The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
11/27 Hour 2 - Texans Fans Are Still Disappointed
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We have to leave early, Texas A&M basketball coming on, taking on Creighton and the Players Era Festival, which is an awesome, awesome tournament at the MGM Grand. Craig Wailby joining us in 15 minutes give the Texas perspective of the big game coming up on Saturday. And then also CJ Strow. How can the Texans help CJ Strow? We'll get to that a little bit later as well. But, Jermaine, I know that you do some cooking. I've seen some things that you post and I'm jealous. I really enjoy those things. It makes me want to eat all the things that you're posting. So how do you do Thanksgiving? What is on your table? "Okay, so this year, Mom and Sister decided to come in town. They conspired with my daughter behind my back to have things giving at my house." Oh, so... That's an ask. That's a tool. Yeah. Like, we just had my daughter's graduation party in May and that took all of my social battery for having people at my house out. Like, it's gone. Like, I'm done. And then they popped in. I was like, "Wait, wait, wait, who's all coming and how long y'all staying?" Because I only got so much capacity, but she bought a lot of the size and whatnot. I still got to do the turkey, of course, because there's never... Like, if we get together on Thanksgiving and my mom and then more involved, nine times out of ten, I'm doing the turkey. So... And I'm going to have to do the ham because they brought a ham because they don't even cook ham anymore. Like, my uncle before God rested, so before he passed away, he would even be like, "Oh, why don't y'all haves your maid do it? He does better than me." Like, I'm like, "Are you telling me I'm a better cook than you or you just don't feel like doing it?" So I got to cook the main stuff, but she cooked all the size. So... It's all good. How do you do your turkey? I was going to fry it, but I haven't fried one in a while, and I haven't had it to defrost it, grind it, and all of that to smoke it. So I'm going to go ahead and do the oven roasting, but the last time I did the oven roasting turkey with the family, it was still juicy. The little bit of leftovers that we did have, it was still juicy the next day when they warmed it up. So... It just got up. We usually do whenever we get together, we usually do an oven roast one, and then we'll usually do a fried one too, which of course, I won't be home for Thanksgiving this year. So we're going to do a smaller one Sunday evening. But what are your... Nice. What are your Thanksgiving hot takes? What are things that maybe don't belong on the Thanksgiving table? 713-780-ESP, an HR MP listener line, 713-780-3776. What are things that do not belong on the Thanksgiving table that we traditionally see? I'm going to put it to you like this. And I don't mean to shut this conversational argument down with one take, but don't experiment. Don't think outside the box. Don't bring that new dish. Don't try nothing. Don't... Don't... You know, just because you saw it on Pinterest or TikTok or Instagram or Snapchat or whatever the hell. Like, no. Don't do that. With what you know, also, the Varsity team should play. The freshmen and the JV team need to sit on the bench. The freshmen and JV team is in charge of utensils, drinks, toiletries, like things like that. Bring the games for the kids and stuff. Bring that. Let the Varsity team play. Freshmen and JV, y'all ride the pie. That's a great take. I agree with you. Like, we don't have time for the mediocre food. It's Thanksgiving. Like, this is the main event. This would be like Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fighting on this big paper view. You know? Like, we don't need that. We don't... It's Thanksgiving. Like, this is the marquee. This is the day of the year. This is the Super Bowl of feast. We're not asking the Houston Texans to participate. Like, we're looking for the very best of the best. And I agree with you with the traditional stuff, too. It is not a time to experiment. Go experiment in October, experiment in early December, experiment in March or April. You can't experiment on the day of days whenever you're talking about eating as much as you possibly can. Those are great takes. Behanan says pumpkin lasagna. I don't know if he's being serious or not or if he's trolling. I've never heard of pumpkin lasagna. Have you heard of pumpkin lasagna? Hell no. I can't stand pumpkin. I've never heard of it. You don't like... Do you see you won't do a pumpkin pie at all? Pumpkin is like great value sweet potato. It's terrible. I hate it. See, I don't mind. I used to love pumpkin pie as a kid. Loved it. It's actually like one of my top two, top three favorite things. Now I could take or leave it. I might have one slice of pumpkin pie a year and it would be either on Thanksgiving or Christmas. I could take or leave it now. So you don't like... What was the other thing you said you didn't like? Sweet potato? No. Sweet potato is the goat of pies. Okay. Sweet potato casserole is fantastic. Oh, now see that? Yeah. Definitely. I was actually thinking about doing it again, but it used to be because I've been cooking since I was a little kid, but at one point when I was in high school, I had my grandmother, she had a heart attack and a stroke, so I had to start making diabetic stuff. I don't like the way it tastes, but I do how to cook it. But she loved it because she would have to be my taste tester while I'm cooking all this diabetic stuff. So part of that, I would have to cook pumpkin pie in regular antidote, and I never liked it, so I never tasted it, so she loved it because she got to taste both pies. So it's one of those things like, unfortunately, I had to do it because my grandmother said, hey, this is what you're doing, so I had to learn how to do it, but I never cooked it. And for whatever reason, my sweet potato pie recipe is supposed to turn out one pie, but I always end up with two. I don't know how. Okay. Yeah. You don't know how. Behanan says