Texans latest to miss chance to play Super Bowl at home
Poor old Brock OsHOUSTON weiler. The Houston Texans much-maligned quarterback caught the brunt of the heat for the team’s failure to go deep in this season’s playoffs, and he carried his $72 million contract like a ball and chain.
But did he really stand a chance?
For the superstitious or those with a fondness for precedent, the Texans had no more than a snowball’s shot in a Houston summer of going to the Super Bowl, because the big game was coming to them — or their hometown at least.
And for all of Osweiler’s errant throws and the gnawing frustration of the team’s loyal fans, the Texans actually fared far better than most host franchises during a half-century of these big games.
Not only has no team made it to a Super Bowl in their own stadium, but the awarding of the game to a particular location has either coincided with (or contributed to) so many drastic plunges in fortune that talk of a curse has taken on a life of its own.
“We’d like to break that record,” Texans owner Bob McNair crowed just less than a year ago. “That would be wonderful — and anything is possible.”
Back then it did indeed seem at least somewhat feasible the trend could be thwarted.
Houston’s defense was and is among the best in football, thoughts of a run to the postseason were aided by the flimsy standard of the AFC South, and, hey, it was the middle of February, so every fan, owner, player and mascot were full of hope.
Fast-forward, and Houston’s campaign was yet another busted flush, having squeaked into the playoffs despite Osweiler imploding, before beating a depleted Oakland Raiders team, then falling to the New England Patriots.
“It is good to get into the playoffs, but you want to be playing in the Super Bowl,” Texans defensive end Christian Covington said. “That’s what you’re striving for. We would have loved to be doing that for our ourselves and our fans. It is a tough road; it’s not easy.”
Not easy indeed. Forget pressure; perhaps there is a funky cosmic alignment at play. Teams with seemingly far greater prospects than this season’s Texans have fallen farther and harder. In fact, the Texans became the first host team to reach the divisional round since the Miami Dolphins in 1998.
That same season the Atlanta Falcons reached the Super Bowl after compiling a 14-2 regularseason record, but a year later, with the big game heading for the Georgia Dome, they collapsed to 5-11.
The season before the New Orleans Superdome hosted the Super Bowl in February 2013, the Saints went 13-3 and would have likely been a favorite to make it back to the championship game. But then the murky mess of Bountygate became public knowledge, Sean Payton was suspended and the team went 7-9.
The hard-luck stories are seemingly endless.
The Indianapolis Colts interrupted a long streak of success with a 2-14 season during their city’s Super Bowl year, as quarterback Peyton Manning sat it out because of a neck injury. When MetLife Stadium hosted in 2014, neither of the New York teams came close, the Giants beginning with a dismal 0-6 record.
San Diego had plenty of pain in its time before the Chargers moved to Los Angeles, seeing an AFC West rival take part in the Super Bowl on each of the three occasions it hosted.
Overall, teams hosting in their own venues have managed a 296413-2 record — though the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers both played in their own market.
The Rams’ defeat in Super Bowl XIV was at the Rose Bowl, and the San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl XIX triumph came at Stanford Stadium.
“Maybe it was written in the stars,” Texans fan Brian Richards told USA TODAY Sports. “Or maybe we just weren’t good enough.” Maybe both. Perhaps the Minnesota Vikings will have more luck when Minneapolis welcomes the football world to the Land of a 10,000 Lakes a year from now.
Although, with the news that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater might be out for another year, it seems the curse, for now, is alive and well.
Overall, teams hosting the Super Bowl in their own venues are 296-413-2 — though the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers played in their own market.