HOUSTON TEXANS 2025 OUTLOOK

BY MARK HALPERN

    When you are looking at the NFL as a whole no team has improved itself more over the last two seasons than the Houston Texans. The Texans made the right move by getting C.J. Stroud. Stroud excelled as a rookie and led the Texans to the AFC South Division. The Houston Texans have a young team, but they made moves to improve themselves on both sides of the ball. I expect Houston will battle the Jacksonville Jaguars for the top spot for the AFC South.

Stroud threw for 4100 yards 23 TD’s to and only 5 interceptions and ran for 167 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season. Stroud is an absolute stud of a Quarterback and will be a top 10 Quarterback for years to come. Stroud and the Texans were an unknown going into last season and wound up 10-7 and winning the AFC South. One of the biggest problems for Houston was the lack of a running game (they averaged 96.9 yards per game) They took a chance on former Bills Running Back Devin Singletary and that didn’t work. Singletary wound up leaving to reunite with Brian Daboll and the New York Giants. With Singletary gone, the Texans needed to improve the running back position. They did that with the signing of Joe Mixon. Mixon, an accomplished running back for the Cincinnati Bengals the last few years is a true power lead back that the Texans are missing. Two of the last three seasons Mixon has gone for over 1,000 yards. Mixon is also a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, he had 52 receptions last season. This should change the Texans offense dramatically, as they should be less one dimensional with the mixing in of Mixon.  The Texans needed another receiver to complement the emergence of Tank Dell and Nico Collins last year. Collins had his best year amassing 1297 yards and 8 TD’s and Dell 700 yards and 7 TD’s but, still even though Collins lead the team in a huge way the lack of experience in this part of the depth chart and they got the one of the best receivers in football by getting Stefon Diggs from Buffalo. Diggs has gone over  1,000-yard receiving the last six seasons. Two of the last three seasons he has scored 10 touchdowns. If that wasn’t scary enough Dalton Schultz is a very accomplished tight end and in this high-powered offense could see numbers like he saw during his Dallas years. The key to this Offense working is the protection and the Houston Line is more than up to the challenge. The key for the offensive line is growth from last year and working out the kinks to get Stroud that extra second if they can. Protecting Stroud will be a priority (just like protecting the QB for any team is) but they will be up to the challenge.

     Now a team is complete without a Defense and this is where the Texans need to build on in areas. First of all, hats off to Jonathan Greenard on his excellent season that included 12.5 sacks. Greenard had a phenomenal season, but he left for the Vikings in free agency. So the Texans needed to get some pass rush help so they signed Danielle Hunter. Hunter had 16.5 sacks last season, and has double digit sacks in four of the last five seasons. Turnovers and pressure on the quarterback is usually how we define how good a defense is. The Texans last year were a +10 in turnover differential, which was the same as the 49ers and Cowboys. They had 46 sacks on the season, once again the same as the Cowboys. With young players like Will Anderson, Derrick Stingley and Jalen Pitre the defense is bright in Houston, and with Demeco Ryans leading the way I expect the Texans defense to be better in 2024.

   If the Texans can improve in certain areas such as penalties and protecting CJ Stroud they can be a real dangerous threat in the AFC. The biggest question is how will they handle expectations? I think they will and I can see them winning 11 games.

DETROIT 2025 OUTLOOK

By MARK HALPERN

       At the end of last season, the Lions were eliminated in the NFC title game by the 49ers. The Lions had the 49ers on the ropes, and a few mistakes cost them a trip to the Super Bowl. The Detroit Lions last year were arguably one of the best teams on the field offensively  and defensively through the first 13 weeks. The offense never lost a beat but the Defense started to not just falter but simply break down. Even though the Lions won their division for the first time since 1993 (NFC Central) you could see the concern in the coaches about the defense ability to keep up with the elite of the elite. The Lions put up one of the best seasons in the franchise last year and should continue into the future.

