My First Love

(LG3K) -- Sometimes I love the Texans more than my girlfriend. Only half-joking, but it is a fascinating point that a sports team could be so heavily invested in a person's life that they will yell, fight, cheer, argue, complain, celebrate, and cry. You know we have progressed as Americans when a man will cry over a football game before he cries over the loss of a human life. I love the Texans, but I also understand the role of sports as entertainment. I condemn the people who were rumored to send Jacoby Jones death threats for his unexplainable gaffe on a punt return, ultimately leading to the opposing team having the ball on the 2 yard line. Mind you, this was in the playoffs. But the Texans are not bigger than a human's life, even if it is the most hated man in Houston at the moment. As far as the legal gambling ESPN gets away with, the Texans are the only team that seems to be an automatic green for me when it comes to Streak for the Cash.

Does Toro still love Jacoby Jones?

Back when I was getting into playing SFC again in early December, Houston was hosting their second biggest home game of the year. Houston’s biggest home game this year was when the Pittsburgh Steelers visited back in the beginning of October. I believe the Texans entered into the “contender” status after winning 17-10 in a convincing performance. I don’t think the game was as close as the final score. Penalties against Houston nullified a sack-fumble, a blocked field goal touchdown return and a pick-six, leaving the possibility of 21 points off the board; however, that’s football…the only thing that matters in the end is the W/L.

Enter the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta was the second real playoff contender to play in Houston this year. SFC had 75% picking the Falcons and rightfully so. Houston was down to their third-string, fifth round QB T.J. Yates. Oh, and it was his first start in the NFL. If I weren’t a Texans fan, I would have gone off of stats and other Internet information. Research would have said the Texans had a great running game countered by the Falcons top tier run defense. When a prop shows a rookie making his first start against a playoff bound team, albeit at home, it is screaming to pick against him. Surely the Texans will rely heavily on the run and count on their dominant defense to keep them in the game, but could Yates make the throws when they were needed? Intuition probably said that Atlanta would stack the box and force Houston to throw. Houston was without their starting QB and their best defensive player in Mario Williams. Why not pick Atlanta? By trading away a big chunk of two drafts to move up and get Julio Jones, Atlanta was going all-in. Some experts even picked the Falcons to go deep into the playoffs. Considering everything on paper, I would have picked the Falcons. However, me being a huge Texans fan, I thought T.J. Yates looked pretty good the week before when he came in after Matt Leinart broke his collarbone. Since I was really just starting to get back into SFC, it was an easy pick for me. I wasn’t going to pick against MY team (I finally swallow my pride and pick against Houston in the divisional round; future post). I believed in Yates (and any professional player, until they provide reason not to believe anymore) and I believed he could lead my team to the playoffs. 

Which is why I was actually appalled by SFC’s community with ONLY 75% picking Atlanta. Take out the Texan’s fans, and what did the remainder of the 25% see? #1 defense at the time, yes. Playing at home? Check. The return of Andre Johnson? You bet Houston was excited. But did they believe in T.J. Yates as much as me? Or did they not like Matt Ryan, on the road for additional reason. Perhaps they saw Houston’s 8-4 record at home against a 7-4 road team.

The Streakers were on to something with Matt Ryan.

For those who don’t play, several people who participate in ESPN’s Streak for the Cash (SFCers, streakers, sheeple) like to just look at records, no matter the sport, and make a decision. The sheep tend to go with the better record, especially if the better record is at home. Streakers with big win streaks will tend to be very careful in picking games. Unless their confidence was really high, this would have been a game they would have stayed away from because the game was too risky. Two good teams playing each other goes against the golden rule of people who look for as close of a guaranteed lock as possible. If you look at the leaderboard here, none of the top streaks tend to pick the NFL playoffs. Whatever they felt about Houston's chances, they were rewarded.

Houston ran 42 times and passed 30 times. Their defense held Atlanta to 10 points. T.J. Yates did OK. He threw a pick six that was called back. He got hit on a throw that looked like a forward pass but was ruled a fumble. For his first start, he can say he won against a strong team. The game was close. Julio Jones could have tied the game on the last play if he didn’t drop the barely contested pass by Houston’s darling Kareem Jackson. Just like the Pittsburgh game, a win is a win. For the people who followed the 75%, which I would have been surely guilty of had I not been a fan of the Texans and gone solely on research…they were wrong on this day. Streak for the Cash claimed another victim.