I'm out on cranberry sauce. See, I love cranberry sauce. I think that cranberry sauce belongs on every Thanksgiving plate. I only eat cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. I don't have it any other time of the year, but it absolutely belongs on Thanksgiving for me. Not a fan. Really? Not a fan. Oh, it's the sweet to go with the rest, the, you know, heavy carb foods. It's great for the palate. Look, give me my dressing turkey, mac and cheese with stuffed bell peppers, the, you know, stuffed bell peppers on Thanksgiving. We've never done that. That's something delicious. Mom says she got the stuffed bell peppers and the crawfish pie. So I'm like, cool, I don't have to cook a lot of the other little stuff. I just got to do a turkey in the hand. That's it. All right. That's easy. Crawfish pie. I've never had that on Thanksgiving either. Well, we make that like just whenever, but she had a request from somebody to my other little sister asked for a crawfish pies because the last time I got you the last two times I cooked it, she was like, Hey, you have some pies left? I was like, bro, no, I told you that like four days ago, they do not last around here. They, they disappeared. Like the recipe makes two dozen that two dozen of those little individual crawfish pies may last three days. If that. Wow. I'm a, I'm not anti turkey. I'm not anti ham. I do like both of them, but I like the sides more than I like the actual main course on Thanksgiving, like the mashed potatoes, the green bean casserole, the macaroni and cheese. We do a little broccoli and cheese casserole. The sides to me are better than the actual main dish. You know, sometimes I've been known to have two separate plates and one plate will be like meat, turkey, ham, you know, have you, the other plate will be more for the sides. And so like I'm typically like a two plate guy on Thanksgiving, but I've gotten to the point in my advanced age that I can only eat so much food at one sitting. So I just get a little bit of everything. I saw Superman. Look at those offs. Look at these five plates for me. Look, I, I have to portion it out, you know, because I don't want the reflux to flare up in between plates. So I got a, I got to pace myself now. I can't go hard. Like I used to. This is why I stopped playing ball and stuff. It's like, if I can't perform the way I used to perform, I just won't play no more. So with, with food, you got to eat. I can't just, you know, but I don't eat the way I used to eat anymore. I'll say. Yeah. I disagree with you, man. Like you, you got to eat until you feel miserable. It's Thanksgiving. You eat until the point of misery. Dre says no stuffing. Where are you at on stuffing? You like the stuffing? I like stuffing and dressing. I like both. What's the difference? Okay. Here's the thing, dressing is, is separate because you make like corn bread or whatever dressing, right? Stuffing is meant to be stuffed inside of something also stuffing has a connotation of being made out of the box, whereas dressing is homemade. So there, there's a little bit of a difference in between the two. One will have more of a, like dressing, it's just depending on how you make it, addressing will have a different kind of consistency than stuffing will have. One will be more consistent and one will be a little bit not as consistent if you get what I'm saying. Yeah, the quick Google search says that stuffing is cooked in the cavity of the turkey while the dressings cooked separately. So I mean that all that stuff kind of adds up to what you're saying. A few people on the text line on this 713780 ESPN, 6856, no coleslaw, no cranberries and no green bean casserole. We already addressed cranberries. I don't really view coleslaw as a Thanksgiving food. I like coleslaw. I've never had it on Thanksgiving. So I would agree. No coleslaw. Green bean casserole though, I love green bean casserole. I don't even like onions and I love green bean casserole. You know, green bean casserole, I wasn't really a huge fan of it until my little sister made I think like last year or a couple years ago. And I was like, all right, that one I'll eat. That one is it looks and it tastes appealing. I will eat that. And I wasn't a fan of like crunchy quote unquote green beans that aren't like cooked soft. Until my other little sister made something the other day and I was like, okay, now those I will eat those. So my little sisters know how to get me to eat stuff that I don't normally eat. That's funny. Another one from the hive is, is this the only time of the year that you eat turkey? No, actually last last year, we smoked a turkey in between Christmas and Thanksgiving just to experiment with some stuff. Oh, really? And I end up using the rest of that turkey to make some red beans for some family members who don't eat pork. Ooh. Yeah. So that sounds great. I will cook turkey and still use it either or whatever. Matter of fact, I have a split turkey breast in the freezer that I bought as a backup just in case my mom couldn't make it. So I'm definitely going to be doing something with that. Yeah, I turkey other times, but not like Thanksgiving turkeys, not like cold turkeys. Like I'll do like the cold cut turkeys, the turkey sandwich meat, stuff like that, put it in salads or eat it by itself. Like I'll do the cold cuts, but I don't do the whole turkey and other than Thanksgiving. I got a recipe, it's really easy, really simple, kind of healthy. I'm going to text it to you and it's going to change your way you think about turkey. But Jermaine, it's cute that you think that I cook. Yeah, it's... This is for you to pass along for the white. Not very often. But honestly, this one, you can't mess this one up, I promise you, you can't mess this one up. Okay. I'll try it out. Yeah, I'll try it out. I like to cook every now and then. It's just difficult at times with the schedule. But yeah, I'll try it out. Spicy girl restaurant, garlic green beans is an alternate if you can't cook a straight fire. That sounds great. I've never heard a spicy girl restaurant. Have you heard a spicy girl