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 Cougar Watch-Final C-USA Football Game A Victorious One

It's been a roller coaster season for my fave college football squad    They started with a shocking opening day loss to Texas State, stumbled to an 0-3 start, began climbing out of that hole with a Bayou Bucket retaining win against Rice only to go on another three game losing streak as the injuries mounted to key players such as running back Charles Sims and quarterback David Piland.

The Cougars also had the life and death drama of senior cornerback DJ Hayden nearly dying on the practice field.  He tore his inferior vena cava vein during a collision and had to be helicoptered to Memorial Hermann Hospital for immediate emergency surgery.   That vein carries blood from the lower body to the heart and tears like that are 95% fatal.  That type of injury is usually seen in auto accidents but rarely reported on a football field. 

The final game at Robertson Stadium versus the Tulane Green Wave was memorable for many reasons. It was Senior Day and every member of the team wore DJ Hayden's name on their jerseys in tribute to him as he arrived on a cart.   It was the last game at Robertson Stadium, which is being torn down so the new stadium can be built at its site.

It was also the last football game the Cougars would play as a C-USA member.  UH is moving to the Big East in 2013, so they wanted to win this game for all those reasons since as a result of the twin three game losing streaks they weren't bowl eligible.

This game was also a microcosm of their season.  The Cougars got off to a fast 14-0 start, lost freshman RB Kenneth Farrow to a season ending injury in the second quarter but had freshman RB Ryan Jackson step up to rush for 129 yards and two TD's with one of them being a 72 yarder in the third quarter that pushed the Cougar lead to 27-10.   Tulane fought to close within 10 points twice before the Cougars put the game away. 

Fifth year senior QB Crawford Jones threw for 368 yards and two more TD's as UH beat the Green Wave 40-17 to finish the season 5-7 and 4-4 in C-USA West Division play

They also closed out their run at Robertson Stadium with a 72-44-1 record and when they play their home games in their first Big East season next year it will be at a different to be determined stadium before they open up their new on campus digs in September 2014.. 


 

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 .   

2012 Texans Watch- 5-0!

Last week in expressing how deep his support for Mittens was, NY Jets owner Woody Johnson said he would rather his football team lose than Mitt Romney lost this presidential election..  

Well Woody, the Houston Texans helped you out on that score on national television.  On November 6 the American electorate will determine the other part of your statement.  

But back to discussing my fave NFL squad.

In only their fifth Monday Night football appearance ever and their first since that heartbreaking 34-28 overtime loss in 2010 to the Baltimore Ravens, the Texans kept their 2012 season perfect with a 23-17 win at Met Life Stadium over the struggling but determined New York Jets.  

It was also the first win ever in Texans franchise history after five tries against the Jets.

Arian Foster has 152 yards rushing on 29 carries and a touchdown, but the Bulls on Parade and especially JJ Watt made life miserable for Mark Sanchez.  

Watt had two sacks to take the NFL lead in that category, six tackles overall and three tipped passes.  One of those tipped passes led to a critical red zone interception that led to a 17-7 Texan halftime lead.

The Jets gave them a beter game than people expected including a 100 yard Joe McKnight kickoff return for a TD after the Texans had taken a 20-7 third quarter lead, but they didn't have enough offensive firepower to beat a Texans team that was not on their 'A' game tonight.

The Texans next game is their debut on NBC Sunday Night Football at Reliant Stadium against the Green Bay Packers.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 5

If you noticed the explosion of pink hats, gloves and team logos during the Bears-Cowboys Monday night game, it's October and it means once again its NFL A Crucial Catch campaign month.  

The pink gear worn by players, special game balls and pins worn by officials and coaches will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

I had a great NFL prognostication Week 4 and increased my lead to six games over Mr. Watts thanks to going 11-4.  I do have room for improvement because I have had a tough time getting the Sunday night games correct.

Speaking of room for improvement, the four teams on their bye weeks, the Cowboys, Lions, Raiders and Buccaneers all have much to contemplate as they chill and watch everyone else play games before they get back into the NFL fray. 