     The offense is in the top ten in the NFL and could even be ranked higher but the end of the season. Led by Jared Goff and his 4600 yards and 30 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions. Goff was one of the best trades the Lions have made and it has certainly paid off. Goff is true leader not only on but off the field as well. They rewarded Goff for his play with a massive extension. When you look at the weapons the Lions have it’s as good as if not better than 80% of the teams in the league. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs had an impressive rookie season totaling 945 yards and 11 td’s  (1 receiving) and his counterpart David Montgomery had just over 1000 yards and 13 TD’s making them one of the best running back duos in the league and should be more lethal than last year. Now I trust that many coaches know this and will try and slow this down but, it is kind of hard to do when you have a receiving core with St. Brown (1500 yards 10td’s) second year tight end Sam Laporta (889 yards 10 TD’s) these were just the team leaders. Players such as Josh Reynolds and Jameson Williams also played decisive roles in helping getting this team to stardom. The one name that we are waiting to break free is Jameson Williams. He has been hampered by an injury first year and a slow start last year due to suspension.  He has the size and ability to become the #2 on this team and I expect to see a lot from him.

   On the defensive side this defense came out strong and both sides offensive and defensive lead the team to its best start in over a decade. However, once the second half approached the defense faltered to some big teams and I guess you can say their pride was hurt. This doesn’t mean the team didn’t have some big contributors. Adian Hutchinson leading the team with 11.5 sacks and is the voice of this defense. In the secondary Kerby Joseph lead with 4 interceptions and 69 tackles. When it came to big plays on defense Joseph was always around or even making the play so having him back is going to be a big help. You can’t not mention Alex Anzalone who had a monster year totaling 129 combines tackles and assists. The Defensive line will be under heavy pressure in the beginning of this long season as that was one of the biggest collapses in the second half. So, I am sure that the coaches will be working harder on that as well.

     I am going to make a bold statement and say that Gibbs not only takes over the #1 rule duties but will have 1300 yards and 12 touchdowns. I truly think that this offense is built as strong as any other in the league and can match point for point but, if the defense can’t last a full season (let’s face it is hard for any other team) and lose games late in the season and get knocked down a spot or two in the standings the Lions might be watching from home yet again. There are expectations in Detroit this season for the first time in a long time, can they live up to the hype.

Something Brewing

By Mike Rifkin

The Milwaukee Brewers had a fantastic week of baseball. The Brewers took two of three from the Dodgers and swept the Cleveland Guardians, two of the best teams in baseball. The Brewers outscored the Guardians 9-4 over the three games. 

The Brewers own a 11 game lead in the NL Central, the largest division lead across MLB. The Brewers are one game behind the Phillies for best record in the National League and MLB. Most people expected the Brewers to take a step back this season, after the departures of Corbin Burnes and Craig Counsell, and Brandon Woodruff not being able to pitch this season and closer Devin Williams missing the first three months of the season. 

The Brewers have not missed a beat, they are second in ERA only behind the Mariners, last year the Brewers led the league in ERA.. Colin Rea leads the starters with a 3.52 ERA and 11 wins on the season.

 The Brewers young players have made a massive impact, as they are third in baseball in stolen bases. Brice Turang has 37, Jackso Chourio and Blake Perkins have 17 each, Sal Frelick has 15, and Willy Adames has 13. Christian Yelich had 21, before announcing he will miss the rest of the season undergoing back surgery. Yelich was having an renaissance season, before going on the injured list. But the Brewers have been down this road before, playing without Yelich and they’ll have to do it again now. 

Whatever happens in October remains to be seen, but the job Matt Arnold and Pat Murphy have done in replacing David Stearns and Craig Counsell has been amazing. The Brewers have that next man up mentality, and they have shown a ton of resilience. 2024 is a special season for the Brewers.