restaurant? No. I do a lot of my own cooking. I can... I don't really want to like brag or nothing, but like a lot of the times I'll see something, read something or look at a recipe for something and then mimic it or cook it myself. Yeah, I need it to be better about that. That's... Yeah. You do cook a bunch of stuff. I've never tasted your food, but all the stuff that you cook looks fantastic. All right, 713-780-ESP and we'll return Craig Way, Voice of the Texas Longhorns. He joins us next. The B's on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. ESPN 97-5. If you're living with dry age related macular degeneration or dry AMD, you may be at risk for developing geographic atrophy or GA. GA can be unpredictable and progress rapidly, leading to irreversible vision loss. Now there's something you can do too. Iservei is proven to slow GA progression. Iservei or a vassencaptid pagel is a prescription eye injection used to treat GA. Don't take it if you have an infection or active swelling in or around your eye. Iservei can cause eye infection, retinal detachment or increased risk of wet AMD. Iservei may temporarily increase eye pressure. Your vision may be impaired after an eye injection or exam. Don't delay. You can't talk to your doctor about Iservei today. Iservei can take a G.A. going story. Visit iservei.com. 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Joining Team Veritex today, member FDIC. Houston's independent voice for sports, ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Here's Joel Blanket, Jeremy Branham. Let's go straight out to the HRMP guest line being joined by the voice of the Texas Longhorn's Craig Way, part of our coverage of Texas, Texas A&M. All courtesy of Rebecca Creek Whiskey. Craig, thanks for taking a few minutes coming on with the Killer Bees. I know it's a busy day for you. Coach Sarcio coming up a little bit later tonight. What is the feeling in Austin? Now, the Texas and Texas A&M is finally back. Hey, great to be on with you guys. You know, there's a lot of excitement clearly about the rivalry returning. And of course, that's largely fan-based and the alumni for both schools are really worked up about it and everything. From the football perspective, from listen to Sarc, talk about it and other and a lot of the players talk about it. It's kind of a means to an end, meaning win this game and then Texas will be in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game next week. And probably will lock up a spot in the college football playoff no matter what happens in Atlanta next week. But if they win Saturday night college station, it gives them the chance to win the SEC title, which has been a stated goal. And then they would get a buy in the first round. But first things first, they know they're going to have to deal with A&M and all of that entails not only the football team, which is a good team, but dealing with that environment in college station, which is certainly quite unique. Craig, Jermaine, every year, do you see this Texas team with everything that they have in front of them being a potential SEC title and also a potential or looming college football playoff appearance? Do you see them as maybe kind of overlooking the Aggies this coming Saturday? No chance of that. Zero chance of that, because if they lose to A&M, all of their destiny goes out of their own hands. They may still wind up in the playoff, depending on what else, but if you have a week and a chaos like what happened last week, you're really asking for others to help you out there. And I don't think there's any chances. You know, that question was asked last week going into the Kentucky game about, hey, you're coming off one rivalry game Arkansas, and going into another one the following week A&M, any chance that this could be a trap game or something like that. And Sarc was pretty adamant about saying, no, our guys are zeroed in on the task at hand, and they were and went out one in the game by 17 points. I definitely think there's not going to be a chance of that given that it's the first time they will have played in 13 years and the restoration of this rivalry and what it takes a chance to go to the SEC Championship and probably then really get a stranglehold on a spot in the college football playoff if they win Saturday night. Craig Way joining us on the HR and P guess line. Yeah, I was I was wondering that too, looking at the college football playoff rankings and then you're talking about winning this, lock yourself up in the SEC Championship game at that point. You've done enough. And then, of course, you have the high stakes of playing for a buy, which means you only need three wins to win the national championship versus four. I wonder if they they've done enough. I think that they have already done enough to make the college football playoff, but it goes to what you said. There's no way that any coach in America is going to allow his team to. Hey, guys, if we lose this game, don't worry about it. We're still going to be in. That's just not the mentality you can have as a program. Yeah, I think here's what I think, Jeremy. I think I think they've done enough to be in, but a loss sets them back a little and then you're just hoping that others don't pass you after you've had the loss. That was your, you know, your last impression that you're leaving with the committee was the defeat. And even though they're number three in the rankings and if it all ended today, the regular season, they go into the two slot because only one big 10 team can go either a higher state of Oregon can get that by the other would go into probably the five hole. So you're right. I think they looked at it like they got to keep their foot on the gas and handle this deal because then not only do they win and get to the SEC Championship game and a chance to play for the conference title and get a bind all that. It also keeps them very high up in the ranking. So that even if they do lose to Georgia in Atlanta, which would be difficult having already lost him at home this year in Austin. But if they get the win this