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Christy Pierce-Rampone here, former member of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, three-time gold medalist, two-time World Cup champion, and part of the 99 team that won the Women's World Cup, igniting passion for soccer everywhere. I'm mom to two teenage girls, and quality time together is prime time. We love to cook, and I have an obsession, a healthy one of course, with cooking utensils.
Where do I turn? Amazon Prime, to get them fast. And when they arrive, where do I turn? To Prime, to stream the best cooking shows.
And then, for dessert, what do we do? The Rampone team streams! Each of us gets to be the captain and pick the show. Right now, we're all over British TV, part of our Prime subscription.
I think a trip to the UK is in the future, and of course, we'll get all we need for that trip. From workout clothes to raincoats, from plaids to luggage, from travel guides to umbrellas, from streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit amazon.com slash prime to get more out of whatever you're into.
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Download Thumbtack and start a project today. Tonight we got a Hall of Fame game. We got the Texans taking on the Bears. We got one team that went to the postseason last year. We got another team that's trying to return with a rookie quarterback. To talk about the Texans' perspective, because there's so much said about Caleb Williams and what the Bears are going to do and not do.
Let's actually talk about a team that's expected to continue rolling from what they did last year. And no one better to talk about the Texans than someone who has covered them for years, whether it be on the radio or TV. He's the host of The Locker Room with Landry. It's my main man Landry Locker. How are you, man? What's up, man? Football season. I'm excited. I'm pumped for this, and it's a historic one. I kind of sense that you're not as pumped for preseason, JR, but this is history. This is the first time we're going to get a look at that new kickoff.
The most unexciting play in sports is becoming the most bizarre. You got me read like a book. You know me well, Landry.
I do not care. Hit me up in another month, okay? I'll be paying attention to more. But I know for you in the Texans, there's certainly a lot to be excited about, especially with a little bit of a surprise last year. A first-year head coach in D'Amico Ryans, a first-year head coach in CJ Stroud. You go to the postseason. What are you looking forward to the most? What's the next step that you want to see this year from the team? Not necessarily in the playoffs, but from the team? I just want to see them maintain the playoff level. The reality of the situation is there could be a little bit of an overreaction, and they could be a little bit ahead of schedule because if Indianapolis doesn't drop that ball in week 18 in the red zone, then there's a chance they don't make the playoffs.
Even if they win that Colts game, if the Jags don't wet the bed against the Titans, then they have to play Buffalo on Tuesday instead of hosting Cleveland for a second time. You have to get to the AFC Championship game for the first time in franchise history expectations. They just got to maintain that playoff level that they had last year, and the players under 25 got to be better.
So those are my expectations. Just get to the playoffs, and we'll see what happens. Landry Locker is joining us from the locker room. When you think about the next step, there's been some additions here on offense.
You think about Stephon Diggs coming in, even guys who were hurt at the end of last season, Tank Dell, Nikko Collins, you got Joe Mixon, one of the best backs, running the ball. Dalton Schultz? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. CJ Strauss said this is a five-headed monster, no? Yeah, he did. And I'll be honest, Stephon Diggs, just from watching, and I've watched every play of camp, he looked like wide receiver one. There's a question about his digs, how are him and Stroud going to get on the same page? If you just went in there blindly and you didn't know who the players were, he's clearly wide receiver one. He's on his best behavior.
He's one of the leaders. He's staying after practice with guys and all that. Mixon's been banged up. He hasn't practiced for a week. I am a little bit worried about their depth at running back in that area, but as far as the receivers, Tank Dell's been a full go.
Nikko Collins looks good. Diggs looks like wide receiver one. They should, like CJ Stroud, the passing yards and the statistics in the air, they should be significant. I am a little bit concerned about the offensive line, though.
I think it won't be as bad as it was last year, but I'm not sure that they have a really, really good offensive line, despite how much they've invested in it. Well, Landry, given the success that they had last year, is it not reasonable to think that the numbers, the touchdown to INT ratio won't be as good as last season? Yeah, and CJ will be the first to admit that he probably should have thrown a few more interceptions last year, and they insist they want to run the ball.
It's really just a matter of whether they can or not. The efficiency last year was just through the roof, but I anticipate, I think he's going to throw more touchdowns. I think they're going to be better in the red zone, but I do think he'll throw more interceptions because he'll be the first to tell you. He could have easily thrown double-digit INTs last year.
There were a couple times where it was dropped or he was bailed out a little bit, so he'll be the first to admit that. Landry Locker is joining us, host of the Locker Room down in Houston, Texas. There's so much attention paid to the offense.
