Back to reality
Nomatter how McNair tries to spin situation, 1-6 team remains 1-6
Give me a second.
I need to double-check the NFL standings before I start writing this one.
(Flipping Monday’s newspaper to C2.)
OK. Yeah. Just as I thought.
AFC East: Buffalo leads the division at 6-2.
AFC North: Pittsburgh is still undefeated and now 7-0.
AFC West: Kansas City’s 7-1.
AFC South: Tennessee and Indianapolis are tied at the top at 5-2 after the Titans lost back-to-back games.
And, of course, Houston’s Texans are 5-6 entering a potential season-changing home game against the Colts.
Because that’s the only way these us-against-the-world words from Texans CEO Cal McNair make sense.
“We have a lot to play for. I am extremely optimistic,” McNair told 610 AM, the team’s flagship station, in an interview that aired Monday morning. “I don’t believe in giving up. We won’t. Our team won’t. Ownership won’t. Our coaches won’t. We’ll see where the season ends. This story on this season isn’t written yet. We want to give our guys a chance.”
Wait a second. Something’s off.
What’s that you’re screaming? Brian! You idiot! Don’t you know anything? Aren’t you supposed to be a Houston sports columnist?
Ohhhhhh. Right.
I’m sorry. I read it wrong. The Texans did not win four consecutive games during their open week when they didn’t play anyone.
They are not 5-6. They’re still 1-6. Jacksonville — which is about to start a rookie quarterback drafted in the sixth round named “Jake Luton” — is still the only team the 2020 Texans have beaten.
Oops! My bad.
My mind must’ve been stuck on waiting for Tuesday’s election results.
Sowhy in theworld did McNair say that?
And didn’t the Texans fire their head coach/general manager/offensive play- caller after just four games, pretty much announcing to the general public they were already giving up on the season? Confusion reigns in 2020. As a result, seemingly no one collecting a paycheck on Kirby Drive has taken the time to privately inform McNair that:
• The Texans are tied with the Jaguars for the third-worst record in the NFL.
• Only the 0-8 Jets and 1-7 Giants are officially worse than the Texans.
• Thirteen teams have a better record than the 1-6 Texans. And that’s just in the AFC.
• The Texans already fired the me-against- everyone HC who once made a good living guiding the team to the playoffs after starting 2-5 and 0-3.
The 100 percent honest truth: I would love to be wrong about this one.
Writing columns about the 2020 Texans would be a lot more fun if they won their final nine regular-season games, briefly making everyone forget about DeAndre Hopkins playing for Arizona, ex-King Bill O’Brien and Miami owning the Texans’ 2021 first- and second-round picks.
But is this team going to do all that and win three consecutive playoff games, pulling off the greatest in-season turnaround (after firing a head coach/GM) in NFL history?
You are yelling no. Everyone you know has been saying heck no since Week 4 ended.
I am — howshall I phrase this? — highly and professionally skeptical.
But hope is seriously needed in 2020. Optimism is required.
And I’ve never heard the CEO of a 1-6 team sound this hopeful and optimistic, let alone double down this hard on us versus the world with the trade deadline just one day away.
“No big moves. … We like our players,” McNair said.
If the players were this good, shouldn’t the team be 6-1?
Whatever. Let’s not get lost in the weeds. Like the fact 15 NFC teams began Week 9 with a better winning percentage than the Texans, including Washington (which doesn’t have a full team name), Atlanta (which already fired its head coach and GM) and the absolutely horrendous Dallas Cowboys (who started someone named Ben DiNucci on prime-time national TV).
We have a lot to play for.
I am extremely optimistic. We’ll see where the season ends.
This story isn’t written yet. OK. Enough politicking and grandstanding. We all know where this is heading.
Either McNair will end up as the smartest and most visionary CEO in the NFL when the 2020 Texans shock the league, trading a 1-6 start into a starring spot in Super Bowl LV, and I happily write a follow-up column stating exactly that.
Or, once the Texans’ 2020 regular season is finally over, fans will be screaming this more than ever about the team’s CEO: You idiot! Don’t you know anything?!