Buffalo Bills

Finally! Mock Draft Version 5.0

From Britney to U2: The 2007 NFL Preview

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks: Week Two

John Royal's NFL Picks, Week Four: Betting on the Houston Texans. What? Why Are You Surprised?

What to Watch: Football, Hockey, Football and Football

Talk about Statutory Rape: Karl Malone and the 13-Year-Old Baby Mama

The Five Best Houston Pro Football Players of All Time

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

Football U: Texas Roundup, and Then Some

NFL Review, Week Three: Bad Challenges, Tricky Snaps and Playboy Bunnies

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Were You Ready for Some Boring Football?

I can't believe I wasted over three hours of my life watching the Houston Texans last night. Sure, they won the game 30-17, but damn, that was an awful game to watch. I found the document review I was working on to be more interesting than most of that game - and you attorneys out there know that ... More >>

Buffed Up

Stylish Buffalo '66 makes an incomplete pass

Kevin Everett

A former football player talks about his battle with a life-threatening spine injury

Time to Grow Up

No more excuses for the Houston Texans

Scoring the Super Bowl

NFL Films' music may be stirring, but these songs tell the real story of the big games

Putting on Airs

Modern dance master Paul Taylor brings a program of classics old and new to Jones Hall

The Mark

A reporter gets branded for cash (again)

Coming This NFL Season: Vintage Oiler Uniforms! In, Um, Tenne-Freakin'-See

The NFL announced today that they'll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the old AFL with a series of games featuring the league's original uniforms.Four times during the upcoming season, the famed Columbia Blue uniforms of the Houston Oilers will once again be seen on the field. Just not in Hous ... More >>

Texans Finally Put Two Halves Together; Defense Finds Pulse

​After three weeks of the season, the Texans were on a pace to allow more total yards and more yards rushing than any team in NFL history.So who the hell are these guys? And more importantly, have the guys calling the shots figured something out?The Texans' defense pitched a third consecutive ... More >>

The Texans: Mission Not Quite Accomplished

​Perhaps it was appropriate that the former president Bushes were in attendance for yesterday's Houston Texans game. Especially Bush the Younger. Because just as the Younger stood on an aircraft carrier with a "Mission Accomplished" banner displayed proudly behind him long before the mission was ... More >>

Game Time: The Horrible Turn Of The Texans' Owen Daniels

​(I want you all to watch in amazement while I introduce you to the literary technique known as the "shplegue". This stands for "shameless plug that turns into a segue." Watch and learn...)I'm not sure how many of you have seen the web-based tragicomedy Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, but this co ... More >>

Bud Adams, Owner Of One Darn Expensive Middle Finger

Houstonians have long been aware of the class and dignity that comes in the package we know as Bud Adams.Adams has demonstrated once again his nuanced understanding of the social mores of our time, and it has resulted in some pain to his pocketbook.The NFL has fined Adams a quarter-million dollars f ... More >>

I Gave Her a Ring...: Musical Minutiae About Fingers and Birds

​Although we recently discovered how to access the primitive version of Facebook on our non-iPhone (so watch out), Rocks Off generally lives in an Internet-free bubble outside the office. And happily so, so it took until Monday's late local news for us to see - and subsequently laugh our fool head ... More >>

25 Things About The Texans-Titans Monday Night Match-Up

​For the second week in a row, it's homecoming week on Monday Night Football. This past Monday, it was the Baltimore Ravens returning to the place from which they came, Cleveland, to play the Browns. This coming Monday, the Tennessee Titans are returning to Houston to take on the Texans.With tha ... More >>

The Draft Day Debate of 2006 Rages On, With The VY Guys Smiling Now

​Like a great many former Oilers fans with a concurrent Longhorn allegiance, I am no Houston Texans fan. I tried for a few years, right up until the 2006 draft. The selection of Mario Williams was it for me. I took a solemn vow then to never support the Texans until the McNair family relinquished ... More >>

The VY Guys Are Smiling Now

​Like a great many former Oilers fans with a concurrent Longhorn allegiance, I am no Houston Texans fan. I tried for a few years, right up until the 2006 draft. The selection of Mario Williams was it for me. I took a solemn vow then to never support the Texans until the McNair family relinquis ... More >>

Game Time: Texans' Playoff-Rooting Manifesto 2.0

​"So you're saying there's a chance..."  -- Lloyd ChristmasA couple weeks ago, when the Texans were sitting at 5-6, I spent the better part of about four hours constructing an easy-to-follow guide for Texans fans to know whom to root for in games throughout the balance of the season in order ... More >>

One Man's Entry For Five Worst Houston Sports Moments -- Where Are Yours?

A UH lowlight, an ND legend​I couldn't help but notice that the bosses are soliciting suggestions for the best and worst sports moments in Houston history.So I thought I would make a few suggestions.I'll do my top 10 moments when the issue comes out with the winners, but here are my five worst mom ... More >>

Houston's 10 Best Sports Moments*

*And the 5 most heartbreaking...

Game Time: Best of the Best -- Top 10 Moments from Clutch City Rockets (w/video)

Consensus Number One​I am a total sucker for lists.This makes me like roughly 95 percent of society; the fact that I openly admit I'm a sucker for lists makes me a little more unique. There are so many list books, list columns, list blog posts (many by yours truly) that it seems by admitting you ... More >>

Top Ten Sports Moments: Four Personal Stories

Different kinds of heartbreak​We've identified the absolute, unarguable Top 10 Sports Moments (and five worst) in Houston history. Everyone has at least some personal stories connected to events on the list. I have four.1. UH-LouisvilleI was the quintessential cub reporter, having lucked into a j ... More >>

Our Year

Will Texans make it to playoffs?

