The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - The Matt Thomas Show 12-12-19

Episode Date: December 12, 2019

The Matt Thomas Show w/ @SportsMT, @SportsRV, and @ProNickLow 12/12/19James Harden and the Rockets get an ugly win (0:00)Dr. Roto's Fantasy Football Feature Week 15 (19:00)Carlos Correa Calls Jeff Luhnow (48:43)Blaine "Hitman" Bishop Previews Texans at Titans (56:55)Ross' Rotten 5 (1:36:35)

Much larger than life. Yeah. Lunch timers is the Matt Thomas show. 1 in H-town. What's happening in lunch timers? Good afternoon to you. And welcome to a Thursday edition of the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790.

Today from Orlando, Florida, where the rockets are going to rest, go to Epcot, and pontificate over last night's game over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Rossing in my four years of calling NBA basketball, I don't think I've ever called a game involving the Rockets

where they gave up 24 consecutive points and yet still won the basketball game, but that's exactly what happened last night. Last night's game was quite a back and forth journey. It was a weird, we've had a lot of weird ones the last few weeks, right?

No doubt. The Spurs. The Kings one was weird. Even the Phoenix Sun's game was kind of weird, and then that one last night. Really weird with a bunch of players I had never heard of. Now, granted, Kevin Porter Jr. is a first round pick. They're a very young basketball team, but the Cavaliers right now suck. And they almost, they went from being down double digits to being up double digits in a very short period of time.

And you know who didn't give two blanks about it, Ross? The referees. James Hardin. Oh, James Hardin. Who did you say? Said the referees. No, you can't blame the referees, at least in this particular case. So Hardin goes off and scores like 13 consecutive points.

He finishes the night with 55. He makes 20 field goals. He shoots 34 of them. He goes 10 of 18. He had almost as many three-pointers as the Cavaliers had collectively yesterday. Cabs had 13 Rockets had 10. And your Houston Rockets with a six-point win. And what was the most incredible stat of it all is that of those 55 points, only five came from the free throw line.

Very atypical for James Hardin. Well, what am I going to complain about now if I'm on the Internet and want to complain about James Hardin and how many points he scored? All right. Can we address this here just for a second? And look, we got a lot of things to get to. We got Dr. Ordo coming up at the bottom of the hour. We got fantasy playoffs. Ross, you'll need to be taking some good notes in this because you're in the playoffs and I'm not.

but I don't want to digress on that. We can. We have Blaine Bishop, former Oilers Safety, joining us from Nashville at 130 to talk about Texans and Titans. And Titans. And the Rotten 5 at Texans and Titans, right? Is that what I said? No, I mean, and he played for the Titans. He did play for the Titans.

And we got the Rotten 5 coming up at 2.30. So we got a busy show. Plus, developing news on a ticket giveaway today on the show. So be ready for that as well. I don't want to tease ahead too much. okay so you know i'm not i'm not we got here at two o'clock in the morning so i slept through all the early morning tv shows um but everybody's clipping videos of the early morning tv shows these very low rated nobody cares about shows but yet get tremendous amount of social media attention

i don't get that ross first of all explain that to me why do these shows that supposedly no one watches get so much media run i i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't I can't help you there. All right. So they're clipping these segments, and there were two different shows talking about James Hardin in two different segments. One was Chris, Mr. 50-50 Broussard, talking about how, you know, the sheer number of shots that James Hardin is taking is going to cost him in the end. And then there was another clip of Jay Williams on the ESPN Get Up show saying that James and Russ are already developing chemistry issues. and that James has entrust Russ to shoot perimeter shots.

And look, I'm going to be very, very open and honest with you. James Hardin and I are not friends. I don't know Ross if he knows my name. It really doesn't matter at this point. I think he can get you out of like a multiple choice. He'll pick Matt. I think if he saw me in a coffee bar and I was scrounging up coins, he might buy me in coffee.

That's the kind of relationship we have. That's as far as it goes. Okay? But you may be right. He may be out of a multiple choice. He may be able to guess my name. I do call his basketball games, and there are more times than not that he's incredible.

And last night was one of those nights. Granted, it was against the sucky cavaliers. But he did it the old-fashioned way, Ross. He earned it by scoring buckets. Because some people hate the fact that he draws foul. And by the way, they're fouls. They hate the fact that he shoots free throws. I always thought the end game was getting to the basket or getting to the free throw line,

making those shots and winning games. But maybe we're not running through the various ways to make the game look beautiful. I always again thought it was about scoring and winning games. So James again, after a 55.9, where he makes better than 50% of his shots, He makes better than 50% of his three-pointed effort. He only goes to free throw line five times. He also has eight assists and two block shots and two steals. They're still pitching about him, Ross.

And so when people want to try to figure out why James Hardin is a cramagionate times, it's because I don't think he's watching these shows, but his buddies are, his agent might, his PR firm might. his Adidas might, and they're like, man, you can't do anything right. And I want to know at the end of the day, why do people hate him so much? Is it because of the dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, okay? It's called ISO ball. A lot of great players did it.

Colby did it for a long time. Charles Barkley, who complains about it all the time, was the king of the ISO. There are a lot of fantastic players that have stepped on an NBA floor, and have done the same type of things. Ross, help me out. What is it? What is he doing? What is he saying?

Is he not kissing enough babies? Is he, I don't know. Because even though it was the terrible cavaliers, he put on a spectacle last night. And granted, ESPN, when I got to the hotel this morning and two, did a whole highlight package of it. But it's the talking heads. And again, what I should always tell you is,

you should only take the talking heads with a grain of salt. You should only take me with a grain of salt. I had fully admit that. I'm okay with that. My opinion, at the end of the day, is really not any more valid than yours. But why, on a night like what he had, as fluid as he was,

and as efficient as he was, do we have two national TV talk shows in the morning bitching about how he plays the game? Still. I think it's because we haven't seen anything like James Harden. We don't know. When we as a sporting public or basically anything, something, we come across something,

we haven't seen before, our initial reaction is to resist praising it, to resist talking about how it's good, or to resist talking about just about anything that's revolutionary. I mean, even back when, like when Will Chamberlain was doing what he was doing, when he was scoring 50 points a game, there were people crushing him because he wasn't like Bill Russell who went around about his business and won championships and all that type of stuff. Yeah. I mean, we can go back into other historical figures in sports or in basically anything. who are somewhat revolutionary

and the way that James Hardin plays is revolutionary and we haven't seen anything like it. And so if you're not watching it on a 9-0 basis, it's not something you're used to. You're not used to the high three-pointers. You're not used to the high free throws, at least at this frequency, and you're not used to somebody scoring 39 points per game.

You're going to come up with reasons to not like it. You're going to come up with reasons to resist this changing of the guard that James Harden represents. And the fact is, Ross, and I mentioned this on multiple occasions with you, the only way I think the incredible amount of haters

are ever going to just, you know what, stay quiet, is if he gathers a ring and puts it on his finger. Because the number one thing that a James Harden hater will say is this type of ball won't last

come playoff time. And the fact the matter is, I was looking at one of the clips that somebody on Twitter said, Nick Wright, you guys know him from the first First thing's first show, whatever that thing is called. He mentioned on his show today that James Hardin had a better statistical series against Golden State last year in the playoffs than Kauai Leonard had in his series against Golden State when Kauai Leonard was a Toronto Raptor. The end game, Ross, is it's got to be a championship. And you know what?

we are at the other day we are we are defined by what championships are all about and maybe that's what just James is going to have to adhere to for the rest of his life and if he's comfortable with that I don't know but what he did yesterday what he's done this season what he's done frankly for his career it's been pretty special it may not be the prettiest thing every single night it might be a night where he gets his points based on you know 29 shots and only seven makes but he gets the free throw line 17 times. When I was growing up and as an adult male today, I count wins and losses.

I don't do style points. Ross, we are not judges on dancing with the stars, are we? I would love to be. I mean, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But we judge today's athletes, not by how pretty it is, what we shouldn't, but it's how effective. And that's the thing that James still to this day

can't claim is that, you know what, what I'm doing day after day, month after month, year after year, at the end of the day, is responsible for winning a championship. So he's got to carry that burden with him. And hopefully Russ can help him. Hopefully a healthy Eric Gordon can help him. You know, Ben McLemore has a resurgence in his career.

Daniel House getting better. Klincapella being the double-double machine. So, yeah, last night was a very bizarre odd night. Most teams that give up 24 consecutive points aren't supposed to win. But the Rockets are better. The cabs sucked and the Rockets ultimately won and James Hardin had a fantastic night. So that will be among the topics of conversation on the radio show today. You are welcome to join us. If you're in a

fantasy football playoff, you need to listen to our friend Dr. Roto. He is coming up in 20 minutes here on the Matt Thomas show, getting you ready for playoff week number one. If you want to talk Rockets, If you want to get in on the Texans and Titans early on, 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-7-90. Thomas continues on Sports Talk 790. 19 on the Matt Thomas show here in Orlando. Rosson-Dick are back at 790, and we welcome you at 7-1-3-212-5-7-90.

7-1-3-2-5-7-90. Rossi we were talking about we had a caller yesterday Mark who wanted the Astros to sign Anthony Rendon and move Alex Breggman to shortstop and then move Carlos Correa off to another team and I was quickly dismissive

of it and then another guy tweeted man you ruin my day you didn't even give the Astros a chance at Anthony Rendon and I felt bad because I was I was so dismissive

but then the day Ross I was right because there was no way in the world the Astros were going to spend that kind of money on Anthony Rendon. He'll be here in Houston. A lot. Opening day. Just not in an Astros uniform. How about this?

He goes to a team that beat the Astros to a team he's going to face 19 times as a Houston Astro. Anthony Rendon is now a Los Angeles angel. $245 million to go play for the Halo. Wow. The money that is being spent on these players for long-term, big $30-plus million is crazy. So Rossi, I never want to hear from anybody ever again that's going to tell me that baseball's in trouble. The game is too long.

You're losing the kids. No one's watching. The seats are filled for the most part. The television ratings are good for the most part. They're not NFL ratings. They're never going to be. be but you don't throw out this kind of money if you can't afford it and the yankees and the nationals and the angels and hell the astros who spent all that money on bregman and verlander

and altouvae they're doing it because they can because the sport is healthy so i it's a very easy narrative for people to say ah if they downed it to 120 games i'd watch or hey if they only played seven innings I'd watch. They're trying to change things. They're trying to speed up the game. They're trying to make it a better game. They know that there's a certain generation that just can't spend three and a half hours

watching a baseball game in June. They get that. But the sport is very, very healthy. And so is Scott Boris. How about this, Ross? In three days, actually, probably me five days. He got 324 for Garrett Cole,

$245 for Stephen Strasbourg, and $245 million. for Anthony Rendon. Let's say his commission on those deals is one and a half percent. That's $1.2 million in his piggy bank for three of his clients. Just three. I'm sure he's doing, I'm sure it's more than that, though, right? Probably. I don't know. I mean, don't you think there's a certain threshold at some point you kind of have to say, eh, probably. Can't give you that much more. Why didn't we become agents? His net worth is north of $450 million, apparently.

Ross, on my next life, I'm coming back as a backup quarterback, a left-handed reliever. Yes. A game show host. Okay. A meteorologist. Uh-huh. And a highly successful sports agent. Yeah, that one's probably one of the more stressful ones, though.

