What I worry about is how motivated will Jadeveon Cowney be to not only return during the 2015 season, but become an all pro caliber player in the NFL? How much greatness is inside his heart and does he have the mental drive to put aside the millions he already has in his bank account and actually work hard for his next payday? His rehab from a potential microfracture surgery, if he decides to go that route, will take him nine to twelve months of recovery time. He may be better off not having the surgery and just allowing the knee to heal on its own. The latest report that I've gathered is he's still seeking more medical advise from numerous experts.

People always said he's another Mario Williams well "Super Mario" has become a pretty damn good player and has lived up to his $100 million contract with the Buffalo Bills: 10.5, 13 and 12 sacks the past three seasons in a Bills uniform, this one included with three games left. He may rack up 16 or 17 sacks this season if he has a big game or two. This could be his seventh seasons that he started in all 16 games. He's played on one good foot before and toughed out some pain. Above all else I respect players who are dependable and want to play regardless of how their body feels.

I wish we were getting the next Mario Williams with Jadeveon Clowney and not some hyped up rookie who couldn't withstand some knee swelling and had to be placed on IR. Awaiting his second surgery.. As of right now the jury is still out and it's going to be a very long wait just to find out how good he'll become. I'm tired of hearing about Clowney to tell you the truth. It makes me sick to my stomach. I'm going to give the young man a chance to show me something in 2015. if not then there's always 2016 for him. If he doesn't show #1 overall pick potential by his third season then go ahead and call him a big-time bust and a wasted draft selection. The Texans have a history of wasting several high draft choices too many times. First-round picks, second-round picks, third-round picks and especially fourth-round picks. We throw those away like water bottles.

Dwight Howard is back tonight against the Denver Nuggets after being out a month. I don't know how rusty he's going to be. His game revolves around being athletic and jumping out of the arena for alley oops and lobs. Maybe he will display some more post moves as he eases his knee back in.

It's not like he was making his free throws when healthy. Perhaps he'll shoot better from the free throw line if he puts less stress on his knee. I'm trying to be positive here. In all seriousness he looked good in practice and was also seen jumping up and down while wearing a suit from the bench the past few games aka being a cheerleader. The knee looked good. We'll see what happens.

The Rockets will improve to 18-5 if they win tonight. That's only good enough for the third best record in the Western Conference. The scary thing is a little losing streak and we could be out of the playoff picture altogether. Oklahoma City has won five games in a row, and that's a team many people expect to make the playoffs now that they are healthy again, and at the moment they are barely 12th best in the West with a 10-13 record. But ultimately that's the team we likely have to finish better than just to make the playoffs.

I don't know how much longer the Rockets can keep racking up the wins, and finding myself being able to feel good about it, without showing me more against some of the higher seeds in the West (0-2 vs. Warriors, 0-1 vs. Clippers, 1-1 vs. Grizzlies). We play Portland, Memphis and San Antonio three straight games later this month. That will be our next "real test." The Western Conference is so good the defending NBA champion Spurs are only in the 7th seed right now. The Rockets pretty much have to keep winning. They may win 58 games this year and I'm not sure that's worth anything other than a pat on the back. What you do in the playoffs is when you earn respect. We can't afford another disappointing first-round exit.

I think the Rockets, currently 18-5, are going to end up with the 2nd seed in the Western Conference this year. The ironic thing is the 7th seeded team may end up being the OKlahoma City Thunder or the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. Wouldn't that be our luck? I'd almost rather play Dallas in the first round which wouldn't be an easy picnic. I'll still take it because we'll have home court advantage. It's probably too early to be thinking about playoff positioning but I admit my mind is lurking around those sort of things like a freight train. The West is so good that every playoff series, including 1 versus 8, is going to be a tough battle.

The Astros are having a pretty good off-season signing some much needed bullpen help. Earlier in the week they signed middle reliever Luke Gregerson (2.12 ERA over 72.1 innings in 2014), who will likely move into the closer role here in Houston, and set-up man Pat Neshek (1.87 ERA over 67.1 innings in 2014) to multi-year contracts. The Astros bullpen was markedly bad last season, finishing with a 4.80 ERA, worst in baseball, and was charged with 26 losses, 11th most during the 2014 season. Also the Astros bullpen has blown the most saves in all of baseball during the past two seasons. Gregerson is guaranteed $18.5 million over three years and Neshek $12.5 million over two years.

The Texans defense held the Colts explosive offense to only 17 points and 278 total yards today. Both were season lows for the Colts. The Texans defense also forced multiple turnovers, including a pick six, and we still lost this game 17-10 to drop to a 7-7 record on the season with two games left to play. J.J. Watt picked up two sacks against Andrew Luck to reach 16.5 on the season. An MVP caliber season for Watt is wasted on a .500 record team. He has no chance to win the league MVP award for 2014 on an average record team. Not with the amazing season Aaron Rodgers, a dominating Super Bowl winning quarterback, is having with the Green Bay Packers.

