The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - The Matt Thomas Show 12-23-19

Episode Date: December 23, 2019

The Matt Thomas Show w/ @SportsMT, @SportsRV, and @ProNickLow 12/23/19Let's Celebrate the AFC South Title! (0:00)Eddie Murphy was phenomenal on SNL (30:09)Whatchu Talkin' bout Bill O'Brien (39:25)Ross' NFL Recap (1:01:54)Which Coaches Are Getting Fired? (1:12:08)

So much larger than life. Yeah. Lunch timers is the Matt Thomas Show. 12-0-2-H-town. What's happening in lunch timers? Good afternoon to you, and welcome to a Monday championship edition of the Matt Thomas show today from Sacramento, California. aka the capital city of California and the Golden State.

So no gain on the first place, second and ten for James. First pass of the game. He throws it out, and it's picked. Six-nothing, Houston. Winston, some time. And it's intercepted again. It's intercepted by Justin. After the interception, personal foul.

Legal Blindside block on the defense number 94. It's Duke Johnson. Pardon me with the pickup. Sudden change, take a shot to the end zone. From the 31 of Houston. Play fake. There's the shot, and it's intercepting. Holy cow!

Jonathan Joseph takes the ball right back for Houston. I have it five years. And the sixth time this decade, we celebrate an AFC South championship in Houston, Texas. And that's what we're going to do today here on the Matt Thomas show. From Sacramento, California, where tonight the Rockets take on the Sacramento Kings. They owe them a little revenge after the Kings came to Houston a few weeks back and knocked off the Rockets. We have got lots of pro football to discuss on the show today, including what the Texans should and should not do this Sunday when they take on Tennessee for the chance to solidify perhaps the three spot in the AFC or basically take the spot that we think they're going. to have it, that's the number four spot.

And then Dallas Cowboy fans, look, I don't call on y'all a lot because y'all are a bunch of bandwagoners, frankly. At least Texans fans are there through thick and thin for the most part. Y'all just ride up and down a tidal wave with that squad. But your squad sucks. It really does. Thomas Sports Enterprises really was behind Dak Prescott a couple of years ago, but he was terrible yesterday as the Cowboys lost of the Philadelphia Eagles,

so we'll get to that. We got some rockets to get to. We got another IP player to put into our IP Hall of Fame, IP meaning injury prone, and just a lot of other things to catch up on between now and 3 o'clock this afternoon. We'll play what you're talking about, Bill O'Brien, with Ross coming up at 1 o'clock. We'll have Ross's recap at 130. We got you, we got me, we got Nick, we got Ross, and we have you at 713-212-5-790. 7-1-2-2-790 is how you want to reach us on the show today.

If you want to get to us via Twitter, you can do that as well. At SportsMT, at SportsRV, and at Pro Nick Lowe. All right. First and foremost, the Texans' final week of the season. Week 17 should be a hot mess with a lot of teams. Frankly, all we're doing now is trying to figure out who the last playoff team is going to be in the AFC. It's funny. Here in Sacramento, we are in Raiders and 49ers territory, and people are stunned that

The Raiders can still make the playoffs. They're not Sacramento Mountain Lion fans from the U.S.L? That was about 10 to 15 years ago, Ross. I would have guessed that. But I guess you could probably find a Mountain Lion shirts somewhere. Yeah, why don't you go ahead and buy me one, Matt? Go to the— You know what I would do.

Head up to the Goodwill and give me a Sacramento Mountain Lion jersey. I do like the old USFL logos. The San Antonio Gunslingers, great uniforms. Great color scheme. It was blue and green. Do you know who the quarterback was of the San Antonio? Gunslingers way back in the day. Yeah, Johnny Unitis, yeah.

No, he was alive during the USFL, but I don't think it was him. Oh. Jim Plunkett? I'll give you a hint. A former college football coach who loves to play the NCAA basketball tool. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Loves to play the basketball pool? Yeah, like the tournament, you know, the brackets.

Steve Spurrier? You're getting warmer. It was one Rick Newheisel. Oh. Okay. I don't know that. Well, that's what you listen to the radio show for. Yeah, the only U.S.FL's quarterback's I can name is Jim Kelly and Steve Young. Oh, there is quite a few.

Like, we're not going into that. But, yeah, I loved it. And that's why this part of me is rooting for the XFL, because it was a good way to kind of bridge the gap between one NFL season and the other. And remember, when the U.S.FL was starting, this is when the older's really sucked. I mean, Oliver Luck, early, early Warren Moon. there was maybe even a scosh of Gifford Nielsen, if you will. I mean, it was not the most incredible time.

By the way, I think there are Gremlins in my hotel room, Ross. My TV is changing on its own from channel to channel without me touching. Oh, wow. Maybe it's the guy from the next room because you probably had the same TV set. That has to be it because, you know, this is the third time in 20 minutes. I've had to change a channel back to what I were really looking, and I'm looking at sports undercase, I think it's breaking going on. Well, maybe you're just sitting on it on the remote.

No, I'm in a chair and a desk. Nope, that's not it at all. But thank you for guessing on that. I don't know. So how did you celebrate? How did the city of Houston celebrate another AFC championship? I'm in four time in five years, six times. Ross, the Houston Texans have cleaned an AFC South championship this decade.

The Texans are the team of the decade in the AFC South. How does that feel right now? Yay. The team of the decade of probably if we went through, the worst division of the decade. Yeah, it's true. And there was also a Super Bowl champion named Indianapolis in that mix. You know how I equate it? You tell

me if it's fair. The Houston Texans are like the Cincinnati Bearcats of college basketball. They win their conference. They're a, you know, maybe a five or six C in the NCAA tournament playing an 11 or a 12.

They win their regular season. They win 22, 23 games. And then they poop themselves in the first round of the turn. Ouch. And they never advance. I'll make a similar analogy to you. How about how OU wins the Big 12 every year because Texas doesn't want to challenge him

and nobody else wants to challenge them? And then they end up in the playoff for a good bowl game and then a lot of times they lose. Like they never won a playoff. They haven't won a national championship since 2000, but they've won the Big 12 like 15 times within that time. Let me tell you this. If we can get the Houston Texans of the final four of the AFCD, be a blessing. That's true. But that's just based on ranking. They get all rated high and then it's

because they beat up on the week big 12 and then they wash out. That's right. By the way, if you are planning to go to the Texans first playoff game, which they will host a playoff game, I guarantee T is going to be at 3.30 on Saturday afternoon. Because here's who the possibilities are who they play in the first round of the wild card playoff. It's either going to be likely Buffalo, it could be Tennessee, it could be Pittsburgh, and it could be Oakland. No way, no how, no chance. They're not the early game on Saturday. Yeah, just go ahead and set your calendars, folks. There are three guarantees in life, right?

Are you ready for them, Ross? Yes. Death. Texas playing in the Alamo Bowl. Oh, hey, that's not right. That's the truth. They haven't played since 2013. Okay, excuse me.

Alamo or Holiday Bowl. Okay, they hadn't played the Alamo Bowl in a while either. And the Texans play the early wildcard game on Saturday. Those are the three guarantees in life. Whatever. It's just the truth. It's just the truth. the church. I'm done in this segment. No, you're not. We might be done in the segment, but you're not.

7.13, 2.1, 2, 5, 790. So, I mean, I'll be honest with you. I'll tell you about my Saturday and how I watch the game. Rich Eisenross had a really, really tough broadcast. Yeah. And we'll discuss that. And we're going to treat it with kid gloves. I thought Deshaun Winston had an up and down game. God, we were all doing it. And by the way, you're Jason Pier or Paul. tweet, which was highly inappropriate, was highly entertaining. All I said was he was having an explosive afternoon, man. I don't know. Yeah. And I said it was too soon.

I don't get what it. What's, I don't understand. 713, 212, 5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-790. We'll play which you're talking about Bill at 1 o'clock. Ross's NFL recap from the week at 1.30. We're not going over all the playoff possibility. You guys are smart.

There's the internet. But we just can tell you right now, the Texans need Kansas City to lose. Texans win and they're the number three seed. If the Chiefs win, they will play before the Texans, that means the Texans will be locked in the number four. 713-212-5-790. Our time is 12-12, but is the Matt Thomas Show, and this is Sports Talk 790.

Good news. It's the Matt Thomas show for lunch. Let that boring brown bag lunch rot in the employee refrigerator. Oh, what's that smell? The Matt Thomas Show on Sports Talk 790. here from Sacramento. Ross is back to Houston. So it's Pro Nick Low. We got to,

which is talking about Bill coming up at 1 o'clock today. What do you think about Ross, Clay Walker, singing the National Anthem at the Saints Titans game yesterday? Have you ever been a relationship, Matt, where you know it's time to break up and you kind of are like, I wish they would just cheat on me or something

so we can just end this thing? That's how I feel. I wish Clay Walker would just cheat on the Texans so they could just get this thing. over with and end it and so he can go and be with the Titans. Please, please, please. Somebody that was at the game yesterday can give me some sort of correspondence that he screamed Go Titans at the very end.

Because if he did that, then the Texans as an organization would have to eliminate the song. Because let me tell you something. The Texans have some very bright people on the business side. Football. Business side, absolutely. They would not allow that. So please, even if we have to, Ross, if we have to make it up, let's get

him screaming go tightens at some point yesterday. Now, it didn't work because the Clay Walker curse is real. He sings a national anthem at your game and bad things happen, i.e. New Orleans with a win yesterday. But this is maybe the straw. Maybe this is the final straw. Maybe this is where we get rid of the god-awful song and the fact that we never let Clay Walker sing a national anthem again.

Because apparently he's just making a living running around the country singing national anthems. It doesn't mean, you cannot as a member of the, the of the Texans family, go to Tennessee and sing. You have to politely Ross, and I know this seems, you know, very petty, but you are the voice of the fight song of the team of a rival in your division. Sometimes you have to say no thanks to an invitation to sing the national anthem. Sometimes you've got to say, I'm team Texan, thank you for the opportunity, but no thank you.

Yeah, but it's not, you know, it's a little different when you, if he's just doing the national anthem, all he's doing is honoring our country. It's not like he went and said it's football time in Nashville. Maybe he should. I just found out he also performed at a Chief's Titans game on January 7th, 2018. Or that's when the video was posted. I'm not sure exactly when the game was. Yeah.

At the Titans game? Wow. Yep. Where's he from? I thought he's from Texas. Yeah, but he's obviously trying to keep alive his music career. And he's thinking that he's in Nashville. He's probably singing in a recording studio.

And hey, they called me, so I can't say, know because I'm a national anthemaholic. Oh, wow. Clay Walker was born in Viter, Texas. Ooh. Yeah. He's cheating on you, Texans fans. Texans caring.

You cannot be happy with this. Traveling Texan, you cannot be happy with this. He's cheating on you. So when that song gets played this Sunday at 325. Saturday. Or no, yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah, Sunday. I'm sorry.

I'm thinking of the playoff game. That'll be Saturday. That's Saturday 3.30, Ross. Let's not get ahead of our. When that song is played, you stand up in your chair, not on your chair, but in front of your chair, and you turn your back to the crowd, to the field and say, I'm not going to allow Titan National Anthem singer to let me get myself fired up for this big time game between the Titans and the Texans. Clay Walker is going, if he gets asked this week to sing the national anthem, he'll get one of those split jerseys, Ross, half Titan half Texan. Is that what we want in Houston, Texas on the final Sunday, the regular season? No.

Wow. There's a traitor in our midst is what you're saying. That's exactly what I'm saying. Okay, some other observations. So I'm watching the first half. Now, the room and I had in Phoenix did not have NFL network, so I watched it online the first half. And I'd like, you know, it's lunchtime.

I'll go to, well, I mean, I went to Hooters. It is what it is. You know, there's no big city wings in Phoenix. I wish there was. So Sam, get on it. But I wasn't craving for some chicken wings. And Ross, again, remote for you. Dot biz would have been beautiful at this place.

First of all, they had on some one-double-A playoff game. The restaurant didn't even know there was an NFL game going on. Granted, it's the Buccaneers and the Texans, so it's not like it's a hotbed of fan base in Phoenix. So I said, hey, do you mind putting the game on? Oh, what channels it on? I said NFL Network. So the first thing they do is I go to ESPN and it's not there.

So then they put the game on for me, and I said, hey, I know this great music from 1993 is really cool, but would you mind putting the audio on of the game? He goes, what channels are on? I said, you just changed to the NFL network. Well, you didn't say it that way. No, I was very polite because I wanted to be fed. I didn't want my, I didn't want to have spit on my wings.

