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Seth and Sean each pick 3 Texans who embodied the SWARM mentality in Indy, that they expect to continue the trend in KC.
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00:00Are you ready to do this, my friend?
00:01Circle of Swarm, and for those who are new to the show,
00:03every Friday before a Texans game, Seth and I do the Circle of Swarm.
00:07There can only be six every week.
00:09Seth picks three, I pick three.
00:10This is not the Astros' circle of trust where there can be zero or there can be six.
00:15This is the Circle of Swarm.
00:16It is largely acknowledgement for the week before
00:19with a peek ahead to what we might need in order to go into Kansas City
00:23and do what the Texans have not done since 2019,
00:26and that is beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
00:29So, without further ado, Seth Payne, you're up first.
00:31You know what I'm going to do?
00:32This is going to be rare for me, rare for me to do it numero uno
00:35and rare for me to put a player who plays this position in the Circle of Swarm.
00:40But the player is named Coleridge Bernard Stroud.
00:45First name I wrote down.
00:46Quattro.
00:47Yep.
00:47Yeah.
00:48First name I wrote.
00:49Coming off a concussion, had a really –
00:51I'm actually going to give him credit for having a rough start to this game,
00:54including being a metric mile past the line of scrimmage when he tried to throw a pass.
01:03He did throw the pass, but it was illegal immediately.
01:06He was so far over the line of scrimmage.
01:09You know, my excuse I make for him is that he'd watch football on TV for a couple weeks,
01:13and he didn't realize that he doesn't have an imaginary blue line there.
01:16So he had to – they had to explain to him on the same line,
01:19hey, CJ, the blue line you see on TV is an imaginary line.
01:24Yes.
01:24Yeah.
01:24It's a virtual line.
01:25Yes.
01:25We don't see it in real life.
01:27But honestly, I went back yesterday,
01:30and I had not watched all of the blitzes that the Colts ran just sequentially.
01:35I hadn't broken it down and just watched that breakdown.
01:38So yesterday was the first time I'd done it since the game,
01:40and I was kind of sitting there watching and waiting for an incompletion to come.
01:46He and the offensive line and the running backs and the tight ends and everybody else
01:52and the receivers and the way that they responded to Colts blitzes was night and day,
02:00so far completely removed from anything they showed early in the season
02:04that I got really excited about it just watching the cutups of all the blitzes
02:08because there were so many things that they were doing at a high level in terms of just,
02:12yes, this is the way the offense is supposed to operate.
02:15CJ making adjustments pre-snap, tweaking alignments, anticipating blitz,
02:22receivers tweaking their routes based on the coverage and based on the blitz,
02:28the offense line and the running backs picking up the blitzers.
02:32It was an incredibly good performance by those guys when the Colts blitzed.
02:37And I got news for everybody.
02:39The Chiefs don't blitz so great this year.
02:42They're really one of the worst teams in the league at blitzing.
02:45And you still got to watch out because they're still good at fooling guys from time to time,
02:49but they're not as good.
02:51So, yeah, CJ Stroud.
02:52CJ Stroud.
02:52I gave him more than his allotted time on that,
02:54but I was really excited watching that cutup.
02:56No, I was too.
02:57And Stroud, now maybe he was the first name I wrote down
03:00because I'm looking at the box score and I start at the top and go down.
03:03But I, without hesitation, wrote his name down in my pool of players.
03:09All right.
03:09My first one is going to be Aziz Alshair.
03:12I feel like Aziz has not been in the circle of Swarm enough this year,
03:16and so maybe I'm playing a little bit of catch up here.
03:18I mean, he is the epitome of what D'Amico sees as Swarm.
03:23And he had a good game against the Colts on Sunday.
03:28He led the team in tackles.
03:30But I think even more so, when he went out of the game,
03:33the Colts started attacking with Jonathan Taylor,
03:35and that's when Jonathan Taylor had his best stretch of football in the game
03:38with Aziz on the sideline.
03:40I'll sprinkle a little bit of confectionery sugar on it, too,
03:43for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award as well.
03:45And I would also say a little bit of this, as always.