Today's game just seems like the fitting end to the Houston Texans 2014 season. We are now officially eliminated from playoff contention and drop to 0-13 all-time at Indianapolis. The Texans played a heck of a game defensively, even scored the only Texans Touchdown, but our offense just wasn't good enough. Rookie quarterback Tom Savage had to play after Ryan Fitzpatrick broke his leg early in the game. On the second to last play of the game it looked like Tom Savage may have sprained his knee. No telling if he will play in these final two games. We already lost Ryan Mallett for the season as well. The Texans just seem cursed at the quarterback position.

Do we beat the Ravens and Jaguars at home the next two games to finish 9-7 or will we lose to the Ravens with them still playing hard to make the playoffs? Either way, 9-7 or 8-8, is not a big difference in terms of draft positioning. We need a good off-season. The Texans played hard in 2014. They pretty much lost to all playoff contenders (most by one score), except the loss to the Giants on the road, who are a deceivingly bad team this season, because they have a two-time Super Bowl champion head coach and quarterback. That's a team which can beat anybody at home when they are playing good football.

We need some good fortunes in 2015. Keeping our best players healthy would help. Andre Johnson and Arian Foster missed some games we maybe could have won if they had played. Jadeveon Clowney: I want to see him contribute next season. As well as Louis Nix III. We can discuss the off-season now and the 2015 NFL draft. What pick will we have at 9-7 or 8-8? Or even 7-9 but I doubt we'll lose to the Jaguars the final game if we play as hard as we played today against the Colts on the road. I think we can beat the Ravens and Jaguars at home if we play like today to finish 9-7. I'll just say we should land anywhere from the 14th pick to the 19th pick.

Our priorities going into this off-season should be finding a quarterback. That's first and foremost. Even before we can worry about adding another much needed tight end, wide receiver and secondary help. We are thin at safety depth and we'll probably need a new starting cornerback soon.

I'd bring in Brian Hoyer if the Browns don't re-sign him. He could be the hottest free agent quarterback. Too much unknowns with the health of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Mallett. I like Tom Savage learning as a backup going into next season. Robert Griffin III or Sam Bradford (coming off injury), if either becomes available, is worth a look if nothing else. For the right price they could be had in a trade.

The Houston Texans should become one of the more interesting teams entering the 2015 NFL season. There is reason to be excited if they can just work out their issues at the quarterback position. It was a fun 2014 season that I enjoyed and I'll be watching these final two games against the Ravens and Jaguars.

I like Bill O'Brien as a head coach. He had a nice rookie campaign and the team played hard for him. Once he has a good quarterback to work with, like he had with Tom Brady in New England, there is no question the Texans will be good enough to compete for a Super Bowl in the near future. A lot of good pieces are in place. J.J. Watt is the best defensive player in the NFL and it's not even close. He consistently draws double and triple teams (three Colts blocked him quite often today). He is worthy of winning the 2014 NFL MVP award with the numbers he has put up this season. He'll win his second defensive player of the year award if nothing else.

Bringing bsck Jed Lowrie could be huge for the Astros if he stays healthy and produces his 2013 numbers with Oakland: Hitting .290 with 15 home runs, 75 RBIs and a .344 on-base percentage. He was a solid player two years ago. More than a stopgap at shortstop until Carlos Correa is ready for the show. And if Correa is called up this year or next, I assume Lowrie can move from shortstop to third base. The Astros needed more offensive production from the left side of their infield. Taking into consideration the fact they strengthened their bullpen and with the Lowrie addition the Astros are having as good of an off-season as they possibly can have. 2015 will be a fun year. One where they may flirt with a .500 record or better.

We need a good quarterback, perhaps even an elite quarterback, if we ever expect to win a Super Bowl or actually defeat the Indianapolis Colts on the road for the first time in franchise history (0-13 now). I've always said that football isn't rocket science. Without a good quarterback you aren't going to win any championships. It's that plain and simple at the end of the day.

Making the playoffs is nice. We've done it twice before and even defeated the Bengals in a couple of wild-card games, but I'm tired of not being a realistic Super Bowl contender. Until we find that special talent at the quarterback position we'll always be in this same situation. Wondering, hoping, relying on the next draft or free agency to sort of save us. Our franchise is only respectable right now because of J.J. Watt's MVP caliber performance this season. He's had one awesome year to say the least.

All we need is quarterback who can kick ass and take names. A lot of teams are in the same boat as us. Those teams, for the most part, don't typically go to the playoffs or reach a Super Bowl. Bill O'Brian is a heck of a head coach. I'd argue he's the best head coach in the AFC South, even better than Chuck Pagano of the Colts. But Pagano has Andrew Luck he can lean on. We don't have jack-$hit at quarterback if you know what I mean. Pardon my frustrations. I hid it with a dollar sign.

