Chicago Bears

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 >>

NFL Playoff Scenarios: A Guide To This Sunday

Week 17 of the NFL season is upon us this weekend, and while there are still plenty of moving (or potentially moving) parts left to be slotted, the one thing we are sure of is that in the NFC the Atlanta Falcons will have a first round bye and home field throughout the playoffs. The Texans have to ... 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 >>

Stormy Monday: Texans v Patriots Will Be Wet, Cold and Ugly

In week 10 in the NFL, the Texans went on the road and impressed a lot of people, beating the Bears 13-6 on a wet, blustery night in Chicago. If they are to do it again and come closer to clinching home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, they will have to face similar conditions once again, th ... More >>

A Collection Of Taxidermied Bears On The Occasion Of A Texans Windy City Win

Yes, it's immature. Yes, it's kinda wrong, considering Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was hit so hard his moustache flew off and he suffered a concussion and had to leave the game. And yes, it wasn't a high-scoring game at all and looked for more like a losing Astros score. But our bulls ... More >>

Pics: Texans Fans Celebrate Win in Chilly Chicago

The Houston Texans had been talking all week about the adjustments they'd have to make playing at Soldier Field in Chicago, well known for not having a roof and being exposed to the elements. With cold rain pouring throughout all four quarters and winds whipping between the goalposts, a number of ha ... More >>

Texans-Bears: The 10 Best Rapper Tweets

Houston has a professional football team, called the Houston Texans. A lot of people like them; some are rappers. The Internet has several forms of social media; one is called Twitter. A lot of people use it. Some of them are rappers. Like last week and every other week prior, we perused Twitter d ... More >>

Texans 13, Bears 6: Slugfest Win Just What Houston Needed

See pics: Texans fans celebrate win in chilly Chicago. It seems an eternity ago, but it's been less than two years since many considered the Texans soft. Led by second-year defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, the evolution is finally complete. The "Bulls on Parade" are now bullying long-establish ... More >>

Texans-Bears: NEW BATTLE-DRINK Bingo Drinking Card, "Cutler Messes You Up" Version

For a franchise that was lucky to play one primetime game per season for so many seasons, this whole "Texans on national television" thing is getting to be old hat! For the third time in the last five games, the Texans will show their wares in front of a national audience as they travel to Chicago t ... More >>

Health Department Report: Food Trucks, St. John's, Skewers and More

If you had the over on the number of places the Health Department would inspect this week, you're probably a little unhappy; it's been a slow past few days. As for betting on the number of times Bears quarterback Jay Cutler puts on his cranky face when he goes against the Texans on Sunday night -- w ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets (Including Bears-Texans Prediction)

Election season is over, and in my home state of Connecticut, Linda McMahon is left to pick up the pieces of her second failed campaign for Senator. 100 million pieces to be exact. According to the Associated Press, the wife of WWE patriarch Vince McMahon spent nearly $100 million on her two faile ... More >>

Sunday Funday Showdown: Pub Fiction vs. Blackfinn American Grille

After an entire season of Sunday Fundays enjoyed watching football (and cursing loudly as Sanchez throws yet another interception), I am ready to report back on my findings. Each Sunday, you can find me and a group of rowdy friends either occupying a large booth at Pub Fiction or huddled around the ... More >>

Football! My Texans Prediction and Other Weekend Best Bets

Baby needs new gear...​Every year at about this time, I wind up investing several hundred dollars in various pieces of Texans gear for my two sons (ages 13 and 12, and I'm fairly certain the only two Texan fans in their Chicago-area junior high school), and while the attitude in this, the most ... More >>

Chicago Bears WR Sam Hurd Has a Ring...a Drug Ring!