 DALLAS COWBOYS 2025 OUTLOOK

BY MARK HALPERN

      Well here we are, another football season upon us and another chance at achieving greatness. The Dallas Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1995 and each and every year that we think we are on the cusp we end up in a disappointment but, we are always gnawing at the bit for more. Jerry Jones has promised he was all in and up until a few days ago we all were wondering what that meant. 

    At the end of another disappointing season Dallas still has a lot of questions that need to be answered and the most important is getting under the cap to be able to sign Wide Receiver CeeDee Lamb to a long and substantial contract Most Cowboy fans are holding out hope that a deal gets done soon. However, I am hopeful that a Dak Prescott extension is done and just not announced. There is only way to get these guarantees and that was by making Dak the first $60million Dollar Quarterback and making a huge guaranteed deal to lighten cap hit until the end of career. This also can make Cowboy fans calm down a little bit and know there is money left for Micah next year. 

   Offseason there are a ton of holes to be filled more on the defensive  side. The Offensive line needed help and of course since Tony Pollard left to join the Titans on a three year deal the only two who were left on the roster was Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn and neither one of them are close to  starters and with the plethora of Running backs to hit the market all Dallas fans wanted was one of them. Whether it was Barkley, Henry, Ekeler any of them would have been upgrades but Dallas had very little wiggle room to play with so they looked at the board and saw the one name that fit and should have never left and that was Zeke Elliott. It will be nice to have him back in the fold, but he will be part of a running back committee. Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn should also get some opportunities.

   On the Defensive side Dallas’s first Free Agent was Erik Kendricks who played for the Chargers.Kendricks had 79 tackles and 3.5 sacks for the Chargers last season in 15 games. He will be a welcomed addition into the linebacker field with Parsons. There is no secret that the Defensive Line has been a weak link but the Cowboys made two very important trades that are going to help shore up the defensive line. First from the New York Jets Carl Lawson who has good talent, but was limited to six games last season. In 2022 Lawson had seven sacks and 33 tackles. Even more curious is that the New York Giants traded Jordan Phillips, another big guy for the Defensive line. You rarely see interdivisional trades and this one helps make Dallas fans see that the organization is now filling in the holes where the help was needed.

    There is a lot of pressure on a lot of people within the organization. The Cowboys have a tough schedule, starting with the Browns, but with the roster and the coaching that is in place that the Cowboys will be in for a rough fight but will be more and ready to meet the challenge.

Leafs Of Change

By Mike Rifkin

The Toronto Maple Leafs have changed captains, giving the captaincy to Auston Matthews, replacing John Tavares. Matthews, the 2021-22 Hart Trophy winner was drafted first overall by the Leafs in 2016 and has become one of the premier goal scorers in the NHL. Matthews has won the Rocket Richard trophy three times including last season where he scored 69 (nice), Matthews is 32 goals away from 400 in his career. 

There are two different ways to look at Matthews being named captain of the Leafs : we can look at as the honor it is meant to be, which it is or we can look at it as a slight at John Tavares, personally I think it’s a little bit of both. Yes, Matthews should be the captain of the team, he is the face of the franchise and he is the team’s highest paid player. Does the captain need to be the highest paid player? No, but the investment the Leafs have put into Matthews makes him the captain and let’s be honest about something this was coming everyone knew it. Now, for Tavares who signed with the Leafs in 2018, was named captain a season later. Tavares as a Leaf has 184 goals and 419 points in 440 games played, and 12 goals and 24 points in 38 career playoff games, including the series clincher against the Lightning in 2023, helping the Leafs win their first playoff series in 20 years. 

I think there’s another piece of significance in naming Matthews the captain. Should it have happened already? Emphatically Yes, but I think there’s another significance to this, this is the final season John Tavares is under contract with the Leafs. Does that mean if the Leafs don’t win Tavares won’t be back with the club in hopes of trying to win? I don’t know, but I think if the Leafs fail again changes are on the horizon. This summer they changed the coach and the captain, last offseason the General Manager was ousted, but if the Leafs fail in 2024-25 will there be more changes? Players like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Nathan Mackinnon all were franchise altering players, and they got viewed in a different light when they won a Cup. Connor McDavid, the best player in the world has yet to win a Cup, if the Leafs don’t win Auston Matthews is going to be ushered into a new spotlight. “With great power comes great responsibility”. It’s symbolic that the Leafs changed captains, because if they fail this year, the Shanaplan era will be over and the Matthews era will just be beginning.