Naturally, everybody likes to see the points scored. It seems like Will Anderson, the defensive rookie of the year, doesn't get as much attention as the offensive rookie of the year. Unfortunately, you've got Danico Autry who just got suspended, but talk to us about that defense. You've still got Stingley.
There's a lot of weapons on that side of the ball as well. They also added Daniel Hunter. They've got Daniel Hunter on the other side. He's one of the best fat guys in the league. He's huge. Will Anderson actually last year was a little bit banged up.
He's put on 15 pounds, so he's up to 261. They were prepared for the Autry thing. It was kind of weird because Mario Edwards has been in the league for a long time, and then Faticasi and Settle. They looked really good on the interior.
Now, that might say as much about the offensive line as anything, but they looked good. Stingley looks like the guy that was the defensive player of the month last month to end the season. And then Kamari Lasseter out of Georgia, heading into day two of the draft, we were talking about Kool-Aid McKinstry, and we were talking about Dejan out of Iowa. And then Lasseter got picked, and there was a discussion about, hey, is he a slot guy? Is he too slow the 40 times? He's been the starting corner from the beginning, and he's been going toe-to-toe and doing battle with Collins, Dell, all those guys. You remember the viral clip of Kirby Smart praising him and all that?
Demico and Casario seemed to love him. I think Stingley, when healthy, is one of the best corners in the league. I'm not so sure, and I don't want to overreact, but he is going against the best in practice. I think Kamari Lasseter might end up being one of the seals of this draft, and you might have an edge duo of Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter, and then the corner duo of Derek Stingley and Kamari Lasseter. I think people are sleeping on this defense. And Landry Lockers here with us covers all things Texans. When you take a look at the AFC South, you would expect for Jacksonville to improve with Trevor Lawrence healthy at the end of a season. The Indianapolis Colts, you would think, and who knows what Anthony Richardson is going to do.
If he's healthy, you would think that they're also better. Where do you have the Texans slotted? Is winning out in the AFC South in general? Yeah, I mean, if you put a gun to my head, I would pick them to win, and that might be a little dramatic, but I would pick them to win the division. But I do think people are sleeping on the Colts. The Colts last year could have easily won the division. They got a healthy and motivated Jonathan Taylor. They're not as banged up as they were at the end of the year on the secondary. I actually think they might be quarterback proof, because I think Shane Steichen's that good of a coach. And what he can do with Anthony Richardson could be scary. I think they got the steal, and I think they got one of the steals in the draft in Adadi Mitchell out of Texas by way of Georgia, by way of H-Town. I think the Colts are getting flipped on.
I think the Jags, I mean, you look at the Jags. Trevor Lawrence, regardless of how you feel about him, we can argue about whether he's a lead or not. The one thing I think we can all agree on with Trevor Lawrence, he's tough as heck. I think he got carted off like 30 times last year, and he stayed in the game.
Maybe he's got a little Paul Pearson, but I have no idea. But Trevor Lawrence is tough. Their front seven is underrated, and I do think Indianapolis and Jacksonville both improved. I think people are significantly, dangerously sleeping on the Colts, specifically having Jonathan Taylor for a full season. Last time that the Texans faced Jonathan Taylor, he was the best player on the football field. That includes C.J.
Strad, that includes all these names we're mentioning. So I do think the Colts are getting significantly slept on. Landry Locker is here with us on the JR Sport Reshow, the Infinity Sports Network. When you take a look at the game that's set to kick off in about 90 minutes from now, a Hall of Fame game as the Texans get ready to take on the Bears. We know the Bears are not going to play their starters.
We don't imagine. D'Amico Ryans, the last I heard, played it real coy. What do you expect tonight? Yeah, D'Amico's kind of in like regular season hardo mode. He doesn't want to say who's going to play in the preseason, which I just think that's just kind of the clock he's cut from.
Every time he goes in the building, it's the same type of routine. I don't anticipate seeing a lot of starters. I think we're going to see an interesting name to look out that the audience will be familiar with instead of throwing out some random second, third stringer names. They brought Cam Akers into camp coming off his second tour in Achilles. So he tore one Achilles a few years ago with the Rams, came back in eight months, and then he tore another one last year. He's been in camp.
It seems like he's moving well, but we haven't seen him against live action. I think that's something to keep an eye on because the Achilles injury, I think it might be transitioning into like back in our day, JR. I don't want to date us like the ACL was like the end all be all you were done now. Yeah, you're done. It's over.
