2012 Texans Watch-On To Foxborough!

The Texans over the month of December have not exactly shown us Houston fans they are the same squad that swaggered and dominated NFL competition through the first 12 games of the season. 

They entered their playoff game with an outlook as cloudy as the rainy overcast Houston weather that kept Reliant Stadium's roof closed and a fan base that had seen far too many of these NFL seasons that got our civic hopes up but ultimately crashed and burned for our local NFL franchise.

Well, the Texans have been saying all year they wanted to slay some demons and make new and wonderful NFL history for our city.  They took the first step in their road to the Super Bowl in their deja vu rematch with a Cincinnati Bengals squad that had won seven straight and wanted to slay a demon of its own in terms of not having won a playoff game in 22 years.

In front of a record crowd of 71,738 that included former Oilers great Earl Campbell the Bulls on Parade showed up Saturday along with a Texans offense at its clock controlling best.   They held the ball for nearly 39 minutes as Arian Foster rushed 32 times for 140 yards and a touchdown.


They are still having issues finishing drives with touchdowns as Shayne Graham's four field goals attests to.  It didn't help that Matt Schaub threw a pick six in the second quarter for a brief 7-6 Bengal lead but followed it up with a drive that led to a Graham field goal that put them up at the break 9-7.

But with the Bulls on Parade forcing turnovers and not allowing the Bengals a single third down conversion, the Texans sent the Bengals packing again with a nerve wracking 19-13 win.   

They now earn a return trip to Foxborough to play a rested New England Patriot squad that embarrassed them on national TV 42-14 last month to start their four game funk and that no one outside of Loop 610 thinks they can beat.   In fact the early Vegas line has them as 9 point underdogs.

We'll see next Sunday.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Wild Card Weekend

The regular season prognostication contest between myself and Mr. Watts is over, and it came down to the last week and the last game of the 2012 NFL season.  

Specifically the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Redskins one.   I went with RG3, Mike went with TR3 (Tony Romo, three interceptions).  I prevailed by one game after having as much as a seven game lead during the season. 

Best of all, I have the bragging rights over my fellow Texan until we crank this NFL prognostication competition up in September 2013 with me as defending champion.  

Week 17 records 
TransGriot  11-5
Mike Watts 10-6

2012 Final Season Records
TransGriot  163-92-1
Mike Watts 162-93-1

Speaking of champions, the road to next month's Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans gets started with Wild Card weekend.  Just to keep my championship NFL prognostication skills sharp I'll predict who I think will come out on top in these playoff games like last year all the way until the Super Bowl on February 3.  If Mike Watts puts his picks up on his blog I'll link to them as well. 

So let's get started with the 2012-13 TransGriot NFL playoff predictions, shall we? . 


Saturday NFL Wild Card Playoff Games 

Cincinnati at Houston

My 12-4 hometown NFL ballers weren't supposed to be playing this weekend.   They were 11-1 and had a stranglehold on the number one seed for the entire AFC playoffs until they dropped three of their last four games to play their way into Wild Card weekend. 

That means they stumbled their way into a deja vu rematch of their 2012 NFL wild card playoff matchup with the Bengals.   

And yeah, Mr Watts and the media had to bring up a painful memory for longtime Houston NFL fans. January 3 was the 20th anniversary of the Oilers playoff collapse against Buffalo that sowed the seeds of NFL civic discontent that led to them moving to Nashville in 1996.

Meanwhile the 10-6 Bengals enter this deja vu rematch on a bit of a roll   They won three of their last four and seven of their last eight in the second half of the season with only a 20-19 loss to Dallas on December 9 marring their record.  Houston area homeboy Andy Dalton will be motivated to flip the script of last year's playoff game and end their playoff futility streak.  The Bengals haven't won a playoff game since 1990. (ironically against against the Oilers) .

However, this game is being played at Reliant Stadium and the AFC South champion Texans, with 8 Pro Bowlers on this squad, are more than a little pissed off about their play down the stretch and making their NFL road to New Orleans harder.   This will be Matt Schaub's first playoff game as the Texans QB and he will be motivated to play well and show he is worthy of his Pro Bowl selection after a lousy December.  So will future defensive MVP JJ Watt and the Bulls on Parade defense. 

Despite what the NFL national pundits and haters like Shannon Sharpe and Keyshawn Johnson say, Texans in this one. 

