New year, same ol' Texans

At first glance, the Texans appear to have had a good 2018. They were able to pull themselves out of a disappointing 0-3 start to go on a nine-game winning streak, end the regular season with an 11-5 record, and win the AFC South Division for the third time in four seasons. They also beat the evil Dallas Cowboys, which is always a good thing.

All that said, a closer look at their record reveals that the Texans were luckier than they were good this past season: they benefitted from poor overtime decisions by the Colts and Cowboys (the former too aggressive, the latter not aggressive enough), they escaped with wins at Denver and Washington after their opponents missed game-winning field goals, and of the thirteen teams they played, only five ended the season with winning records.

Yesterday, Luck (quite literally) caught up with them:

A year ago at this time Andrew Luck was at home struggling with an injured shoulder that cost him the entire season.

On Saturday he wrote a happy ending to the latest chapter of his comeback season, throwing for 222 yards and two touchdowns and the Indianapolis Colts raced out to a big lead and cruised to a 21-7 win over the Houston Texans in the wild-card game.

Luck put on a show in his hometown in a stadium where he'd attended games throughout childhood and played in them since high school, throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns before halftime to help the Colts (11-6) build a 21-0 lead.

Andrew Luck got help from Colts RB Marlon Mack, who torched the Texans’ run defense for 148 yards, as well as from an Indianapolis defense that made Houston QB Deshaun Watson’s playoff debut a miserable one and held the Texans to their lowest offensive production of the season.

The end result is a familiar one for the most mediocre and underwhelming franchise in Houston sports history: a lackluster performance in, and early exit from, the playoffs. Is anybody really surprised?

Of course, the social media memes came fast and furious after the game ended, including this one:

Ouch! At least the University of Houston realized that they needed to cut Major Applewhite loose* after that embarrassing bowl game. The Texans, on the other hand, will probably give Bill O'Brien a contract extension.

Chronicle writer Dale Robertson's recap of the game is here. ESPN's Turron Davenport thinks the season was generally successful and wonders about the offseason. The Houston Press's Sean Pendergast looks at the game's winners and losers and makes a depressing observation about J.J. Watt:

[...] I listened to his post game media session, which lasted all of a minute and twenty seconds, and it sounded like a guy who (1) was depressed over another team playoff failure, and (2) realized that he is going to be 30 in March, and that it appears he may never even play in a conference title game, let alone a Super Bowl. Kudos to Watt for coming back from multiple horrific injuries to be an All Pro again, but I do wonder after losses like Saturday's if he wonders what his chances are of ever competing for a Super Bowl here.

I agree. I feel bad for J.J. He deserves a Super Bowl ring, but he will never win one as long as he wears a Texans jersey.


*I'm still working out my thoughts on Applewhite's firing and Dana Holgorsen's hiring, but a post is on its way.