The Buccaneers made a late announcement about a change to their offensive line plans for Sunday’s opener against the Falcons, but the groundwork had been laid in practices leading up to Week 1.
Head coach Todd Bowles said at his Monday press conference that the team began giving projected starting center Graham Barton reps at left tackle “in case of emergency,” with Charlie Heck slated to start in place of the injured Tristan Wirfs. Bowles added that Barton “started looking better and better” and that Ben Bredeson “looked pretty good at center,” which led the coaches to realize “we probably need to do this” in order to maximize the group’s physicality.
The final piece of the shuffle was installing Michael Jordan at left guard, and the unit helped the Bucs to a 23-20 win. Bowles didn’t say what the plan will be against the Texans in Week 2, but it seems likely they’ll stick with what worked.
“We’ll see what it is this week,” Bowles said, via a team transcript. “I thought Graham, for the first time at tackle, played very well. I thought Bredeson did a very good job at center, especially controlling where the blitzes go and the pickups and everything like that. Michael Jordan played well at guard, as well. So, they played tough and they battled. You know, for those guys moving around, playing their first game at different positions, I thought they did a good job. Going forward, we’ll see.”
The Bucs hope to have Wirfs back in the next few weeks, but they won’t feel pressure to rush him if the current alignment continues to hold up.
Tony Buzbee has become well-known in NFL circles for representing clients against Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. Buzbee now has a client who is targeting the NFL.
In a letter dated September 8, a copy of which PFT has obtained, Buzbee requests mediation from Commissioner Roger Goodell on behalf of Cary McNair, the son of late Texans founder Robert McNair and the brother of Texans owner Cal McNair.
The five-page document accuses the league and Cal McNair of “engineer[ing] the ouster” of Cary McNair from the Texans and other McNair family business interests.
The letter vows that, absent a resolution, Buzbee and Cary McNair will proceed in court and not in the NFL’s preferred forum of arbitration ultimately controlled by Goodell, citing the recent rulings in cases brought by Jon Gruden and Brian Flores striking down NFL efforts to compel arbitration.
Cary McNair’s potential case centers on a March 2024 letter agreement regarding the termination of his employment relationship with the McNair family businesses. Buzbee accuses the league of colluding with Cal McNair to harm the interests of Cary McNair.
“Although it is clear that both the NFL and Cal McNair conspired to eliminate Cary McNair, it will be interesting to ferret out who came up with the specific plan,” Buzbee writes. “I want to know what lies Cal McNair told the NFL about his brother Cary. I intend to find out why the NFL chose to go out on a limb and take action that it knew would harm my client, while at the same time subjecting the NFL to liability.”
Buzbee offers a couple of possible theories for the league’s decision to allegedly harm Cary McNair’s interests.
“The NFL had no issues with Cary McNair until he started asking pointed questions that potentially implicated the NFL and its personnel,” Buzbee writes. “Specifically, Cary McNair spoke out about the Deshaun Watson scandal and questioned the Texans’ handling of it. He also inquired about why the Texans paid to settle thirty Deshaun Watson cases within months of them being filed, without any investigation or putting up a fight at all. Cary McNair also questioned the leadership of the Texans (Cal McNair was ostensibly in charge at the time, even though Janice McNair was the named Owner’s Rep) about what was known, and when it was known. Cary McNair wondered aloud how the Texans could claim ignorance of the Watson situation when the organization itself provided rooms and massage tables for Watson’s use. When Cary McNair raised these serious issues, he was repeatedly silenced.”
Buzbee also points to the sexual assault scandal involving Texans minority owner Javier Loya.
“That scandal included an allegation of rape and six counts of alleged sexual abuse,” Buzbee writes. “Cary McNair wondered why he could get no response as to how the NFL publicly claimed to have initiated a formal investigation, yet never published any conclusions. He also questioned how the Texans organization could publicly state that Mr. Loya was not involved with the Texans, when Mr. Loya remained in (and still remains in) an ownership position.”
Buzbee also attacks Cal McNair’s fitness to serve as the controlling owner of the Texans.
