The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
11/22 Hour 1- Really Could've Used That Snow as Strategy but Okay...
"Your child's first step is a big step towards their future. With first step by college invest, every Colorado child born or adopted on or after January 1, 2020 will receive a free $115 contribution to their college invest college savings account. Plus, we'll match a percentage of your contributions in the coming years helping you save even more. Enroll today and start your child off on the right foot. Visit ColoradoFirstStep.org to get started and claim your $115 now! "The Killer Bees!" ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 proudly present "The Killer Bees." "Definitely a fan of the Killer Bees." Don't sweat technique. Broadcasting live from a mobile Veritex community bank studios located at Twin Peaks at 59 in Kirby. "Presented by Doseckeys." Here's Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham. "What up, make sound?" "Hey, how are we doing?" He's blank on Branham, ages behind the glass of gal Brian on-site engineering, Twin Peaks at Kirby. You're looking for something to do on a Friday. Go see the boys. I'm broadcasting over at U of H, got a basketball game tonight, but go hang out with the boys. They'd love to see you, they'd love to have you alongside us, then we broadcasting of course until six o'clock. Yesterday we saw a snow game in the NFL, Blankers, a really good one, didn't start off that way. We had Adam Ronis on with us yesterday saying, "I think there might be a break in the weather." That didn't happen. It was snowing down there pretty good in the second half. Do you like snow games, especially up north a little bit? You know what, Jeremy, I enjoyed playing in them. I enjoy watching them from time to time. What I really have learned over the years because of the Packers shortcomings in the playoffs when the games matter the most is. I think it evens the playing field and it can be a detriment more than it's a positive, even if you're the team that plays in the cold weather more frequently. I say that because of the fact that if you're, say, a big time passing type offense, even though you play in cold weather, if you get the appropriate storm at the right time as a team coming in there, if you just manage the game, the way turnovers can happen in a moment's notice and unexpectedly because of the slippiness of the ball and the conditions, you can win a game that you might be a heavy underdog in simply because the elements are too much for either team to do anything but deal with the unexpected. You played foot, you played in the snow? Yeah. You played football? Well, I mean like in, you know, in college situations and in high school, the worst we got was we got early snow sometimes, but it was more flurries and stuff, but it would be more or less the, the after effects would be the really cold with the really mushy wet fields, not the like overall, I mean, look, as kids, we played, we wanted to play games in the snow. But yeah, just from the standpoint of playing in it, we would get flurries and then we would get the after, like playing in a mud bowl. I never knew you played football. How come I didn't know this? I played football in high school for sure. Yeah. Well, positions you play played tight end safety. Yeah, you did. Back and quarterback. Okay. I didn't know this about you. We should spend more time together. I played four sports in high school and two in college. Four sports. Mm hmm. All right. We had some football. No, we had summer baseball in golf in spring, so I was able to play both. Look at you. Four letters. Now it wasn't Wisconsin. I mean, you can roll out of bed and do that. Here we go. I knew that this was coming at some point. I like snow games too. I think they're fun now. I think it's kind of flooky if it happens in the playoffs like George Pickens. Listen to what George Pickens had to say after yesterday's game. George Pickens, dealer, wide receiver, he's trying to pick fights with everybody. He can pick fights with dates back to Georgia. Here is what he said after the game. George Pickens. What do you guys try to take away from this loss? What's the message, you know, in the locker room? Just keep grinding. Like I said, conditions play a huge, huge part of today's game. I don't really think Cleveland Browns are a good team. I don't know. I think the condition kind of saves them today. Okay. Like I kind of agree with George Pickens. Whatever he says that. Like I really do. I think it's a fluke to have it in the postseason and I know you can't control mother nature. There's open roof stadium so you can't really control this. But I agree with the theory, like if you get eliminated in the playoffs in a weather game, like whenever the the Raiders got beat by the Patriots and you know the snow plow game whenever they they wiped off the snow for Adam Vinateri, I do think it's flooky. Like I would be really ticked off. If my team got eliminated in the postseason in a snow game because I do think it's a great neutralizer. Well, so you look at the Packers games that they've lost in the Rogers era. It was three of the last four years when they got the including the last one against the Niners when you got a West Coast team that comes to Green Bay. But you make the bet the mistake that turns into the fumble or the interception or the block punt on top everything else and and suddenly it doesn't do you any good. Farve did the same thing. They were fifteen and one. Everybody said, you know, they were going to the Super Bowl and they played in an absolute below zero icebox like situation with the wind chill and they lost an overtime and and it used to be there. So it's a huge advantage for the home team and when the more you look at it and I would be interested in the analytics on all this when you look at it, I really do. I think it's it actually takes a lot of the spread out of the equation and even the playing field. Yeah. I agree with what George Pickens said. Like I look the Steelers have to look themselves in the mirror to and they lost to the Cleveland Browns and Jamis Winston. It was it was a short week and it was in the snow so I don't put a ton of stock. In the game, whatever I like, I'm thinking about what the Steelers are and where they stack up against the rest of the AFC and I'm in favor of a good snow game when it doesn't involve my team. But if my team is ever in the postseason and they get eliminated, whatever their favorites in the snow that probably never happened because it's not going to snow in Houston, it would tick me off. Watching this game and watching the Steelers loose. Do you think about the Texans seating at all? Like have you allowed yourself to go there? Not yet, not yet, not yet because of the fact that I, you know, I've just been so I guess of all of us, I've been the glass half empty on just like, you know, this team needs to still play better and get to a certain point. So I haven't, I haven't let my mind get to that situation yet, but I understand where you're going. Yeah. See, I thought about it in the fourth quarter yesterday and then if when the Browns won the game and I was like, yeah, let me look at the standings here real quick. There's still two back of Buffalo and I think your schedule is a little bit more difficult than Buffalo. So I'm not going to allow myself to go there