- 6 weeks ago
Seth and Sean lay out the top storylines as we head into Texans vs Cardinals this Sunday. Including the "Jacoby Brissett Curse".
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Cardinals and Texans, even if the rest of the nation is just sort of flying by the radar on this game.
00:05Yeah, I blame the Cardinals for that.
00:08I'm upset with the Cardinals for being so irrelevant because it's taken this national love fest for the Texans
00:16that we've seen from the national media and kind of relegated it.
00:20All of a sudden they flipped the switch yesterday.
00:22Yeah.
00:22I'm also annoyed that the Cardinals uniforms, when they wear their red or blue,
00:28look so much like the Texans.
00:30You're offended by that?
00:31It's really, yeah.
00:32I get my football dyslexia while I'm watching.
00:34I keep thinking, oh, is that that?
00:36No.
00:36Oh, oh, oh.
00:37That's right.
00:38That's right.
00:38The Cardinals are playing the Rams here.
00:40The Texans are now.
00:41Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:42This is what it's got to feel like.
00:43If you're a concert, if you're a band, I should say, you're on tour and you just played Madison Square Garden.
00:48You know, maybe you played Soldier Field in Chicago.
00:51You go to L.A.
00:52You play SoFi.
00:53And now you're playing like the VFW in Topeka, Kansas or something like that.
00:57They booked you in a place that doesn't, like, has zero.
01:02Yeah, like, you're just some, you're some pop singer and they book you in a honky tonk.
01:08Right.
01:08You know, and everybody's just, you're this far away from having a whiskey bottle thrown at you.
01:13That's right.
01:14That's right.
01:14And this is how people talked about the Texans like four years ago.
01:17Like, oh, man, we just got done with the, you know, with the Bills and the Chiefs.
01:21And now we're playing Houston.
01:23This is Arizona.
01:24Arizona is that now.
01:25And, you know, if you look at the dark periods for the Texans, they're a lot like the Cardinals and where they are right now is nobody really thinks about them except for when there's some kind of HR scandal or something like that.
01:38You know, the Cardinals have had some dicey situations, some drama in their front office.
01:43Yes.
01:43Of a different variety than what the Texans have had.
01:47I mean, the Cardinals drama in their front office was, you know, illegal stuff, whereas the Texans, it was more all interpersonal stuff.
01:56Yeah, yeah.
01:57So, we're basically doing in the first two minutes of the show here what we hope the Texans are not doing, which is completely taking the Cardinals lightly.
02:06Right.
02:07I don't think they will be.
02:08I think the biggest thing is the offense has no reason to take anybody lightly.
02:12You know where the Texans' offense is ranked in scoring?
02:15One notch above the Arizona Cardinals.
02:18Yeah.
02:18Of all the AFC teams, the Texans have the worst, of all the AFC playoff contenders, the Texans have the worst offense.
02:27Yeah.
02:27And so, they've got serious things that they need to continue to work on.
02:32I don't worry about that.
02:33And then I think the defense is just kind of hardwired for violence, and they're going to go out and give a good effort.
02:40Yeah, I don't think this defense is going to allow the Texans to put a turd out there on the field.
02:47You know, they may win an ugly, closer-than-expected game against the Cardinals.
02:53I don't think this defense is going to let them lose these games.
02:55Yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out.
02:57You know, with a 9.5-point spread, it's hard to beat NFL teams by 10 points, you know?
03:03It's really hard to beat them by 9.5 points.
03:05When you don't have a good offense, it's easier said than done.
03:11So, I'm weighing the options on that one.
03:14Oh, are you?
03:15Well, not for myself, personally, but for advice to others.
03:19Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got you.
03:20Sean, I am like a very successful financial advisor.
03:24This is not my money we're working with.
03:26It's yours, yes.
03:27Right, right, right.
03:28Don't have to worry about it.
03:31So, I think that's the – if we're looking at major storylines for this game,
03:35I think no letdown, especially coming off – not just the Chiefs game.
03:38You're coming off – you're coming off an intense slew of games here, really.
