2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions Week 15

As far as my fave NFL squad goes, the only thing they are in the running for is the number one draft pick and after this Jacksonville loss, Gary Kubiak probably better be updating his resume
--TransGriot November 27, 2013

Told y'all Gary Kubiak better update his resume in the wake of the first loss to Jacksonville.  The 20-13 one, which was the Texans 11th consecutive one, got Kubes canned from his dream job.

The pleyers getting canned will be determined later

Texans owner Bob McNair said as much in the Monday press conference when he admitted he made the decision on the team plane ride home.  As pissed off as many Texans fans are about this season, railed about his too conservative play calling or the predictability of his offense, there's no debate that Gary Kubiak is a class guy and represented our team and the city with class. .

Kubiak had a full page ad placed in the Sunday Houston Chronicle thanking Texans fans in the wake of his termination by owner Bob McNair.   While Wade Phillips again takes the reins as the interim coach, who will be named the thrid coach of this franchise and who is in the running for the job is only known to bob McNair. 

Rumors are here that former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith (one of my faves because he is a native Texan), Stanford coach David Shaw and San Diego offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt are on the top of the list. 

There's also the rumor that current Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin is also being looked at by the Texans.   If they hired him, would be sweet karmic payback to the Aggies for stealing Sumlin from UH when we were undefeated before the C-USA title game vs. Southern Mississippi when we had chance to be a BCS buster.

Speaking of busted, Week 14 was not a good one for me with another sub.500 7-9 mark, but was very good to Mr. Blake, who took top honors with a 12-4 mark.   Mr.Watts was 10-6.

Okay, that one's over...let's get to Week 15.   My picks as usual in underlined bold print, here are Eli's and Mike's.

Week 14 Results

TransGriot       7-9
Eli Blake        12-4
Mike Watts    10-6

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      114-93-1
Eli                  133-74-1
Mike              128-79-1

NFL Week 15
Bye Teams-None

Thursday Night Game
San Diego at Denver

Sunday Noon Games
Washington at Atlanta
San Francisco at Tampa Bay
Seattle at NY Giants
Philadelphia at Minnesota
New England at Miami
Buffalo at Jacksonville
Houston at Indianapolis
Chicago at Cleveland

Sunday Afternoon Games
Kansas City at Oakland
NY Jets at Carolina
Green Bay at Dallas
Arizona at Tennessee
New Orleans at St. Louis

Sunday Night Game
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh

Monday Night Game
Baltimore at Detroit

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions Week 11

Another week has passed, my Texans still haven't won a game since September and had another ugly prognostication week in the worst season ever for me doing this.  

First time I've ever had back to back sub .500 weeks but Mr. Watts also joined me in sub .500 territory as Mr. Blake rebounded from his less than stellar Week 10 to go 9-5.

Serves him right for that crack about me being just ahead of the Washington Generals last week   May I remind you who won the 2012 NFL prognostication battle last year 

Since Veterans Day falls during this month, November has been the NFL's 'Salute To Service' month that honors veterans and active duty military personnel.

For every point scored during the NFL's 32 designated 'Salute to Service' games, the NFL donates $100 to each of its three military non-profit partners, the Pat Tillman Foundation, the USO and the Wounded Warrior Project.   They are also selling NFL camouflage merchandise on their website 

Now let's segue to this week's prognostication business since last week sucked  and I need to put it behind me. Teams I'm picking to win in underlined bold print.   Mike and Eli's picks are here.

Week 10 Results
TransGriot      6-8
Eli Blake        9-5
Mike Watts    6-8

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      81-66
Eli                  95-52
Mike              91-56 

NFL Week 11
Bye Week Dallas, St. Louis.



Thursday Night Game
Indianapolis at Tennessee

Sunday Noon Games
NY Jets at Buffalo
Atlanta at Tampa Bay
Detroit at Pittsburgh
Washington at Philadelphia
Arizona at Jacksonville
Oakland at Houston
Baltimore at Chicago
Cleveland at Cincinnati

Sunday Afternoon Games
San Diego at Miami
Green Bay at NY Giants
Minnesota at Seattle
San Francisco at New Orleans

Sunday Night Game
Kansas City at Denver

Monday Night Game
New England at Carolina

2013 Texans Watch-Arrgh, Another Loss

The Texans were on NBC's Sunday Night Football in a pressure packed Battle Red Night matchup against their AFC South rivals the Indianapolis Colts (5-2) at Reliant Stadium.   They had to win this game to have any shot at making the NFL playoffs or else.

Case Keenum was making his second start overall and first in front of the home crowd and didn't disappoint. After taking the opening kickoff on the third play of the game Keenum threw a perfectly placed 62 yard bomb that caught a wide open Andre Johnson in stride for his (unbelievably) first touchdown of the season. 

The Texans built a 21-3 halftime lead as the Keenum to Johnson connection did major damage to the Colts in the first half.  Johnson headed into the locker room after a monster first half with seven catches for 190 yards and three receiving touchdowns. 

As both teams headed to the locker room, Texans coach Gary Kubiak collapsed on the sidelines and was taken to one of the nearby Med Center hospitals for observation.

With Wade Phillips acting as the interim head coach, the Texans pushed the lead to 24-6 before the Colts started making another one of their patented comebacks behind Houston homeboy Andrew Luck.   The Colts scored 21 unanswered second half point to take their first lead with four minutes left in the fourth quarter on a 9 yard Luck pass to TY Hilton.  

Texan kicker Randy Bullock had a chance to send the game into overtime with a 55 yarder on the last play of the game, but missed it wide left for his third missed field goal of the contest and another gut wrenching loss.

Keenum was 24-30 for 350 yards and three TD's with once again ZERO interceptions, but unfortunately the Texans sixth straight loss dropped them to 2-6 and probably for all intents and purposes out of playoff contention.