completely, but you do have the tiebreaker on Buffalo. So like, I think it is something that you could start to monitor a little bit, like you're seven and four. You've played 11 games. You only have six games left in the season. If you could get back into that conversation, especially if you're a game back of Buffalo. Since you beat them in the head to head, you would have the tiebreaker over them and I also think it's critical. Like if the Houston Texans want to reach new heights, if the Houston Texans want to go somewhere that they've never gone before AFC conference championship game, I think that the path has to run through Houston. Like the Texans to me are a different team whenever they're playing at home versus when they're on the road for and one at home, three and three on the road, but also just look at it. I test wise, like the Houston Texans go on the road and they lose to the jets. They're at home and they beat Buffalo and they're very competitive with Detroit. In fact, led that game by 16 points at the half. So I think they're a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde. I think they're a little bit of, I think they're a little bipolar. I think they're a really good team at home. I think they're an average to above average team on the road. So if the ceiling for the Texans this year is AFC championship game and you're like banging on the table, they got to get to the AFC championship game is that if that's what makes this season a success, I really think that has to go through Houston. I feel like their chances of getting to an AFC championship game are pretty good. If they're a two seed, I feel like they're almost unrealistic if they're less than a two seed. I think that's accurate. I think that I was thinking two seed as well when you were setting that scenario up. Like you can't say you're not going to catch anyway, but can't say they can play on whatever field that they're playing on and their condition to play in it. They're fine. I think from a Baltimore perspective, the scary thing is just the fact that with adding some more weapons and a Derrick Henry, they can play traditional Ravens football, but they can also open it up a little bit more this year with all the receivers they have and they can play either way. But for you, it's more important because, yes, you have a running game, but your offense is predicated on the fact that if you're in good conditions and you're not dealing with the cold, the passing game is easier for CJ and for the receivers and even Joe Mixen who played in Cincinnati, I would think you probably have a better chance with traction and everything else playing at home. Yeah, I think that the Texans, it's critical, one nine seven zero four would play the chargers. Three seed would play the Ravens. I'm looking at it more from a two seed perspective, like, and I understand that it's a bit daunting because Buffalo schedule, you're too back to Buffalo right now, but you hold the tiebreaker. So if you can match Buffalo, now you're looking at the two seed, the bills the rest of the way. Now they do have a tough one against the 49ers this week, but will the 49ers have Brock party or a healthy Brock party? So I think it diminishes, you know, the chances of Buffalo losing that game. Then you go at LA cross country. That's not easy. Then you go to Detroit. The Packers play the Niners this week. Okay, the bills are on a buy then. The San Francisco it's on the server first. Yeah, so they're on a buy this week Buffalo. And then when they come off the buy, they take on San Fran, the first day of December, they're at LA. They're at Detroit. So like, if you're going to catch them and you're watching Buffalo a little bit of the standings, it needs to be over the next three, because their final three home for New England, home for the Jets at New England. So if you're if you're sitting back like, Hey, we got to get a two seeds, you can have home foot advantage up until the AFC championship game, you really need Buffalo to struggle the next three weeks after their buy. Yeah, you do because that's a different environment too, because when you talk about going to Buffalo, even as a Baltimore, Baltimore was what it was like 31 last year when they played the playoff game in Baltimore. When you go to Buffalo, the wind is a major factor too. And and all of the elements are in play there. And that's a totally different ball game to where it's a massive advantage. If you take a team from Houston and put them in that environment, as opposed to saying Kansas City or Baltimore, who's still playing cold temperatures and snow, they can they can handle that. I think in the AFC at the top of the AFC this season, Houston is at the biggest disadvantage other than Miami. We saw it last year with Miami, Miami, who had a very high powered offense, came into their playoff game in cold weather and snow and I think it was in Kansas City, but they had no chance of doing anything offensively because they're not used to playing in it. Yeah, yeah, texts are saying, I think that you want the Chargers see this is like, now you're looking, I think too much at the seating currently right now, because the Texans are the four seed right now. Chargers are the five seed. Of course, the four plays the five in the first round, three plays the six. So right now you match up against the Chargers. There's still a lot of football left to be played though. Like I'm not like, okay, I don't want to jump to the third seed because I'm trying to avoid a match up against the Ravens. And a lot can change between now and then it wouldn't shock me if the Ravens take over the Steelers and win the AFC North. So I'm not really worried about opponent right now. Well, still, I mean, you start a lot of games left. You have six games left. I'm not worried about opponent in the postseason. What I'm worried about is trying to get as many home games as possible. And if you really think that the Houston Texans need to go further in the postseason than they did a year ago, I think it's critical that they play a divisional round game at home. I don't think they can win the road in a divisional round, Jeremy, I've said this before in as it relates to the home field advantage. And obviously the Texans don't have a disadvantage at home. But I've said forever in a day when it's always still so hot here where it's not everywhere else, they could have a message massive advantage against those other teams. If per se, it was still very hot here and they could make teams come to Houston and then play in like the normal conditions we're used to, heat and humidity, but they've always kind of shied away from it. O'Brien was big against it. But I think that would be more of a home field advantage for a team like Houston than the snow and the elements for teams in the east or the Midwest. Yeah, see, I personally think that that stuff can be a bit overrated. Like you could quite frankly, because you're not playing with local people, you know, like the Houston Texans are filled with players who played from all over the country that are from all over the country. Like if the Houston Texans had a bunch of New Yorkers and the Green Bay Packers had a bunch of Texans, which team is better in the heat, which team's better in the cold? Is it the team? Like you know what I mean? Like I do filled with like people from everywhere. I do. But what I'm saying is if all year you've played in a certain environment where it wasn't humid and you know, 88 to 90 type weather, and then suddenly you got to go play in that environment, your level of cardio and your level of, you know, hydration and everything changes drastically as opposed to a team that week in, week out practices and plays in it all the time. I think from an advantage standpoint, that's a truly bigger advantage than leveling the playing field because everybody's got to play in snow and cold or the elements. