Diary Of A Mad Texans Fan

The 30 Greatest Texans Games Of All Time(2002-2017)

With the end of Super Bowl LII tonight we've officially entered the dark days of off NFL off-season. For Texans fans the season was over months ago when Deshaun Watson, "The One", went down with a knee injury that ended his year. To give myself something to do over the next few weeks I've decided to start my own personal countdown of the 30 greatest Houston Texans games of all time. With only 16 seasons in the books the Texans are the youngest team in the NFL. For a casual onlooker it doesn't seem like the Texans have much of a history to talk about, they certainly don't have anything that compares to other teams that have been in the NFL for decades. For me though I've been a big fan of the team since the beginning, I went to the first 2 pre-season games in the Summer of 2002 and my NFL season has lived and died with this team ever since then. There have been some good times, a lot of bad times, but over the past 16 seasons I've seen this team in some truly great games and I've put together some great memories that I will celebrate here in this thread. 

The criteria for this countdown/rankings is pretty loose. Some games that we lost made the list(6 of them to be exact), a great game is a great game no matter who wins or loses so I felt like there were a few losing performances that were worthy. Make no mistake about it though these rankings will be biased for the Texans, the landmark achievements that were milestones for a baby franchise growing up, the great individual performances, the great moments, this has been the ride for me so far through my eyes with the games and moments that I'll never forget. 

Really looking forward to this. Love learning about the history of the Texans.

Shin, I fucking love you.

Not that I can think of anything memorable that the Texans have done BUT I am really excited about this teams future. I think the best is yet to come for this franchise and when it does come, it’s going to be amazing. I know that JJ Watt and Deshaun Watson will get themselves a Super Bowl ring.

You can't really put the Texans 16 year history into context without going back to the Houston Oilers, back to the old Astrodome that sits rotting next door to NRG Stadium. I've written pages about the Oilers over on the old PW, "The Rise And Fall of The Houston Oilers" was one of my favorite things I wrote over there that is now gone. I'll try to go through the Oilers history in as few words possible here to get things started.

-Houston Oilers were one of the original AFL teams that launched with the new league in 1960. Owner Bud Adams was one of the AFL owners that was instrumental in the AFL success and eventual merger with the NFL in 1970. Houston won the first two AFL Championship Games(1960, 1961) before losing the third in a double overtime classic against the Dallas Texans in 1962(those Texans would cede Dallas to the NFL's Cowboys when they moved to Kansas City to become the Chiefs in 1963).

-Oilers pretty much fell off in the later years of the AFL and were one of the weakest teams in the years directly after the merger. In 1972 and 1973 Houston was one of the worst teams in NFL history posting back to back 1-13 seasons. Legendary coach Sid Gillman turned the team around in 1974 but it wasn't really until 1975 when Bud Adams hired head coach Bum Phillips, which kickstarted the "Luv Ya Blue" phenomenon. Bum Phillips became a cult icon in Texas during this time, he gave the Oilers an identity and established the team as a fan favorite throughout Texas in the late 70's. Because of Bum Phillips The Oilers went from a team nobody knew about to becoming the pride of towns like Lubbock and San Antonio, towns that were previously Dallas Cowboys country. 

-"Luv Ya Blue" there was a really nice article about it on NFL.com that is well worth reading: www.nfl.com/luvyablue, They traded up in the 1978 draft to take Earl Campbell, one of the all time great players in NFL history. Campbell was a legend in East Texas high school football before becoming a huge college football star at the University of Texas, where he won the Heisman Trophy. So he became a folk hero in Houston during the Luv Ya Blue years. The Oilers were great in 1978 and 1979 but they lost back to back AFC Championship Games to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were one of the greatest teams in NFL history at the time. In 1980 they lost to the Raiders(their 3rd consecutive playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champions) in the first round of the playoffs and Bum Phillips was fired after that, Luv Ya Blue was dead and the city of Houston had a love/hate relationship with the Oilers and owner Bud Adams from then on.