Yeah, those queso fries would have a little extra on them. Ross, it took them an additional 15 minutes. I had the video of the Texans game on the TV and the audio of the New Mexico bowl on for 20 minutes. Well, hold on. You said 15 and now it's 20, Matt, which is it, number one? It's probably closer to 15. Okay. And number two, now you need to make audio equipment for U.S? No, remoteforu.biz will handle all of that for you.

Okay. Audio and visual. Okay. Yes. Can they keep the TV in your hotel room on the same channel? No, I'm serious. Someone is changing the channel in my room. And I'm by myself. Is it still happening? It happened to one. time during the break. Wow. Now I'm consistent. Well, this is why Remote for U.Dibis is destined to fail. Why? Basically what you're trying to do is make Hooters waitresses smart. And that's just

a losing proposition, Matt. Oh, man. Okay. So, the audio finally gets on. And Rich Eisen. And remember, again, look, play-by-play is very difficult. And I mentioned this on my Twitter fee as this was going on.

I make mistakes all the time. Oh, and Okay, I don't need you push now. Okay, let me explain my own mistakes. I'm sorry. You're going to get a variety of players that have similar names or share names. For instance, in Saturday's game with the Phoenix Suns, the sons have a Cameron Johnson and they have a Tyler Johnson. They're two different ball players. They don't look alike.

They play different spots on the floor. They have different uniform numbers. But once or twice during the game, you'll accidentally flip their name. Isn't there a team with like three or four TJs in the NBA? I don't know. I haven't run across one. So what you do is if you catch yourself making a mistake, you try not to do that. And what do you try to do? What I do, and again, every play by play person has his own quirk is that I will get a small,

either a piece of paper or an index card, and I will hold the name of the name I'm getting wrong. And so now I can always look down very briefly to make sure that I get it right every time. And usually that fixes it. That happens especially in football. So any of you, and I'm sure most of you that watched the broadcast knew that Rich was having a very difficult time with T.J. TJ, with Deshawn Watson and James Winston. Yeah, the Pacers have T.J. McConnell, T.J. Leif and T.J. Warren.

Ooh. How would you like to be calling some baser games, Matt? I've only got one in the Eastern Conference, thank goodness. Point being is this. And he also had a Watson that Winston was throwing to, which made things even worse. I don't know if the producer was saying, hey, you're messing this up or not, or whatever, but it was going on and on and on.

Now, obviously, Rich said, look, I'm goofing this up, and I'm sorry. But it was just, it's tough to give a guy who has limited play-by-play experience a game in December where he's the only game on. And if you have those names going in and it's a problem, get that index card to hold it and just try to make sure that you can use it as a reference, a little cheat sheet, if you will. But it was getting really bad. And people on Twitter, Ross, and here's a stunner, were getting really upset when Rich continued to goof it up even late to the second quarter.

I mean, I wasn't mad at him. I just found it entertaining. I thought it was funny. And then he turned into it. And he's like, is that Watson or Whitson? Like, he was making jokes about it. So, I mean, he did all he could. I just say he's very talented.

I mean, he is the face of that network and took a pretty big risk by leaving ESPN to go to it. I mean, he's very successful. The NFL draft coverage is good. The Sunday game day show is good. It just was just an off situation. And that's why I'm just saying that it happens to all of us. So for anybody that's a talk show host or a play-by-play guy that's going to crucify Rich, it's ridiculous because we've all done it before.

We're all going to do it again. And I'm just saying that a lot of times you can avoid future mistakes by having a little cheat-cheed or having someone in your ear say, hey, be aware of the fact that you're mixing up the names. It happens to all of us. I thought for the game itself, Ross, it was, God, the Texans have got to play better. Can I just leave it at that? Is there any other way I can say it? They have to play better.

They got to play better. O'Brien's got to coach better. We all got to get better. Well, no, I don't think we've got to get better. You and I are doing great. I'm practicing for what you're talking about Bill. Oh, okay. I mean, that's got to be one of them, right?

That's got to be one of them. So this week is interesting. As I said before, but closing out the first segment of the show, if the Chiefs win and they play the Chargers this Sunday in Kansas City, it's the noon game, the Kansas City Chiefs would lock themselves into the three spot, the Texans would lock themselves into four. This whole Bill O'Brien notion of,

we're going out to win this game on Sunday. Rossi, what do I tell you about the average person? They lie five times a day? Well, I say three, but it feels like sometimes people are, maybe the average is bumping up in 2019 to four to five. He's absolutely lying to you. If the Kansas City Chiefs win that football game at 12 noon, I want to see A.J. McCarran quarterbacking for four quarters this Sunday against Tennessee.

You know, this is kind of like our playoff game. No, it's not, actually. It's just quite the opposite. They should treat this Sunday's game like the fourth preseason game. I want Ross for there to be players out there that I've never heard of before. for my entire life. I mean, the Adric Carr should be the lead target for A.J. McCarran.

No. No, Adam Schuster, you, yeah, this is not happening. It's been reiterated like three times now. He's playing to win. That's ridiculous. Doesn't matter. That's stupid. Doesn't matter.

Am I right on this, Houston? I mean, seriously. The Texas are not going to get any better this week. Fun is winning. We know who. Adam Schaefter, despite likely being the AFC's number four seed, Bill O'Brien told reporters on a conference call today,

he has no plans to rest players in Sunday's regular season finale against the Titans, and quote, we are playing to win. He better be lying to you, Ross. There is absolutely no reason. Deshaun Watson needs a week off and not to get hit. We're going to get break, though, but I'm going to disagree with you, Matt. All right, you can disagree with me you want. Let me tell you some.

You can disagree with me all you want, But if DeAndre Hopkins pulls a hammy in this game when he shouldn't be out there, you'll be back on my side in a matter of milliseconds. 713-212-5-790. The Texans are inconsistent. Playing week 17 isn't going to change him from being an inconsistent team to a consistent team. 7-13-212-5-790. 7-1-3-2-1-790. Do you want the Texans to go for this week-17 win?

Because I don't think the Chiefs are going to lose to Los Angeles. which means they will be locked in the number four spot. You rest, you play people you've never heard of, and you watch A.J. McCarran throw the ball 25 times. 713-212-5-790. With Ross and Nick, I'm Matt here in Sacramento, and this is Sports Talk 790. It's live and local.

It's uncut and unbiased. It's Sports Talk 790. The best coverage of your teams continues. 1235 on the Matt Thomas show from Sacramento, Rockets and Kings tonight used to try for their fourth consecutive win. We don't need Ross and Nemanya Bielitsa three-pointer from 30-plus feet to end tonight's game. Agreed? Well, yeah, if it, you know, brings the Kings within like 12 with three seconds to go.

I'm okay with it. Okay. All right. So I want you, by the way, if you'd like to join us today, 7-1-3. We are live. We should tell everybody. It's December 23rd, 1235 Central Standard Time. It's 1035 here in the west.

713-212-5-7-9 if you'd like to join it. 7-13-212-5-7-90. Ross, give me a compelling argument why when the Chiefs beat the Chargers this Sunday, the Texans should play most of their regulars. Okay, wait, the Chiefs play first? Yes. Okay, never mind.

Yeah, I don't care. If the Chiefs haven't lost, then no. There's no reason to play your starters. Okay, well, then this makes a terrible second. I'm sorry. I misunderstood. Because I thought there, I mean, Chiefs and Chargers would be a 3 o'clock game, naturally, in your mind, you would think.

But, yeah, they flexed it because of all the implications for the AFC second wildcard. Yeah, they moved it all around. So, yeah, you've got the Chargers, Chiefs at noon. So the Texans will be on the field, and they're, I'm going to, again, Bill's line. Yeah, Bill can check his phone in the first quarter, right? No, it'll be over because the game will be over by 325 years. Yeah, probably. What if it's going to overtime?

What if old Philly Rivers is scrapping? Is Philly Rivers even going to play the game? He shouldn't. I don't even know who the backup quarterback is of the Chargers. By the way, I don't even get to tell the audience. You played the Fantasy Championship. Did you win? No, it's not over yet.

I'm up 41 points, and he has Stefan Diggs. Oh, you're fine, then. You're won. Well, I'm just not putting any eggs in the basket yet. Tell the audience who your fantasy quarterback was that played for the championship. be one James Winston. I went and looked at your scorecard early on when he kept throwing interception after interception. He was at about negative four at one point.

The worst I saw it was minus 3.88. Yeah, maybe that was, yeah, maybe that's what I'm thinking. Buddy Rowley, because you give you lots of yards, just like he normally does. He threw one touchdown. Could you imagine, and this is the end of our Buccaneer conversation for the show today, could you imagine being a Buccaneer fan and having James Winston as your quarterback? I mean, there are times where he is throwing darts down the field and a electrifying, but I felt like every time he dropped back, the Texans had just as much of a chance

to catch a pass from him as anybody on the Buccaneers. And I also, I think you've got to give him a little bit of a pass too, because he's been dealing with the broken thumb. And his top two receivers were out. Yes. But do you really think at the end of the day that's going to change who James Winston is? I think he would, I think without a broken thumb and better receivers, yes, he would be better. I still think he's an interception machine.

I still like him. Not to this level, though. No, but I wouldn't give him a four-year contract, but it's that way. No, I wouldn't do that either. Okay. So we'll get what you're talking about Bill coming up at the top of the hour, and I'm sure we will have a question. It will be directed towards whether or not the starters are going to play a lot in the game.

And again, if he plays meaningful starters for any length of time, he is playing with poison, especially if the tech. Now, let me tell you this, Ross. If the Chiefs do lose, then absolutely he plays a. starters because the difference in playing Buffalo or playing any combination of Tennessee, Oakland, or Pittsburgh is dramatic. Pittsburgh can't, I mean, they had a bad backup quarterback who got replaced. That guy got hurt. The bad quarterback comes back and Pittsburgh goes last yesterday to the Jets and loses. They're not very good. Tennessee two-game losing

streak. You've already beaten them. You're probably going to probably beat them again this Sunday. beat them, they're out, they're not very good. And Oakland needs like five different combinations. You've already beaten them. The difference between playing Buffalo and any of the other three teams I just mentioned is dramatic. So we will know at 3 o'clock how important and who to play for because if you want that three seed, I think it's a much clearer path to playing for at least a division around playoff game where you'll go to Baltimore and lose. And I'll put it this way.

Doesn't Bill, I mean, if he wants his players to be ready, if the scenario plays out at three, he has to come out and say, we're playing no matter what. That way they prepare that way, I think. That's right. And so he could be like, hey, you know what? Yeah, we're going 100%.

And then 3 o'clock comes, and Deshaun Watson plays like one series. Well, I don't think he plays any series. I think he practices all week. I think he's got to fix that heel or whatever it was kind of tugging out of the game. and then he just doesn't put the uniform. I mean, you know, put the uniform on a warm up,

and he gets to, you know, have someone hold his helmet at 1.30, 2, 233, and then 325, you put the helmet away for good. And, oh, by the way, JJ Watt, and well, I'm sure we're going to update on this, doesn't need to play either. If J.J. Watt is really going to come back from this peck injury and be a guy that's going to be able to help this team, which would be a stunner, then he can go beat himself up during practice. Playing a live football game on the week 17 would not make any sense.

I would also, oh, sorry, I thought you were doing that. I would also take it a step further, Matt. I would sign T.J. Yates as a player coach and have him as the backup in case McCarran gets hurt. You, why do you, why? You're not the only person in Fetch who are T.J. Yates being in Houston, Texas. You know, he's around. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. He's an offensive assistant.

Who is more integral in helping the Texans? Brian Cushing, assistant strength coach or T.J. T.J. Yates, Texan's offensive assistant. I'll go T.J. Yates. Yeah. I probably would do that same too. Because, I mean, is whatever I mean, no disrespect to Brian Cushing.

Is whatever he's doing as strength coach any better or worse than I don't know, any of the other 31 NFL teams? This is who your strength and conditioning coach is going to be. It's going to be some guy who played at least at the collegiate level. He's jacked to the gills. He yells at you. And he reads a lot of nutrition books and goes to

seminars a couple times a year. And screams it players a lot to get them fired up. And fills you up with vitamins. Wink, wink. They better be just vitamins. Oh, I'm sorry, just vitamins. 1242 on the Matt Thomas show. 713-212-5-790.