How is it stressful? The guy is powerful. Well, he, Scott Boris, as of right now, probably isn't hustling as hard as he was like 20 years ago. Is there an agent right now in baseball? Through the business, I'm sure it's difficult to land clients and all that stuff. Is there a baseball agent right now that has a major league player under his umbrella that's making $74,000 a year? I highly doubt it. Now, I'm not saying that every one of these guys are making $450 million, but if you're good and you can spread the wealth around and you can get five or six decent clients,

Ross, I'm sending my sons to law school so they can become lawyers so they can become sports agents. I want to raise nothing but Jerry McGuire's rest of my life. I don't know. Jeremy McGuire was kind of broke. He just had that box and then Renee Zellweger. And she already had a son. Then he had to take over the kid. Yeah, but he showed him the money.

He had one client at that point. But Rod Tidwell went on and had a very successful career. Yes, he did. I don't know if he made it into the Hall of Fame, but it was a pretty solid career. He was the next best receiver next to Larry Fitzgerald for the Cardinals. You mean he didn't injure his neck in his second season doing headspins? Once again, Nick Lowe, providing a proper damper on said segment. Why would you assume a man's going to have his neck hurt like that?

You can't be doing that. Spinole your neck? That was a one-time deal. Don't. Now Rod Tidwell is like, now he's in a rehab center. He's getting neck massages daily. he can't work out. Nick, thanks for ruining it.

He missed his second and third seasons, I hear. Yeah, he's probably got CTE. Oh, God. All right, forget what I said. I'm not going to be a sports agent. I'm not going to rely on Rod Tidwell spinning his neck around and keep my finances alive. This is just... Yeah, just don't be a football agent.

Be basketball or... Go to basketball. Yeah, fully guaranteed. I think Rich Paul's probably doing okay. Where those... Where basketball players typically sign an agent, they get him a big contract, and they fire them immediately. Yeah, forget what I said.

I'm not going to be a sports agent. I'm going to talk sports with you guys. 713-212-5-7-90. 7-1-3-212-5-7-90. Ross, you're in the pulse of Houston, Texas. Any further excitement on the Texans Titans game this Sunday, 12 noon? Go ahead and play the crickets, Nick. Oh, come on, I can't be true, right?

We're getting amped up. Are we? Gordy's going to have a parody ready for us tomorrow. Why are you amped up after getting your ass stumped by the Broncos? at home. Because it's the NFL and everybody loves football in Houston, Texas. Everybody does. Thank you.

You mean the morning should have wall-to-wall calls on the Texans today? Nope. Midday shouldn't have wall-to-wall breakdown of Derek Henry versus the Texans front seven? Nope. Well, maybe we need to start doing that. Change the culture around this town. Because there isn't an understation town that cares about the Texans as much as we do, Ross. That's a fact

Should we check the phone lines See if they're blowing? No, don't know We got Dr. Roto. We don't need to check the phone lines. I don't want to be, I don't want my ego bruised. 713-212-5-790 If you're playing in fantasy football

And you need tremendous advice It is coming up next with a good doctor Right here on Sports Talk 790 7-13-212-5-790 Turned to be a big motto Give me the news I really You do. On Sports Talk 790, happy opening playoff weekend.

Good, Dr. How are things? Things are good. I can't believe it's, well, I don't know if it's opening weekend. I think week 14. There are a lot of teams that have playoffs, but certainly this is a big week for most people. This week and next week is when we win our championships. All right.

I'm going to tell you something right now. You have given me the knowledge of don't draft a quarterback to like the six or seventh round. I've gone through seven different quarterbacks this year. I'm going first round next year, Dr. Rodo. I just got to be. Did you make the playoff this year? Oh, hell no. Well, let me ask you this.

How many quarterbacks do you think are worth taking the first round? The Holmes isn't? Maybe only Lamar Jackson. Oh, all right. Speaking of Lamar, let's get right to it. He's going to break the rushing record for quarterbacks, it sounds like, tonight. Are we a little nervous? You can give me an answer to no, that this could get really ugly

and that maybe even though he puts up really good numbers, could be not great numbers because the fact that this could be a blowout, say, in the fourth quarter of this game? Yeah, I know. I am a little nervous about that. I was just writing an article about that very thing. So, look, the Jets have a very good run defense. So I don't think this is a huge night for Mark Ingram, but their past defense is terrible.

So Lamar Jackson, this is a Hollywood Brown night if I've ever seen one. So Brown should score maybe Sneed. Jackson, of course, it might run one in. So here we are at the end of the third quarter. It could be 30 to 3. 30 to 10, some like that, and then they just shut them down in the fourth quarter. If that's the case, you still have to think the Lamar Jackson has 25 to 30 points. It's the other players that may have good games, just not great games.

Let's get to some of the Sunday action now. These Denver Broncos came to Houston, Texas, and embarrassed the Texans last week. Vangio's defense is getting better, but the offense was the one that was putting up the huge numbers. Is there any chance they go to Kansas City and replicate that? that and how will the chiefs do this week against that Bronco defense? Yeah, there's no chance of that. So last week when I was on with Ross, I said, and sadly enough, I was right, that it was a trap game for the Texans, right?

They just come off that big win against the Patriots, and then they were looking forward to the Titans this week. So the Broncos came in town, and they weren't ready. The Broncos played exceptionally well. They really did. But now you've got to go play the Chiefs after a big win like that. Look, Drew Locke has been good. Cortland Sutton's been good.

No offense, it's been exceptional, but. You're not being the Chiefs at home, you know, excuse me, the Chiefs on the road with a rookie quarterback. Just not going to happen there. Mahomes is not 100 percent, but watch them expose the Broncos, run defense with Shady McCoy, and watch that. He throws a lot of short passes to Tyree Kill and to Sammy Watkins. New England goes to Cincinnati. Apparently the Patriots, allegedly, all they would say denied were filming coaches of the Bengals.

It is what it is. but more importantly, in New England's offense, who are we playing? I mean, Tom's numbers are putrid, the receiving core. I mean, are there any must plays even against the Bengals this Sunday? Well, Julian Edelman is a must play, right? I mean, this guy is going to get his catchers no matter what. He's sensational. But you're right, after that, is there anybody who we love?

James White? Maybe. I mean, I can tell you this is a Sony Michelle week, but I don't feel warm and fuzzy about it. I think Edelman is the only absolute starter on that team. After that, all these guys, I would look at my roster up and down and make sure I had better options. Look, if the Patriots are winning, they don't need James White. If the Patriots are losing, they don't need Sony-Michel. And their offense just hasn't been that good, but let me say this. They're going to win this game.

I don't think there's any doubt of that. So, I mean, especially after Baltimore win tonight, they're going to want to keep a shot at having the number one seed. So the Patriots will win. Tampa Bay goes to Detroit. the Buccaneers might be the most schizophrenic team in the NFL. They will look amazing against a really good opponent one week and lousy against a sub-opponent. What do you think the Buccaneers' offense can do at Detroit this Sunday?

Well, this all comes down to James Winston's health. So right now he's dealing with a slight fracture in his thumb, and he was literally throwing a tennis ball around in practice today. Now, I have it on good word that Bruce Ariens wants to get him 5,000 yards, and Bruce Ariens wants to finish with a winning record. He really does. So they will be trying. If James is going, they will throw that football.

And I like them. I like this kid Justin Watson a lot. Mike Evans is done for the year. So they're going to go to Godwin. And they're going to go to Brashad Perriman. And Watson is better than Paramount. So he would be my number two. You're right about the Buccaneers.

But if there's any team that's going to try, the rest of the way, Bruce Ariens will get the Buccaneers trying. Atlanta goes to San Francisco. and the Niners and Saints last week played a fantasy football dream game. Are we accustomed now to the Niners putting up those kind of prolific numbers? And can they do it for a second straight week

against an Atlanta team that's kind of mailing it in? I mean, they can, but I don't think they will. I think, you know, look, they're going to run the football and they're going to run it a lot. So Rahim Mostert's going to get another 15 carries. I think Matt Breyer is going to get another 12 or 13 carries. Kevin Coleman may get 5 to 10 carries.

Jimmy Garoppola will not throw the ball that much this week. They won't need to. They'll play really great defense. Calvin Ridley's out. Remember that for the Falcons. So you have Julio Jones, who I think is going to be shut down. Take a look at a guy named Russell Gage for the Falcons. If you're desperate for a receiver, he may be more involved.

But I think that this is a game that the 49ers will control. And when you control a game, you run more and pass less. All right. Our friends in the North, the Dallas Cowboys at 6 and 7 are still very much in the playoff race in the NFC East. LA has put together a nice little run here after struggling in middle of the season. The Rams defense got exposed in one of those games earlier this year against Tampa Bay. Can Dallas get its mojo back at home offensively against this Rams defense, or are they playing at a higher level than they were, say, four or five weeks ago?

Well, Las Vegas seems to think so. Las Vegas has this game, I think, 48 and a half, and that tells you a lot. So when you want to see whether or not a game is going to be high-scoring and not, always start with Vegas over under numbers. right so that tells you that Vegas thinks that Dak Prescott and Dallas is going to play well they also know that the Rams don't travel well right there's a big difference between golf on the road

and golf at home so I'm an agreement that the Rams defense is playing much better and their offense is jelling better with Brandon Cook's back but look the Philadelphia Eagles are going to win the game against the Redskins so the Eagles so Dallas will know by 4 o'clock if they have to win or not if they need this win it's a must win for them because otherwise there's no chance that they make the playoffs. Yeah, but you know what? As you say that, people in Houston don't believe that.

Because Dallas has had multiple opportunities to beat opponents, get way ahead of it and win the division, and they just can't do it. They've been a massive disaster. Look, am I going to play Doc Prescott? I am. Am I going to play Zechia L8? I am. Am I going to play Cooper and Gallup?

I am. So, I mean, Dallas has been a mess. And the fact that Jason Garrett hasn't been fired, that makes no sense to me. I get this guy out of there five years ago. But, I mean, Dallas can actually make the playoffs, which is mind-boggling. All they have to do is win this week and beat the Eagles next week. They're practically in. All right.

Speaking of coast-to-coast traveling teams not traveling well, Seattle's 10 and 3, so they can win in any time zone. Carolina has put up some really big numbers despite not winning games. I feel like Seattle, Carolina could be a first of 35 wins. Is that fair, or do you think it'll be a lower scoring game? Well, once again, Vegas thinks this is going to be a higher scoring game, but I think this all comes down to Carolina's willingness to play hard. So last week, they just mailed it in. This week, Chris Carson is going to run for about 1,000 yards this week.

I mean, really, Carolinas run defense is terrible, and Seattle wants to pound the ball, and Rashad Penny is not around. So Chris Carson is an absolute star this week. So I would look to his direction. Carolina, look, I'm worried about Christian McCaffrey. I am. I'm worried about DJ Moore. These are guys who've brought you to the fantasy playoffs, and now you need two more weeks from them. Well, is Kyle Allen going to be the quarterback?

Are they going to bring Will Greer in? Are they even playing like they care? So there are a lot of things to worry about here with Carolina. All right. Last game in our segment, this first segment, Minnesota at the L.A. Chargers. The Chargers at home aren't nearly as prolific as they're on the road. Case in point, they destroyed the Jaguars last week. Minnesota, meanwhile, wants to stay mono-mono with everybody in the NFC North.

How do you envision the skill position players in this matchup? Well, I think this game is going to come down to the two running backs. Austin Echler is in a really good spot. You cannot run against the Vikings defense, but you can throw. I like Philip Rivers. I like Mike Williams to score another touchdown, and I really love Echler. On the other side of the football, I'm in love with Dalvin Cook. The charges will not be able to stop Cook.

Adam Thielan is expected back for fantasy owners. I would get him to his lineup. Stephah Diggs, obviously, he's always a play. Cousins, I don't like on the road as much, but I think this is going to be a competitive game. The thing is that when you play against the Chargers, it's really there may be more Viking fans and the fans than Charger fans, so that's kind of disappointed.