Minnesota at Green Bay

The 10-6 Vikings won their last four games to edge the Bears for a playoff spot and beat Green Bay at Mall of America Stadium 37-34 in their 2012 regular season finale to get in.  They have the NFL's leading rusher in Adrian Peterson, who missed breaking Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record of 2105 by 9 yards.  AP has compiled 210 and 199 yard games in both NFC North divisional encounters with the Packers which the teams split.   

But the 11-5 Packers are playing this rubber match at Lambeau Field and have Aaron Rodgers on their sideline.  The Packers were 6-2 in the second half of the season and the NFC North Champs are getting healthy on the defensive side at the right time.  Peterson will probably rush for another 150 plus yards on the less than stellar Packers rushing defense, but if Vikings QB Christian Ponder doesn't play as well as he did last weekend and Aaron Rodgers is at his usual MVP level, it won't matter how many yards AP gains because their season will be over. 

Packers to take this one

Sunday NFL Wild Card Playoff Games


Indianapolis at Baltimore

Intriguing game on many levels.   The precocious rookie dominated Colts team that went 6-2 down the stretch and 9-3 under interim coach Bruce Arians as Pagano was on medical leave versus the injury plagued AFC North champion Ravens 4-4 second half season record.

Chuck Strong vs the Ravens being motivated to play well for their inspirational leader in LB Ray Lewis. 

Lewis announced he is retiring after a stellar NFL career, has an ESPN commentary job waiting when he does and returned for the playoffs after spending most of the season rehabbing a torn tricep muscle.   

There's the interesting note that this is the first time the 11-5 Colts will be playing a playoff game in Baltimore since sneaking out of town under cover of darkness to move to Indianapolis in 1984.  Longtime Ravens fans still haven't forgiven or forgotten that episode..  

You have the dynamic of former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell who is now the Ravens offensive coordinator. Chuck Pagano, the guy hired to replace Caldwell, spent several seasons in Baltimore and was the Ravens defensive coordinator prior to taking the Colts job

It's Houston homeboy Andrew Luck's first ever playoff game versus the inconsistent but playoff battle tested Joe Flacco.   They have quick strike capability with speedy rookie WR TY Hilton, veteran Reggie Wayne and a defense with playoff vets Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis still terrorizing NFL quarterbacks.    

But the Angry Birds have the playoff experience and made it to the AFC Championship game last year.  Can their defense carry this team one more time for their leader before he hangs it up or will Indy's youth be served before a hostile M&T Bank crowd?   And yeah, which Joe Flacco will show up?   How many carries will Ray Rice get? .  

Ravens will be motivated to win this one for Ray, the M&T Bank Stadium crowd will be fired up, and it will be the Ravens in a close one.


Seattle vs Washington

The most anticipated playoff game of the weekend involves two rookie quarterbacks spectacularly leading their teams in Rookie of the Year candidates Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III

2011 Heisman trophy winner RG3 is all that and four bags of chips.  Thanks to a 7-1 stretch run Griffin led the Redskins to a 10-6 record and their first NFC East title since 1999.  Seattle also went 7-1 in the second half of the season to finish 11-5.  One of those games was a 42-13 beat down of the NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field mere days after the Niners beat the New England Patriots in Foxborough.

The Seahawks defense is slightly better and especially their defensive secondary.   The Redskins D-line, like Seattle's has caused teams headaches during the second half of the season.   The Redskins offense is explosive and has rookie running back sensation Alfred Morris along with wide receivers Santana Moss and Pierre Garçon to complement RG3's world class sprinters speed.  

Seattle's offense isn't slouchy either.  Wilson is a better than average runner, and you have RB Marshawn Lynch and WR Golden Tate to throw into the offensive mix.  

The Seahawks were the only team to run the table at home, and two of the teams they beat there in addition to the 49ers were the New England Patriots (24-23) and the Green Bay Packers in that controversial 14-12 'Fail Mary' game that hastened the merciful end of replacement refs calling games.

But this playoff game will be at FedEx Field, it will be jumping, and we should be hearing 'Hail To The Redskins' when this close one is over.  

Redskins to win this one.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 17

Last week of the 2012 NFL regular season and all of the games are being played on Sunday.   

Many of them have playoff ramifications.  Some teams are playing for NFL playoff seedings or just to make the playoffs.  Others have players and coaches trying to impress since it will be the last games in their current NFL locales. 

They are auditioning either for their own coaches and owners or the coaches and owners of other teams so they will be collecting a fat NFL paycheck for the 2013 season. 

