tank and you don't have Niko then you might as well just freakin throw the light flag put Davis most in at that point yeah right let's go let's go set it going out on a limb let's just stick our neck out and put Davis up oh god that's a good that you're welcome oh I mean I think that if they lose right even if it's not competitive I I almost I don't care about this game but for me it's a loss doesn't change anything for me a win will be nice but that still doesn't change anything for me right okay but but it should if if if and I don't I don't recall where we were on this if you thought they were an upper echelon top three-ish team in the AFC three to four in the AFC then it should matter because I'm with you that with four days rest against the Jets and the Jets you know desperate and everything like that I wrote that one off as a loss yeah me too but with this one at home on Sunday night this is the one that I thought at the start of the season hey they're going to be competitive at home and they got a shot yeah so if they get blown out still wouldn't bother me wow because it's an NF3 team and if they want it we we talked about swivel aspirations for this team you don't have to be any NFC team to get to the swivel so that's kind of how I look at it for me my measuring sticks are you know what's going to be the bills game the Chiefs game the Ravens game and before the Dolphins fell apart the Dolphins game those are going to be the four of the main four and I guess you know how you did it with the Colts and the Jets but you know they're not they're not good teams and it was pretty clear once the season guy here you know it was going to be the Texans division to lose so for me it was always going to be those four games and if they let's say they get blown out by the Ravens or the Chiefs now I'm waving a white flag right and that's later in the season I get all that but I think that again it kind of goes back to what you deem to be a successful season if they do what they did a year ago they win the division they win the opening round of the playoffs they get to the division around and they lose is that a success a lot of people will say no because the bar got set to a different level when you did what you did maybe a year or so I had a schedule by doing what you did last year for sure and now suddenly you're looking at it and going well you could play tough schedule and all things I was kind of harp on I'd start of the year but even I started buying in this seems better than I thought they were going to be and then to finish like that what suck yeah not for sure you know I agree there but you know back to the end of the seat point me I remember when the Chiefs played the Bucks in 2020 the Chiefs ran all over the Bucks and then when they saw them again later on the season the Chiefs handled the Chiefs so for me when it comes to the inner conference rivalry games things of that nature it made those type of big games like they're cool for like Monday morning discussion and Tuesday afternoon discussion and things of that nature but for me when it comes to really evaluating this team is you're still going to come down to like how they look in December if they're handling business against the Chiefs and the Ravens like those are like they're those are the true measuring sticks because the Ravens defensively aren't that good but Lamar is playing the best he's ever played and if you show that you can't handle that then you know I'm like and the Chiefs right the Chiefs you gotta if you want to prove that you can you're legitimate you got to beat them not play the Chiefs close because when it comes to the Chiefs it's not about beating it's not about playing them close you got to beat them to prove that you're a legitimate contender and I get your point on the NFC think but here's the rebuttal for me would be go ahead it's an NFC team yes for sure but if you get your doors blown off the voices are only getting louder about your o-line if your o-line doesn't perform well for sure about CJ if he doesn't have numbers and he doesn't perform well yeah and then about every coach and everything in between to where it's just going to key and then they say they're not listening but then they say they're listening and then it's it's like this is going to steam roll for sure but after the Lions game to play the Cowboys Titans and Jags and they'll probably go 3 and 0 in that stretch probably they'll probably go 3 and 0 in that stretch so there yeah there'll be six and there'll be six and four but then the blink of mind there'll be nine and four and now what happened on Sunday night football on a random November what happens if Parsons and maybe Lawrence comes back when they run rough shot on the same offensive line and suddenly you are in the Jags or if God forbid you lose to the Cowboys that'd be bad now now now because because at that point now you just lost through Cooper Rush and a team that is really refating that doesn't like your strengths your strengths are the Cowboys weaknesses which is you can they can really run the rock then get press and the just can give me that just the Texans can get pressure so for me if you lose that Cowboys game