Denver Broncos

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 >>

The Elvis Dumervil Fiasco: 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Up until Friday afternoon, NFL free agency had been the usual fare of crappy teams overspending (what up, Miami and Cleveland?), great teams laying back and waiting for bargains (what up, New England and Green Bay?), and the Texans possibly getting played by Ed Reed (what up, Rick Smith?). There ha ... More >>

Joe Flacco Has A New Contract: Next Big Thing Or Next Cautionary Tale?

On December 16, the Baltimore Ravens lost their third game in a row, 34-17 to the Denver Broncos in Baltimore to drop to 9-5 on the season and virtually clinch a relatively ho-hum four seed in the AFC. On that day, their starting quarterback, Joe Flacco, completed 20 passes on 40 attempts for 254 l ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, NFL Divisional Round Nut Cuttin' Time!

This past Monday night, I had the privilege of attending the BCS Title Game in person in Miami. I say "privilege" because, despite my Notre Dame background, the trip itself and the magnitude of the event were amazing. Yes, my team lost, but it the vibe in the building before kickoff was surreal. As ... 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 >>

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 >>

Texans 31, Broncos 25: At Long Last, Houston Has Its 3-0 Start (Four Reasons Why)

Borrowing a famous analogy from Wade Phillips's father, Bum, the Texans have knocked and beaten on the door of the NFL's elite for three straight Septembers. In 2010, a 2-0 start came crashing down in an embarrassing home loss to Dallas. In 2011, they nearly improved to 3-0 before the defense unrav ... More >>

Matt Schaub And Five Other Cringeworthy Ear Injuries In Pop Culture

If you were like most Houstonians, your heart sank on Sunday afternoon when you saw Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub hit the ground in agony after getting hit by the Denver Broncos' Joe Mays. Immediately images of last year flew through our heads and within seconds T.J. Yates was in the game - ... More >>

Texans Hang On For Win Over Broncos: You Thought This Would Be Easy?

Just in case Houston Texan fans were getting accustomed to easy blowouts, the locals made sure to remind everyone that getting to an AFC Championship, much less a Super Bowl, isn't exactly a walk in the park. With about 10 minutes left in this game at Denver, though, it sure looked like that -- the ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, Another Crappy Notre Dame Video Edition

Popcorn lung. Apparently, that's a thing. On Wednesday, a federal jury awarded a Denver man named Wayne Watson $7.2 million from various food companies after they determined that the respiratory problems he developed in 2007 were due to his frequent inhalation of the buttery aroma from microwave po ... More >>

2012: Year of the Texans

Assessing all their strengths and weaknesses, we could be looking at a repeat or better.

The Mean, Evil, Bored & Ashamed Faces on 13 NFL Team Logos, Ready for Their Close-Ups

Our long national nightmare, otherwise known as the football offseason, is nearing an end. Exhibition Preseason games are in full swing, for better or worse. (If you watched all -- or even most of -- the Cowboys' 3-0 win over Oakland Monday, seek help.) Still, the appearance of the pads and unis i ... More >>

The 2012 NFL Schedule Is Here! The 2012 NFL Schedule Is Here!

In the timeless Steve Martin comedy The Jerk, there's a famous scene where Martin's character Navin R. Johnson sprints across the parking lot to snag a copy of the new phone book to confirm that, indeed, his name and phone number are included. When he is able to find his name he screams that inclus ... More >>

Houston and Denver: Where Dreams of Being a Male Cheerleader Go to Die (w/ VIDEO!)

It's been a longstanding joke that since the time Gary Kubiak took over the reins of the Houston Texans, every facet of the organization here has some tie to the Denver Broncos. If the Texans pick a player up off the waiver wire, oftentimes it's someone who played recently for the Broncos. If a coac ... More >>

Peyton Manning -- The Betting Window Is Open

It's official now, Peyton Manning will be a Denver Bronco after signing a five-year, $96 million contract that essentially boils down to being a series of one-year contracts over the next five years. No signing bonuses, no roster bonuses, plenty of protection in case Manning sustains injury again. ... More >>

Crisis Averted, Texans Fan -- Peyton Manning Spurns Titans for Broncos

In a Texans offseason that has seen some good (Arian Foster's and Chris Myers' multiyear contract extensions), some bad (Mario Williams' leaving, although the Texans have proven they can survive that), and some ugly (the dismantling of the right side of the offensive line), strangely enough, the Tex ... More >>

Texans, Saints, Tebow and Eli! This Weekend's NFL Playoff Best Bets

The scarcity of games on these NFL playoff weekends is a huge reason why wagering in the postseason can be a death trap of second-guessing for me. Fewer games on the board means there's way more time to focus (and, frankly, OVER-focus if there is such a thing) on the scant few games being played. ... More >>

Why Should Houston Want to Experience Another NFL Playoff? Five Painful Memories

Even though their team is coming off three straight losses, Houston is getting amped for the city's first NFL game since 1993. We have to ask: Why? Haven't the NFL playoffs caused our city enough emotional trauma through the years? Hey, we're football fans too, so we know how it goes. And we'll be ... 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 >>

NFL Week 17 Viewing Guide -- What in the Blue Hell Each Game Means

"College football has the best regular season of any sport, and the lack of a playoff is one big reason why." -- Bill Hancock, Executive Director, Bowl Cartel Championship Series That's my favorite inane argument against a college football playoff -- that somehow the existence of a playoff cheapens ... 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 >>