All Kansas City and Jacksonville are playing for the number one and number two picks in the 2013 NFL draft and which team gets which pick.

Speaking of playing for NFL seedings, my hometown NFL ballers stunk up Reliant Stadium last week and now find themselves in a must win game against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium to clinch the number one seed throughout the AFC playoffs and that precious week off.   If they lose to the Colts, they could potentially slide all the way to the number three seed.  I'd rather be playing Denver or New England at Reliant, not there in January.

Me and Mr. Watts are still tied after 16 weeks of picking games.  I thought the 49ers would play a more competitive game than they actually did but correctly picked the Saints taking out the Cowboys even if they did need overtime and a holy roller style fumble recovery to do so .  Mike changed his pick in time for the Jets-Chargers game otherwise I'd have a one game lead on him going into today.

This it is.  Drama once again in the final week of our 2012 NFL prognostication contest just like last year..  Which one of us will be the winner?  Or will we tie for it once again?

Mike's Week 17 picks are here, mine are in underlined bold print.  . 

Week 16 records 
TransGriot  12-4
Mike Watts 12-4

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  152-87-1
Mike Watts 152-87-1

Week 17

Sunday, December 30

Jets at Bills
Ravens at Bengals
Browns at Steelers
Texans at Colts
Jaguars at Titans
Eagles at Giants
Bears at Lions
Buccaneers at Falcons
Panthers at Saints

Sunday Afternoon

Dolphins at Patriots
Packers at Vikings
Chiefs at Broncos
Raiders at Chargers
Cardinals at 49ers
Rams at Seahawks

Sunday Night
Cowboys at Redskins

2012 Texans Watch-Bah Humbug!

The 12-2 Texans had a couple of things on their NFL to do list today before they kicked off their last regular season home game at Reliant against the Minnesota Vikings.  

One of those tasks was to slow down a rampaging Adrian Peterson who was only 294 yards from breaking Eric Dickerson's all time single season rushing mark of 2105.   The second was to clinch home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs by defeating the Vikings, a team they were 0-2 lifetime against.

Well, they got half the job done today.   The Bulls on Parade defense did their job and held Peterson to 85 yards rushing, but the offense was pathetic, lacking a sense of urgency and alarmingly flat for a team that had a chance to handle their NFL home field business. 

The 23-6 lump of coal loss in our Christmas stockings means that next week's finale against the Indianapolis Colts is not only a must win game for the now 12-3 Texans, the starters are now going to have to play some significant minutes to do so.  A loss at Lucas Oil Stadium drops them all the way to the number three seed and has them playing road games in the playoffs against New England and Denver instead of in the climate controlled confines of Reliant Stadium. 

Then again, if they don't get their act together on the offensive side of the ball, it might be a short playoff run no matter where they play the game.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 16

With Christmas rapidly approaching the usual Thursday night game has been shifted to Saturday and there's no Monday night game this week because it's Christmas Eve.   That gives me a few extra days to ponder how this weekend's NFL games will play out. 

You can call my favorite NFL ballers the back to back AFC South Division Champions after beating the Indianapolis Colts 29-17.   

Thanks to the early Christmas present we Texans fans received from the San Francisco 49ers when they beat New England 41-38 Monday night, the Texans can clinch home field throughout the AFC playoffs with a win tomorrow against the Minnesota Vikings or in their regular season finale next week against the Colts.

And speaking of beating people, after Mr Watts erased my seven game margin and took a two game lead going into Week 15, he (cough, cough) gave it right back and we're tied once again.  

So with just two weeks left in the season it's a fight to see who will emerge victorious in our 2012 NFL prognostication battle.  Yes, I plan to do this again during the 2013 NFL season, but now it's time for Moni to handle her 2012 NFL prognostication business. 

Mike's picks are here, mine are as usual in underlined bold print.   May the best Texan (pun intended) win.


Week 15 records 
TransGriot  10-6
Mike Watts 8-8

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  140-83-1
Mike Watts 140-83-1

Week 16

Saturday, December 22
Falcons at Lions

Sunday, December  23
Titans at Packers
Raiders at Panthers
Bills at Dolphins
Bengals at Steelers
Patriots at Jaguars
Colts at Chiefs
Saints at Cowboys
Redskins at Eagles
Rams at Buccaneers
Giants at Ravens
Vikings at Texans

Sunday Afternoon
Browns at Broncos
Bears at Cardinals
Chargers at Jets

Sunday Night
49ers at Seahawks

2012 Texans Watch-Back To Back AFC South Champs!

My fave NFL ballers put on their deep steel blue uniforms, shook off the beatdown they received at the hands of the New England Patriots last Monday and welcomed Andrew Luck back home by pinning him and his Indianapolis Colts with a loss at Reliant.