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think those are good conversations that can never be fully measured because you know, it's kind of just eye test on that one. James Winston yesterday. How awesome is James Winston? I love James Winston couple of clips yesterday from James Winston, best of James Winston, some Winston wisdom, if you will. Here was James Winston pregame before he single and he didn't single handedly beat the Steelers. But before he beat the Steelers pregame with Kayleigh Hartung before the game. You have said you don't become a ground until you beat the Steelers. What will it take tonight? The horse is prepared for battle, but victory comes from the Lord. So I'm dependent on the Lord. Is that the message to the team? Day by day one play at a time. That's the message. Weather conditions tonight. We're expecting winds up to 15 miles per hour in a wintery mix. How will that impact your ability to throw the ball? I am so happy and grateful that the Lord has blessed me to play in some snow to be in true football weather in Cleveland, Ohio at Huntington Bank Field today to get him the glory. It's a beautiful day. Sure feels like you're playing in the AFC North. It is is magical. Thank you. I love that guy blinkers. I love he's James Winston. I'm trying to think of like the equivalent of James Winston now. It's like back in the day the the mark bit mark the bird fitter edge guy that was just so out there with his antics on the mound that people signed up to see that people just want to hear James talk. They don't even how he pays his irrelevant. I think he might be entering like Bill Walton territory a little bit. We're like, there you go, his mouth. Like you don't know what's going to come out of it. But yeah, I really enjoy some James Winston. I agree with him that you're never fully a brown until you beat the Steelers. He did that yesterday. And then after he did that yesterday, here's some more wisdom from James in the post game. NFL films came again. You know, it was it really was amazing. Like I was just praying on the sideline because that fourth quarter it really was like it was a it was a whole paradigm shift. Like we were playing so well offensively and then bang bang back to back drives. But turn over. I'm just like, Oh my gosh, like this is really an NFL film moment. The snow starts pouring down. It starts getting like the like the my feet start getting heavy because I'm I'm squishing through the snow. And man, it was so good. It was so great to end up in that way. Yeah, he's the best. Love me. Some James wins. If you could have seen for the people just hearing that for the first time, the video of it too, he does like this shimmy shake when he said the paradigm shift and he's and then he went on post game with NFL network and he started he got all of the guys from Amazon on the set to do snow angels with him right in the right at the end of the segment. Yeah, I saw that. It was pretty easy. They're in street clothes in the middle of all the snow doing the snow angels. He's in the uniform and they're all doing snow angels. James Winston is awesome. I hope he's a Houston Texan next year backing up a CJ Stroud Houston Texans play the Tennessee Titans formerly the Houston Oilers coming up on Sunday in RG Stadium. If if if Amy Adam skunk wants to see a little bit of Houston blue, she can come over to TDCU Stadium tomorrow where the Cougars are wearing their Houston blue. But is this coach speak? Is this owner speak? What everybody has to say about this match up? How much of it is real? How much of it is coach speaker? Owner speak? That's next Killer B's ESPN 97 5 ESPN 92 5 and get in touch with the show at 713 780 ESPN. Twits were on their ESPN twitch.tv slash ESPN 97 5 ESPN Houston on YouTube on Twitter and ESPN 9 7 5. Blankers have packed may a Joe on Twitter, Brian, it's Zach by BMAC. I'm a Jeremy Brandon. Killer B's broadcasting live Twin Peaks Kirby on ESPN 97 5 and ESPN 92 5 guys a minute for Vandeford air and all the different things that Vandeford air can do for you. Vandeford air.com is where you can go to find out all the services they offer. They can do a complete re pipe of your house. They can actually do a humidifying system within your air conditioning units. They can take care of your air conditioning in your heating from the repairs and the problems to a whole new system. And they do it all by backing everything up with 100% satisfaction, guarantee your money back. That's why I speak for them because we know how hot it gets in Houston. We're just talking about it. When it gets very hot or your air conditioner has problems, you know you need it fixed yesterday. And that's why I mentioned Vandeford air because unlike the other companies that put your name at the back of the list, tell you it might be days before they can get to you, then come in do the job as quick as they can to get to the next job. Don't put anything in writing and don't give you any guarantees. It's the exact opposite with Vandeford air. I always tell you to lock their number in your phone because they do everything with a backup everything with a guarantee and everything in writing. That means from the time that you call them, they guarantee within 24 hours they'll be out to see you no matter how many people they have on the call sheet. Then after they are out to see you, they'll diagnose your problem right away and they'll write it up and they'll write up what the solution would be if you just want to replace the part and what the solution would be if you want to put in a whole new system. And from there everything is guaranteed or your money back. The work their employees do, the parts and the systems that they use, the fact that the unit will then get to the temperature that you expected to get to and that you are 100% satisfied with everything the way it was done and the way it came out or your money back. That is huge. That is so rare in business these days and that's why I tell you to lock the number in your phone. 281557 cool. That gets you locked in to Vandeford air. Keep it in your phone. Maybe you're not calling them now because you don't have any problems. But maybe what you do, you're going to go, what was that company Joel was talking about, the one that's going to give me the guarantees. 