Also happy my hometown ballers not only have gotten off to a strong franchise best 4-0 start, I get to see them on Monday Night Football this week when they take on the New York Jets.        

So lets get to prognostication business shall we?  I have two less games to work with this week, but have some momentum.  Mike's Week 5 picks are here.   Mine are in bold underlined print  

Last Week's records
TransGriot    11-4
Mike Watts    9-6
 
2012 Season Records
TransGriot    38-25
Mike Watts   32-31

Week 5
Bye Week
Cowboys, Lions, Raiders, Buccaneers

Thursday, October 4
Cardinals at Rams

Sunday, October 7
Noon CDT games

Falcons at Redskins
Eagles at Steelers
Packers at Colts
Browns at Giants
Titans at Vikings
Dolphins at Bengals
Ravens at Chiefs

Afternoon Games
Seahawks at Panthers
Bears at Jaguars
Broncos at Patriots
Bills at 49ers

Sunday Night Game
Chargers at Saints

Monday, October  8
Texans at Jets

2012 Texans Watch- 4-0!

In the 30 plus year the Team Formerly Known as the Houston Oilers played inside Loop 610 they never started a season better than 2-0. 

There was the 1993 season when they started the season 0-4 and reeled off twelve consecutive wins to capture the AFC Central Division title and home field throughout the AFC playoffs.

Then they lost to Kansas City in their opening home playoff game. .  

The Titans and Bud Adams are Nashville's problem now, and the Houston NFL team I root for wears deep steel blue instead of columbia blue.

After two consecutive road games the Texans returned to Reliant Stadium wearing those deep steel blue uniforms and trampled the Tennessee Titans Traitors.  

The Bulls on Parade not only knocked Tennessee QB Jake Locker out of the game on the opening series after turning him into a quarterback sandwich, but had two pick sixes by Kareem Jackson and Danieal Manning to turn a 14-7 nail biter into a 38-14 win.

JJ Watt added two sacks and a fumble recovery to this dominating showing by the Texans defense to help the Boys in Deep Steel Blue remain the only unbeaten team in the AFC and win another division game.

Their schedule toughens up a bit over the next three weeks before they get their bye week.  Next up is the Monday night clash at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets, then consecutive home games at reliant Stadium against the Green Bay Packers and a rematch of the AFC Divisional round playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens. .

But they accomplished the mission we Texans fans wanted for them today in beating the Tennessee Traitors. 
  

2012 UH Cougar Watch-Great Time For First Win

My fave college football team got their 2012 college football season off to a rocky start with a 30-13 upset loss to Texas State at Robertson Stadium.  

It got worse for UH on September 8 in a 56-49 shootout loss to Louisiana Tech to drop them to 0-2.

They were also battling the injury bug as they traveled to Pasadena,.CA to get spanked 37-7 by UCLA on September 15 to drop their record to 0-3 .

But the good news was they hadn't started conference play yet.   In addition to going through their bye week and getting healthy they would start and would start C-USA play against our crosstown rivals at Rice. 

Our campuses are separated by seven miles and this is the Coogs last season in C-USA before they move to the Big East next year.   This would be the last conference football game that we would play against the Owls and the Bayou Bucket and Houston bragging rights were also on the line at Reliant Stadium. 

Good thing since its been raining intermittently all day. 

The Coogs rolled to a 35-14 win versus the Owls thanks to Charles Sims rolling up 158 years on 24 carries and scoring three touchdowns to help keep the Bayou Bucket where it belongs on Cullen Blvd. for the second straight year.   It also gave us our first win of the season and most importantly made the Cougars 1-0 in C-USA West Division play

The Cougars get North Texas on Saturday at Robertson Stadium in their last non conference game of the season before they tackle the rest of their C-USA schedule.


Eat 'em up!   .You finally got that first win of the season. 

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 4

I compiled a 9-7 record in Week 3 in the wake of the 8-8 Week 2 one, but it was enough to allow me to take a four game lead over Mr. Watts thanks to a disastrous and uncharacteristic 5-11 week for him courtesy of upsets and the egregiously blown call on the last play of the Green Bay-Seattle game that still has the Cheeseheads righteously pissed off.  