7-1-3-212-5-7-90. Rossi, when I come back, I have to tell you about one of the funniest things I have seen on television in a very long period of time. I'll give you a hint. It was this weekend, and it was very late at night.

night. But it was amazing. 1242, the Matt Thomas Show, 713212-5-790. Happy Christmas Eve, Eve, E, from all of us here at Sports Talk 790. Matt Thomas, we'd like to thank his parents for only giving him two first names. Because who would listen to Billy Ray Thomas talk about Houston sports? The Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790. I'm just teasing. My kids are actually pretty much my whole life now. And you know what, but if you had told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring stay-at-home, you know, house dad, and Bill Cosby would be in jail. Even I would have took that bet.

I'll tell you. Who is America's Dad? 1248 on the Matt Thomas Show. Ross, I've always been a Saturday Night Live fan. Even when people said it wasn't funny anymore, you'd still figure I don't find out a way to record on your dean. Even the very thin years you persevered, which had surprised me over the years. But, yes. I mean, there was some time that you were really questioning whether you should stick with it.

And I'll be honest, I backed off the last three or four years. Oh, really? Yeah. Now, you know, with the world now where you go on YouTube or you go to Hulu and get clips, it's better just to watch the three-minute segment or the five-minute sketch as compared to watching the whole thing because there's going to be a lot of crap in there. So we went out to dinner last night here in Sacramento, a cold kind of dreary day here in Northern California,

and the guys are like, hey, let's go out and get some pops after dinner. And I'm like, ah, I'm going to pass. Going up to the room, got the Hulu account going. I watched Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live from this past Saturday. You know, the show's 90 minutes. Yes. And my favorite musical performer was on there, too. Yes, Lizzo, your fave.

My fave. So she was on there. and Eddie was on there. Of the 90 minutes, and I will not count the Lizzo parts, just cut those out. So that's basically what, 80 minutes, right, of comedy and commercials.

78 of it was absolutely some of the funniest television I have ever seen in my entire life. The last skit was not very good, but that's usually how Saturday Night Live works, where the last one is the worst of the group. everything else Ross was as funny as Eddie Murphy has ever been from Gumby

to Mr. Robinson's neighborhood Black Jeopardy was I mean everything he had it Ross I'm just a personal recommendation it was the best and he has not lost it at all I mean he's you know it was 35 years in between appearances on Saturday Night Live from the time he left

to the time he guest hosted And the show was phenomenal. So I don't know if any of you all saw it as well out there. I saw it. What do you think? I will, I will, I will dial it back just maybe like half a notch from you.

I'm not going to say it's like the, I mean, everything was very entertaining. I thought it was good. It was the first time I'd sat down and watched an entire Saturday night live show. Honestly, in like a decade. I can't even remember the last time I sat through an entire Saturday night live episode.

And I think part of you, Matt, I don't know if you were like this. I was just wanting to see what they would do next. Like which of the characters was going to come back? Which what? When am I going to see Gumbie? And of course, they did Mr. Robinson's neighborhood right out of the gate. But I mean, when am I going to see this?

When am I going to see that? What's going to happen here? And I thought it was all pretty good. I mean, the sketch where the dad was at the Christmas family and thanking everybody, but it was all a horrible experience for everybody. That was funny. I thought everything was pretty good. It was a very solid episode for sure.

I mean, I'm on being honest about this. For someone as an S&L fan like I have been, I don't know if I've ever sat through an entire episode in, like, five years. I only know, like, two people on the show now. Right. Kenan Thompson, who does, you know, all the Black Jeopardy host and all that, he's very funny. And then the kind of the heavyset girl, she's pretty funny, too.

But the rest of the characters, I know I knew who they were. You don't know who, like Colin Yost is the... Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, speaking of that. Yeah. They're not supposed to break character. Lorne Michaels, who has been the executive producer for a bet 95% of the show, hates it when the guys and the women on the show break character and they start laughing at their own stuff.

He hates that. They were belly laughing because apparently at the end of each Christmas episode, the two anchors, Michael Che and Colin Yost, they give each other jokes to read stories, and the anchors don't read them ahead of time. They were losing their, you know what, as they were reading these stories. That was funny. the Fox News analyst who was vomiting on Colin Yose was hysterical. That was pretty funny.

And then Gumpy on the set, just killing Michael Jay. I mean, you know what it did wrong? I'm not trying to sell this show too much. Well, actually, I'm going to sell it. It gave me hope that there is still some funniness on regular television. The whole opening skit with Dave Chappelle on there and Chris Rock. Tracy Morgan Tracy Morgan

And they bring the white guy out there And they say he's Joe Piscop. I mean, everything about the show was hysterical. And they're just never going to replicate it Because the show just isn't that funny anymore. But I thought Eddie Murphy was great. I cannot wait to see coming to America too. I hear he's going

Sounds like he's going to go back on tour. Ross, if Eddie Murphy comes on tour, we're going to go see him. Okay. That would be interesting. Because you and I have had a mixed bag of, of concert goings. We went to Paul Simon, nearly fell asleep.

We went to Stevie Wonder together. And it took him three hours and finally sing songs we even recognized. I mean, Stevie Wonder was phenomenal. It was even better once you jokers stopped whining and left. Leaving me by myself at the concert, but I was okay with that.

I was jamming with the people up in the row above me. Yeah, you were jamming. In between them, you'd been buying beers and we're having to pass it to all of them, all night long. It's not accurate. How do we feel about passing beer guy? How do we, I mean, can't.

That doesn't happen. I'm just talking about in general, forgetting about the concert. If you want a beer that damn bad, get out of your seat and go get it. I didn't come to a concert to pass your beers four times in two and a half hours. Hey, man, if the guy's a little too lit, doesn't want to stand up, I'm okay with that. I'm passing my beer. It's a one-sip minimum pass fee, though. I would say this.

I would say, Nick, you have. I would say, Nick, you have to jump in on this. I think if you have to pass a third beer, you need to get a beer of your own. Like a kind of a gratuity, if you will. That's a little much. I'm just going to take a sip of each one I pass. That would be hysteria. That's a great skit, by the way.

Speaking of Saturday Night Live, writing skits. Do I get to take a bite of the hot dogs, too? Now you're selling you're an Uber driver. By the way, Rocket Players, big Uber eats people. We're in the lobby at the hotel yesterday, and two different guys came down to get meals. and I'm like, y'all going out? Nah. What's the different?

Postmates. They were postmates guys. Let's see. DoorDash. Do you know why I don't do that? Because first of all, I want to get out. But secondly, I don't want those dudes or women eating any part of my food. Yeah.

I don't want seven to nine less french fries. Yeah. Do you got to get like a lasagna. They're not going to take a chunk of that out. I don't want to buy my garlic toast gone. You know what I'm saying? That's, I couldn't believe. Yeah, we did that for non-flora store.

right and it was like 25% of Uber eats drivers have eaten some fries if you're if you're a real pro ross you bring some smaller to go containers you keep them stashed in your car so you can cut half of their food out and put it in the small container and they just think the restaurant's screwing them well now here in sacramento there's a story in the bay area actually more in san francisco than here that now uber eats people are dropping your food off and then you know how like amazon's dropping packages off in people's apartments and condominiums. They're now stealing them. Well, how?

You have to hand off. You have to hand the food off. No, you hand the food off. And then you say, hey, thank you very much. Appreciate you. And then like two minutes later, those Uber each drivers are hanging around and stealing your packages. Don't ask me how.

They're stealing your packages while you're eating because they know you're inside eating food? No, they're stealing other people's packages. What they're doing is they're going to apartment complexes, dropping the food off, hanging around. Oh, since they were. able to get in with the gate code or whatever, then they just start ripping people off. That's a pretty good scam.

But the problem is that you don't know what you're getting. I mean, I'm assuming that Amazon, you know, this time of year is going to be gifts, cool stuff. But how many toasters can one person steal? Well, you've got to sell them in the resale market, Matt. Oh, it sounds like you've plotted this out nicely. I haven't, no. Okay, that's good. All right, let's do this.

Let's get what you're talking about. Bill started here. This is where Ross has to guess the sound bites of what Bill. Bill O'Brien said today at his weekly press conference. That is next. Time is 1257. It's the Matt Thomas Show. Sacramento and Houston represent today here on Sports Talk 790.

Yeah. Is the Matt Thomas show. You know, it's not always easy, right? This league is not easy. And that was the sign of a very resilient team. Defensively, you guys did a hell of a job. Offensively, we did what we had to do. And I thought special teams came through big for us today.

Congratulations on AMC South Champs. Congratulations, you guys have earned this. You've earned it. You are a resilient bunch of guys. Resilient bunch of guys that have come to work every day. Congratulations on that win right there. Congratulations. We need to visit 10th, right?

Yes, so one, two, three. Fourth time in five years, the Houston Texans of the AFC South. champions. Rossi six times this decade. A. F.C. South banner will be raised inside NRG Stadium. Did they have a banner for every single one? I'm assuming so. Why? Why? I mean why. You have to be a chance. Somebody's got to be champion in the division. That's pathetic. I disagree. I mean, it's not as pathetic as the Colts AFC championship game participant. That was stupid. Banner. That is the worst banner in the history of sports. Now, the Texans have to go farther, but when you win a division, you should

have something hung in the stadium raptors, especially because there is nothing else to celebrate. There's no AFC championship. There's no Super Bowl appearance. None of that. I mean, this is a franchise that its crescendo has been South championships, six of them in this decade. You got to compact that into one banner that says with like the number embroidered for every year. Oh, you're saying one banner would just put a year on it. I go with that. I'm okay with that. But putting up six banners for six AFC South Championship games, I mean,

six, well, how many they have now in their history? Is it six? Yeah, I don't think they won prior to 2011. Kubiak won one at once or twice. Not in the 2000s, I don't think. Did they not win it when they was 12 and 4? Or were the Colts that are really good at one of those years, too? I thought 2011 was their first one.

But I could be wrong. I mean, we can look it up. The point being is this. Yeah, okay. So one banner is fine. I don't care how you describe it, but you got to put it up there. It's got to be up there to show that this team has been better.

Yeah, they've got six total titles. Yeah, that's what I said, six times, this decade. It's all this decade. You can't put up six banners for that. That's absurd. This team has been far superior than Indianapolis, Tennessee, and Jackson. just the greats of the NFL in this division.

All right, with that being said, you just heard Bill O'Brien moments after Saturdays win against Tampa Bay. Time for us to find out what he said today as we do this. What you're doing about you, Joe, Joe, Mike your John about. Coach O'Brien. All right, Rossi, we're going to put you to work today. Wonderful. Like we always do. This is the, if you're unfamiliar to what we do here, everybody in sports radio play soundbites.

but frankly, they just kill time. We try to make it a little bit of an entertainment segment by trying to have Ross guess exactly what Bill O'Brien is thinking. We give them the slug line. Now, sometimes the lines are really good, sometimes they got awful. So we give a little bit of a curve, if you will, but Nick and I great on a five-star scale, one being awful, five being the best,

and how close Ross gets to what Bill O'Brien says in his weekly press conference. we'll open things up with 17 seconds Ross Bill O'Brien asked about playing more consistently 17 seconds Ooh does he get combative playing more consistently

Well you know we've won the division four out of the last five years So I feel like that's pretty consistent But I mean I know what you're saying We can play a little bit better Game in and game out And those are things that we have to work on And we have to get better

And so sometimes you know things happen. It's the National Football League. The other guys are good, too. So we're not always going to be perfect, but we're always going to look at the tape and try to get better every single week. Here's Bill. Yeah, we just need to, we need to figure that out. We've got to figure it out here this week. You know, we just

need to, you know, everybody, coaches and players alike, need to come together on just doing the best we can to execute at a very consistent high level. Okay. Not bad. Not bad. Sometimes he gets a jab in there about how good he's done, and then he

answers the question. I was hoping he was going to do that with the four years out of five. I'd give you three and a half. Thank you. I'm going to downgrade it to three, but definitely yeoman's effort there. Thank you. Twelve seconds, Ross, asked about possibly playing the Titans three out of four weeks to end the season. Well, that'd be tough. They're a good football team. You get to know each other. Obviously, there's no secrets between us. They're a good football team, so playing anybody in the National Football League's tough, especially them. I'm going to say this. I've not heard this either. I'm going to go in and jump into this and say, I don't think it matters who we play.

We just have to be really at our best, somewhere along those lines. Here's Bill. Yeah, I mean, I don't think too much about it. What are you going to do, right? You know, it is what it is. I think you've got to do the best you can to be ready to go and do what you think is necessary to win the game. By the way, though, they can't play them three weeks out of four, right? Yeah, I don't think that's mathematically possible.