03:43I mean, every game pretty much – pretty much until last week,
03:46every game you'd played for the last two months has been a must-win game,
03:50really since 3-5, you know, since dropping that game to the Broncos.
03:54Because you're finally in a spot where you're not comfortably in the playoffs
04:00in terms of the standings, but the percentages really are tipped in your favor right now.
04:06It gives you so much leeway.
04:07These next two games, which are eminently winnable,
04:10and if you take care of business, you should.
04:13If you win these next two games and lose the two games after that,
04:18the ones where you've actually got a challenge versus the Chargers and whoever,
04:22whatever the Colts are, you've still got an 80% chance of making the playoffs.
04:26So, in terms of putting yourself in a good position,
04:30you cannot drop the ball right here at this point.
04:33Because then you go into those final two games, if you just split those,
04:37it's like a 99% chance of making the playoffs.
04:39Okay, so Jacoby Brissett, this is the other – this is the second storyline.
04:42So, no letdown.
04:44Jacoby Brissett, the Brissett curse.
04:46Jacoby Brissett is 5-1 against the Texans in his six starts with three different teams,
04:53by the way, most of them with the Colts,
04:56because Jacoby Brissett was the starting quarterback for the Colts in 2017,
05:00the year that Andrew Luck missed with an injury,
05:02and then in 2019, the year that Andrew Luck retired out of nowhere,
05:06Jacoby Brissett was the starter for the Colts.
05:08But, started as a rookie, third game of the season during the Tom Brady suspension.
05:14Tom Brady suspended, Jimmy Garoppolo hurt, 27-0.
05:18The Patriots beat the Texans and Brock Osweiler on a Thursday night game in 2016.
05:24And then there's two games in 2017 that Jacoby Brissett beat the Colts.
05:28That was Deshaun Watson's rookie year.
05:30Both of those games took place after Deshaun Watson tore his ACL.
05:35So, those were Brissett versus, I'm guessing, Tom Savage games.
05:39So, the 2017 games, I don't really, I don't, you know, that's in a different category.
05:462019's interesting because that was the year the Texans went 11-5.
05:50Jacoby Brissett beat the Texans, Seth, in week seven,
05:55the week after they beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, the Texans.
05:59Texans beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, which was, that was a trademark for O'Brien.
06:03He would get these huge wins that were the biggest wins of the Bill O'Brien era.
06:07Like, the Patriots win that same season.
06:09And then the next week he's dog-cussing a fan because it's 38-3 at halftime of the Broncos game at home.
06:16They, Jacoby Brissett and the Texans, or Jacoby Brissett and the Colts beat the Texans the week after
06:21the Texans had a huge win over the Chiefs.
06:23You know what?
06:24And teams sometimes are often, usually, take on the personality of their head coaches.
06:30And if there was one thing about Bill O'Brien, he was emotionally volatile.
06:35There were a lot of ebbs and flows with him.
06:38So in terms of just staying the course and having the same approach every week,
06:42I trust D'Amico Ryan's a lot more than I trusted Bill O'Brien in that regard.
06:46I think his ability to, you know, kind of approach it like a baseball player
06:50and just focus on that at-bat or that game and utilize all the cliches about keeping an even keel.
07:00D'Amico's much more like that.
07:01The last two Brissett games later that year after he beat the Texans in Indianapolis,
07:07the Texans beat him.
07:08The one win they have over Brissett, it was a Thursday night game.
07:10DeAndre Hopkins had a huge game that night, I remember.
07:1320-17, they beat the Colts on a Thursday night, I think in like Week 12.
07:16And then the last one, we talked about this game yesterday.
07:19The last one, Jacoby Brissett, people may not remember this,
07:22but Jacoby Brissett, it was actually in 2021, the David Culley season.
07:26The Dolphins beat the Texans 17-9.
07:30And that was the game we talked about yesterday where the Texans four turnovers
07:35and the Texans committed four turnovers but lost the game.
07:40And afterwards, David Culley said, well, you just can't win a game when you commit four turnovers.