They head to Arizona next week to play the Cardinals and attempt once again to end the longest losing streak since the rock bottom 2-14 season in 2005. 

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions Week 8

It is the halfway point of the 2013 NFL season and the prognostication contest I'm in with Mr. Blake and Mr. Watts.  As you probably guessed, I'm not happy with where I am at this stage of the season 

Mike finally caught Eli, and the next eight weeks of the season are going to be interesting in this prognostication contest between these two.  Can I get back into the thick of this contest and erase a nine game deficit to both of them with 8 weeks to go in the 2013 NFL season? 

Maybe, since my tendency has been to get stronger as the season progresses.  But in order to make that comeback happen, I need a string of double digit wins starting now.    

I'm also not happy with where my hometown NFL team is, and neither is Texans owner Bob McNair, the fanbase or the players. At least I can say with absolute certainty the 2-5 Texans won't lose this Sunday because they're on their bye week

The good news is the Texans finally did what me and half of Houston wanted them to do and start Case Keenum.  He performed admirably in their 17-16 loss to the unbeaten Chiefs.   The bad news is we lost Brian Cushing for the season.

Last week I achieved a dubious distinction.  I've never had happen to me in all the years I'm prognosticated  NFL games and done so on this blog had two sub.500 weeks.  First time for everything.   

While I'm pissed off about the subpar Week 7 record, Mike and Eli were only marginally better.  

So let's get to work. In addition to the Texans there are five other teams on their bye week so only 13 games to select.  Teams I'm picking this week are in underlined bold print.   Eli and Mike's picks are here. 

Week 7 Results
TransGriot     7-8
Eli Blake        8-7
Mike Watts    9-6

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      60-47
Eli                  69-38
Mike              69-38 

NFL Week 8
Bye Teams: Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, San Diego, Tennessee

Thursday Night Game
Carolina at Tampa Bay

Sunday Noon Games
San Francisco at Jacksonville
Cleveland at Kansas City
Miami at New England
Buffalo at New Orleans
Dallas at Detroit
NY Giants at Philadelphia

Sunday Afternoon Games
Pittsburgh at Oakland
NY Jets at Cincinnati
Atlanta at Arizona
Washington vs Denver

Sunday Night Game
Green Bay at Minnesota

Monday Night Game
Seattle vs St Louis

2013 Texans Watch-Close But Another Loss

I along with many ride or die Texans fans are not happy about the four game losing streak that our NFL ballers entered Kansas City with that has the potential to ruin what was supposed to be a Super Bowl season for us.  

Instead the Texans are staring at the possibility of missing the playoffs and Gary Kubiak's coaching chair is getting a little warmer.   

With Matt Schaub definitely out for this game Kubiak finally did what much of the fanbase wanted him to do and start Case Keenum at quarterback. 

And Case delivered.   He not only showed his ability to extend plays and scramble out of trouble to get yards as he did during his NCAA record breaking UH career, he kept this game competitive to the point they had a chance to win it.   Even better, Case was 15 for 25 for 271 yards and a TD in his first NFL start and had ZERO interceptions.

There was a little more fight in the Texans after that pathetic performance against the Rams last week and they were down 14-10 at halftime.   But a tough game got even tougher as Arian Foster was forced to leave the game with a first quarter hamstring injury and Ben Tate joined him on the sidelines later.  LB Brian Cushing was lost with a torn LCL and broken leg in the third quarter.

Despite the injuries and no running attack the Bulls on Parade did their job and kept the Texans in the game.  When they forced Kansas City to punt with 1:46 left in the game the Texans had the ball deep in their territory and the table was set for the storybook comeback to end the game.

But KC linebacker Tamba Hall stripped Keenum from behind on the Texans 2 yard line and Derrick Johnson recovered the fumble to seal the narrow 17-16 Kansas City win and leave them the NFL's lone unbeaten team at 7-0

With their fifth straight loss the Texans limped into their bye week at 2-5 and are assured to go 0 for October.  They return to action at Reliant Stadium November 3 in a nationally televised Sunday Night clash with our division rivals the Indianapolis Colts.        

Here's hoping Keenum is the starter in that game, too.

Luv Ya Bum! 1929-2013

Another one of our iconic personalities in H-town passed away yesterday at age 90 in the person of beloved iconic Houston Oilers football coach O.A. 'Bum' Phillips  

The father of  Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips took over a downtrodden Houston Oilers squad in 1975 and led them to two consecutive AFC championship game appearances against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1978-79.  

Phillips loved the Oilers and once said of that NFL franchise up I-45, "They may be 'America's Team,' but we're Texas' team."   I will gleefully add the Oilers during his 55-35 tenure (4-3 in the playoffs) for six years to beat the hated Dallas Cowchips 30-24 during his tenure on Thanksgiving Day 1979 on a day in which Earl Campbell ran around, over and through the Cowboys defense for 199 yards.

He was born in Orange, TX and after a stint as a Marine during World War II and graduating from Stephen F. Austin in 1949, Phillips spent two decades coaching at the Texas high school level and as an assistant coach for Bear Bryant at Texas A&M, Bill Yeoman at the University of Houston, and Hayden Fry at SMU before making the jump to the professional ranks in 1967 as an assistant under Sid Gillman with the AFL's San Diego Chargers. Phillips came to the Oilers in 1974 as Gillman's defensive coordinator and became the coach and general manager of the team when Gillman resigned after that season.

Phillips was also one of the coaches credited with introducing the 3-4 defense to the NFL professional ranks that Wade coaches to this day.

His folksy ways, wit and coaching wardrobe of cowboy boots and cowboy hat while patrolling the NFL sidelines (except he didn't wear the hat inside domed stadiums) as the Oilers coach and engineering the trade with Tampa Bay to get Earl Campbell in a Columbia blue uniform made him a beloved figure inside Loop 610 during the Luv Ya Blue years.  

