After the Houston Texans flopped against the Kansas City Chiefs 51-31 in the AFC divisional playoffs on Jan. 12, coach Bill O’Brien and his staff delved into the research of what it takes to win in January and beyond.
According to O’Brien, who was given full-time general manager duties on Jan. 28, his staff is “more convicted than ever” that the key to win in the postseason is to have “layers” of productive players.
“Obviously we’ve got players that are Pro Bowl players, we’ve got players that are tremendous role players, but really the key to having the best team is to have a room full of productive players — layers and layers of productive players relative to what their roles are on the football team,” O’Brien told the Houston media on a conference call Thursday.
All O’Brien has achieved in his six seasons with the Texans are two wild-card playoff wins and early division exits. While the club has won the AFC South four times in the past six seasons, the Texans still have yet to appear in an AFC Championship Game, an achievement that appeared it was going to happen when Houston led 24-0 over Kansas City in the divisional playoffs.
“We know that the goal is to get beyond that, but we’ve studied, we’ve researched,” said O’Brien. “I think this time has given myself and our staff a lot of time to reflect, and obviously I know we want to be better, but I think if you look back to — let’s just call it August, the end of last July, August — I don’t think either myself or anybody involved with the Texans or even our fans would have thought that some of the moves that we made would have worked out the way they worked out.”
On Aug. 31, the Texans traded second-year offensive tackle Martinas Rankin to the Chiefs for running back Carlos Hyde, who then rushed for over 1,000 yards for the first time in his six-year career.
As part of the trading of Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks, also on Aug. 31, the Texans acquired edge rushers Jacob Martin and Barkevious Mingo. In the playoffs alone, Martin’s sack against the Buffalo Bills helped win the wild-card game, and Mingo’s blocked punt that cornerback Lonnie Johnson returned for a touchdown was a tremendous momentum boost early in the game.
Trading their 2020 sixth-round pick to the New England Patriots on Aug. 31 netted cornerback Keion Crossen, a key special teamer, and a Week 7 trade for Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley gave Houston much needed depth.
“The key to having the best team is not just having the best player,” said O’Brein. “We have a lot of really good players.”
With seven picks in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft, the Texans have to determine a way to keep adding layers to their productive roster.