The Stringer Bell School of Entrepreneurship.​I remember former Houston Texans (and now Washington Redskins) wide receiver David Anderson telling me a couple years ago about a program that the NFL offered players in which they could travel to prestigious universities during the off season and ... More >>

Top 10 Tim Tebow-Hating Tweets

Go away​The Global Language Monitor has now recognized "Tebowing" -- "the act of taking a knee in prayer during an athletic contest" -- as an English language word. Fucking hell. Pretty sure we're not the only ones that feel that way, considering these ten tweets that dissed the Denver Bro ... More >>

Football! Baylor-UT, NFL: This Weekend's Best Bets

Let the Tebowing continue!​"College football is March Madness every week!" -- Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the Bowl Championship Series Ah, the battle cry of the BCS apologist. Specifically, the battle cry of the BCS executive director, Bill Hancock. It's what he and his minions tell ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets: Take the Bullies

Not when it comes to betting.​Nobody likes a bully. That is, nobody likes a bully unless that bully can win you piles of loot by doing their bully things. And that's exactly what the gambling gods have continued to bless us with this season. As I outlined last week, if you just rode the four ... More >>

NFL Quarterback Carousel -- Assessing The Changes

It's a hard-knock life​It goes without saying that, other than "best player on NBA team regardless of position," quarterback of an NFL team is the single most influential individual position impacting results in a team sport. So imagine if one-sixth of the teams in the NBA decided to bench th ... More >>

Texans-Saints, Etc. -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Big winner: James Casey​The easy fall back after Sunday's 40-33 to the New Orleans Saints is to say "Same ol' Texans," and in a way, I understand. Red zone issues, fourth quarter brain farts (23 points allowed), the untimely turnover, same ol' Texans. But I choose to look at the glass half f ... 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 >>

Texas House Approves Concussion Bill: Student-Athletes Would Have to Be Medically Cleared Before Returning

​Late last week, the Texas House voted 94 to 42 in favor of "Natasha's Law," a measure that would disallow a concussed student-athlete from competing in his or her sport until cleared by a physician. Additionally, HB 2038, which now awaits a vote in the Texas Senate, would require preseason n ... More >>

5 Teams I'm Surprised Didn't Snatch Up Randy Moss Before Tennessee

He's still an Ultra Decal​One. The greatest NFL deep threat of our generation gets tossed back onto the open market and that's the exact number of teams that wanted to stake their claim (or at least stake their claim at the pro-rated portion of Moss' 2010 salary). And that's the thing about ... More >>

NFL, College Football and Brett Favre's Wiener -- 5 Winners, 5 Losers

Brett Favre can't get out of the headlines​I hope everybody had a lovely Texans bye weekend (insert lame joke about "Texans giving up fewer than 300 yards passing to BYE" here), and that you're refreshed, rejuvenated and ready for the back half of the football season. I'm on vacation this week vis ... More >>

Fingertip Popcorn

​Ask anyone familiar with Chicago's food scene, and they will inevitably mention Garrett's Gourmet Popcorn. Locals and tourists alike form lines out the doors of the small chain of popcorn shops to procure huge helpings of Garrett's famous cheddar and caramel popcorn mix. The salty-sweet com ... 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 >>

Rex Grossman: Can He Become One Of the Top Five Texans QBs Ever?

The Houston Texans have signed former Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman. Do a Google-news search for the move and one of the first things that comes up is this, from a fan blog: Now on to the butt of many Chicago jokes...Rex Grossman. June 12th 2009 is a day that should go down in Chicago hist ... More >>

Why Do Mexicans Take So Long To Warm Up Their Cars

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Well, It Could Be Worse

Turning the Screw: Lil Wayne, Hip-Hop and the Election, Wu-Tang Clan, Danity Kane, The Kanye

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

Jason Friedman's 2008 Houston Texans Preview

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

John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week 15: Texans Are Gonna Get Bucked

John Royal's NFL Picks, Week 14: Longest. Season. Ever.

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 14: Da Bears

John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week 13: Rushing More Than Ricky Williams

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

Jason’s Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Seven: No Light at the End of the Tunnel Just Yet

John Royal's NFL Picks, Week Seven: Sorry, Mario. Even If Vince Young Doesn't Play, It's Gonna Be a Tough One.

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

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks: Week Two

From Britney to U2: The 2007 NFL Preview

And Now, a Word or Three on the Texans

Finally! Mock Draft Version 5.0

Trading Spaces: Mock Draft Version 4.0