281557 cool. It's Vandeford air.com. You're back with a killer bees on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 broadcasting live from a mobile baritax community bank studios located at Twin Peaks at 59 and Currie presented by Joe Seckeys. Here's Joel Blank and Jeremy Brando. Easton Freeze will be joining us at 330 covers the Houston or the Tennessee Titans for A to Z Sports. A busy money at four. We're going to hop on the winning bandwagon again Taylor McGarg, a former rice out quarterback college football analyst joined us later to to break down everything that's happening in the college football world plus who said it. Everybody's favorite game. Love that game. All right. Does this coach speak? Owners speak? How much of it is real? How much of it is just coach? Owners speak. Callan Hannah, they were at fire station 33 yesterday and we heard Cal McNair break down with firefighters do really insightful stuff. Here was Callan Hannah whenever they were asked why the Titans rivalry means so much. Well, it's all of our AFC. All of our AFC teams we have a good rivalry. We play them twice a year. So our players, they know each other. The coaches know each other really well. It's a challenge to play some more twice a year because of that. So see that on Sunday. These guys know each other and it'll be a battle. It's always above. All right. There you go. How much of that is owner speak? How much of that is real? Half and half. I think that the hot air is coming from the king of hot air. That would be Cal just giving you a bunch of just blah, blah, blah. And then Hannah comes in from nowhere with the haymaker that I loved. That's real. Yeah, she was a little caddy about that. Hannah love it like Amy Adams. Like it's very, very clear. Like it's not. I don't think it's fabricated. I don't think that it's this make belief. I think it is very, very real. Like Cal was trying to take the high road and give you owner speak. Like everything Cal said was owner speak. Oh, divisional game. They matter twice a year. All of that. And then Hannah from the top rope. Yeah, we took our fans back, which is kind of embarrassing. If we're being honest, like Tennessee moved from Houston a long time ago. So like taking your fans back in 2024 isn't like this major feat, in my opinion. Yeah, I think it's more so that, you know, so much has been made about even with the ex Euler players that are all talking about they get treated better at Tennessee and their numbers are in the Raptors there and they get honored and remembered more there that I think that that has really kind of irked and agitated everyone in the Texans organization to say whether some of the fans that wanted to stay with the Oilers as they became the Titans. And at that time, we didn't have a team. Maybe she's talking about that too to the fact that it's gotten to the point where a line has been drawn in the sand that they try to force the fans to make a choice on. And it seems like now probably more so do do with winning than anything else. They are getting their share back. Yeah, I mean, there's way more cowboy fans in Houston than their Titan fans though. Way, that's probably true. All right. Here's Cal McNair asked about being seven and four and where they currently stand in the NFL. We're excited for the end of the year coming up and hopefully playing our best ball. So we want to play better and better as the year goes on and be really good at the end of the year. That's what we want. Seven wins is great, but it doesn't really do any play for us. We gotta get some more wins and see where we are at the end of the year. I was really hoping he would say that it doesn't give us a hill of beans, but it's not what he said. I could listen to Cal McNair talk all day. I love listening to the wisdom and insightfulness that one Cal McNair has, but as far as owner speak and how much of it is real, I mean, this is 100% owner speak one day at a time getting where we need to go. That was owner speak to me. Oh, without question, I mean, I thought he'd throw in the good Lord willing. Everything will work out in the end and hopefully he can help the team to get to where they need to go because yeah, it's that's straight out of a movie stuff right there. He's not going to give you the hard edge, hard nose stuff that we've grown accustomed to Cal not giving us. All right, let's get to cap DR they call him. Here's Dameko Ryan's on Tennessee's defense, which is stout number two defense in the NFL. How much of this real? How much of its coach speak? With Tennessee, their defense, you know, it stands out starting up front with with Simmons and sweat like two big players that are hard to move. They make it difficult very difficult to run the ball against them because they do such a great job of controlling a line of scrimmage and they're two guys who are really hard to displace just because of their their size and their power. So that is the focal point for us is how do we handle right there defense the line because that is their strength right now. And they do a really good job on in the third now playing tight coverage forcing you to make plays. I think they're just really they're in sync. Their coach really well, their guys play hard. It's going to be a really tough defense to go against. They do a really good job. It's not only schematically, but also just the way that they're in the style that they play they play aggressive style of defense and there's challenged a lot of people and there's going to be a challenge for us. There you go. How much of that coach speak? How much of it's real? That's pretty real. Their defensive line is no joke. I think Justin Simmons is one if he's if you could say he's underrated because a lot of there's a lot of there's a lot of defensive tackles. They don't get a lot of credit anyway, but there's other guys that kind of people like to try and draw a lot of attention to him because Tennessee's not as good record wise. He is a unbelievable force in the middle of any defensive line and sweats the guy that we were intrigued by talked about in terms of what he fit. Would he not would the Texans be looking at as we went into the draft and those two guys together. It is going to be interesting to see how the Texans are able to run the football and can they be effective when between the tackles there's a whole lot of beef to be moved in that middle of that line. No, I think this is absolutely real. Like I think Domico does. I mean, obviously Domico has an appreciation of good defense being a defensive mind in Tennessee's defense is legit. Like we can make fun of the Titans record. We can make fun of Will Levis. We can make fun of the offense. We can make fun of Amy Adams skunk. Their defense is legit and the interior of that defense is legit. So this is absolutely legit. There's no lipstick on a pig. Zero coach me that that is legitimate. But how about the offense? Here was Domico on the Titans offense. Offensively, you put on the tape, it goes to the running game. I think Pollard is a really good player. Always respect to him from his time in Dallas. He's an explosive player. Really, you may think he's a scat bag, but he does a good job of playing with power and making guys miss tackle. So the emphasis is going to be back again on the tackling like that's going to be very key. And schematically, they do a really good job in the run game of giving us different schemes, more more scheme runs than we've seen before. So they do a good job of trying to want more gap runs where they try to trap our deep tackles or wham. So our guys just have to play really good awareness up front from the D line. And then the quarterback, Levis, he does a good job of just man. He probably has one of the strongest arms in the league similar to Anthony Richardson. It's got what he can sling it, right? He can throw the ball very far and it's still our guy. It doesn't matter. Guys covered uncovered. He's