The 'teens' decade doesn't technically end until December 31, 2020, but there's no way to prevent people from assuming that it concludes when we hit the new year. It was also this way when we flipped from 1999 to 2000.
So, since everyone is doing their end of decade stories, let's reflect on the last 10 years for your Texans.
They just clinched another winning season. That's the seventh in the last 10 years. I don't even have to look it up to tell you that's a number that puts them in the top third of the league.
This decade saw the Texans make the playoffs for the first time, in 2011. From that point on they have done their best to make it a bit of a habit to win the AFC South. And they are currently striving for their sixth division championship in the last nine years.
During the 2011 campaign, it felt like the fan base exploded. It was already big. Every game had been a sellout in franchise history. But after the playoff win over Cincinnati it seemed like people who might have never followed pro football became fans.
Another playoff year followed. Then the disappointment of 2013. Luckily, the losing campaigns have been few and far between. 2010 yielded a 6-10 season. After '13, there were three winning seasons before the injury meltdown year of 2017. Now we're working on back-to-back winning seasons.
This decade gave us J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins and eventually, Deshaun Watson. It also gave us Bill O'Brien, who has five winning seasons in six years on the job.
Hopkins has been a revelation. The Andre Johnson era transitioned into the Nuk era, as the Texans have had one of the elite receivers in the game for all but the first year of the franchise. That's 17 seasons of having one of the best (if not THE best) pass catchers in the game.
The most important thing is winning. And the Texans players and coaches will be the first to tell you that winning campaigns alone is not enough. They want the big prize. But it's certainly worth noting that the Texans have put together a lot of wins and winning seasons and are working hard to take the next steps.
