New Orleans Saints

Bush-whacked fo' Sho

From Britney to U2: The 2007 NFL Preview

John Royal's NFL Picks: Week Two

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

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

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

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 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 NFL Picks, Week Nine: Getting Rid of the Hired Help, Going with the Raiders

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

John Royal's NFL Picks, Week 11: Andre Johnson Is Back, But Take the Saints Anyway

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

John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week 12: Forget the Drumstick, Let’s Wing It

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

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

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

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

Stealing the Show

New Orleans musicians blew into Houston on Katrina's winds and everything was magic for a while

Fandemonium

Go nuts for tix at the Houston Texans Touchdown Downtown Event

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 >>

How To Grab The Reader's Attention

​The Texans and the New Orleans Saints have been practicing together this week, and yesterday they got into some scraps.Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain ably summed things up with this lede on his story:"The Texans and New Orleans Saints spent so much time fighting during Thursday's morning ... More >>

Some (Few) Good Things Emerge From Texans' Monday-Night Loss

​It's never truly Texans season until there's the first Matt Schaub injury scare. This year, it came before the season even started -- when the Texans' QB ran out of bounds and turned his left ankle in Monday night's 17-10 preseason loss to the Vikings.But Schaub recovered, and so did the Texans, ... More >>

Experts Ask The Pressing Question Tonight: Are You Ready For Some Football?

​The NFL season opens tonight. We've already given you our astute and accurate take on the Houston Texans. (9-7, if you must know.) But what about the rest of the league? Do you actually want to sit through all the games, or learn what will happen in the next few grafs?We thought so.So here is how ... More >>

Game Time: NFL Conference Title Predictions...Channeling College Football

There's no two ways about it, my NFL playoff predictions have been terrible. As I outlined on Monday, I reached a point this past weekend, after going goose eggs on the first seven games, where I picked the Jets to beat the Chargers outright merely because every rational thought and shred of evide ... More >>

Texans Could Learn Something From The Saints

​When the Houston Oilers split for Nashville, I found myself searching for a NFL team to adopt. As a native Houstonian, there was just no way that I could make myself a Dallas Cowboys fan. Especially if I wanted to keep my self-respect.I adopted the New Orleans Saints. The team had a lot of si ... 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 >>

A Scientific Comparison Of Indianapolis And New Orleans

​Even before Katrina, Houston was long a brother to New Orleans. Cars packed with revelers make that I-10 drive come Mardi Gras time, or whenever the urge hits.Katrina only cemented the bond. So with the Saints in the Super Bowl, as odd as those five words strung together may sound, we're firmly r ... More >>

Where The Hou-Dats Will Be For The Super Bowl: Ragin' Cajun, Big Woodrows Or I-10

​There are a ton of New Orleans Saints fans in Houston, and the number grew after Katrina rocked Louisiana.They call themselves "Hou-Dats," and they are making big plans for Sunday. The two biggest HQs in town for Saints fans: the Ragin' Cajun on Richmond and  the Big Woodrow's on Chimney Roc ... More >>

Who Dat?

​Hell has frozen over. The New Orleans Saints are going to the Super Bowl this Sunday. So, to celebrate, we give you our twist on traditional Buffalo wings, Cajun Chicken Wings. These wings are so good and so easy, you'll look for any excuse to make them. Even Colts fans will be begging for mo ... 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 >>

Telling New Orleans

The Wire's creator moves south in Treme on HBO.

Game Time: Texans Wednesday AM Practice Report (LIVE from New Orleans!)

Land of Super Bowl champions​Safe, sound, and functioning on three hours of sleep, I am LIVE in New Orleans at the Saints practice facility in Metarie, LA covering the Texans and the Saints inter-squad practice sessions. For those unaware of the agenda, the Texans spent this morning and will spen ... More >>

GAME TIME: Texans Thursday AM Practice Report (LIVE from New Orleans!)

Maybe the Texans can get a little Rebirth in NOLA​While on the surface, this is technically a "business trip" for me, it's really hard to call any trip to New Orleans an out and out "business trip." I mean, I spent fifteen years in the corporate world, where "business" meant mind-numbing meeting ... More >>

GAME TIME: Houston Texans - Final Practice Report (LIVE from New Orleans)

Sean interviewed former Oiler Spencer Tillman Friday.​As we head into the back end of our trip to New Orleans for Texans-Saints Practicepalooza 2010 (also known as the "realizing there actually can be too much of a good thing" phase of the trip), I'd like to take a minute to wish a very happy thir ... 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 >>

Pop Rocks: Fantasy Football For (Immature) Dummies

​Football season is almost upon us. For many people, this time of year offers renewed hope for the future, ranging from the merely possible (can the Saints repeat?) to the improbable (will the Texans makes the playoffs) to the "You gotta be fucking kidding me" (Kris Brown kicks a last-minute f ... More >>

Texans 30, Redskins 27: This Was The Game Great Teams Win, And The Old Texans Lose

Arian Foster's a perfect 6-0​On the surface, it could seem silly to characterize a 3-point overtime escape in Washington as more of a season-defining moment than a blowout of rival Indianapolis. But when you consider where the now 2-0 Texans have been, that appears to be exactly the case.Ask New O ... More >>

Fifth Ward Saints

Carlos Honore and his wife Tatum started up a youth football league out of nothing in an area of Houston not much known for opportunity or hope.

NFL & College Football Best Bets -- It's Crime Time

Lennie knows all, eventually​To some of you this may sound obvious, to some it may sound weird, and to some it may sound deplorable -- I wish I had time to watch more television. With the advent of episodic television on cable channels like HBO and Showtime, the ante has been upped and the ne ... More >>

My 2011 Texans Schedule Analysis -- Praying For A Long Work Stoppage

Skip this if you can. (The movie AND the Texans' opening schedule)​Destination programming. It's the lifeblood of any organization whose goal is to entertain the masses. It doesn't matter if you're a television network, an independent radio station, or a professional sports league. If you ... More >>

The New Normal

The Texans start operating like a bona fide NFL team.

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 >>

Pau Gasol Thoughts, My Texans Prediction and Other Weekend Best Bets

Pau Gasol: The closest he'll get to Rocket red.​On November 23, the Texans signed quarterback Kellen Clemens to take over third-string duties. On December 4, the Texans signed Jake Delhomme and two days later they cut Clemens. I never thought there would be a less satisfying era for a Houston ... 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, Saints and Tebow! This Weekend's NFL Playoff Best Bets

PLAYOFFS?!?!!? Oh, yeah​So is Houston ready for some playoff football? How about we go through the Reliant Stadium checklist for Saturday's game with the Bengals to find out. Notifications to season ticket holders to be in their seats 30 minutes before kickoff? Check. Colored placards in sea ... More >>

Bobby Hebert Is Not a Fan of LSU Coach Les Miles's Conservative Game Plan (w/ VIDEO)

Bobby Hebert ain't happy, cher.​Predictably, the BCS National Title game was, to use my good friend Jim Ross's phrase, "bowling-shoe ugly." Monday's game between Alabama and top-ranked LSU featured lots of hard hitting on defense, lots of mistakes on offense, and a few field goals. In fact, un ... More >>

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

There's no need to fear...​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 ... 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 >>