week, then I think folks will look at it. Well, they're definitely in and they're probably still in good shape. But even if they were to lose the SEC kind of big to host a playoff game to be in that five, six, seven, eight slot, which guarantees you a game at a hole in the first round. They'd love to get the buy. And I know that Lane Kippens and all this stuff about coaches not wanting to play that game and not wanting to be. He doesn't have to worry about it anymore. He got knocked out last week by Florida, but Sark has said from day one, and his players have said from day one, the goal is to win the SEC title. But I'm worried about, you know, hey, get in the conference championship game and maybe lose and they get knocked out. Well, well, Miss had two losses at the time. That's why I said that. There's Texas with one loss. It's the Georgia Zorean Conference Championship game. If they handle their business and are able to beat A&M Saturday night, even a second loss to Georgia, I don't think it's going to knock them out of the playoff. And I think a win Saturday night would at the very least guarantee them a home first round playoff game. I'm going into Atlanta with a chance to win the title and get that buy in the first round. I'm going to get three weeks to get your guys rested and ready to go starting in the bowl season in the quarterfinals, which protections would almost certainly be in the sugar bowl. Given that this rivalry is resuming after a 13 year hiatus, you know, most of these guys probably don't even know or could remember, you know, the height of this rivalry with like how heavy this weighs on the people in the state. Do you think that there's like a lack of sense of urgency or like there's levity lost in this rivalry for the guys that are going to be playing on Saturday? No, but see, here's the difference. What they're looking at at it as the next opponent. You know, it's really kind of an interesting perspective on it because when we were talking to the guys this week, as you pointed out, none of them played in this game. I mean, the last almost 13 years, and now I kid it. We shot a Barry's a four forward finalist and he's a six year senior and I said, Hey, you just barely missed it. You know, we joked about it, but, but you know, those guys have all said things like, yeah, I remember watching it when I, you know, they were like, eight, seven, you know, nine, they were like in elementary school. And so, so it holds a different meaning, but I will also tell you this, most of the guys, at least from the Texas side, no players and in many cases are friends with players who are on the other side who play for Texas A&M. So they know each other well. It's just a different look at it. It's not that that deep seated hatred thing. It doesn't mean they're looking at it with a relaxed attitude. I think they're just looking at it differently. And most importantly, they're looking at it from the perspective of this is the team that's in our way. We got to get past them to have a shot to be in the playoffs. I think that is the overriding feeling that's going on with this football team. Craig, how's the, the ankle for yours? I've read these practicing. So must be okay. Yeah, it's a little sore, but, you know, he was able to finish the game the other day. And then he's had treatment throughout the course of the week, but he is able to practice. He has worked on it. He'll be ready to go. I don't think there's any question about that. He will, he'll have his opportunity to go out there. And he really wants to play in this football game. You know, a lot of these players, even though they've never played in this game, are very, very excited about having the chance to play in this game. And he is one of them. So I think you'll definitely see him in uniform ready to go Saturday night. Nice. Yeah, I can't wait for this rivalry to get resumed myself because I, you know, as a person of my age and growing up, watching this rivalry, knowing what it meant to see all of these guys on the field and playing and whatnot, knowing that they've all played together. It's pretty exciting. But one thing that I'm really looking forward to is just to see what this Texas offense looks like against this A&M defense in college station at night with everything that they have on the line. Do you think that there's going to be any butterflies in the stomach or any trepidation or do you think that that environment will rattle this offense any and that they'll be able to get back on track and maintain on track. You're doing earlier in the season when they were producing more points in more yards. Well, they'll definitely be butterflies. If they're not human, that should definitely be the case. And I think they would definitely be butterflies. Now, having said that, I think they understand, you know, what's at hand here and what the preparation has been like all the way through. So I don't think it's a situation where it's going to happen for them. What they have to maintain and what they have to stay away from is something that has popped up recently, that fumbling issue that they had, which normally has not been the case this year, but it did pop up last week. And Sarg said, you know, I need to go back and take a look at this and see if we're doing something wrong in terms of coaching because they're at three fumbles last week from guys who don't normally fumble the football. Now, they only lost one of those, but it was important to make sure that they get everything buttoned up and all of the other important offensive elements. I think that's the important thing to keep in mind here. Craig, thanks for taking a few minutes answering our Texas questions ahead of the big game on Saturday. Have a great call. I know that you will. We'll catch up with you soon. Thank you Jeremy. Looking forward to it. Good to go with you guys. Have a great Thanksgiving. Appreciate it, you too. It's Craig Way, voice of the Texas Longhorns, joining us on the HRNP guest line ahead of Texas and Texas A&M coming up on Saturday. The rivalry renewed as Texas A&M faces off against the