-The death of the Houston Oilers really started in 1980 when Bum Phillips was fired. He was crazy over in Houston with the fans, the team fell apart after they fired him. His firing was really a power play by General Manager Ladd Herzeg and defensive coordinator Ed Biles. Also Bud Adams was jealous of Bum Phillips being so popular in Houston. They ran Bum out of town so Herzeg could take control of General Manager job with Biles being promoted to new head coach(Biles snitched Bum out on a list of 80 league infractions that Herzeg used to justify Bum's firing). Biles ended up being horrible and they ended up wasting away the final years of Earl Campbell's prime, Houston was one of the worst teams in the NFL in 1982 and 1983.

-Enter Warren Moon in 1984. Moon was insanely talented QB that wasn't drafted in the NFL because he was black. He went to Canada and dominated the CFL, set many records and won 4 consecutive CFL titles if I'm not mistaken. He was a big time free agent coming over to the NFL in 1984, Houston Oilers signed him with the biggest free agent contract in NFL history at the time(they also signed his CFL coach to get him to choose the Oilers). Moon was like a football god to me and my little brother growing up. Gradually over the course of the 80's they built an insanely talented team around Moon in Houston, they made the playoffs 7 straight years from 1987 to 1993. In 1991 the Oilers were one of the best teams in the NFL but they lost to the Denver Broncos in the second round of the playoffs, after leading 21-6 early on, they gave up the lead and lost on a last second field goal 26-24 after a legendary winning drive by John Elway("The Drive II"). In 1992 the Oilers gave up a 35-3 lead in the biggest comeback in NFL history against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card playoff game, losing 41-38 in overtime("The Comeback"). In 1993 the Oilers brought in defensive genius Buddy Ryan to run the defense, they got off to a 1-4 start but rallied and won 11 straight games with one of the best defenses of all time, the best season in franchise history with a 12-4 record and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They ended up losing to Joe Montana's Chiefs in the second round of the playoffs after giving up a 13-7 fourth quarter lead, losing 28-20. The 1993 Oilers season made for a great documentary that is well worth a watch. After 93 the Oilers traded Moon to the Vikings for a late round draft pick and the team lost it's identity again, this time to my generation of fans, to me Warren Moon was the Oilers. 

-Sometime around 1987 Oilers owner Bud Adams started making moves to get a new stadium in Houston built with public tax money. He threatened to move the Oilers to Jacksonville Florida. The city ended up working out a deal to spend $67 million in public funds to renovate the Houston Astrodome in exchange for Adams to sign a lease to keep the Oilers in town until 1997. The city of Houston was paying taxes on that $67 million until like 2011. Around 1995 Bud Adams started to demand a new stadium and began threatening to move the team again. Adams ended up proposing a huge domed events center that would be a multi-purpose stadium for football and basketball, it was a ridiculous deal that needed the Houston Rockets to become partners with for it to happen, Rockets owner wanted no part of it so it fell through. Bud Adams had alienated the Houston business community and left a sour taste in the city's mouth with the way he tried to hold the Oilers hostage for more money. In 1996 Adams announced that the Oilers would move from Houston to Tennessee in 1998. The fans completely turned their backs on the team after it was made official, everybody stopped going to games so they were blacked out(not shown on TV), the radio network disbanded before the end of the year. It got so bad that they had to speed up the moving process and get out of town before the start of the 1997 season. They made the move and played as the Tennessee Oilers in 1997 and 1998. In 1999 they changed their name and logo to the Tennessee Titans, the NFL officially "retired" the Oilers name and everything. Sometime around 2000 Titans owner Bud Adams told a Nashville news station that when the Titans won a Super Bowl he would wear the ring on his middle finger and devote it to the city of Houston. 

