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ITL debates whether expectations have officially reached that level.
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00:00Is it really Super Bowl or bust?
00:02Because we obviously we kind of chuckled a little bit at what was the entirety of the Cade McDonald.
00:07I guess I shouldn't say chuckled at it because it makes it seem like we didn't take it seriously.
00:11We definitely did.
00:12But, you know, there's definitely the personality of Cade McDonald that we were getting a little bit more familiar with
00:17over rookie minicamp that happened over the weekend.
00:19And can I stop and say this real quick?
00:22You will hear me hesitate when I get to saying K-Mac.
00:25I think I'm just going to start saying K-Mac because every time I go to say K-McDonald's name,
00:29I get tripped up by the fact that his name is Caden.
00:32And for some reason in my brain, and of course, this is a me problem more than it is anything
00:35else.
00:36For some reason, my brain sees that man and does not think Caden.
00:39He doesn't look like a Caden.
00:41I'll give you that.
00:42Plus, we got two Ks.
00:43Like, you got Keelan in this draft.
00:45Keelan looked like a Caden.
00:47Caden.
00:47Yeah.
00:48If we had switched those first names, they'd feel more right in my head.
00:53Keelan McDonald.
00:53Not an issue with them.
00:55An issue with me.
00:56I will take this on myself.
00:58He don't look like a Keelan either, to be honest.
01:00You don't think he look like a – I think he look more like a Keelan than a Caden.
01:03He look like a Jalen.
01:06He look like a –
01:07K-Mac?
01:07Big Mac.
01:08Jalen McDonald.
01:09I don't even know if he look like a Jalen.
01:11But either way, again –
01:13He definitely don't look like Caden.
01:15No, he does not look like K-Mac.
01:16He does not.
01:17If you hear Reggie saying K-Mac, understand that what's happening is my brain is frazzled every time I go,
01:23Caden McDonald.
01:24You just got to be like, hey, bro.
01:26Yeah.
01:27And also, big man.
01:28Chief.
01:29Big dog.
01:29Hey, cowboy.
01:31To be even more fair, Reggie does like to say nicknames as if he's very, very personal with these guys.
01:37You know, like –
01:38Do I?
01:38Bari.
01:39Bari.
01:41Bari.
01:42All right.
01:43You know, Bari.
01:44Who?
01:46I still don't think that's as big of a reason y'all try to make it.
01:50However, K-Mac, Big Mac himself, Caden McDonald.
01:53Big Mac is good.
01:54It is a good one.
01:55Yeah.
01:55It is a good one.
01:55But I also hope that if we throw that at him at training camp that he does not take offense
01:59to it
01:59because it makes it seem like we are fat-shaming for some reason.
02:02Oh, that's true.
02:03Which I do not want to be the impression at all.
02:05But Big Boy has very much high aspirations.
02:08We talked about this.
02:09This was him talking about, you know, what it feels like to, you know, be on an NFL team at
02:14this point
02:15and the emotions of being at minicamp.
02:16Oh, yeah.
02:17Most definitely just getting out there with my teammates.
02:20You know, rookie minicamp.
02:22You know, we all got energy, all the enthusiasm.
02:23You know, it's a great opportunity.
02:25You know, at the end of the day, we want to get to L.A. and win the Super Bowl.
02:28Now, I mean, that sounds very evident.
02:30That sounds like a thing that anybody would throw out.
02:33But, again, he threw out that.
02:34He threw out All-Pro.
02:35He threw out Rookie of the Year.
02:36And he said that they all feel realistic.
02:40And, again, I took this from a place of a lot of things that he said feeling like more of
02:44the care being put out.
02:46Does it feel like this team is in Super Bowl or bus circumstance?
02:49Because Nico Collins also echoed this.
02:50Look, I think that's a great question.
02:52That's not something that, you know, this team in particular is ever going to say.
02:56But they kind of don't have to.
02:59I think here we are.
03:01What are we going into?
03:01Year four with D'Amico, right?
03:03Yes.
03:03Year four with D'Amico.
03:05You know, the culture is set.
03:07The defense is the best in the league, if not second best, or, you know, definitely up there.
03:12They've made all the moves.
03:14This is their third offensive coordinator.
03:16They brought in, you know, they've addressed the big, you know, questions on the offensive line.
03:21Second offensive coordinator.
03:22Well, they had Slowick and then Kaylee.
03:25And so, yeah, this is their second offensive coordinator.
03:28I was like, damn, did I miss somebody?
03:30But they are Super Bowl or bust, whether they say it or not, right?
03:34I mean, in my mind, they are.
03:35I think even how it played out last year where you felt like they were so close and they probably
03:40figured they were really close and really had a chance to get to the Super Bowl.
03:44I think the close has a lot to do with it because the eye test thing, you know, they would
03:48have been in the Super Bowl.