He also has another connection with the Texans in head coach Gary Kubiak being a ballboy for the Oilers.



Bud Adams firing him during the New Year's Eve Massacre in 1980 after a 27-7 wild card round playoff loss to the Raiders was a large part of the reason besides moving the team to Nashville in 1997 for the intense dislike H-town has for 'Bottom Line Bud'.

Phillips spent a few years down I-10 east coaching the New Orleans Saints from 1981-1985 before he quit.to do a little radio and television broadcast commentary before retiring to his ranch in Goliad, TX where he passed away. 

The legendary coach will be missed here, but for those back in the day Oiler fans like myself who got to meet him and also see him patrolling the Astrodome sidelines during the Love Ya Blue days, we'll never forget him. 

Luv ya always Bum and thanks for everything you did to make being an Oiler fan during  your Luv Ya Blue tenure something to be proud of and not to be embarrassed about.   

I also don't think Bum will have to beat on or kick down the Pearly Gates to get in

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions-Week 7

It's NFL Week 7 and we're getting closer to the midpoint of the 2013 season.  

While I got out of my prognostication slump for now by tying Mr Watts for Week 6 honors with an 11-4 record, my Texans haven't corrected whatever ails them football wise after four weeks and they head to unbeaten Kansas City.

Meanwhile Mike has almost erased that deficit between him and Mr. Blake and is one game behind him   I'm in single digit deficit territory now and climbing out of that hole I dug with the less than stellar weeks.

Speaking of erasing deficits, let me cut the jibber-jabber and get started on trying to get back into this contest. Teams I'm picking are in underlined bold print.   Eli and Mike's picks are here.

Because only two teams are on their bye weeks, only 15 games to pick.  So like my hometown NFL ballers, don't have much room for error with an eight game deficit to make up.

Week 6 Results
TransGriot     11-4
Eli Blake          9-6
Mike Watts    11-4

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      53-39
Eli                  61-31
Mike              60-32

NFL Week 7
Bye Teams: New Orleans, Oakland   

Thursday Night Game
Seattle at Arizona

Sunday Noon Games
Tampa Bay at Atlanta
Chicago at Washington
Dallas at Philadelphia
New England at NY Jets
Buffalo at Miami
San Diego at Jacksonville
St Louis at Carolina
Cincinnati at Detroit

Sunday Afternoon Games
Houston at Kansas City
Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Cleveland at Green Bay
San Francisco at Tennessee

Sunday Night Game
Denver at Indianapolis

Monday Night Game
Minnesota at NY Giants

2013 Texans Watch-Four Weeks, Four Straight Aggravating Losses

As you probably guessed, I'm not too happy with my fave NFL team right now.   Thank goodness my alma mater is unbeaten and the Dynamo are making their usual late season surge toward the MLS playoffs to keep my Houston sporting pissivity to a minimum

And yes people, my TV is still intact. 

The Texans have had the number one ranked defense, but suck in stopping people in the red zone.   They have forced only three turnovers so far in this 2013 season.  The offense has now after today's game thrown a pick six in every game starting with the opening one against the Chargers.  And what's up with all the penalties being called on this team that have stalled drives at critical times or kept them alive for their opponents?  

Despite the Texans dominating time of possession in the first half against the Baltimore Ravens back on September 22, a critical second quarter pick six by Schaub gave the Angry Birds the lead and eventually led to a 30-9 rout at M&t Bank Stadium that knocked them from the unbeaten ranks and got this NFL losing party started.  

Good thing I didn't go double or nothing on the crab cakes Robyn Webb owes me from last year's rout we put on the Ravens at Reliant.   



The Texans get the Seattle Seahawks at home, are beating them soundly and I leave home for another event that Sunday with them comfortably ahead 20-3.  By the time I arrive at the venue for it I discover that Matt Schaub has tossed another pick six to Richard Sherman that tied the game with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter that they eventually lose 23-20 in overtime.    


The Texans then head to Candlestick Park and get embarrassed again on national TV.  Schaub starts this game against the 49ers like he did the San Diego one with a pick six that jump started their 34-3 blowout loss  

It was Schaub's NFL record fourth straight game with a pick six and had elements of the fan base here calling for his permanent benching in favor of TJ Yates.   After Schaub threw his third pick of that 49er game he was pulled.  The turnovers and stupid penalties on both sides of the ball didn't help either. 

Their latest loss came at Reliant to their third straight NFC West opponent in the St Louis Rams . The Texans once again moved the ball around at will but settled for field goals in the red zone. Arian Foster rushed 20 times for 140 yards, but penalties and four critical red zone turnovers turned this into a 38-13 rout as well.

And I have two words for the nekulturny bandwagon riding 'fans' who cheered when Schaub was carted off the field with a ankle injury after being sacked in the third quarter. 

Not cool.  

The 2-4 Texans have a trip to unbeaten (6-0) Kansas City looming next Sunday in which they will attempt to avoid going 0-for-October before their much needed bye week. 

They finally ended a touchdown drought that covered 9 quarters and 12 minutes of overtime when Ben Tate scored in the fourth quarter on his one yard plunge.   It was the first Texan TD scored since the second quarter of the Seattle game so I have some hope they'll get it together. 

When they come out of that bye week, they are facing a schedule that has the rest of their division games starting with the better than expected Colts team they have never beaten in Indianapolis, plus the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos, a fast improving Oakland Raiders squad and a Jekyll-and-Hyde like Arizona Cardinals team in which you don't know which one will show up on Sunday.

Frankly, the Texans need to return to the football fundamentals.  Stop committing silly penalties. The receivers need to start coming back to the ball on those out routes to help Schaub out.   Get more creative in their play calling.  The Bulls On Parade need to create more turnovers.  