Yeah, that kind of happens every week down in Los Angeles, at least at that stadium. All right, if you've got a question for Dr. Roto, get it in right now. 713-212-790. 7-1-3-2-5-790. So tweet at us at SportsMT. More, Dr. Roto, the primetime games, who he likes and the Texans and the Titans.

That's all coming up in the next segment here on Sports Talk 790. First of all, he's a great guy. He's a hardworking guy. It's Matt, and he's back. Brings his lunchtime, Houston, Sports Talk. The Matt Thomas Show on 790. On Sports Talk 790, we'll get a couple of questions in from you in the audience, if you so choose at 7-1-3-21-2-5-7-9.

Let's get to the Primetime Games, Dr. Roto. First and foremost, Buffalo and Pittsburgh. And I can't believe I'm saying primetime with these two teams, but it's happening this Sunday. No, you should be. These are two pretty good teams. Josh Allen has been much better this season. Devin Singletary is a breakout star, and we haven't seen the start of yet, but I think we will, certainly, next year.

John Brown has been great. Cole Beasley coming over from the Cowboys. I think all four of those guys are startable. For the Steelers, Juju is back. I really don't like him this week. You know, the rest of the team, Deonté Johnson's a very good young receiver. It's a very low-scoring game, right? Vegas has this game like around 38.

That's very low. Good defenses, not much offense, not much fantasy production here. I would look elsewhere. Indianapolis and New Orleans, can the Saints put up 40s two straight weeks against a Colts team that looks kind of deflated right now? Yeah, I feel badly for the Colts. The Colts are such a well-coached team,

but with all the injuries and maybe Hilton's back, maybe he's not, you know, it's just been a hard road for them. The Saints will win, the one-bell lot. Everybody's start, you know, you start Breeze, you start Kamar, you start Michael Thomas, and you do it happily. All right, now, Texans and Titans,

massive dud last week. Although, from a fantasy perspective, even though the Texans got beat up, Deshawn kind of got some late points doing his thing. I don't envision to be in that kind of game this week, but what do you see from both teams fantasy-wise? Yeah, Vegas has this game in a 50. I mean, they really believe there's going to be points scored, and as do I. I think the Texans have a really good week this week.

I do. I think that the Titans are playing very good football. You start Ryan Tannehill. You start Derek Henry. You start this kid, A.J. Brown, who's a legitimate top receiver. He is. He's young, but he's very good. But for the Texans, I mean, who's going to stop Hopkins?

Tell me the person on the Titans that can stop Hopkins. Nobody. I like Watson. Why Watson? Because if you don't rush him, if you don't put pressure on him, if you give him time, he's going to really have a great game. So I don't think the Titans have the pass rush here to deal with him. So, I mean, I think those two guys in particular are good plays. Duke Johnson's always a good play.

I don't think this is a Carlos Hyde week. We'll have to see a Fuller's back. If Fuller is back, I think he makes a big play. But I think there's going to be a very close game. And it's borderline winner take all here. Winner's going to get in the playoffs for sure. All right. Let's go to a couple of phone callers.

Brian and Katie for Dr. Roto. Hi, Brian. Hi, I have a quarterback dilemma. I've got Josh Allen or the quarterback from Detroit, Blow. Or I can pick up Fitzpatrick. Yeah, I probably would pick up Fitzpatrick. I do think that the Tampa Bay game is going to be high scoring, but I don't know if I trust a third quarterback.

That's just a tough one there. I think the dolphins are an aggressive team. The Giants defense is bad. I think this will be a higher scoring game. I probably would go with Fitzpatrick. All right. Let's run and say hello to Kevin and Pearland at 1251 on 7-0. Go ahead, Kevin.

All right, yeah, I'm in an eight-team league, so embarrassment of riches. Between these four running backs, I need to play three. I got Carson, Moster, Kareem Hunt, and Melvin Gordon. Yeah, that was Melvin. Gordon calling you saying Yes, I think it was. That's great, great call. Yeah.

So against the Vikings, I wouldn't play Gordon. All right. By the way, this is a little grown man tip here, Dr. Rodo. You got to be in at least a 10 team league. None of this 18. You know, look, I get the 18, but man, even 10 is too thin for me.

I'm like, really? You got that guy's available in your league? That's crazy. Yeah, I'm right there with you. If you don't, if you're not at least in a 12 team league, you've got to grab some more friends. Look, I've been in 16 team leagues. crazy too, because you can't buy anybody. But then you

16 guys are too crazy. Then you have nobody left to pick. Cousins or Tannahill from somebody on Twitter? Yeah, I'm going to play Tannahill. I think he's just, he's done nothing wrong and everything right. And, you know, I mentioned this earlier. There's something called a floor and a ceiling. Feeling is how

high a guy can do, can play. And a floor is how low it is, right? How bad it could be. Tanahill's floor is very high. Right? He's going to get about 230 yards. He's going to get one or two touchdown. That's a bad game. Now, is he ever going to give you the great 350-yard game? Probably not, but other

quarterbacks are way more volatile. Right? A Kirk Cousins could throw for 178 yards and one touchdown. Tannahill won't, so that's why he's a better play. All right. Quickly, on Twitter, Parker, Ghaladay, Slay, Slayton, Samuel. Which one of those four don't play? Parker, Gulladay, Slaten, or Samuel? Yeah, I'm worried about Parker, so we have to watch that closely. He had a concussion last week. If Parker plays, I'll play him and I'll bench Samuel, but I don't think Parker's going to end up playing. All right. Last call belongs to Geo and Unbelon, 7-90. Hi, Gio.

Hey, how's it going? Good. All right, I got Hunter and Henry or Jack Doyle and also Lavian Bill or Michael Gatlin. Bell or who is the other one? I think you said Gatlin. Who is it? Who is your last one again? Call it. Levi-on Bill and Michael Gallup. Oh, Michael Gallup.

Okay. That's an interesting one. So I like Michael Gallup this week. I think he's in a good spot. I think Amari Cooper is going to be covered by Jalen Ramsey. So I think this is a Gallup week. I think the Jets are in a big bind tonight. Bill is my favorite player for the Jets.

He's the only guy I would start. But that said, I think this is a Gallup week and I would use him. What was his other question? Man, you're losing your touch here, Dr. Rod. I'm trying to give the best analysis. I couldn't even hear him the first time. Go ahead. What was your first one?

I do like... Tide-in. There were Hunter Henry or Jack Doyle. Yeah, Hunter Henry or Jack Doyle. That's a great question. All right, Jack Doyle was terrible last week. He is going to come back. He's going to be very good.

He's basically their only guy outside of Zach Pascal. I like Henry, but Minnesota covers the tight ends well. So you do it. All right, before I let you run, one absolute must play this week. It's Dr. Roto's double lock of the week. Hi, Roto. We ought to wait for it. Michael Thomas, the guy's going for a record.

He's playing the Colts. The Colts have nobody who can cover him. The Saints will not lose two games in a row. Breeze will find Michael Thomas. I think it's like 10 for 1.30 and at least one touchdown. Lock him and that is. That is Dr. Roto's. Lock of the week.

Michael Thomas, where to really go out there, my friend. Way to really stretch it. All right. And you want another one? Real quick. I'll give you one that nobody's ever heard of. Justin Watson, take a look at this kid for Tampa Bay. I think he makes a few plays this week against Detroit.

All right. Tell folks what I can find you. You can find me at s.com backslash fantasy. You can find me at full-time fantasy. com. Enter the promo code Roto 50 for 50% off your first two months. And, of course, at Twitter at DRROTO. Is the Matt Thomas show.

Here we go with the. second hour of three on the Matt Thomas show today here from Orlando. Rockets with the day off will take on the magic tomorrow night after beating the Cavaliers despite allowing 24 consecutive points 24 consecutive points. Rockets came back Hardin with 55 and the Rockets pick up a victory in Cleveland. We have the Texans and Titans meeting Sunday 1 30 then come Coming up in 30 minutes, we'll hear from Blaine Bishop. Former Titan and Oilers Safety will join the show to talk about the Tennessee perspective on things.

I don't about you, Ross, but I don't spend a lot of time looking at non-teams, not involved in the Texans. But every time you see the Titans play or the highlights, it's Derek Henry is unstoppable, and Ryan Tana Hill is playing his best football as ever as a player. That's not a very good recipe for the Texans coming up this Sunday. Yeah, their defensive unit is probably the weakest. They just struggled with Drew Locke, a guy making his second start. And, I mean, they're going to be relying on the offense. I think if, I mean, even going forward, it doesn't even matter this week.

Going forward, I feel like the Texans' best bet is winning shootouts and being performing well on the offensive side of the ball because they just don't have that team that's strong on both. Where if, like, if, for example, I don't know, the Ravens or whoever, if the offense isn't firing on all cylinders, maybe the defense can back them up. If the defense isn't playing well, the offense can score with anybody. So the Texans just don't have one of those teams where you get down and the offense isn't performing, you're just going to keep spinning your wheels and you're going to keep digging more and more of a hole because the defense can't keep up with other teams. You have to be scoring points. Do you know what the one thing that the Texans have really missed this entire season,

and this even includes when JJ Watt was playing? Where is that pass rush, Ross? Where are those multiple sack games? Now, Jacob Martin's had a couple of pretty good weeks. But, man, you really miss JD. You really miss JJ. I just, I don't feel like there has been a quarterback in the last handful of weeks that has faced intense pressure from the Texans Front Seven.

And I think when you have a secondary that is either getting older or hurt or just getting their feet wet as a Texan, aka Vernon Hargraves, how in the world are you going to give them any support when you are not putting intense pressure on the quarterback? That's a thing I think that has to be coming out of Romeo Cornell's defensive system the next three weeks of the season is doing something to put a little bit more pressure on the quarterback. Because Tanahill, I mean, he's an athlete, he'll scramble a little bit. You know James as long as he plays will scramble, and then you see again the Titans in the final week of the season. It's not like you've got the quarterbacks you're going to see the rest of the way

are just going to stand back in the pocket and wait to get hit. It's going to be a challenge because, yeah, the past rush hasn't been there and the secondary is not good. Other than that, the linebackers are solid, so they've got that going for them, I guess. Yeah, I mean, Cunningham's had a good season. Cole had a good season until they got hurt. Bernardic McKinney. As I'd call them BMAC.

Or Benaric. No, I don't like saying that. I just butcher the name, so why not I'm trying to try doing that? But that's the thing. When's the last time that you saw a quarterback for a number? opposing team for the Texans just like my god stop you know stop making me throw a pass to a second before I want to stop hitting me after I throw the football they're just not getting to them and the only time they got to to Drew locked it last week was after the team was down by like

four or five touchdowns that's why that linebacking core this week when they go to Nashville need to wear suits Ross act like grown adults and go in there and beat Tennessee and not worry about their pregame garb. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't matter what they wear. That's right. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. They can wear whatever they want. It doesn't translate to a win on Sunday. Exactly. You're absolutely right. Right. Because you got all upset when they wore

outfits before the Patriots game and they were fine. Yep. And they wore outfits before the Denver Broncos game and they were not fine. That's right. So now they're just wearing outfits so when they lose, they can be embarrassed. What should they wear this week? Do they go in like Like cowboy hats. They've done Mortal Kombat. They did Teenage Mutant's Turtles.

They did SWAT. And then they did average Joe's. So what's next? That's a great question. Like a 50 shades of gray. Like get them all dressed up like that. You mean like cowboy hats and chaps only? In the leathers.