when you're built to beat the Cowboys now we have bigger issues but for me it's more you know I think they'll lose this game but after that there'll be nine and four and then it's really about how do you handle because they even though they mind me their record isn't good I think that'll be a tough game mainly because of their playmakers um the obviously the Ravens game and then the Chiefs game and I think if you can come out of that stretch two and one are you good but for me the one the the one in my opinion can't be the Chiefs game that's just me I feel like I feel like with teams like that you have to give your team confidence that you can actually beat that team because think about it who on that team is to actually beat the Chiefs in their career like in a game that actually mattered besides Joe Nixon yeah that's it exactly like Jimmy Ward hasn't yeah Diggs was in great games with them but he did yeah yeah he's not playing in the game right Niko right but I mean but yeah yeah a guy that at least had been there but right right yeah exactly it's what I'm saying so like it's a meaningful football time I don't know if Daniel Hunter ever with the vibe I don't like I'm saying like who who like when it comes to teams like that you have to beat them to give you the reason why the Bengals can go toe to toe with the Chiefs no matter what's going on with them is because they beating the Chiefs when it's mattered most and we see the Bills they always beat the Chiefs in regular season but they always lose in the playoffs and we've seen the Ravens and similar ideals like being the Chiefs from a psychological standpoint matters because the Chiefs in those close games they have so much confidence because they know like well plus you know what you also got the the kryptonite that is the Baltimore Ravens and the fact that you cannot beat them yeah and so that's gonna be hovering so for me if they if they lose to the Dolphins but they beat the Chiefs and Ravens all right soo ball on if they beat the Dolphins but lose to the Chiefs they beat us right this down Brad DJ says they're going to lose Sunday and then they're going to end up nine and four yeah yeah write it down yeah that's what we have to do we have to live with our predictions yeah yeah and then if I'm wrong I'll say I'm wrong and then go on by my name welcome to the world of awful announcing yep yep but again like if they I think they'd be nine and four but if they can you know if they beat I think I'd be happy if they beat the Dolphins beat the Ravens and I'd be good with that I I'd be totally good with that don't but don't let Jeremy Branham have that kind of ammunition he has ruined Aaron Wilson just telling you he never let he never forgets whoa whoa forgets what when you make a prediction like that and it doesn't come true uh because he never lets anybody forget that Aaron Wilson said that Demico Ryan's was not gonna be just just just saying all right we appreciate you brother thank you for hanging around for a little extra time too that is DJ BnMA you can catch him as he covers the Texans for ESPN he will be covering the game that he says they're gonna lose on Sunday night not that I'm making any kind of a big deal about it but rest assured they're gonna win the three games after that so they're gonna be fine we're gonna be fine too be back and I are gonna have you all the way till six o'clock coming back right after the break right here in ESPN 97 5 and ready to fight with him coming to your life in a Faraday text community bank studios it's the killer bees on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 here's Joel Blanken Jeremy Branham Branham out Beimak and I are in taking you up until the top of the hour at 6 p.m. getting ready for a little Aggie basketball this evening I believe in about 30 minutes after we're off the air but Brian and I said I gave south impersonation Dave sound the Texas Aggies that's what I'm talking about that's why Dave used to sound when he used to call games the longtime voice of the eggs Brian you heard what DJ said love having DJ in appreciate the extra segment and hanging with us a little bit with Jeremy a little under the weather and having to do some other things but not a breath of sunshine and rainbows when you're looking at not even his fault I appreciate his honesty I think that the big thing for me is you look at it and say well if you don't expect Nico to play even if he did finally practice and wills out and Foley might not play well even at full strength this would have been an uphill battle but if you're looking at it now you're like well damn you know now it's like how much is going to be written against us before we even take the field yeah no if what DJ said is true that Nico's not going to play plus you're already dealing with Will Anderson thankfully he said tanks can be fine and play even though he popped up on the injury port today with a with a back injury if all those things are true it feels like the line should be bigger than a three and a half point favorite honestly but I think the thing that I was most encouraged with what DJ said is his expectation that the Texans should be able to run on the Lions and it