Whatever is ailing the Texans better get fixed fast because they are fortunate they have only played one AFC South Division game and already beat the Tennessee Traitors.   They are also 2-1 in their AFC conference games that go a long way toward breaking ties and determining who will get into the NFL playoffs at the end of the season. 

But their margin for error is shrinking and their time to turn this season around is dwindling.  .

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions-Week 6

The slump continues as I had a below .500 week prognosticating games to go with my pissivity over the pathetic Texan offensive performance in San Francisco.

Incredibly, Matt Schaub is probably going to start this weekend against the St Louis Rams.  If he throws another pick six at Reliant during that game they will hear the booing all the way on the other end of I-45 and Gary Kubiak may need to start considering updating his resume. 

I stunk up Week 5 with an unacceptable 6-8 record and gotta get out of this funk because we're almost at the halfway point of the season.  Fortunately I had company as Eli seems to have cooled of from his hot start but Mike is starting to get hot now and chopped Eli's lead down to three games over him. 

Anyway, before I get to this week's picks, October is the NFL's 'A Crucial Catch' breast cancer awareness campaign in which the NFL logo appears with the pink breast cancer ribbon, players wear gear with pink trim and the referees throw pink penalty flags at many of the games this month.

Week 6 has only two teams on their bye week, the 3-2 Dolphins and the 1-4 Falcons, so only 15 games to pick this week.  As per usual, my picks for this week's games are in underlined bold print.   Eli's and Mike's are here. 
.
Week 5 Results
TransGriot      6-8
Eli Blake        7-7
Mike Watts    9-5

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      42-35
Eli                  52-25
Mike              49-28

NFL Week 6Bye Week: Miami, Atlanta

Thursday Night Game
NY Giants at Chicago

Sunday Noon Games
Green Bay at Baltimore
Cincinnati at Buffalo
Detroit at Cleveland
St Louis at Houston
Oakland at Kansas City
Carolina at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at NY Jets
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay

Sunday Afternoon Games
Jacksonville at Denver
New Orleans at New England
Arizona at San Francisco
Tennessee at Seattle

Sunday Night Game
Washington at Dallas

Monday Night Game
Indianapolis at San Diego

 

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions-Week 5

This was a good news-bad news week for me in this 2013 prognostication contest that has now hit Week 5.  The good news is I didn't have another sub-.500 week.   The bad news was I had to go 4-1 in my Week 4 afternoon and Sunday-Monday night games to go a pitiful 8-7.

Okay, I'm really getting tired of this slow start, and I'm not just talking about me in this 2013 NFL prognostication contest.    

The Texans played 3.5 quarters of football last Sunday against the Seahawks.   When I left the house to go to the Race Relations Forum they were comfortably up 20-3.   By the time I arrived at Resurrection MCC they were tied and in OT for the third game this year and subsequently lost 23-20 to go 2-2 on the year. 

There were some Texans fans (myself included) who were not too happy about the Matt Schaub fourth quarter pick six that tied the game.  It's the third consecutive game he's thrown a pick six and at 2-2 in the middle of a brutal stretch of their schedule we are concerned about our NFL ballers inside Loop 610, especially since the Bulls on Parade defense has played lights out save the Baltimore game.  

One disgruntled fan expressed himself in a beyond nekulturny way by paying $200 for a Matt Schaub jersey he subsequently burned.  

Dude, I get it you're PO'd at Schaub, but I can think of better ways to spend $200   

Schaub better step it up this Sunday night on national TV against the 49ers or else he may find himself in Week 6 on the bench looking at TJ Yates or Case Keenum in his spot.

It's now NFL Week 5 and only have fourteen games to pick because four teams are on their bye weeks.  The 1-3 Vikings and the 0-4 Steelers who played last week across The Pond, the 1-3 Redskins, and the 0-4 Buccaneers.  Speaking of stepping it up, same goes for me in this prognostication contest.  

Teams I'm picking to win this week are in underlined bold print.   Eli's and Mike's picks are here. 

Week 4 Results
TransGriot     8-7
Eli Blake        8-7
Mike Watts  10-5

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      36-27
Eli                  45-18
Mike              40-23

NFL Week 5
Bye Week: Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Washington, Tampa Bay

Thursday Night Game
Buffalo at Cleveland

Sunday Noon Games
New England at Cincinnati
Detroit at Green Bay
Seattle at Indianapolis
Baltimore at Miami
New Orleans at Chicago
Philadelphia at NY Giants
Kansas City at Tennessee
Jacksonville at St Louis

Sunday Afternoon Games
Carolina at Arizona
Denver at Dallas

Sunday Night Games
Houston at San Francisco
San Diego at Oakland

Monday Night Game
NY Jets at Atlanta

.

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions-Week 3

Now that's more like it!

I rebounded from my sorry for me Week One 9-7 NFL prognostication performance to have a much better 12-4 week.   But so did Eli who continues his hot start to his rookie NFL prognostication campaign with a 13-3 week while Mike slipped a bit to 10-6. 

But it's still early in this 2013 NFL prognostication contest.  As I and Mike both know it's a marathon, not a sprint.  We're only in Week 3 of the young NFL season despite Eli opening up an early four game lead on both of us.

I had a seven game lead last year that Mike erased, and in 2011 I erased a four game deficit with two weeks to go to tie Mike for the title.   One bad week from Eli (and it's coming) or a hot streak from either me or Mike and we'll be right back in it.    


While I was in Oakland I got to see parts of the Raiders home opening win over the Jaguars before Trans* H4CK judging duties called. 

I missed my fave NFL ballers beating the Tennessee Traitors at Reliant Stadium 30-24 in overtime to go 2-0 on the season.  The Texans as a result of that win took over sole possession of first place in the AFC South and the Colts loss to Miami.

