Down, but far from out
Good or bad in playoffs? It’s up to Texans to decide
Backup quarterback AJ McCarron (2) steadies himself after a sack in the Texans’ 35-14 loss to Tennessee on Sunday at NRG Stadium. The AFC South champs rested starter Deshaun Watson and others in the regular-season finale and now will prepare to host Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday.
I will get to Buffalo, Ed Oliver, Brian Gaine and another home wild-card game during the Bill O’Brien era in a moment.
First things first: The Texans mostly got it right Sunday in a pointless 2019 regular-season finale that meant 100 times more to Tennessee.
Deshaun Watson spent Week 17 either standing patiently on the sideline or sitting on a bench inside NRG Stadium. DeAndre Hopkins’ name was never mentioned. And in a game
that could only hurt the home team, backup A.J. McCarron was the Texans’ starting quarterback.
The Titans won 35-14 and barely made the postseason.
Now, on to the real, important stuff.
Which Texans (10-6) team is going to roam the field on Saturday in the playoffs against the Bills?
And if the “good” Texans do the job right versus Buffalo, can O’Brien’s team accomplish something more this time than just a single wild-card victory?
“We’re as healthy as we could possibly be. … We’ll get going this week and have a really good week of preparation,” O’Brien said.
With Watson and Hopkins (maybe J.J. Watt? Will Fuller too?), the potential is clearly there for the home team.
So are the endless question marks, since this is the same team that fell at home to 5-11 Carolina, was blasted 41-7 on the road by No. 1 AFC seed Baltimore and got shredded not that long ago at NRG by a rebuilding Denver team relying on a third-string QB. The Texans also nearly blew a victory in Week 16 at Tampa Bay, despite four interceptions from Jameis “30-30” Winston.
“I know we’ve been inconsistent, but we were 10-6. It wasn’t very good (Sunday),” O’Brien said. “I said that about inconsistency, and I was right. I just think that we’ve had some pretty good wins here, and we’ve won the division two years in a row, four out of five. I think that’s OK. But we’re going to try our best to do better in the playoffs, because I think that’s really important.”
In most NFL cities with postseason-worthy teams, early January is a time of shimmering hope and ringing pride.
The playoffs are here! The playoffs are here!
For the former expansion franchise on Kirby Drive, the NFL’s second season has pretty much been a reminder of all that is lacking since 2011.
Good. Getting better.
Not good enough. Nowhere close to great.
King O’Brien is 52-44 with four division banners since 2014 but just 1-3 in the postseason.
The Texans’ only playoff win since Gary Kubiak was fired came on their field against then third-string Oakland QB Connor Cook, who is now on the roster for the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks.
Two of O’Brien’s worst defeats (30-0 Kansas City, 21-7 Indianapolis) occurred inside a depressed, boo-filled NRG — immensely painful letdowns that are still seared into the side of Texans history.
Maybe the same ol’ story starts to change once a new year appears.
These Texans won at Kansas City after trailing 17-3. Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs are the AFC’s No. 2 seed and slid past New England on Sunday for a firstround bye.
O’Brien’s 2019 team should have beat New Orleans in the Superdome in Week 1 on national TV, beat up the Patriots on “Sunday Night Football” and took down the Titans in Nashville, Tenn., when the best team in the
AFC South was still up for debate.
These Texans have Watson. And to put it simply, it’s time for D4 to have at least one playoff victory attached to his professional name.
“We’ll (be) a tough team,” O’Brien said. “We’ll (be) a team that works hard. … We just need to make sure that we limit our mistakes. There’s no doubt about that.”
The Bills (10-6) might be a little overrated. Buffalo’s most impressive win was in Week 5 on the road against a Tennessee team that was still finding its way. The Bills also beat Jason Garrett’s Cowboys on Thanksgiving at Jerry World — a “W” that obviously no longer means what it used to.
Buffalo definitely plays defense and entered Week 17 ranked second in the NFL in average points allowed (16.4).
After a solid rookie season, Oliver is set to return to the stadium where his collegiate Cougars shocked No. 3 Oklahoma in a 2016 season opener.
The Texans’ 2019 season unofficially started with the cold firing of Gaine, who spent just one year as the general manager of an 11-5 team. When the Texans host the Bills on wild-card weekend, Buffalo’s senior personnel adviser will have ties to both sides.
Watson should beat Josh Allen.
Allen also captures the 2019 Bills: strong, proud, resilient, overlooked.
“We know Buffalo is a really good football team, a very disciplined team,” O’Brien said. “They’ve got a really good young quarterback that is playing really well.”
A healthy Watt is a heck of a story and makes this a different Texans team.
A healthy Fuller does the same.
But as always, this is ultimately up to the Texans. After 17 NFL weeks, their consistency and identity still wildly fluctuate.
Sometimes they deserve to drip with cool swagger. Others, they talk big, wear elaborate pregame costumes, then inexplicably disappear between the lines that define.
What team are the Texans going to be when January begins and Houston tunes in?
How far can O’Brien take his players this time when it really matters?