03:48We always kind of like to look to the game ahead and say,
03:51all right, what's this guy's task or role going to be in the game?
03:54In the playoff game last year, Aziz Alshair was banged up
03:57and not moving all that great, and the middle of the field was an issue in coverage.
04:02And Aziz had a good game in coverage last week and I think needs to play better.
04:06I'm sure he wants to avenge himself, even though he was injured from that playoff game.
04:11So Aziz Alshair having a big game versus the Chiefs is a big deal this week.
04:14All right, your next one.
04:16Particularly when trying to tackle Travis Kelsey.
04:18Indeed, indeed.
04:19All right, I'm going to do another one.
04:20I'm giving a lot of credit for guys coming back from the concussion protocol.
04:24Sean, who's my choice?
04:25Jalen Petrie.
04:26Yes.
04:26Yep.
04:26Jalen Petrie, who just adds an element.
04:31He's a little bit like Derek Stingley in that sometimes Derek Stingley's best,
04:38the best thing he's doing for the defense is just being there and that nobody's testing him.
04:43Likewise with Jalen Petrie, the fact that he's there and out there adds a complete wild card to defense.
04:49And offenses have to figure out exactly what he's doing, where is he aligned.
04:53They've got to pay attention to where Jalen Petrie is.
04:56And I think there's a marked difference of how that defense operates with him on the field or with him not on the field.
05:03He had some big plays in the game, too.
05:04He had a couple tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
05:06He had a couple big pass breakups, including one on a third down that helped the team get off.
05:11I think he had the pass breakup after the TFL that Mario Edwards and Will Anderson Jr. had combined for.
05:18That pass breakup helped force a field goal on that drive.
05:21And also, look, everybody looks goofy in the Guardian cap, but he looks the least goofy in it, I think.
05:26I saw a few people do the thing.
05:28They always do this with guys wearing the Guardian cap.
05:30You can tell they take their phone and they take a picture of the TV from above.
05:35So it makes the Guardian cap look that much thicker.
05:38It looks like Kazoo from the Flintstones.
05:40Yeah, that's Dirty Pool, man.
05:41Yeah, that ain't right.
05:42From Marvin the Martian.
05:43There was a listener to the postgame show on Sunday, because we had Jalen on the postgame show.
05:51He was our player of the game.
05:53He was our guest on the postgame show.
05:55And so I asked him about the Guardian cap.
05:56I said, hey, you know, what went into the decision?
05:58Something doing short-term, long-term?
06:00And he talked about how he discussed it with his family and things like that.
06:04There was a texter that was like, he was concussed.
06:07We know why he had the Guardian cap, dumbass.
06:11Yeah, but not everybody chooses to wear it.
06:13Right, right.
06:13And I was just curious if this is something that he was just doing in the short-term or long-term.
06:18It's not like you weren't aware of him coming back from concussion.
06:21Yeah.
06:22Some guys come back from concussion and choose not to wear it.
06:25So I politely replied to the guy.
06:27As you know, I'm want-to-do, Seth.
06:28I politely replied and said, I was just asking if it was...
06:32He didn't seem offended by the question.
06:34I was just asking, is this a long-term thing?
06:36I'm not trying to shame him about the Guardian cap.
06:38I'm legitimately curious, because he's literally the only Houston Texan wearing a Guardian cap out there.
06:42Yeah, what did that person say?
06:43Um, he said, ask better questions next time.
06:47He was not...
06:48Why are some people such...
06:50I don't know.
06:51They're just so annoying.
06:52I don't know.
06:53It wasn't...
06:53Do you like this?
06:54Yeah.
06:55It wasn't even the ask better questions.
06:57That should have offended me, because it was career advice from somebody who has no business giving me...
07:01It was the dumbass part.
07:02I'm like, you would never walk up to me in the studio here and call me a dumbass.
07:06You know what I would know?
07:07Part of it, because remember Titus Howard?
07:09Remember in the preseason, somebody asked him a question about wearing some kind of contraption on his...
07:16I think it was for his neck or something.
07:18Okay.