The 29-17 win clinched the AFC South title for the second straight year for the Texans.  They rolled up 417 yards of offense in this game, with Arian Foster leading the way with 165 yards rushing on 27 carries and Andre Johnson catching 11 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. 

The Bulls on Parade also showed signs of getting back to normal with JJ Watt getting closer to Houstonian Michael Strahan's single season NFL sack record of 22.5.   JJ is having an NFL defensive MVP type season and is at 19.5 sacks after taking Luck to the Reliant Stadium turf three times. 

The Texans also received an early Christmas present a few hours later when the San Francisco 49ers beat the Patriots 41-34 in Foxborough.


All the 12-2 Texans have to do is win one of their two remaining regular season games against either the Minnesota Vikings or the regular season finale versus the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium and they will clinch the number one seed and home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Congrats on winning the AFC South title for the second season in a row.  But the eyes of every Texans player and fan are turned east toward New Orleans.   They took a major step toward making that happen today.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 15

Well, was not a good Week 14 for me or my Texans.   They took a 42-14 buttkicking at the hands of the New England Patriots.  After holding as much as a seven game lead for most of the season I'm now trailing Mike by two games with three weeks to go no thanks to the Buffalo Bills expensively sorry defense blowing their lead against the St. Louis Rams.

But as Mr Watts painfully remembers,  I erased a four game deficit last season in less time.  I have three weeks left starting with this one.

I know what happened the last time the Texans embarrassingly lost a nationally televised game.  They took out their frustrations at Reliant on the Angry Birds.   This time it's Andrew Luck coming back home as the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts and the Texans needing a win to clinch their second straight AFC South division title and needing to just win baby to stay ahead of the Patriots for the number one AFC playoff seed.

Let's just say the Colts picked a bad week to be coming to Reliant for this crucial game.

Well, gotta handle my Week 15 business and stop the bleeding  Tired of the mediocrity that's allowed him to inch ahead and erase my lead in the first place.   Mike's picks are here, mine are in underlined bold print.

   
Week 14 records 
TransGriot  8-8
Mike Watts 10-6

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  130-77-1
Mike Watts 132-75-1

Week 15

Thursday, December 13
Bengals at Eagles

Sunday, December 16
Packers at Bears
Giants at Falcons
Buccaneers at Saints
Vikings at Rams
Redskins at Browns
Jaguars at Dolphins
Broncos at Ravens
Colts at Texans

Sunday Afternoon  
Lions at Cardinals
Panthers at Chargers
Seahawks at Bills
Steelers at Cowboys
Chiefs at Raiders

Sunday Night
49ers at Patriots

Monday, December 17
Jets at Titans

2012 Texans Watch-Ouch! 11-2

The Texans played arguably their most important game in their franchise history yesterday when they showed up in Foxborough, MA with their liberty white uniforms and 6-0 road record to take on the defending AFC champion New England Patriots.

And unfortunately stunk up the joint.  

The Patriots scored on their first three drives and cruised to a 42-14 loss that ended the Texans six game winning streak.   It was also their first loss in AFC conference play. 

While the Texans wanted to win this game and get some national respect in the process, it's tough to beat the Pats in Massachusetts in December.  It's even tougher when you turn the ball over, don't score on your first four first half possessions and when you do create Patriot fumbles you fail to recover them. .

Despite the blowout loss, my fave NFL ballers 11-2, are still holding the number one seed in the AFC and by winning their remaining three games against the Minnesota Vikings at Reliant and their home and away AFC South games against the Indianapolis Colts can clinch it.

They can clinch their second straight AFC South title by beating the Andrew Luck led Colts this Sunday.  

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 14

My hometown NFL ballers have clinched their AFC playoff spot with their 24-10 win last week against the Tennessee Titans Traitors to move to a franchise best 11-1.  But this upcoming Monday night game with the 9-3 New England Patriots will be a titanic challenge for them.  

They'll march into Gillette Stadium clad in their liberty white road uniforms with a 6-0 road record. They are attempting to clinch home field advantage all the way through the AFC playoffs against a team that rarely loses games at home in December..

