Houston Texans: A realistic expectation for the 2018 season

The Houston Texans are set for a comeback season. With Deshaun Watson back and some interesting acquisitions, the hopes for the season are pretty high. With that being said, what are realistic expectations for a team that went 4-12 last season?

The Houston Texans 2017-18 season had many fans, including myself, dreaming of big things. Deshaun Watson took over as starting quarterback and never looked back. The rookie was on a record-breaking pace for a first year player while receiving praise all around the league.

Recovering Bodies

Then tragedy occurred and the red-hot rookie suffered a season-ending injury during practice that pretty much ended the team’s dreams for the season.

Add to that the injury J.J. Watt suffered against the Kansas City Chiefs and it’s hard to not look back and think of what could have been. Now we must wait and see how Watson and Watt look after long layoffs.

The optimist in me says Watson will be back to his best, while Watt’s fair share of injuries do make me hold my judgement on his return.

Competitive Division

The Houston Texans might have high hopes for the coming season but so do their AFC South

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rivals. The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans both made some noise last season.

The Jaguars were painfully close to upsetting the New England Patriots and earning a trip to the Super Bowl while the Titans showed toughness and resilience when coming back against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card round.

I expect these two teams to be relatively close to last season’s level and with Andrew Luck back in the mix, the AFC South has the looks of being one of the most competitive divisions this year.

The division has the looks of a very unpredictable one, but there is one thing for certain, there’s no room for error.

Defensive Improvements

The Houston Texans were pretty bad on defense last year. The 20th-ranked defense was also last in points allowed per game. Injuries were certainly a factor to that decline in one of the league’s best defenses but with some acquisitions and the return of Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator, there should be a significant improvement on that end.

With additions of Tyrann Mathieu and Aaron Colvin, there will be much more internal competition in the defensive back positions. Along with a return from Watt, the outlook on the defense this year seems promising.

The last time Crennel led the team’s defense in 2016, it finished first in yards allowed. After a year spent as an assistant head coach, the defensive guru will be back at it as he will be handed total control of the defense once again. With his return and the new acquisitions, the defense should be back to its game-changing ways.

Next. Five dream vs. nightmare scenarios for the 2018 season. dark

Prediction

While trying to balance the uncertainty of injury returns and the positive outlook for defense, I predict the Houston Texans to finish second in the division while finishing with a 9-7 record. As far as playoffs go, if everything goes according to plan, there is no limit to what this talented group can accomplish.

What are your thoughts? Share your predictions in the comments section below.

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