Though a successful running back since the San Francisco 49ers drafted him in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Carlos Hyde had never enjoyed team success in the NFL until he landed with the Houston Texans on Aug. 31.
On Saturday, Hyde’s Texans got their 10th win of 2019. In beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20, Houston won the AFC South. It was the 29-year-old’s first taste of winning a divisional title, one that he hopes does not elude him.
“It feels good,” Hyde told reporters after the win.
Though six years into his NFL career, Hyde has never visited the playoffs. For much of his time in San Francisco, the 49ers were bottom-dwellers. Both of his teams in 2019 — the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars — failed to reach the playoffs.
He sees a different team in the Texans than he saw in previous environments.
“I mean other teams, we were nowhere near the position we in today,” Hyde said. “But this group here it was a group of brothers everybody sticking together even when it is not pretty. Guys sticking together, we are not getting down anything. Just stay with it kept fighting, you know it paid off for us today.”
Not only is his team successful, but Hyde is also enjoying the best individual season of his career. Though he struggled against Tampa Bay — recording 17 rushes for 27 yards and a touchdown — his yardage mark (1,057) is a career-high while his touchdowns (six) are second-best.
Hyde doesn’t believe it’s his success that has led to the Texans’. It’s the coach, Bill O’Brien, who has won the division four of the last five years and is 52-43 all-time with the Texans.
“It’s my first time winning the division,” Hyde concluded. “OB (O’Brien) obviously got the formula if he won, what you say four out of five? You know, OB knows something then.”