Official Texans @ Patriots Playoff Game Thread, 1/14/2017

[nunusguy]

The upcoming weekend, the divisional P-O weekend is the best weekend in all of football IMO and I always enjoy it. I'm still relieved the Texans won the W-C game with Brock performing OK against an average but not bad Raiders defense.
So let's face it we've had some really weird things happen recently like the election victory by the crazy man with the orange hair. Nobody saw that coming least of all any of the socalled experts. Would a Texans upset of the Pats in Foxborough this weekend be as shocking as that political event back in November ? I think it would be right up there with it.
Personally I'm just hoping the Texans keep it interesting for awhile.

[HPF Bob]

2016 was definitely the Year Nobody Saw Coming, not just Trump but BREXIT, WikiLeaks, the Chicago Cubs, and the Cavaliers coming back from 1-3 to knock off the team with the best NBA record ever. Clemson's upset of Alabama continues the trend and any NFL underdogs like the Texans (never advanced past divisional round) or the Chiefs (no Super Bowls since the AFL days) have to take a little bit of heart that the cosmic oddsmakers are making up for lost time.

Unfortunately, I can no longer nod my head at Steve Goodman's great line from "The Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" (1982) which went:

"You know the Law of Averages states that anything will happen that can.
But the last time the Cubs won the pennant was the last time we dropped a bomb on Japan."

[Arky]

Video - Texans vs. Patriots breakdown, Teddy Covers - TRT 5:45

I thought he was kind to the Texans here, especially with his assessment of their first meeting this year. He's also smart enough not to use the words "no chance".....

[chuck]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

The upcoming weekend, the divisional P-O weekend is the best weekend in all of football IMO and I always enjoy it.

Like BOB talking about left-handed quarterbacks I say it every year - this is by far my favorite week of the season. The fact that the Texans are playing is a nice bonus.

Nate Silver's guys give us a 15% chance to win. I think that may be generous. But as I have said before, the Patriots are not unbeatable.

[chuck]

Dammit, I meant to say Bob. I'm so used to complaining about BOB that I'm now out of practice making fun of Bob. I've got to keep my thoughts better compartmentalized.

[HPF Bob]

The Sklar brothers point out that Osweiler is 2-0 lifetime versus Tom Brady and 2-1 in his career versus Belichick (well, okay, he was the holder in the AFC Championship Game last year but he did beat Brady head-to-head as a Bronco during the 2015 regular season).

[Arky]

Pendergast - NFL Playoffs, Divisional Round: Texans-Patriots

So in analyzing a game like this, there are certain things we should accept as givens, things we absolutely can't count on (knowing full well that some crazy, outlandish, "WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!" things will NEED to happen in order for the Texans to pull off the upset).

[HPF Bob]

The conspiracy theorist in me says there's no way CBS wanted to have such a dog matchup for primetime (and, let's face it, we're not talking about the Patriots here) although they love having a CBS-owned sports bar in the stadium which magically nets them an extra home game or two every year.

So the league has instructed the refs to keep it close for the first half, using phantom holding calls if necessary to keep the Texans within a touchdown. In the second half, with the crowd still engaged, the refs will make sure the Patriots win but don't cover. That way, both franchises leave with what they wanted. The Pats get a win and a tuneup for the AFCCG. The Texans leave with some respect, enough to continue rebuilding for another year.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

The conspiracy theorist in me says there's no way CBS wanted to have such a dog matchup for primetime (and, let's face it, we're not talking about the Patriots here) although they love having a CBS-owned sports bar in the stadium which magically nets them an extra home game or two every year.

So the league has instructed the refs to keep it close for the first half, using phantom holding calls if necessary to keep the Texans within a touchdown. In the second half, with the crowd still engaged, the refs will make sure the Patriots win but don't cover. That way, both franchises leave with what they wanted. The Pats get a win and a tuneup for the AFCCG. The Texans leave with some respect, enough to continue rebuilding for another year.

So did Goodell orchestrate Denver's Super Bowl win last year or did the Broncos accomplish that on their own?