Oh my God, those three letters. It's over now. It's like, okay, well, will he be back at the start of the season? There's a new Achilles procedure. Yeah, yeah, he's had it twice on each Achilles. I don't know what to think of it, but I do think it's intriguing to just see kind of how he moves because he is out there getting live reps. So I want to see if Cam Akers finds his way into this depth lacking running back room and what he looks like. Listen, they need to do a zip up procedure for Mike Trout's back and his knees.
That's what needs a zip up procedure. He needs a full body. He needs a full body. Well, listen, 2024, he might be able to get one. Give it a few years.
Landry Locker is here with us. What are the expectations from the fan base? I remember years ago, I had droves of people calling me here on the Infinity Sports Network by a former name. People were calling me saying, I'm giving up my tickets.
I'm not going back to NRG. How has the fan base just changed and woken back up? Well, they're back. They actually sold out season tickets, but I actually credit those fans because I think they kind of kicked ownership in the butt a little bit, but they're excited. AFC Championship seems to be kind of the rally cry because it's kind of crazy. This has been an organization since 2002 and they've never been there. That really seems to be the rally cry.
I think people are hesitant to say Super Bowl, but AFC Championship game, like if you're just talking to the ultimate optimist, I think it would go a long way for them to end that drought. People are no longer on management. Management and ownership got a little bit of a relaxation. D'Amico saved the day. He did.
He did. And I'm glad you said that because I actually don't think he gets enough credit for being the initial piece. I love CJ and I don't think any of this is possible without CJ, but I don't know that CJ is thriving as much as he is without D'Amico. And I think that kind of revived the fan base. And it would have no matter what, like even had he been an average coach just because of the history, but the fact that he was the most sought after guy, the fact that he has the leadership he does, he appears to be a bit of a ball coach. It's just kind of the icing on the cake. And it's like the perfect the perfect guy to oversee, I think, a lot of organizations, but especially this one. It's a good thing to see. Houston, amazing city.
They deserve a damn good football team. Now, we've heard some rumors and I know this guy still puts his shirtless photos online. Well, J.J. Watt ain't coming back in like, I don't know, in December, right?
He's not coming back, right? It's funny because he just sent me like a casual message like a month or so ago. And I said, hey, I'll see you on the field in, you know, September or whatever. He didn't he didn't say anything back. Here's the thing. Here's my thing with this. Like people say, well, you know, he doesn't want to you might not want to come back and blah, blah, blah. And I get it. But he didn't anticipate the Texans being this far along this quick when he rightfully left.
So he didn't anticipate that. And the other thing is this, man. But I've never claimed to be a weight room guy. But why are you putting seven forty fives on each side and squatting when you're sitting there at home with your dog and your wife and your kids and stuff like what? What are you getting ready for, my friend? I think at the very least, he kind of likes the speculation and likes to likes to take it in and maybe troll us.
But I mean, man, what what who's who's squatting 700 just for the heck of it so that they can walk the dog. He wants to look good in that suit on CBS. He wants to look good in the suit, have the muscles popping everywhere. He needs to focus on the hair first.
He needs to focus on the hair before he starts worrying about that. Well, they got they got good hair and makeup over at CBS. Landry, man, where can people follow and keep up with you? And I know you've transitioned into the digital world on a full time basis.
Tell everybody, man. Yeah, locker room on YouTube. Number one source for for Texans digital. And I got some other stuff going down as well that we'll have during the season.
But locker room on YouTube is the spot. And that's where we get it done. I know you're a digital legend yourself and you're becoming a radio legend. So I know you I know you respect all avenues. Very much so.
I look forward to seeing you down in Houston sooner than later, Landry. OK. All right, man. I appreciate you. Look around. What do you see? Cars. Lots of them. And guess what? They're probably on Auto Trader.
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Find it. Auto Trader. Christy Pierce Rampone here, former member of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team and three time gold medalist, two time World Cup champion, and part of the ninety nine team that won the Women's World Cup, igniting passion for soccer everywhere. And like Amazon Prime, I'm a lot of things beyond what I'm best known for. I'm a girl mom to two teenagers, a dog mom to an entrepreneur, a TV commentator. And I use my prime membership pretty much every day for so many things. I am known for being quick and crafty on the soccer field, and I'm definitely crafty at home, especially digging in with the girl school projects. And I rely on Amazon Prime to have what we need and get it to us with the speed I am used to. With every change of season, I love to decorate our home.
And where do I get ideas and the goods? Prime, of course. Not to mention with all the great streaming options, it's a total gold medal experience. From streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon dot com slash prime to get more out of whatever you're into.
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