The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - CBS Sports Andrew Catalon Joins Talking Texans vs Raiders This Sunday

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

CBS Sports Andrew Catalon Joins Talking Texans vs Raiders This Sunday 

Matt Thomas show continues with Ross here from New Orleans. Rockets off tonight. Tomorrow night, we'll take on the Pelicans. We'll the broadcast for you beginning at 6 o'clock with Rockets Launchpad. I'll have the play-by-play here at 7 o'clock. Speaking of the play-by-play, one of the most versatile and talented sports broadcasters we have today is joining us on the show. About to call us 200th game, NFL game on CBS. Andrew Canelon with us here on the program.

Andrew, it's Matt. It's a pleasure to have you on. I have a big fan of your work. And by the way, I think Texans fans love when you and Spiro Ditas do games because I think Texans have a winning record with you, two guys, call in action. Well, I appreciate the kind words, and it's great to be with you. And, yeah, it's been a while. I haven't had the Texans this year.

So I'm excited to see them. Obviously, I think they're one of the hottest teams in the league right now. For sure. And I'll be brutally honest with you, Andrew, we're not going to spend a whole long time breaking down Texans and Raiders because, let's face it, you're going to have to probably have some storylines ready for the second half. but that's a different issue for a different time. Let me go back to last week because I begged the local CBS affiliate here in town

to broadcast the Indianapolis Seattle game for obvious reasons because the Colts are still competing with the Texans of the EFC South. And oh, by the way, Philly Rivers was going to perhaps be on the practice squad. He winds up starting. Take us through last week when you officially got the word that Rivers was going to start. You get the chance to talk to him but the night before. And then as you're calling the game, did you feel like you were in? 2015 all over again. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, it was surreal when he walked into the meeting

room in the hotel the night before in Seattle. I just called so many of his games over the years and to hear him say, I'm back in 2025 was just absolutely wild. And, you know, when we met with him the night before, I was fascinated by his perspective because he was so honest with us. He said, look, I could get hurt on the first play of the game, pop my calf. I might stink out there, throw four interceptions. You know what? None of that bothers me. He said, I'll never know what could happen if I don't try it.

And for me, this was just bonus football. It's an opportunity to play for a coach and an organization that I really respect and love. And why not? Why not give it a try and send that message to his high school football team, which he now coaches, that you'll never know what will happen if you don't give it a shot. So I absolutely love that perspective from Philip. He did not care if he was embarrassed or got. got hurt, that that was not going to bother him.

And then you fast forward to the game the next day. And look, I thought Shane Steichen did a really good job of calling plays for Philip. We talked a lot on the broadcast about his inability to really push the ball down the field. Now, maybe that'll change this week. Maybe now that he has a week under his belt, they can kind of, you know, try to stretch it a little bit more. But I thought he controlled the line of scrimmage and gave them a chance to win, which they almost did. And that's exactly what that organization was looking for. now they're hoping just to turn the corner and get a couple of wins here coming in

all right you are doing a little bit of prep on for this texans team uh you know we always hear the narrative andrew the teams that go oh and two only make the playoffs certain length of time oh and three which the texans began is even uh lesser percentage and less things completely crater here the texans not only are going to make a playoff spot but they could win this division and from what your brief study is about them so far you'll see them for the first time this year. It goes down to obviously the outstanding defense. We're not speaking out of turn here. It's the offense that people still want to know how good they can be. You obviously have seen the numbers the last few weeks. It is getting steadily better, but you also have seen other teams

around the AFC. Can the Texans make a legitimate Super Bowl run if the Texans basically give you an average offensive output the next handful of weeks and obviously come playoff time? Yeah, I mean, I think they can. I have not overwhelmed by what I've seen in the AFC compared to previous years. Now, all these teams, we want to throw Denver, Buffalo, New England, Jacksonville, the Chargers, I think, are a good team. You know, are they gang? You know, it's not like the years past. We have a dominant team.

I mean, you can make a case for all these teams. If I'm a Texans fan, would I like to see the offense play a little bit better? Yeah, I would. Now, they did look good last week, I thought. obviously the opponent was not, you know, the 72 dolphins, but at the same time, you know, I think that maybe they're trying to, you know, get their stride a little bit, find some momentum. CJ's now back in the mix. Jordan was a nice little bonus last week, you know, it sounds like Chubb practiced today.

Those are all good signs. But I just think this is the year where, you know, you don't have to be a great team. You just got to get hot at the right time, and it seems like they're headed that way right now, which is a tremendous sign for Domingo and the Texans. Andrew Cattle on CBS Sports, joining us. He'll be on the call this Sunday for the Texans and Raiders at 325. With your schedule and the fact that you've not seen the Texans, you've seen everybody else, you've seen Jacksonville,

you've seen Buffalo, you've seen New England, you've seen Denver. And I threw this at Ion Eagle a handful of weeks ago. I'll ask you, because now we're even deeper in the season than we are now today, who do you like in the AFC? And I'm not asking to make a grandiose prediction, but there's all warts among everybody in this top seven. So you give me the complete package. Who do you like the most at this point?