Walk This Way 

By Mike Rifkin

No, this is not a tribute to the greatest American Rock Band that has announced their retirement but congrats on a tremendous journey.. 

In the Mets 9-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics Mets’ pitchers walked six hitters. Walks have been a theme for the Mets pitching staff, who have walked 447 hitters, only the White Sox have more. The Mets walked nearly 600 batters last season and in 2022 the team only walked 435 hitters. So why the increase in walks? Part of the reason is the starting rotation doesn’t have a ton of swing and miss in it especially with Kodai Senga and Christian Scott out with injuries. The bullpen just hasn’t had the consistency all season to it and the walks have cost the Mets all season. 

So, what’s the solution to the walks issue? Well, David Stearns talked about people being under evaluation this season, does that include Jeremy Hefner, who was a holdover from the Buck Showalter administration. Will Stearns and Mendoza hire their own pitching coach or is this a personnel problem and the Mets will find guys who are more strike throwers over the winter. 

I know Juan Soto is going to be a free agent and will command a lot of money. While fans like to spend other people’s money especially a billionaire’s like Steve Cohen, but pitching should be the top priority. With names such as Corbin Burnes, Walker Buehler, Max Fried, Shane Bieber, and Nathan Eovaldi on the market it makes sense (and that’s just starters). No matter how the last month plays out, a major  priority for the Mets should be to find pitchers who don’t walk as many hitters.

Scoreless In Seattle

By Mike Rifkin

The New York Mets were swept by the Seattle Mariners over the weekend. The Mariners outscored the Mets 22-1 over the three games, and the Mariners pitching staff only allowed 17 hits. The Mets were shutout for the first 24 innings of the series until Jeff McNeil hit a home run in the fifth inning on Sunday.

The Mets offense which was the catalyst for them turning their season around, has hit a funk. And outside of a few innings and a game in Colorado the Mets offense has really struggled since the All -Star Break. A few guys who have been in major slumps are Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Alvarez. Nimmo said after Saturday’s game “I expect more of myself and I’m working on it every day. It’s just not good enough. I’m one of the leaders of this team. I’m supposed to come through, I’m supposed to do better and I’m not.” Nimmo was 3-22 over the last week and one has to wonder if the 16 homers he has, has changed his approach at the plate. Similar to Jeff McNeil a few years ago. As for Alvarez it’s been a struggle since he was activated off the IL with a broken thumb, so one has to wonder if that is still bothering him along with a sore left shoulder. The other guy who the Mets need to get going is JD Martinez. When the Mets were hot Nimmo and Martinez led the charge and at the moment they’re not getting much from either guy. With Pete Alonso having the season he is having, and we all know the contract is weighing on him, the team needs others to step up. 

Jeff McNeil has been great since the break and Francisco Lindor has been really good since being moved to the leadoff spot. The Mets do have a reinforcement on the way in the form of Starling Marte, who played for Binghamton on Sunday, so his return will give the Mets offense another dimension. Despite being swept by the Mariners the Mets remain ½ game behind the Braves for the final wild card spot.

Feeling The Heat

By Mike Rifkin

We are less than a month away from the NFL season kicking off. All fans are confident that their respective teams are going to compete for a Super Bowl Championship. We often talk about coaches who need to show something as the pressure mounts, here’s a list of the ten Quarterbacks I believe under the most pressure to show something this season. 

