The above is what Texans running back Arian Foster is now using for his Twitter avatar. It is a cut and paste job from the article Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe wrote yesterday in advance of next weekend's AFC playoff game between the Patriots and Texans. Shaughnessy is known for two things: being a troll while offending pretty much everyone, and making grandiose and hyperbolic predictions and/or statements that are honestly laughable.

Exhibit A: "The 2012-13 Texans? Pure frauds. The worst 11-1 team in the history of the NFL. These Texans have absolutely zero chance of beating New England here next week. And everybody knows that this is true."

Everybody? Really? Every single person? You can most certainly cross Foster off the list of "everybody" along with probably every member of the Texans team and staff.

Did the 2008 Super Bowl teach Shaughnessy NOTHING? When previewing that game, he bedazzled us with this gem: "Patriots-Giants also means we get to see the Patriots beat another Manning brother, this time in the Super Bowl instead of the AFC Championship."

How did that end up for them Dan-o? I forget.

But back to the Texans: "On Saturday, the Texans staggered to a 6-point win against a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in 22 years. It was one of the ugliest games in NFL playoff history."

Again with the history comments – he has awarded the Texans with two of the worsts in history in one column – and surely we can all think of worse teams that won uglier playoff games.

A win is a win, and you can use Shaughnessy's own argument against himself, again thinking back to the 2008 Super Bowl when the Patriots couldn't even muster a win against a Giants team that had to win like 47 playoff road games to even get to the Super Bowl.

The Texans are surely out to prove they are not a fraud and can hang with the best of the best. They have had a rough end of the season (including a big loss in New England), but the playoffs exist for a reason, and certainly their chances of winning this game are greater than "absolutely zero."

I am originally from New Hampshire, and will be rooting for the Patriots. However, if they lose, they will prove Shaughnessy is the fraud rather than the Texans, and that's definitely a silver lining I can live with.

About Reva Friedel

Reva is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and the AP Party. She lives in Orange County and roots for zero California teams.