-The NFL launched a new expansion team in Cleveland in 1999, the return of the Browns which had packed up and left the city for Baltimore to become the Ravens in 1996(the city of Cleveland won a court ruling to keep all the Browns history, logos, etc, the city of Houston tried the same for the Oilers but it was shot down in court by the judge). This left the NFL with an unbalanced 31 teams so they decided to introduce one more expansion team in 2002 to even out the teams at 32. Los Angeles initially won the rights to the franchise after outbidding Houston and Toronto with a $500 million bid and unanimous approval from league owners. The NFL continually went back to LA for updates over the next couple of months and were increasingly unhappy with the progress the city had made to launch the team. The NFL went back to Bob Mcnair/Houston and told them the spot was still open, Mcnair put $700 million on the table and got the owners to re-vote and Houston won the rights to the 32nd franchise in the league. The only way Titans owner Bud Adams would vote his approval was if he maintained the Oilers history/logos, etc as part of the Titans lineage. 

-It was made official in October 1999, NFL was returning to Houston, Texas. Over the course of 2000-2001 the name Texans was chosen, the colors, logo, uniforms and all were revealed as a brand new stadium was constructed(Reliant Stadium, aka NRG Stadium). The team was put together from scratch in the 2002 off season with David Carr being the first pick in the draft, while Tony Boselli was the biggest name selected in the expansion draft. Boselli ended up retiring due to injuries without ever playing a down for the Texans. We did get Gary Walker, defensive lineman that played his first 2 years in the NFL on the Houston Oilers in their final seasons in Houston in 95 and 96, Walker was the only man to play in the final games in the Houston Astrodome and the first ever games in the new NRG Stadium as both an Oiler and a Texan(he made the pro bowl in 2002). Also Oilers legends like Bum Phillips and Earl Campbell played a big part in promoting the Texans on a grass roots level early on when the team was launching, Ray Childress also was heavily involved in organizing some of the early investment groups from Houston that bought into the team. 

I grew up in and around Houston so the Oilers were big time when I was a kid. Sometime around the mid-90's we moved further away from Houston into Northeast Texas but in the Summer of 2002 I moved back to my hometown, just in time to catch the buzz of the Texans launch. I went to the first preseason game at NRG Stadium that Summer against the Dolphins but people I went with were drinking all day and were smashed by the time we got there, we got there late and ended up leaving early, I honestly don't even remember much about the game(back ups were already in when we got there) but the atmosphere in the stadium was electric. We went to the second pre season game against Tampa(eventual Super Bowl Champs that year) and this time we got there in time for the intros and everything and it was amazing, it was really a special vibe in that stadium when that thing all started, I can't really even explain it. I don't think there was ever an NFL preseason game with such a playoff like atmosphere like those first 2 Texans games at NRG Stadium, it was really something. The whole city was really buzzing and it was just an overall exciting time to be back in my hometown. 

Honorable Mentions
Part I: The Early Days

These are some of the games from the early days that did not make the top 30. I don't know that "honorable" mentions is a good term for some of these games from a Texans fan's perspective as there are many that we lost in horribly frustrating fashion. Still these were the great games from the early years. 

Vs Buffalo Bills(October 13th, 2002)

The Texans debuted with a huge win in their very first game in 2002 but their next 3 games after that they got hammered. Houston was outscored 82-23 and rookie quarterback David Carr was sacked 20 times over the course of those three games. After the bye week the Texans played Gregg Williams' Buffalo Bills to a much more competitive game, one of the most memorable games from that inaugural 2002 season. David Carr hit Corey Bradford with an 81 yard bomb with the Texans very first offensive play of the game(still to this day stands as the Texans record for longest play from scrimmage), setting up a field goal to give the Texans a 3-0 lead. A running into the punter penalty set up Buffalo for the game tying field goal locking it up at 3-3 going into the 2nd quarter. David Carr converted on a huge 3rd & 17 with a 19 yard pass to Bradford followed by a 26 yard touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney to put Houston up 10-3. Carr then ran in a 17 yard touchdown to put Houston up 17-3. The Bills drove downfield and cut the Texans lead to 17-10 with a touchdown just before the end of the first half.