  1. Aaron Rodgers – Jets : The Jets dream in 2023 turned into a nightmare four plays into the season when Rodgers tore his Achilles. Aaron is now 40 years old and who knows how much great football he has left, but the Jets got the four time MVP with the hopes of winning their first Super Bowl since 1969, if they don’t win this year we know Robert Salah will be gone, but what happens with Rodgers? If Rodgers can’t lead the Jets to the promise land, it’ll be Brett Favre 2.0.
  1. Deshaun Watson – Browns : Watson has really struggled with the Browns. In 12 games he has a combined 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions, over a season and a half. Now part of the reason he’s played so little has been suspension and the other is injury, but after signing a 230 million dollar fully guaranteed deal the Browns need Watson to be the superstar he was with the Texans.
  1. Dak Prescott – Cowboys : Part of this comes with the territory, there’s not a tougher position to be in in sports than quarterback of the Cowboys. The other reason that there’s a lot of pressure on Dak is that this season is an audition, Dak is a free agent after the season and I don’t think he’ll be re-signed by the Cowboys unless he reaches the NFC title game, but Dak is auditioning for every other team in the NFL and he’s looking to show his owner that he has what it takes. 
  1. Russell Wilson – Steelers : The Denver experiment failed miserably for Russ, but now he gets another crack with the Steelers. While a calf injury has sidelined him during the beginning portion of training camp, coach Mike Tomlin has consistently said Russ is in the lead to start for the Steelers. If Russ doesn’t play well, he’ll have to look over his shoulder at Justin Fields and wonder what’s next for himself. 
  1. Daniel Jones – Giants : Giants fans saw their star Running Back go down the Jersey turnpike to play for their arch-rival. One of the reasons that happened is the contract of Daniel Jones. Jones had a nice season two years ago, but regressed last season before tearing his ACL. If Jones struggles once again, he’ll be looking for work elsewhere. 
  1. Trevor Lawrence – Jags : Lawrence became one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL. The 24 year old saw his touchdowns decrease last season, while his interceptions increased. The Jags were 8-3 last season, and lost five of six and collapsed and lost the division to the Texans. 
  1. Tua Tagovailoa – Dolphins : Like Lawrence, Tagovailoa signed a massive contract extension to remain in Florida. Tua is a lightning rod for people across the league, whether they like him or hate him. Tua was an MVP candidate last season, until the final two games of the regular season. The pressure is on Tua to break the longest drought to win a playoff game. 
  1. Justin Herbert : Chargers – Herbert’s been ranked amongst the elites of NFL quarterbacks. Last season the Chargers were the biggest disappointment in the league. Herbert was limited to 13 games due to injury, but now the pressure is on because his top three targets Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler are all gone, now Herbert is going to have to show his elite talent. 
  1. Lamar Jackson – Ravens/Josh Allen Bills : Ok I cheated and said 10 but there’s really 11. These two quarterbacks face the same pressure, it’s time to win. For both it’s to get over the Mahomes’ hump. Both guys lost to Mahomes and the Chiefs at home in the playoffs. While both are going to be MVP candidates they need to get over the KC hump.
  2.  Kirk Cousins – Falcons : Cousins like Aaron Rodgers is coming off an Achilles tear. The Falcons didn’t care and decided to give Cousins a big contract, with the thought that now the Falcons can be a playoff team. If Cousins struggles though, people in Atlanta will clamor for Michael Penix Jr., whom the Falcons selected eighth overall in the draft.

Wrong Direction

By Mike Rifkin

In 2021 the Chicago White Sox won 93 games and a lot of people thought that was the beginning of something special on the South Side. Well, things turned the other way for the White Sox and now who knows when it will end. On Sunday the White Sox lost to the Minnesota Twins, to lose their 20th consecutive game, one shy of the American League record which was set in 1988. The White Sox are a disaster from top to bottom, but this week there’s more to shed on this because of this past Tuesday’s trade deadline. 

