Now that the 2011 season is officially over following the Super Bowl, now we can all look ahead to free agency.

The Texans have a number of players that will be unrestricted come March 13th when they can sign with other teams. You can see the complete list below, and give your thoughts about what players the team should keep, and what ones they could let go.

Exclusive Rights Free Agents (1)

LS Jonathan Weeks

Restricted Free Agents (2)

RB Arian Foster
S Quintin Demps

Unrestricted Free Agents (15)

QB Jake Delhomme
QB Jeff Garcia
RB Derrick Ward
WR Bryant Johnson
TE Joel Dreessen
OG Mike Brisiel
OC Chris Myers
OG Kasey Studdard
DT Tim Bulman
LB Tim Dobbins
LB Mario Williams
CB Jason Allen
S Dominique Barber
K Neil Rackers
P Matt Turk

The Texans have a new QB coach, as the team has come to terms with Karl Dorell to take over that spot on the coaching staff.

Dorell replaces Greg Knapp, who is now the offensive coordinator with Oakland.

Dorrell was the head coach at UCLA from 2003-07 and has previous NFL coaching experience with the Broncos from 2000-02, where he was worked as a receivers coach on Mike Shanahan’s coaching staff that had Gary Kubiak as offensive coordinator.

Dorell, 48, has spent the last four seasons with the Miami Dolphins, coaching receivers from 2008-10 before becoming the quarterbacks coach in 2011. The Dolphins lost starting quarterback Chad Henne early in the 2011 season and had to turn to free agent addition Matt Moore in October. In 13 games, including 12 starts, Moore completed 60.5 percent of 347 pass attempts for 2,497 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions for passer rating of 87.1.

Knapp held the same position with the Raiders in 2007 and 2008. He also has previous NFL coordinator experience with San Francisco (2001 to 2003), Atlanta (2004 to 2006) and Seattle (2010). Allen and Knapp worked together as Falcons assistants in 2004 and 2005.

Knapp, 48, earned high praise this season for the work he did with Texans rookie quarterback T.J. Yates. Forced into action because of injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart, Yates helped guide the Texans to their first postseason appearance and a first-round victory over Cincinnati.

The Texans have a big task ahead of them before the start of free agency, and that will be to try and get OLB Mario Williams inked to a long-term deal.

The team will also do what they can to get running back Arian Foster inked, but he will be a restricted free agent, so there’s some time to spare in a deal with him.

The Texans can’t afford to carry Williams at $22.9 million for one year. They can’t trade him because you can’t trade a player who’s not under contract.

One likely move would be to franchise him. That way they could still work with him on a long-term deal. But, Williams will be in the cat bird seat, since he knows the team cannot afford to keep him at $22.9 mil.

It seems like an easy solution, Williams wants to stay, and it sounds like the Texans want him to stay. But, make no mistake, if he hits the open market, teams are going to throw a lot of money at him.

The Texans have to think this through, it may come down to Williams or Foster, and the team really doesn’t want to lose either one, but in the end may have to.

Five times, Wade Phillips has joined a non-playoff team as their defensive coordinator. And for the fifth time this season, he turned them into a playoff team, this year with the Texans.

Myers replaces Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, who will miss the game with an ankle injury. Smith replaces Patriots defensive end Mark Anderson, who was placed on injured reserve with a thigh injury.

A sixth-round pick out of Miami by the Denver Broncos in 2005, Myers became a full-time starter in 2007 and was traded to the Texans in 2008. Myers has started 80 consecutive games and will be going to his first Pro Bowl. Myers is also the first offensive lineman to make the Pro Bowl in Texans’ history.

Smith was a 2004 fifth-round pick out of Oklahoma State by the Arizona Cardinals. Signed as a free agent in 2009, Smith had a career-high 6.5 quarterback sacks in 2011 and will also be going to his first Pro Bowl.

Family parties around the NFL have always been a staple in my family. My first memory from a family party was Super Bowl XVII on January 30th 1983.

