The hate around the Houston Texans play on the field is misguided and wrong.
Before we go any further, if there’s dislike towards this team it should only be at Deshaun Watson, who has been accused of sexual misconduct. That is an understandable reason. What’s unfathomable is to think the Houston Texans are the worst team in the league.
FanSided came out with their power rankings and season preview, and guess who was ranked 32nd in the league? Yep, the Houston Texans. Now all lists are subjective works of writing that can vary greatly and respect to those who make them. There are three reasons why the Houston Texans will not be the worst team in the league at the end of the 2021 NFL season.
The Texans offense definitely moved the ball last season, and as we’ve reiterated many times here at Toro Times that Houston had seven losses by seven points or less. Of course, those were with Deshaun Watson leading the helm, but it’s not like the offense has changed that much outside of Will Fuller V signing with the Miami Dolphins.
One of the reasons NFL athletes are what they are is because they can compartmentalize what’s going on in their personal lives and focus solely on performing for roughly three hours every Sunday. On top of that, if there’s anyone who can help the Houston Texans even further in that department is first-year Head Coach David Culley. Culley’s cool, calm, and stern attitude has helped anchor the Texans so far.
Can he lead the team to a respectable record despite the world being against them? It may happen, and those three reasons are discussed in the next few pages.
The Houston Texans aren’t even the worst team in their own division
Let’s go back and look at this year’s draft order. We all know that the Jacksonville Jaguars had the first pick, going 1-15 and winning the “Tank for Trevor” sweepstakes. The Jaguars came in at 30th in the power rankings, two spots ahead of the Texans.
Were they ranked ahead of Houston just because they drafted Lawrence? I mean the kid’s a generational talent, but he’s taking over a 1-15 team that had a whopping -186 point differential. The Texans were only a -80 on that list; not good, but certainly not as bad as the Jaguars were.
Jacksonville’s offseason moves didn’t address the defense at all, and the Joe Schobert trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers for only a 6th round pick was a bad move. Travis Etienne being lost for the year in a preseason game is a microcosm of Jacksonville’s fall from their 2017 season’s grace.
That really leaves defensive Josh Allen as the impact player on that defense, and even he’s dealing injuries that derailed his 2020 season after a Pro Bowl rookie year. Houston is led by David Culley, who hasn’t had NFL head coaching experience before, but it would be wise to trust the guy who’s been in the league for 27 years as opposed to the likes of Urban Meyer.
Meyer was criticized heavily for the Chris Doyle hire, and also when at Ohio State Meyer lied about the domestic violence incident that one of his assistants was involved in. I’m not saying Meyer is going to create controversy again, but those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
If the Houston Texans can win five to seven games this season, then it will cool the fires a little bit that surrounds this team.
Lovie Smith will have the Houston Texans defense ready to surprise
When the Houston Texans ended the 2020 regular season, they only had nine takeaways on the year. In three preseason games, they had 10. They surpassed their entire season total in just three preseason games. Of course, that was against backups for the main part, but someone has to have the brains to put the players in a position of success to make the play.
That’s exactly what new Defensive Coordinator Lovie Smith has done for this team. Smith has proven that he can transform just about any defense no matter where he goes. We’ve yet to see his effect on the Texans in the regular season. If it’s anywhere close to the stratosphere of which he put the Chicago Bears defense in the early 2000s then this team can really start to flourish once again.
The Texans schedule is in the middle of the road in terms of strength of schedule, and that presents a lot of “50/50” games. As mentioned previously, those one-score losses were pretty much in this same category.
The Texans don’t have to blow anyone out of the water- they just need to stay competitive in the games and hopefully plays go their way in 2021.
The AFC South is the most fluid division outside of the NFC West
Take a moment to look at this division. Tennessee can’t seem to shake the COVID bug. Indianapolis can’t catch a break with injuries- which resulted in their offensive line issues deepening. Jacksonville is well, Jacksonville. I’m not saying the Houston Texans are going to win the division (it’d take a miracle), but the fact that this is a division in which its power structure is volatile.
If the other teams in this division hit a bump in the road, it’s unlikely that they have enough depth to continue their momentum. Are Colts fans truly prepared for either of their backup QB’s to take over if Carson Wentz gets hurt again or plays inconceivably bad?
Houston Texans
Do Titans fans trust Logan Woodside to get the ball out in a timely fashion to their dynamic wide receiver duo of Julio Jones and A.J. Brown? Can Jacksonville actually win more than one game this season?
One can debate on which roster is the deepest, but in situations like these having experienced players matters. General Manager Nick Caserio hit the “NFL Veterans Assemble” button just like the Legion of Doom did in Challenge of the SuperFriends.
There could be a slim chance that this actually happens, and the Texans might just be ready for it when the time comes. It could also totally be a miserable season just as everyone is expecting, and something that’s recognized and heard by us at Toro Times.
So the next time the power rankings come out, hopefully, the Houston Texans are a bit higher. There’s just no way this team can be behind the likes of Jacksonville and the Detroit Lions.