Drew Brees

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 >>

The NFL Experience Lands In New Orleans

On Wednesday, the The Super Bowl 47 NFL Experience opened to fans at the Morial Convention Center. Featuring a mind-boggling amount of merchandise, GMC automobiles, and chances to exercise your crazed fandom, the 850,000-square-foot fan fest is a feast for the eyes and a strain on the muscles. Seri ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, "Taking The Escalator" Edition (Also, Praise For UConn's Jim Calhoun)

Sitting and watching Jim Calhoun's retirement press conference as I type this post, and I got to thinking....it's nice to build something. In 1986, Jim Calhoun inherited a UConn men's basketball program that was 12-16 the year before and to that point had won just four NCAA tournament games in its ... More >>

Phil Anselmo Talks Solo Records, New Down Material & Pantera's Legacy

Phil Anselmo, former lead singer of the mighty Pantera, currently of Down, is a busy man. But he always has time to talk about his beloved New Orleans Saints, who are going through a trying offseason, to put it mildly. "I can talk Saints all day. I think we have a great season coming up and I thin ... More >>

Louisiana Senate Votes to Beg Roger Goodell to Unsuspend Saints Players and Coaches

Let me preface what I am about to say by noting that I love the State of Louisiana. I don't think I've ever had a bad trip to the state. It's one of my favorite places to visit, complete with otherworldly cuisine, ultra-accessible alcohol and gambling, and unintentional comedy galore. In short, I a ... More >>

Exotic Prop Bet Mania: Profiting Off The Madden Curse

When the average sports fan hears the word "wagering," for the most part they equate it with football and basketball, betting on spreads and total points scored. But if you read my work in this space, you know that the occasional prop bet is a fun diversion and oftentimes a chance to have more long ... More >>

Houston Texans Grieving Process 1.0: At Least We're Not in Louisiana!

Ha-ha!​Forty-eight hours have come and gone since Sunday, and the Texans' loss to the Baltimore Ravens is still maddening and painful. How does one process the anguish coming out of a sporting event in which your team had every chance to win the game and put themselves one step away from th ... 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 >>

Who Needs Tim Tebow When You Have T.J. Yates (Or Just About Any Other NFL Quarterback)?

The only proper usage of Tebowing.​Vince Young was not who Jeff Fisher wanted to draft in 2006. His choice for the future quarterback of the Tennessee Titans was Jay Cutler. Bud Adams wanted Young, so Young became a Titan. Young was the 2006 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year as the Titans we ... More >>

Health Department Roundup

"Let me get a cookie with a milk back."​There are three keys to a smooth Health Department inspection: maintaining a clean facility, keeping your paperwork in order, and...let's see. We can't think of the third one. We can't. Sorry. Oops. There were more familiar faces on the city's inspectio ... More >>

Saints 40, Texans 33: Five Plays That Got Away

The Texans found out Sunday.​The latest chapter in the long-running series of Texan near misses might have been the most painful. Sure, there were plenty of positives. The Texans (2-1) proved they were capable of hanging with the NFL's elite on the road. They weren't outclassed. Looking for ... More >>

Texans 23, Dolphins 13: Balanced Effort Exorcises Road Demons

Andre Johnson: Good hands.​The long-standing reputation for the Gary Kubiak-era Texans has been that they fold under pressure. When teams hit them, they rarely hit back. They don't finish the job, especially on the road. In the season's second week, the Texans took yet another step toward exo ... More >>

Houston Texans Game 1 -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Photo by Marco Torres​Yesterday was a great day. The NFL season kicked off, the Texans were at home, and the weather was an unseasonably cool 96 degrees in Houston, perfect tailgating weather if you can deal with pit stains and butt sweat. Oh, and the Texans beat the Colts in the opener for t ... More >>

Texans-Colts: Five Things to Watch

No Peyton, no chance.​With Peyton Manning out for Sunday's opener and potentially the entire year after undergoing a second surgery on his neck, the narrative for Houston changes from a statement game to one of trends. That is, there should be no way to actually lose, or for the final score t ... More >>

The New Normal

The Texans start operating like a bona fide NFL team.

