Carolina Panthers

Early Betting Lines On NFL Weeks 1 Through 16

It's always good to get in on something at the beginning, at the ground floor. In the world of sports wagering, for bettors equally long on hubris and illness (gambling is a sickness, my friends), some betting outlets realize that no time is too soon to put out lines on NFL games. The draft just en ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets

Before we get to this week's picks, a quick stock check on the "Houston Texans win the Super Bowl" prop bet. What exactly did the Patriots' 42-14 beatdown of our hometown team do to their wagering street cred? Well, prior to the game, the Texans and the Patriots were tied as the odds-on favorites t ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets And The World's Weirdest Lawsuit Victory

For this week's random person with newfound wealth via frivolous lawsuit or dumb luck, we go to northern China and a fellow by the name of Jian Feng. Until recently, Feng was married to the love of his life, an unnamed (in the article, at least) beauty who had also recently given birth to their daug ... More >>

AFC Playoff Projections, Week 7: First One Onto The Colts Bandwagon!

When Peyton Manning and the Broncos stormed back with 35 unanswered points in the second half of their 35-24 Monday night win against the Chargers this week, they accomplished a few things: 1. They tied an NFL record for the largest comeback win by a road team in NFL history. 2. They evened their ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, Charlie Weis Celebration Practice Video Edition

This week's tale of gambling riches comes from Branford, Ontario, where locally their version of the lottery is actually an NFL parlay card of sorts, where if a player picks 15 games 100 percent correctly, they will win a sizable six-figure payout. In Week 3 of the NFL season, a man named Gino DiFe ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, "Roger Goodell Is Better Than FEMA" Edition

So how bad was the controversial ending of Monday night's Seahawks-Packers game for the NFL? Well, consider that the story got coverage on every major national news show Tuesday morning, was the subject of a David Letterman Top 10 list, and prompted President Obama to comment publicly on the topic ... More >>

Texans 26, Panthers 13: Five Things We Learned

It takes looking at just one final box score to show the relative importance, or lack thereof, with early preseason scores. Patriots 7, Saints 6. So the Texans' thorough road dismantling of a capable Carolina team may not signal much, particularly considering most first-teamers played less than a ... More >>

Panthers 28, Texans 13: Concerns Mount At QB, Kicker As Playoffs Approach

Photos by Marco TorresRookie T.J. Yates looked very rookie-esque​The Texans are three weeks from postseason play and have rapidly intensifying concerns at quarterback and placekicker, two of the most critical playoff positions. It may not be time to panic, but a regular season that seems cert ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets

It's an SEC kinda week​Time for another round of college and NFL friendly wagers. Are my selection techniques the most textbook, orthodox methods in the world? No. I mean, if I hosted a handicapping show and gave out six games and chose those games because they gave me convenient fodder to ta ... 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 >>

NFL Teams Don't Care That Cam Newton Can't Name A Play

Only one of these guys still has a decent job​Go to Google and put in "2011 NFL mock drafts." I did that this afternoon, and I couldn't find one current edition of a reputable mock draft that didn't have Auburn quarterback Cam Newton as the number one overall pick to the Carolina Panthers. T ... More >>

NFL & College Football Best Bets -- How Ebenezer Scrooge Saved Me

Ebenezer in the house​I went to the Alley Theater last night and saw A Christmas Carol. Fantastic production and actually my first time ever seeing it in any venue, let alone the Alley. For the completely un-Christmased of you out there, Carol is a tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy curmudge ... More >>

NFL & College Football -- Weekend's Best Bets (with Tales of Deceit, Adultery and Ron Artest)

We see....FAIL in Ron Artest's future​Drayton McLane apparently has plans to sell the Astros. This comes as no surprise, those rumors have been swirling for some time. Now I don't know if he'll get his $800 million asking price, but I did call Drayton and make an offer and we now know that $9 ... More >>

Brian Tuohy's The Fix Is In: Nothing In Sports Is As It Seems

OTOH, maybe the fix isn't in​As hard as it might be to believe, every Super Bowl since 1996 has been fixed. No, not fixed by gamblers or players trying to throw the game. But instead fixed by the NFL. Sure it sounds a bit far-fetched, but that's the allegation made by Brian Tuohy in his book, The ... More >>

Game Time: Brett Favre's Record Is 1-2 This Season...Look It Up!

​"Chain of command is very important in our thing." -- Tony SopranoIn the fifth season of The Sopranos, a bunch of old-time gangsters are released from prison back into the wild of North Jersey and the greater New York City area. Feech LaManna (played beautifully by gravely voiced silver-screen ve ... 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 >>

No More Bull

The past, present and future of the Texans breaking our hearts

Being A Fan In Houston Basically Sucks, ESPN Reports

Photo by Bukowsky18ESPN has put together another one of its Best Fan Experience lists, where they rank ballparks, arenas and stadiums for atmosphere, convenience, team success, and other highly arbitrary and pseudo-scientific categories.Houston doesn't come out too well.The top three are the L ... More >>

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

NFL Review, Week One: Ahman Green, Cedric Benson, Tom Brady and Rosario Dawson

John Royal’s NFL Season Picks

John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week 17: Betting Against the Texans for the Last Time (Till Next Year)

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 16: Super Mario Snubbed, But That’s a Good Thing

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 15: Tomahawk Chop, Baby Jesus and One Grisly Neck Beard

NFL Wrap: Losing Teaches Lessons, Except When It Doesn’t

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 11: Tough Week, But Take the Texans

John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week Ten: Georgia (the Country, Not the State) Loves the Texans

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Nine: Tony Romo and Britney Spears? Lance Armstrong and Ashley Olsen? Vince Young and David Carr? What’s the Deal with All These Mismatches?

John Royal's NFL Picks, Week Eight: Take the Texans. That's Right. The Texans.

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Eight: Staring Zeus in the Eye, Daring Him to Flinch

John Royal’s Pigheaded Pigskin Picks, Week Six: Loving and Hating the Cowboys

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Six: Forget Dog Fighting. Parity Is the League’s Biggest Problem.

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Five: Whorin’ for Hits? Or Just Lovin’ the Ladies?

John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week Five: Sports Writers Are Athletes Too…

Progress Report: Jason Friedman Ponders Kim Kardashian's Butt. Oh, and the Houston Texans too.

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

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Four: Salma Hayek, the Green Bay Packers, Anna Kournikova and the Baltimore Ravens

John Royal's NFL Picks, Week Three: Colts, Chargers and Greeks

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Three: Approaching the Promised Land

John Royal's NFL Picks: Week Two

2007 NFL Preview, Take Two

Good Karma for Carr

Good Karma for Carr

The Corrections

Turkeys Fly

Houston actually pulls off one crazy week

Pats and Cats Bring It Back

The biggest of them all returns to Houston

Beefing Up the Coach

Dom Capers takes on Texan barbecue for the first time

Stadia Watch