With the exception of possibly bringing a few cheap guys back like Mike Briesel and signing Arian Foster long-term (probably our biggest offseason signing), don't look for Bob McNair to open the checkbook up this offseason. He is quoted in an interview with AP stating "Phillips will fix the Texans' defense without needing widespread changes to the roster." Obviously this is code for "we're playing with who we have and it's up to our shiny new DC to make them better."

It's also obvious that Smithiak are feeding their owner bad information about the current roster. So don't be surprised to see Troy Nolan, Glover Quin and Shaun Cody starting on your Houston Texans defense in 2011. We may even see a little Brice McCain and Damione Lewis sprinkled in for good measure. Sigh....

One has to ask themself, what the heck has happened to Bernard Pollard? He was the defensive highlight of our 2009 season and voted team captain going into 2010. Either that or simply look at his brief history with Kansas City and how they ran him out of town. He stole our collective heart last year but appears to have worn out his welcome in Houston. When Gary Kubiak was asked about Pollard's future in Houston after the Jacksonville game he was very non-committal to say the least. Actually Kubiak sounded like he was ready to overhaul the entire defense minus a few obvious players which will likely happen this offseason. Look for at least 6 new starters on that side of the ball to kick off 2011 with at least 4 of those being seasoned veterans that know how to win.

We will probably never know why Pollard decided not to receive "treatment" on his shoulder that we really didn't even know was an issue. He instead decided that the game wasn't important to him sat it out. I'm curious if he was even on the sideline during the game. Is this the reason why Kubiak sounded like he wouldn't be back or is he simply caught up in a numbers game, being an Unrestricted Free Agent under the current labor agreement.

Either way, thanks for the memories Bernard. You will go down as the best Strong Safety this team has ever had during it's short history. Hopefully we can find a Strong Safety that can lay the wood and cover a Tight End every once in a while.

Yesterday was as rough a day as I have ever experienced as a Texans fan. I actually started typing my goodbye letter to BRB and the world. My Sundays were going to be changed forever.... then they pulled me back in like they always do.

The 4th quarter was great (if you are a Texans fan) however there was way too much involvement by the referees throughout the entire game. I knew we were in trouble when at one point during the first quarter I heard Steve Tasker mutter faintly in the background "Ron Winters crews always call a lot of penalties." I'm sure that Mr. Winters and crew are happy with their performance. They got to make a lot of calls, most of them appearing to be accurate.

This morning I sprung out of bed looking for all of the love that my Texans worked so hard for and all I get is a collective "sports journalist" finger pointed at one call that essentially won the game for Houston and screwed Kansas City.

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Guys, I recently had this artwork done and would be willing to sell prints to anyone who is interested. The prints are 11x17 on quality paper. The detail on this is amazing and it will make a great showpiece on your wall. The players in the piece are Steve Slaton, DeMeco Ryans, Andre Johnson, Owen Daniels and Mario Williams. Thanks for looking.

You can reach me at benny.prince@gmail.com.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

RotoWorld Goofs on Texans

Texans placed S Brandon Harrison on injured reserve with a severe hamstring pull, ending his season. The team acquired Michael Boulware on Saturday to bolster depth at worst. Harrison, a rookie from Stanford, had not been challenging to start.

Considering that Boulware is on Minnesota's IR, it would make this move highly unlikely.

Someone that's not banned from the houstontexans.com message board needs to help them out before one of them has a heart attack...

Brandon Harrison thread

Here's a nice little article on young Shanny...

Shanahan on Fast Track Like His Father

Obligatory article snippet to help reach the 75 word limit... "Asked which Shanahan should be expected to hold the mental edge in such head-to-head scenarios, Kyle says, “I like to think I’ve been in his head since I was born.”

And finally, whatever happened to the BRB Fantasy Football League??? The start of the season is only 2 days away....

Here's a good preseason analysis of Steve Slaton from Football Outsiders.

Steve Slaton’s Second-Quarter Drive

Last Friday, Cosell told Adam Caplan of SIRIUS NFL Radio that Slaton has impressed him through the preseason. While running backs in spread offenses are indeed difficult to evaluate, the consensus is that Slaton runs with more of a physical presence than expected, but with enough quickness to avoid hit after hit. With Ahman Green and Chris Brown looking like serious injury risks, Slaton’s a good back to keep in mind.

EDIT BY TIM: Had to promote Ben's FanPost to the main page. Cook was probably gone anyway, but this bump in the road should be enough to seal his fate. Guess this makes Chris Taylor the official backup FB...

Texans Player Arrested

Goodbye Jameel Cook, and thanks for the memories. Sure, you lost two games for us in 2006 with fumbles. You weren't much of a blocker, but could be counted on to gain a yard or two whenever Wali Lundy or Ron Dayne or Echemandu went down with injuries. Your efforts to insert yourself (unsuccessfully) as a team leader were admirable. But the bottom line is that you were basically just another free agent bust. Now hurry back down to Miami to see if Ricky Williams will let you stay at his place for a while.