Yeah, maybe some leather gear. I mean, if you're at least going to do this, you should at least do it to the region. in what you're going to. Maybe they're all in wigs and they're all members of the cast of 9 to 5. What is Nashville known for? Country music. Besides that.

Hot chicken. They could all go as the KFC colonel. You mean, now that would really look odd. You know what they need to do? I'm going to go with Ross. I know this is going to be mad at you. How about just putting a suit on? And going in there and sacking the quarterback,

sacking Tannenhill, forcing some throw some bad passes to his, your secondary can intercept it, and not spending any more than one second. I'm figuring out what to wear it before the game. I got a little news for you, Matt. Well, what? It doesn't matter what they wear when they play on the field. So they should actually not spend any money or time on it.

If they want to have fun and play dress-up, it doesn't bother me. You know what, they can have fun and dress-up when they're not in the playoffs anymore. Yeah, they could do that too. Why not? I just think, who else does this? Is this a trend around the NFL? Yeah, there was, wasn't it the, was it Legion of Boom or some of they used to dress up in fatigues

like they're getting ready for war that was a while back but yeah other players have dressed up heck Westbrook and Hardin played dress up before every game yeah but they call that their fashion oh okay

I mean I would never wear anything they would wear you can't afford it like first of all I can't afford it second of all the massive amount of colors just hurts my eyes Ross, I style and profile in my own ways. Just, I don't need a theme before I walk into a football.

Imagine if I did a theme before every game broadcast. That'd be cool. Well, okay, I'm in Orlando. So what am I wearing tomorrow night before the game? Well, yeah, you're going to wear a Mickey Mouse outfit with a wizard cap. So you're telling me, I'm going to walk in the Orlando. What is it called, the Amway Center? And I'm going to go in with full Mickey Mouse ears.

Full, no, like Fantasia, like the full Fantasia outfit. Freeze 2. you're frozen two frozen two frozen freeze same difference yeah same thing no I think you should get a Mickey Mouse the whole Fantasia with the robe

and then the wizard hat the blue wizard hat you gotta get a couple of people to dress up as brooms too well how about this how about I get the rest of the rockets to help me with this Matt Bullard could be a broom there you go

Matt Bullard's a broom Craig Ackerman is what now am I involving just broadcasters or are we doing the entire team as well probably just broadcasters because you don't really talk to the team that's true man i can talk to a couple of me like and you do what again all right rockets in orlando tomorrow we can fix this we can do this we will go as a theme for the rest of the season now you're

to help me out with like charlotte you're going to help me out with like utah you're going to help me with phoenix you'd be a hornets net in charlotte phoenix you can just dress like you can dress like the gorilla their gorilla mascot. What an awful idea. All right, 713, 212-5-790. Let's go to Lewis and Sugarland on the Matt Thomas show. Lewis, how are you?

You're great. Y'all are like the Redford and Newman of radio, you know? So, got a question. There was a guy who played for U of H, so I'm sure you know every movie's made. He was with the Spurs

and then got a big contract with Orlando. Just traded last year to Philly. Jonathan Simmons. Is he on anybody's roster? I think he would be a great fit here. Haven't you called me before about him? Yeah, but I have, but I couldn't stay on hold for an hour.

I had to get off. All right. Yeah, he is not on an NBA roster. He had a tryout with Philadelphia and did not let it there last year very long. So what do you think? Do you think he's someone who could sit on this team? I mean, God, he gives you more than Neney. What a wasted roster spot that is.

Yeah, but he hasn't played yet this season. So it's not like they're sitting there going, oh, man, we can't move anything because Nene's on our roster. That's my point. He hasn't played at all. Is he going to play ever? I don't know. I haven't seen him, so I don't have to answer that question.

Yeah, exactly. That's my point. I wish we could have a guy that was at least useful. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on where Simmons is. Obviously, he's nowhere and what you thought. All right. Thank you, Lewis, for the phone call.

Rossi, I have no honest opinion about Jonathan Simmons, except the fact that he's been out of the league a year and a half. And he ruined the Rockets in 2016 of the playoffs. Oh, don't bring that up. Yeah, I don't know. As far as a 3-D guy, I mean, I'd give him a shot. Yeah, I mean, I don't think his career is over with. it's obviously on a temporary hold.

I don't know if he's playing overseas or whatever he's doing, but I just haven't heard his name ever. And, you know, honestly, when this rocket team gets healthy, like Gordon will be back out of the first of the year. You get, you know, House, you know, it looks like he's been able to withstand a couple of ailments the last few days and playing a little bit. Capella looks like he's healthy again.

I mean, I just don't know what kind of rotation time he would get. Awesome Rivers is actually playing some of his best basketball of his career. The number one thing that's hurting this team is the flubugger, whatever it is. I mean, guys are dropping left and right around these parts. Yeah, what's going on with that, Matt? Apparently, Jonathan Fagan even got it, too. You know what it is?

It's this ridiculous travel that no one wants to hear me hear about and complain about. Yeah, no one wants to hear about you on your private jet and your shrimp cocktail. Oh, it was good yesterday. Oh, my gosh. All right. One third. See, you put me in this spot. You make me look like the devil.

but I'm just a comment. I'm just bringing to the light what is in the darkest, Matt. Houston Sports Talk for lunch. Matt Thomas returns. Let's Sports Talk 790. 120 on the Matt Thomas show. Nick and Ross are back in Houston. We've got to blame Bishop for some Titans, Texans breakdown coming up at the bottom of the hour.

All right, Ross. So yesterday, Jeff Luno had to answer some comments from people asking about whether or not there was any truth or validity to the Carlos Correa trade rumors. So Jeff Leno said, yeah, I mean, Carlos is our guy. Don't worry about this. You're going to be an Astro. Enjoy your honeymoon. He said all the right things, Ross.

But you know for a million, I mean, I would bet a million dollars, as I told you a couple days ago, that there were some talks involving Astros and other teams. And it's not like the Mets were the one of the teams being talked about in a potential Carl's career trade. So what was he supposed to do? Say, yeah, we were talking about it. Nothing came up of it. And Carl's called me and he's like,

you try to trade me? What was Jeff Leno supposed to say, Ross? Yes, I was. Yes, I was listening to an offer. I mean, he's doing what he's supposed to say. I'm going to tell Carlos that he's going to be an Astro for a very long time, which is probably in all likelihood of what's going to happen, or at least the next couple of years.

And then if he gets traded, you say, you know what? Oh, well, we got an offer we couldn't refuse. I don't know what you would say. Basically, the rule, again, is the average person lies three times a day. Yeah. Just say, yeah, but nobody offered anything good for you. Yeah. With nothing was close to what your value to our team, Carlos is so high that nobody came close to it.

So let's do this. Can you give us Nick some role play music, please? I don't really know what that is, but just find something. Well, I mean, Carlos is on his honeymoon, right? Right. Where is he on a beach? Would he like some beach music or something? Yeah, maybe like some Hawaiian music.

Okay. Meli, click, my guy is the... Oh, look at you with your Christmas. You love Christmas music deep down in your heart. I bet you do. All right, so find us some Christmas Hawaiian music. Well, Nick finds that then we'll role play. Let's be a little impromptu sports empty theater.

Ross, do you want to play the role of Carlos Gray or Jeff Luno? I mean, whatever you would like. I'm giving you the first option. Okay, fine, I'll be Luno. Okay, we're still waiting for the Christmas music to pop in. Oh, here we go. So I'm Carlos, right? Yes.

Hey, Jeff. What's up, man? Hey, Carlos. How's it going, man? How's your honeymoon? Congratulations. Did you get my present? No, I didn't.

Did you send it via Amazon Prime or what? Oh, yeah. It'll be waiting for you when you come back. It's just a small envelope. Okay, thanks very much, Jeff. Hey, Jeff, I'm here with my... It says Misage Envy on the front. I mean, sorry, it says Woodhouse Day Spa at the front.

Woodhouse Day Spas. Absolutely, absolutely. Thank you. Giving the gift of relaxation all here long. at Houston One House Spaws.com. I told him not to be too hard on you, eh? Hey, hey, hey. Those too soon there, GM.

My best buddy. Carlos, you know, I'm just messing with you. Sorry, Carlos, yeah. Go ahead. So, Jeff, I have to ask you a question. I'm sitting here on the island and enjoying my honeymoon, and I go to my Twitter account, and there's my name being brought up in train rumors.

Is that true, Jeff? I mean, you look, Carlos. It's this time of year. We're in winter meetings. we have conversations with basically every player that's on our roster. And all that means is that teams are interested in you. And we're interested in having you here too. So, I mean, just because they say the name Carlos Correa,

they run to their reporters and their little underlings, and they say, yeah, we were talking about Carlos Correa. So just because they bring that name up to me, doesn't mean that I'm going to move you. Doesn't mean you're going to be gone. You're going to be an astro for a very long time. We want you here, Carlos. We believe in you.

Just because your name came up in a conversation, doesn't mean we're having any kind of serious talks. We're not looking to move you. We want you to be here for a long time. We want you happy. We believe in your talent. Look, we drafted you number one overall. We know what kind of player you are.

So, no, we're not looking to get rid of you, Carlos. Okay, Jeff, that sounds really nice. And as I drink this, Maita here, I got one more question for you. What's up? You never did bring my name up and trade conversation? No, no. I mean, look, it came up. I didn't bring it up.

They brought it up. And see, you know, I'll say, hey, Carlos Correa, well, I said, well, what about him? You know, I have to do my due diligence and ask what they're talking about and where the conversation would go. But we have you as pretty much untouchable as it gets as far as inside the organization. So if they want to bring up your name, you know, I have to be nice and I have to continue those conversations because I'm building relationships with those guys.

I don't want to just hang up on the phone with them, right? Because that would just be rude. So I don't want to hang up on people. I got to have these conversations. It's a business. It's all about business. But at the end of the day, I want you here, Carlos. I want you here as a Houston Astro.

So before I get to my luau here, so I'm an Astro for Life, General Manager, Jeff? Well, obviously we'll have to have those conversations down the road. We are under team control for the next couple of years, and we would love to have you here for as long as possible, Carlos. We believe in your talent. So I'm an Astro in 2020? Yes.

21. Most likely. What? Wait a minute. I think I had a bad connection. Did you say absolutely? Absolutely. Thanks, Jeff.

Me and my bride, we're going to go get a massage right now. All right. Under from the hotel who's not really aggressive. And we'll talk to you come spring training. All right, pal. And my back and my knee will be just fine. That sounds great, man. Just stay healthy.

Have a good time. Tell Danielle, I said hi. Thanks for clarifying to find everything up. I feel much better now. No problem. No problem, Loves. Have a good one. And that, my friends, was the phone call.

Did we get a transcript of that phone call between the two of them? I don't think anybody was transcribing, no. There was no. there was no quid pro quo, Matt. We don't need a thing wrong. What other job in life do you have to lie as much as a general manager of a sports team?

Politician. I was going to say president. I don't think our boss is at our radio station do a significant amount of lying. They're pretty truthful and honest. I appreciate that for them. But, yeah, Jeff, when Jeff sees caller ID and his Carl's Korea on the phone, do you think he is like, oh my God,

I'm going to have to hit ignore, I don't know what I'm supposed to say. No, he's ready for those conversations. That's right. He's a salty vet. All right. Let's, uh, we just thought we'd give you a chance to take it inside the world of baseball when a major league baseball player who's on his honeymoon has to hear about himself

being discussed in trade conversation. That's how we interpret it. I think it's a great interpretation on our part, Ross, don't you think? Shouldn't you have opened it up with no massasers? No, it's a why? You get massages on your honeymoon. No, why not? I don't know.