But the Texans begin a brutal three week stretch of their schedule by playing the Not So Angry Birds in Baltimore this weekend and following that up with games against the Seahawks at Reliant and the defending NFC champion 49ers in San Francisco.   

Enough jibber-jabber, let's get to the Week 3 NFL picks since that's what y'all surfed over here for.

Teams I'm picking to win are in underlined bold print on the weekly schedule while Eli and Mike's picks are here at these links.

Week 2 Results                                                    

TransGriot    12-4
Eli Blake       13-3
Mike Watts   10-6
 .
2013 Season Record

TransGriot      21-11
Eli                  25-7
Mike              21-11

NFL Week 3

Thursday Night Game
Kansas City at Philadelphia

Sunday Noon Games
Houston at Baltimore
NY Giants at Carolina
Detroit at Washington
San Diego at Tennessee
Arizona at New Orleans
Tampa Bay at New England
Green Bay at Cincinnati
St Louis at Dallas
Cleveland at Minnesota

Sunday Afternoon Games
Atlanta at Miami
Buffalo at NY Jets
Indianapolis at San Francisco
Jacksonville at Seattle


Sunday Night Game
Chicago at Pittsburgh

Monday Night Game
Oakland at Denver

2013 Texans Watch-Comeback!

In an opening game that had me wanting to throw stuff at the television at times, I got to watch a little Texans history at the end 

The Texans had a not so wonderful start to their 2013 NFL season in the Monday Night Football nightcap with Matt Schaub getting his initial pass of the season batted and intercepted deep in Texan territory and the Chargers quickly cashing it in for the opening touchdown.

The Texans trailed 21-7 at halftime and after the Chargers took the opening third quarter kickoff and rammed it down their throats for a 28-7 lead.

After that the Texans woke up and started playing football.  The Bulls on Parade shut down the Chargers offense for the rest of the game and Matt Schaub and company scored 24 unanswered points to orchestrate the biggest Texan comeback in their history. 

It was capped off by a game winning field goal by kicker Randy Bullock for the 31-28 victory and was also the first time they have ever beaten the San Diego Chargers as well

I'd rather have less stress while watching my fave NFL ballers, but it was nice to see them claw, scratch and fight their way out of a self created hole and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

The Texans play their home opener at Reliant Station Sunday against the Tennessee Traitors.   Hopefully they won't be getting off to an abysmally slow start in that game and that is not a trend.

     

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions-Week 1

Was it just a mere seven months ago we were watching the Ravens knock off the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII to hoist the Lombardi Trophy?

The Ravens weren't the only peeps winning a championship for the 2012 NFL season.  The TransGriot also won her season long prognostication battle with Michael Watts on the last day and last game of the NFL season thanks to RGIII knocking off the Dallas Cowchips Cowboys.

So yep, it's that time again and Moni gets to defend her hard won championship now that the 2013 NFL season kicks off in a few hours with the defending champion Ravens in a rematch in Denver of their Divisional Round playoff game upset with the Broncos.

We have a new challenger joining the fun in Deep Thoughts blogger Eli Blake.

Both teams will have changed since January with the most glaring ones for the Ravens being not having Ed Reed, the retired Ray Lewis and Anquan Bolden on the sidelines.

And speaking of changes, my hometown NFL ballers are retooled and reloaded for another run at their third consecutive AFC South title and in the process hope to finally kick the playoff door down to their first AFC Championship game for a Houston pro football team since the 1980 Oilers did so.

The Texans not only want to get to and win the AFC title game, but want to be playing in Super Bowl XLVIIII at Met Life Stadium on February 3.

The Texans will get their chance to show the nation in prime time how good the 2013 edition is when they play the San Diego Chargers and Matt Schaub will get another chance to prove he's an elite quarterback. 

And we hope to see another appearance of the Bulls on Parade that lifted the Texans to an opening 11-1 record before they lost Brian Cushing for the season.  

And need I remind 'errbody' (and especially you Arlington Cowchips fans) that the best defensive end in the NFL wears a Houston Texans uniform in one JJ Watt? 

I also get the opportunity starting today to defend my NFL prognostication title

Rules are the same as they have been the last two years.  Mike, Eli  and I pick the winners of regular season games (no spread) with whoever having the best record after Week 17 getting bragging rights until the 2014 NFL season.   Team I'm picking to win the game is in underlined bold print.  

Sounds simple, but it isn't.  The first year (2011) Mike and I shared the title.  2012 I'm the champ!

And yeah, I not only want to get off to a great 2013 NFL prognostication season start, but get that elusive perfect week this year.  So let the prognostication begin!

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

NFL Week 1

Thursday Night Game
 
Baltimore at Denver

Sunday Noon Games

Atlanta at New Orleans
Cincinnati at Chicago
New England at Buffalo
Tennessee at Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay at New York Jets
Kansas City at Jacksonville
Seattle at Carolina
Miami at Cleveland
Minnesota at Detroit
Oakland at Indianapolis

Sunday Afternoon Games

Green Bay at San Francisco
Arizona at St Louis

Sunday Night Game

NY Giants at Dallas

Monday Night Games

Philadelphia at Washington
Houston at San Diego

2013 Texans Watch-Victory Over The Vikings

The 2013 NFL preseason got off to a successful start for my favorite football team despite ten starters watching it from the Mall of America Field sidelines either due to coach Gary Kubiak's decision or injury.

The Texans escaped with no further injuries and a 27-13 win over the Minnesota Vikings to open their preseason slate. 

As befits the first preseason game it was sloppy at times on both sides of the ball with some missed tackles, dropped balls and the like but got better as the game progressed. 

Matt Schaub was 5-for-5 for 34 yards on his opening drive in this Super Bowl or bust season in which he has pressure on him to elevate his level of play to help the Texans get to New Jersey this February. 

