For a long time, Houston has been considered a football school, but for the first time since the Phi Slamma Jamma days of the early ‘80s, the basketball program is making an emphatic argument that the Coogs are better at hoops.
Two weeks ago, this column took the stance that this year’s Super Bowl is not interesting at all. It still isn’t, but I do have some thoughts on which team will win the big game.
Chris Paul’s return will eventually help James Harden shoulder the load of putting points on the scoreboard for the Houston Rockets, and it will mean Harden’s impressive scoring streak coming to an end soon. In the big picture, that’s a good thing.
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When Super Bowl LIII kicks off on the night of Feb. 3, it’ll be one team who won their conference under somewhat specious circumstances versus a team that most fans are kind of tired of seeing in the big game.
It may have taken an unimaginable tragedy to bring the Indians football team and their head coach to the forefront among the many great Houston-area programs and coaches the Texans could have chosen from, but Santa Fe’s season, alone, made Mark Kanipes a worthy nominee for the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year Award.
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Reminiscent of their 30-0 2015 Wild Card round playoff loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Texans looked completely lost on both sides of the ball right from the outset Saturday afternoon at NRG Stadium in a 21-7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that was not nearly as close as the final score indicated.
If the Texans stick to a winning formula of higher expectations, a strong defense, competent quarterback play and a ball-control offense, they might finally have something that will push those AFC South championship banners off to the side where they belong.
Has the Texans’ late-game magic run out? That might very well be the case. The chief of the Texans’ concerns, though, should be the growing list of key injuries on both offense and defense.
If there’s one positive the Texans can take away from Saturday’s ugly performance at MetLife Stadium, it’s that they did have their star players make big plays in the game’s biggest moments.
On Sunday, not only did the Colts lay bare the problems that plagued the Texans during their 0-3 start to the season, but they also drew a pretty perfect blueprint for other teams to beat the Texans in the future. And don’t think the rest of the league won’t be giving that blueprint a close examination.
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On Sunday, the Texans did what good teams do — they took care of business from jump street to get the win.
Perhaps, we should look at ourselves and just let the icons of the past stay in the past, where their legends are immortal.
Obviously, the Texans will take wins any way they can get them, but one should keep in mind how they’re winning these games — especially if Houston is fortunate enough to make the postseason, where Lady Luck will only get you so far.
At best, this is nothing more than a symbolic punishment. At worst, it’s a slap in the face to any team Hightower “won” against while breaking the rules to gain a competitive advantage.
As beloved as Case Keenum was to local fans during his time in Houston, those same fans should be pleased that he’s no longer a Texan for two big reasons.
With nothing less than a 7-2 second half, the Dallas Cowboys can still win the NFC East.
Houston got treated to a nostalgia act that was uniquely its own Thursday night at NRG Stadium in the Texans 42-23 win over Miami, as Dolphins quarterback Brock Osweiler was largely ineffective with multiple over-thrown passes and a costly turnover.
After an ugly 0-3 start to the regular season, the Houston Texans have turned things around in dramatic fashion, winning their fourth straight game in a dominant 20-7 road victory Sunday over division rival Jacksonville Jaguars.
When it comes down to it, the Boston Red Sox just had that magic in this year’s American League Championship Series that make great teams into champions, and the Houston Astros didn’t have that same spark that drove them to the 2017 World Series title.
Veteran umpire “Cowboy” Joe West lived up to his monicker in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday, ignoring Major League Baseball’s stated rule on spectator interference and making his own call to majorly impact the game, in which the Boston Red Sox defeated the Houston Astros, 8-6, at Minute Maid Park.
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