It's been a while since I posted on my Houston, Texas sports blog. I've just been trying to enjoy the NFL off-season for the Texans and gearing up for the start of the 2015 baseball season for the Astros. I was most excited when J.J. Watt unanimously won his second 'defensive player of the year' award, 50 votes to 0. The Astros also added some incredible power to their lineup with the trade for Evan Gattis and the signing of Colby Rasmus. This was an Astros team which had already improved their bullpen with the signings of Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek. If the starting rotation can hold up and stay healthy the Astros may finish with a winning record in 2015. They showed some incredible improvement last season and I feel they improved once again this winter.

I'm also patiently waiting for the 2015 NBA Playoffs to start on Saturday, April 18. The Houston Rockets, despite Dwight Howard missing most of this season with a right knee injury, are currently sitting pretty with a 35-15 record and the third seed in the Western Conference. It's been amazing how many different players keep stepping up every night. I used to think that talent was the most important on an NBA roster but sometimes just having a good team with a lot of depth is better because you don't have to rely on one or two guys. You can rely on five, six, seven players on any given night. That being said, James Harden is having an MVP caliber season.

Donatas Motiejunas is in the running for most improved player and Josh Smith and Corey Brewer, both of them, have a fair shot at winning the sixth man of the year award. You can make a case for either one. If Jason Terry was still young and playing heavier minutes he'd also be in the mix. Just so many productive guys coming off the bench it's pretty remarkable. Kevin McHale likes to start Trevor Ariza at small forward otherwise you can make a case that Corey Brewer should be starting.

The NBA trade deadline is coming up on February 19 so I'm eager to see what moves, if any, the Rockets decide to make. Ideally an upgrade at point guard would be the Rockets' main target via a trade. Patrick Beverley is the starting point guard but he's not a tremendous passer or scorer. He plays good defense and can hit spot-up threes which is all he's asked to do. They already made some incredible additions to the team during the season like Josh Smith and Corey Brewer. Anything they can add at the trading deadline would feel like a bonus to me. This team seems eager to advance past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2009 and only the second time since 1997.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Feb 8 2015 03:11pm

It's pretty remarkable that the Houston Rockets are currently 38-18, third best record in a tough Western Conference, despite several key injuries including their second best player Dwight Howard missing most of the season. Howard isn't expected to return until sometime in late March which would be just a few weeks before the 2015 NBA Playoffs start. During the last game against the Timberwolves the Rockets had four players out with injury including starting point guard Patrick Beverley.

So it's obviously understandable some of the struggles the Rockets have had during this year alone. They've lost nine games (half of their losses) since January 1, 2015 and two of those losses were in the last four games. But what I like about the 2014-2015 Houston Rockets is their resiliency and new players continue to step up and play hard even when they're over-matched on most nights. It truly has been a team effort this season.

A really tough game tonight at the Toyota Center. The under-manned Houston Rockets host the Los Angeles Clippers, a team that has basically defeated the Rockets every single time for the past three years, including twice already this season. I don't expect the Rockets to win tonight but crazier things in sports have happened. The game tips off at 8:05 PM Eastern and can be seen nationally on ESPN.

I was a little disappointed that the Rockets failed to acquire a much needed point guard upgrade during the trading deadline last week. They had enough assets to pull the trigger on a Goran Dragic or Ty Lawson deal. The Phoenix Suns ended up trading Goran Dragic to the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets failed to receive a good enough trade offer for Lawson.

But Rockets GM Daryl Morey ended up acquiring 37-year-old backup point guard Pablo Prigioni from the Knicks. He's a long time Argentine basketball player with a lot of experience. He's a good ball handler and could help in the playoffs if nothing else. He played his most minute with the Rockets during the last game due to all of the injuries. The Rockets also acquired 22-year-old rookie shooting guard K.J. McDaniels from the Philadelphia 76ers. He's likely going to leave in free agency this summer and will struggle to find any minutes right now.

Those two players cost the Rockets their second-round picks and rarely used young point guard Isaiah Canaan. The Rockets were able to hold onto that New Orleans Pelicans' first-round pick that they own in June's draft which is likely going to be the 14th overall pick. We may be able to draft a good player in that position or use it during a draft night trade. Flexibility seems to be the key word that Daryl Morey likes to use. The Rockets are still in position to chase a good free agent this summer.