If the Texans handle their business they will also clinch the AFC South Division title for the second straight year with a Colts loss.   The Colts are playing the Tennessee Traitors this week in Indy.  . 

Speaking of handling my business, the seven game lead I once had over Mr Watts is gone thanks to the Colts beating the Lions on the last play of their game, the Browns winning their first road game against the Raiders and me going 9-7 last week while Mike went 10-6.   So we're all even with this week and three more to go.  

Arrgh.   Well, I knew this wasn't going to be easy when I had that seven game lead, so let's get to work    Mike's picks are here, mine are as usual in underlined bold print.

Week 13 records 
TransGriot  9-7
Mike Watts 10-6

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  122-69-1
Mike Watts 122-69-1

Week 14

Thursday, December 6
Broncos at Raiders

Sunday, December 9
Ravens at Redskins
Chiefs at Browns
Chargers at Steelers
Titans at Colts
Jets at Jaguars
Bears at Vikings
Falcons at Panthers
Eagles at Buccaneers
Rams at Bills

Sunday Afternoon

Cowboys at Bengals
Dolphins at 49ers
Saints at Giants
Cardinals at Seahawks

Sunday Night
Lions at Packers

Monday, December 10
Texans at Patriots

2012 Texans Watch-The 11-1 Texans Clinch A Playoff Spot

The Houston Texans continued their best season in franchise history  as they ran their record to 11-1, sacked Jake Locker six times and forced six turnovers in a 24-10 demolition of the Tennessee Titans Traitors at LP Field.

And oh yeah, they won their sixth straight game and clinched their second straight playoff trip in the process.

The Texans ran their record to a spotless 6-0 when they wear their liberty white road jerseys and swept the Titans in both AFC South Division games   They still have a pair of AFC South games left on their schedule with the surprising Indianapolis Colts that nay determine if they repeat as AFC South Division champions, but at 4-0 in the division they are well on their way to doing so.

The Texans are an unbeaten 9-0 in AFC conference games, but that is about to get severely tested.

The win over the Traitors sets up a titanic Monday night showdown at Gillette Stadium with the defending AFC champion New England Patriots that will determine whether the AFC road to Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans runs through Reliant Stadium.   They already own the tiebreakers over the other AFC division winners thanks to wins over Baltimore and Denver and when they leave New England next Monday would like to have the tiebreaker over the AFC East champs when that game is concluded.

Well, the entire nation will get to watch and see if the Texans can handle the Brady Bunch..

2012 Texans Watch-Giving Thanks For Another OT Win

The Detroit Lions have been playing NFL games on Turkey Day ever since 1934 while this was the first ever in Houston Texans franchise history.

The Lions came into this one with a 4-6 record and a decade long losing streak in Thanksgiving Day NFL tilts while the Texans walked into Ford Field with an NFL best 9-1 record. 

But the Lions gave them a fight in a wild game with some controversial plays.  Texans fans aren't liking the first quarter play in which NFL bad boy Ndamukong Suh's foot connected with Matt Schaub's groin after being taken down by a Texans offensive lineman or the 21-14 halftime deficit our boys wearing the liberty white road uniforms found themselves in. .

But the play that ruined Detroit area Thanksgiving dinners was in the third quarter.  Justin Forsett was tackled by two Lions players on a run and was clearly down at the 50 yard line as the replays showed.  But Forsett didn't hear the whistle, got up and sprinted the rest of the way to the end zone for an 81 yard TD that narrowed the Texan deficit to 24-21.

The scoring play would have been automatically reviewed and probably taken off the board but an incensed Detroit coach Jim Schwartz threw his challenge flag on the field.  That negated the auto review, allowed the Texan TD to stand and earned a 15 yard unsportmanlike conduct penalty for the Lions on top of it.     

The Texans made them pay for that critical mistake by eventually driving 97 yards and scoring the tying Arian Foster TD with 1:55 left in the game. 

After a Jason Hansen 47 yard field goal attempt to win the game in overtime and get their coach off the hook clanked off the right upright and dropped back to the Ford Field turf, with 2:20 left in overtime Texans kicker Shayne Graham hit the field goal to win the game. 

For all you Detroit fans complaining about the call, your team had opportunities to win the game.  Considering some of the jacked up calls and bad breaks that have cost Houston NFL teams games in the past, I prefer to think of it as the NFL karmic wheel bending toward football justice for long suffering Houston NFL football fans.


