BELEMASPORTTALK.COM

In the NFL, the show always goes on.
The league did the smart thing Saturday by postponing the Texans’ home opener against the Ravens on Monday ngiht.
Until the league was appraised of the damage and destruction from Hurricane Ike, it considered moving the game to a neutral site. It opted against the move because of the inconvenience to the Texans and Ravens, not to mention how callous the change would have appeared.
The changes work out well because the Texans and Bengals were able to move their Nov. 9 game at Reliant to 3:05 p.m. on Oct. 26, when both had open dates. Because the Ravens had an open date for Nov. 9, it made perfect sense to reschedule Baltimore to play the Texans on that Sunday.
Not addressed in the league’s announcement about the changes for the Texans, Ravens and Bengals was the possibility that Houston home games won’t be played in Reliant Stadium, which suffered extensive damage to the roof.
On Saturday, the impact was still being assessed, and it might take awhile before we know when the stadium will be available.
Fortunately for the Texans, they play their next two games on the road against Tennessee and Jacksonville. Hopefully, the damage at Reliant Stadium can be repaired in time for the Oct. 5 game against visiting Indianapolis, the first of four in a row in Houston on the schedule including the rescheduled Bengals game.
The league and the Texans don’t want to speculate now about the possibility that Reliant Stadium won’t be ready for the Colts game.
If that’s the case, Rice Stadium could be an alternative. The game also could be moved to Indianapolis as a last resort.
Right now, Texans fans should keep their fingers crossed that the stadium will be ready in time.