07:45And everybody's like, well, the team that beat you committed five.
07:49Right, which is not four.
07:51Yes.
07:51So there you go.
07:53That's actually correct.
07:53Yeah.
07:55That's the key distinction there.
07:57Yeah.
07:58Your defense took the ball away four times and you couldn't win that game.
08:02I mean, look, the Texans have had some games this year where they won but barely
08:07and they were plus three in turnover margin.
08:09Yeah.
08:10I mean, this is – I don't know.
08:11I feel like in a lot of ways we've been slow pedaling this, at least personally,
08:17is that I keep looking at the offense like, okay, well, all right,
08:20I'm frustrated about this and I'm angry about that, but it's a long season.
08:24And then all of a sudden I look up and there's four games left in the season
08:28and the offense still isn't a good offense.
08:31This is where I just – I'm starting to have a little bit of internal panic
08:35because it's really, really hard to have a playoff run no matter how good –
08:41based on defense, no matter how good your defense is.
08:44Yeah.
08:44Yeah.
08:44I mean, the extreme example of this is the Browns this year where they can't even
08:48be a good football team despite having probably – I don't know where they are
08:52statistically right now, but I think if they had any kind of a competent offense
08:56on the other side of them, they'd be a top three defense.
08:58Oh, yeah.
08:58No, that's a really good defense and a really good point.
09:01Yeah.
09:02I know the Texans – they need to step it up offensively.
09:04I don't know if this is a get-well game or not for them.
09:07I mean, you're at home.
09:08You're against a bad team that's kind of cashed in their chips.
09:10They got destroyed by the Rams last week.
09:13They gave up 45 to the Rams last week.
09:15Sean, I mean, look at the top seven defenses by EPA,
09:19by expected points added per play.
09:21Yep.
09:22I mean, which one of these is not like the others?
09:24The Texans, the Seahawks, the Browns, the Rams, the Jaguars, the Chargers,
09:30the Broncos.
09:30I mean, they're just – the poor Browns defense.
09:35They're out there just fighting for pride and loving the game
09:40and a boatload of money as well.
09:42You know what jumps out at me about that list you just recited there?
09:46Yeah.
09:46Is that other than the Browns and the Texans themselves,
09:49the Texans play or have played all those teams.
09:52Right.
09:53I mean, that's –
09:54Yeah, they've had some showdowns.
09:55They've played a bunch of the top ten offenses.
09:57I mean, well, and if I went down – I cut it off at seven because the Vikings
10:01are at eight.
10:02They're not in a happy, happy place.
10:04No.
10:04But then the Eagles, the Patriots.
10:06Yeah.
10:07Oh, and then the poor Saints are 11th.
10:09Are they really?
10:09Yeah.
10:10Oh, man.
10:10I say the poor Saints.
10:11I mean the poor Saints defensive players.
10:13Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:14The reason I went through the Jacoby Brissett game log there briefly was would
10:20this be the worst one?
10:22Like, is it Jacoby Brissett beating the Texans on Sunday?
10:25Would that be worse than losing to rookie Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots back in
10:30week three in 2016?
10:31Yeah, the Patriots were still a good team.
10:32Yep, yep.
10:33And it was on the road.
10:35Yeah.
10:36And it was an unknown.
10:37You know, there's always – I go into any game versus a rookie quarterback nervous
10:41as hell because you have zero film on them.
10:44You don't know exactly what they're going to do.
10:46And that's what they – I mean, Jacoby Brissett made a play in that game that Tom
10:49Brady certainly would not have, that 40-plus-yard touchdown run that he had.
10:53So this would be a much worse loss.
10:56Yeah.
10:56This would be much more devastating.
10:57Yep.
10:58Although there would be a part of the – when they lost to Jacoby Brissett, you knew
11:04at that time in the season that – you knew that that – you knew the Texans
11:09offense – or the Texans team had some flaws.
11:12You know, you knew that it was – it just wasn't – it wasn't the same as, say,
11:16this Texans defense, which is just so solid throughout.