That wild OT win sent the Texans to 10-1, kept them a spotless 5-0 on the road, and if a few teams lose on Sunday the Texans could clinch a playoff spot by the time they head to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Traitors on December 2.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 12

Gobble Gobble and Happy Thanksgiving Day TransGriot readers!  

This is a historic day for my hometown NFL ballers as it will be the first time in franchise history they have ever played on Turkey Day and it ain't at Jerryworld.

The Texans tangle with the Detroit Lions later today at 11 AM CST and seek to go 10-1 on the season 

The Cowboys take on the Redskins at 3 PM and the Jets host the Patriots in the evening game.

I went 12-2 during Week 11 while Mr Watts was 13-1.  Gee thanks Chicago defense for not showing up Monday night and allowing him to cut my lead over him to just 3 games.   This holiday weekend all 32 NFL teams are in action, so we'll have 16 games to pick as our prognostication contest has five weeks to go and my lead over him is down .

Y'all know the drill.  Mike's picks are here while mine are in underlined bold print. 


Week 11 records 
TransGriot  12-2
Mike Watts 13-1

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  105-54-1
Mike Watts 102-57-1

Week 12

Thursday, November 22
Texans at Lions
Redskins at Cowboys
Patriots at Jets

Sunday, November 25
Raiders at Bengals
Steelers at Browns
Bills at Colts
Titans at Jaguars
Broncos at Chiefs
Vikings at Bears
Falcons at Buccaneers
Seahawks at Dolphins

Sunday Afternoon
Ravens at Chargers
49ers at Saints
Rams at Cardinals

Sunday Night Game
Packers at Giants

Monday, November 26
Panthers at Eagles

2012 Texans Watch-Whew!

When the Texans played and easily beat down the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-7 back on September 16 they were laser beam focused on that game because they knew the Jags always play them tough and they wanted to get a win in the young season against a divisional opponent .

Afterr the hard fought win against the Chicago Bears, this had all the makings of a trap game.  The Texans first ever Thanksgiving Day appearance in Detroit looming and they were playing a Jacksonville Jaguars team they had beaten four straight times and who hadn't won in Houston since 2009. 

After the Texans efficiently torched the Jaguars on their opening drive to lead 7-0 and the Bulls on Parade defense knocked Jacksonville QB Blaine Gabbert out of the game on the Jags initial drive, it looked like this one was going to be over by halftime.  

The Jaguars had other ideas. Chad Henne came off the Jags bench to spark what turned out to be an entertaining but anxiety producing game for Texans fans.   They matched the Texans score for score as the Texans missed opportunities such as a 50 yard field goal clanking off the left upright that would have put the Texans ahead 20-17 at halftime.

But Jacksonville stormed out of the locker room and made some big plays of their own to forge a 34-20 lead with less than 6 minutes to go in regulation time. 

The Texans finally woke up and Matt Schaub hit 16 straight passes to erase the 14 point deficit.   The Texans defense also decided to join the party, forced a three and out late in the fourth quarter and Schaub guided the offense in position for Shayne Graham to kick the game winning field goal with 5 seconds left in regulation time.  A false start penalty and a badly shanked 47 yard field goal try later sent the game into overtime and sent Texans fans reaching for the Maalox.    

After the teams traded field goals it was Andre Johnson to the rescue.  A flanker screen turned into a 48 yard TD that ended the game, capped a 14 catch 273 yard career day and gave the Texans a thrilling but nerve wracking 43-37 win.  

Matt Schaub also had a career day with 527 yards and give touchdowns, falling just short of Norm Van Brocklin's NFL passing record of 551 yards but tying the Houston Oilers Warren Moon for second on the all time passing yardage list. .

More importantly, it moved the Texans to 9-1, allowed them to stay atop the AFC South Division, keep the best record in the AFC  and stay on track for home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

2012 Texans Watch-Texans Win Soggy Defensive Showdown

My fave NFL squad took their AFC best 7-1 record into a prime time televised showdown last night with the 7-1 NFC North leading Chicago Bears at a rain soaked Soldier Field that not many pundits gave them a chance to win.  

The sports media chatter before kickoff was talking about how great the Bears defense was and ignoring my Houston NFL homeboys, but when this game was over the Texans were the team that emerged victorious.