He's had some history with those. So I got married in 1997, right? Yes. And we went to Hawaii for my honeymoon because the cougars were playing basketball. So we kind of did a double dip if you know of them. And then Chris Farley died and then you told David Sabade about it. That was 20 years later. So we get this couple's massage in our room.

And she's beating the hell out of me. And I'm like, can you be... I can't live I'm telling you, but I might as well tell you. It was over 20 years. I said, can you be a little more gentler? She goes, you're not physically fit. I'm like, oh, thanks. So what does that have to do with anything?

Basically, meaning if I didn't have as much belly fat as I did back in the late 90s, I could handle the crux of a beatdown from masseuse that I'm paying a crazy amount of money for. I thought the belly fat would help you with the, like you would have cushion. That's what you would think. That's what I'm thinking. Instead, she's just beating the hell on me. I'm black and blue after her massage. Hmm.

I just revealed that story after it had. happening almost 23 years ago. That was very rude of her. She didn't get much of a tip, did she? No. Let me tell you some. To have your masseuse come to your room at the High Readency, you know how much older cost?

Oh, my God. How did I spend? I was making Ross money back then. How did I pay for that? I'm paying for that. Let me tell you. All right, Blame Bishop from Titans Radio next. What's that?

Around here. ketchup and mustard is not just for hot dogs. Seth back shoots for three. Got it! Talk 790, home of Rockets Basketball. We are your home of the Rockets, and we have two pair of tickets I want to give away. First two people with the correct answer to this question are going to go to the Rockets versus Pistons game Saturday night at Toyota Center. 8 o'clock tip time, 8 p.m. tip for Rockets and Pistons, if you know the answer to this question.

Dr. Roto was with us about a half an hour ago, and he gave us a fairly obvious. lock of the week. Who was Dr. Roto's lock of the week? If you know the answer to that question, the first two people that can call 713-212-5-790 with the answer, I've got a pair of tickets for you to go to the Rockets and Pistons tomorrow, Saturday night in Toyota Center. Right now we say, how to the hit man, Blaine Bishop, here on the Matt Thomas show?

Blaine, it's Matt. I appreciate you coming on. I've got a quick question. Who is Nashville's NBA team, or do you even have one? Not literally, but who do you all root for? Oh, man. I mean, I would say we still For the Grizzlies, the Memphis

Grizzlies. What? What? The Grizzlies? Come on now. Hey, hey, man. You know, it's funny, you know, you got three out of a half hours to Atlanta

and then, you know, four and a half to Indie. Yeah, I wouldn't, I don't know who the, you know, this is such a football area. Yeah. I don't know if anybody really has. You'll hear some people. A lot of people like the Celtics nationally from this area. Then you'll hear about, you know, some Lakers. But, no, it's just kind of, you know, they just like kind of football before the Titans got here.

They, you know, they like all the national teams that were always on TV. So you're talking about Green Bay, Chicago, Dallas, the Steelers. So it's kind of that same thing that goes on with NBA. And baseball a little bit, too. A lot of brave, but also a lot of. lot of Cardinals fan to and race fans. That does make sense. 104.5, the wake-up zone, Titans Radio, former safety, Titans and Oilers,

Blaine, the Hitman Bishop with us here on the program. All right, so Hitman, be honest with me. When Tanna Hill takes over for Marietta, what was your first reaction and has it changed dramatically today than when it was when the change was made? Well, that's funny. I was one of the few people who was, uh, Let's say in favor of Tannenhill playing sooner than later. I think going into the season, in my mind, I thought about my career or anybody's career in the National Football League is you are who you are in four years.

So I didn't think Marcus was ever going to be better than what he was and he was going to continue to get hurt and all these things and we can make up excuses, change of coordinators and all that. And I went to training cap, and I said, Tannenhill has a stronger arm and he's more accurate. Now, did I think he was going to play, like, to the level he's playing now? Absolutely not. But I thought he was the better option. And as soon as Marcus showed that, you know, he was going to turn over the ball, was incapable, I thought you saw all you need to do in the game he played a half, which was against the Broncos. And he moved the offense.

And that's kind of just grown exponentially. over this time, over these last seven games at the start of going six and one. And he's playing better than I ever dreamed of. And I'm sure everyone else, even the coaching staff. But to be honest, I don't know if you give true certain to the coaching staff, but I think they felt the same way. All right, hit man, let's get to it. We're all shocked at how well your team has played here the last handful of weeks.

I never would have thought it would have been a match between these two teams for the division crown. and it feels like all the positive energy and the vibe is on the Tennessee side of things. What are you seeing during this winning street that you didn't see beyond the quarterback play in the first half of the season that's put the Titans where they are right now? Well, I think it's squirleys on the offensive line. I mean, they were playing horrible. You had a young rookie third rounder from Charlotte who was starting in Davis, a guard. And he, I think, you know, he was playing under 30% as far as his grades probably

Perth Damans kind of slowly gotten better. Sappho, the huge free agent signing veteran guard, he was getting up a sack of game in the first, I don't know, four games or so, and he's given up, I think, four sacks all the season before with the Rams. La Juan was suspended. So I think with all of that, them coming together slowly but surely, I think the offensive line really is the key to the success of the team. and then naturally then Derek Henry is running the football

and players can pass with the quarterback. And then AJ Brown, a rookie receiver, kind of stepped up and now, I would say he's the number one receiver. It is incredible. All the things you just talked about, I guess the question for Texans fans back here is, in order to get on the road and win this game Sunday, is can the Titans supply enough pass rush to, you know,

look, Deshaun Watson is comfortable anywhere on the field, but the last time he has, has to throw, the more time he has to improvise. Sometimes it works beautifully, sometimes it is not. Are you satisfied with where the Titans are pass rush-wise, and do they have enough to create some chaos for Deshaunic quarterback this Sunday? Well, I don't know if you have an individual talent, maybe besides the real case. You have Big Jeffrey Simmons coming off ACO with the first pick this past draft,

the 15th overall, who's slowly but surely showing his kind of impact. but outside rushers, you know, Landry has eight sacks, but he's not someone your game planning and scheming for. But I think Dean Peas has come up with a lot of different ways to come up with deception and disguise. I've really done a phenomenal job this season. You know, I think more so that, but, you know, why I can make so many plays outside of the pocket improvising.

It's going to be tough. I think where the really, you know, the Titans are probably the top. or is the secondary. And I'm talking about cornerback position with a dory out, you know, Malcolm Butler out, and now even the backup sims practice limitedly today. So that's your top three corners. And then you got Logan Ryan, the only veteran corner there. And they picked up a guy from Brock from Arizona.

So they're thin a corner. And this is the first team in the last two weeks since they've had those injuries in the secondary that, you know, you guys have. really capable, three capable receivers that can take over a game. So I think that was, it's going to be a huge concern, let alone on the deepest side,

you know, trying to stop watching. Yeah, the plan of it is, is the Kootie's been inconsistent and the fact that we don't know about Will Fuller's availability. All right, I'm in Nashville, but you have Houston ties, obviously. Give me a gut feel about how these next three weeks are going to pan out. Who

wins the AFC South? Can both make it as a wild card? And how does this Sunday turn out for this matchup? Who do you guys have the next besides the Titans twice? Who's the other game? That pesky Tampa Bay team? Ooh, yeah, we squeaked away with one here at home. Man, we have New Orleans.

Oh, oh, oh. Only saving grace is it is at home and on the grass. But I don't think that's going to lead to having a win. You know what? Really, I think it's Tanny time. I really think he's comfortable. I think they're probably already starting to negotiate a long-term deal, how big I have no idea, but I would expect that.

So I'm going with the Titans. They got a lot of momentum here. Just the injury part of it, and his secondary is concerning. And, you know, Henry's, Hammy, they've been managed it the last three weeks. So hopefully it'll just stay at bay and stay where it's said, and he can continue to run. I'm going to go with Titans. They're a team that you just don't want to play.

I mean, you can get into the playoffs. They can run the football, good defense. The quarterback's hot right now. I mean, so, yeah, I'm going to go with the Titans. Did you ever think, as a grown-ass man, you would ever say Tanny Time on a radio show? Yeah, it's Tanytime. Nah, you know, they make fun of me on a radio show because, you know, it's funny. Marcus has so many supporters, and he's a great guy.

I want to win. I want to win more than, hey, I want a nice guy out there. And Taney hit all the points that I thought he would based off what I saw in preseason and going through his progression reads, which Marcus does not do. I thought it was going to give him time. And he stands in the pocket and takes shots after shot and releases the ball. So I had to come up with a nickname. So it's Tanny Hill and a lot of people who go to Tanny Thrill.

And so I just said, hey, man, it's Tanny time. Let me tell you something. Get it trademark. Maybe make a couple bucks on the thing. Blaine, it's always good to hear your voice. I appreciate your making yourself available and enjoy the game this weekend. Thank you for the time, as always. I appreciate.

Thanks. All right, Blaine Bishop, the hit man with us here on Sports Talk 790. Ross, you believe in Tanny Time? Sure, why not? Do we have nicknames for our, like, heroes here? It's time for Watson time. J.J. Swat. We said that one. Oh, yeah. Then the answer is yes. We've done it.

Brock Osweiler was known as the galloping giraffe. Who called him that? Did anyone call him that during a game? Oh, there were shirts. Yeah, it was, you know, rock and roll, the galloping giraffe. No, there's not. No chance. He did not call him the galloping giraffe. He said, he might have said that ball was 15 yards out of bounds quarterback, but he never called him the galloping giraffe.

there's no chance I mean it would have been it's not a terrible name but it you know it is what it is thanks yes that is confirmed no you cannot confirm that Bannerbier called you the galloping giraffe no chance hey it's coach Dan Tony

step back three and the corner is good Matt Thomas my favorite voice in Houston now that's the Lord's Azurating back to the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790 time is one of 49 it is the Matt Thomas show thanks again to the hitman for joining us from Nashville Titans Radio I did run into coach this morning Nick in the lobby of the hotel

and he said what did he say uh I said you see what Jay Williams said about Russ and James and he goes Matt I don't watch those shows and I'm like you're a better man for it just in case you didn't catch get up which I don't think many people are but that's not here or there uh Jay Williams is their ESPN analyst. What do you think of Jay as an analyst, just generally speaking? Are you good, bad, indifferent? Don't pay any attention.

Indifferent. I think he's okay. I think he's been off base on a number of things before. So I can't say I've listened to a ton of his musings. All right. So he has a video of the last few seconds. I want to say, what is it, Nick, of the third quarter or the fourth quarter? I think it's got to be the third quarter because the rocket's finished in the fourth.

Yeah, and it's a loose ball that Hardin recovers. And then he has a choice to shoot or pass to Westbrook. And Westbrook is on the right wing. He's wide open. And we should also say that Russ missed the shot, too, correct? If I'm right on the... Oh, yeah, he missed it. Oh, he missed it.

Okay. So James did throw the ball to Russ. James does have almost eight assists per game. James knows how to find other teammates. And again, this isn't a segment on, let's praise the old perfect James Hart. And I'm not doing that. I'm just telling you what I think, again,

is maybe a little ill-informed or just kind of create some crap just to put it on the TV. But here is Jay Williams discussing when he finds out to be a problem between the Rockets and two of their star teammates. There are trust issues in Houston. It's like a Drake song. Really trust issues.

And this is why I think that CP3 was a better pairing with James Hardin and Russell Westbrook. Their net rating is better. But the tape shows it. Five seconds on the shot clock, staring right at James at Russell Westbrook. Now, he takes a dribble. He takes a dribble.