going to throw the ball up and give his guys opportunity to make a play. And the guy who he's trying to throw it to the most is Calvin Ridley. Yeah, I got to play with the Jacksonville Jaguars in previous years, we've seen him before, but he's a challenge when it comes to the deep thread. And we have to have play aggressive on him, get hands on him, challenge him in our defensive line. For us to win this game, the key is going to be our defense line getting after their offensive line. I think that's been our strong suit this entire year. It's been a weakness for them. So we have to exploit that. Coach Big rail. I get so funny because that is coach speak because he's trying to, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. So essentially he's just telling us what we already know. Will loves got a strong arm. I'm not going to talk about his accuracy or the passing game. I'm going to talk about the fact that basically they can run the football. They got a decent running back. But other than that, there's not a lot to talk about there. See, I think you was being pretty real, just like in a nice way. Like I really don't think it's coach speak. Like he didn't sit there and tell you like, Oh, love, this is this great, fantastic quarterback. No, I just told you he had an howitzer and can throw the ball really far. So I think it was actually like legitimate from from DR. I don't think that he was giving you much of the coach speak. He was just not letting you down softly. Yeah, it's like basically as honest as I can be without being offensive, he's like Anthony Richardson. We also know can't throw accurately, but has a hell of an arm. And we do know that they can run the football a little bit. So I'll say what I have to say without trying to offend anybody. Callahan for the Titans. He said good things about the Texans offense. He said the good things about Stroud, really not worth playing it. Instead, we'll talk to Easton Freeze and a fellow reporter Titans host and beat writer for A to Z Sports. Easton Freeze with the Titans perspective when we return killer bees broadcasting from Twin Peaks on Kirby on ESPN 97 5 and ESPN 92 5. Hey, we're sitting here enjoying the Twin Peaks atmosphere right now. And I'm reminding you that, hey, it's going to be happy hour somewhere. If it isn't now, it will be real soon. And you might want to raise a glass. Maybe you want to have some people over to the house this weekend. And you want to entertain with some food and some beverages. I encourage you aside from the beer of the hard alcohol to try a little Stella Rosa wine. Stella Rosa wine has always served chilled. And it is the perfect complement to whatever food you're serving. It could be anything from pizza and wings, chips and dips to all the other thoroughfare from the burgers and whatever else you decide to serve. They have a wine that will go with it. And it's fantastic. It's refreshing. It has just the right amount of alcohol, not too much, not too little. It'll basically pace you without you having to really worry about pacing yourself. And it tastes delicious. It's all natural fruit flavors with just the right amount of spice. And everything is really, really nice with all the food and all the games. No matter how the game turns out, you're going to be happy knowing that you got a great beverage to go with whatever food you consume. And you can get them, like I said, at your local retailer. It just doesn't have to be at a liquor store. They're served everywhere. Grab a couple bottles. The next time you have people over or you're going to somebody's house as a way to kind of say thanks for inviting us over. Go and check out some Stella Rosa wines. And you will find out in no time at all how delicious they are and how they go with everything you serve. I believe in Stella Rosa wines. And that's why I tell you, enjoy them while you're watching sports. And please, celebrate responsibly. Here are the Killer B's weekday afternoons from three to six. Still waiting for them to make some honey. Broadcasting live from the mobile Veritex community bank studios located at Twin Peaks at 59 in Kirby. Presented by Doseckeys. Here's Joel Blank and Jeremy Bright. Killer B's Blank can be back over to Twin Peaks on Kirby. As we go straight out to the HR and P guest slide, welcoming in our guest, Easton Freeze, an affiliate reporter, Titan's host and beat writer for E to Z Sports. Easton, thanks for taking a few minutes hanging out with the Killer B's on this Friday afternoon ahead of Sunday's match up between the Houston Texans and the former Houston Oilers. Brian Callahan, first year head coach for Tennessee. How's the city kind of filling out the first year head coach? What has been a difficult season today? Yeah, you're right. It's been a difficult season. And first of all, I appreciate you guys having me on. I think that it, you know, it's hard to wrap your arms around how it can possibly be okay, despite being two and eight and being a really disappointing season. But I don't see a lot of the red flags with this team that you sometimes see with teams that are in a similar position when things aren't going well in terms of wins and losses. And you have luck from dysfunction. You have, you know, rumors breaking out amongst the coaching staff and fingers being pointed and players not maybe playing as hard as they otherwise would on the field. I'm not seeing those signs of dysfunction. I'm just seeing a team that hasn't put it together yet and a team that in a certain, in a couple of certain areas are lacking in talent and turning them in a big way, like at right tackle and like at the edge position and up until just recently, like at the quarterback position, really harming them on Sunday. So, you know, for Brian Callahan, I'm sure two and eight is not what he imagined. But I think that, you know, for a two and eight start, his team and the organization have wrapped their arms around him and the vision that he and Rand Carson have as best they can 10 weeks into the scene, 10 games in the season. I still see a team that is trusting the process and trusting that this will continue to trend in the right direction. They're just being patient. You know, he said we called it here embrace the suck. And it was because, you know, when you're pressing that full reset, sometimes you have to admit to yourself and to your fan base that this might take a few years. And that's why it's encouraging that you talk about the fact that Rand Carson and now Callahan have a little leeway, hopefully to kind of do the right things here. Because when you lose a Derek Henry, it's one thing. And Rabel was a steady guy for you guys as well. I'm curious about Will Levis because you said that, you know, it seems like everybody is embracing all of that. But with a guy like Will Levis that, you know, it's either you're either love them or you hate them in a lot of ways. You see the athleticism, you see the big arm, but we saw a lot of the carelessness and probably trying to be a little bit too tough and put his head into things. Do you see him being a part of this thing long term? Long term is tough. Right this second. No, I think it's an uphill battle for him. And you're right that, you know, coming into this year after a rookie season that was really up and down, I wrote about this week at A to D sports.com about how you can really bucket his