The Texans Bulls on Parade defense sent a message they are pretty good as well.  They forced four Chicago turnovers, knocked Jay Cutler out of the game with a second quarter concussion and held the Bears to two field goals.  The Texans generated enough offense thanks to Arian Foster's 102 yards on 29 carries to score the game's only touchdown in the second quarter that lifted the Texans to a 10-3 lead and on the path to ending the Bears six game winning streak.  

And oh yeah, with the 13-6 win the Texans moved to 8-1 on the season, bumped their all time franchise record against Da Bears to a spotless 3-0 and stayed unbeaten on the road in the 2012 season.  

Next up for the Texans is another AFC South Division game at Reliant Stadium with the Jacksonville Jaguars 

 

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 10

The Texans got their second half of the season started with a 21-9 win over the Buffalo Bills at Reliant last Sunday to keep the AFC's best record at 7-1.  

They now have an opportunity to atone for that disastrous debut on NBC's Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers.  

In this Sunday's game they face another NFC North Division opponent in the Chicago Bears.  They are the other NFL squad they've never lost to in franchise history (Miami is the other at 7-0) and have beaten them both times they faced them.  But this 2012 edition of the Bears are 7-1 and will be a formidable challenge at Soldier Field.   And yep, they trashed the Tennessee Traitors 51-20.

You can bet the Texans will have the desire to show the national media they are serious contenders to be playing in the Super Bowl down I-10 east in February.

I had a wonderful Week 9 and missed my perfect week again with a 13-1 record.  Got the Redskins-Panthers game wrong while Mr. Watts went a respectable 11-3.   Thanks to moi getting the Seattle-Minnesota and Pittsburgh-NY Giants games correct that we disagreed on, with seven weeks left in the regular season my lead over my fellow Texan has grown to six games.   
 
So y'all know the drill for this season long prognostication contest.  Mike's picks are here.  Mine are in underlined bold print.  Once again we have only fourteen Week 10 games to sort through because the Cardinals, Browns, Packers, and the Redskins are on their bye week.  


Week 9 records 
TransGriot  13-1
Mike Watts 11-3

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  86-46
Mike Watts 80-52

Week 10

Bye week
Cardinals, Browns, Packers, Redskins

Thursday, November 8
Colts at Jaguars

Sunday, November 11
Broncos at Panthers
Chargers at Buccaneers
Titans at Dolphins
Bills at Patriots
Raiders at Ravens
Giants at Bengals
Falcons at Saints
Lions at Vikings

Afternoon Games
Jets at Seahawks
Cowboys at Eagles
Rams at 49ers

Sunday Night Game
Texans at Bears

Monday, November 12
Chiefs at Steelers

2012 Texans Watch-Mario Who?

The Houston Texans greeted their former number one overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft when he returned to Reliant Stadium with his Buffalo bills teammates and a $100 million free agent contract in hand.

The Texans had the last laugh as the easily rolled to a 21-9 victory to get the second half of the NFL season off to a successful start.  .

But it wasn't without plucking the nerves of the Reliant faithful as my fave NFL squad got off to a sluggish and nerve racking start as they came out of their bye week.  They watched Mario Williams sack Matt Schaub and have five tackles in his return to Houston and noted the scoreboard showed a narrow 7-6 at halftime thanks to three defensive red zone stops that only yielded for the Bills six points.

The Texans finally got the offense in gear in the second half as Arian Foster rushed from 111 yards and a touchdown against the worst run defense in the league and Andre Johnson caught eight passes for 118 yards to take control of the game and cruise to an AFC best 7-1 record.

The Texans can't afford a slow start against next week's opponent when they travel to Chicago to take on the bears at Soldier Field under the bright spotlight of another NFL Sunday night football game.

The two things the Texans have in their favor is they have never lost (2-0) to the Bears and they want to atone for stinking up the joint in their inaugural appearance on NBC's Sunday Night Football

But that game should be fun to watch.

Political Football 2012

Washington Redskins football is always a popular ticket inside I-495 and the Washington DC area, but every four years the last Redskins home game before the election takes on a heightened significance with the inside the Beltway political pundit class because of the Redskins Game Election Predictor.

So what's the story behind the Redskins Game Election Predictor?

Since 1940, the Redskins last home game before a presidential election has presaged the eventual winner in 17 out of 18 elections. If the Redskins win that game, the incumbent party goes on to win that election. If the Redskins lose, the party out of power wins the election.