“It is a widely known fact in Houston that Cal McNair is unqualified to be an Owner’s Representative; the NFL knows it as well,” Buzbee writes. “Indeed, despite what he has had placed on certain websites, Cal McNair is not even a college graduate. Yet Cal McNair interestingly now claims he obtained an MBA from the prestigious Rice University, although the Rice administration office has stated quite clearly that an individual lacking an undergraduate degree is ineligible to receive a Rice MBA. (Perhaps an exception was made for Cal McNair due to a well-timed charitable donation by his parents?; we will figure that out in due course.)”
Much will be figured out, barring a settlement. Buzbee has given Goodell until September 19 to arrange a meeting and a possible mediation.
“The NFL’s interference has caused my client Mr. McNair more than $60 million in direct financial losses,” Buzbee writes. “Because I believe the NFL’s conduct to be willful and malicious, I intend to ask a Houston jury to award many times that amount as punitive damages.”
We’ll see where it goes from here. For now, Buzbee has decided to take a big swing at Big Shield. Win or lose, it could end up being a big mess.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud doesn’t think his team prepared the right way for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles and he shared that feeling after their 14-9 loss to the Rams came to an end.
Houston didn’t score a touchdown in the opener and Stroud was sacked twice behind a remade offensive line. He also threw an interception and the Texans committed 11 penalties over the course of the loss.
Stroud said there were a “million reasons” to cite for the disappointing performance, but his belief is that the team “could have practiced better” and shared his hope that the game offered a necessary reminder of what you need to do to win.
“We didn’t deserve to win that game because we didn’t do the right things,” Stroud said, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. “When you come out in the NFL lollygagging and going through the motions, that kind of happens. I think we’ll be all right, but I think it’s a good wakeup call for us.”
Performances in Week 1 are sometimes a harbinger of things to come and they are sometimes forgotten by the time teams get to October. The coming weeks will show which group the Texans will be in this season.
The Rams held off the Texans 14-9 in a defensive battle.
The Texans were moving toward a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter when Nate Landman punched the ball out of the hand of running back Dare Ogunbowale after a 7-yard reception to the Los Angeles 18. Braden Fiske fell on the ball at the 24 with 1:43 left. It was the second lost fumble of Ogunbowale’s nine-year career.
The Texans, with three timeouts, still had a chance to get the ball back especially after the Rams were called for holding on first down. But Kyren Williams ran for 4 and 8 yards before Puka Nacua caught a 24-yard pass from Matthew Stafford on third-and-8 with 1:27 left to end the suspense.
The Rams scored their touchdowns on a 1-yard run by Williams on fourth down and a 13-yard Stafford pass to tight end Davis Allen.
The Texans got field goals of 51, 45 and 53 from Ka’imi Fairbairn in the first half but had two turnovers and two punts on four second half possessions.
The Rams outgained the Texans 296 to 265, but they didn’t put the game away earlier in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles was at the Houston 12 when Colby Parkinson caught a Stafford pass and fumbled on a hit by Azeez Al-Shaair that originally was called an incomplete pass. Danielle Hunter recovered at the Houston 19 to give Stroud and the offense an opportunity.
But then, Ogunbowale’s fumble happened, getting Parkinson off the hook.
Stafford went 21-of-29 for 245 yards and a touchdown. Nacua caught 10 passes for 130 yards, and Williams rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
C.J. Stroud was 19-of-27 for 188 yards, with eight different receivers catching passes. Nick Chubb had 60 yards on 13 carries.
The Texans revamped their offensive line in the offseason. Already, they’re having to revamp it again.
With right guard Ed Ingram being unable to play with an abdomen injury, the Texans shuffled their line before the game. They inserted Cam Robinson at left tackle, moved Tae Ersery to right tackle and had Tytus Howard go from right tackle to right guard.
In the third quarter, Robinson briefly went out with Blake Fisher coming into the game.
Robinson returned, but center Jake Andrews likely won’t.
Andrews injured his ankle a few plays after Robinson left the game and was carted to the training room from the sideline. The Texans list him as questionable to return.
Jarrett Patterson entered the game at center.
The Texans trail the Rams 13-9 in the fourth quarter.