Most people thought the White Sox should be fairly active during the trade deadline given their place in the standings. But the White Sox made one major move. In a three team trade with the Cardinals and Dodgers, the White Sox shipped out Starting Pitcher Eric Fede and Outfielder Tommy Pham to the Cardinals, and reliever Michael Kopech to the Dodgers. The White Sox added two players (Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus) who are 19 years old. They also got 24 year old Miguel Vargas, who had limited playing time in LA. Entering the season none of the three were in the Dodgers’ top 30 within their farm system. They were able to dump Eloy Jimenez’s contract on the Baltimore Orioles as well.  The other reason people thought the White Sox would do well at the deadline, Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Crochet both were rumored to be on the block and neither was moved. Robert was fantastic in 2023, with 38 homers and 80 RBI’S with a slash line of .264/.315/.542. 2023 was also the only time in his career Robert has played in over 100 games. This year it’s been a different story Robert has 12 homers and 26 RBI’s with a slash line of .214/.282/.432 in 58 games. The best ability is availability and Robert hasn’t proven to be available enough. Crochet wasn’t traded for a different reason, his problem was something said by someone in his camp. They said Crochet wouldn’t pitch down the stretch without a contract extension, the thing is Crochet still has two years left on his contract. The White Sox have moved Crochet from reliever to starter, Crochet is 6-8 with a 3.19 ERA and is second in baseball with 162 strikeouts. Did the White Sox fail the trade deadline? Yes, but I don’t blame Chris Getz for the team’s failures. 

The person at fault for the White Sox issues is owner Jerry Reinsdorf. So, why is it Reinsdorf’s fault that the team is this bad? Well let’s start with the hiring of Tony La Russa. La Russa hadn’t managed a team in a decade, and he couldn’t last two full seasons as the manager in Chicago, in part to his health, but there’s been some stories about things that went down in the clubhouse. The other one that got me was when Reinsdorf fired GM Rick Hahn and President Kenny Williams, both of whom had been with the organization a long time. But instead of doing a thorough search, Reinsdorf just promoted assistant GM Chris Getz to the position. Now this is not a slight at Getz, but if you at least interview other candidates maybe you find something you like. The White Sox are 27-87, they haven’t won a game in a month and they could catch the 1962 Mets for most losses in a season (120) and the owner will have nobody to blame but himself.

Absurd

By Mike Rifkin

The NFL released its top 100 players list voted by the players, and there’s a new number one player. Tyreek Hill was voted by his peers as the best player in the NFL. Hill unseats his former Quarterback Patrick Mahomes as the best player in the league. Mahomes slipped to four behind Hill, Lamar Jackson and Christian McCaffrey. How can Mahomes slip to four?

Here’s the first thing all three players ranked above Mahomes, well his team beat their teams in the playoffs on his way to his second consecutive Super Bowl Championship. Mahomes’ numbers weren’t what we are used to seeing, but he was in the top 10 in yards, touchdowns and QBR. Also last season it wasn’t like Mahomes was working with this great group of receivers. The Chiefs had two receivers (Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice) go over 900 yards, the next closest was at 460 (Justin Watson). Also in the playoffs, what we saw at times was Mahomes’ use of his running ability, especially in the Super Bowl. 

I’m starting to wonder if we take Mahomes’ greatness for granted. No offense to the three players ranked in front of him, but in a clutch situation Patrick Mahomes is the guy you want with the ball in his hands. People try to find things to throw at Mahomes, for instance he didn’t win a road playoff game, well he went into Buffalo and Baltimore in the playoffs and found a way to win. Tyreek Hill and McCaffrey are great players, but the way Quarterbacks are valued I am not sure you can say they’re better than Mahomes. I will say the Dolphins offense did change when Tyreek Hill hurt his ankle, but that was also a depth issue for Miami. There’s not one player better in the NFL than Patrick Mahomes, and to quote Ric Flair “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” Well at the moment the Chiefs are the back to back champs and somebody is going to have to knock them off. The last thing Mahomes and the Chiefs need is some bulletin board material entering the season.