It's not even one swing. He takes a dribble. This isn't Batman and Robin. This is Batman and Superman. You don't think. You swing the ball. AD is not thinking about when he gets double team.

Swing the ball of LeBron. He just swings it. Paul George is not thinking about Dwight pass the ball to Kauai. He just swings it. My man takes a dribble, and he's thinking, is it better for me to take this shot

against him 101 from out here in this pocket rather than pass the ball to a guy who shooting 23% from the three-point line? He finally does it. He finally passes, but he forces it. He doesn't want to. to do that. Now, Russell Westwood was one for three from the three point line at that juncture.

He's one of four right on Mark where he's shooting 25%. But that's a major issue going down to stretch. James Hardin is wondering, can I trust my number two? My number two cannot shoot, which does not fit into our offense. It all becomes psychological. And then Russell starts retweeting other fans that say, you can't shoot, it starts buying into his brain. It's going to be phenomenal to watch this pan out. That seems like Rosser reached to me. He's saying he doesn't He doesn't trust the player he literally just passed to? Yes. He passed him the ball.

Yes, he did. But he took a dribble, so apparently that means there's trust problems. Okay. You've got to fill your time with something. I'm telling you. And look, most the rocket haters aren't going to care about this. The other NBA team's fan bases are not going to go, well, you have a point there. but the folks that are the biggest James Hardin fans out there

are going to say this is what we have to live with for the rest of James' career is that you have somebody taking a one five-second stretch of a Rockets basketball game and then coming to the conclusion that James does not trust his teammate. Rossi, that's a massive stretch. That's a pretty bad stretch.

I don't even know that we, to see, Merritt's discussion. He passed him the ball. Okay. How's he saying there's trust. There's trust issues if he passed him the ball. I don't understand. If he didn't pass the ball, I might actually take some credence to that. Right. If he was, if he was triple team at the top of the key. Yeah. Or the

urban band the top of the three point line. And James and Russ is like, hey, I'm over here. I'm over here. I'm wide open. But he did pass the ball to him. And James Hardin passes the ball to Clint Capella and doubled when he's in situations where he gets doubled. He doesn't think Click Capel is going to make a three-pointer. he just needs somebody else to go make a play.

And Russell Westbrook, sorry, has had the ball passed him in those situations a million times when he's open. And a lot of times he'll just go and drive into the basket. So you're taking one example when there are, I'm guessing there are hundreds of times already this season where James Hardin has passed the ball to Russell Westbrook at some point. So let me ask you this. Last night was not a super heavy sports night, correct? You had Kawhi Leonard going back to Toronto. you had the Rockets Cavaliers, I think you had the Lakers Orlando,

there's no college football, there were some decent college basketball games, but nothing's going to necessarily gather a large audience. Maybe when Jay Williams walked into ESPN at, say, 5, 36 o'clock in the morning, one of the 23-year-old producers said, hey, man, we need something to really get people fired up for the show today. Can you go find some flaw in James' game and make a 10-minute segment out of it?

I really believe that's what national television has become. I think we see it on the political side with the various networks. You don't think CNN when the news anchors come in and they sit with the producer say, hey, what can we do to bash Trump so bad, so early? Let's find something. They're like spending half an hour on every one of his tweets. And I mean, Fox News is doing the same about probably some Democrats tweets or something, whatever. Absolutely.

And then you have a whole panel of not only do you talk about it and then you break it down. And then you got a whole panel of discussion on it. And then that's just what you do. And you break down every little bit of minutiae because you have 24 hours in a day to fill. But here's the thing. Let me ask you this. And I'm not trying to pat ourselves in the back because sports radio can be nasty too, right? Would you?

Look, we as a radio station, we do, what, 13 hours a day of live sports radio, give or take, right? Yes. I don't feel like that we come to the table with asinine topics just to bring them up, right? Hashtag Embrace Debate? No, I have not once, Matt. Since we've been doing this show, how long now? Almost a decade. Yeah.

I've never once been like, all right, Matt, look, let's just talk about this topic. And you say this and I say this. And we're going to disagree. Like, that's not happened to us once. I will tell you this. Ross and I have gone over things in the past and said, what is your take on? For instance, the one the most recent thing, things is I think the Texans linebackers dressing up is ridiculous.

And he's like, I don't think it is. We're going to talk about this on the air. That's organic. But I've never gone to Ross and said, hey, I've got something that I want to bring up, that I want you to argue with me just to do it. Right. That used to happen on our radio station in the past. It doesn't happen on this station now, and I'm happy for that.

We don't create crap just to do it. I firmly believe today that ESWRs. P.N. told Jay Williams, find a flaw because it's a nice, easy narrative to take a shot at a guy who scored 55 points and had five free throws and eight assists and made 50% or more of his field goals and his three-point shots. Very fakeness. So I'm telling you, today, when I go to speak in these schools and we have various interns come in and like, hey, what's this business like? I'm like, man, you have to be overly bombastic. or you ain't going to survive. And then sometimes if you're overly bomb basket, you lose credibility.

So that's why you kind of have to gauge it. But I just, I thought it was a narrative when I saw the video highlight on my Twitter account. I was like, man, that's a reach. And I don't even know if Jay Williams even believes it. But Jay Williams is making a lot of money in ESPN. So he's going to do what ESPN tells him to do. Let's get the final hour started of the Matt Thomas show. We still have one more pair of tickets to give away for the Rockets Pistons game.

We'll do that in about 40 minutes from now. is believe it or not today coming up at 252. I'll go ahead and hit the crickets neck. It's almost like he showed those crickets on standby. What do you want to be? You never have any topic ready. What's trending on Twitter today? You don't want to know what's trending on Twitter today.

Impeachment debate? Yeah, you're right. Forget about that. All right. 713-212-5-790. So you reach our show. We're open line this hour. We do have Ross's Rotten Thirteen.

at 2.30, but we'll open up with one of any of you want to get to, whether it's the Jeff Leno having to pacify Carl's Korea phone call, whether it's a Texans and Titans that are on your mind as Blaine Bishop comes on the show and says, yeah, he believes the Titans are the best team right now in the AFC. They're playing at their best and they're going to win the AFC South. Do you buy into that? And if you want to chat about the rockets and the 24 consecutive points that gave up yesterday, but yet still won. That's all fair game. is the Matt Thomas show. It's final hour here from Orlando.

Where the rockets are off today, we'll take on the magic tomorrow. I'm Matt Thomas. Ross and Nick are back in our 790 studios. You are welcome to join us right now at 713-212-5-790. 7-13-212-7-90. We've gone through a pulpery of a conversation pieces from the Texans Titans game to the, the Rockets matchup last night with the Cleveland Cavaliers to the fact that Carlos Gray had to call

the general manager, Jeff Leno, and say, how you really tried to trade me. Ross, is there anything in these sports gamut of topics we've yet to discuss here in the first two hours of this radio program today? Oh, you didn't talk about Clinton Portis getting arrested. He's not the only one, apparently, right? Yeah, he and 10 other, or he is one of 10 players to get indicted. Not only arrested, they are indicted. for filing 3.9 million dollars in fraudulent claims, 3.4 million of which were paid for fraudulent health care equipment.

So essentially, they were looking to get equipment to help their bodies and they never bought the equipment, right? Is that how it works? Carlos Rogers is in here. Fred Bennett. Former Texan Fred Bennett? Yes, that's right, yeah. There's two. There's one guy that also played for the Texans, and I don't remember. Remember.

Was it Carrell Balka bookholter? Was he ever a Texan? No. No, but there's two Texans in the mix that were apparently a part of that. You hate to hear our guys like to buy equipment for their homes, not purchase them, and then all of a sudden decide they're going to get arrested and potentially sent the jail over this. $3.4 million among 10 guys. That's a pretty good amount.

Those are all decent guys that make decent money in the NFL, right? Yeah, it's a nice little scam. This is, thank God, this is a scam-free show, Ross. It really is. Joe Horn is apparently going to get arrested as well or get charges. No, no, not our guy Joe Warren. Yes, former saint who hid his phone under the goal post. That was one of the better bits in celebratory history.

To me, that's got to be all time. You got that. You got the Sharpie pen that was good. Yeah. I guess the NFL has allowed these guys to have more fun because now every time somebody gets an interception, they go run to one another field and take a big photo with each other. Yes.

And then you got Whitney Merciless air guitaring after a sack when the team is down 30. Yeah. You had Deshawn Watson air guitaring touchdowns as well. You know what? I'd rather have celebrations

than no celebrations. But I think there should be a rule that every player should know that when you're down by multiple touchdowns in a game in which half of the crowd has left you, you probably don't need to do that. Wasn't there? Chicago's Bears player who tore his ace.

He was celebrating. It was a former Longhorn. What was his name? He was celebrating a sack against Tom Brady, and they were down like 21 in the fourth quarter. And he tore his ACL. That sounds like that's absolutely happened before. Lamar Houston, former Longhorn Great. Do you always assume that every time you're in Longhorn, you're a Longhorn Great? Former Longhorn Great, Lamar Houston, yes.

Like, do you ever say former Longhorn Disappointment? that's reserved for like uh case mccoy oh wow if he if his dad found out you said that you'd be in big trouble right now tell me to rest my shoulder oh my god that was so crazy when i first came to 790 it was the year that alabama played texas and mccoy gets hurt in that game right yes mars uh yeah i mean yeah i've been working here longer than you this second stent but i mean i don't think you were at that we were at a bar up and humble. Me and Matt. Oh, no, I wasn't with you at a bar.

I was at my dad. I was at my dad's house and let's just say the beers started flowing after I just knew that Cole McCoy was going to be out. Yeah. So then we saw his dad on the field. He was in the, he was like in the tunnel. I don't think he was on the field or maybe he came down. He came down on the field.

Should parents be a lot on the field, period, into story? If he's concerned about his son and his injury, why not? If you were in the stands and your son got hurt, you wouldn't want to go see him in the tunnel? I don't know. I feel like that relationship was more than just that. Because I feel like the Colt McCoy dad jokes haven't stopped in a decade. Nobody's made a Colt McCoy dad joke in five years. Okay. I think you're just being a little sensitive.

Okay. When's the last time you heard a Colt McCoy dad joke? I don't know. It feels like every day on a U-T message board. You're not going over to Shaggy Bevo. Is that what it's called? Is that the hips replaced now? No, Steve Patterson gave him a cease and decision. and they had to call it Shaggy, Texas now, and now they call it something else. They're gone.

Oh. Message boards. Very relevant until Twitter. Now you can just go to Twitter and just to cost anybody you want to with getting out there is much faster than going on a message board. Surly horns. That's a new one. All right.

Enough about to UT. Although our bowl preparation is underway for the big matchup against Utah in the Animal Bowl. Yes. Hell, I don't have a bowl to talk about. I'm going to rally around your squad. No, you're not. Yeah, I am. You're going to be rooting from them to lose, and that's okay.

No, no, no, I'm pro-U-T. You know I am. I like Tom. Okay. I like Tom more than you like Tom, honestly. I mean, I don't dislike Tom. So they go seven and five next year. Why are you going for you?

Not great. Are you going to ask for the seat to be turned up a few temperature degrees? Yeah, I would say hot seat is fair after two years of seven. and five, don't you? Well, yeah. First of all, as you and I have talked about it, nauseam, when you're paying these coaches, sick money, it's like Garrett Cole.

Garrett Cole is going to make a million dollars to start. Garrett Cole can't have but one or two bad starts a year. He just can't. When you're being paid $5, 6, 7, 8 million dollars a year to coach a college football level, you can't go 7 and 5. You just can't. And I know that it wouldn't be easier if you were in a world

where you took the job at UT. And look, all his money is guaranteed. But if you took just a little bit less with the pressure, I mean, is the pressure on Herman to be good because he's at Texas or is it because the University of Texas is spending this ungodly amount of money on a head football coach? It's both. It's probably both.

