The Houston Texans last year found their quarterback of the future in Deshaun Watson. Many fantasy owners for about five weeks dominated their leagues because of his dominance in games. And it showed drastically with his chemistry with DeAndre Hopkins and his last four games with a Quarterback rating of at least 100 before suffering a torn ACL in practice. J.J. Watt was also lost for the season from a leg fracture in which Jadaveon Clowney had to step up to prove his first round caliber a few years ago.
Many outside fans and media have questioned how high this Texan’s ceiling and pedigree is under Coach Bill O’Brien who has many wondering if he is the reason they haven’t taken that next stop to become a championship level team. The Texan’s have the franchise quarterback, the playmaking receiver, and a defense that can take over games when they have to. All it needs it for it all to come together.
The AFC South has gotten stronger among the Jags, Colts, and Titans who have made drastic changes. Sacksonville has maybe taken over the top of the division with their elite defense, Andrew Luck is back and can maybe continue where he left off, the Titans made the playoffs and have made a coaching change with former player and coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel spent 2014-2017 on the Texan’s sideline coaching the linebackers and last season as the defensive coordinator. It doesn’t seem like the week division Houston fans have come to be familiar with.
The addition of J.J. Watt and Tyrann Mathieu , the development of Watson, and the continuing growing of the running game can take this team great lengths in the 2018 season.
Unfortunately the first two weeks of the season they got off to slow starts against the Patriots and Titans but made some strides late in the game to come back before falling 0-2. The running game has picked up steam thanks to Lamar Miller.
Houston must come alive early in games to avoid stagnant offensive drives. They have the fire power but there needs to be better game planning and execution from the players and coaches. The AFC isn’t strong like it’s been in past years. The NFC is almost eight deep now with the emergence from the Rams and Vikings. So unless something changes the AFC might have a 9-7 team to sneak into the sixth seed this year, but that’s three months away and there is a ton of football left.
Here’s to a great season, tailgates, cookouts, and yelling fans on Sundays. Get your lungs ready the first couple of weeks are over and the rust is wearing off. Now is the time to get ready for some football.