kind of fits up with the numbers because you look at like overall the Lions per game on like a per game basis haven't allowed much but then when you really think about it's partly because they their offense is running up the score of these teams and teams fall so far behind that they have to abandon the run because on a per rush basis the Lions are actually like 20 something in the league against the run so they actually haven't been that get as good against the run so if the Texans are able to even with Will Anderson out keep the Lions from running away from them and putting them in a spot where they have to abandon the run then hopefully the run game with Joe mixin and how great and explosive he's been it makes up for some of the gap that you might lose with Nico possibly being out it just sounds like even if you do all those things and you have ball control and you have sustained drives and mixin is having some success they're just so many weapons that can beat you in such a talented offense and they're really playing their best football right now that it sounds like that's still a recipe for a game that like you said is more like a touchdown to a 10 point game than it is a two and a half to three point game yeah look I'm not feeling optimistic about something we didn't have a chance to get to with with DJ there was like just the slot coverage that we've seen we've talked about it with with Petrie in his struggles and maybe now that Akuta's coming back there could be a future even in the not so distant future for the Texans were Kamari last year slides inside maybe that helps fix some things if good Akuta can man an outside corner spot but I mean Jameson Williams back and Almond Raw actually plays a lot in the slot even though he's our number one wide receivers so we've seen how Petrie's gotten abused by the Jets Josh Downs at the Colts has abused them he's not good when manned up on on a guy on especially an obvious passing situations he's basically a linebacker at safety so I'm worried about I mean obviously a lot of things to the Lions because they're arguably the best team in the league but that might be near the top of my list if you can't get to the golf as much because Will Anderson's out and you have to deal with possibly Almond Raw lining up against Jalen Petrie that's gonna be that's gonna be tough to deal with my big thing Brian is is if I'm gonna pick my poison and say is it either on the offense or on the defense I'm gonna put it solely on the defense because I think that if you can create a pass rush you can make golf a little bit uncomfortable and he's not gonna outrun you so I think that you can have an advantage there if you can stop the run at all and the ends are holding the edge because they're getting some some pressure into the backfield now you're limiting what they can do offensively when they've been exploding and then from the standpoint of like you said if your corners can at least initially hold coverage because he does like to get it out of his hands quickly because he isn't mobile and he does like to hit Almond St. Brown in the in the in the slot we saw it against Green Bay last week where they run a lot either inside slot or outside out routes even on the goal line to where that's where the bread and butter is for St. Brown but when you add the deep dread of Williams too now it's everybody in your secondary because now you've got to cover initially but your safeties are going to have to give you the help you need over the top and and getting Al Shire back helps but from a linebacker perspective with Foley out that's where it's going to be so key that that second level coming up to make sure that they don't run wild on yeah I'm look there's a I think I'm more afraid of the lion's offense right now than I am their defense and the defense is good but I mean a lot of the things you ran off there frighten me I mean I don't think they can stop this lion's rushing attack one because Gibbs and and Montgomery are really good but without Will Anderson who's been really get against the run obviously you're losing a guy that could set the edge you're out Tim Settle a guy in the middle it's great that you get his Z's back but that's still a spot at linebacker where they were a little thin because obviously Christian Harris is not back till maybe week 15 like we heard earlier in the week I don't know if they can stop the run and I I have no like it's little confidence I have is them and being able to stop the lion's rushing attack I have even less faith that they could stop whoever the lions put at in their slot and even if that's even that's not um unraw they could put you know obviously Jameson Williams who's back from his latest suspension there and he's got the speed to burn Jalen Petrie and so that Samuel Porter hasn't had a great year but I don't think it's talent drop they just haven't needed them maybe he's the guy that beats you over the middle field so the lions just have so many options down settled down down Will Anderson it's it's it's pretty scary yeah it really is and I think that you know we don't want to be the Debbie Downers but the reality is that you call what you see and even at full