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 >>

My Madden 2012 Cover Ballot

What do you think should go on the cover of Madden 12?​I've said it before, I'm a total sucker for lists. "5 Best This." "8 Worst That." "9 Reasons So-and-so Boned Such-and-such." List it and I'm in. Some will criticize this, and call it a sign of a lazy mind, that I need my world assembled ... More >>

Countdown To NFL Lockout 2011 (Obama Speaks!)

Obama's punting on this one​"If we can make the kind of progress that you needed to make to have a further extension, that's where we'd be looking." -- Jeff Pash, lead negotiator on behalf of the NFL owners ...and that's exactly what happened. On the heels of a 24-hour extension of the curre ... More >>

The Jim Harbaugh Situation -- It's Over (3 Winners, 3 Losers)

Jim Harbaugh: All that?​I'll go ahead and say it -- what's the big deal about Jim Harbaugh? Sure, I understand that he took Stanford to never before seen (by Stanford) heights of winning 12 games including a BCS bowl. I understand that he transformed the identity of the team in the process, t ... More >>

Case Keenum Faces The Future

Photo by Red Rooster Facing down a defense is the easy thing now​The Houston Cougars knew they were going to have to eventually make the transition. They just weren't counting on that transition coming during the middle of this season's third game. But it was during the second quarter of the Co ... More >>

Why ND Will Win The BCS Title And UT Won't 2010 -- Part 2

Watch out, Wyoming!! UT is comin' at ya!!​Our second annual weekly explanation of why Notre Dame will win the BCS title this year and the University of Texas won't got off to a predictable start this weekend: The Irish manhandled a savage opponent while the Longhorns struggled mightily to eke out ... More >>

GAME TIME: Texans-Saints -- 5 Winners, 5 Losers

Oh, what the hell...go ahead and panic.​I keep trying to tell myself that the results of the Texans' trip to New Orleans last week didn't really count. Texans fans everywhere (and my liver) seem to disagree. New Orleans is one of a handful of places on earth that embodies the "too much of a ... More >>

Game Time: JaMarcus Russell -- The Raiders' "Purple Drank"

Svelte, he ain't.​His Wikipedia profile merely describes JaMarcus Russell as follows: JaMarcus Russell is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. Right about now, the only items that are true in that statement are Russell's first and last names, because as of Monday morn ... More >>

iFest: Of Drew Brees and Discount Perfume

Photo by Jason Wolter​Every year since 1971, iFest has grown. And every year, it becomes less and less distinguishable from any other festival in Houston, for better or for worse. This year's iFest spans two weekends and roughly ten city blocks around City Hall. It's filled with more sights, s ... More >>

Albums All You Sudden Saints "Fans" Can Enjoy While You're Smirking

Far be it from Rocks Off to rain on anyone's Super Bowl parade, but are we the only ones bothered by this massive, conveniently timed outpouring of love and affection for New Orleans? It started right after the Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, when admitting you were ... More >>

Is Anyone Rooting For The Colts In The Super Bowl?

​Now that the NFL is down to two teams, the big question remains -- who the hell is going to be rooting for Indianapolis?Let's examine the options.The cities.On the one hand, you have a town (not a city) full of pasty Midwesterners, a burg that only has an NFL team because the owner of one of the ... More >>

Texans-Saints: New, "Improved " D Falls Flat In First Home Test

​Run the ball, and stop the run.It's one of the oldest clichés on what determines NFL success. But if there's much truth to it, the Texans' potential breakthrough season might already be in some trouble.With Reggie Bush out with a calf injury, the Saints (2-0) gashed the Texans (1-1) on Satur ... More >>

What To Look For If You're Looking At The Texans And Saints

Photo by wackykramer​It's time for preseason game number two for the Houston Texans. This week, they're taking on the New Orleans Saints. The two teams have been practicing against each other this week, and yesterday, things got a bit heated as there were multiple fights punctuated by Saints tight ... More >>

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal’s NFL Season Picks

Texans-Buccaneers: Go Team! Or Something…

Just How Good Is the Texans Secondary Supposed to Be?

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

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

2007 NFL Preview, Take Two

Cyber Shula

NFL Head Coach wants to make a legend out of you.