End of pre-season 2023 edition:

These past few seasons have only built expectations higher and higher. Houston fans have asked if mediocrity and losing in the wild card round is all that the team will ever accomplish.

After remaining quiet for the entire off-season, owner dyluckyguess has finally made a statement on behalf of his team. "This team is built to win. The Houston team of the past is gone. We renamed the team to inspire support from the entire state, as well as to symbolize we will move on to bigger things. Anything short of winning the division will not be tolerated this year."

When interviewed after the final preason game Monday night, coach Berger sounded optimistic about the upcoming season. "We have brought in several experienced guys last year and this off season that look to make a statement by taking this team to the next level. We saw some things we liked and things we can improve on already, but most importantly, we are starting this year healthy and with a desire to win." Berger was admittedly aware of what was at stake this year. "That winning attitude is coming straight from the top. Everyone in this organization knows it's our time to win."

Fans are ready to see what the team can do after a losing preseason. With few inexperienced players on the team, most of the preseason was played by backups so we have yet to see what this group can really do together. Miami will travel to Houston as 5 point underdogs in the first game of the season, so at the very least, Vegas is feeling good about the opener for Texas.

Here's the first of many,

"Hold 'em!"

Sunday afternoons game was tough to watch if you like offense but incredible if you like defense. Although Texas scored 21 points, most of the game was spent trading punts or turnovers.

First time starter Isaiah Carter had 2 explosive rushing touchdowns for 86 and 91 yards to put Texas ahead. He finished the game with 232 yards and just over 10 ypc. When awarded with the game ball, he was speechless. "I'm just thankful for the opportunity to show what I can do." We at the resistance hope to see some more long runs by Carter along with some more consistency. Without those touchdown runs, he only had 55 yards on 21 carries.

The Texas defense started both halves off strongly by allowing 13 yards on the first four drives and 28 yards in the third quarter. Although the Miami quarterback had all day to throw the ball, he couldn't seem to find his target. The pass rush doesn't look to improve any next week with four defensive lineman being injured and two of them unlikely to play. There are talks of brining in some extra depth at defensive tackle do give some depth.

Next week's matchup sees Texas as slight favorite despite traveling in the road to New York to face the empire. An undefeated start would greatly boost confidence going into divisional play in week three against the blizzard.

"Hold'em"

Thursday night's game was a relatively comfortable game for Texas, especially in the first half. The second half the offense settled more into their usual "3 and out" role.

The offense had an unusually productive half with 12 first downs. Unfortunately, with the opportunity to go up by 23 at the end of the half, Texas threw an untimely interception which lead to a quick 3 points for New York. The rest of the game the offense didn't really to much. Unlike last week, Isaiah Carter was far more consistent but had no long runs; however, he did come up with a touchdown. This week's hero was tight end Pedro Clark who finished with 100 yards receiving on 9 receptions. Quarterback Burt Thompson seems to have found his favorite target in Clark, who was traded for this off-season, which may have been the spark this offense needed to finally win the division.

The Texas defense stayed in form this week only allowing 6 points with 3 coming off of a turnover. Alfred Godby was a huge contributor with 2 picks. The first one lead to an early touchdown for Texas which probably inspired the offense into it's productive first half. Godby was ecstatic to receive the game ball. "Man our defense killed it today. With all the injuries our guys were dealing with after the first game, I give a lot of credit to the line for stepping up today and working through it. We aint got any time to rest this week even with the long weekend cause got a big game next week against a big time quarterback. Randal Cunningham, I'll see you next week as I'm running back another interception!"

In next weekend's game against division rival Dakota, let's hope the rest of the team is as confident. Not only are the Blizzard defending conference champions, the game is also in Dakota. Odds makers put texas at 12.5 point underdog. Texas must have a huge game in order to pull off the upset.

"Hold'em!"

Sunday's game against Dakota can only be described as epic. The game came down to the final minutes and an onside kick, but Texas held'em! The final score was 30-25.

The Texas offense was oddly productive with over 300 yards and 38 minutes time of possession. Pedro Clark killed it with 6 receptions 54 yards and a touchdown. The real story came from Jamie Blaine's newfound role in the offense. Usually a change of pace back, Coach Berger moved him up to the full back position. "I just felt like we could use a bigger hand in the passing game this week so I gave Jamie a shot." With 66 yards receiving and 30 yards rushing, it's safe to say that he didn't disappoint. Could we expect to see both Carter and Blaine on the field more often?

Despite giving up more points than we are used to, the defense came through as always. With 4 turnovers, the defense heavily contributed to the offense success and top. This week's game ball went to the linebacker who intercepted all-pro QB Randall Cunningham twice, Mattie Nunez. Nunez didn't have much to say after the game but was definitely ready to celebrate the much needed win over his rival Blizzard.

Next Sunday's game in Buffalo will be little easier than this week's game. The Skull-Crushers have yet to win by less than 14 in 3 games. With star TE Pedro Clark listed as questionable to play, Texas will look to overcome a double digit line for the second week in a row.

Sunday's game showed the winning attitude that this Texas team has this season. Although statistically dominated in every aspect of the game except turnover margin, the hold'em somehow found a way to win.

The offense was abysmal. The offensive line looked worse than it has all season with 5 sacks and only 105 yards rushing (39 on a breathtaking run because of an Isaiah Carter broken tackle). When he wasn't under pressure, Burt Thompson just seemed out of sync. On 40 attempts he came up with 23 completions. The only saving grace was the lack of turnovers with just one interception.

The defense looked almost as bad as the offense. Giving up first down after first down, the situation seemed hopeless. Even so, their tenacity prevailed when they bent but never broke. They gave up 5 field goals and no touchdowns. The play of the game came in the final minute of the game when Alfred Godby came up with his second interception...this time at the Texas 5 yard line! Sometimes it takes a defense that's unwilling to lose, +4 turnover margin, and a couple big plays on offense in order to win.

Next week's matchup features Texas going to Kansas City to play the Chaos in XFL's game of the week. Despite being on the road, Texas is favored by 1.5. With only 6 points scored in KC's last game that ended in a 3-3 tie, who on the Texas offense will step up and score some points?

Hold'em!