03:49It was right there.
03:49The cards played out right.
03:51Yeah.
03:51And it just didn't happen that way.
03:54I have a hard time getting.
03:55Really?
03:55Yeah.
03:57Why?
03:57All right.
03:58So here's the thing.
03:59The few things that come to mind for me.
04:01First and foremost, I don't think we can ignore the fact that this team has not been to an AFC
04:06championship game.
04:06No, you can't.
04:07Right?
04:07So the hypothetical situation in which they get the AFC championship game and they don't get over it, it would
04:13definitely feel bad.
04:15Does that feel like a bust situation here for them?
04:19Yes.
04:20I think it does.
04:21Look, just because you haven't hit that threshold doesn't mean that you are not expected to be a contender for
04:27that threshold, if not one of the favorites.
04:29I mean, aren't they one of the favorites to get to the AFC championship game?
04:31I wonder what the odds actually have here.
04:33Yeah.
04:34You know, you can look at some of these teams.
04:35You know, obviously Chiefs with Mahomes, who knows, you know, with his injury and just go down the list.
04:40You know, Bills, okay.
04:41You know, maybe, maybe not.
04:43Well, you know, how their postseason goes.
04:45You look at, you know, the Patriots.
04:47Are they, are the Patriots better equipped right now than the Texans?
04:52I don't think so.
04:54I mean, this defense.
04:55I mean, their quarterback, obviously.
04:56I'm about to say, they got the nine on the quarterback.
04:58Right.
04:58Yeah.
04:59Yeah.
04:59I think that's probably about it.
05:01And they've added to their offense.
05:02There's still the expectation, although we'll see if it comes through.
05:04They have the history the Texans don't have.
05:07Yeah.
05:07The Texans, interestingly enough, are tied for the two, four, six, the best odds in the AFC
05:13to win the AFC championship.
05:15Still, the teams that you would imagine, the teams that, you know, took a step back last
05:19year, but you imagine maybe take that step back forward.
05:21Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City, which is interesting depending on how Patrick Mahomes' recovery continues.
05:28The Chargers, who I am very fascinated by.
05:30I'm interested to see how much the, what a potential step back.
05:33Chargers are ahead of them?
05:34Yeah.
05:34The Chargers have a plus 825 odds rather than the.
05:39Damn.
05:39The tied odds that the Texans is strictly because of the quarterback.
05:43Yeah.
05:43I imagine.
05:44Well, also, don't forget their biggest weapon.
05:47Black Mike.
05:48Yeah.
05:48Right?
05:49Yeah.
05:49Yes.
05:50Yes.
05:50Right?
05:51That's still a reach.
05:52Yeah.
05:52Quarterback getting a lot of love for them, man.
05:54Well, also, quarterback, but then don't forget, they're getting back two of the best
05:58tackles in all of the lead that they didn't have last year, you know?
06:01So I think that in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alta.
06:03So I think that that probably factors in to some of what we're talking about here.
06:06But then the Texans end up being a plus 1000, which is the same odds that the Broncos have
06:13as well.
06:14So like.
06:14Well, I didn't mention Broncos would be up there for sure.
06:16There are teams that are.
06:17And that's another part of it.
06:18Like there's a number of teams that feel like they can be contending.
06:21Here's the ultimate thing that I land on where I go, the orb bust is tough to get here.
06:25Because clearly, it's going to be hard to go away from the Super Bowl expectation.
06:27Well, I look at it more as an expression.
06:29Right?
06:29Not like you're going to tear it apart.
06:30No, but that's the thing is, what is the outcome on the other side of this if they do
06:34not win a Super Bowl?
06:35Immense disappointment.
06:37Does D'Amico Ryans have any level of heat on his seat if they do not get a Super Bowl?
06:42I mean, obviously it depends on how the season plays out, but the answer is no.
06:45Nick Casario.
06:46No.
06:47Maybe it's a little more than D'Amico might.
06:48I think it depends how it plays out.
06:50Especially the offensive line.
06:51Yeah.
06:52I actually have a hard time getting there.
06:54Right?
06:54Maybe we start looking at him more closely.
06:56And really, I think it's less about us and more about that building.
06:59It feels like those guys, D'Amico and Nick Casario, are pretty lockstep, pretty locked
07:03in.
07:03I think there'd be more heat on Casario.
07:05I think that they would.
07:05I don't know that it'd be enough to actually make something happen.
07:08And so that's where I come to where I go, hey, is this going to change the way that
07:11they do business if they do not make the Super Bowl?
07:14See, I look at Super Bowl or bust in most cases more as an expression than the bust,
07:21taking the bust literally, like heads are going to roll, tearing it apart, resetting or
07:27rebuilding or whatever.
07:28I don't think, and the Broncos wouldn't do that.
