From 2014-16, the Houston Texans won the AFC South twice to start out Bill O’Brien’s first three seasons coaching the team.
They had the No. 3 defense in 2015 and the league’s defensive player of the year in defensive end J.J. Watt. The Kansas City Chiefs shut them out 30-0 at home.
In 2016, the Texans returned to the postseason with the league’s No. 1 ranked defense. They managed a 27-14 win over an Oakland Raiders squad that had the wind taken out of its sails with starting quarterback Derek Carr being injured and having to be led by rookie Connor Cook. But the Texans couldn’t hang with the New England Patriots the next week 34-18 in the divisional playoffs.
Houston started Brian Hoyer in 2015 and Brock Osweiler in 2016. They were lucky they managed a postseason win.
With Deshaun Watson under center for the Texans against the Buffalo Bills, there is a sense of optimism the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback can lead the franchise on a playoff run.
“At the end of the day, it’s a quarterback driven league, right?” O’Brien remarked to reporters Thursday. “If you have a really good quarterback that understands the team and doing what’s best for the team and is a great teammate, a hard worker, a guy that plays well when the lights come on, good decision maker, playmaker, tough, just tough, smart and dependable guy at the quarterback position, you got a chance.”
The Texans have all of the above in Watson, who engineered three fourth quarter comebacks and five game-winning drives for the Texans as part of their 10-6 finish and the fourth AFC South title in the O’Brien era.
“That’s why you make it to the playoffs,” O’Brien. “You’ve got players like that and there’s 12 teams left, and the best teams are left.”
The Texans will have to be their best, and Watson especially, when they host the Buffalo Bills for the AFC wild-card Saturday at NRG Stadium. A win sends them to the divisional round, but the outcome of the Titans-Patriots game decides where they go: Baltimore or Kansas City.
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