Oakland Raiders

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

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

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

(Texans vs. Raiders) (Pats vs. Colts) = Pass the Prozac Please

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

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

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

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

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 17: Are the Texans Half Empty or Half Full of It?

John Royal’s NFL Season Picks

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

NFL Review, Week Three: Bad Challenges, Tricky Snaps and Playboy Bunnies

If Only the Texans Were Bad in a Fun Way…

NFL Review, Week Four: Cowboys Lose, and Bitch

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: This One Was All Kubiak

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Were You Ready for Some Boring Football?

I can't believe I wasted over three hours of my life watching the Houston Texans last night. Sure, they won the game 30-17, but damn, that was an awful game to watch. I found the document review I was working on to be more interesting than most of that game - and you attorneys out there know that ... More >>

Texans-Raiders: Don't Bet on Black

Lots of you don't like what I write about the Texans. You think I'm too negative. That I don't give the team proper credit. Hell, some of you have actually written that you want me to die. To which I respond, if you want homers who are always positive, go over to the Chron. I try to take a more ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Hooters and Houston Texans

I'm in a Hooters in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and the Houston Texans are losing to the Oakland Raiders. And I'm the only one in the place watching the game. The requisite Redskins fans are scattered about, watching the Redskins on a majority of the TVs - really, is there any place besides Dall ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Hooters and Houston Texans

I'm in a Hooters in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and the Houston Texans are losing to the Oakland Raiders. And I'm the only one in the place watching the game. The requisite Redskins fans are scattered about, watching the Redskins on a majority of the TVs - really, is there any place besides Dall ... More >>

Texans-Raiders: Don't Bet on Black

Lots of you don't like what I write about the Texans. You think I'm too negative. That I don't give the team proper credit. Hell, some of you have actually written that you want me to die. To which I respond, if you want homers who are always positive, go over to the Chron. I try to take a more ... More >>

COACHES PUB'S COLORADO BULLDOG

Lots of you don't like what I write about the Texans. You think I'm too negative. That I don't give the team proper credit. Hell, some of you have actually written that you want me to die. To which I respond, if you want homers who are always positive, go over to the Chron. I try to take a more ... More >>

Scoring the Super Bowl

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

Funny Girl

Jokes of the Female Persuasion

NASA's Biggest Job On This Shuttle Flight: Milking Publicity

​The latest space shuttle mission opens up a new, bold era in NASA history -- the desperate attempt to remain hip and relevant and therefore worthy of federal budget dollars.Commentators have pointed out how the agency seems to be embracing pop culture, but it seems to be getting to the point ... More >>

At Long Last, Texans Play According to Plan

​For a franchise that has spent its entire existence searching for signs of turning a corner, the Texans on Sunday showed as many as they ever have. On the field, the Texans did what they never seem to do - win big in a game they're supposed to, routing the hapless Raiders 29-6 at Reliant St ... More >>

You Know It's Bad When Losing To The Texans Isn't As Bad As It Gets

​So you're Tom Cable and you're the coach of the moribund 1-3 Oakland Raiders.You've just a lost a football game to the Houston Texans, the team which started the legend of Mark Sanchez. And not only did your team lose 29-6 to the Texans, but you were outcoached by Gary Kubiak, a guy who, in his ... More >>

Game Time: The Cable Guy

​For most of his tenure in Oakland, Tom Cable has been your run-of-the-mill, overmatched, "dead man walking" NFL head coach. When he was hired last season in the wake of Lane Kiffin's firing, the things that jumped out at me about Cable were:-- His only head coaching experience consisted of four ... 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 >>

Game Time: The Decade's Five Most Lucrative Miracles

​First, I want to wish everybody out there a very happy holiday, and thank all of you who have read my stuff here on HoustonPress.com since I started up a couple months ago, especially those of you who leave comments (even if you think what you've just read is utter drivel, and you're telling me ... More >>

Game Time: Man, That Lane Kiffin Sure Is Good At Getting Hired

​Believe it or not, there was a time when I was actually a somewhat successful person in the business world. Eventually, I eschewed all the accoutrements that come with corporate glory (you know, things like decent paychecks, steak dinners, ulcers....stuff like that) for the wacky world of sports ... 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 >>

Our Year

Will Texans make it to playoffs?

Texans 31, Raiders 24: With A Running Game Like This, Johnson Has Time To Rest

Photo by Aaron M. SprecherMario Williams kept up the pressure​It only took one offseason and one Arian Foster to transform the Texans' running game from shaky to the club's foundation.As a result, the Texans on Sunday allowed star wideout Andre Johnson to rest his ailing ankle and saw their offens ... More >>

College Football and NFL: Weekend's Best Bets (One Day Early)

Brett Favre: Readying the "elbow tendonitis" excuse?​If you're keeping score at home, it was not a pretty week for society. In no particular order, in the last seven days, the following occurred: -- Much like the self-handling of his own Johnson (and we have the pictures to prove it), Brett Favre ... More >>

Houston Texans -- The Green Mile, 5 Winners and 5 Losers

Texans fans: Enjoy it today, resume griping tomorrow​The Texans beat the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon 35-31 to move to 4-2 for the first time in the history of the franchise, and I for one am going to enjoy it. Seriously, try to stop me. You can try and bring me down with your texts and tweets and ... 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 >>

More Rex Ryan, the Ryan Leaf Trilogy & NFL Best Bets

Rex Ryan: Can you smell them from here is the question​Two more shopping days left. I need money. You need money. So let's get to winning. And by winning let's find a way to weave more Rex Ryan "foot fetish" talk into a handicapping discussion. Can we do this? (Can we touch them? Can we sm ... More >>

Thursday NFL Free Agent Update: Is Wade Phillips Still Missing?

What's more glamorous, dude: New York or Houston?​As I type this, it's 4:36 p.m. on Thursday and the Texans' free agency activity still can be summed up as follows: 1. Backup offensive tackle Rashad Butler 2. Backup wide receiver Jacoby Jones 3. Backup Matt Leinart No cornerbacks, no safeti ... 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 >>

Raiders 25, Texans 20: One Step Forward, One Step Back

Photo by Marco Torres​When one step forward is immediately followed by one step back, perpetual mediocrity is the usual result. It has defined the Gary Kubiak era of Houston Texans football, and it reared its ugly head again on Sunday. Yes, the Texans (3-2) were missing Andre Johnson and Mar ... More >>

Houston Texans Game 5 -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers (This Doesn't Go Well For Jacoby Jones)

Photo by Marco TorresThus endeth the lesson​Be sure to check out the rest of our pics from Sunday's game. As we were driving slowly down Murworth to park in the Teal Lot before the Texans game on Sunday, my girlfriend Amy and I noticed a father with two boys (presumably his sons) around the a ... 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 >>

Texans/Titans -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers (Including Tim Tebow)

Arian Foster's not dead yet.​It's amazing how quickly things can change. Sometimes, it takes a matter of a few weeks, like with the Kansas City Chiefs. After being outscored 89-10 the first two weeks of the season, the Chiefs were left for dead, Todd Haley was the chalk for every "first coac ... 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 >>