If they lose, they're out. if the Titans lose their out if they win then the Texans are going to get the bills anyway then the Texans are getting the bills all right let's make sure we get this right the Texans get the three seed

if they win and Kansas City loses if both teams if both teams lose still Kansas City gets it but then the Titans would be out and they wouldn't play them anyway yeah because the only way the Titans get in is a six seed

So in fact, the press conference gave you erroneous information, right? No, actually, they can lose, and then the Steelers and Colts both lose and then they're in. Still drops to Texans to four. No, no, no, I'm sorry. The Titans can lose. If both the Steelers and the Colts lose, then the Texans would be, yeah, they'd be, then you, okay, so you need the Chiefs to win. I'm sorry, if the Chiefs lose, Texans win. right. Colts lose,

Steelers lose, then they can play each other. And Raiders lose, too. I don't know. I think the Raiders don't factor because they'd both be A&A and I think Titans have a tiebreaker over them. No, there's a scenario that has Oakland going to the playoffs. That's, I don't know what it is then. Okay, so then we're going to then allow Tennessee to be a potential Texans factor then, after all.

Oh, then the Raiders lose too. How about that? Fine. Okay. Next up. Jeez. What am I going to go with? Oh, here we go. This is a meaty one, Ross. Okay, how great. 47 and a half seconds.

47 and a half. Come on, Nick. What are you dropping 47? I mean, is my show me talking less than Bill O'Brien 48 seconds? Yeah. Well, he's the one that talked. I didn't make him go 48 seconds. What would a playoff run mean to you as a coach, Ross?

What's talking about, Bill? Well, I mean, it's not about me. Yeah, I don't even know where to go. Let me try. Look, the playoff run, it would be important for the organization. It'd be important for these players and for these coaches. I mean, we know what stands in front of us, and we know that we have one goal in mind,

and that goal is to get to the Super Bowl and win it. So a playoff run would be special for everybody. It wouldn't necessarily mean anything for me. I just think that's what we're trying to get done. So we're looking at the games ahead of us and just going to try to make some noise when we get to the playoffs. but right now we're focused on Tennessee. I think to be here with this staff and a lot of these players,

to be here for six years and to win four division titles, I think that's pretty good. And so I think the ultimately is when you get into the playoffs, we all understand what the ultimate goal is. We're going to work hard to be ready to go. But I think this whole deal today and this week is about Tennessee. I really believe that. I think that, you know, we've got to be ready to go and we've got to play the game to win

because it's a very important game. It's a division rival. We know that we're in the playoffs. We know that Tennessee has to win to get into playoffs. And we need to go out there and be ready to go and play this game to win. So I think that's most important thing this week. I don't think I've ever done better on one. You crushed.

I think, honestly, when they're longer soundbites, they give the advantage. to you because you've got a real huge zone to go into. All right, two more. Here we go. Asked, will Kansas City playing at noon affect who you start on Sunday? 27 and a half seconds?

No, we're not focused on Kansas City or any scenarios or anything. We're focused on the Houston Texans. We're focused on getting our guys ready for Tennessee and playing as hard as possible and we're going to go out there and we're going to try to win the game. because that's the goal.

That's why we play. So we're not focused on Kansas City or anything like that. We're focused on us in trying to win the game. Well, look, I think that anytime we take the field, you know, based on what we're all about, our program and what we're trying to do here and what we've tried to build here for six years is we're about trying to win.

It's all about the game, trying to win games. We realize all those things that you just said are very important factors to take into relative to where we're at, but we need to play to win the game. Yeah, he's lying. Because if there's nothing to play for, he will not put his starters in. It's just the right thing to do. Hopefully he's lying, right?

Oh, yeah, he's lying. And that's okay. First of all, the average person lies three times a day. Secondly, he's going to lie to you. Sorry, wait a minute. I can't be at seven lies at 11, 12 a.m. Pacific time, can I? I'm at per day. Oh, thank you. Yeah. No, he's not telling the truth.

All right, last one, Ross. 12 seconds. O'Brien asked about J.J. Watt returning. Look, that's something that's been discussed. You'd have to ask him about it. You'd have to ask the doctors about it. I just go with the players that I know are going to be available.

So I don't know. You've got to ask them. 12 seconds. Yeah, I'm going to pass on that question coming out. Yeah, I'm not up here to talk about JJ. We'll get to that when we get to that, whether it's this season or off season or whatever. Yeah, he's lying there. He didn't say doctor, but, you know, I got twice.

Yeah, he's playing. I mean, if he had Rappaport's reporting that J.J. Watts going to play, he's playing. Isn't that where O'Brien feeds all of his materials to Rappenberg? Yeah, he's playing. All right. Ross, this might have been your greatest, which time about Bill ever. We're into the year on a bang on this segment. Well, we've still got at least two more of these, right?

We have the next Monday getting ready for the playoff, and then obviously... We'll be out of town. Oh, well, you know what, Nick? Wait, me, Nick, you can't pull what you're talking about Bill because you're going to want to cut us. I would need someone else to cut the sound. You can get Gordy in here. Or you know what? I can try it.

And then Nick, you throw them to man. I can do it. Yeah, I'll do it next week. I'll try to guess. Wonderful. Because the segment is strong. Listen to that, I mean, look at all the people that love listening to this second, what you're on my bill. Look at line three.

They love it. Line two loves it. Line four loves it. And, of course, line five. We never check line one because line one never works. All right. So with that being said, Ross crushed it. We got the NFL recap with Ross coming up at the bottom of the hour,

which I'm hopefully going to involve some Jerry Jones sound bites because his little cowboys are melting down right in before us, and it's not a terrible thing. 713-212-5-79 if you'd like to join us today. 7-13-212-5-790. 7-13-212-5-7-90. Up next. How do the Texans handle an IP with another IP player?

114 on Sports Talk 790. Lunch timers. This is the Matt Thomas Show. 119 on the Matt Thomas show. I'm here in Sacramento, California. Ross and Nick are back in our Houston studios. Anything from the weekend you'd like to discuss? Rockets with a couple of impressive wins against the Lakers and the Sons.

and Lakers, the Clippers and the Sons. 713-212-5-7-90 to join us, 7-1-3-21-2-5-7-90. If you saw Saturday Night Live on Saturday and laughed as much as I did, I'd like to be able to give affirmation on that. All right, Ross, back to the Texans real quick before we get to the NFL rewind at the bottom of the hour. Why can't Will Fuller ever stay healthy? Is it because his body just isn't capable of staying healthy in an NFL uniform? I mean, that's got to be the case.

How many years is he into his NFL career now? This is the thing, though. He's so small. And I always get worried about, I mean, you worry about, like in baseball, pitchers who are short and small, and you worry about in football, basically anybody who's short and small. Like, I mean, Kevin Johnson, the cornerback that they had for years, he looks small and frail.

Will Fuller is the same guy. I mean, the guy can run as quick as just about anybody in the NFL, but he is just, he just gets banged up too easily. It just seems like he's not built for the NFL right now. Or at any point. No, at any point. And here's the problem. He is such a tangible that needs to be, you know, it makes a team better.

The threat of him on the football field opens things up for the tight ends. It opens things up for Duke Johnson. It certainly opens things up for DeAndre Hopkins. But I feel like every time that he's talked about, to Bill O'Brien, not to anybody in the team, but the team's going to defend him. I mean, you're not going to crush a teammate for being hurt. But it's almost, you know how we always tease about being obligatory, Laramie Tenssel Offside or any of the penalties?

It's almost like it's not a question of how often Will Fuller is going to get hurt. It's when's the next time he's going to get hurt. They called me Mr. Glass. Is that what you're saying? I'm saying that his body, I mean, you don't, he's not dangerous in the football field, right? These are things that are happening because his body isn't able to play at the NFL level. He's not jumping into a bunch of linebackers and trying to push off.

He's not trying to make, I mean, he's doing, I don't, again, I'm not sitting there watching every one of his routes. But the types of things he's going through are not because of contact. Groyne issues, meaning he's running down the football field and pulling something. Same thing with a hamstring. it'd be one thing, Ross, if he was getting concussed because he wouldn't go down after catching a football. It wouldn't be another thing if he was running dangerous routes and getting smacked across the middle of the field. He's hurting himself. I'm going to assume with non-contact injuries, right?

This groin of his has gotten him in a lot of trouble. Yeah, no, I'm with you, Matt. It's just, it's just, like, he's just running. Like, he's just hurting himself just going out there and running. And that's when you start, I mean, I'm not with him on his off-season workout regimen, but I mean, is he preparing correctly? Is he having hamstring issues because he's having, you know, eating Big Macs and drinking sodas all the time and not taking care of his body? Because that can happen with soft tissue issues if you're not taking care of yourself.

So, I mean, is this on him or is this just his body failing? I don't know what it is, but either way, it's not working right now for him. I get here's the thing here's what we don't know we don't know if he is not taking care of his body in the office season as you said but once you get into the season we're talking like July Ross the Texans watch everything you do so I wouldn't think

that Big Macs in May are going to crush you in the month of December I could be wrong Maybe he's Uber eating Big Macs before game days. Do you, I mean, again, they're not watching. Extra large Dr. Pepper. They're not watching him 24-7. I get that.

But, you know, what is his bill? What do they mark him as in terms of height and weight here? I mean, Wikipedia would say 6 foot 185. So the question is, do a lot of players that are receivers at 6 feet 184, are they able to I mean, Deshaun is different. I mean, DeAndre is a different build. Google has him at 6 foot 172. Okay, so there's a wide discrepancy of what he is.

I just, I don't know. Because he's so, when he sprints down the field, and when they go for that home run ball once or twice a year or game, you know, most times it works. His hands have gotten better. They're still not going to be amazing, but they're better than what they were when he first drafted on under day. But the fact of the matter is you can't continue to have this as a constant storyline because the Texans, frankly Ross, have not spent a lot of time building up depth behind him.

Kenny Stills came via trade. That did work out. But Kenny Stills is a good receiver, but he doesn't command the same type of respect that Will Fuller does. But frankly, Will Fuller is a, I mean, not Will Fuller. Kenny Stills is a bigger part of this team because at least I know that Kenny Stills is going to play every week. now he is a question mark for games this week. Again, most NFL pundits are saying that Will's not playing. And then that leaves him up in the air for the playoffs.

How do you effectively win playoff games when your deep threat is a constant, quote-unquote, game time decision? You don't. He was part of the reason that he didn't play in the playoff game last year, correct? That I don't remember. I think they didn't have hardly anything at wide receiver. And I think that was part of the reason. Texans only scored seven points in that game. So here's the thing.

You have Will Fulner constantly hurt. You have Kiki Kootie who gets hurt and then gets in the doghouse. They're going to have to attack the wide receiver position. I would say in the draft, but they don't have any draft picks. They're going to have to go get some people in free agency, right? They're going to have money to spend. They've had money to spend. It's time for the Texans.

And obviously it's too late to worry about it right now. But they're ultimately going to have to go get a legit number two receiver. Because what's happening right now is, is the obligatory. Let's go to the Texan sideline and see Will Fuller out of uniform. Yeah, there's no Will Fuller in the playoff game. Yeah, and it's holding the Texans back. It just is.

And thank God that Deshaun wants it can move around a little bit. How many times do you think he was destined for a sack against Tampa Bay? Now, great, James and Pierre, Paul got to him a bunch of times as it is. But the escapeability of Deshawn was phenomenal, especially in the middle of field. Now, that could be offensive line up, too, or those offensive. offensive lineman leaving the middle of the field open to him. But that's just a dangerous spot for the quarterback to be in. But there was probably at least three or four times that I felt like that Rich Isid was prepared to make a sack call.

And if you've watched any Texans games, and if you're calling a game, you know you can't say that. Because if there's anybody in the NFL that's going to be able to escape a sack, better than Deshaun Watson. I want to know who it is. So I don't know. It's just highly discouraging that I feel like there is a, the, this, this, The Texans offense is, it's not coincidental that they don't score on opening drives. It's not coincidental that they settle for field goals

more times than they probably should. It's because, again, when the ground game isn't working and Deionery Hopkins is double-teamed and the teams can spy on him more than anybody else, the tight ends while they've been efficient, haven't been a guarantee, and there is absolutely no downfield threat that keeps the defensive honest.

And that's the reason why. I think more so the Texans have struggled anything else. I mean, look, you can complain about play calling. I think it's too easy of a narrative. Because in weeks, I mean, how would you, if you were to give Bill O'Brien a grade on his play calling issue, what would you give it? I give him a B. A B. Yeah, I think in previous years it's been a C to a D to a C minus.

