Houston Texans: Why the team’s Super Bowl hopes are still far out of reach

The Kansas City Chiefs, the Houston Texans’ opponent in the divisional round has won the Super Bowl. But what’s our trajectory? Let’s take a look.

The Houston Texans suffered a humiliating defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, who are now the Super Bowl champions for the first time in 50 years. While it’s the Chiefs’ turn to celebrate the momentous occasion, the Houston Texans wait for their opportunity once again. But fans might have to endure some suffering for some time before it happens.

Houston Texans fans, all of us have gotten to the point where it’s no longer about making the playoffs. It’s about winning it all and we want that desperately. I think all of us know there will be a day when we will be walking on the field where the Super Bowl will be played and we will rejoice to see our team on the field when that time comes. I can only hope that everyone, no matter how old you are or how long you loved football in Houston will witness the day.

But for the time being, we found ourselves watching it once again and we didn’t have a team to cheer for. It’s not easy for any NFL team to get to the Super Bowl. Playoffs are like a lottery. You have teams that come in hot and they lose in the first round while other teams get hot at the right time and it works out well for them. Sure, there are cases where dynasties take over for some time before others have a chance to win.

A feeling of uneasiness

Things haven’t been easy on me as a Houston Sports fan. I couldn’t even watch the game because I hated the fact that the Houston Texans blew such a big lead to lose in the playoffs against a Chiefs’ squad that was much better than we were. I did pick the Chiefs to win, but it made me upset when they did.

Add in the fact the Rockets are struggling to find a good spot for them to make a title run while the best chance to win another title right now comes from a team that has a lot of cleaning up and proving to do. I feel like the best sports moment of my life has been tarnished and I need a new replacement. Maybe a couple of titles? I don’t know.

Sure, I wasn’t too pleased to see Deshaun Watson in the Pro Bowl and I really felt mixed feelings about J.J. Watt being the host of Saturday Night Live because, in my opinion, they should be playing in the Super Bowl.

I know that Watt wants to help Houston win, but I sometimes feel he’s trying to be too much of a celebrity. That feeling is why I blame myself for saying it because this man did so much to help Houston through Hurricane Harvey with his foundation and he wants to win.

As it stands, the Houston Texans have made offseason moves with the biggest one being a pretty unpopular move. Bill O’Brien will play the role of Bill Belichick and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich as the role of the head coach and general manager.

Unlike the previous two names, O’Brien has yet to have the success he would like to have, which makes us question why we’re doing this although we shouldn’t be surprised.

But I decided to focus on the Texans because while they are reeling from an unfortunate loss to the Chiefs, they are I feel a few years away from getting to the big game.

Before that happens, the team will need to experience some suffering and as much as I along with everyone want to make immediate decisions to end the suffering, the logical thing would be to understand the difficulty it is to win it all.

A look at what’s ahead

For right now, there are four teams in the NFL that have yet to appear in the Super Bowl:

• Cleveland Browns
• Detroit Lions
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Houston Texans

We can sit and complain about the fact that we are a desperate team trying to break some sort of curse to win. In contrast, the two top teams on the list of four have reasons to suffer, which is why they’re becoming part of American sports lore.

The Browns have been to three AFC Championship games and lost every time. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2003 and their last playoff win was in 1994. Their last NFL title was in 1964 which was in the pre-Super Bowl era.

The Lions have been close in 1991 to reach the Super Bowl, which their Divisional Playoff game against the Cowboys has been their only playoff win since they won their last NFL title in 1957. The Jaguars have been to two AFC championship games and yet, they started in 1995.

In contrast to all three of these teams, we’re still the young franchise in history. I mean, sure the Ravens won in four seasons, but they were a relocated franchise from the Cleveland Browns. So the four teams are still trying to get to the big game. But what about those that have been to the big game, but haven’t won it?

These are the teams:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Atlanta Falcons
• Carolina Panthers
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Minnesota Vikings
• Tennessee Titans

They had an opportunity to win but weren’t able to get the job done.

Hindsight is 20/20

Getting to the Super Bowl takes skill, talent, momentum, and some luck. Looking back, 99 times out of 100, the Oilers beat the Bills and advance. Jacoby Jones doesn’t escape with a 60-plus yard touchdown catch to tie the game late without some help from a Broncos defensive back who had poor coverage.

Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t make the game-saving tackle if he doesn’t get a head start on the Colts’ defense. So sadly, we haven’t had breaks go our way just yet for three wins into the Super Bowl.

The reason why I bring all of these up is that I was frustrated early in the Texans-Bills game and I commented on what it would take to finally win and that I was tired of the suffering of losing.

Someone replied that I should try being a Lions’ fan and that was that. I took down the comment and realized that we’re fortunate to have a team that is still in contention to get to the Super Bowl

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for the next season.

I don’t know what it will take for the Texans to ultimately reach the Super Bowl. Given the current situation, we got fans that are wanting Bill O’Brien to be fired and that seems highly unlikely for now because of his new role as GM along with the head coach.

The offensive line was better this season than the last year, but they still could get better. The secondary was the biggest concern this season. When your best defensive back is Johnathan Joseph, who more than likely won’t suit up next year for the team, that’s a problem.

We have the talent to get there minus a few necessities needed in the secondary and offensive line. But again, the suffering part is perhaps what we’re going to have to experience. I mean, we should be proud to have a team that contends every single season for a Super Bowl, let alone an AFC South Division title.

When that day happens for us to stand on the field as one of the two teams, we’ll be fortunate to say we watched it regardless of the result, although it would mean a lot more for us to win.