The only time the Redskins Game Election Predictor has been inaccurate was in 2004. The Green Bay Packers marched into FedEx Field on Halloween night and beat the Redskins 28-14 but GW Bush stole the election won anyway

The incumbent party in the White House this time is the Democrats and the Redskins will be playing the Carolina Panthers at FedEx Field on Sunday.   You can bet there will be some extra loud cheering for RG3 and company coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago and from every Obama supporter in the country for a Redskins victory.

Time for me to learn the Redskins fight song, too

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 8

We're halfway through the 2012 NFL season and my fave NFL ballers finally get to their bye week in spectacular fashion. 

In addition to hanging a team record setting 43-13 spanking on the Ravens and beating them for the first time in franchise history, they also have the AFC's best record at 6-1

Speaking of records, after that 4-10 Week 6 disaster I reversed it with a nearly perfect Week 7.  I went 12-1 and only that last second Tennessee Titans Traitors TD to pull out that 35-34 win over the Buffalo Bills kept me from going unbeaten.      

But Mr. Watts also stepped up his prognostication game and went 12-1 as well, so the lead I have over him going into the midpoint of the 2012 NFL season is still three games.

We now move on to Week 8, and Mike's picks are here.   Mine are in bold underlined print.   I want to not only build on that wonderful Week 7, I want to see if I can get that elusive perfect week I came so agonizingly close to.

Week 7 records 
TransGriot 12-1
Mike Watts 12-1

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  63-41
Mike Watts 60-44

Week 8
Bye week
Ravens, Bills, Bengals, Texans


Thursday, October 25
Buccaneers at Vikings

Sunday, October 28
Jaguars at Packers
Dolphins at Jets
Chargers at Browns
Colts at Titans
Patriots at Rams
Falcons at Eagles
Panthers at Bears
Seahawks at Lions

Afternoon Games
Redskins at Steelers
Raiders at Chiefs
Giants at Cowboys

Sunday Night Game
Saints at Broncos

Monday, October 29
49ers at Cardinals

2012 Texans Watch-Nevermore!

When the 2012 schedule was first released, this was a game Texans fans were looking forward to ever since that gut wrenching divisional round playoff loss in Baltimore back in January. 

After my fave NFL ballers came down from the unbeaten ranks with an embarrassing 42-24 thud on national television at home to Green Bay, the Texans players were looking forward to it as well.

The Texans fans also got the opportunity to welcome Jacoby Jones back to Reliant Stadium and let him know we still haven't forgotten that boneheaded play that set in motion that playoff loss.  The injury script was also flipped this time as the Ravens defense was missing Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb, and had other key players such as Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata nursing nagging injuries.  But there was good news on the injury front for the Ravens in that Terrell Suggs did play for the first time this season

The Ravens kept an interesting tendency going of being a formidable team at home but average on the road.  They've also had trouble over the last two weeks stopping the run.  

The Texans had no empathy for the plight of the NFL ballers from Baltimore as they put on the battle red uniforms, woke up from sleepwalking through last week's game and made the Ravens see red.

The Bulls on Parade defense swatted passes, sacked Joe Flacco four times including one for a safety, and picked him off twice.

One of those interceptions was the Jonathan Joseph pick six that broke the game wide open and was part of a 20 point second quarter explosion that led to a satisfying for Texans fans 43-13 blowout win.   

It was not only the first victory ever against the Ravens, it was the most points a Texans team has ever scored against an opponent.   It also gives the Texans the best record in the AFC at 6-1 going into their well deserved bye week and earned me some crabcakes from one of my friends in Baltimore. 

The Texans will get to watch everyone else play in Week 8, then get ready for their Week 9 home game at Reliant Stadium against the Buffalo Bills.

Hope this team I saw today hangs around until February 4, 2013

 

2012 Texans Watch-WTH?

Green Bay walked into Reliant Stadium last night and spanked my fave footballers like Joe Biden did Paul Ryan in that vice presidential debate Thursday night.

Green Bay took advantage of a flat Texans squad and embarrassed them on national television 42-24.  They stunk up the joint on offense, defense and special teams. 

About the only good things that came out of this sorry performance is that Andre Johnson passed the 10,000 yard mark for receptions, it was thankfully an interconference game and the Texans are 5-1.

Hey, if y'all want to beat Baltimore for the first time in franchise history when they come to Reliant next week, yall better show up with your A+ game and not the F+ one I witnessed along with the rest of the nation .