Posts Tagged ‘sports’

Houston Beats Kansas City In Rainy NFL Preseason Contest

March 8th, 2010

It was the sort of sloppy NFL preseason game that made the coaches more interested in escaping with as few injuries as possible than with winning or evaluating talent. In a driving rainstorm at Arrowhead Stadium the Houston Texans outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs to take a 16-10 NFL exhibition victory. It was the first game of the NFL preseason for both teams, and they were more or less happy to emerge unscathed from the deluge.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak summed up the mindset in such miserable weather conditions:

“It was a very sloppy night weather-wise and whoever plays the best defense and whoever doesn’t put it on the ground usually finds a way to win in this league. I was glad we did, but we paid a price. We have some guys banged up and that usually happens when you get out there in a mess like that.”

The biggest name to suffer an injury was Houston backup QB Rex Grossman. Kubiak gave an early assessment of his prognosis after the game:

“It looks like he has a pretty good hamstring. The first play when he went in he booted and said he felt his hamstring pull or pop, or whatever. So we’ll have to wait and see.”

Texans running back Ryan Moats had 52 yards on 10 carries, and was happy about just having some actual opposition:

“It felt good to finally hit somebody else for a change and not worry about hurting anybody else.”

Texans starting QB Matt Schaub was generally pleased with his first performance of the NFL preseason:

“We ran the ball effectively down in the red zone and we were able to finish that drive 95 yards for a touchdown. That’s the way you want to finish off your day.”

Kansas Citys head coach Todd Haley made his NFL coaching debut, and wasn’t particularly down about it being a loss:

“It’s your first game as head coach and I know it’s just preseason, but it was an exciting, exciting moment for me. If you tell me the first real one’s a win, I’ll take this loss any day of the week. It’s a special feeling when it’s your team and a lot of responsibility comes with that and I didn’t live up to my end of that. That’s the part that’s got to change.”

Houston will start the NFL regular season at home against the New York Jets on Sunday, September 13th while Kansas City will play the Ravens at Baltimore.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

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Houston Texans Top Bucs In NFL Preseason Finale For Both Teams

March 8th, 2010

The Houston Texans produced a 17 point outburst in the second quarter and went on to beat the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-20 in the NFL preseason finale for both teams. Rex Grossman carried the bulk of the workload for Houston, finishing with 197 yards and two touchdowns in an effort that likely secured him the #3 quarterback position on the Texans roster behind Matt Schaub and Dan Orlovsky. While Grossman didn’t throw any interceptions, it was a sloppy game overall with the two teams combining for seven turnovers. The Texans evened their NFL preseason record at 2-2, while the Bucs dropped to 1-3.

Houston rewarded their NFL betting backers by winning outright as a +3 road underdog. The 47 combined points went well OVER the posted total of 33. In fact, with 27 points scored in the first half the two teams came very close to topping that total in the opening two quarters alone.

After the game, Grossman took a philosophical outlook on his immediate future as an NFL quarterback:

“I don’t control any of that. All I wanted to do was go out and have a good game for either this team or somebody else. That’s not up to me. I thought I did that, and we’ll see what happens. I feel decent about my audition. If they cut me, then hopefully somebody else will pick me up.”

Texans coach Gary Kubiak gave a very positive assessment of Grossmans performance in the NFL preseason:

“I was very impressed. You could see signs of that during camp, whenever he was working that first seven or eight days. Obviously he knows what this league’s about. He knows how to make plays. He was ready to play.”

When asked specifically about Grossman, Kubiak demurred and spoke of the challenge of cutting the roster down to 53 players:

“I don’t know. … We’ve got to look at a lot of things. It’s a tough process, that 53 situation, so we’ll see. He sure as heck helped himself.”

On the other side of the field, the game was the NFL debut of Greg Olson as the Bucs’ offensive coordinator. Olson was promoted Thursday when Jeff Jagodzinski was sacked as the teams offensive mastermind after a sluggish output in the preseason.

After the game, Bucs head coach Raheem Morris was pleased with the performance of #1 draft pick Josh Freeman, wholl likely end up as the teams third string QB. Freeman struggled at time but also dished out a touchdown pass and earned his coachs praise:

“He came out a little shaky. He had to make a couple of great scrambles there, make a couple of good third-down conversions to end that thing with a two-minute drive to get us in the end zone It’s what you want to see. You want to see these guys play better every time you go out there.”

The Texans will kick off the NFL regular season at home, hosting the New York Jets on Sunday. Tampa will host the Dallas Cowboys in week one before heading to upstate New York the following Sunday for a game against the Buffalo Bills.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

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NFL Defender Seymour A No-Show After Trade To Raiders

March 8th, 2010

Trades and similar player movements are a fact of life for NFL players. While players may not always be happy with a trade to a new team, more often than not they willingly accept their new assignment and try to make the best of it. That’s apparently not the case with the Oakland Raiders newly acquired defensive end Richard Seymour. Seymour was acquired by the Raiders on Sunday and as of yet has not reported to his new team.

The trade surprised NFL observers, with the Patriots sending Seymour to Oakland for a 2011 first round draft pick. He had been expected to report on Monday, but was a no-show. There is some speculation that hes doing a de facto hold out in hopes of getting the Raiders to re-work his contract but this hasn’t been confirmed by anyone involved.

For the time being, Raiders coach Tom Cable is being vague about the situation. He informed the media that hed spoken to Seymour earlier in the week and that he affirmed his desire to play for the Raiders but then added:

I really have nothing to report on that. Nothing has changed at this point.”

He also declined to comment on questions about a potential new contract:

“I don’t want to comment about anything of that until we have something that’s done and concrete.

Seymours former coach in New England, Bill Belichick also gave his version of a no comment but praised him as a player:

“Because we don’t have rights to Richard, there really isn’t anything I can say about him or his situation. So I’ll have to pass on those questions at this time. There’s a lot of things that Richard did well but that’s the way it is and we’re moving forward and our team’s moving forward.”

Pats defensive coordinator Dean Pees also had no comment:

“This is not going to be an interview about Richard. It’s really about Buffalo and whoever we have here to face the Bills.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello likewise declined to comment on the situation:

“Any comment at this time would have to come from the teams.

Most NFL observers think that the Patriots made the move in order to free up money to negotiate with defensive lineman Vince Wilfork. That has raised concern that New Englands defense has quickly become very young and more problematically without a strong leader on that side of the ball. Belichick isnt concerned:

“We have a lot of good leaders on our team and especially on the defensive side of the ball. No doubt about it, it’s different, but I think it’s good.”

The Patriots open their 2009 NFL regular season on Monday night at home against the Buffalo Bills. The Raiders will also kick off their campaign on Monday night as they host their hated rivals the San Diego Chargers. Seymour is very unlikely to play in Oakland’s NFL opener.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer specializing in travel, poker and NFL football handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, flower arranging and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

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