It should be interesting to see how the Rockets fare once the 2015 NBA Playoffs start on Saturday, April 18. They've been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs two years in a row and eight times out of their last nine playoff trips dating back to 1998. For a once proud franchise with a lot of success, especially in the '90s (two NBA Finals won) and '80s (two NBA Finals appearances), it's been relatively quiet since they reached the 1997 Western Conference Finals. But as a hardcore Houston fan it's just something we are used to. It's been too long of a drought and the fans are just waiting to recapture some of those past glory years.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Feb 25 2015 07:16am

The Houston Rockets (40-18 record), winners of four games in a row, continue to find ways to win without their second best player Dwight Howard. Also James Harden continues to gut it out as he plays with a sprained ankle. He's showing his grit and toughness as he continues to evolve as a complete player and chases the 2014-2015 NBA MVP award. Just like his Houston counterpart with the Texans, J.J. Watt, who was sitting court side at the game last night, he's making a strong bid to be recognized as the best player in the game. Although Watt finished 2nd in the NFL MVP vote last season behind Aaron Rodgers.

James Harden and the Rockets now aim for five wins in a row on Sunday afternoon as they host LeBron James and the equally as hot Cleveland Cavaliers (18-3 in their last 21 games). Game time from the Toyota Center is at 3:30 PM Eastern and can be seen nationally on ABC. With only 24 games left to play the season the Rockets continue to hold the 3rd seed in the powerful Western Conference.

Houston isn't that far behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2nd seed in the West as well as first place in the Southwest division. Considering Dwight Howard has missed most of the season it's pretty remarkable that they even have a chance to secure home court advantage in the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs. I can't wait until Dwight Howard makes a healthy return sometime in late March and the Rockets find a way to implement him back into the starting lineup just in time for the playoffs.

In the mean time it's fun to watch the Rockets racking up all of these unexpected wins. I thought they'd have around 25 losses by now but at 40-18 they continue to keep pace for a potential second or third seed in the Western Conference. Before the season started I thought they would end up with the sixth or even seventh seed. Especially after they failed to re-sign Chandler Parsons and missed out on their three top free agents targets last summer: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Kyle Lowry. The in-season trade for Corey Brewer and the signing of Josh Smith after the Pistons released him gave the Rockets enough depth to withstand their key injuries.

Not only are the Rockets a good team, which will be dangerous in the playoffs with their second best player coming back from injury in three weeks, but they will have a chance to improve during the upcoming draft (likely 14th pick from the Pelicans), along with some financial flexibility to sign a good free agent this summer. The Rockets can actually "greatly improve" in the near future which is not something many 40-18 teams can say.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Feb 28 2015 03:33am

A perfect 5-0 home stand that saw the Rockets defeat three really good teams in the process: Raptors, Clippers and Cavaliers, to go along with their wins over the Timberwolves and Nets, who are both talented teams even though their record doesn't show it. The Rockets are now 41-18 with 23 games left to play this season. They are only two games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the second seed in the Western Conference and first place in the Southwest division. They also have the fourth best record in the entire NBA.

Their next game is tomorrow night at 6:30 PM at Atlanta against a Hawks team which is 47-12 and has the best record in the Eastern Conference. The games just keep on getting tougher down the stretch and the Rockets keep finding ways to win. But if they can beat the second best team in the NBA, especially on the road, without their second best player that would be even more impressive.

James Harden continues to shine as a frontrunner for the 2014-2015 NBA MVP. At this point it's either going to be Harden, Stephen Curry or LeBron James. You can make a strong case for all three. But James Harden has come up big this season in the absence of Dwight Howard. I think the voters will take that into consideration. You can't really replace Harden's value to this year's Rockets team. They would probably be a 25-win team without him. Hopefully James Harden is not suspended one or two games for kicking LeBron James in the groin area during yesterday's win. At the very least he'll receive a fine but that was a hotly contested game and LeBron did throw Harden down to the ground to spark that reaction. Both players were playing at an MVP level and refused to lose. It was like watching two heavyweight boxers going the distance, all 12 rounds and formerly 15 rounds, in their prime. If you didn't enjoy what you saw in that game then you aren't a hardcore NBA fan.

I don't know which seeding the Rockets will end up with: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th, I doubt they'll stumble all the way down to 7 or 8, but they seem playoff bound despite some of their key injuries. It looks like all they have to do is win at least 12 of their final 23 games to clinch a playoff spot. There was a time earlier in the season when Dwight Howard first injured his right knee, before they added Corey Brewer and Josh Smith to strengthen their bench, that I was worried that the Rockets wouldn't even make the playoffs. This year's team has really surprised me in a very tough Western Conference. If you had told me before this season started that the Rockets would have a better record than their in-state rivals, Spurs and Mavericks, two of the last three NBA champions (besides LeBron James and Miami), I'd have called you a dreamer.

I'm ready to see Dwight Howard come back in a few weeks and I'm equally as excited for the 2015 NBA Playoffs to start in 1.5 months. This is the time of the year when you want to start playing your best basketball. At least trying to put some things together at the right time. Once the playoffs start everything will be magnified, the good and the bad.