“Houston, we have a problem.”
The Houston Texans happen to be the youngest franchise in the NFL, but after just two decades in the league, they've still managed to collect a few heartbreaking losses in their city's history. Though the squad has made it to the playoffs more than a handful of times, they haven't reached the third round of the playoffs since their franchise joined the league. That's quite a drought. Let's go back to some of the more memorable (or forgettable) moments in Texans history.
2015 vs Miami Dolphins
2015 was the 14th season of the Texans in the league and was also the second of Bill O'Brien. The Texans' lowly start of the season was highlighted by one of their worst defeats in franchise history. The day didn't start well as backup quarterback Ryan Mallet had to take a commercial flight to South Florida after missing the team's plane. The Texans' bad omens continued as they were off to an awful start against the Dolphins. Miami took an early 21-point lead in the first period and continued to pounce on the disoriented Texans in the second quarter. The first half ended with Houston trailing 41-0, which was their largest deficit in franchise history.
Houston had a lot of catching up to do in the second half and two 3rd quarter touchdowns from running back Arian Foster showed some glimmer of hope for the Texans. Houston scored a total of 20 unanswered points before the Dolphins notched another touchdown midway through the 4th quarter which ultimately took the game out of Houston's hands. The final score was 44-26 as Houston recorded their first loss to the Dolphins in franchise history.
The Texans had a few more losses after the match as Foster suffered a season-ending achilles injury late in the 4th quarter while the flight-missing Mallet was released from the team just two days after.
2018 vs Tennessee Titans
The 2018-2019 NFL season saw another tough start for Houston. In Week 2, they were up against division rivals the Tennessee Titans. There's a lot of history between the two teams as the now Tennessee-based franchise was originally based in Houston as the Oilers so there's no question that sparks will be flying every time these two squads are pitted against each other. Unfortunately for the Texans, they seemed to be in pre-season form early in to the season as they suffered what is referred to as one of the worst regular season losses in franchise history.
It was a tight contest all throughout but Houston failed to take advantage of the Titans' depleted roster. Tennessee was missing the services of QB Marcus Mariota, tight end Delanie Walker and left and right tackles Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin. The Texans were coming to the game as favorites to win but managed to disappoint the whole city of Houston with a 3-point loss. Back-up QB Blaine Gabbert led the way for the Titans and squeezed his team's way out to victory. The Texans played a forgettable game recording a whopping total of 11 penalties for 88 yards, just one sack and wasn't able to force any turnovers. They even allowed the Titans to convert on a fake punt. Let's just leave it at that.
2019 vs Kansas City Chiefs
Who can forget 2019's AFC Divisional Playoffs against the Kansas City Chiefs? After a solid 10-6 regular season, the Texans finished at the top of the AFC South Division and were back in playoff contention. A thrilling comeback win in overtime against the Buffalo Bills at home in the Wild Card Playoffs set-up a second-round playoff duel against the Chiefs.
The AFC South Division leaders were off to the races scoring three touchdowns in the opening quarter. Pro Bowler QB Deshaun Watson led the way for the Texans as Houston were looking at a dominant 24-0 lead over Kansas City early in the second period. Like a whirlwind, the Chiefs fought back and scored three quick touchdowns in three minutes of play. Star signal-caller Patrick Mahomes outdid his QB counterpart in Watson as he led the Chiefs to a resilient 28-point second quarter to end the half on top 28-24. Kansas City was the first team in league history to go down by as many as 20 points and manage to take the lead by halftime.
The Chiefs continued to dominate in the third quarter, extending their run to a NFL playoff record of seven consecutive touchdowns for a total of 41 unanswered points. The Texans tried to claw their way back but the ‘Mahomes Magic' was too much for Houston. Kansas City went on to win a high-scoring 51-31 contest which ended a great season for the Texans. The Chiefs went on to win it all in Super Bowl LIV.
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