Buffalo tied the game up with another touchdown early in the third quarter but the Texans took a 24-17 lead after a halfback option pass from James Allen to Billy Miller. Drew Bledsoe then pulled off one of his most clutch 4th quarter comebacks with 2 amazing touchdown passes in the final minutes of the game to put Buffalo up 31-24 The Texans had a chance to tie it up when they got the ball back with 3:48. The stage was set for David Carr to pull off a heroic game saving drive, he took the Texans down to Buffalo's 14 yard line with an incredible 13 yard run up the middle when the drive stalled out at 4th & 7. Carr had 4 chances to punch it in and tie it up but Buffalo clamped down on Houston's receivers and held on to win it. It was a dramatic finish to a back and forth game that came down to the wire, with some flashes of greatness in our rookie quarterbacks' 5th game in the NFL. This was also the very first heartbreaking loss for the Texans and one of the first Texans games that had me on my feet shouting at the TV having heart palpitations.

NFL Primetime highlights

Other notable games from that inaugural 2002 season would be the second win in franchise history, the 21-19 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars where we won it on a field goal in the final 2 minutes. The first game against the Titans in Tennessee was a big one, we were down 17-3 when Carr almost brought us back in the final 5 minutes. Carr hit a touchdown pass to cut the Titans lead to 17-10 with 3 minutes left. The defense forced a 3 and out and Houston got the ball back at midfield with 1:52 left in the game but Carr was sacked for an 8 yard loss before throwing a game ending interception on 3rd & 16. Then there was the upset win over the 6-4 New York Giants where the Giants had several key injuries and also had a bunch of guys on the team sick with the flu. Excuses, excuses, Walter Payton ran for 275 yards with a 104 degree fever! 

Vs Carolina Panthers(November 2nd, 2003)

The Carolina Panthers surprised a lot of folks in 2003 when they ran the table in the NFC Playoffs, upsetting Dallas, St. Louis, and Philadelphia before giving the New England Patriots all they could handle in Super Bowl XXXVIII in NRG Stadium(Reliant Stadium back then) in Houston. Just two months earlier the Panthers got a surprise of their own in that same stadium when they got taken down by a 2-5 Texans team that wasn't even 2 years old yet. The Houston Texans defense during those first 3 years was really something. You look at the stats on paper and they ranked as one of the worst units in the NFL those three years, but god damn there were some games where they really looked like one of the best defenses in the whole league, this upset over the Panthers in year 2 was one of those games. Carolina came into the game with a 6-1 record and eventually finished 7th in the league in rushing with Stephen Davis and Deshaun Foster, while the passing game was led by Jake Delhomme. Delhomme was a solid quarterback that benefited from having three excellent receivers in Steve Smith, Muhsin Muhammad, and Ricky Proel. The Panthers defense was their backbone that year though, they finished 10th in the league in fewest points allowed and 8th in fewest total yards allowed(9th against the pass, 11th against the run). Panthers defensive lineman Julius Peppers was really coming of age in his second season. The Texans passed on Peppers with their first pick to take David Carr in the 2002 draft. Carr was out of this game against Carolina with an injury, the Texans had veteran backup quarterback Tony Banks in as his replacement. 

The game turned out to be a defensive battle. The Panthers ate up the first 6 minutes with their opening drive, capping the 68 yard trek with a 24 yard touchdown pass from Delhomme to Steve Smith to put Carolina up 7-0. Houston couldn't get anything going against Carolina's defense on their opening drive. Carolina marched right down the field again after a 3 & Out by the Texans offense. Aaron Glenn saved the game by picking Delhomme off when the Panthers were in scoring range. Both defenses clamped down to keep the second quarter scoreless. The Texans got the ball to open the second half and grinded out a 73 yard drive that ate up the first 8 minutes of the third quarter, all on the back of Dominick Williams, one of the great forgotten workhorses of those early Texans teams. Williams ran the ball 5 times for 55 of the 73 yards of the Texans drive, including a huge 23 yard run and then a massive 17 yard run on 3rd and 8 that put us into scoring range. Stacey Mack ran in the touchdown that tied the game 7-7 with 6:49 left in the 3rd quarter. The Panthers drove down to the Texans 5 yard line on their ensuing drive but the Texans defense was able to hold them to a field goal that put Carolina up 10-7 going into the 4th quarter. 