11:19Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:20It was week three of that season.
11:23But, yeah, like, that was when – that was the game that ended J.J.
11:27Watt's season, that Patriots game that year.
11:30Like, he had – the next – the very next day we got news like, nope, J.J.
11:33needs back surgery.
11:34So, yeah, it's – this one – given what the – and that, you know, that was early
11:39in the season.
11:39You can recover from it.
11:40Like, this would be a – if you – if you take your foot off the gas pedal and lose
11:45to this Cardinals team on Sunday, it's just – it's inexcusable.
11:50Will Anderson?
11:52Does somebody get in Will Anderson's ear and say, hey, man, go out there and get you a
11:56four-sack game?
11:57This is the team that thought it would be a better idea to trade the pick they could
12:00have used on you.
12:01No.
12:02Okay.
12:02No, no.
12:03Talking about sacks or – and this – I thought about this in terms of motivationally.
12:07Yeah.
12:07You know, I told you that some – some coaches will talk about, like, hey, you guys are
12:12ranked number one and that's what you should be shooting for in scoring defense and everything.
12:15I very much doubt that Deco talks to his team about that that much because he's so process-oriented.
12:22Yeah.
12:22And the trouble sometimes with – if you start talking about things like being the number
12:26one scoring defense or if you start talking about, hey, getting three sacks in this game,
12:30Yeah.
12:31you start focusing on the outcome more so than the things that you really need to do to get
12:35those outcomes.
12:36Yeah.
12:36Because you can't always control whether you get three sacks.
12:39Yeah, yeah.
12:39Sometimes if the Cardinals come in and the ball's coming out in two seconds every single
12:43snap, Will Anderson could have the game of his life and have zero sacks.
12:47My question wasn't so much about the sacks.
12:49It was more about Will Anderson.
12:50Right.
12:51Like, this Will Anderson, look at this.
12:52Is there any part of Will Anderson that looks at the Cardinals as the team that decided
12:56to trade that pick?
12:57Oh, yeah.
12:57That part, maybe.
12:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:59That'd be a nice little chip on the shoulder.
13:01Yeah.
13:01That part of it.
13:02But in terms of, yeah, the grudge match against him, against them for just casually trading
13:08out of that spot.
13:09He had a great game.
13:10You pointed this out yesterday.
13:11He had a great game against them two years ago.
13:13Against Paris.
13:14What's his face?
13:15The tackle that they had drafted.
13:16Who's so scared he got hurt this week.
13:18Yeah.
13:18Yeah.
13:19The Cardinals have one of the worst performances out of the right tackle position in football
13:27this year.
13:27Awesome.
13:28So whoever they've been lying up there, right tackle in any given week has just been awful.
13:32Will Anderson plays about 80% of his snaps over the right offensive tackle.
13:37So there's a real good chance that Will Anderson does have three sacks.
13:41Yeah, I know what you say about D'Amico and the defense, perfectly valid, and they've
13:45only had three sacks as a defense in the last two games, and they've been two of the best
13:49defensive performances of the year overall.
13:52I just need to see that graphic where Will and Daniil are climbing back up, you know,
13:55back in the top three or four in sacks.
13:57Yeah, it's tough.
13:58And I always grade against it because, great against it, because sacks are not a great,
14:04you know, year by year, they're not always the best indicator of who's actually playing
14:08the best.
14:08Yeah.
14:09And I think Will Anderson, in a lot of respects, is playing like one of the best couple of
14:13defensive ends in football, aside from Miles Garrett.
14:16The sack numbers aren't always going to reflect it.
14:18You know I'm basic, though, man.
14:19I'm a basic B.
14:20You're a basic B.
14:21I'm a basic B.
14:22I like the sack numbers.
14:23The other, well, Jacoby Brissett, he's not, he doesn't have the mobility of, say, a Patrick
14:30Mahomes, and he'll stand back there and he'll take some punishment, so this is a good, if
14:35Will Anderson has a really good game this week, yeah, it might end up being a three sack game.
14:39Yeah, yeah, he's, yeah, Brissett, you know where he's going to be.