University of Texas at Cal Field. Stay tuned to ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 for extensive coverage of this historic game presented by Rebecca Creek Distillery. You'll hear interviews with guests from both sides. You've had them all throughout the station this week, spirited conversation from all of us. Great to have Andrew Monaco, Craig Way with us today. Also connects our coverage on the ESPN Houston YouTube channel and social media and enjoy Rebecca Creek whiskey enchanted rock vodka and Texas Ranger whiskey to celebrate the rivalries return. Giggleman Hookham. All right, 713 780 ESPN CJ Stroud. It's an interesting dynamic quarterback positions. Always one that you're talking about. Texans have been in the headlines 7 and 5, not living up to expectations. CJ Stroud, sophomore slump has regressed. I have a reason why we have seen the regression and how the Texans can help that anti regression going forward. It is the bees on ESPN 97 5 and ESPN 92 5. ESPN 97 5. I'm John Granato, man of the people. 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You're listening to The Killer Bees with Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham. On ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Broadcasting live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios. It's very clear to me. Jermaine every filling in for Blankers. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. It's very clear to me that CJ Stroud, he's not having the year he had last year. He's still not even bad. People are acting like CJ Stroud has been a bottom ten quarterback in the NFL. He hasn't been that. He's in the top five in passing yards. I don't want to trigger Paul. I understand the passing yards aren't necessarily this winning stat, but it's not like all has been bad for CJ Stroud. But why haven't we seen that progression, that development? Why haven't we seen CJ Stroud become a top five quarterback in the NFL? I think most of it's quite frankly out of his control. I think that the offensive line has made him hesitant. I think he's playing with trepidation. I think that's leading to a little bit of inaccuracy. I think that's what's leading to a few more of the turnovers. The offense just hasn't been clicking on all cylinders. The rhythm hasn't been there. And there's a variety of different reasons. Maybe it is Stroud not playing fantastic. Bobby Sloake is a name that always gets brought up as to why the Texans haven't been clicking and playing with rhythm offensively. I think the offensive line is the biggest issue in a variety of different variables that leads into the reason why the offense is struggling. But I thought this was an interesting take. Derek Klassen of the Athletic had a theory on why CJ Stroud is struggling. Here's what he had to say. Where are you at on CJ Stroud right now? I'm still not really worried about CJ Stroud. I do think there is an element to it where he, I think last year, got away with a lot because things were just working really well. The offense, the skill players for the most part, were a little bit healthier. And I think the run game was helping a little bit more where it didn't feel quite as disjointed. And I think he was just like, "Oh, I can just do whatever I want. I can make all these throws." I think right now you can feel he is taking on a little bit the pressure of the offense where it's like, "Oh, all these things are going wrong. I feel a burden to make a play." This is actually something I wanted to talk about with some other quarterbacks and some other offensive environments. You know, an offensive environment is good when the quarterback isn't worried that a bad play is going to happen. He's just like, "You know what? It's fine. We'll get to the next one." And that doesn't even mean the offense is good, right? Like, look at Drake May in New England. That's not a good offense. It's enough from very classy. So basically he feels like he has to put on the cape and play hero because there's been a lot of struggles on this offense. And I would say it's mostly on the offensive line. You could throw the slow like name into the conversation. His approval rating in Houston is less than 10%. I think it's mostly the offensive line. But do you think that's a fair take from Derrick Classic of the Athletic that, you know, Stroud trying to put on the cape, but it's leading to some of the lack of progression that we expected to see from Stroud? No, not at all. I think a lot of that has to do with the inconsistency of his weapons that they amassed to have him there, that he didn't have all of them consistently. Not only that, but the offensive line has been, offensive line play has been spotty at best this year. So when you put together a spotty offensive line play combined with not having all of your weapons at your disposal at various points of the season, it kind of puts a damper on what you're expecting from him. And it's just like I was alluding to earlier, you know, the expectations were heightened after last season and then doing what they did in the off season. However, the glaring holes that you still have, namely the offensive line issues, prevent him from playing the way he wants to play. It's a little bit of shell shock that CJ is experiencing because I see plays where he doesn't plant his feet or he throws off his back foot or he throws off balance and things like that. And he's just not connecting and clicking like he was last year. Now people will look back at last year and say, well, they had to have backups and, you know, they had, you know, got injuries along the offensive front last year. Perhaps one of their best games last year, my favorite game from that offensive line was the Pittsburgh game where they had five backups starting. And you were going against TJ while in that defense, and they won that game 30 to six and Stroud kept his jersey clean. You know, you need more games like that as opposed to what they've been getting from this offensive line this year. Yeah, I mean, I do think that that's the biggest reason. I think a lot of times we look at