In Week 12 of this 2023 NFL season, the Houston Texans hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium. By record, the Texans were one game back of the Jags, sitting at 6-4, with the Jags at 7-3. It was a big game. Unfortunately, the Texans wound up losing a close game, with backup kicker Matt Amendola bouncing a potential game tying field goal off the crossbar late in the fourth quarter.
That game left the Jags at 8-3 and the Texans at 6-5. At that point, the Texans’ avenue to the playoff appeared to be as one of the three AFC wild card teams. With a two game deficit in the division, and six games to go, and all the tiebreakers leaning the Jags’ way, the division title looked like a lost cause for the Texans.
Then, a funny thing happened. The Jaguars started losing, and losing, and losing some more. Meanwhile, the Texans managed to hang around. It wasn’t perfect, as losses to the Jets and Browns would indicate, but the Texans did enough to allow the Jags to come back to the pack.
Fast forward to Week 18, and as it turns out, not only did the Texans’ Saturday night win over the Colts secure a playoff spot, but thanks to the Titans’ win over the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon, the Houston Texans are your 2023 AFC South champions!
This is the seventh time the Texans have won the division title, and thus their streak of making the postseason solely as division champions, never as a wild card, remains intact. This one, though, really hit home. The six other division titles came with very little shock and awe. Largely the Texans were residing in a division with very little competition, and largely they were the preseason favorite to win said division.
This season the Texans never led the division standings in the AFC South until the Jaguars failed to convert a fourth and goal on Sunday afternoon, thus giving the Titans the win, and the Texans the division. It’s a true testament to Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans’ mantra of being relentless and never giving up,
Now, instead of going on the road to face a team like the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs on the road, in cold weather, the Texans will host the Cleveland Browns in a first round matchup that should have plenty of intensity. After all, the Browns handed the Texans an embarrassing loss in Week 16, with C.J. Stroud on the sidelines with a concussion.
The gifts just keep on coming. Midway through the third quarter of Saturday night’s win over the Colts, it was looking like the Texans were letting the season slip away. Now, they’re hosting a playoff game. What a great time to be alive for Texans fans.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