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 >>

5 Quick Thoughts On The Great Carson Palmer Heist

Carson Palmer: Now rehabbing his rep​It's weird, as great as the National Football League has been, the one thing that the NBA and, to an even greater extent, Major League Baseball have had over the NFL for as long as I can remember is a compelling trade in-season trade deadline. In-season fo ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets

Odd sare Brian Kelly won't look like this Satruday night​As I get ready to drop some more decidedly mediocre wagering knowledge on all of you this weekend, I have one quick thought to share with you on the opening weekend of the NFL season: This time last season, these were your starting quar ... 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 >>

Rick Dennison -- "I Just Work in Houston Now"

Rick Dennison, in orange and blue​"I'm orange and blue all the way through. I just work in Houston now." -- Rick Dennison before his unsuccessful attempt to get the Broncos' head coaching position There you go, Houston. Maybe your city isn't the final stop for every wayward Denver Bronco so ... More >>

Gary Kubiak: Three Questions To Be Answered Without The Same Tired Script

Gary Kubiak: Three simple questions​The only thing that has become more predictable than the Houston Texans' collective performance each Sunday (or random Monday or Thursday) is Gary Kubiak's weekly "day after game" press conference, not surprising since the content for the latter is a direct ... More >>

Broncos & Tim Tebow 24, Texans 23: If You're Disappointed, You're Not Thinking Big Picture

​In and of itself, Sunday's collapse against Denver is virtually the same story that has played out countless other times over the past two seasons for the Texans. Yet the franchise has never been this close to finally breaking through. In seven days, the nightmare that is 2010 comes to an ... More >>

One Guy's Thoughts On The Sports Year: 25 Things To Remember

So with the end of the year fast approaching, I thought I would take some time to revisit some of the highlights, and lowlights, of this past sports year. Your list is probably different, but these are the things that caught my attention this year. maxim.com Thanks for everything, Jenn​1. ... More >>

Game Time: Football -- This Season's First Round of Best Bets

Oregon Ducks: Ignore the uniforms and jump onboard​Okay, it's the first officially great football weekend of the season (loaded college slate plus first weekend of NFL).Last weekend's college slate was sort of like a "soft" opening for a new restaurant, working out the kinks in anticipation of the ... More >>

Clinton Tod Harwell: Fake Oil Millionaire Convicted Of Felony Theft In California Court

Bad dealings, and porn actresses who are anal-sex specialists​Clinton Tod Harwell might have run his last scam for a while. The long-time Houstonian -- well-known as a defendant in the civil and criminal courthouses here -- moved to California a while back, and that's where he came to grief.And a ... More >>

Game Time: I, For One, Am Excited About the Texans Schedule

​As far as an industry goes, there is a lot for the National Football League to be proud of. Massive global appeal, groundbreaking television offerings surrounding both the games themselves as well as the happenings behind the scenes, competitive balance -- all reasons it's the most successful ... More >>

Texans 16, Rams 13: Staying Alive

​It's often noted how the difference between the 7-7 Texans and an 11-3 powerhouse is two Kris Brown kicks and two conversions of a single yard. Turns out, the difference between 7-7 and 1-13 isn't all that great, either. As the Texans seem to do in late-season road games where they're hea ... More >>

The Texans-Broncos Connection: An Inter-Office Memo

From: Bob McNair, Owner To: Gary Kubiak Re: Defensive Coach Hirings Date: January 14, 2009 Gary: As you know, I've been most supportive of your work as head coach of the Houston Texans, though it might be nice if you would coach the team to a winning record. But I've tried to stay out of the ... More >>

The Texans-Broncos Connection: An Inter-Office Memo

From: Bob McNair, Owner To: Gary Kubiak Re: Defensive Coach Hirings Date: January 14, 2009 Gary: As you know, I've been most supportive of your work as head coach of the Houston Texans, though it might be nice if you would coach the team to a winning record. But I've tried to stay out of the ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Texans Settle Into Mediocrity

Okay, so the Texans beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday to finish their second straight season at 8-8. That's two seasons in a row of mediocrity. Can I have a YAY TEAM! Over at the Chron, Richard Justice thinks the team is heading in the right direction and has turned the corner. He likes how G ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Texans Settle Into Mediocrity

Okay, so the Texans beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday to finish their second straight season at 8-8. That's two seasons in a row of mediocrity. Can I have a YAY TEAM! Over at the Chron, Richard Justice thinks the team is heading in the right direction and has turned the corner. He likes how G ... More >>

If They Think That's A Big High-School Stadium....

The Texas Bowl fever is building!! Kinda.This year's match-up between Rice and Western Michigan University isn't exactly setting too many people's hearts on fire, although it should turn out to be an entertaining game.Previous Texas Bowls have had bigger names, though, so this one is flying under th ... More >>

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal’s NFL Season Picks

The Five Biggest Choke Jobs in Houston Sports History

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

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

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Ten: Openly Defying the Gods Since October 2007

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

John Royal's NFL Picks: Week Two

Finally! Mock Draft Version 5.0

Ropin' the Rat

The Houston Texans square off against the Broncos

Scoring the Super Bowl

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