WINTER IS COMING

9 fiery Game of Thrones watch parties in Houston

9 fiery Game of Thrones watch parties in Houston
Here's where to catch Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen on Sunday. Photo courtesy of HBO

This article originally appeared on CultureMap and was written by Craig D. Lindsey.

Sadly, for millions of worldwide fans,Game of Thrones is coming to an end this year.

The immensely popular, Emmy-winning HBO series (based on George R.R. Martin's still-going A Song of Ice and Fire novels) will close out its run with an eighth season of only six episodes. This will be everybody's last chance to catch Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister (her trifling!), and all the other Westeros-based characters you have followed throughout the years.

If you would like to celebrate this show's final season by watching the season premiere on Sunday, April 14 night with a bunch of like-minded individuals, presumably under the influence of alcohol, are you in luck! Here is a rundown of watch parties in and around Houston, where you can take in all of the epic fantasy madness.

Camerata at Paulie's

The Montrose wine bar will be using its watch party as a good time to pour rustic reds and powerful whites from France's Rhône Valley. (If you haven't guessed it already, this party is called the "Game of Rhones Season Premiere.") And feel free to dress as your favorite character. 8-9 pm.

Chuck's Sports Bar & Memorabilia

This League City destination will officially become "Chuckstros" for its watch party, asking all naives and surfs to join "The Chuck's Watch." (Is this all corny? Yes, but we'll let it slide.) There will also be food and drink specials all night. 5-11 pm.

Chuy Benitez's Backyard

Honestly, we don't know who this dude is, but it appears he wants people to know about the watch party that he'll be having in his backyard. Bring your own food, beverages and lawn chairs, but he will have crawfish for those who request it beforehand. 7:30-11:30 pm.

Exit 73 Bar & Grill

Over in Spring, this place will have a full-on feast during its watch party. People can gorge on Targaryen turkey legs, Baratheon burgers, and Theon Greyjoy's sausage-on-a-stick. (That's messed up, man.) If you feel like it, you can also dress as your favorite character. 8-11 pm.

Hotel Ylem

This spot will have a watch party for every episode of Thrones' final season, complete with a themed cocktail/mocktail menu, a rewatch of the previous episode before the new episode starts and dishes from the Chef on the Run Halal food truck. Of course, you can also dress as your favorite character. 6-9 pm.

Liberty Station

Not only will this bar have a watch party, projected onto a large screen, there will also be a pre-show trivia night. Teams of six or fewer will be able to compete, and prizes will go to the top three teams. Trivia starts at 6 and will be finished before the show airs. 6-10 pm.

Continue reading on CultureMap to learn about three more spots to catch Game of Thrones.

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Can the Texans defense slow down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs? Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

When DeMeco Ryans became coach of the Houston Texans before last season, the two-time Pro Bowl linebacker brought his swarm defense with him.

It’s an identity the Texans have embraced as they prepare for their second straight trip to the divisional round of the playoffs Saturday where they’ll face the Kansas City Chiefs.

“You really can’t go out there if you’re not about it,” Ryans said.

And while every member of the defense has bought into Ryans’ aggressive style, there is one player who epitomizes it like no one else.

“Will every time,” cornerback Derek Stingley said of defensive end Will Anderson Jr.

Anderson, last year’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, has taken his game to another level this season and had 1½ sacks last week after piling up 11 in the regular season.

He described what playing swarm defense means to him.

“Do whatever it takes to get the ball, attacking the ball,” Anderson said. “We’ve got this saying in our D-line room; ‘who gonna pop it off?’ Whoever pops it off first, that’s swarming. Like who’s gonna make the big play? And I feel like there’s a lot of guys on defense that pop it off, who swarm.”

The Texans intercepted Justin Herbert a career-high four times, including one which was returned for a score, in last week’s win over the Chargers after he had been picked off just three times all season. Houston’s four takeaways in the first week of the playoffs are tied with Philadelphia for most in the NFL.

That performance came after Houston ranked fifth in the league in the regular season by forcing 29 turnovers.

Stingley, who had two of the interceptions last week a day after earning AP All-Pro honors, shared his mindset on the team’s defensive mentality.

“It really just comes down to if I was to tell you this is the last time you’re gonna do something, how you gonna do it,” Stingley said. “It’s simple as that. Just do that every single play.”

Ryans said there’s really no secret to why his team has such a knack for forcing turnovers. He believes it’s because he has good players, and they emphasize it in practice which translates to games.

“That’s our main thing that we go into every week is talking about attacking the football, taking the football,” Ryans said. “Because we know, when you take the football away, it just raises your percentages of winning the football games… it’s the defense helping the team win the game.”

While all of Houston’s takeaways last week came on interceptions, Stingley was quick to point out that those picks wouldn’t have happened if not for the pressure the defensive line put on Herbert. The Texans sacked him four times and hit him another nine in the 32-12 victory.

“The defense starts with them up front,” Stingley said. “They’re doing their job and it just makes it easier for us on the back end.”

Anderson said with each turnover, the defense got more and more amped up and was pushing each other to see who the next player would be to force one.

“That’s just that swarm mentality and we just feeding off each other,” Anderson said. “This person can’t do it by themselves so who is gonna be next and that just generates that contagious energy.”

The Texans were the fifth team since 1963 to have at least four sacks, four interceptions and an interception return for a touchdown in a playoff game last week. The past three teams to do it all went on to win the Super Bowl, with Tampa Bay doing so in the 2002 season, Baltimore in 2000 and San Francisco in 1989.

This Texans team would love to keep that going. But first they’ll need a win Saturday to put them in the AFC championship game for the first time after losing their previous five divisional matchups.

“That’s what you come here for,” Anderson said. “That’s what they’ve been rebuilding for is moments like this… we’ve got all the right pieces, we’ve just got to go out there and make it happen.”

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