The game was turned over early to the second and third string players fighting to make both  teams or solidify roster spots.  One player that Houston fans were anxious to see play is first round draft pick DeAndre Hopkins and he didn't disappoint.

On the Texans first touchdown drive of the preseason that ate up 6:02, took 12 plays and went 85 yards Hopkins capped it off with a leaping catch of a TJ Yates pass for a 34 yard TD.  Yates finished his time in the game by going 13-of-21 for 151 yards with that TD while Case Keenum was 13-of-18 for 125 yards and a two yard bootleg toss to Lestar Jean that put the Texans up 20-13 early in the fourth quarter  

Keenum also led another TD drive capped off by a five yard Ray Graham TD run to put the Texans up 27-13.

The Texans didn't turn the ball over in this game while picking off two passes and recording four sacks of Viking quarterbacks. 

3.5 of those sacks were courtesy of starting nose tackle Earl Mitchell and his backup Terrell McClain.  It's another position Texans fans are watching since Shaun Cody left for Philadelphia.

Next up for the Texans is their preseason home opener at Reliant Stadium on August 17 against the Miami Dolphins. 
 

2013 Texans Watch-Texans Preseason Schedule

My fave NFL ballers have been in training camp preparing for a Super Bowl or Bust season and to add a third consecutive AFC South Division championship banner to the Reliant Stadium rafters as a starting point. 

The Texans will start playing their scheduled preseason games this week in Minnesota with the Texans traveling to the Twin Cities to play the Vikings on August 9.

They will then play their first preseason home game in Reliant Stadium against the Miami Dolphins on August 17 and a nationally televised one on FOX against the New Orleans Saints on August 25. 

The Texans close out their preseason by heading up I-45 to the Jerrydome to play the Arlington Cowchips.

And yep, gearing up to defend my 2012 NFL prognostication title as Michael Watts of the Michale Rant blog and I prepare to do battle for the third consecutive season 

Bu back to the Texans.  The road to East Rutherford, NJ starts Friday night.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Super Bowl XLVII

Well, I'd hoped my fave NFL ballers would be at the Mercedes Benz Superdome playing for an NFL title tomorrow, but unfortunately that isn't happening.

That game will take place between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers and be a coaching battle between the Harbaugh brothers.   It'll also be Ray Lewis' last NFL game after 17 seasons and maybe Ed Reed's last in a Ravens uniform

It'll definitely be an interesting one in terms of both teams having stellar defenses and explosive offenses. 

The Ravens and Joe Flacco like to go deep and hand it off to Ray Rice while the 49ers have a dangerous read option attack triggered by the speedy and strong armed second year quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The Ravens have been on a hot streak ever since they entered the playoffs.   So have the 49ers.  But the Angry Birds had the tougher playoff road that saw them take down Andrew Luck's Colts, Peyton Manning's number one AFC seeded Denver Broncos and the number two AFC seeded Brady Bunch to get to New Orleans. 

Granted, the Niners sent Arron Rodgers and number one seeded Atlanta packing in the NFC title game and were on a mission to get to the Super Bowl after their bitter overtime loss in the NFC title game at home to the New York Giants.   The 49ers are 5-0 as an organization in the Super Bowls

So who's going to win?    This is what Mike Watts had to say about it.   Ravens send Ray Lewis out in style hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy again  
 

 

NFL Referee Jerome Boger Making Black History

When NFL referee Jerome Boger steps onto the playing field at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for Super Bowl XLVII, tomorrow, he will be making a little Black history when he does so.

Boger, who has been an NFL official since 2004 and was promoted to referee in 2006, will become only the second African-American to have the honor of being a Super Bowl referee.

Boger is the third African-American to become an NFL referee.  Johnny Grier broke the referee color line in 1988.  Mike Carey became the second Black NFL referee when he was promoted in 1995 in the wake of the additions of the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars to the league creating the need for another officiating crew. 

The officials at the Super Bowl are chosen on merit, with the highest ranked at each position on the officiating crew getting the assignment.  The other criteria for their selection is they must have five years of NFL officiating experience and previous playoff assignments.

Boger has officiated four playoff games this postseason and finished the 2012 season as the league's number one ranked referee, but the vanilla ice flavored Hateraid started flowing once the NFL announced the Conyers, GA resident and former Morehouse College starting quarterback got this coveted assignment. 


This will be Boger's first time he has done so as the referee in a Super Bowl, but it is only the only the second time an African-American will have become a Super Bowl referee. 

Mike Carey was the first to accomplish that feat exactly five years ago at Super Bowl XLII back on February 3, 2008.

Yep, that was the one in which the New England Patriots dream of an undefeated season died in a monumental 17-14 upset loss to the New York Giants.

Congratulations to Jerome Boger for making that history.  To all the vanillacentric privileged haters whose white sheets are showing over his selection, frack y'all.  I didn't hear any of you complaining about the fact there were a total of 15 NFL head coaching and GM openings in this offseason and ALL of them went to white males.

That was especially galling to African-Americans n the wake of former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith being fired despite the team compiling a 10-6 record.

For the fans of the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, they hope that this is the only time the referee gets more press coverage than the teams involved in the NFL title game.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Championship Sunday

When the Texans lost I considered my NFL season over, but know it has a few weeks left to run that include Championship Sunday and the Super Bowl in New Orleans.  

Had a 1-3 Divisional round.  I was going for an Texans upset with one of the picks, was surprised about  Denver's late game collapse and even more surprised about Colin Kaepernick showing up and showing out for the Niners in his debut playoff game against Mr. Discount Double Check and his Packers.

Mike's picks are here, so let's get busy with the Championship Sunday NFL picks.