Yeah, I mean, I think the best player left is Josh Allen. And for that reason, I think the bills are scary. I feel like they're a team that could win on the road if they don't get home field advantage or don't get a couple of home games. Their defense, though, is certainly their ward and their weakness. And I don't know if that defense is good enough to overcome, you know, making a run here in the playoffs. A team I've also seen a couple of times now is the Chargers, and they've been so beat up along their offensive line.

Obviously, the Texans will see them next weekend, but I think there's a lot of nice pieces there with Los Angeles. They're not blowing teams out. Again, it's not a dominant team, but there's enough parts where if Herbert can stay healthy and they can put things all together, I'm really fascinated by that game next weekend with the Texans out in L.A. So those are two, but as we said before, you can make a case for any team. And I think the Texans are just as good as both those teams I just mentioned. Andrew, you do the Bills preseason games. You lived in Buffalo for quite a period of time, correct?

I went to Syracuse and I lived in Albany, New York for quite some time, so not too far down the road. I was going to say, I don't know how those people in Buffalo do it. They're such diehard fans. I respect the hell out of them. But that lake affects snow. and that new stadium, which you'll be calling games in next year, open air, what are they thinking up there? I don't know.

I don't get it. Well, first of all, I love doing the preseason games because it's August, so it's a nice time to spend a couple weeks up there. You know, I think that's part of their advantage. That's part of their charm. You go to a game there, and the tailgating scene is second to none, and, you know, they love that environment. Now, they will have a canopy over a good portion of the seats

at this new stadium, so that'll help in terms of, you know, rain and snow. But, yeah, it's going to be cold there, and that's just the way they love it. So, you know, you might see the NFL, you might see the NFL draft go there, but I don't know if you'll see a Super Bowl there. That might be a little tough. Probably so. Andrew Kellan, a couple more minutes with us here from CBS. And Andrew does not only the NFL on CBS, he's a huge part of their NCAA tournament.

He works with Steve Lapis. I want to say, and I'm a university of Houston alum, and I've gone to games. I called their games many years ago before joining the Rock. So, as a matter of fact, I flew to San Antonio for the national championship game in between a Rockets game. So you working with Steve, first of all, very entertaining. The accent, though, is incredible for him. Do you have to sometimes catch it and rewind to see what he said and maybe comprehend it like five seconds after he said it? He's the best.

We had Houston in the Elite 8 last year. That was a ball out in Indy and what a performance they put on. And, you know, Steve and I have called, man, it's got to be between three and four hundred. games together now. I mean, we've been doing this for a long time. As you know, when you have continuity with one person, it makes a huge difference on the air. So, you know, certainly, and I'm from New Jersey, and he's obviously from New York, so I kind of can speak the same language as him, but he's the best. We have a lot of fun together, and I'm looking forward to getting with him here soon after the NFL season ends. Yeah, it's a highly entertaining crew and look

forward to you, hopefully calling many University of Houston tournament games. And then after that, you get to go golf and work the masters on other CBS events. And we always make fun of golf announcers on their show about how you hate the whisper and nuts. Do you catch yourself leaving the booth, getting in your car, going to the hotel and ordering food and having that master's whisper voice still going, well, I can speak a full throw if I need to. You know, it's funny last week called a 60-yard field goal and then a 50-whatever by Myers, 56-yard field goal late. And I felt it the next day with my voice. So I was like, wow, I really kind of blew it out there. And that doesn't usually happen after, you know, a golf tournament.

So I love going to New Orleans where you are for the Zurich Classic, but it's definitely a little bit of a different feel than calling an NFL game. I love it just as much, but there's no doubt that it's a different voice, a different tone. And it's really enjoyable. It's a great time, and I'm fortunate to be a part of it with CBS. To wrap it up, let's go back to football. It feels like to me, and I've been telling this to the audience, because look, the Texans have only gone to the divisional play.

I've never been an AFC championship game, as you know. But it feels as wide open as possible. And I know that some people are bemoaning Kansas City's not in it and how are we going to live without that? But if I'm Buffalo, I feel good. If I feel like I've got a healthy Lamar Jackson, I think Baltimore's got a shot because they've been there and done that. You've got the Chargers, you mentioned, playing well.

The Texans defense is obviously Super Bowl caliber-worthy. It feels like to me, Andrew, of all the years you've been working these games that every week now for the next couple weeks before the end of the season, you're going to have some meaningful matchups, and no one should go into January thinking we're the serious favorite to win the AFC. No, no doubt. I mean, a seven seed in the AFC or NFC, especially the AFC, has a really good chance to make a run and get hot and get in to the Super Bowl.

So I think it's one of those years you just said, you get into the tournament, you can certainly dream about the Super Bowl. It is realistic. You know, the home field advantage. I don't know how much that will come into play. There's some younger QBs in the AFC outside of, you know, Alan and Jackson, and who knows if the Steelers get in with Rogers. But I don't know how, you know, other than like maybe Buffalo in the snow,

I don't know how big of a deal home field advantage is going to be. I think any one of these teams can go in and get hot and win, and I can't wait to watch. It's going to be a phenomenal playoffs. Pleasure having you on the show. Hope we can bug you once a year. Safe travels to our community, and again, and really enjoy your work and looking forward to your broadcast on Sunday. Thanks for the time.

Yeah, right back at you. Thanks so much.