That's right. But like if you're only spending middle-level money, like if Tom Herman went to the University of Houston, we can't outpay what Alabama or Texas or UCs. USC or Ohio State could pay. So you kind of get what you pay for. You pay a coach $2 million a year. He goes $8.4 and 4.

You love that. Tom Herman goes 8 and 4 making north of 5. And people are asking for his job. I think that's the exact same situation right now with Jimbo Fisher at A&M. Is A&M right now on pace to be any better than the normal 7 and 5 in which they have been? So you're going to pay for yet another year.

in theory of $7.5 million gets you $7.5 or 8 and 4 thereabouts. Didn't you, didn't the moment that Jimbo Fisher signed with Texas A&M Ross, they had to be thinking at the very minimum we win an SEC championship and we should play for at least one national championship while you're here. Maybe not in two years. Yeah, over the course of it, for sure. They've got a good recruiting class coming up there. They're number five.

The problem is two of their conference division foes, Alabama and LSU, are one in three. Oh, wow. So $75 million to finish perennial third in the SEC West? Were they that high this year? I don't think so. You kind of lose track after Alabama and LSU doing their thing. So I'm trying to think of my next life if I want to be a college football coach. The money is crazy.

It's all guaranteed, too. It's not one of these things on the NFL. They drop you after a year. but I don't know when you're making north of five how anything less than a national championship makes you a disappointment as a coach. By the way, Willie Tagger got a new job. Did you see that? I didn't.

What happened? Where is it? Florida Atlantic. Oh, good for him. He's in the Kiffin's old spot? So he goes from South Florida to Oregon, to Florida State, to Florida Atlantic. while meanwhile cashing all that money in for all those years

it's like uh who's your guy at ut used to be there uh charlie strong he could have been at louisville ross forever and been highly successful and been able to be the mayor of that town he takes a big challenge of texas and he fails miserably there then he gets fired at south florida is he's fired at south florida right i think did he that's unfortunate man he's coaching carousels all that guarantee Kevin Sumlin should have said at U of H. Could have built the dynasty. No, he wanted to go to A&M

where he made him ridiculously average for many years. And now he's in Arizona where they're below average. Collecting those paychecks. You know what, Ross, in my next life, I'm coming back as a college football coach. That's a lot of work, too.

You get to go one place and be successful, and you get three makeup calls the rest of the way. That's true. It'd be like having one good show here, which we haven't done in a long time, one good show and get like a five-year contract out of it. Hmm. Maybe that's what tomorrow's show will be, the one good show of the month.

All right, 713, 212, 579. If you'd like to join us, 713-212-579. If you want to visit with us via Twitter, you can at SportsMT, at SportsRB, and at Pro Nick Lowe. This is Craig Ackerman. The rockets are certainly popping the polypropylene. I know Matt Thomas, all too well. Hey, by the way, this is my new catchphrase.

Nothing but nylon. Ross, I'm really tired of Craig using my lines during his home game broadcast. Why? Stealing bits on NBA radio is not cool. I imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Matthew. That's true. I staying corrected. Rockets last night win despite giving up 24 consecutive points. I was dumbfound.

I had my hand on my chin. I was like, I'm calling Colin Sexton. shots. I'm watching Kevin Love, fade away two-pointers. I'm watching Tristan Thompson attacked the lane. Something called a John Henson's scoring baskets. It was a very odd

night, but the rocket still won. And we'll be taking on the magic tomorrow night here in Orlando. Then Detroit. Man, then the four-game road trip out west after that, including a Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors. You think if ABC could flex out of that game, they would be able to

want to do that? They need, they're probably going to figure out how to do that in the future now. That's not a marquee matchup. The 4 o'clock game, which is 4 o'clock in the central time zone, 5 o'clock in the east, is Houston and Golden State. Now, James and Ross will carry an audience, but I don't believe that anybody on the Golden State Warriors will carry an audience, especially when they're in like, what, 30 games under 500 at this point?

It's awful. They still have the worst record in the NBA? They're close. Do you think Steph Curry plays this year anymore? Yes. Yes. I think so. What was it, a hand injury? He's not going to miss the whole season.

Well, you know, the reason why I think he's going to come back is because the Golden State Warriors were really mad that Rick Bukert, who is a writer, put out there that he's not coming back. And they're like, we didn't say that. So, I mean, how much of that is trying to prove the right or wrong or how much of it is that Steph Curry really wants to play? But in all honesty, if you're Steph, why are you playing? You're probably going to lose 60 to 65 games this year.

You can't just take a season off, though. Why not? Players do it all the time. I mean, if he's hurt, yes. Do they ever just put anybody on ice because they're 100% healthy? Do you think Zion Williamson's going to play a minute for the New Orleans Pelicans this year? I would have figured, yeah. I don't know.

I think these injuries start out as something, and they can always figure out a way to make them way worse than they really are. Hashtag Nene's left a ductor strain? I haven't seen Neney since. last year. I don't even know if he, I mean, I'm assuming he's alive. He's a sweet man. Is he just traveling the world of the Rockets dime? No, he's not been with this yet. I don't know where he is.

But hopefully that it left abductor strain, which clearly is awful, is getting fixed. It must be one nasty strain. It's been like a, it's been like a two-year strain. Well, I mean, I don't even think I knew what an abductor was. Adductor. Adductor. Adductor. A-d-D-D-U-C-T-R, right? I didn't even know what it left abduct or strain was two years ago. And I know what it being abducting is, but that's a little bit of a different issue. Well, let's hope you don't get involved in that again. You get that right. Let's go to Calvin and Katie at 225 on 790.

Calvin, good afternoon. Great. Enjoy your show, gang. Enjoy you guys. Look, I'm from New Orleans. I've been here since Hurricane Katrina. Man, I really love Houston. I've always been an Astros fan.

They're the closest team to New Orleans, through the years and I enjoy it here. But I have a question. Do you think that the NFL is going to have full-time officials at any point? No. I was thinking the same way. I don't know what difference it would make on the field. That's exactly right.

That's the reason why, Calvin, is that putting these guys through film study, simulated games, refereeing, XFL, doing whatever they can to kill time. is not going to make any difference. Calvin, the moment is too big for most of these people, and it's just too hard to officiate sports, especially with athletes being bigger, faster, stronger than even 20 years ago. So if you made them full-time, if they worked an additional 15 games between the same months of January

and June, wouldn't make them better, nope, not in my mind. They wouldn't. Right. One more thing. Do you think the NFL is going to add any, at least another regular season game. Yes. And you think it will be an odd number?

Just one more game? The thing I've read is they're going to go to a 17th game. It will likely be a neutral site game. And they're also going to add an extra playoff team into each round. So only the number one seed in each of the conferences would get a buy. That's what I've read. I think that would be great. I think that would be great.

But tell me what you think about this. what about an 18 game schedule and in a 20-week period of time give each team the first 10 weeks a buy in the second 10 weeks a buy two by weeks 20 weeks of football 18 games what do you think about that and two preseason games um i heard that too i mean there are some probably in the nfl uh owners offices that are like you know what hey let's go to 18 let's build some more money out of the tvd I think I'm supposed to be really up against 18 games like more injuries more concussions more hurt players and in theory if so if you came to me with a strong argument saying that I probably go like that makes sense but I'm not really bothered by 18 weeks and 18 games in 20 weeks I know some people are I like it as it is I don't like four preseason games I think it's a joke because nobody plays and you charge regular season money for pre-season games. I don't mind the 17th game,

so I guess if I'm going to split the differences with people, they're going to give them a 17th game short in the preseason. My owners can still make their money. But if somebody said to me, Matt, five years from now, the NFL is going to go to 18 games over 20 weeks, I don't know. Am I supposed to be upset about that? Why not 20?

Why not 22? That's your point. At some point, when do you give up, right? No, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I really don't know. I feel like 16 is the happy medium. I feel like at this point of the team, some teams are just taped at this season,

this point of the season, teams are just taped together. I think 16 is enough for the rigors that is going on the bodies of these players. Because here's the point. Here's the number one thing I would think if I'm in the anti-18 game category. We're getting quarterbacks getting hurt left and right.

You're going to then, let's say you add 10 players to a roster that puts it at 60. or 55 or whatever. Those last 10, I mean, if quarterback play is bad right now, imagine if you're adding 10 more arms in the NFL, how bad it's going to get. And the fact the matter is,

you are watching the NFL for stars. You are not watching Deshawn Watson play 16 games with a chance of being beat up in those next two, which means he doesn't play. So, yeah, I like 16. I think they should eliminate two preseason games and have more of these. glorified workout practices where you can charge 10 bucks and people go in there and see that.

But there's just too much revenue being lost in those two games. So my guess is what's going to happen is you're going to get a 17 game schedule where you're going to play eight road games. A neutral site game is nine. And they're going to have an extra playoff game to make up the money that was lost with the one or two pieces of games that are going to cut to the side. Does that seem fair right to you? Is that what you're hearing as well?

Probably it's going to be 17. And then like in 10 years they'll want 18. It's going to be in increments. That's fine. I'm going to watch it. They're at 17. You add 18 games. I'm going to watch the games.

Yeah, if he goes 18, I'm not going to be one of those people like, oh, I'm not watching those two games. No chance. I'll be watching. Because those 17th games, think about this, Ross. You're going to put them in big college venues, what you're going to do. Now, the question is, is Tuscaloosa, Alabama, or Birmingham going to want to watch a real-life NFL game? My answer to that is yes. They've gone bad.

Hey, they draw flies. Ooh, it's Ross's rotten five. This don't smell quite right. Oh, man, this is my favorite part of the week right here. It's just because you get to sit back and you don't have to do anything for a minute. That might be accurate. Continue on. All right, Matt, let's get it going with the Rotten Five.

We've got a new team because we haven't done this in a couple of weeks. But you know what? A stalwart has been the Miami Dolphins. Really at this point, though, we should be having a parade for them for making it this high into the Rodin 5. They started off the season completely. Tanking, trading away their players. They are in the number one spot and in danger of going 0 and 16.

Since then, they've had a few spells of Fitzmagic and managed to scratch out three wins. Sure, their defense and offense both ranked 30th in the NFL. Sure, they have the worst point differential in the NFL. And sure, they also have the worst turnover differential in the NFL. But congratulations to you, Miami Dolphins. Tip, owe the cap. I only have you as the fifth worst team in the NFL.

NFL. Number one in my hearts. The Jacksonville Jaguars, welcome to the rotten five. They've done something incredible the last five weeks of the NFL season. Not only have they lost a game every one of those weeks, but they've also lost each of them by at least 17 points, a feat that has not been accomplished since the 1986 Buccaneers. So you're horrible Jacksonville Jaguars, and it doesn't seem to matter who their quarterback is, whether it be Nick Foles or Gardner Menshoe. They've gone from an AFC South Sleeper pick to an also-ran and worse. The Jacksonville Jaguars

are the fourth worst team in the NFL. Oh, we've been strong. We're just playing by the rules. Thank you. And I put them back in here so I could get Jaguars Lady back in here. When was that, by the way? It was like three or four years ago.

I just love Jaguars Lady. Jaguars fan is the best. We'll play that again. Oh, we've been strong. We're just playing by the rules. Thanks, Jaguars. lady. All right, the Washington Redskins, they have not been good all season, and that hasn't mattered. The quarterback has been Case Keenham, Colt McCoy, or Dwayne Haskins. They can take a moral

victory that they have the worst offense in the league. I'm sorry, they took a moral victory against the Packers this weekend because they got within one score, but still, they have the absolute worst offense in the league. That's if you want to go by yards or if you want to go points. We know that they're a bad team because they fired their head coach in the midway of the season. The Washington Redskins are not good. They are the third worst team. in the NFL. We have some bad ambris here, and we're going to get them out. I know, I know.