AFC Championship Game
Baltimore at New England

It's the Angry Birds vs The Brady Bunch in a rematch of last year's AFC championship game which the Ravens should have won.   The Ravens won the regular season matchup 31-30 back during Week 3 at M&T Bank Stadium but it's now January and they are playing this game in Foxborough.

The 12-6 Ravens beat the precocious Colts and the number one seeded Denver Broncos in double overtime to get to this championship game while the13-4 Patriots beat the Texans after a week off.

The Ravens have played a lot of football to get to this point, so the question is do they have enough in the tank to get them through another game with New England's high octane offense?   Speaking of offense, will good Joe Flacco continue to play well?   Will Ray Rice get the touches he needs for the Angry Birds to be successful on offense?  Will Ray Lewis' last game be played in New Orleans?

The way the New England offense has been going lately, I'd say no. Patriots to win this one.


NFC Championship Game

San Francisco at Atlanta

After nearly coughing up a 20 point lead and the game last week against Seattle, the 14-3 Atlanta Falcons have another tough test at the Georgia Dome with a 49ers team that demolished the Green Bay Packers behind a record setting 181 yard rushing performance by quarterback Colin Kaepernick.   

Atlanta has  some offense firepower of their own with their twin wideout threats of Julio Jones and Roddy White and ageless tight end Tony Gonzalez who would like to close out his career with a Super Bowl trip to New Orleans.

The 49ers however are coming to the ATL on a mission of erasing the pain of their overtime loss to the Giants in last year's NFC title game, and frankly, I think they'll do it.

At least one Harbaugh brother will get to coach in the Mercedes Benz Superdome February 3.   49ers to beat the Dirty Birds.

2012 Texans Watch-End Of The 2012-13 Playoff Road

After sending the Cincinnati Bengals home with a 19-13 playoff win at Reliant last week the Houston Texans returned to the scene of the NFL butt kicking five weeks ago in Gillette Stadium with a chance to host the AFC Championship game on the line after the Angry Birds upset the Denver Broncos 31-28 in double overtime Saturday. 

At halftime it was looking pretty good for Texans Nation only being down 17-13 to the defending AFC champs.  That was until the Brady Bunch took the second half opening kickoff, ramped up their high octane offense another notch and scored 14 unanswered third quarter points to bump the Patriot  lead back up to 31-13. 

The Texans rallied but a critical interception thrown by Matt Schaub was converted into the backbreaking early 4th quarter TD that put the Patriots up 38-21 and the Texans in a hole too deep to climb out of.   To their credit the Texans fought and clawed their way back into the game and narrowed the deficit to 38-28.

 They almost recovered the onside kick to give them another opportunity to put points on the board late in the 4th quarter but unfortunately ended their season where last year's did with a 41-28 loss in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

It's another frustrating 'wait till next year' moment for Houston NFL fans just wanting to see their team play in the Super Bowl and win it.   

The Texans took major strides this year in becoming an elite team.  They won the AFC South for the second straight year.  They are sending eight players to the Pro Bowl.  They won a franchise record 13 games and were the dominant team for most of the 2012 season until their late season slide cost them the number one seed and the opportunity to have their playoff run start in the divisional round at Reliant Stadium instead of having to play in the wild card round. 

They are good enough to beat the teams they need to beat.  It's the New Englands and Green Bays of the NFL world they're having trouble with right now that they need to step up and consistently beat in order to get to a Super Bowl.   And don't look now, but Indy rebuilt and retooled their team ahead of schedule.

So now it's up to owner Bob McNair, GM Rick Scott, Head Coach Gary Kubiak and the rest of the Texans coaching staff and management to make the necessary changes to the team starting with the 27th pick in the upcoming NFL draft so they can do precisely that and remain a consistent NFL title contender.

The Texans need to handle their off season business and do what they need to do to get to the next level in their franchise development where NFL pundits are no longer dissing and dismissing the Texans, but praising them.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Divisional Round

The 2012-13 NFL playoffs have moved on to the divisional round with both division champions winning in the AFC playoff bracket but Seattle taking out the Washington Redskins on the road in the NFC.wild card playoff bracket.

I'm happy my Texans won their deja vu playoff game over the Bengals, but it earned them a return matchup with the New England Patriots.  There are also return matchups between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens. 

So how will the Divisional Round shake out?    Here's how I think it will happen, and here's Mike Watts' opinion about the Divisional Round of the playoffs will go.   He got all four games right and I was 3-1 during Wild Card weekend.

Saturday's Divisional Round Games

Baltimore at Denver

This is a rematch of a December 16 game at M&T Bank Stadium in which the Broncos came into it with a 10-3 record and winners of 8 straight at that Week 15 point in the season.   The AFC North champion Ravens were in a funk at the time, missing Ray Lewis, Dannell Ellerbe, Marshall Yanda and Bernard Pollard from their defense and had just lost games with their AFC North arch rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Washington Redskins in OT.  It continued with a 34-17 loss to Denver that dropped them to 9-5 at the time. 

But this is the playoffs.  It's hard to beat a team twice in the same season, and the 13-3 AFC West Division champion Broncos come into it holding the number one seed, which hasn't always been a ticket to playoff success either.   They also have to deal with an emotional 11-6 Ravens team who is now healthy,  motivated to play hard for their inspirational leader Ray Lewis, and kick it up another notch in the playoffs.   

But this game is in Denver, when they only lost once at home during the 2012 regular season.  Peyton Manning will be motivated in his first playoff game for the Broncos and so will their defense.

Once again, it comes down to which Joe Flacco shows up and how many times the Angry Birds give the ball to Ray Rice. 

If the All-World Joe Flacoo shows up like he did last week along with the old Ravens defense, this could be a very interesting game.  If the football flaccid Flacco shows up and the Ravens defense can't keep Peyton in check, it will be a long sad last game for Ray Lewis.and the Ravens fans in Charm City.

