You thought the Saints delivered vicious blows after hearing about their alleged bounty probe, but they might be choir boys if you compare them to the Texans. I'm not suggesting the Texans are dirty or that the Saints are soft. This is just to say the hype can easily mislead you here.
Houston Chronicle columnist Randy Harvey has this column referencing a study by the number crunching Edgeworth Marketing company, a former client of the NFL Players' Association that says the Texans are No. 1 in causing serious injuries. Not the Bounty Saints.
That's right. According to the Edgeworth findings, Houston is the league's most debilitating team for an opponent to face in hopes of avoiding serious injury, while Oakland is No. 1 with all injuries considered.
This was surprising for me to hear because I normally don't think of the Texans as rough so much as I just think of them as good. But I don't play in the NFL, either. Houston's AFC rivals have accused the Texans of being a dirty team. This is linebacker Connor Barwin's response to that:
"That just goes back to playing hard and being aggressive. ... From the nose guard to safety, everybody runs after the ball every single play. That's almost a compliment when teams say you're dirty when you know you're really not a dirty team."
He's right, you know.
Read more about the Texans at the Battle Red Blog and SB Nation Houston.