Mario is featured on sportingnews.com today. There's a nice little Q&A.

Get To Know Mario

Highlights from the interview...

SN: How many sacks for you this year? Are you going for 20? Going for Michael Strahan's record (22 1/2)?

WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah. Every year that I play, I want to lead the league. That's the goal, to go for that. Hopefully, one day my name will be up there. I want the career record (Bruce Smith, 200 sacks). My whole thing is if anybody stays healthy, anybody can achieve anything.

SN: Have you shaken that feeling that you have something extra to prove because you were picked first?

WILLIAMS: I don't have to prove anything to anybody.

SN: Who are you, in a nutshell?

WILLIAMS: I'm very self-kept and quiet. I don't like going out and being the center of attention. I'm not one of those guys trying to be in the spotlight, in the middle of a club. I try and lay low

So it looks like Mittens has duped another set of fans into believing that he is an NFL-calibur quarterback. These guys sound just like we did for a while... and just like Carolina fan before last season. As expected, they're blaming everyone from Houston's offensive line to spicy Mexican food for Carr's failures. It's doubtful, but we may be able to help them salvage some pride because undoubtedly these same people will be cussing him before the preseason is over.

http://boards.giants.com/forums/thread/898830.aspx

Let me be the first to say 'I told you so' about 3 guys that formerly donned the Battle Red, Liberty White and Deep Steel Blue.

Last year when our Texans traded Jason Babin for Michael Boulware I protested. Here we are a year later with no pass rush and there is Babin causing havoc on the Minnesota QB's and ball handlers, racking up 5 tackles, a fumble recovery and a sack. Since us Texans fans have not seen one of these in over 6 months, it means to tackle, a quarterback attempting to pass the ball, behind the line of scrimmage. We know that Coach Kubiak, man, don't really like the whole tatoo thing, but this guy is obviously a player.

Then there's Jeb Putzier lighting up the scoreboard while our TE's were missing blocks and not getting open in the secondary. I protested when the organization simply let him walk in the offseason while paying him $1 million to just go away and now he's on pace to grab 20 TD's for the season. I guess we're the ones that got Putziered this time around.

As if it couldn't get any worse, there was a former Texans favorite... Howard Green. Yes, that same Howard Green out of LSU whom Houston used their 10th overall draft pick in franchise history on and subsequently cut before giving him a single snap in the NFL. Green's line on the night... 2 sacks, 5 tackles, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble. An outstanding game for a DT on any level.

So please forgive me if I'm slightly bitter after watching the Seattle Texans dominate Brooks Bollinger, Mo Hicks, Bobby Wade and the rest of Minnesota's Super Bowl contending roster. I knew it could happen, if only the brain trust over at Reliant Park had half the foresight....

Seattle v. Minnesota Box Score

Panthers give up on Big Nasty

Offensive tackle Charles Spencer, cut not long ago by the Houston Texans despite being a third-round draft pick in 2006, has now been released by the Carolina Panthers.

Not a big surprise here, but this should alleviate any concerns that people had about how the Texans handled Charles Spencer. Carolina is saying he was released due to conditioning, but it's much more likely that he will never be the same player due to the knee injury. He is likely done in the NFL.

I'm starting to wonder if the writers over the at Chron put any effort into covering the Texans. From today's entry from Dale Robertson:

Rosenfels Article

If Rosenfels, who re-signed with the Texans in the offseason assuming he’d get a reasonably fair shot, feels misled about his predetermined place in the pecking order, he won’t verbalize it.

Really... Rosenfels re-signed with the Texans? Was this an extension to the 4-year deal he signed in 2006?

But the 30-year-old Rosenfels enters his seventh preseason as a backup with his head up and mouth zipped, determined to show himself worthy of the job even if Texans coach Gary Kubiak has officially decreed it’s not open to him.

Did he spend a season out of the league? Since he entered the league in 2001 wouldn't that make this his 8th preseason? Is there some sort of goofy 'sports journalist' math that we don't know about?

That’s why the Texans were hugely relieved to retain Rosenfels, who perhaps eschewed opportunity elsewhere because he sees opportunity hidden around the next bend in Houston.

The Texans were hugely relieved that what... Sage didn't go overseas to play in Japan? He is under contract through 2009, he didn't have any other options.

via www.blogsmithmedia.com

Why was Jeb Putizier cut? He was signed before the 2006 season to a 4-year $7.5 million deal with $1.5 million guaranteed money. In 2008 he is counting nearly $1 million against the cap, so why would they just cut the guy loose without at least letting him compete with Dressen as a second pass option at TE? If anyone has any information on the situation please comment.

Looks like Chris Brown's unexcused absence for a wedding has him one step closer to getting a visit by The Turk. Not a good way to make friends with the teammates, coaches or fans. He might be playing golf with Jerome Mathis come September.

Per KFFL.com...

Texans | Bell to visit
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:35:38 -0700

Adam Caplan, of Scout.com, reports free-agent RB Mike Bell (Broncos) is scheduled to work out for the Houston Texans.