07:18And he said something about how, like, it just wouldn't be swaggy enough.
07:22Yeah.
07:23And I'm like, all right, man.
07:24And then, lo and behold, Titus Howard misses time with a concussion this year.
07:28I just...
07:29There's...
07:30And he's not wearing...
07:30Titus Howard isn't wearing a Guardian cap.
07:32Like, that's how you could have responded to that weirdly...
07:35DJ Stroud's not wearing one.
07:36He's been concussed twice now.
07:38Yeah.
07:38All right.
07:39My next one is Sheldon Rankins.
07:43Oh.
07:44Yes.
07:45Sheldon Rankins.
07:46And this is a combo of what we talk about, Seth.
07:49Sheldon Rankins had a big TFL in the game.
07:51He had the only sack in the game.
07:52He's been outstanding all year for this team.
07:54That has been one great signing by Nick Casario.
07:57And I think I'll credit to Mikko Ryans, too, because I think that's a big reason why Sheldon Rankins
08:02wanted to come back here was to play in this defense for D'Amico Ryans.
08:07But this also factors in the peak ahead to this week with no Tim Settle now.
08:12Sheldon Rankins, and I'll add Tommy Togiai and Mario Edwards Jr., they're going to need
08:17to pick up the slack for Tim Settle.
08:19And this is another thing about the Texans head rotation of defensive linemen.
08:22They also have a lot of old defensive linemen in their rooms.
08:26So, one thing it does on a game-by-game basis, it keeps your defensive tackles fresh.
08:30They can roll in and just give you 100% effort every single time.
08:35But that also, okay, you do lose a guy, but you've only got five games left.
08:41And, you know, Sheldon Rankins is 31 years old, but he's not as beleaguered and injured
08:47and battered up as if he'd had to play 55 snaps a game for the entire previous part of the season.
08:53So, Tim Settle is a big loss.
08:55But you go from a four-man rotation to a three-man rotation, plus you sprinkle in some Danico Autry.
09:01You know, Dylan Horton's a big dude who on passing downs or in certain rundowns can go down and play inside.
09:06So, I'm not as concerned about it because I do think they still have a good rotation, including Sheldon Rankins.
09:12For at least two or three snaps, they'll line Will Anderson up over the center and let Will Anderson shove the guy back.
09:17And I don't know if he's doing that with Creed Humphrey this weekend like he did with the Colts center last week.
09:21But I enjoyed that.
09:23Okay, so we've got C.J. Stroud, Aziz Alshire, Jalen Petrie, Sheldon Rankins.
09:30Who's your third and final selection?
09:32Oh, it's my final selection?
09:33This is it, man.
09:34Oh, no, this is tough.
09:35Make it count.
09:35If you don't pick the right one, you've got to count on me to pick the right one, and we know how that went.
09:39All right, these are my three candidates that I'm choosing between.
09:42Don't tell me who you're taking.
09:43I'm choosing between Will Anderson, who you just mentioned, Nico Collins,
09:49and Ed Ingram.
09:53Okay.
09:53Even though Ed Ingram, listen, Ed, everybody, I know he whiffed that one time and allowed the sack.
09:58All right, it happens.
09:59It happens.
10:00He also had one of the most impressive hits I've ever seen by an offensive lineman in a game.
10:04Like two plays later.
10:05I mean, it really was one of the most impressive.
10:07It wasn't just a pancake.
10:08It was an – he looked like a strong safety.
10:11Did he not?
10:12Oh, yeah.
10:12It looked like – he looked like a 300-pound Jalen Petrie.
10:15Yes.
10:15When he hit this guy.
10:16That was a swarmy block for sure.
10:18And the offensive line put in one of their best performances of the year.
10:26Ed Ingram.
10:27Ed Ingram.
10:28Yeah.
10:28Ed Ingram is – this is going to – I'll look at the scoreboard during the break,
10:32and we'll come back with what the totals are for the season right now in terms of number of weeks
10:36in the circle of swarm.
10:38But I think Ed Ingram is going to be near the top, and I feel like you have put him in most of the –
10:43I feel like if he's in there four times, you put him in three of them.