career into three acts this point, right? And act one was that rookie season, his first eight games in the league. The highs were really high and the lows were easy to attribute to a really, really terrible situation for rookie quarterback to find themselves in. And so he certainly did enough last season as a rookie to earn himself a shot in his second year. And then in the office, and they put a lot of help around him. You have a new offensive coach. Everything is rosy. Things are good. He's the guy and the expectations are high coming in. And then you get to September. He has a really brutal second act to his career. The first five games of this year before he got hurt, he was really bad. And on tape down to down, it wasn't a disaster nearly as much as it felt like, but it felt terrible to fans because the doesn't are so truly awful plays he made in that five game stretch were game breaking, back breaking mistakes. And they cost the team dearly. And and so he gets hurt and he is gone for the better part of six weeks. And we've seen him back the last two weeks against the charges and the Vikings. And in this third act, which God willing, health willing, you know, gets to play these final nine games of the season two of which he's already played seven remaining. It was like a third version of this guy who is a little bit more reserved, seems like it's grown up seems like frankly reality kind of smacked him in the face past month and a half as he's been on the bench. And his NFL starter mortality becoming very real in his mind and him realizing it's it's now or never for him. And he's got this nine game stretch to prove to his team and to the city. He's worth further investment in the two games he's been back against the churches and the legends. They have they have genuinely been despite losses. They have been two of his better games of his career. They've also been two of his most mature games of his career. He hasn't done the reckless things. He he has had decent mobility in the pocket and done done the done the things you've really been asking him to do in terms of living in you see the next down and making the the big hero play in the right moment and not trying to force it. And it's a step in the right direction. Now does he have a long way to go? Absolutely. And he's probably going to need to help this team win some games down the stretch to keep them out of range for their guy in the draft because if their favorite quarterback is available to them that opportunity cost of well one more year of levis versus our guy becomes the question if you win a couple games on the stretch when you're way out of a top draft pick suddenly the idea of levis again in 2025 becomes more appealing. So I think his destiny next year is really still in his hair. Yeah I liked him coming out of Kentucky. I think that you see a lot of good things. The problem is that he just can't eliminate the bad so far. I agree with you guys look better in the last two weeks since he returned from injury. Eastern Freeze and a fellow reporter Titans host and beat writer for A to Z Sports. How would you best describe Amy Adam Strunk's relationship with Houston? Can you repeat that last part her relationship with him? Houston the city with Houston. Oh brother. You're trying to get me in trouble man. You know the Adam's family obviously know that tumultuous history of how the team left and her father a character of a man somebody that ran the team differently than Amy has chose to run the team certainly. She's not her father's daughter in a lot of ways but her relationship with the city is complicated. Obviously she still lives there. I think Houstonians know that but if you don't like Houston is still home for the Adams family and she splits time between Nashville and Houston and you know I think her and the ownership group of the Texans aren't the biggest fans of each other naturally and you know what I I think fans should like that you know bring it bring us back to the days of old where sports teams really just really you know just kind of aided each other. I don't mind it one bit and you're gonna get a little petty here and there and you know you're gonna wear your Euler's uniforms which you have every right to do against the Texans to piss them off and you know the Texans are going to beat you and then rub it in your face. That's the way that it goes a little bit so I don't mind it at all but I think her complicated relationship with Houston is a good thing for us. I'm curious just expanding on that a little bit is the fact that the uniforms have become such a big deal and before that we would make mention of the fact that guys that played their entire career in Houston and represented the city have their numbers hanging in a stadium in a city in which they never played and that kind of added even more fuel to all this fire that you would think that and maybe you can tell me if I'm wrong but you would think that the people of Tennessee would basically say hey we want to create our own legacy while they're here because obviously Eddie George and McNair split time and you guys had success with those guys but the fact that Bruce Matthews and Earl Campbell and so many others are sitting there with their numbers up there and people are like are they good with that or is that a good thing or a bad thing? Oh people of Nashville love it and you know that guy like Bruce Matthews they you know they split their time between being an Euler and being a Titan and you you know a lot of Houston fans I think misunderstand the Titans wore Euler's uniforms in the state of Tennessee it was a brief transitional period but that was their introduction to the state of Tennessee was in the Euler's garb so the original fans of the Tennessee version of the Euler's and eventually Titans that's what they were first introduced to they're also sick uniform so you want to wear them and they they belong to that franchise I think Nashville residents when they hear the pushback from Houstonian too like I'm sympathetic to the idea if I was a resident of Houston in my entire life I was a big Euler fan and then the franchise left that would make me sad I get it I mean that is that is upsetting and when you no longer can claim ownership over that legacy that is that can be frustrating but I think the rebuttal from a lot of Nashville folks is you shouldn't have left the team leave and I know that there was a financial situation there I know that it also had to do it but Adam being a finicky character and that maybe not being the easiest to negotiate with when it comes to building a new stadium but at the end of the day the team wanted the new stadium Houston wasn't willing to pay for it so they went somewhere where it would be paid to be built and that's the way that the world works yeah I think it's a fair way to look at it we appreciate the time if you're traveling to Houston to enjoy the journey safe travels eastern and appreciate you guys any time eastern frees in F.O. reporter Titan's host and beat writer from A to Z sports all right how many teams in the F.O. are you putting ahead of the Texans seven one three seven eight zero E.S.P. and it is the killer bees on E.S.P. and ninety seven five and E.S.P. and ninety two five you're listening to the killer bees on E.S.P. and ninety seven five and ninety two five broadcasting live from the mobile Veritex community