Again, a lot of that is because he hasn't had a quarterback. He does now. But I don't think the Texans' futility at times on the offensive side of the football is because Bill O'Brien is, is too close. Now, there have been multiple times where it's a third and six pass route, the receiver goes five yards and that kind of thing. That's become a running joke. But I don't think it's one of those situations that all of a sudden

that Bill O'Brien has just never going to call a play, right? Because in some of the best wins of Texas have had this year, they've shown some diversity in that play calling. Thanks, guys. You're welcome. 128 of the Matt Thomas show. The Dallas Cowboys are a hot mess right now. How big of a mess they are?

We'll find out with Ross's recap next. Matt Thomas with you from Sacramento. Ross and Nick are back in Houston on Sports Talk 790. Vatters, ballers, and bangers. This is Sports Talk 790. Home for your home teams. Here we go. 133 on the Matt Thomas show.

We take it until 3 o'clock this afternoon if you'd like to chime in on what was an interesting weekend for the Texans and the NFL. 5-7-90. Rossi in the next segment, we're going to guess who gets fired in the NFL one week before Black Monday. First, time for your recap. We'll have some discussion about a possible coach getting fired during

this segment. Well, multiple coaches, let's go ahead and start it off, of course. Well, anytime we can bring up the Cowboys failing here on the show, we do that. Yep. It is fourth down at eight. Prescott, back. Prescott steps up. He is firing deep, and it is incomplete.

Incomplete. Broken up by Cindy Jones, who made the player the day against the Giants two weeks ago. It was a must-win game for the Eagles. I believe the Cowboys can still get in if the Eagles lose next week to the Giants, but that's probably not going to happen. But the Cowboys failing 17 to 9 at the Eagles in an ugly game where the offense couldn't get going. Jerry Jones, your thoughts on this game. It is a very meaningful game because of the circumstances.

within the league. And we've had times this year a lot when we didn't play as well as we wanted to play. But we had in mind stepping back up here and getting on a run and having some good things happen. This is a disappointing setback for that locker room and for all of us. I know it is for the fans. A disappointing setback, Matthew. If the Cowboys don't make the playoffs, their head coach next year is Jason Garrett, true or

false false he's getting fired regardless if they win the division they're not going to beat whoever they're supposed to play i don't i mean the nFC is so probably the seahawks i think is where it's landing at right now but i think the seahawks if they beat the nine i think

it's between the seahawks and niners who would be the five ced there yeah either one of those teams beat the cowboys comfortably vikings are clenched um and yeah both the nineers and seahawks are clinched but they're 12 and 3 and 11 and 4 i think if the seahawks when they will be ahead of the Niners and when the division and Niners will be wild card, I think.

There's a lot up in the air, Matt. All right. Well, anyways, let's move it along. But let's keep it with the NFC. Let's talk about a record that was set yesterday by New Orleans Saint. Nobody has ever said it better than Mike Thomas did himself. You simply can't guard Mike. 144 receptions.

Mike Thomas is your new single season. Record holder. How much do you care, Matt? 1 to 10, Mike Thomas, now the all-time single-season receptions leader. Two. Two? Yeah. First of all, and look, Michael Thomas is the most dominant threat right now in the NFL.

But if you were to go through a list of the best five or ten in the last 25 years, when does Michael Thomas at that list? Well, I was going to ask you, who's the best receiver in the league? right now. I don't know. I think I might go Michael Thomas. No, he is this year. I'm not arguing that. My point is this. I don't think there's a long enough resume for him. Ultimately, though, it's more a part of what the NFL is today, and that is, especially with New Orleans. I mean, just three-step drop and go.

And that's to their credit. They win a lot of football games that way. Obviously did so yesterday. And he's a tremendous threat. But again, again, the NFL, records to me of the three sports are the least glamorous. I think baseball, when you set a record in baseball, it's the most glamorous. Maybe basketball is second, and then I would put football third. Like, for instance, Drew Brees broke the touchdown record. How long has it got to hold on to that if Tom Brady all of a sudden plays two or three more years? I mean, you've got a battle between him and Drew Brees. Philip Rivers, if he stays around, has got a puncher's chance of this

as well. I think records are interesting, but they're more for us to go look at Google when we want to reference a player whether or not he's one of the greatest of all time. Well, I mean, what's wrong with Tom Brady and Drew Brees going back and forth for the touchdown record? There's two of the all-time greats. That's good stuff. I don't think that's a conversation piece with buddies at a bar. Or I think- I guess. But when you, I think baseball records with no hitters and strikeouts and home runs and, I don't know. I just think anybody's talking about the home-run record.

at a bar any more than the touchdown record. Well, we haven't had a player do that, but I think when Barry Bonds was chasing out of the market, it was absolutely everyday conversation. I don't think it was everyday conversation that Drew Brees became the all-time quarterback. I'm just telling you, I believe stat talk is more prevalent

when it's happening in baseball than it is in the other two sports. I agree with that. All right, let's move along. Let's go with Matt. How much of the Ravens-Browns game did you catch? That would be zero. Oh, well, it was a good game. The Bravens took an early lead.

I mean, the Browns got up early, but then the Ravens, of course, as they normally have done throughout the course of NFL games this year, they asserted themselves, and at some point, it looked like there was a little bit of a heated discussion going on

between one Odell Beckham Jr. And Freddie Kitchens. Here's what he had to say on it. It was something dealing with one of their guys. I don't think it wasn't the call or anything like that. I don't think there's a big deal of his voice in frustration on how they're treating. So the Browns Mac coming in with all these expectations this season.

They're now six and nine on the season. Is Freddie Kitchens their head coach next year? I'll save that for the next segment on the show, but he is definitely on the list. Ooh, okay. Look at that. So that's what you call professional radio teas. All right, fine.

Well, let's keep it along and moving on to something else. The Los Angeles Chargers have basically this entire season, been dealing with the fact that whether they're at home or on the road, the crowd is against them. And here's Philip Rivers talking about that and talking about how they have to go to a silent count. We probably could battle through it and go in the cadence a little more. But again, it's just screaming as loud as you can,

which, again, in some road stadiums, we go on the cadence every now and then. So I think it's more of a preference with the guys at front and myself that we do it in some of those situations. just so I'm not just so, you know, quiet that they're having a strain to hear that you're better off just eliminating that with the silent count. Philip Rivers having to go to the silent count, basically whether he's on the home or at home or on the road, Matt. What do you think about that?

Par for the course. What a disastrous franchise. It just is. I don't think anything of it except for the fact that they deserve all of that. And then some. It's going to be that way for the next several years, obviously. All right, well, let's get one more in here. How about the game that was on your mind, I know, Matt, the Giants and the Bengals.

Third and goal at the three. Jones in a shotgun. Barkley to his right. I mean, headskins. Signals, takes the snap. He's back to throw. Fires one right. Touchdown Giants.

Second touchdown catch for Smith. Jones fifth touchdown pass in the ball game. And the Giants win in overtime, 4135. Is that really a game? Was that even televised? I mean, why would you put either one of the, why would Fox put all that time and production into a broadcast that no one cares about except for fantasy football purposes?

Well, Daniel Jones had a record day, Matt, five touchdowns, 350 yards, no interceptions. Good for them. I mean, where's Eli Manning going to be a mixture is what I want to know. Well, hopefully at home on his couch. He's going to retire? I don't think he's any good. I think he's going to find a job somewhere in 2020.

Okay. He's the, by the way, Daniel Jones, the first rookie to ever hit all of those marks. 350 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions. Do you like him? Rookie ever. I mean, that was a good game yesterday. The Redskins aren't any good, but can't argue with the results there. And Sequant Barkley getting me 42 points.

The obligatory fantasy football reference in the NFL record. That was just for you, Matt. Green Bay, Minnesota. Kurt Cousness tonight has never won. a Monday night football game. Hmm. Do they win at home against Green Bay? I will say yes.

He gets off the Schneide. Although Green Bay is pretty tough. It's going to be a good game. They would then be, I think they would have the NFC North League, correct? In the tiebreaker? They, did they win the first game against them? I don't even know. Well, no.

Green Bay is four in the division. There's too many Dan tiebreakers right now, Matt. I've got to be honest. I know. I'm right there with you. All right, and that is Ross's NFL recap. We're going to run through the coaches, and will they have jobs a week from today? Plus, when do you get some rocket chatter going in?

Have you noticed a certain guard for the Houston Rockets playing out of his mind? Oh, actually, you could probably say that about two different people, right? Austin Rivers? Well, he's played well, too. The guard play for the Rockets has been really good. Chris Clemens? You know, it's a Chuckster. He's a Chuckster, okay?

As opposed to a yuckster. Well, I mean Or a huckster Or he shoots a ball from his mid chest and he from 35 feet One or two of them drop a game That's lovely to watch personally It is got a good high arc to it

Time is 1-43 It is the Matt Thomas show 713-213-2-5-790 7-1-3-2-2-5-7-90 With Ross and Nick back in Houston I'm out here in Sacramento We appreciate you listen to Sports Talk 790 Hi, this is former running back of Herschel worker

You're listening to Matt Thomas on Sports Talk 7-9. All right, real fast, Ross. Because most of these teams we don't care about. Do we care of Zach Killer gets fired in Cincinnati after one year? Not really. Okay. Do we care who the new Washington coach is going to be?

It's not going to be Bill Callahan. Could be. And do we care that Pat Schumer gets fired or keeps his job with the Giants? Not really. Okay. Freddy Kitchens. stays or goes in Cleveland. Freddie Kitchens is out.

I'll agree with you on that. Jason Garrett, out or in in Dallas? Or you still want to hold on to let's see what they do if they make the playoffs and maybe even they win a playoff game. Jason Garrett's out. He's got to be. Got to be out. I don't have the patience to Jack with you.

How can you sell it to your fans to keep Jason Garrett on this? team with the level of talent they've had and the failures that they continue to have week after week with all the talent you just can't can i stop you for a second so what you just said are you telling me that the cowboy fans would no longer be cowboy fans if jason garrett was still the coach is that what you're trying to tell no i didn't say that but it doesn't because there are some there are some NFL teams that if you don't fire a coach they will leave you i am a monkey i don't believe that to be true on a large scale. He shouldn't come out

and visit my monkeys. I mean, Bill O'Brien went four and 12, and everybody wanted his head on a platter, and the Texans gave him an extension. And there's still got Texan, you know, Texan Steve and Texans Marathon all them hanging out.

I think there are exceptions. I think that the Texans are coach-proof. I think the Cowboys are coach-proof. I think, yeah, and again, I'm not trying to give you a great definition. of a bunch of teams, but I think if Cincinnati, I mean, I think people in Cincinnati were like, enough of Marvin Lewis.

We know what he is and what he's going to bring or not bring to this franchise. Yeah, but they wanted him fired for like a decade. Yeah. Maybe we are too quick to get rid of coaches. I don't know. I think that there's definitely something to that. I mean, you didn't ask me if I wanted him to stay or should they stay. Now, Jason Garrett's had some time.

Like, I would be okay with Freddie Kitchens getting a little bit more time with the Cleveland Browns. I just don't know that it's going to happen. Now, Jason Garrett, what's he in? It's like seventh or eighth year or something like that? Jason Garrett is out no matter what. And here's the thing. It's going to be the toughest thing that Jerry's ever done. He's going to go in front of a podium and say that Jason deserved better.

He was a good man, a cowboy through and through. I wish him nothing but the very best. I would highly recommend him for any. I mean, he's going to say all the right things, but he knows that he's got to get a culture change in that locker room. Okay. He is in, this is his ninth season as the full-time. head coach. Yep.

That's enough time. That's enough time. All right. Doug Marone, is he surviving Jacksonville now that his boss is out? Hell no. Doug Maron.

No, Doug Maron's fired. Doug Maron is gone. I don't think he's a particularly good head coach either. Who's the best coach in the NFC South? I feel like I ask you this four times a year. It's Frank Wright.

Frank Wright, absolutely. They have been set by numerous injuries. And granted, Andrew Luck, retiring days before the start of the season. Didn't help. Yeah, how do you like to get that news is as Frank Reich? Yeah, Frank Reich's best coach in the MC South. And I think Bill O'Brien is clearly the second best.

