The Houston Texans are an experienced football team with plenty of leadership, and coach Bill O’Brien likes that aspect of the 2019 version of the club.
“We have really good leadership,” O’Brien told reporters Thursday. “We’ve got good captains.”
However, it isn’t just at the captain level that the Texans will rely on their leadership when they take on the Buffalo Bills Saturday at 3:35 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium in the AFC wild-card. The Texans also have the benefit of their depth and front line starters that provide leadership.
“We’ve got other guys on this team that maybe aren’t captains, but are leaders, whether it’s [safety] A.J. Moore on special teams or [safety] Justin Reid in the back end, [left tackle] Laremy Tunsil,” O’Brien said.
Moore and Reid arrived to Houston in 2018, and Tunsil was a late preseason trade that entered the Texans’ organization on Aug. 31. Nonetheless, the three help bolster the leadership provided from long-time players such as inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney, center Nick Martin, linebacker Dylan Cole and cornerstone players such as quarterback Deshaun Watson, defensive end J.J. Watt, and cornerback Johnathan Joseph.
“We’ve got a lot of leaders, and I think all those guys in the locker room always step up and try to do what’s best for the team and try to make sure that everybody’s ready to go each and every day,” said O’Brien. “I don’t think that was any different this week. I think everybody has been really focused this week.”
The Texans seek to win their first postseason game since Jan. 7, 2017, when they defeated the Oakland Raiders in the AFC wild-card. For the Bills, they are appearing in their second playoff contest since 2000 and hope to end their playoff win drought that has left Bills Mafia starved for postseason success since Dec. 30, 1995, when they beat their AFC East rivals, the Miami Dolphins, in the AFC wild-card.