All right, if I had written the Rotten Five during halftime of Monday night football, I may have had the New York Giants up a couple of notches because they were starting Eli Manning, Darius Slateon was going off, and it looked like the Renaissance of Eli Manning, and he was back. Well, alas, his clock struck midnight, where it was halftime, however you want to call it, and then the Giants turned into a rotten pumpkin. After years of wasting Odell Beckham Jr.'s talents, they seemed content to do the same with I'm Gwan Barclay and the New York Giants are back to being terrible.

They are the second worst team in the NFL. We suck again. And well, there have been some strides made by the Cincinnati Bengals. They put Andy Dalton back at the quarterback position. They're able to move the ball against the jets as they got to win and against the Browns as they lost. But even if you're slightly better than a pile of crap, you're still a pile of crap. Sorry, Cincinnati Bengals.

They're still one in 12. they've been moving the ball a little bit better, but they're still not a very good team. They're still looking like a lock for the number one overall pick. They got a game against the Patriots this week, so it's not going to get any better. The Cincinnati Bagels, the absolute worst team in the NFL.

You suck. And that's your RON 5. Rossi, excellent work. You put a new sound bite in the Rotten 5 rotation, and we're going to reward somebody right now. with a pair of Rockets tickets for the Detroit Pistons based on that right there. Ross, if anybody can come on this radio show right now and recite the exact phrase that female Jaguars fan just said.

I don't even know if I know it, but okay. Every word. 713-212-790, the very first person that can recite, which he said, word for word, we're going to give you Rockets Pistons tickets for Saturday night 8 o'clock at Tota Center. Now, they've got to do it on the air. Oh, great. I love it. I want them to do it in her voice as well.

So let's do this, unscreened. Here we go. We'll start with line number one. Line one, what is your name, please? Tyler. Tyler, what did she say? We're just playing by the rule? Let's hear it.

Is that what she said? Yeah, but that's not. You said exact words. Exact words. So play. Let's see if he's right. You can't have a new coming come in. What?

I'm confusing to hell. Oh, we've been strong. We're just playing by the rules. All right. That's not right. Thank you, Tyler. Well, now the bits ruined. Yes.

Well, you think it would be. Line two. Can you recite exactly what the woman said? We've been strong. Playing by the rules. There you go. Play it. Oh, we've been strong.

We're just playing by the rules. There you go. Congratulations. Line two, what is your name, please? Who is this? Who is talking to? Oh, this is Greg. Yeah, he just...

Greg, congratulations. You're going to ride in a Pissons game, and thank you for listening. Have a great time Saturday, all right? All right, thank you, buddy. Thank you, man. See you later. All right. You can't have a newcomer come in

and steal a show. That's when she looked at the camera when she goes steal the show. You can't have a newcomer come in and steal a show. show. Do you think that was filmed inside or just outside the Waffle House? I think it was outside

a Waffle House and she was like on a motorcycle. And I was in Miami with my new Beach House. Well, it was a couple minutes from the beach. Yeah. Do you know who Beach House guy is or girl? Took it to the limit. Took it to the limit.

You know a Beach House guy. Who's Beach House Guy, Maddie? Beach House guy is a house that has a house in Galveston or in Florida. Yeah. But it's rolling out of the beach. Right. She's like, all right, it's kind of, it's near the beach. Well, you go, hey, I'd love to stay at your beach house.

Yeah, it's a little bit of a walk. Like, what, 10, 15 feet? No, it's like a quarter mile, two and a half miles. If your house is not within 750 yards of a beach, you don't live in a beach house. What if there's sand? Hmm, good question And I was in Miami with my new beach house Well, it was a couple minutes from the beach

Yeah, see, I'm telling you, everybody has a preface it That's like me saying I live right next to the airport Well, I live 25 minutes in the airport Just play sound bites of her the rest of the show Oh, we've been strong We're just playing by the rules How many Jacksonville Jaguar games

Has She Been to in her life? Over under, I put it at one and a half I'll go over. No chance. She had a PSL in the early years. No chance at all. When Mark Brunel was slinging it. No chance.

Before she started meth? Yeah. Yeah, I didn't think about that. She started smoking it more than selling it. All right, let's play, believe it or not, next. The topic today is? We've got to talk during the break. Oh, my God.

It's 243. I didn't. I forgot. I figured something out. Nick, you're going to have to help him. It's going to be highly good. Googleable. This is going to be a complete train wreck of a segment, which makes you want to listen, does it not? It's a Matt Thomas show from Orlando and Houston on Sports Talk 790.

Hey, it's Eric Gordon. Gordon for three in the lead. Matt Thomas is my favorite voice in Houston. EG for three. You're listening to the flagship. Sports Talk 790, home of the Rockets. Rossi, we have one of our favorite people ever in Houston Sports. on the show tomorrow. Charlie Palo? No, he works at a different station. John McLean? He also works at another station.

Geez, Lance Erline. Another station. Invenafel.com? Nope. Another station. Dang. I guess I'm running out. I mean, Craig Roberts.

Rudy Tom Janovic. Really? 1.30 tomorrow. Wow. And tomorrow, throughout the course of the show. the show. We're going to give away Rockets tickets for Monday night's game. Based

off of how well do you know your Rudy Tom John of the trivia? Oh, I love that. So we'll do three different Rudy T. Trivia questions throughout the show tomorrow. Plus, we have Brian T. Smith on the show. Plus, rumor has it. Gordy's going to have a parody ready for Friday. Is that right?

We'll do Beat the Shmos tomorrow. Beat the Shmows. How do we do how do you sign up for Beat the Shmows, Matthew? you? Well, you get your email out right now on your phone or computer, and you say, you type Ross at Sports790.com, R-O-S-S at Sports790.com, and you have to be available tomorrow at 120. I need your phone number because we have to call you for the segment. Yeah. If we pick you, you will email us your phone number, and then we're going to email you the picks. You'll join us at 120 tomorrow with your four NFL picks of the weekend.

And if you beat Ross or myself, you get a chance to win either $25 or $50 worth of Papa John's pizza. Papa John's Pizza Houston. How about that? Sounds beautiful, Matt. So pizza and Rudy and Rocket Giveaways and the Chris Gordon parody and Brian T. Smith? Wow. Why do I even bother doing the show tomorrow? It's already set. It's locked. It's loaded.

This show tomorrow will be successful despite me as compared to because of me. I think you're going to enhance it, Matt. In what ways? Quickly name one. Great takes. Nope. witty repartee, as you say. Not a chance. A wonderful live reads.

Oh, excellent. The best. And comic nature. And breaking on time. And breaking on time. Five minutes left to go in the show. What should we do? We should play America's fastest-scoring sports game.

Shall we simply call it believe it or not? And here's that it works. You'll call 713-212-5-7-90. 713-212-5-790. Today's edition of Believe it or not is brought to you by Houston Woodhouse Day Spas. Print out your gift card for the holiday gift of a lifetime. The gift of relaxation at Houston Woodhouse Spars.com. Category today is, has his player ever been indicted?

Ross, were they among the players that were indicted today? Oh, indicted today. Okay. Were they indicted today? If they were, you'll say this. Believe it. If they weren't, you'll say this. Not.

Two, believe it or not, whether or not these people were indicted today, wouldn't you a prize? Ross, what's the prize? Matt, I got a pair of tickets to UFC 247 at Toyota Center on February 8th. It's a win-em before you can buy them tomorrow on December 13th. Go to Toyota Center.com for tickets and information as UFC light heavyweight champion and number one pound-for-pound fighter John Jones takes on undefeated Dominique Reyes

to defend his light heavyweight belt. Also, Houston's own Derek Lewis will take on Ilier Latifie. Are we going to that? I would love to go. Let's go. I have never been to a UFC fight ever in my life. You're probably going to be doing rockets. Rockets are probably on the road if they're having the event there.

That's true. That's true. That's a shame. You always ruin my UFC vibe. It's realities. Kyle. Rocket schedule for if you want. That's right.

Kyle on 790. We're ready to play, believe it or not. I'm ready, man. How are you doing, buddy? Good, buddy. Thank you. Eric Levelle, former Broncos running back, indicted today. Derek Levelle?

Yeah. I'm sorry, you cut out. Say Derek Levelle? Yes. I say not. That is correct. This is a terrible topic, by the way. Kelly Campbell, former Vikings wide receiver, was indicted today.

Believe it or not. I'm going to say not. That is correct. Congratulations, Frank. These topics are not your best, but you still win. That's all we're doing here. trying to give away winners to UFC fights. How about that?

We're not giving away some old 1979 ban you never heard of. Renee on 790. Renee, you're ready to play, believe it or not? Believe it. Robert McCune, former Redskins linebacker, was indicted today. Believe it or not? Not. Yeah, he was.

Believe it. Duh. How do you not have this indictment list in front of you by right now? I mean, serious. That's what you need to hurry up. A.Y. 790. You ready to play, believe it or not?

Believe it. Jermaine Crowell, former Detroit Lions wide receiver, indicted today. Believe it or not? Believe it. Not. This is a freaky layup drill. Layup, I tell you. Line 5, J on 790.

Ready to play, believe it or not? Believe it. Tamarik Van Over, former Chiefs wide receiver, was indicted today. Believe it or not? Believe it. Believe it. Mike Rucker, former Panthers defensive end, indicted today. Believe it or not.

Not. That's right. Last one. Let's go to line number four. Line four, who's this? Josh. Josh. Carlos Rogers, former 49ers cornerback, indicted today.

Believe it or not. Believe it. James Butler, former giant safety, indicted today. Believe it or not? Not. Malie you bet. Sorry. This would have helped you.

Thank you for playing. Ross, can we have a little cup of Jesus here? What do you mean? This segment is your segment. It is a trademark. What was wrong with that one? Huh? Indicted or not?

I thought it was great. Well, I mean, you could have, like, open it up, like, in the past, like Alex Karris was ever indicted, was... Hold on. But 10 players got indicted today. So I only want... I wanted to keep it to that list.

We can't keep it. track of every NFL player that's gotten indicted. Are you kidding me? You should have put a bunch of Dallas Cowboys on there. Oh, too soon. Too soon, Nick Lowe. Too soon. All right.

We're back for anything goes Friday. You know, we've not woken up to strippers in a while, too. We're going to wake them up tomorrow, too. That's right. Let me remind you by TGS Insurance. This is the company that's going to save you big on your home policy. And it starts by you going to your phone right now as you listen to my show. Get running to listen to A team.

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We've had several people win and save over thousands and thousands of dollars. If you want great coverage in your home, let TGS insurance do it. If you just sign a new policy and you want to get out of it, TGS is going to help you do that. But it takes you texting the word money to get it all started. M-O-N-E-Y. O N-E-Y to 23-23-23 and start saving big on something you hadn't thought about much, and that's getting a great rate in your home policy with TGS insurance. Money, M-O-N-E-Y to 23, 23-23, do it right now.

Anything goes Friday, Rudy T, Brian T, Matt T, Ross V, Nick L. It's going to be a great show tomorrow. Won't you all be a part of it here from Orlando? A team is up next where they're actually going to put in a full three-hour day today. I feel for them as they get prepared for what will be a marathon in their minds of a radio show. Talk to you guys tomorrow at 12 noon here from Orlando on Sports Talk 790.