I'm betting bad Flacco shows up.   Denver to win this one.

Green Bay at San Francisco

This is also a rematch of their season opening September 9 game at Lambeau Field in which the NFC North champion Packers stumbled and trailed 23-7 before putting on a furious 4th quarter rally that fell short and resulted in a 30-22 loss.   They were 2-3 out of the gate with one of the losses being the infamous 14-12 'Fail Mary' game in Seattle before they eventually sorted out their issues and finished 11-5.  

Alex Smith was the starting quarterback for the 11-4-1 NFC West Division champion Niners for their season opener, but after suffering a midseason concussion in that Week 10 tie against St Louis that forced him to sit out the next game, he found himself being replaced by Colin Kaepernick.  The second year quarterback made the most of his opportunity and compiled a 5-2 record as a starter.  One of Kaepernick's signature wins was a 41-31 triumph on national TV against the New England Patriots in Foxborough. .

This playoff rematch will be at Candlestick Park, and you'll have a playoff hardened Aaron Rodgers who just sent the Minnesota Vikings packing last week against a second year quarterback getting his first taste of NFL playoff action.   Both teams had solid defenses but different offensive styles and it will come down to which one imposes their style of play on the other. 

I repeat, it's hard to beat a team twice in the same season.  If 12-5 Green Bay turns this into a track meet, they win.   If the Niners get the lead and can play that ball control chew up the clock style game while pounding on Rodgers with that defense, they'll move on to the NFC Championship game.

It's going to be a close game, but picking the Packers to win

Sunday's Divisional Round Games 

Seattle at Atlanta

It's the 'Battle of the Birds' at the Georgia Dome in the early game between the 12-5 Seattle Seahawks and the NFC South champion Atlanta Falcons.   Seattle has a defense featuring their 'Legion of Boom' defensive secondary that is big (all 6'3"), fast and revel in lighting you up.  They have a Rookie of the Year candidate quarterback in Russell Wilson that has proven to be impervious to pressure and rolled to a 24-14 wild card round win in Washington last week. 

Atlanta's no slouch either defensively, but will be motivated to prove it in front of the home fans.  

The Falcons and their quarterback Matt Ryan are tired of being dissed by the NFL punditry and eager to atone for their past playoff flameouts.  Two years ago they had the number one seed and got waxed at home 48-21 by the Green Bay Packers who moved on to claim the Lombardi trophy two weeks later at the Jerrydome.  Last season it was the New York Giants ushering them out of the playoffs in a 26-2 blowout win at MetLife Stadium enroute to claiming the NFL title in Indianapolis 

Seattle is making their second consecutive road trip east from the Pacific Northwest.   Didn't affect them last week.  The fun matchup to watch will be the 'Legion of Boom' versus Atlanta's receiving duo of Roddy White and Julio Jones.  Ageless tight end Tony Gonzalez is still seeking that elusive Super Bowl ring to cap off a stellar sure bet NFL Hall of Fame career. 

Seattle will give them a battle, but picking Atlanta to win this one.

Houston at New England

In the Sunday afternoon game, it will be the rematch that should have been at Reliant but isn't between my 13-4 Texans and the defending 12-4 AFC champion New England Patriots.  

No one outside of Loop 610 gives the Texans a chance in this game.  Vegas has my hometown NFL ballers as 9.5 point underdogs.  Radio DJ Tom Joyner and his 'Joyner Jinx' is still rooting for the Texans.  The NFL punditry thinks it will be just like the 42-14 blowout game back in December that started the Texans late season swoon that cost them the AFC number one seed.  Ron Gronkowski will be back for this game, but so will Owen Daniels for the Texans. 

I'm sick of the Dallas Cowboy Harris County Fifth Column snarkily predicting another loss.   And what time does your playoff game kick off at Cowboys Stadium again?
.  

But as Herm Edwards says, that's why you play the game.   The NFL South Division champion Texans aren't chopped liver and have 8 Pro Bowl selections for a reason.  The Bulls on Parade looked good in the 19-13 playoff win over the Bengals.  Arian Foster had 140 yards rushing and when he does that, the Texans win..

As a Texans fan, they can't play any worse against the Patriots than they did that night, and what a lot of people fail to realize is that all the breaks went the Patriots way.   Kareem Jackson fails to recover a Stephen Ridley fumble on the Pats opening drive, the next play they score.   JJ Watt forces a fumble that ends up getting recovered for a Pats TD. 

The Texans are putting together a nice drive trailing 7-0 that ends up with Schaub getting picked when he tried to force a pass to Andre Johnson.  Arian Foster gets held to 46 yards on 16 carries. The Bulls on Parade get almost no pressure on Brady and that will kill you, especially if you're trying to play man coverage against this team.

And I'm going to repeat this one more time,  it's hard to beat a team twice in the same season.

Yes, the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl last year but they lost.  They had a similar situation in 2011 in which they were 14-2, had the number one seed and faced a Jets team they'd blown out 45-3 in Week 13 in the divisional round of the playoffs.  But it was the Jets who walked out of Gillette Stadium with a 28-21 win to face the Steelers in the AFC championship game. .

They are also facing a Texans team who has no pressure on them because everyone expects them to lose and want to atone for getting embarrassed on national TV.  . 

They won't if the following things happen.   They get their ball control offense cranked up and make Tom Brady sit on the sidelines picking splinters out of his uniform.  I don't know of any NFL offense that can score points while sitting on the sidelines.   The Buls on Parade show up and show out by putting Brady on his GQ behind a few times, force turnovers, and Shaub and the offense turn Patriot turnovers into touchdowns while minimizing their mistakes.   

And you know what, I think they'll shock the NFL world and do precisely that.  Texans in an upset.  .

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