strength as we we're talking about with DJ that this was going to be a tough matchup but if you're going to go into this football game and tell me the guys that are going to be super important to doing some of the things you need if you're going to stop this team are going to be out well then then you've got real issues because even at linebacker it you know you got a guy like white who you added but is white going to be a guy that can help you on the D line no probably not you're going to be relying on Autry but Autry's probably already going to be on the outside because it's going to be filling in for Will Anderson and you're going to have DEs that are going to be you know rotating throughout the defensive line and moving around that sets up beautifully if you put outside passrushers inside to the fact that Montgomery and Gibbs are going to have their way and so it's all problematic you hope for the best but I think right now most people if you ask them are expecting the worst so we'll see what happens all right let's hope for a Texans victory well you know what this time of the day it is and when Jeremy out we get to avoid my least favorite segment of the week because we can avoid mean text but it is time for the car wreck of the day on a Friday uh for you guys leading into the weekend This is the car wreck of the day well you heard the man we do it now five days this week Brian let's uh let you lead it off once again as I throw to you your first nominee would be uh yeah this got buried uh amongst a great game last night and also got buried by the ending with the terrible refereeing uh and that's another nominee but John Harbaugh in the first quarter when the bingles I think scored on the very first drive of the game through the challenge flat for flag and loss and I don't even really care that he lost because he challenged over three yards on a non-story play but in the first quarter like it was first and goal from the five the the bingles do a three yard pass that would have been second and goal of the two or their success was a challenge second and goal from the five like I am not challenging over you only get three challenges can you challenge over three yards in a non-screen play that really doesn't change the momentum or the outcome and all of that that possession I thought it was a very poor use of a challenge and that's a choice seems like premature speculation to try and throw the flag at that point in the game but it's just like yeah it's yeah Bill O'Brien was did this all the time but challenging over three yards in the first half it's insignificant yeah unless it's like unless it's picking the difference between a punt and extending the possession sure three yards of course but three yards when it has no bearings on on the on that no I I can't use a challenge I'm with you same game but different theme and that is exactly what you touched on you can't on national on national tv with everybody watching what was an outstanding football game missed the calls that they missed on the final final on the two-point conversion whether you want to call the holding or not or the past interference is one thing but if you're not going to call Joe Burrow getting smacked in the dome piece and then the face mask being tugged on the way down you're doing a disservice to the game the fans and everybody that's watching that game last night yeah let me like like we talked about earlier the show wasn't just one it wasn't just two it was three missed calls on that two-point try uh i mean gaseki clearly got held the the fender grab the shoulder pad and drag them to the ground and then they missed two on Joe Burrow the smacked to the helmet like you mentioned in the face mask and they missed the face mask on Joe Burrow earlier in the drive i mean i i'm never or at least rarely ever a guy to say oh you're bent to bows and you know no that you know that's 100 bend to bows block me i am the 180 of bend to bows but yeah the referees blew that one no doubt that's where i'm going that's my car wreck of the day i don't i don't know if you agree or not yeah yeah let's let's make a correct today the zebra stripes are the officials in last night's football game that'll do it for another successful week of the killer bees we appreciate you being a part of the hive for brian mcdonald and for jeremy who we hope gets better real soon we'll talk to you monday everybody stay tuned for a little national program before at your basketball at 6 30 right here on ESPN 97-5 and 92-5 FM loaded rate rule you're listening to ESPN 97-5 this season chevy brings classic pairings cookies and milk mistletoe and kisses and your holiday plans and a new chevy silver rotto 1500 gives you power and capability with 430 pound feet of torque to haul your holiday tree equinox tv and the all new equinox offer award-winning quality and style to see you through the holiday season see why chevy makes everything better and brighter chever lay together let's drive there's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally like growing up with a bank you can count on like being sure what you've earned is safe secure and local 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