The new head coach of the Texans, along with General Manager Nick Caserio, will be tasked with trying to get the Texans back on the winning track and as far as possible, as soon as possible, in the postseason.
No matter what the pundits' opinions are of the organization, a bounce back is certainly not out of the question. The team has done it before, coming back quickly with a winning season from sub .500 outings in 2010, 2013 and 2017. Two of those three rebound seasons ended with playoff appearances.
Ten years ago the Texans went on their first postseason run in the 'Next Man Up' '11 campaign. In the decade that followed, the Texans established themselves as a franchise in the top eight of the NFL when you consider winning seasons, playoff appearances and playoff wins. Houston has not had back-to-back losing seasons in 15 years.
Here we are coming off a crushing 4-12 campaign and the roster, staff and so many other factors have yet to play out. The feelings involved with reading media reports and speculation are hard for many of you to ignore. But I like to look at history to get a sharper picture of things.
The Texans have seven winning seasons and six playoff appearances in the last ten years. They have four playoff wins. There are only eight teams in the league that can make that claim. These numbers aren't going to get them a documentary on the NFL Network. They need to get past the divisional round and eventually win a Super Bowl for that.
But you have no chance to get there without taking the first steps of making the playoffs. And that's what the Texans have done well and more often than 75% of the league over the last decade.
Now the mission is to get back ASAP. There are so many questions. The answers will continue to roll in as the next few months go by. But even none of that really matters until you kick the ball in September.
How you feel about what they put together this offseason is one thing. How they perform is another. The same media that predicted postseason success in 2020 might predict doom and gloom in 2021. Everyone has an opinion. It's what happens on the field that matters most.