The Texans opened the 4th quarter with the game winning drive that featured one of Andre Johnson's first of many huge clutch moments for this franchise. The Texans were down 10-7 and faced with 3rd & 18 when Tony Banks hid Andre for 35 yards. Banks then hit Billy Miller for the 20 yard touchdown that turned out to be the game winner. The Texans held on to a 14-10 lead to pull off the upset of the eventual NFC Champions. On this day the Texans defense played at a world class level. The stat sheets just don't show how good Aaron Glenn and Jamie Sharper really were when that defense was on, this upset over the Panthers was one of those games where they looked like one of the best defenses in the NFL. With clutch performances by rookies Andre Johnson and Dominick Williams in this game it looked like the Texans were going to turn the corner and become a contender very soon. 

NFL Primetime highlights

Other notable games from the 2003 season would be the 12-10 win over Buffalo just two weeks after the win over Carolina, the defense was really on during that little period in 2003. Also can't forget the opening day victory over the Miami Dolphins on the road where we hit two field goals in the final 5 minutes, including the 35 yarder Kris Brown made with :25 seconds left to win it 21-20. Then there was the win over the Jaguars in Houston where David Carr ran in the game winning touchdown with no time on the clock to win it 24-20. Then there was the loss to the Colts in the final game of the seasons where we went up 17-3 going into the fourth quarter after 2 Dominick Williams touchdowns. The Colts then scored 17 unanswered points in the 4th quarter, including a game winning field goal with no time on the clock to win it 20-17. 

Vs Green Bay Packers(November 21st, 2004)

The Texans got no respect in the early days. You never seen them featured on any pregame shows, you rarely ever even heard them mentioned on any NFL programming. They were never on primetime(Monday Night Football on ABC, Sunday Night Football on ESPN at the time). It really was like they didn't even exist outside of Houston. When I moved out of my hometown into the piney woods of east Texas in 2003 I moved into Cowboys and Titans country, while the local broadcast stations where obsessed with the Saints(I never met or seen a Saints fan around here though, until they won the Super Bowl in 09). Texans games on TV where few and far in between but when we did get a Texans game it was like I was back home for 3 hours, it was something that felt like home, something I needed because I was super homesick by 2004. In 2004 the Texans finally got a primetime game, hosting the Bret Favre Green Bay Packers on ESPN Sunday Night Football. Going into that game the Texans were still in playoff contention having went on a streak where they won 4 out of 5 games, giving them their first ever winning record at 4-3. Following that start the Texans got destroyed on the road against Denver(31-13) and in Indianapolis(49-14, Manning was on fire that year) knocking them down to 4-5. The Texans were still in the hunt so this was a huge game on primetime against a legend like Favre, needless to say this game was a huge event in my house. 

A record setting crowd of 70,769 packed into NRG Stadium for the primetime showdown. The game ended up being a physical hard hitting contest with a dramatic finish. Both teams missed field goals on their opening drives. The Packers drove down to Houston's 34 yard line on their second possession and were stopped short by the Texans defense when they tried to go for it on 4th & 2. Favre drove the Packers down to Houston's 5 yard line on their ensuing possession but Houston held them to a field goal, giving Green Bay a 3-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter. David Carr answered with a 49 yard pass to Andre Johnson on Houston's next possession, setting up a 6 yard touchdown pass to Dominick Williams to give Houston a 7-3 lead over the Pack. Carr fought his ass off to get us two more field goals before the end of the first half, giving Houston a 13-3 lead going into halftime. The Packers had clearly underestimated the 2.5 year old expansion Texans on this night, in the second half they had to turn it up and fight their way out of being embarrassed on national TV. At some point in the second half the Packers defense beat the shit out of David Carr, he ended up getting knocked out with a suplex that clearly concussed him. It was a dirty late hit but it got no penalty if I remember correctly, and Carr stayed in the rest of the game with a concussion and really struggled because of it. 