14:43He'll be back there in the pocket.
14:44My last one, storyline-wise, can the Texans end the Jonathan Gannon era this weekend?
14:52The Cardinals are 3-10.
14:53They have lost a bunch of close games, but it's not been as good in the second half of
14:58the season, and they got run off the field by the Rams.
15:01If the Texans run the Cardinals off the field, can Jonathan Gannon be the third head coach
15:06fired this year?
15:08Can they get that job done?
15:10After the few, few, few, few from a few years ago, that would be very gratifying.
15:14I haven't seen a whole lot of reports that the Cardinals look like a team that's checked
15:21out or anything, maybe I just haven't read enough, that it doesn't feel like that.
15:26It feels like the kind of situation where they're just going to wait until the end of
15:30the year, so I don't know if we'll get that.
15:32I mean, we didn't really get the, when Callahan got fired, I believe it was after they lost
15:38to the Raiders, when the Titans lost to the Raiders.
15:41Okay.
15:42But you know that Amy Adams-Strunk was still smarting from the loss to the Texans.
15:46For sure.
15:46I would imagine.
15:47Yes.
15:47But losing to the Raiders, which ironically enough might be the next coach that the Texans
15:52end up getting fired.
15:53Oh, that's a good one.
15:54So is there a better chance they get Jonathan Gannon fired or Pete Carroll fired?
15:59Oh, I would hope that the Raiders wouldn't fire Pete Carroll in season.
16:03That's week 16.
16:05He gets to go home for Christmas.
16:06Yeah, but I'd rather get fired in week 16.
16:09You get paid.
16:09Yeah, you know how much lifelong NFL head football coaches are wrapped up in the emotional importance
16:14of Christmas.
16:15Pete Carroll seems like he might be, actually.
16:17No, I think being home on Christmas would be the worst insult of all for somebody who's
16:23spent five decades working on Christmas.
16:26I don't know.
16:26I think it'd be kind of nice to be able to wake up in the morning and have some hot cocoa
16:29with your family.
16:30I want to see if we can get Tom Brady relegated to a basement office.
16:35I like that better.
16:37Tom Brady shows up and they're like, oh, Mr. Brady, I'm sorry.
16:40They moved your office.
16:41Yeah, yeah.
16:42Nobody told you?
16:42I am kind of excited for it.
16:44I don't want to look past the Cardinals, but I am kind of excited next week to dig in
16:48on the Raiders and just see how much blame is.
16:52Like, what's the blame percentage pie look like there?
16:57Because Brady has been really hands-on reportedly with that team, and it's arguably the worst
17:05team in football this year.
17:06Brady, I wonder how involved Brady was in picking Chip Kelly and then Chip Kelly getting
17:13fired midway through the season.
17:17Brady's in that sweet spot, though.
17:19I was talking to an old NFL guy a couple of years ago, and it was funny.
17:23He was talking to me about the, you know, asking me questions about the whole Easterby
17:27dynamic and everything.
17:29And he's like, I'll tell you what, man, team president that, or not team president.
17:33It was like director of football.
17:34It was whatever.
17:35One of the, one of those positions, it's not team president, not Mike Toman's side, but
17:39the other side where you're in the perfect position of always being able to blame somebody
17:44else.
17:44Yeah.
17:44He's like, that's, that's what I tell young personnel people.
17:47You got to angle yourself.
17:48Don't, don't be the GM, be the guy that helps hire the GM and work side by side with the
17:55owner, but that can always be in a position of blaming somebody else.
18:00I think Easterby's title was executive vice president.
18:02That's what it was operations.
18:03Yeah.
18:03I think it was executive vice president of football or whatever, whatever Easterby's
18:07position was that he said, that's the sweet spot.
18:10Yeah.
18:10The only thing you could do to get fired is if all of a sudden everybody realizes that
18:16you've been lying and creating, creating like factions against them, other factions within
18:23the organization and doing all this really dodgy stuff.
18:26Other than that, you're in the catbird seat.
Comments