07:30You know, a lot of these teams wouldn't do that.
07:32But they are Super Bowl or bust just in terms of the expression.
07:35Here's my thing when it comes down to, if we take away the, I guess, the threat of the
07:40or bust of the Super Bowl or bust, are we just talking about the thing that everybody talks
07:44about at this time of year, which is we want to win a Super Bowl?
07:46They do have more reasonable cases than a lot of teams in the league.
07:50But, I mean, of all the teams that we mentioned, they're all Super Bowl or bust then?
07:54Like, are we just going to have the entire AFC be Super Bowl or bust?
07:57I just look at it as last postseason, how they were almost there, man.
08:01And I just think this year, I feel like they felt they should have been in the Super Bowl.
08:07I ain't saying they should have won it all or anything, but they had a clear path to
08:10the Super Bowl.
08:11And so I think their goal is to get to the Super Bowl.
08:15Yeah, you know, you said, is the entire AFC?
08:18Absolutely not.
08:19You know, there are people who are going to be talking, hey, we want to get to the Super
08:22Bowl.
08:23And everybody's going to kind of like, sure, you know, sure, Jan, as they like to say.
08:27But there are teams that you can legitimately say Super Bowl or bust, and it's not some
08:33outrageous, you know, dream.
08:35And I think the Texans are right there.
08:37This was Nico Collins when Aaron Wilson, KPRC2, brought the, you know, the Caden McDonald,
08:42you know, we want to be in L.A. for the Super Bowl to Nico Collins.
08:46Absolutely, man.
08:47You got to take one play at a time.
08:48You know, we know what our mission is.
08:49We know where we want to go.
08:50But at the end of the day, we got to take one play at a time.
08:52You know, we got to move the stick.
08:53We got to continue to put points on the board for defense.
08:55So, you know, it's the type of defense we've got, you know.
08:57So I'm excited about this year.
08:59Second year with Kaley, and that's right.
09:01The rookies are already talking about the Super Bowl.
09:03They're setting the goals as high as it gets.
09:05For sure.
09:06You got to set the standard early.
09:07You got to make this.
09:08For sure.
09:08And I believe in that.
09:09So, and it's starting now, though.
09:10You know, the rookies just got in.
09:11And it's a little works right now.
09:14When you look at this team and the players, and you just heard, you know, Nico there,
09:19do you think that they would be, only one team from the AFC can get there?
09:23But there are like four, five teams.
09:25You said six.
09:27That if you do not get to the Super Bowl and you're healthy and you play well
09:32and, you know, you reach most of your expectations, it's an immense disappointment.
09:36And I think for this squad, that's why it fits.
09:39That's why I think it is Super Bowl.
09:40It would be an immense disappointment.
09:42Yes, baby steps.
09:43AFC championship game is first.
09:44But that's not what they're looking at.
09:46Hey, we just want to get to the AFC championship.
09:48No, I mean, I'm with you.
09:49I also would like to see a Super Bowl in the Texans near future, right?
09:53I think that we're all in that case.
09:55I just don't know that this actually, like the stakes of this are as high as we would
10:01want them to be.
10:01And I'm not saying that that's inherently a good thing.
10:03I just feel like if we want to be real with this situation, I don't know that it's
10:07Super Bowl robust.
10:07Because also, the defense pretty much has signed up for not just this year, more than
10:12one year, right?
10:13A lot of what you're doing offensively feels like it is set up to be able to hopefully
10:17progress into a second year of what you're talking about.
10:19I think that the idea, now the big thing is, and the person for whom you can maybe get
10:24to the or bust of this all, is CJ Stroud, right?
10:27That might be a literal Super Bowl or bust or success or bust.
10:31And so I think that, but here's the fun thing.
10:33I think we were talking about this, Figgy, the idea that this team seems to be situated,
10:38and I don't know that this is unintentional.
10:40I think this is very intentional.
10:41That if they want to move on to find another quarterback, the idea that we're going to
10:45play defense and run the football seems to be situated for you to be able to slide
10:48something else in there and keep on trucking.
10:50And so again, I ask you, the idea that this is Super Bowl or bust, it does not feel like
10:54that's the way, at least in the way that I think about it.
10:56It does to me.
10:57It does to me because you are counting on CJ Stroud coming in and doing at least enough
11:02to fill that role.
11:04Now, the hope is that they can execute in such a way where we don't have to do very much
11:07of this argument and we can see the same whole portion of it.
11:10But yeah, the landscape has changed in some of these teams that are coming back and getting
11:14stronger.
11:15However, you need to prove that you have also changed.
11:17You heard Nico Collins talking about it.
11:19First and foremost, you've got to make sure that you can get points on the board and
11:22check those boxes out before we even get to Super Bowl circumstances.
11:25And that continues through the offseason.
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