I don't know. I watched some of that New Orleans Tennessee game yesterday. Mike Frable. Nice mustache, strong mustache. No, I see that that's the first thing that bothers me with him. It's no longer Movember or whatever they call it where they grow their mustache out. All right. Before we get to the top of the hour, we have the Rockets against the Sacramento Kings tonight.

Of course, you can catch it right here on SportsCat 7. Who is doing the launch pad at 8 o'clock, Sports RV? That would be one of Michael Stradivarius Connor. You just added a nickname and didn't mean to. Yeah. You were holding on for a dear life on that. Rockets have won three straight games. They are now 29 in the season.

The playoffs were to begin the day, which they're not even close to starting. they would be the number three seed. And look, there's a lot of Russell hate out there. And look, his three-point percentage Ross is still at 24%. But he's playing some of his best basketball right this second. It's good. I mean, he looks more explosive. He looks like he's getting healthier.

He's getting more comfortable. He's being more aggressive. I'm on board with all of those things. Yeah, 30 or more points in three straight games. Only took two three-pointers against the Sons, which you like to see. I think he was one of seven, either the game before that or one of the other couple of games ago. So he overall, though, since those games where he went seven of 30 and seven of 27, the three-point attempts have been down.

Yeah, 30 points against Phoenix under night, 10 assists shooting about 50% in the last handful. A matter of fact, over 50% in the last handful of games, that three-point percentage is going to stare at you and look at you and call you names. but it's not going to get dramatically better if he doesn't take a whole lot of shots and I don't, there's my TV again just changing on its own. God, something is really weird in this hotel, Ross. Are you in the haunted hotel in Oklahoma City?

No, I'm in Sacramento in a very swanky hotel. You know, can I go one minute? I'm on the swanky hotel here for a second. Sure, go ahead. I mean, I don't think anybody's listening, so we can just do this. This is the second consecutive hotel we are in that doesn't have a glass door to my shower.

what does it have there's a pain of glass but a large open area to it there's no way i can shut there's no there's no curtain there's no no nothing it's a pain of glass and then you walk by a large open area so it's so it's quite a huge shower is what you're saying no it's actually just a very it's actually a small shower but then water's getting everywhere that's exactly my point

why would you why would you take take the chance on you know mold or milder or whatever it is you know how when you have water on a on a surface for a long period of time yeah and i can't be the only one that's spraying water everywhere well they have someone that comes in and cleans the rooms every day yeah but that's an extra work for her or him probably it's probably most of it's evaporated by then but but again if you're i want you all do this to yourself a favor go take a shower today and if you have a sliding glass door leave it open you can't ever feel like the water is matching with the temperate temperature that you want because you take one step north of away from the faucet or the showerhead

and you're freezing your ass off because of the open door. Hmm. You didn't think this would be discussed on the radio. I did not. This is very tough for you, fancy mad. I hope you're okay. I'm just saying, is it a European bit that they don't have a sliding glass doors? Is there a bidet?

No. No. It is the same hotel chain, but it's just really weird. Wow. Yeah. Super 8's got to get their act together. Yeah. Super 8 probably has a curtain.

That's true. Of course, I don't know if, well... Yeah, you probably also don't want to put a black light on when you're in there. I'm glad you're getting a lawsuit over me. It's just much easier. 157. What is, believe it or not, today, coming up in less than an hour from now? I hit the crickets stick.

He didn't even have the crickets. ready to go. All right, we will have an crazy, fun interest. There we go. Amazing topic coming up in less than an hour from now. 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-790. Is how you reach us. Ross and Nick are back in Houston. I'm here in Sacramento. If you want to talk some rockets as they go for four wins in a row, if you'd like to talk about

let's see, the Texans and A.I. I mean, how did everybody celebrate an AFC South championship. What did you do to celebrate an AFC South title Saturday around 3.30 local time? Let's get into that next. The Matt Thomas Show here from Sacramento on Sports Talk 790. This is the Matt Thomas Show. Time is 202 on Sports Talk 790. It is the final hour.

The Matt Thomas Show here from Sacramento. We're tonight the Rockets and Kings get after it. Michael Connor 8 o'clock with the launch. 830 with, I believe, Adam Wexler on the pregame. And then I'll have a call here from the Golden One Center at 9 o'clock as the Rockets tried to make it three-for-three in the road trip. We head to San Francisco after the game. We're busing there for a matchup Christmas Day, Rockets and Warriors.

Ross, if the NBA could flex a Christmas Day game, they would. Golden's Day super sucks. Well, let's hope that the Rockets don't get embarrassed on Christmas Day. don't even think about these things. I already know that the pre-in post-game show are going to be just fantastic. Will you even get a call in the post-game show? I was talking on my Saturday show. The Sports RV show 11 a.m. here on Sports Talk 790.

Too early to promote. Oh, is it? It just happened two days ago. Yeah, but you're looking to forward promote and not past us. Okay, Saturday at 11 a.m. Sports RV show, I was saying, just call me and tell me what you got for Christmas. Like, we can just talk whatever on that post-game show after the Rockets game. Yeah.

I'm sure I won't get a call, but that's okay. I can just filibuster about the rockets for a solid, like, you know, half hour and then get off. You play the Mike Dantonio audio for the posting. Yeah, play Mike Dantony audio. We've got to get your Franks Pizza, saucy dunk of the night, the Billion Factory shot of the night and get out of there. Yeah, I'll call you. Oh, will you? Yeah.

Yeah, you're not going to be doing anything. Yeah. I mean, it's just, I mean, it should be a 25-point win. and I have officially jinxed it, but that's not here nor there. All right, 713212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-790. If you want to get in, we are open this hour. We've had a lot of interaction today, Ross.

You would describe it as a lot of people on the pulse of the Texans winning their fourth division championship in five years. Beautiful. beautiful. Well, here's the thing. I think Bill, I hope did Brian T. Smith go to the press conference today? Because we need some fresh Brian drops. Brian T.

Drops involving Bill O'Brien. Hmm. Because if you remember, early on, Bill O'Brien would go after the Ganguly, Tanya Ganguly, who now works for the L.A. Times. I mean, we got a number of them, though, Matt. Well, and then he went after Brian T.

And now Bill doesn't go after anybody. It's a long season, Brian. It's brutal, Brian. Doesn't matter, Brian. It's the best. Like tomorrow, your show, when you and Michael Connor, the show tomorrow, it should just be nothing but three hours of Bill O'Brien sound drives. Oh, that's every day on the show.

That's true. Yeah, it is going to be me and Michael tomorrow, isn't it? Yeah. You want me to call in? If you'd like. I know one thing we do have planned. What? Christmas Carol karaoke.

Not good. You know, we have not played one Christmas song on this show. I've been telling you. Nick to pepper him in all season and he hasn't been doing it. I'm actually a little upset with him about it. Rightfully so. Because I know that it missed you so I want you I want you to get upset. Actually with this being the

last show for me before Christmas I would actually wouldn't mind some Christmas. That's on me. Yeah, come on Nick. Bless you. It's brutal, Brian. It's brutal, Nick. Yeah, he doesn't have time to get into Christmas music because he's worried about drop the Bill O'Brien sound bites in the middle of the show. Well, he's got his focus in the right spot. Yeah, thank you.

Okay, so here's the thing. We want the Texans We don't care what the Texans do Sunday, correct? Unless Kansas City loses the Chargers. Fair to say? Okay. Because if Kansas City loses, that means the Texans beat the Titans and they become the three-seed, which would then face either Tennessee or Indianapolis.

Is Indianapolis still eligible to make the playoffs? You got Oakland that could be involved. Pittsburgh has a chance to, although their quarterback situations. I mean, whomever the ever the playoffs. the six team is, Ross, would it be fair to say this would be the weakest six-division six-seat ever to make the playoffs? No, they've had eight-and-eight teams make it before, so it'd be up there. Usually the AFC.

But, I mean, think about this for a second. Tennessee, not great, especially with Derek Henry Hurt. Indianapolis, Jacoby Brissette has taken a step back, although they crushed Carolina yesterday. Oakland's got a chance to sneak in. Pittsburgh can't figure out which backup quarterback they want to go to. Here's the thing about Pittsburgh that should scare you a little bit. Is it Pittsburgh, as you guys know over the years, travels very well?

And it might be, if it's Pittsburgh versus Houston, there might be, not might be, there are going to be thousands of Steeler fans at this game on a Saturday at 3.30. They'll get out of the cold. They're like, hell, we live in this hellhole, as Pittsburgh. We've got to come to the warm sunny climate of Houston, Texas. We're going to to go to a roof stadium. And we, you know what? And the Texas don't do well on a wildcard weekend, generally speaking. I don't think any of that's going to come into play, frankly. I think, honestly, what's going to happen is that Kansas City is going to win their game against

the Chargers because they want the three-seed. They want to have the weakest of the wild card. And oh, by the way, Ross, if you're the three-seed, you get to play New England in the second round. And I never thought I would ever. ever say this, but facing New England is 10 times easier, I think, than facing that that destruction machine known as a Baltimore Ravens right now. Yeah, I think if you're a three-seed, the first AFC championship game in your histories on the table, I think if you are playing, going up to play Baltimore, maybe not so much.

Well, here's the thing. New England clearly isn't what New England is, but the fact that the matter is, they are still the number two seed. They are still the team that beat a good Buffalo team on their home. field on Saturday. So, as I've told you all before, I think writing off them as a, you know, one and done would be a wee bit premature. Yeah, isn't it funny, if you were to pick your poison?

Talking about how terrible they are and they're going to be 13 and 3? Yeah, I mean, yeah. Anybody saying they're vulnerable? Now, they're a little more vulnerable than they have been in years past, but again, 13 and 3 is 13 and 3. And the question for them is, who do they play? I mean, do they want to play anybody with their, their life? I'm not going to number two.

Am I correct on that? Yeah, I think they are. Yes. So Tom Brady's not going to play. Oh, by the way. Wait, if they lose and the Chiefs win, they lost head to head of the Chiefs, right? Yes. So they could slip to three.

Wow. Man, there are a lot of different things going on. They're not going to lose the Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins, though. Let me tell you something. If there's been a team in the division that's given the Patriots hell over the last handful of years, it's of all the teams, the Miami Dolphins. especially in Miami. Their fits suck.

Ross, let me say if CBS called me and said, hey, Matt, we understand you're a good play by play announcer. Well, thank you. We're going to give me an NFL game to do. Which one you're giving me? Since Annie Miami yesterday. Hey, that was a thriller. It was an overtime thriller, Matt.

You had Andy Dalton and Ryan Fitzpatrick going crazy. I mean, I would take the assignment. Don't get me wrong. 38 to 35 back and forth gridiron battle. Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick. You are certainly selling it a lot harder than anybody else in America is right. The Bengals scored 23 in the fourth quarter to come back and force overtime. They're battling out there, Matt, as Gary Kubiak would say.

I'm thinking more about the CBS paycheck than I'm about the game. Yeah, well, I'm sure you are. I wonder what those guys. I don't know what those guys make. I mean, I know Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan, but I don't have the Stones asking what. they make. Why not? Because it's rude to ask what somebody's making for a living. Well, just wait for one of them to go on a Reddit, ask me anything, and ask them how much

you make. When does Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan go on Reddit? Constantly. You know what? That's not a bad idea. Hey, Ian, I could text him. Hey, do me a favor. I don't have the stones to ask you what your salary is, but can you go on Reddit because the rules are once you go on and ask me anything you have to answer the question? I've been on one, ask me anything.

Oh, no, no. Ross, what was going to ask me almost anything? Was it AMAA? Yes. Because I told the guy that it was, and he likes to keep his name a secret. That Reddit society likes to keep their identities to themselves. Yeah, they should. I said, I'm not going to answer something that I can't. I mean, I'm not going to, I can't put myself out there for some things that I know.

And it wasn't bad at all. So maybe the Reddit isn't a terrible thing after all. As long as you lay the parameters out to say, you could only do so much. Let's go to Brian at downtown at 2-11 on the Matt Thomas show Brian, how are you, sir? Hey, good, man. How's your holiday's going so far, man?

Very well. Thank you for asking. You bet. Hey, you know, we just this big win that detections had the other day, man. I'm not too thrilled about it, Matt. Because, I mean, still to meet how on earth do you get four turnovers in the first half

and you end up tied at the end of the first half? I mean, that's not really encouraging. And, I mean, as far as Bill O'Brien goes, yeah, he's doing better, but, I mean, I'm not, I'm not convinced that this team has what it takes to go to finish the deal. And, you know, another, I don't know how many times we're going to win one, you know, we won one playoff game. And since Bill O'Brien, well, maybe in that history, I don't really know. But, I mean, it's kind of crazy to keep doing the same thing over and over and over. It's like the definition of insanity. What you've got to say about that, Matt?

