They’ve stolen the hearts of the football world and stopped them time and time again. The Houston Texans have made the playoffs with no shortage of exciting moments.
Houston featured those moments, along with highlights of years past, to get fans riled up for Saturday’s Wild Card contest against the Cleveland Browns.
In a video featuring former Texans linebacker Brian Cushing, Houston’s regular season was encapsulated into a two-minute video, intertwined with moments that live on in the fabric of Texans memories.
Few expected Houston to be here, alive, in the middle of January. The first-round pick they sent off to the Arizona Cardinals was supposed to be just as high as the third-overall selection they got in return.
“It was over before it even started,” Cushing said. “They’re too young, too inexperienced, too many questions. According to them, it was over before we even played a snap. But in H-Town, we know anything can happen.”
But with first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans leading the way, rookie quarterback and C.J. Stroud put together a season that both accelerated a rebuild and invigorated the H-Town faithful.
Stroud was even more dynamic than his biggest fans anticipated, and Ryans’ words were more than coach speak – they stuck. Week after week, big moment after big moment, these cardiac kids made Texans football exciting again.
First, they beat the New Orleans Saints in the final minutes of Week 6. Three weeks later, Stroud would put on a masterclass of a game-winning drive, an effort made possible by a third-string running back making a field goal. They took down Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals and came up big against the Arizona Cardinals when it mattered most.
The Texans played 10 one-possession games, each coming down to the wire. They won seven of them, including Week 18’s defeat of the Indianapolis Colts to win the AFC South and host a playoff game.
“We didn’t come this far just to come this far,” Ryans said.
On Saturday, Houston’s fans will welcome Cleveland into town for the second time this year. For the first time, it will have its franchise quarterback attempting to send the Browns home.
Stroud’s big-game prowess has already flashed, and it will likely be needed again. The Texans are underdogs to a Browns team that boasts an elite defense and a hot quarterback.
Their season could very well end on Saturday, but it won’t be because the lights were too bright. Not with Ryans leading them into battle. Not with Stroud under center.
“All those heart-stopping moments, the impossible comebacks,” Cushing concluded. “Every test of adversity became an opportunity. There’s no better time than now. Because this team, this city, is H-Town made.”
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