Evolution of Houston Texans – NFL feature
All seasons before the last one were very much same for the Houston Texans – a team from the American Football Conference (AFC) South division – that they would finish each one of them in the regular phase, irrespective of differentiating number of games
they would win during each year.
Then came along the 2011 season, and the team all of sudden found themselves going through an evolution. It was not different than a discovery of some strange phenomenon. The team was led to their first win of the division title. They were also through to
playoffs, for the first time in their franchise history.
It was last (2011) season then, and they were not taken seriously, albeit duly celebrated by their fans. The reason was that they were thought to be okay to have made to playoffs once. It happens to all teams. They are celebrated once they do it first time,
although the Texans had gone a bit further and won their division also. That was it, as some commentators would argue.
Irrespective of the commentators’ loathness, the Texans’ first-year feat was unique and different from all previously achieved. They had done it in the leadership of rookie quarterback T.J. Yates. It rarely happens in the league that a rookie QB leads through
his side to a couple of glorious achievements, and when the rookie did not join the team as a top draft pick. He was rated to be an ordinary offence leader.
Also, the team was hit and hurt by a number of injury scares. Almost the entire offensive line was affected by the injuries. Wide receiver, running back, and two quarterbacks had suffered blows and spent almost the entire season on the sidelines. So the
Texans’ triumph was considered unique.
Still, the team was considered as one-time lucky unit to have progressed through beyond regular phase On the contrary and in reality, the Texans were evolving within. They were determined to show and prove that it was not the one-time opportunity that had
presented itself to them; in fact they held the credentials to qualify for it.
To prove this they waited for the start of this season, which has marked start of another era in Houston. The Texans opened it with a win and did not look to stop at any point then.
It was not only their divisional rivals, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans, who are through a rebuilding process, but they overpowered likes of the Denver Broncos and New York Jets, first time too. It baffled their critics.
It is a fact that coach Gary Kubiak pointed out to them then that the Texans are a group of matured guys, skilled and experienced. He was right because the side has proved to be a well coordinated unit at more than one occasion.
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