houston Page 14 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Derrick Henry and his stiff arm are coming back! Break out the ice packs
One more win for the Tennessee Titans. All they need is to win one more game and they can clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. With an 11-5 record, a low mark for a team in first place but that speaks to a lack of a clear best team in the AFC, a home victory against the 4-12 Houston Texans — wh...

You play to win the game… or do you?
More than half of the NFL remains in playoff contention heading into the final week of the season. That includes teams like the Packers, who have clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason, and it includes teams like the Raiders and Chargers, who play each other but can both get into th...

Rookie Quarterback Rankings: Mac on the attack... again
It’s Week 17 of the NFL season, and our rookie quarterbacks have just about made it through the year, with only a couple of whom living up to the hype. Now let’s look at how the 2021 rookie class fared in Week 17. ...

Out of shape? James Harden says absolutely not after returning home for Christmas to pound on the Lakers and Clippers
Christmas at home might be the turning point in James Harden’s 2021-22 season. The Brooklyn Nets played at Crypto.com arena against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day, against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 27, and in between those two games, Harden’s high school in Lakewood, Calif., retired ...

2021 Rookie Quarterback Rankings: Have the Texans found their new quarterback?
It’s Week 16 of the NFL season, and our rookie quarterbacks are now in the home stretch, with some living up to the hype and others not so much. Now let’s look at how last year’s draft class fared in Week 16....

Lakers on their way to wrong kind of history
Injuries and the novel coronavirus have played a role in it, to be sure, as has the fact that they’re now up to 22 players used this season and it’s not even January, but the Lakers stink....

IDIOT OF THE YEAR #8: Rob Manfred, who got everything wrong
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE YEAR festivities! Nos. 50 through 11 are available for your enjoyment here. And our top 10 thus far:...

Week 16 NFL Powerless Rankings: Jacksonville is still real bad
Welcome to this week’s NFL Powerless Rankings. The end of the NFL season is near, and we know all the cellar dwellers at this point. So, let’s check out the worst of the worst from Week 16....

Week 15 NFL Powerless Ranking: Jags are better without Meyer... but still lose
Welcome to this week’s NFL Powerless Rankings. We’re in the home stretch of the NFL season, and we know the contenders from the pretenders at this point. We’ll talk about the contenders later because this list is about the less fortunate teams in the league. Let’s check out the worst of the worst fr...

Week 15 NFL Betting Primer: Best Over/Under, Spread, Teaser and Prop Bets
So remember last week when I was sick? Yeah uh, that turned out to be COVID. Just like so many players the last several days, I, too, fell victim to the COVID list. Nevertheless, that didn’t prevent another 3-1 week, our sixth straight winning showing. Now that I’m activated, I can get back to conti...

The Dallas Mavericks are struggling and Luka Dončić deserves some of the blame
For the second straight year, this pipe dream of Luka Dončić being NBA MVP seems to be going up in flames already. Dallas started the season well, but now they’re a game under .500 (11-12) and have lost eight of their last 10 games. It’s not so much Luka’s statistical production, although his shooti...

Rockets are stuck in a staring contest with John Wall and there’s no end in sight
If you want to know who has the sweetest gig in America right now, look no further than John Wall of the Houston Rockets. Wall isn’t rehabbing an injury for the first time in years, he’s supposed to be 100 percent healthy, yet he has not suited up for one of Houston’s first 23 games this season....

Rob Manfred is fertilizer
I can’t say that Rob Manfred is bad at his job, at least not entirely. Because his job is to make sure that all 30 owners squeeze the sport for every last dollar possible, and he’s done that. It doesn’t really matter if he kills the league in the process, because his bosses don’t care. It’s simply a...

Everybody hates Harden
Some people have the innate ability to make people dislike them no matter how great they are at whatever it is they do. James Harden is one of those personalities in the NBA. Harden isn’t necessarily a bad guy, but for some reason, many fans and even other players don’t really jive with him. ...

Adam Silver doing his best Vince McMahon impression in NBA’s new deal with UAE
I’m not sure what’s more obvious: A media outlet taking the NBA to task for a multiyear partnership with the United Arab Emirates, or the inevitable controversy that will come of it. It doesn’t take long to unearth copious amounts of dirt about the UAE’s record and ongoing pursuit of human rights vi...

Yes, Justin Verlander is worth every penny he makes on the open market
The 2022 MLB offseason is filled with outstanding free agents. With studs like Kevin Gausman, Freddie Freeman, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien, Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Kris Bryant all on the market, the MLB hot stove is sure to overcook the souffle many times over before March....

James Harden had a ‘glitch in the matrix’ moment, recreating <em>NBA 2K</em> gameplay
The start of the season hasn’t been the NBA 2K simulation that most thought it would be for the Brooklyn Nets, but James Harden had himself a moment over the weekend that sums up the Nets’ slow start this year....

Deshaun Watson is staying with the Texans, but neither he nor the NFL look good at the conclusion of the trade deadline
It appears that Deshaun Watson will finish the 2021 season in purgatory with the Houston Texans. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Texans granted Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross permission to meet with their quarterback on Monday night. He did not leave that meeting confident in Wat...

I’m old, so I made my kids help me rank this year’s NBA City Edition jerseys
The new NBA City Edition jerseys are out, with 28 new looks heading to the hardwood while the Jazz and Suns run it back with last season’s getups. Last year, Deadspin ranked Utah’s at No. 8 among the City Editions, and Phoenix at No. 23. Maybe it was the run to the NBA Finals, but those Suns “Valley...

Zack Greinke saves the Astros
Well, not really, Of course not. We all know that’s a ridiculous notion. But what my book presupposes is...maybe he did?...