While that was fun, finally in 2006 it was my turn to host my first Super Bowl party, a bash complete with food, games, and the two best teams that season in the league.

The menu was pretty basic, yet effective. Pizza, wings, pasta, red potatoes, a veggie and cheese tray, and even fruit salad. The party kicked off with some squares, a football tradition, and even some football bingo with some small prizes for those lucky enough to take home a game. Finally at 6:25pm, it was kickoff of Super Bowl XL.

While I have gone back and watched the game probably about 3-5 times, the real memories of that party is not the game, but the fact that it was all about the people that attended.

We had a number of people rooting for both teams, so the game vibe was pretty solid, which was a cool element to the party. Add to the fact the game was close, there was a lot of rooting during the contest.

There was a healthy mix of people that included relatives and friends. The conversation during the game centered not just on football, but on the holidays that had passed just a few weeks before, new jobs, new relationships, and even about other sports like baseball and basketball.

That’s the best part about football parties. It’s the games, the food, and most important, the people that make the game great, like the family and friends you spend it with.

Texans fans have had to sit back and watch a ton of other teams celebrate Super Bowl parties for all the other teams in the league. While folks in Houston can throw some massive parties, I can only imagine the parties if the team can finally make it to the dance in the next few seasons!

February 6th is another chance to create memories at yet another Super Bowl party, and now there’s a perfect way to figure out just who to invite!

Visa has come out with the Visa’s YOU+TEN Draft app, and it’s a perfect way to have some fun figuring out who to invite over for the big game on the first Sunday in February, or if your actually lucky enough to win the sweepstakes – WHO to take to the game!

Super Bowl XLVI – another chance to create that connection with family and friends once again. Don’t miss out on it.

Disclosure: We received compensation from Visa for sharing our views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely ours, not Visa or the NFL’s. For more information about Visa’s YOU+TEN Draft App, please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/VisaNFL?sk=app_259824094080710

He’s one of the best defensive players in the NFL, and certainly the biggest question facing the Texans this offseason. What’s next for the Texans? Maybe trading Mario Williams, former #1 draft pick.

CBS Sports football analyst Spencer Tillman joins the Tim Brando Show to discuss the critical mistakes made by the Texans which lead to the Ravens 20-13 victory.

Lardarius Webb #21 of the Baltimore Ravens and Andre Johnson #80 of the Houston Texans reach for an incomplete pass

The Texans knew that Sunday’s divisional battle with the Ravens would be a tough game. Issue was, they made it tougher on themselves than it should have been.

The team turned the ball over four times to the Ravens none, and that was a huge stat in the teams 20-13 loss to Baltimore that ends the Texans 2011 season.

The Texans controlled the line of scrimmage most of the afternoon, but an early turnover by Jacoby Jones on a punt return set up an easy Ravens score, and rookie QB T.J. Yates threw three picks as Baltimore built a 17-3 lead after the first quarter.

Houston rallied as Neil Rackers kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 17-6, and then Arian Foster ran in from a yard out to make it 17-13 at halftime.

The Texans had their shots in the second half, but the tough Ravens defense turned them away each time, and in the end Yates had a late pass picked off by Ed Reed to stop a drive, and then a hail mary on 4th and 2 from the Ravens 43 with 11 seconds left fell incomplete.

Yates was just 17-for-35 for 184 yards with three picks and a QB rating of 28.8. Joe Flacco was beat up by the Texans as he was sacked five times, and on the day he went 14-for-27 for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

The big stat line was no turnovers for the Ravens, who despite being beat up by the Texans offense and defensive lines, were able to hold on the to the ball despite putting the ball on the ground three times.

Arian Foster was the star of the day for Houston, as he ran for 132 yards on 27 carries (4.9 yards per carry), and he also scored the Texans only TD of the day.

Baltimore RB Ray Rice was held to 60 yards on 21 carries. Andre Johnson led all wide outs with 8 grabs for 111 yards.

The Ravens will have a tough test next week as they will head to New England for the AFC Title game Sunday at 3:00pm EST.