why are these things struggling? Why is this struggling? We try to pinpoint it to one very specific thing when it's probably more about 10 different things that aren't going well. And, you know, if you have 10 different things that aren't going well, you put that all together, you start adding it up and it's going to be very, very bad. And of those 10 things that are going wrong, one is way more important than say the 10th most important. So I agree with you that the offensive line is the biggest reason why. I would even say, you know, slowing, maybe not coaching up to what the weaknesses are of this team. You know, Andrew Monica was on with us at the 15. He said a lot of times it's hiding weaknesses, right? We were talking about Jalen Petrie earlier. How can you hide him in coverage? Like that's part of sport is trying to eliminate the things that you're bad at and not exposing the things that you were bad at. It's very difficult to get away from exposing a bad offensive line in past protection. That is difficult to do. But really good play callers can scheme things up whenever you have a bad offensive line that makes the offensive line look better. I'm a big believer in that you really, for every quarterback, you should make their life as easy as possible. I believe it's especially true for young quarterbacks. You should be making their life as easy as possible. And what's the best way to make their life as easy as possible? It's what you're talking about. It's an offensive line. It's keeping his jersey clean against the Pittsburgh Steelers last year who have a dynamic pass rush. So the Texans have struggled in that area. And to me, this is more of a slowick, cristrouser thing than it is a Nicocario thing. Because look, this offensive line has had tons of resources spent into it. Tons of money have been spent on this offensive line. High draft picks have been spent on this offensive line. So if you get in, look, some of it could be player evaluation and maybe missing on player evaluation. But if you're spending tons of resources either financially or draft capital into a certain position group, you would expect that position group to be coached up. And your offensive line coach is really the first person I'm looking at there. And then Bobby Sloeck, who oversees the entire offensive operation, would be the next person I'm looking to there. And then, of course, you go into the schematics. So it's difficult to me because I feel the Texans tried to make CJ Strauss life easy as a young quarterback in the NFL this year. It just hasn't become accomplished. You haven't been able to reap the fruit of that because they've struggled so bad in pass protection. It's to the point now where I think that they need to complete overhaul on the offensive side when it comes to the offensive line. Maybe not slow, specifically. But I think that you need to bring in an offensive line coach that fits this scheme to perfection that can coach up this offensive line. And I also think that you're probably going to need to see some big moves in terms of names that are not going to be here next year. Like tons of the mes kind of locked into the contract. You're not getting out of that. But as Drew Scruggs a starter on this team next year, is Jared Patterson a starter on this team next year? Is Shaq Mason an aging veteran a starter on this team next year? Titus Howard has a big contract. But if you designated a June 1st cut, you can save a lot of money. You drafted Blake Fisher in the second round at another day in this past off season. Like, I think you might see three new starters on the offensive line next year. I might even go as far to say give me four. You know, I wouldn't be surprised. I also wouldn't be surprised if they brought a lot of these guys back just to run it back one more time to see what a new offensive line coach will be able to provide. However, the only way I would be okay with them bringing back like a Titus Howard and a Shaq Mason would be as if you change the offensive line coach. And you see what a new offensive line coach can get out of these guys because you paid them so much money. When LZ was talking about how the offensive line couldn't pick up on the stunts in order to know how to pass them off to one another, that's coaching and technique. That's not on these guys' individual efforts. That falls on the position coach. So stuff like that, Bobby Slowick could call the greatest play in the history of the Houston Texans franchise. If that offensive line does not pick up on those stunts and they do not know how to pass that off, it won't work. So it doesn't even matter what Slowick calls if you don't block the playwright. So saying that you need to get rid of the offensive coordinator when the offensive line coach could clearly be the issue here as well as a lack of talent is not something that I'm in favor of. It's just not. I mean, we saw what he did last year. Why would it be any different this year? What changed? Well, the one thing that did change was the play of the offensive line. Let's look at the root of the issue and not look at the bigger picture and say, "Hey, we need to blow all of this up." Yeah, I'm torn on the Slowick thing in the off season. Like, if you, to me, I look at coaches, especially like OCs, DCs, position coaches, the same way that I look at players. Like, if you feel like you can upgrade at left guard in the off season, don't you upgrade at left guard? Like, that's what teams do. Like, every team in every sport. We feel like we have an upgrade at this position. Let's go with this guy who we feel like is an upgrade at this position. I feel like you should do the same thing for coordinators. If you feel like there's an upgrade out on the open market, I feel like you should make that move. So, if there's an offensive coordinator out there that is greater than Slowick, I'm totally okay with moving on from Slowick and bringing in the offensive coordinator that you feel is greater. I'm not as big on the fire Slowick, you know, banging on that drum as much as most people are. Like, I'd be okay if he