I appreciate you guys. All right, Brian, you thoroughly confuse me with the ramble, unfortunately. What does he want me to answer about Bill O'Brien? Yeah, the definition of insanity, you know, and Bill O'Brien, Matt. Love you, Brian. Happy holidays, you and your family. Look, I mean, Ross and I graded it. Bill O'Brien gets a B this year.

Normally, he's been a C-to-C-minus coach, sometimes even a D. Never been an A, but a B this year. frankly part of the reason why he gets to be because the general manager part of his brain actually has helped out a little bit now they may ultimately have to pay for that in future years with lack of draft picks but they've got they've got salary cap space to spend

they kept a lot of money hopefully for next year but you know as I've said before I'm just Bill's never going to take you to the Super Bowl and if it's because of the general manager part or if it's the previous general manager part or if it's the stubbornness or the moment's too big but Ross it will be the biggest amount of crow I've ever eaten in my entire life

if the Houston Texans win the AFC. Help me out with this. How are they going to win the AFC when they struggle against some really average teams and Tampa is the definition of average knowing that you had a playoff spot to grab that Tampa Bay was gifting you one

James Winston interception after the other and you are sitting here playing a game where it's a field goal battle with the two minutes left to go in the contest. How are they supposed to get on the road, jump on a plane, and go beat either the Patriots or the Ravens in a second round playoff game? Explain that to me. Any given Sunday, Matt.

Besides that, not using that as an answer. The offensive line is going to play better. Bill O'Brien's going to call better plays. They're going to have Deshawn Watson who can win against anybody. J.J. Watts coming back. Romeo Cornell is going to have a little something for Tom Brady. I mean, you just did.

Have I convinced you yet? No, he did it. Now, you have been public in saying that you don't buy any of that. No, I don't. But you just gave me four valid points. I'm picking them to lose to the bills. Oh, Christ. Do you know how depressing it's going to be

if the Buffalo bills come in and hear? and beat the Houston Texans in two weeks? But also I've been picking them wrong all year, so. But what is your honest approach, though? My honest opinion is that the bills are our better football team than Texans. The bills are a better football team. It doesn't mean they're going to win, though. Correct.

There have been teams that have had home field advantage, i.e. 7 and 9, Seattle, beating New Orleans in a playoff game because the home field has meant that much. I just don't know if the home field of NRG is going to be that big of a difference. Because Buffalo's won big road games. They have. Time is 214. The Matt Thomas show continues. Believe it or not today is all things about Eddie Murphy.

Because he was awesome. Saturday night on SNL. We'll talk about him and get to more of your phone calls in a moment. 713-212-5-790. The time again is 214. It is a Matt Thomas show here from Sacramento on Sports Talk 790. Load up on those napkins, straws, ketchup, hot sauce. Mustard.

Oh, and don't forget duck sauce. It's the Matt Thomas show for lunch on Sports Talk 790. Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight. We're happy tonight. Walking in the winter wonderland.

I'm trying to figure out who sings this. song. I had a guess, and I was wrong, I already guessed. I guessed Mel Tourmet. Is it somebody really recognizable, Nick? For Christmas music, yes. But older. Is it Burr Lives?

Nope. That's a good guess, too. Burr-Live's a little more bassy. Yeah, it's not Big Crosby, is it? Nope. No. This guy's, the only thing I know him for is Christmas music. Give me the first initial of his first name.

P. Perry Como There you go Hey I mean you got a hint Yeah the P had definitely helped All right Ross

I got a tweet from my buddy Stro's relegation Okay If the bills come in here And beat the Texans And have a bigger comeback Than the older's blown lead of 353 How bad we'll be on the radio

Let's not talk about That's not gonna happen You can't come back First of all The Texans got to score 38 points Yeah first of all And most importantly to me there is nothing about a Texans' Bills game that you can possibly connect the dots to

to the older's bills game. No. No. Josh Allen, Deshawn Watson, not going to get there. No, but I mean, like if the Texans beat the Bills, it's like, well, there we go. Got you. I don't feel that. There will be some Bills fans in the building.

Do we know any Bills fans? I got a good friend of mine, Bobby Shrance, who's listening right now, is a huge, huge bills fan. Bobby, happy holidays, you and your family. He loves him some Buffalo Bills football. There you go. That's it. No, I think they'll be like a, I mean, look, it's not going to be like if the Steelers come to town.

No, the teams that will travel the most will be, Pittsburgh will travel a lot. Who else would come here? Tennessee fan, there are going to be some, there would be Titan fans here for sure. A Raiders fan? Raiders can't afford, Raider fan can't afford to come here. I don't know. I remember the Raiders games that were here. you'd have to need extra security for sure.

Yeah. Rossi, can the Texans pull the Las Vegas Raiders every year? I hope so. Just saying. Just finishing whatever place they do. You know how you have first place schedule, second place schedule and all that? Yeah, that's funny. That's true.

713-212-5-790. 7-1-2-5-790. If you'd like to join our conversation. Yeah, I don't think the Texans beating the bills will ever let me go. Well, now we're even. That will never cross my mind. First of all, two different franchises. Second of all, 353.

Let me tell you something, Ross, when I'm on my deathbed and you're feeding me oatmeal as my last meal, there's just no way that I'm ever going to forget that. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever going to forget that. Mark and Braveswood on the Matt Thomas show. Happy holidays, Mark. Hey, happy holidays to Matt, Ross, and Nick. A beautiful sign

We're happy tonight Do you think Bill O'Brien Wares pajama pants I'll go no I don't think I think he's a sweats guy That's ridiculous He's never worn pajama pants

In his entire life No one like when he was like four Okay I'm going to say Post puberty I mean no I have worn pajamas pajamas pants one time In the last 20 years

And I needed it No I wear my I mean my grandma buys me Pajama pants for Christmas So I have a couple of pair I just wear them out to the store, you know. It's kind of weird because they got the buttonhole on them, but you still wear them out in public, but I do that.

That was good. That worked out good. Yeah, I'm not a sweatpants wear, generally speaking. Kim got me some Nike really thin, fitting ones that fit a lot better. Yeah? But I don't like the heavy sweatpants. I'm literally wearing sweatpants right now. Bless you.

That comes a zero surprise. Are you wearing It's the holidays Nobody's up here Is there anybody at the office seriously? No, No, come on I literally

You can have any parking spot You want in the garage mat That's how you That's how we gauge How you are not wearing a colored shirt I'm assuming No No

Okay, that's good Are people even working this week? I don't think so Christmas is in two days You know what we are Oh you know what it is today though It's the fest of us For the rest of us

Do we have any grievances? I got a lot of problems with you, people. Let's hear you're going to hear. Let's hear the next segment. Any grievances you have. How about anybody on the, if they want to call in as well? If you got a grievance right now,

713-212-5-790, and it's not about whether or not Bill O'Brien wears his pajama pants. Because the answer is no. But he's a heavy sweats guy. That Ross was 100% accurate. I got a lot of problems with you, people. Now, you're going to hear about it. If you have a grievance, one segment, one segment only because we're in a jovial mood here on the Christmas Eve Eve edition of the Matt Thomas show.

713-212-5-790. 713-213-5-790. Ross does Nick need some special music during this segment? Wow, what is Festivist music? Would it just be the Seinfeld baseline theme? Yeah, that could play for like 10 minutes. We can get the extended version. or I could just do this for the entire segment.

Because I've got, you've already heard my two grievances. One, my remote control is being controlled by somebody else not named me. And there is no sliding glass door in my shower. Thus the spraying of water outside. So these are all problems at your highfalutin five diamond hotel. Those are your biggest problems. I have other ones. Yeah, you'll bring some more to the table.

713, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 5, 790. If you have any grievances, do them now or forever hold your peace. 713-212-5-790. Matt Thomas continues. On Sports Talk, 790. All right, Ross, are we going to keep these two sports grievances or life grievances and sports? Why not both? All right, I'll let you go with a couple.

Begin. If you'd have a grievance you'd like to air, 7-13-212-5-790. Here we go. Fine. How about I go with a sports grievance? Go. I got some grievances with Shaka Smart and a Texas basketball team. How in the hell do you as a 9-1 basketball team go up to 6 and 6th Providence and not even show up?

I mean, is Rick Patino still coaching there? Did Rick Barnes go back? Is Billy Donovan still their... They're plucky white one guard. What is going on at Providence? They're literally called the Friars. And you get your, you get lost, you get beat so bad. You sound like Jerry Sanfield.

What is going on right there? What the hell is going on? 70 to 48. Providence. Come on. My turn. You ready for grievance? Here we go.

Hey, NFL. I thought when the New Orleans Rams non-pass interference, non-targeting, call was fixed in the offseason with the use of instant replay, we were going to get pass interference calls clarified so we got the terrible officials to get the calls overturned because instant replay was going to have their back. What in the hell is going on? They never change it. PIs are still PIs, non-PIs are still non-PIs, and we're just mad.

What is going on? We want more consistency. We want instant replay to save pass interference. It's baking and we're not getting the calls. What's going on, Ross? I got another one. Go. Miles Sanders, at the end of that cowboy game,

busted off for a run where he could have ran for a touchdown and gotten me eight more points in some of my daily fantasy lineups that would have accrued hundreds of more dollars for me. Miles Sanders, what the heck is going on out here? Why would you just sit down and make the smart football play when I need you to just run up to score on the Cowboys and also get me points for Michael Gallup.

Miles Sanders, I got grievances with you. I got a lot of problems with you, people. Now you're going to hear about it. Nick, you got one. I don't want to exclude you from this. No, everything's peachy. What? That's a lie.

Nobody believes that. Nobody believes that. What's next? Ross, my life's pretty good. I have very few problems. same. For the sake of this five-minute segment, we need like four more grievances.

Do you want to check the phone, see if anybody else had a grievance? All right. Line one, what is your grievance? Technical issue there. Oh, wow. Line two, you're on airing of grievances. Go ahead.

Hmm. I mean, the show's flown by, so. The show has been good, despite the fact that no one's listening. It's just making us better. It's making us a more a saltier radio show. Oh, I got one for you. Well, I got some.

somebody who wanted to air out a grievance. Go ahead. Apparently, Bill Cosby's publicist had issues with Eddie Murphy taking shots. Oh, no. And Bill Cosby. Do you want to read or read their grievance? Go ahead. Mr. Cosby became the first black to win an Emmy for his role in I spy,

and Mr. Cosby broke color barriers in the entertainment industry so that blacks like Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, at all could have the opportunity to showcase their talents for many generations to come. It is sad. Go ahead. And he also sexually harassed dozens of women. And he date raped to like 2011, yes, that we know of. It is sad that Mr. Murphy would

take this glorious moment of returning to SNL and make disparaging marks against Mr. Cosby. Go ahead. No, finish. You're done? I got one more. You know, I've been the road a lot with his rockets traveling. So I've been going back and forth with CNN. Well, hold on. Let me read these last two

sentences on a let you go. Please do. One would think that Mr. Murphy has given his freedom to leave the plantation so that he could make his own decisions, but he decided to sell himself back to being a Hollywood slave. Ooh. Yikes. Eikes. Ouch.

Yikes. Mine. And let's move on. Hey, CNN. You know that Trump does do some good things. Hey, MSNBC. You know that Trump does some good things. Hey, Fox News Channel.

You know, Trump does some bad things. Why don't you all mix it up? Because as I'm flipping the channels, two of you think that Donald Trump should not be the president. One wants him reelected for four more years. Come on. Be fair and balanced, all three of you. Sorry about that. We all have our biases, Matt.

You got to pander to your certain audience, and they do a really good job at that. All right, I got one. Go ahead. Have you seen these people? people that get married in December, and then when they go to have their anniversary dinner at a restaurant, they get angry that the experience is not good because it's the busiest time of the year. It's your fault for getting married in December that your anniversary is going to suck every single year. I feel good to get that off my chest.

Sounds like a waiter area agreements. I got one more. Hey, in and out. Open up more locations. So Ross and I, we go eat. Don't have to win an hour in the drive-thru. Come on. Are the lines still going out there?

Let me check Google Maps. Oh, yeah. Go take a look at the maps. It's ugly. We've got some people that want to get some grievances in. Garrett and Cyprus, what's your grievance, please? A great show, as always, and happy holidays. I'm grieving about the uninspiring bowl season this year.