Cowboys 27, Texans 13: Defensive Help Wanted, Preferably With A Pulse

Docking at Reliant Stadium​Attention, Houston owner Bob McNair. Your defense needs help, and the key may be opening your pocketbook. Ideally, do it in a hurry.Tony Romo and the Cowboys (1-2) exposed the previously unbeaten Texans' dirty little secret on Sunday, throwing for 284 yards, two touchdow ... More >>

Rappers Talk Trash Before And After Cowboys-Texans Debacle

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a national holiday Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Fat Tony, Kyle Hubbard, Brad Gilmore, John Dew, Fr ... More >>

Houston Texans -- The Green Mile, 5 Winners and 5 Losers

Texans fans: Enjoy it today, resume griping tomorrow​The Texans beat the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon 35-31 to move to 4-2 for the first time in the history of the franchise, and I for one am going to enjoy it. Seriously, try to stop me. You can try and bring me down with your texts and tweets and ... More >>

Last Night: Frightened Rabbit At Walter's On Washington

Photos by Jim Bricker​Frightened Rabbit, Plants and Animals Walter's on Washington October 21, 2010 Aftermath has always favored "out of sight, out of mind" over "absence makes the heart grow fonder," but after Thursday's Frightened Rabbit performance at Walter's On Washington to a sweaty and ... More >>

College Football Bowls -- This Week's Best Bets

The color, the pageantry of college football​Since it's Week 17 of the NFL season, we're changing it up a little bit this week. I don't know about people who actually know what they're doing when it comes to wagering, but my experience with the NFL in Week 17 is that it's a good time to stay ... More >>

2011 NFL Draft -- Live Blog

I am not an NFL Draft expert. How's that for unbridled confidence? Right out of the shoot, in a live blog for the NFL Draft, a host of a sports talk show is admitting that he's not an expert at something sports related, let alone the thing at which he's about to live blog. If you're looking for l ... More >>

For Friday the 13th: Five of the Unluckiest Texans Ever

Investors held on too long.​Beginning with LaSalle, the French explorer who survived shipwrecks and cannibal Karankawa Indian attacks only to perish at the hands of his own men near Navasota, some people in Texas have had some pretty damned hard luck. You might lay some or all of the blame at ... More >>

Aeros Poised To Make History -- The Wrong Kind Of History

John RoyalA despondent Matt Hackett lays on the ice after Hamilton gets the winning goal in the second overtime​Only twice in AHL history had a team had to go to a game seven in a playoff series after grabbing a 3-0 series lead. But things change. And when a team from Houston is involved in ... More >>

Women's World Cup: Five Other Seeming "Game-Winning" Scores That Weren't

The USA's run in the Women's World Cup seemed to be finishing in grand style when Abby Wambach put in an extra-time header to give the team a 2-1 lead. It didn't last, and Japan won in overtime. Wambach's late goal joins a storied list of scores that seemingly iced a game or a series, only to be o ... More >>

Five Reasons To Watch The Texans Tonight

It's another big night for you, Matt Leinart​I don't know that there was ever any point during the NFL lockout where I was fearful that we wouldn't have football this season. Still, the specter of the work stoppage that loomed over us throughout thus summer made us at least ponder life without ... More >>

2011 NFL Preview, Spoken In Wagering-ese

The betting window is open​I hope everyone who has had a chance to check out our Texans 2011 preview "The New Normal" has enjoyed it. Big ups to Monica Fuentes for coming up with the season-long interactive game card tracking Texans' results. You need to go check it out. If you haven't read ... More >>

Texans/Browns -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Photo by Marco TorresTough day for Colt McCoy​The Texans beat the Browns soundly yesterday by a score of 30-12, and for the first time in the history of the franchise, your hometown team is three games over .500. The Texans have never tasted this rarefied air before, so I don't really know w ... More >>

5 Signs You're Dangerously Starting to Think It Just Might Be the Texans' Year

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.​You have tried. You have told yourself you've been down the road before, and each time your hopes and dreams have been cruelly dashed. But you can't help it -- you are, once again, letting yourself become optimistic about the Texans. But this year th ... More >>

Merry Christmas! This Weekend's Football Best Bets

Santa's offering up some money-line action​Before I get into this weekend's best bets, a couple paragraphs on the Texans' 19-16 loss to the Colts last night: Was that officiating crew terrible last night? Yes. But good lord, I've never seen a bigger bunch of whiny babies than Texan fans last ... More >>

Texans, Pats & Tebow: This Weekend's Best Bets, NFL Edition

God, let these picks come through​Witness the go-to move for a blog contributor who is technically on vacation but still likes to keep his commitment of five posts a week to his freelance employer because he loves them and loves money. Not one, but TWO posts worth of football predictions! To ... More >>

Ravens 20, Texans 13: Historic Season Ends From Self-Inflicted Wounds

Looking ahead to the fall, finally​In the big picture, the Texans were playing with house money. With little playoff experience and on a third-string rookie quarterback, this shouldn't rank high on the list of Houston football collapses. This wasn't the Oilers in Denver and Buffalo, circa 199 ... More >>