I’m as big of a Houston Texans fan as the next guy. Born and raised, I have grown up in this town all of my life. Friends will tell you I’m a die-hard for the home team and I freely show my bias before and after game day.
That being said, is J.J. Watt enough for Houston to complete the turn around from the 2-14 2013 season and finally reclaim a spot in the playoffs for the Texans?
No.
There, that was easy.
If you’re a fellow Texans fan, (and shame on you if your not) then please hear me when I say this, do not feel the need to rely solely on J.J.’s supernatural talent to lay claim to preseason bragging rights over the coveted postseason and even the Lombardi Trophy for that matter. No. 99 is a great player, deservedly the 2014 MVP in many opinions, and perhaps, even as early as it on in his career, one of the greatest to ever grace the field. But do not mistake his greatness for a cushion to rest your playoff dreams on.
Fear not, postseason hopefuls, we have other great players on this team. I know, I know. I can hear some of us panicking at the sight of Andre Johnson’s departure as well as veteran Chris Myers leaving our next signal caller in much less experienced hands. But trust in the system.
As older plays leave, they also make way for the new. And if you’ve followed much of the offseason this year, you don’t need me to tell you that the ‘new’ is awesome.
Jaelen Strong paired with DeAndre Hopkins, out wide should be more than enough entertainment to help guide us through the ‘Johnson-less’ mourning period. If that wasn’t enough, this will be the first consecutive healthy starting season for Brian Cushing in some time. Don’t forget his nasty pick-six game winner in San Diego in 2013. It was possibly the only silver lining of that year.
Speaking of healthy, running back Arian Foster will look to add to his 47 career touchdown resume and head coach Bill O’Brien won’t be stingy with the run game either. Super Bowl winner Vince Wilfork playing next to mega-Watt and a potentially healthy Jadeveon Clowney should make every football spectator buy couch-season tickets this year.
Ok, if you’re not excited about witnessing all of that then add the possibility of a new quarterback era, a rising secondary under web-fingered menaces, Kareem Jackson, Jonathan Joseph and first rounder (16th overall) Kevin Johnson.
If that doesn’t raise your pulse then it may be because at this point, you simply don’t have one. There are more reasons than not to believe that this will be one of the better years to be a Texans fan than we’ve seen in quite some time. So enjoy it! And don’t hold back when some other teams’ fanbase begins touting meaningless statistics as they run through their glorious “storied” history.
Buck up, it’s a new year and it’s anybody’s game.