was still the OC next year. I probably lean moving on, but if he were to be brought back, okay, but I need to see some changes with his staff, specifically offensive line. I can't remember where I read this, but then looking it up, it's very interesting to me that the Texans have an offensive line coach who never coached in the scheme that Slowick is running. That to me seems counterproductive. That to me seems round peg square hole. Like, to me, that should be in unison. If you're going to have this, you know, Bobby Slowick's running this Shanahan scheme, you would really think that you would have brought in an offensive line coach who is also very knowledgeable about that scheme. So, the fact that you don't have an offensive line coach that his coach in the scheme before, that to me is weird. Yeah, that did not match up and also the fact that he did not have very much success on his previous stop with the Colts. That factors into it for me as well. And I just would have brought someone in from, you know, San Francisco, maybe, or maybe the Jets or somebody like that. Like, just a team that had an offensive coach that came from this tree that has similar principles and styles and systems in place. That's the type of coach that I would have wanted to bring in for my offensive line coach, especially someone who's had some sort of modicum of success in his previous stop. That's definitely what I would want to look for. To bring in a guy who, as the double whammy of not having successes in previous stop and not coaching in his office before, it was very mind-blowing. That's another reason why I think, you know, keep Slowick, not only just that, but Slowick had success with CJ. CJ's only been in the league two years. If we get rid of Slowick by however you want to go and you bring in someone totally different outside of this system, is he learning a new system or is it the same system, just a different play caller? Because if that's the case, we can just look right here on the staff and look at Gerard Johnson and say, "Hey, you know what, let's change the way we structure this, give Gerard Johnson, you know, co-office a coordinator, play calling duties, and you guys work together and figure it the hell out." I would rather see something like that than to say, "Okay, let's get rid of Slowick and bring someone else in." But that's just me. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of changing the scheme too for young quarterbacks as well. I don't want the young quarterback having to learn a completely different offense. So I think that is a really good point. A few people in the text line from the hive, I think defenses have more game film and throwing different schemes at him now. See, I don't think they're seeing tons of different things. I think they're having a lot of trouble with things that give them trouble. I don't think teams are reinventing the will against the Texans and other textures. So is it the fault of every coach that all of our offensive linemen had in their past? Did they not learn this stuff earlier? I mean, the offensive line was better last year with lesser players, so that's kind of odd too, I would say that. Yeah, I just, I'm not a fan of changing too many things with a young player, a young quarterback when he's had some success. There's going to be some minor tweaks and changes to the roster and to the coaching staff. I'm almost certain of it in this offseason. I just want to see which tweaks and changes that they're going to make with the personnel and the coaching staff in order to say, okay, this is where we were, this is where we ended up, this is where we are now, and this is where we want to go from here. And how do we get there by making set changes? Yeah, I mean, even the best teams make the changes. All right, 713-780-ESP, and what is your car wreck of the day? What are you nominating for car wreck of the day? 713-780-3776, it's the BZSPN975 and ESPN-925. ESPN-975! Jackpot.com! Listen up, Texas, you can now play your favorite scratchers right on your phone. That's right, you can now buy and play the scratcher games you love, like 500X, and jackpot millions right on your phone with jackpot.com. The top scratch ticket prize is up to $20 million, so don't wait. 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Or visit the GentsPlace.com and use code ESPN for 50% off your first experience and enjoy the compliments at your holiday parties. Hey Houston, Donnie Campbell here from Campbell's Custom Care. If you want your car to stay clean and shiny no matter the weather, you need the Don, like spusive detailing ceramic coat spray, especially designed to clean seal and protect your paint, keeping your ride looking like new, even through the toughest Houston heater rain. Get yours today at CampbellsCustomCare.com, the home of the Don detailing spray, your car's new best friend. Holiday Special starting at 20% off when you mention ESPN Radio at Campbell's Custom Care. Missed any of today's show? Then download the podcast now where ever you get your podcast. You know what I mean? My body's broken, the balls coming through. You see, you see, you see. I'll give you all the f***ing volume brick with my f***ing money. This is the Car Wreck of the Day. What is your car wreck of the day? 713-780-ESP-N-H-R-N-P, listener line 713-780-3776. Jermaine, what do you have, car wreck of the day? Actually, my car wreck of the day is very much so centered around your night. I think the Coups playing at 11.30 is my car wreck of the day because I hate it. Even though I have to be up tonight because my daughter's getting, she's going in and getting off really late. So, I'm going to be up watching the game. Good. I would encourage you to listen to the game, Jermaine. You know what you're right. I probably should. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to have it on. I'm going to listen to you, but have the TV on mute. There you go. There you go. Sink my game. There you go. I really might end up like I normally do. I'll probably just listen to the game, to listen to your call, and then I'll be watching probably Pro Wrestling to be honest with you and catching up also. Just to be straight up real with you. Because I have another article that I got to write from my friends website in the podcast. So, I got a lot of catching up to do. Fair enough. Fair enough. And then you got to cook all day tomorrow. So, you got some things to do. You got a few things to do. You got a few things to do. Yeah, it is a late start. 11.30 back home. Kind of crazy. Probably even start later because there's a game before. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I might. I mean, we'll see. Maybe it's midnight by the time that game gets started. Hopefully not. Not going to win. Should have said that. Yeah. Yeah. It's a late game. I want to nominate the media. You got testing today. Media got testing at the D'Amico Ryan's press conference. People are so mad at the Texans these days that media is starting to turn on media. Take a listen. I hope you can hear it. Hang on a second. We'll talk about media balance. Let's see. You have a few. All right. So, look. There's a lot of times when people are firing off questions at people. I don't know. I don't know how well that came off on radio because it means you're picking this little testiness between media members was picked up on D'Amico Ryan's mic. But media members will ask coaches questions and a lot of times you start to talk over each other. Not necessarily to be rude. They're just firing off questions at the same exact time. And it sounded to me like that was Landry Locker and Kim Davis asking a question at the same time. And then Kim Davis, you know, you've had a few. It's my turn to Landry Locker. That was fun. I love Kim. Kim is like, I call her my media aunt because she would always make sure like I was safe and did a bunch of, you know, like did everything right and was responsible, respectful and what not. She showed me the ropes. So I love Kim. Love Kim. Oh, yeah. She's a pro's pro. But she's not after Landry today. You know, asking questions at the same time. You've already had a few Landry. It's my turn. I'd like to hear that. 713. 780. ESPN. I have one more. Car record. 2. NBA. NIT haters. NBA in season tournament. For all of you haters that hate the NIT, why do you hate it so much? Would you rather have regular November basketball? Or would you rather have November basketball with some actual stakes with something on the line? Would you rather your team win the NBA in season tournament in IT? Would you rather than lose the NBA in season tournament? All the haters of the NBA in IT are just being haters. What is it due to you? What are you losing here? You're not losing out on games. You're not losing anything. You just want to hate to hate. You know, I love, I actually like it because it's, like I said earlier, it's starting to make early season NBA basketball a lot more interesting. So I actually like it. Why people are so dead set against it? People like you calling it the NBA and IT. It is. It's funny, it adds something to the game. It makes pre-Christmas NBA more watchable. Yeah. The stakes are higher, there's actual competitiveness, there's actual effort and what are you losing out on? Like it's not like they're replacing the NBA finals with this thing. They're replacing November NBA games with this thing and they're still regular season games. All they did was, I mean, lipstick on a pig a little bit, but a lipstick on a pig is better than just a pig. You know what I mean? I'm not going to try to convince you to like it. I just know I like it. I love it. I love it. You call it the NBA and IT. Come on, man. They called, they did that themselves. Remember the shirts last year were the top, the top row it said NBA. The middle row said in season and the bottom row said tournament. So if you went down the shirt, it said NIT. That was on them. That was on the, I do, I like it. I make fun of it. I mock it. Of course I do. I mock everybody. No one, no one's off limits. I'll get everybody. Everybody can get it. But I do like, I'm being sincere whenever I like it. Give me NIT basketball on the NBA over mediocre regular season games, texture in the hives as NIT's helping the Rockets, maturing in growth by giving them something to play for and learn. I completely agree with that. Because yesterday was a high stakes game, like that had some pressure to it. They blew a big lead and yet they were able to sustain that, weather that and then win. I thought that was great. Another texture in the hive. He wants to nominate Rudy Gobert for letting a 16th center drop a triple double and only scoring five points. Yeah, Shengun kind of got him. He got Gobert a little bit yesterday. Bro, there was, there was a game and I should, I should nominate this person for car record of the week because they tried to tell me that I didn't know what I was talking about that when, when, when Anthony Edwards got upset with Rudy Gobert for getting a three second call, he screwed up. That was his fault because they don't trust Rudy Gobert to be under the basket. So he should have moved his ass out the way, but anyway, I've had a great time today doing a show with Jeremy. I will say that it was very easy and simple to do a show with Jeremy. That's, I'm a great point guard. That's why Jermaine. I just would never say that, but it's true. I'm, I'm a great point guard. You, you, you play the two man picking role game pretty damn well, if I must say so myself, but I'm alone. Blankers is my carolingo. I appreciate y'all. Yeah, I appreciate it. It was good. It was good at the underscores remain. You can check me out. Matter of fact, tonight at Succio sports as sports with the Z on our live podcast tonight and check out the rest of the CDB multimedia family. Yeah. Do all that. We're, we're going to do this again too. Jermaine's going to be back on with us. I had fun as well. Really enjoyed it. Thanks to AJ behind the glass. He's Jermaine Avery. I'm Jeremy Branham. We'll talk to you next week. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Talk to you then. 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