bank studios located at Twin Peaks at 59 in Curvy presented by Doseki's killer bees broadcasting live Twin Peaks at Curvy stop by hang out with with B.M.A.G. hang out with blankers they'd love to see how many teams would you put ahead of the Texans on a neutral field we can go through this just right off the cup just look at division by division how many teams in the AFC East would you put ahead of the Texans look they beat the bills are you putting them ahead the bills I I mean to me it's it's does a Mari Cooper make them better than the team that you faced because defensively you just put a stranglehold on on their best player so if does a Mari Cooper make a big enough difference and you getting you know you being healthy at the time that you play them I still think the Texans would beat the the bills so I would put them above Buffalo. Amari hasn't done much in Buffalo he's missed a game his first game there four sixty six for a touchdown that was solid that was his best game it was against the Titans he had a catch for three yards against Seattle he had two catches for fifty five yards against Kansas City so Mari hasn't been like fantastic fabulous I think it depends where you play them and it goes back to the conversation we were having earlier I think you beat Buffalo at home you've done it I don't think you beat them in Buffalo though so on a neutral field that one's tough for me I probably have to go Buffalo in a neutral field because the Texans barely squigged by over the bills at home so I'll give the bills on a neutral field we go we go a half there. Dolphins Jets Patriots are they in the conversation at all? No I don't really think so I think that you know dolphins are trying to get right but their defense is suspect to Patriots no Jets no so yeah I mean no all right yeah the bills is the only team I would take over the Texans I depression okay so I mean we can go one there since we we two of two against one AFC North Browns know how about the Bengals at four and seven neutral field Cincinnati Houston neutral field it's a tough one for me because offensively they're really good and burrow and chase are playing great but you got stingley and you got a pass rush and burrow has shown that he's he's taken a lot of pressure his offensive line has been less than and their defense hasn't been very good I would still take the Texans on a neutral field to beat the Bengals yeah I would too like and I probably shouldn't put any weight in last year's game but I mean Stroud went into Cincinnati Texans went into Cincinnati whenever they were playing pretty good Cincinnati before the burrow injury and they won there and the Bengals defense is really bad like their offense is electric I think burrow is playing at a high level chases the best receiver in the NFL their defense is really bad I would take the Texans over since you own a neutral field Baltimore Pittsburgh Baltimore no they're better than Pittsburgh they would look I think they would lose the Baltimore on a neutral field right now so I would split those and say they beat Pittsburgh they lose the Baltimore I I'm with you on that one I think they beat Pittsburgh on a neutral field I think that they lose to Baltimore on neutral field so that's a clean sweep so Baltimore is a second team collectively anybody else in the AFC Southworth bringing up I don't know okay so Vegas know it to an eight Denver at six and five charges at seven and three the two surprise potentially playoff teams in the AFC West neutral field charges Broncos against the Texans Texas be both of them I think that is good both yeah both I think I know you're been a Bronco guy too but as good as they're up and coming those teams are I think you're more polished and you have more definitively skilled players big-time players on both sides of the football than either one of those two teams yeah I would I would take them over both of them on a neutral field too I'm curious which one you're not taking over the Texans Brian it's actually the opposite of what Joel was thinking I would take the Chargers over the Texans on a neutral field I think Herbert's playing better than Stroud right now they have just as good of a defense or very close to the Texans level of defense charges defense has been outstanding and we've seen some of their young weapons start to step up with Quentin Johnson and Ladin McConkie start to make a difference in the passing game so I would take the Chargers on a neutral field over the Texans I would not take the Broncos even though the Broncos defense is elite but I don't I don't know if I would trust Bo Nix against the Texas defense right now whereas I Herbert has faced those bullets before he's been he's been under pressure and he's come through on the other side I would take the Chargers on neutral field yeah well you get out voted so you're not getting that one Kansas City I think this is probably unanimous here yeah easy all right so we have yeah yeah for sure so we have three teams ahead of the Texans on a neutral field in the AFC Buffalo Baltimore Kansas City so Texans fourth best team in the AFC carried over to the NFC New York no Dallas no how about Washington the commanders in a neutral field against the Texans that's a tough one I lean Texans I think that as good as as Jayden Daniels has been I still think when you you get to a playoff type atmosphere a playoff game there'd be a lot to prove there and I feel like Texans I like the Texans defense better than Washington's defense and I think that from a offensive perspective CJ would be okay and with the combination of mixing and the the pass game I would take I would lean Texans yeah I would I would take the Texans over the commanders too I think it would be tight I think it'd be like a two point spread at most but I take the Texans over the commanders you name it miss brian yeah I look the commander's offense has been surprising this year but it's pretty much a one man passing attack with Terry McClure and we saw what happened where the Eagles took him out and he only had one catch the the the commander's offense couldn't keep up so I would trust stingley to keep Terry McClure and check and the Texans are win that game okay Philadelphia the Eagles neutral field I don't think they beat the Eagles I think the Eagles have a really good defense I think the Eagles are clicking on all cylinders offensively you've got sake one now too I would take the Eagles yeah I would go Eagles over the Texans too unanimous okay how about the NFC North the Chicago Green Bay Minnesota anybody from that collection you're taking over the Texans I mean do we have to take Minnesota they lost to Minnesota and Green Bay I know but Minnesota was so lopsided it feels like they have to say Minnesota yeah I boy I'll tell you what man I don't know that I take the Texans over Detroit Minnesota or Green Bay and that's that's that's right that's hard for me to say how much I don't believe in Jordan love but I mean you want it home statistically you were heading shoulders above them yes it was a closer game I don't I don't know that I could take the Texans against any one of those three teams yeah I think on a neutral field they'd be Green Bay you know they're they very easily could have won the game at Green Bay they I don't think they played all that well I also think they'd be Minnesota now I feel like Minnesota peaked early