The old adage states that 'defense wins championships,' and one thing that what we've learned through 14 games this season is that the Houston Texans defense is plenty good enough to make it all the way to the Super Bowl.
By the numbers, not many defenses this century that have been as stingy as the Texans have, and most of the ones that have managed to measure up have made extended runs in the Playoffs. In fact, since 2000, 12 teams have led the NFL in both points and yards allowed in a single-season, and seven of those have ended up playing in at least the Conference Championship Game.
But chances are, if the Texans strive to make the AFC Championship Game, or even the Super Bowl, for the first time in franchise history, they'll need to play complementary football to get there, and that puts a considerable amount of pressure on the right arm of quarterback CJ Stroud.
CJ Stroud looked like a Super Bowl caliber quarterback for much of his rookie season, but a sophomore slump that extended into his third pro season has cast some doubt on whether Stroud belongs in the top-tier of NFL signal-callers.
But over the last four games that he's started and finished, dating back to a late-October win over the San Francisco 49ers, Stroud's play has looked closer to his rookie campaign than it has at any point since 2023. In those four games, the 24-year-old quarterback has completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,057 yards, 6 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions.
Although those numbers aren't quite as prolific as they were during his rookie season, if this is the baseline for Stroud's play the rest of the way, the Texans absolutely have what it takes on both sides of the ball to contend for a Super Bowl, and that's the basis of why former Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt warner believes the Texans are the most dangerous team not currently atop their division.
“I want to say the Texans, just because of how good their defense is. I feel like their offense and CJ has been better since he came off of the concussion protocol, and had those few weeks off that their offense has been better," Warner told Rich Eisen. "The best team in that scenario, for me, would be the Texans.”
This aligns with what many around the league seem to be seeing with the Texans over recent weeks. Despite the fact that Houston is presently the 7-seed and could see their postseason hopes drop to just 15 percent if the Las Vegas Raiders were to pull off an upset this Sunday, the Texans are being positioned as the scary sleeper that's peaking at the right time, and just like we've seen defenses when championships, we've seen teams that get hot in December and January and ride that wave until they're hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.