Houston sports fans have been toyed with since the Texans first qualified for the playoffs in 2011.
After winning the AFC South for the first time, getting into the playoffs was playing with house money. The question was how far could they go with fifth-round rookie T.J. Yates under center. They took the Baltimore Ravens to the fourth quarter of the AFC divisional playoffs before the home team ultimately punched their ticket to the conference title game.
Since then, the Texans have failed to meet expectations with the promise of next year being their championship chance. Like city lights in the desert, that opportunity never seems to get any closer.
Texans fans are very cautious with their hearts in 2021, what with a 4-12 finish in 2020, blowing a 24-0 lead in the divisional playoffs to the Super Bowl champions the year prior, and squandering away a chance at a first-round bye in 2018. They aren’t going to be suckers for a fourth straight year, especially with general manager Nick Caserio rebuilding the roster and a 65-year-old rookie coach, who had never been a coordinator, on the sidelines.
However, Field Yates from ESPN thinks Houston fans should give Caserio and Culley a shot. The NFL reporter joined “The Wheelhouse with Jake Asman, Cody Stoots, & Brad Kellner” on ESPN 97.5 [KFNC-FM] in Houston to talk about the new regime.
“I know it’s going to take time in Houston, and I know fans are understandably upset over enough things that have taken place in the past couple of years,” Yates said. “And I’m not naive to the the fact they’ve got frustrations about current members of leadership that predate Nick Caserio and David Culley. I know [executive vice president of football operations] Jack Easterby is a lightning rod, to put it lightly, in Houston right now. But if Texans fans can muster it, I think that putting faith and trust in the new leadership in Houston and understanding that it’s going to take some time, will prove worthwhile.”
It depends on how long the wait is. The Texans are enticing their fans with two preseason wins and the defense generating six takeaways after getting just nine through 16 games last year. The expectations are low for the Texans in 2021, which means any progress they make can be a reason for optimism about the future.