in the year quite frankly I think Sam Darnell did for sure yeah I don't think Minnesota is nearly as good as they were when the Texans played them in the game was in Minnesota I think the Texans would actually beat the Vikings I think it would be like the Cleveland Brown situation from last year in the post-se in the uh 2023 season whenever Cleveland beat you sadly in the uh in the regular season and then you beat them easily in the post-season I actually think it'd be like that I would take Minnesota but you guys are different there and then I wouldn't I wouldn't give them a win over Detroit I think Detroit I think Detroit's got the best roster in the NFL yeah to treat there's no way I'm taking the Texans over Detroit I mean like you said I mean you can say that the the Texans didn't play their best game against the Packers but maybe Josh Allen didn't play the best game against the Texans it happens from time to time so Jared Goff didn't play his best game against the Texans does that happen again when you play them I highly doubt it and I think that they are I agree with you they're most complete team in the NFL so I can't take the Texans over them so how many teams are they from the AFC the NFC North did we do we vote in we're not voting in the Lions you swayed me on the Vikings especially if it's neutral field because the you guys overrule me on Green Bay Minnesota because I thought that the Texans would lose to all three I think the home crowd in Minnesota played a big factor in that week three game so neutral field obviously takes that out so I would pick the Lions over them but take the Texans in a neutral field over the Packers and the Vikings okay all right I talked into look at me lawyer enough NFC South any any NFC South team Atlanta Tampa New Orleans Carolina no math not on all of them any NFC West team Arizona LA Seattle San Fran I can't see San Francisco to me is the wildcard there I don't know um obviously Brock Purdy's hurt now he's questionable going to this game so I guess it depends on when you put it yeah if we go neutral field everybody's healthy assuming full health I think I would take San Francisco yeah I'm not taking any of them I San Francisco to me is like a paper champion like they haven't played good like they haven't like they've had no wrong but yeah here's San Fran like I to me it's all resume like it's almost it's weird because I think we look at like Detroit and we're not willing to give Detroit the best team in the NFL because they want the Kansas City Chiefs are back-to-back champions they have the cache hey I think Detroit's just flat out better but because they're wearing a lion's uniform and not a chief's uniform everybody's hesitant to say that I think it's the opposite with San Francisco I think San Francisco is an incredibly mediocre team this year but because they're this big bad San Francisco team we expected we're still holding them on that pedestal where I don't think that they belong see I think they do and I think it's because the resume of the past says that they've been there done that and you're right in the fact that they they they've been paper paper contenders all season long but that's because of the holdout with with Iyuk and and with then getting hurt and then with McCaffrey being out the majority of the year but overall if they're healthy they're almost as talented as almost any other team in the league not in the Lions I mean they're not healthy like Ayuk is is out for the year right um Brock Purdy is leaving practice and shutting himself down because his arm hurts McCaffrey's like yes he's back and McCaffrey's Christian McCaffrey Deebo Sandal's not playing well Kittle's been banged up like they aren't healthy so is Bosa yeah but but I think that but that but I'm saying unlike other teams where they say they look good on paper but their guys are diminished and they're not the same kind of team I think that if they do get healthy and they put themselves behind the eight ball but if they do get healthy I think they can play with anybody in the NFC yeah I mean I do too I just I they're not they're just not that healthy so did you did y'all vote me on any of those teams in the NFC West well yeah sounds like we out vote you in San Francisco because I mean it we we've talked about uh I think in last week that the Texans had only played one game where both Stroud and Mixon were both healthy at the same time until this last week against the Cowboys well I mean San Francisco say the same thing with Kittle and McCaffrey obviously McCaffrey out nine weeks comes back and then Kittle missed last week with the hamstring injury so he says he's playing this he says he's playing this week we'll see how he looks he's looked great all year long when he's been in there so it's a question of what San Francisco team you get but if it's team with a healthy Kittle and a healthy healthy McCaffrey I think I would take San Francisco okay I'll vote it there so five teams collectively as we voted on San Francisco and Detroit out of the NFC and then in the AFC Buffalo Baltimore Kansas City Philly we voted for Philly oh Philly that's right so six so six teams ahead of the Texas so we have the Texans as the seventh best team in the NFL that feel fair that's what I had them on my list when I was doing this exercise leading up to the day I came up with seven so yeah that feels right to me we have a jumping three teams ahead of them in the standings Minnesota Pittsburgh and the Chargers and we have a team that is tied with them Baltimore beating the Texans yeah I think it sounds right yeah I do too I think it sounds fine 0 9 7 9 3 he says three Chiefs Ravens Eagles and he says equal to Pittsburgh Detroit Buffalo okay interesting another texture weighing in full strength will Anderson Christian Harris we beat those teams I'd bet each one of you $100 on those three even the Eagles okay we'll send that $100 to Brian he'll hold it in escrow and I'll take you up on that bet 8 8 6 3 all right 7 1 3 7 8 0 ESPN busy money let's hand out some winners when we come back it is the bees ESPN 97 5 and ESPN 92 5 you're listening to ESPN 97 5 your child's first step is a big step towards their future with first step by college invest every Colorado child born or adopted on or after January 1st 2020 will receive a free $115 contribution to their college invest college savings account plus we'll match a percentage of your contributions in the coming years helping you save even more enroll today and start your child off on the right foot visit Colorado first step dot org to get started and claim your $115 now this season Chevy brings classic pairings cookies and milk mistletoe and kisses and your holiday plans and a new Chevy Silverado 1500 gives you power and capability with 430 pound feet of torque to haul your holiday tree equinox EV 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 Chevrolet together let's drive welcome to the world of Bose ultra open earbuds the perfect gift for the music lover in your life and now they're $50 off until December 29th they even made Oprah's favorite things gift guide for 2024 picture this a walk on a sunny winter day you can hear the satisfying crunch of snow beneath your feet and your favorite holiday song playing that's the magic we're talking about hear life and music at the same time act fast to shop Bose's holiday deals at bose.com/iHeart