10:46You know, like, you're big at Ingram.
10:48I probably neglected Titus Howard more than I should have because Titus had a good game too.
10:53Yeah.
10:53But the visual of that one block – Titus can make it sometime down the road.
10:58If you're going to put an O-lineman in based solely on that block on that guy that you talked about.
11:03Yeah.
11:03Ingram's the guy, man.
11:04If – it's weird to look at the PFF scores from a game and see that – because O-line seems to be one of the more reliable scores
11:13that PFF gives out.
11:14But of the top graded guys on the offense in the game, Ed Ingram was second for the Texans.
11:21Titus Howard was third.
11:23Jake Andrews was sixth.
11:25Trent Brown was eighth.
11:27But they're all in the green.
11:28Okay.
11:28That's good.
11:29Lots of green – lots of green with the Texans' offensive line, which is not something we saw a whole lot of last year
11:34or early this season.
11:35No, and it's trending right now too.
11:37You know, they've been in the green the last few games here.
11:40It wasn't just a one-off.
11:41So they need it again on Sunday.
11:43All right, last one.
11:44Okay, so you named a couple of names that are on my sheet here.
11:48The other name I had here is Woody Marks just – because he played foot injury.
11:54Oh.
11:54And he had some big plays down the stretch.
11:56He had the game-clinching play, in my opinion.
11:59Mm-hmm.
12:00So those are the names I've got.
12:01And you know what?
12:02Jaden Higgins I would have had on this list, except the botch on the play right before the half
12:09where all you had to do was –
12:10Oh, where he chose to run laterally instead of upfield.
12:11He ran laterally.
12:12Yeah, if he just gets upfield, the Texans probably get a field goal attempt at the end of the half,
12:15and none of us are really going balls to the wall to criticize D'Amico and Nick Haley over that sequence.
12:21You know?
12:21You know, Jaden Higgins is one of those – on one of those blitzes, CJ connected with Jaden Higgins on the crosser.
12:27Yeah.
12:27It just brilliantly – and the one big thing about Jaden especially, Jalen Noel, but especially Jaden Higgins,
12:34is he's just flat – he's flat out in the right spot now.
12:38Early in the season, I just don't – he wasn't always running his routes with the same precision that you need in the NFL,
12:44and he's figured out a way to do that and adjust the coverage and everything else.
12:47So he's become – his targets have increased steadily.
12:50Yeah, yeah, he's become the number two.
12:53Sean, ever since he got targeted eight times versus San Francisco, in all but one game versus Denver,
13:00he's been targeted at least five times, and in half of them, it's been more than seven times.
13:07Well, and so if you want to look at silver linings for when you're missing guys on a team and guys stepping up,
13:12you know who's missing in that San Francisco game?
13:14Nico Collins.
13:16Nico – I mean, Jaden Higgins had to be the number one in that game out of necessity.
13:19So you do that –
13:20I should really say, since the Jacksonville game, so in the last four games, he's had seven, seven, nine, and five targets.
13:27He's legit.
13:28He's legit.
13:28There's no question.
13:29So who am I picking here?
13:31I'm not going to pick Woody Marks, even though I credit him for muscling through that injury to his foot.
13:36It was a nasty-looking hip-drop tackle that he was on the wrong end of, and it was one play at the end of the game.
13:45You know, if there hadn't been enough candidates, it would be Woody Marks.
13:48So it comes down to Nico Collins or Willie Anderson Jr., and Nico had a big day, six catches, 95 yards.
13:55He played physical like Nico always does.
13:56But, boy, when you get your own Brian Baldinger video that has four plays of you just weighing offensive linemen and making TFLs
14:06and doing what Willie Anderson did to that center who's never going to be able to live that down, it's Willie Anderson.
14:11It's Willie Anderson, right?
14:12Willie Anderson.
14:12Yeah, good job.
14:13There we go.
14:14Good shot.
14:14Thanks.
14:15Had to talk that through.
14:16So Stroud, Aziz, Petrie, Rankins, Ingram, Willie Anderson.
14:20Thanks, Tim.
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