I wasn't happy about it either since I had Green Bay winning that game in the Pacific Northwest and I would have finished 10-6 for the week

But I'm looking at the half full part of my 2012 NFL prognostication contest glass.  I've been at or above .500 for the first three weeks and it has resulted in me leading this 2012 contest of NFL prognostication wits for the first time this season.  I'm also deliriously happy about my Texans handling their Denver business trip and as a result are now 3-0 and off to their best start in franchise history.

They play the Tennessee Titans Traitors this week at Reliant in their attempt to start 4-0 for the first time in franchise history  

The photo of longtime NFL official Mike Carey is my way of saying, hallelujah, no more replacement refs!   The jacked up ending to Monday's prime time game forced the NFL to finally handle their business and sign a new eight year deal with the NFL Referee's Association.  The real refs like Mr. Carey will be back in action starting with tonight's Browns-Ravens game.  

And after a honeymoon period from us NFL fans glad the officials are back, we'll probably be shouting stuff at them like the Ravens fans did when they blow their first call of the season. 



We are now one quarter of the way into the 2012 regular season and we get our first two teams with bye weeks in the Colts and Steelers.  They have a lot to think about with their 1-2 records as they relax and watch 'errbody' else play games.    The Colts are probably shocked and deliriously happy to be 1-2.   The Steelers probably aren't since they are supposed to be contending for the AFC North crown.


We move into NFL Week 4 and it's time for me to build on this lead and achieve my goal of winning this prognostication contest at the end of this season.  These are Mike's Week 4 picks.  Mine are in underscored bold print.


Last Week's records
TransGriot    9-7
Mike Watts  5-11
 
2012 Season Records
TransGriot    27-21
Mike Watts   23-25

Week 4
Bye week
Colts, Steelers

Thursday, September 27
Browns at Ravens

Sunday, September 30
Noon CDT Games

Titans at Texans
Patriots at Bills

Chargers at Chiefs
Vikings at Lions
Panthers at Falcons
Seahawks at Rams
49ers at Jets

Afternoon Games 
Dolphins at Cardinals
Raiders at Broncos
Bengals at Jaguars
Saints at Packers
Redskins at Buccaneers

Sunday Night
Giants at Eagles

Monday, October 1
Bears at Cowboys

2012 Texans Watch-Texans Mile High Win

I got back home from OUT on the Hill just in time to watch my beloved Texans take on a long time nemesis in Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.  

There are some connections between the two teams.   Texans coach Gary Kubiak before coming back home to take the job was a backup QB and offensive coordinator for the Broncos, and Texans General Manager Rick Smith also got his start with the Broncos organization.

They marched into Invesco Field at Mile High in their liberty white uniforms with a chance to not only stay unbeaten in this young NFL season, but prove they were serious contenders in the AFC for that Super Bowl berth in New Orleans.

They also had a chance to erase some old demons.  As Tebow lovers are well aware of, the last Texans trip to Denver in 2010 birthed the Tim Tebow legend at their expense and resulted in a come from behind loss for my favorite NFL ballers.  They have also never beaten a Payton Manning quarterbacked team in his home stadium prior to Sunday and had a 2-19 record overall against him.  

But Peyton hasn't faced the Bulls on Parade defense either.  . . 

The Texans got off to a slow start, giving up a safety and a field goal to spot the Broncos an early 5-0 lead before the offense woke up, dusted off the big play part of their playbook and dropped a 63 yard bomb to Andre Johnson to take a 7-5 lead they never relinquished thanks to the Bulls on Parade defense.

JJ Watt and the Bulls on Parade defense made life miserable for Peyton Manning.  Watt had 2.5 sacks while Matt Schaub threw for four touchdowns in this game as the Texans sprinted out to a 20 point lead before the Broncos mounted a furious comeback that just like in Atlanta a week earlier fell six agonizing points short. 


The 31-25 Texan win means for the first time in team history they start a season 3-0.  They have a chance to build on this win with a division game against the hated Tennessee Titans Traitors in Reliant Stadium Sunday.