Early Game Diss
East Coast bias against the Texans? Tony Kornheiser, other TV analysts rip team,matchup
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The Houston Texans are anything but the national analysts' darlings at themoment.Photo by Michelle Watson/CultureMapSnap -
Matt Schaub finds himself at the center of plenty of talk.Photo by Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
Tony Kornheiser will not be rushing to a TV Saturday afternoon to catch the Houston Texans playoff rematch with the Cincinnati Bengals. The ESPN Pardon The Interruption host blasted the game on his show Friday evening.
"Cincinnati is at Houston in a game they can't put on early enough," Kornheiser cracked.
And one of the sports Goliath's most influential voices was only getting warmed up. "Not that I care about that game," Kornheiser said. "Other than rooting for Cincinnati because they haven't won a playoff game in 23 years."
It's actual one day shy of 22 years with the Bengals' last playoff W coming on Jan. 6, 1991, but close enough.
"Cincinnati is at Houston in a game they can't put on early enough."
The Texans slide from the presumptive No. 1 seed in the AFC to losers of three of their last four is what's drawing most of whatever national attention the matchup is getting anyway.
And many national analysts are picking the 12-4 Texans to lose at home in the first round. The NFL Network's Elliot Harrison has them falling 27-16.
NBC football analyst Rodney Harrison — who helped set the national tone toward the Texans early in the week — is certain the Bengals have tons of confidence heading into Reliant Stadium.
"If you're Cincinnati, you're not afraid to go into Houston," Harrison said. "(The Texans are) struggling on all cylinders."
Like Kornheiser, Harrison is largely identified as an East Coast voice (his time with the Patriots being the most memorable of his NFL career). But this Houston doubt largely knows no borders.
The Texans are not officially underdogs to a 10-6 Bengals team that made a 7-1 stretch run to set up this first round rematch from last January. But no one nationally will be shocked if Houston goes down.
As multi-purpose threat James Casey tells CultureMap, "No one will be picking us now."
Casey meant no one would pick the Texans to make a Super Bowl run now. Who would have thought he almost could have been talking about getting out of the first round?
The Texans of Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips have always feed off of any chance to play the underdog role, but former Indianapolis Colts coach and current NBC voice Tony Dungy thinks none of that will matter if one man doesn't play better.
As multi-purpose threat James Casey tells CultureMap, "No one will be picking us now."
"Matt Schaub, the pressure is on him," Dungy said. "Schaub has to really start playing well for them to have a chance.
"Houston can still turn it around, but I think it all falls on Matt Schuab."
Schaub is under fire from almost all quarters and it's hard to argue he is playing at the same level he did in September, October and November now. Against the Colts last Sunday, he under threw Casey on a deep pass, turning a chance for a big play into an interception. Later, he put a ball up for Andre Johnson in the end zone and watched Colts cornerback Vontae Davis come down with it instead.
Still, Schaub's teammates swear they don't see anything different in the quarterback and expect the touchdown passes to roll again in the playoffs.
"Matt's the same guy," left tackle Duane Brown said. "We just have to protect him better."
As for protecting the Texans' once rising national image?
That will take beating Cincinnati at home and following it up by shocking Tom Brady and the Patriots in Foxboro the following weekend.
"We just made our road harder," Johnson said.
And the doubts — and downright dismissals — a lot louder.
