(SportsRadio 610) - For the 11th time in 14 games, the Texans were without their full compliment of wide receivers.
They’ve been there, done that.
However, Sunday was different. Not only were they without leading receiver Nico Collins, who sustained a calf injury during the first series of their 30-6 loss to the Jets, but they were without starting quarterback C.J. Stroud, trotting out their seventh different starting offensive line and down two of their best defenders in both Blake Cashman and Will Anderson Jr.
Combine all of that with the fact they were on the road taking on a division rival, playing in the most pivotal game of the season for a fourth consecutive week and coming off an absolute disaster the week prior.
Confidence was low outside of NRG Stadium, which made the victory on Sunday even sweeter.
Now, with starting safety Jimmie Ward in concussion protocol after getting knocked out of the game on the first series of Sunday’s win over the Titans, the defense is down a third starter and key contributor.
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Yet, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans hasn’t wavered in his message to his team this season and knows what his team is still capable of doing, despite being decimated by injury.
“When it comes to first place and all those things, for us, we just focus on the moment,” Ryans said. “Focus on the day. Every man in the room, just focus on continuing to improve their game, continue to do as best as they can for the team and focus on helping the team in any way they can, and those standings and all those things with playoff implications, they’ll take care of themselves if we handle the ball the right way on the field.”
After picking up one of the gutsiest wins in the franchises history, outlasting the Titans 19-16 in overtime Sunday afternoon, the Texans got a little help Sunday night with the Jacksonville Jaguars losing to the Ravens 23-7, falling to 8-6 on the season and in a tie with the Texans and Colts within the AFC South.
The belief in whoever is available in a given week or for particular game is there and so still, is an opportunity to do something special.
With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Texans still have an opportunity to become the latest team to go from worst to first in a season’s time within their own division.
Since 2002, there have been 28 teams to accomplish the drastic turnaround. Over the course of the last 11 seasons, entering the 2023 campaign, only twice has at least one team failed to make such a jump.
The Texans have a chance to become the 12th team in the last 12 seasons to accomplish the feat.
They’ll need some help at this point in time with games against the Browns (9-5), Titans (5-9) and the Colts (8-6) remaining. The Texans, currently occupying the eighth-seed and on the outside looking in the AFC playoff picture, don’t hold any tiebreakers over the Jaguars or the Colts.
The Jags hold the head-to-head over both the Texans and Colts, while the Colts currently hold it over the Texans with a pivotal head-to-head remaining in the week 18 regular season finale.
The Texans seemingly lost full control of their own destiny in recent weeks, having sustained losses to the Jaguars and Jets. Their playoff hopes have been held off of life-support during that stretch with a sputtering Jaguars club that’s dropped three-straight games and while they’ll likely need more help, it helps to have games remaining with three of the four clubs ahead of them in playoff seeding with a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bengals.
As convoluted as this time of year gets in the NFL, the Texans have a tall task ahead, certainly, but one thing remains clear.
It’s going to be an epic finish and this version of the Texans, which seems to thrive with their backs up against the wall, has as good a shot as any with Ryans leading the charge at accomplishing the improbable.
“Why not, why not us?” Maliek Collins asked the media Monday. “We’ve got all the pieces that we need to go do whatever we want to.”