The Houston Texans are 10-5. By beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 on Saturday, they are the winners of the AFC South for the fourth time in five seasons.
In the win, the Texans got out to a hot start, scoring 10 points in a jiffy via two Jameis Winston interceptions. On the first, cornerback Bradley Roby took it 27 yards to the house. Safety Justin Reid made the housecall two pass attempts later; however, it was called back due to an illegal chop block from rookie defensive end Charles Omenihu
“We started off fast,” Reid told reporters after the win. “We had a great scheme. DB coaches, defensive coach, RAC (defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel), Pags (senior defensive assistant John Pagano), all of them did a fantastic job preparing us.”
Following the win, Reid would not undersell how valuable the Texans’ hot defensive start was.
“(It was) huge! Huge. I mean, the NFL is a game of momentum,” Reid said. “We started off real fast. That’s what we want to do.”
Though they started quickly, the Texans didn’t hold their lead for long. They squandered a 17-3 lead in the last few minutes of the first half time, in turn, going into halftime tied at 17. Though a playoff team, Houston has struggled to play a full-game all season long.
“The key is we got to be a team that plays 60 minutes,” Reid said. “The whole way through and be dominant and keep that mentality going forward.”
The Texans are no stranger to close games. Seven of their 10 wins have come in one-possession fashion. Often, those close games are a result of not starting fast enough, slowing down in the end or something in the middle that does not resemble a full game.
If Houston wants to be a Super Bowl team as they aspire, learning how to play a full game is a must. There are no rebounds from playoff losses.