Houston Texans 2011 NFL season: The most successful run of the league – Part 1
The 2011 National Football League (NFL) regular season was the best for Houston Texans.
They were not just the American Football Conference (AFC) South division champions for the first time in their history, but finished atop the division with 10 wins and 6 losses on the league table.
The year was best for them also for making it to the playoff round for the first time in the franchise's history.
It was the best for them for many other reasons. The side has probably never thought of playing a wild-card game, when it played first game of the season, given that it was in front of some of the heavy weights of the league.
They included their divisional competitors the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans.
Even, the Jacksonville Jaguars was rated to be a better outfit in many areas.
They might not have even as much then as to reaching the postseason. They proved it happened, though.
Before the start of the season, Indianapolis Colts were talked about frequently of being the clear leader in the race for the division’s title and playoff berth.
Unfortunately, no one could guess then that they will perform so poorly without their regular quarterback (QB), Peyton Manning, losing 13 games in a row.
Their ending was as bad as their start, both concluding on the losing note.
With Colts out of the race, Tennessee Titans were considered to be definite for the top division slot and the postseason entry.
They were almost there.
Having finished at the record of nine wins and seven losses, only a game difference to the record of the Texans, the Titans stood within chances of playing the postseason through a wild card entry.
They were not lucky enough to have the opportunity.
Their chance was also ruined by the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts were well on the course to go down to 0-16 score on the NFL table. All of sudden, they pulled off their first win. That came against the Titans. It remained the only regrettable points for
the Tennessee Titans until the end.
The Texans’ other competitors, the Jacksonville Jaguars were even within their hopes of winning a playoff chance. The Jags former owner, Wayne Weaver, atleast had given the task of taking his side beyond the regular season to their former coach, Del Rio.
Nothing going well into the Jaguars ambitious hopes and targets, the Texans were all clear in their efforts to make a successful run in the 2011 NFL regular season.
Despite this, it was all not too easy for the Texans to topple the teams such as the Cincinnati Bengals. This is more true to the fact that the Team had issues of their own to handle. One of them was the challenge of maintaining a healthy and fit squad.
They were hit with the injury of their wide receiver, Andre Johnson to begin the season with. The player had a hamstring injury. Being unable to recover he sat out first six straight games of the season. All had gone rather well with their players’ fitness
then for about seven games.
From there on, it was a different story then. The side was affected by the injuries at a position in almost every game since. First one to go was their QB, Matt Schaub. He suffered a foot injury and was ruled out straight for rest of the season.
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