Sure, we've got the playoffs. But if there's ever any year that Texas and Texas A&M could meet, maybe just to have a little spice to the season, it could maybe be this year. So that way that could help recruiting. That could help, you know, if I'm an A&M fan, you know, OSU, that's really not appealing. And then the whole Texas, Utah, you know, that little thing. I might watch it on TV, but I'm definitely not thinking about heading to it. It just sounds bland.

It's like eating, you know, something without any kind of spice on it. So that's why I'm kind of, you know, I'm going to watch the games because it's full season, but I'm just not really appetized by it. Garrett, brilliantly done, my friend. Thank you for airing your grievance. Kenny, Norseid on 7-90. Hi, Kenny. What's your grievance?

Hey, Matt and Ross. My grievance is with you guys because you think nobody's listening. As a fellow U.H alum, I will always support my fellow U.H cougars and listen whenever I possibly can. I'm always here for you guys. Thank you, Matt. Love you, me not. I mean, in a very heterosexual way. I got another one for you.

Hey, U of H should be in the Big 12. What's going on with that, Ross? Nobody cares about that. Yeah, we do care about this. It's time for us to jettison the American and come bolster the Big 12 conference. Come on, Big 12. Or Pac-12, or any 12 that's out there that wants to make it 13. in your case big 12 for making 11

rasha got one no i think i'm all tapped out matt and dear park hi matt what's your grievance my grievance is with my wife we have a $35 a month car wash subscription that she is not used in seven months and i remind her weekly to cancel matt bless you my brother

rossi we do have a $35 a month car wash account in our house as well but kim does use it all the time so i know it's money well spent Oh, that's good. Oh, another one, speaking of car wash. Hey, car wash place. I spent $25 to get my car wash, and then I have to have you come inside the car and clean it off the interior

because there is still dust and debris all over the front seat. Come on now, car wash. What are you looking for extra tip money because I have to inspect the car after? I actually downgrade my tip if I got to do that. Not upgrade it. Jared, on 790 area agreements, please.

Yeah, my grievance is with Play Walker. So first of all, his Texan fight song, we all know it sucks. Second of all, I want to get what you guys take was on him singing the national anthem for the Titans and States game. That's my other grievance. Jared, we talked about it earlier. Excellent call. Thanks for reminding us. I think it's blasphemy, honestly.

You have to say no. I know it's in Nashville. I know that you're trying to resurrect your career, Mr. Walker. But no. You sing the fight song. of the Texans are the Titans number one enemy per se Can we just give them to the Titans?

If you want to sing the national anthem that damn bad then give them a fight song on top of it and let us delete ours. I think the franchise needs a breath of fresh air, new general manager, a Jack Easterby. Maybe Jack Easterby can get us a new fight song. The guy is apparently very powerful

while in the Texans offices. Who do you think should sing the new fight song, Matt? I'm going to go with Beyonce What's the question again? Who should sing the new Texans fight song Bumby Bunn wouldn't be bad Bunn?

Beyonce, who's the girl that sang on S&L internet night? Lizzo. Lizzo could do the National could do the Texas fight song. I know you're a huge Lizzo fan, Matt. Love Lizzo. She could bolster that offensive line.

You're a Lizzie. Okay. And scene. Please direct any comments to at Nick Pro Nick Lowe. Please do. And that'll be fun.

All right, let's get one more grievance in here. Let's go to Jesse, what's your grievance, my friend? Hebrew National Hot Dog Company. They only put seven hot dogs in the package and everybody else in the world that's eight. So, I mean, what are you supposed to do with that? How are you supposed to work with that?

Yeah, if you get a family of four and everybody wants two hot dogs, someone's going to lose on that. although usually the women only eat one hot dog at a time correct ross generally speaking excuse me an average a woman eats an average of one hot dog what i mean some eat two dogs some have three or four lizzo might have an eight pack i don't know okay and send that comment to at sports rv not to anything wrong with that she's a beautiful she's a beautiful talented singer if she wants to if she also called her a linebacker and a hot on a massive hot dog

linebacker that was Nick. I said she might. I called her an offensive line. I'll eat a whole pack of hot dogs. There's nothing wrong with that. I am the only person not to say anything insensitive on the show today, and I'm blessed. Hello, Lee. Hey, what's going on, guys?

What is your airing agreement? I actually have agreement with the NFL playoff format. There is no way, everybody knows Cowboys suck, and I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan, and so this year, they suck. There's no way that an 8-and-8. or 9 and 17 should be hosting a team that's going to be potentially 12 and 3 or 13 and 3 for the first round of the playoffs. They need to change that format. Lose the division. Same thing with the AFC.

Best teams get in. You win your divisions. Congratulations. Hang a banner and see you next year. 8 and 8 should not or 9 and 7 should not be hosting a playoff game. Top teams only. Thank you, Lee. I disagree.

I think you have to have to put value on a division championship regardless of a record. Ross agree to describe. I think if you are a division, if you win a division, you should host at least one playoff game. No. Wish we had more time to argue about this.

I'd go with best four records. Yeah, you're Mr. NBA in that. I think winning a division should mean something, regardless of what the record is. Hey, let's... What you're beating up on... I mean, if you're beating up on the crappy Jaguars and... But that's only six games.

Colts. That's it. It's not like it's a... It's a meaty part of the schedule. Exactly. So why should it can, if it's only six of the 16 names, why should it determine whether I'm a carrying.

I'm a carrying of the banner guy. Okay. And you know what? You have the title belt around your waist, even though it's just the United States championship, you still still have a chance to go against and have a home playoff game and let everybody enjoy the excitement of playing on Saturday at 3.30.

Back our back to the Matt Thomas show. On Sports Talk 790. For the corner. Home of your Astros. Ross, what's one of the best parts about this radio show that we do daily between 12 and 3 on Sports Talk 790? What's that? This is Frank, right? Yes.

I said, what's one of the best parts about the 12 to 3 show we do here on 790? The entire world is listening as they had to lunch? Communication. Oh. So I told Nick 90 minutes ago, I said, hey, have Ross. Do Eddie Murphy believe it or not? He didn't tell me that, I don't think. Yeah, he just threw you.

No, he didn't. There's no way, Nick. When did you say that? About 90 minutes ago. No, this is a bull. And then I just mentioned it like 45 minutes ago on air. I started writing the Festifist one round then. So if those of you expecting to play Eddie Murphy, believe it or not,

and memorizing his Wikipedia page, that did you know good. Well, it's a prize whore that hadn't been listening an entire show in any. Anyways. He's called Price Pigs and Salt Lake. Bill is first up in line. You think Bill's been listening? Hell no. Let me, let's see how much Bill's listen to this show today.

Bill, how are you? Hey, I'm doing great, guys. What's going on? Bill, how much have you listened to the show today? Tell the truth. Man, about 40, man. 40? That's all.

I like that. That's over normal. Wait, you know, I'm a driver, so I'm in and not my vehicle all the day. So here's when I'll jump back in. I listen to you guys. And, man, I spit up my drink with that little defensive line thing. So you guys owe me a sprite. Oh, all right.

So what kind of delivery driver? I've never asked you this before. What kind of delivery driver are you? Well, I'm not just a little work for Metro rail and bus. So I'm an independent contractor. It's on the Ratcliffe Express. So anybody's a package picked up or delivered. Rackleaf Express, baby.

Wait a minute. I didn't ask you, I didn't give you the right to give you a free plug. Oh, my bad. See, I love this show. Well, you know what? I would normally charge you, but since it's the holiday season, that's my gift to you, my friend. Man, you're all right, man. You're all right. But anyway, I'm going to give you one more thing. I'm going to give you one more thing here, Bill. I'm going to let you introduce this segment. The Racklepping Express segment? Oh, oh, oh, my bad. Oh, my bad. How do I introduce the show at this segment?

single time for 10 years. Ladies and gentlemen, with five minutes left in the show, go ahead. I'm around from clients, man. I can't stay there. I was looking at me crazy. I'm inside the building. Oh, but you can call and play, believe it or not. Oh, my God.

You're the worst. You can't even lie properly. Well, five minutes left in the show, what shall we do? We should play America's fastest growing sports. game, shall we simply call it? Believe it or not, and here's how it works. After Bill, you'll call 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-790. Today's edition of Believe or Not is brought to you by Woodhouse Spas. It's not too late to print the gift card of relaxation, Houston Woodhouse Spas.com. A category today is all things about Festivus. I'll read your statement about Festivist that the statement's

completely and utterly accurate. You'll say this. Believe it. Believe it. If the statement, it's erroneous. Full bunk, you may have up, you will say this. Not. Two, believe it or not in a row,

won your prize. Ross, what's the prize? Matt, I've got a pair of tickets to bumping mics featuring the comedy of Jeff Ross and David Tell at the

Revention Music Center Saturday, January 18th. That's a nice prize. I know. Are the Rockets in town that night? Because if they're not, I don't know the game.

I want to go see that. Shouldn't you know the schedule like back and forth forward? That's probably true. Jeffrey Ross is one of the funniest human beings alive. You would love David.

I think. Oh, you know what? They're playing the Lakers in it, and I can't go. Oh, well. Oh, yeah, we looked into this. I think we even looked into this before. Well, sometimes you've got to repeat segments. Oh, yeah, they're going to be, no, not in Los Angeles.

They're in Los Angeles the beginning of February. Yeah, let's play. Bill, I know you're ready to play, believe it or not. You ready? You know what, Matt, since it's a Christmas, and you guys been honest and nice. I've already won those tickets for Jericho on January to 18th, and I'm going to pass on this because I'm ready to want.

See, I'm a good guy. Yeah, you're a decent guy. Bill, happy holidays, my friend. Hey, thank you guys. Merry Christmas. We love Bill. One time he lied to the front desk and said that I told him he could have some tickets that he couldn't have. Oh.

Well, I'm always personalized three times a day. Next time that happens, you're supposed to let them play just for fun. That burns two questions that I don't have to worry about someone winning on. Come on now. That's a mistake on my part. Donnie on 790. Are you ready to play, believe it or not? Believe it.

Festivus was an actual holiday practiced by one of the writers of the Seinfeld Festivist episode. Believe it or not? Not. Believe it. 713-212-5-790. If you'd like to play Believe it or not, 7-1-3-212-5-7-90. Rusty on 790. Ready to play Believe it or not?

Believe it. According to Seinfeld writer Dan O'Kee. The actual center of Festivus was not a pole but a clock and a bag. Believe it or not. Believe it. Believe it. Statement number two for the win. The Festivus pole is traditionally made of steel.

Believe it or not. Not. Not. That is right. He's made of aluminum. Congratulations. Sorry, Nick. 713-212-5-7-90 to play, believe it or not.

Ross is going to say Nick's going to screen a couple of calls. get into it. 713. 212. 5-790. Let's go to Bob on 790. Bob, you ready to play, believe it or not? Yes, sir.

The traditional festivist meal consists of pot roast with all of the fixings and peach pie for dessert. Believe it or not. Believe it. No, it's meatloaf. Ah. Okay. Ross, I love a meatloaf with a ketchup, kind of a crust on the side. Delicious.

Absolutely. Underrated, underrated meal, meatloaf and mashed potatoes with some green beans, and of course, a fresh garden salad. George on 790. Ready to play, believe it or not? George liked it, chicken spicy. In 2013, Festivus was recognized at the Florida State Capitol and building, and a Festivus poll was erected.

Believe it or not. I guess that's not an answer. Chris, on 790, ready to play, believe it or not? Chris? Believe it. There you go. In 2013, Festivus was recognized at the Florida State Capitol building, and a Festivus poll was erected, believe it or not?

Not. Believe it. Yeah, it was, unfortunately. This has got to be so Wikipedia heavy on this one. Cabot on 790. Ready to play, believe it or not? Believe it. The proper order of Festivist traditions is the airing grievances, followed by the feats of strength,

then the festive's dinner. Believe it or not. Not. You eat dinner first. And with that, let's close up today's edition of Belmont. Hey, Ross and Michael Connor have you tomorrow. Christmas with Rockets, and then I'll be back with you Thursday and Friday. Ross and I have the final two days of our shows together Thursday and Friday. So I will not speak to you until tonight in Sacramento, but of course, and for the daytime show,

have a very merry Christmas. Happy holidays. And don't forget, Ross and Michael tomorrow. everything's going to be completely a blank crazy on their show tomorrow. I guarantee it noon until 3 you'll want to listen. A team is up next. Talk to you tonight at 9 from here in Sacramento

for Rockets and Kings on Sports Talks 7 o'clock.