The Houston Texans have achieved some historic success this season behind a pair of key first-year members of the franchise in quarterback C.J. Stroud and head coach DeMeco Ryans.
Houston won 10 games for just the fifth time in franchise history and got its fifth playoff win when they knocked off the Cleveland Browns last week.
Have the Houston Texans Reached the AFC Title Game?
Now in the franchise’s 22nd year of existence, the Texans have struggled to find much sustained success thus far. The team won a playoff game in back-to-back seasons under Gary Kubiak in 2011 and 2012, then unexpectedly bottomed out to 2-14 the next year.
Houston then made the playoffs in four of Bill O’Brien’s first six seasons at the helm, winning its Wild Card round matchups in 2016 and 2019, but won four or fewer games in each of the last three years amid significant coaching turnover.
The Texans have never been able to break through and advance past the Divisional Round of the playoffs, however, in their four previous times reaching that point. The franchise has amassed a combined 4-6 record over its six postseason appearances and never reached the AFC Championship Game, much less the Super Bowl.
Houston has come close to breaking through for a conference title game appearance, though.
The Texans suffered a narrow 20-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in 2011 when they made it to the Divisional Round for the first time. Houston fell behind 17-3 through one quarter and was unable to fully rally from the deficit, as they were held scoreless in the second half.
Houston then fell 41-28 to the New England Patriots in the following year’s Divisional Round as New England rode a 14-0 third quarter to victory. The Texans met the same fate against the same foe to end the 2016 season, this time losing to the Patriots in a 34-16 contest as Houston was outscored 17-3 in the second half.
Most recently, the Texans fell 51-31 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2019 Divisional Round despite jumping out to a 24-0 lead at one point. Kansas City scored 41 unanswered points from then on as Patrick Mahomes threw for 321 yards and five touchdowns on the day, a key step in the Chiefs’ run to winning the Super Bowl.
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The Texans hope this year can be different despite having to face off with the No. 1-seeded Ravens in Saturday’s Divisional Round clash. Baltimore is among the league’s favorites to win the Super Bowl this season, which could leave Houston in for a similar fate to its 2019 defeat against Kansas City.
Still, Stroud and Co. will look to deliver a different result this year and continue their already historic season one week further.
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