The Texans defense held Favre scoreless in the 3rd quarter but with David Carr brutalized by the Packers defense Houston's offense had stalled out. Favre finally found the end zone early in the 4th quarter with a 24 yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver cutting Houston's lead to 13-10. The Packers tried to take the lead on their next drive but Houston's defense held them to a field goal that tied the game at 13-13 with 7:49 left in the game. After a 3 and out by Houston Favre had another chance to pull off a game winning drive in the final 5 minutes, like we had seen him do a thousand times before. I remember losing my shit big time when Dunta Robinson picked Bret Favre off. The Texans had a chance to tie the game or at least send it into overtime but the Packers forced another 3 and out. Favre got the ball back with 2 minutes left in the game and proceeded to drive Green Bay down for the game winning field goal with no time left(and he just BARELY made it). It was a brutal heartbreaking loss in a huge primetime game but damn it it was fun to see my team on this stage playing their hearts out, I was proud of my boys, but at the same time this was such a frustrating loss where we had multiple chances to win it. For me being homesick as I was at that time it was also great seeing all those skyline shots of my hometown on ESPN that night. 

Game highlights

Other notable games from that fun 2004 season would be the 20-6 win over the Jaguars on Halloween. This was the game where that excellent picture of Demarcus Faggins standing on the crowd barrier was taken. This was such a sweet victory taken at such a fun time for the franchise, the team just had a lot of youth and there was still that buzz around it all like it was brand new and exciting. That picture is one of my favorite Texans pictures ever taken, I still remember watching that game and just getting goosebumps when Faggins ran back that 43 yard interception for a touchdown, it was in the end of the game and it sealed the victory, he jumped up onto that barrier and the crowd went nuts, one of my favorite Texans moments of all time. Then the back to back wins over Chicago and Jacksonville later in the season were great too, the defense only gave up 5 total combined points in both games, shut the Jaguars out 21-0 to complete the sweep.

I have a ton of nostalgia for the 2004 Texans season, you will see a few more games from that year in the top 30. Those first 3 seasons were really great because the Texans team had a certain underdog charm to them, they hung in some dog fights against opponents that should have smashed them, they pulled off some great upsets, overall it really felt like this team was taking baby steps to being something truly great. After seeing the team mature and progress in 2002, 2003, 2004 I had such high hopes for the 2005 season, I just knew in my heart this was going to be their breakout year and god almighty I was so wrong. Still, 2002-2004 was such great times. 

Vs St. Louis Rams(November 27th, 2005)

The Texans 4th season in 2005 was a huge train wreck. After the way the team played in 2004 I was so excited about the 2005 season but it turned out to be one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of the team. The defense fell apart and the offense regressed somehow. David Carr set a record for most times a QB has ever been sacked in NFL history. The Texans offense was so bad they fired offensive coordinator Chris Palmer after week 2. They ended up finishing 2-14 and easily rank as one of the single worst teams in NFL history. Some went as far as speculating that the Texans tanked the season on purpose to get a high draft pick in the hyped 2006 NFL Draft, which featured Vince Young, Matt Leinart, and Reggie Bush. Things got so toxic behind the scenes in the organization that Andre Johnson was quoted once saying that he dreaded suiting up for practices and games that year, there were times when he wanted out of here. As bad as this season was I really couldn't find any games from this season to rank in the top 30. I really couldn't even find any games from 2005 to even put in the honorable mentions. I did want to talk about at least one game from every season so I figured I'd go for this loss to the Rams in week 12.

The Texans were 1-9 coming into this game against the St. Louis Rams. The Rams were no longer the Greatest Show On Turf but they still had some of the greats from that team, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, and Isaac Bruce put on one of their last great performances in Houston in this game, coming back from a 24-3 Texans halftime lead to win it 33-27 in overtime. David Carr threw 3 touchdown passes to put Houston up 24-3 at halftime. Ryan Fitzpatrick of all people led the Rams on the 21 point comeback in the second half. Fitztragic threw 3 touchdowns, including a 43 yarder to Isaac Bruce on 4th & 6 with :34 seconds left in the game to cut Houston's lead to 27-24. The Rams recovered an onside kick and then Fitz hit Torry Holt for 19 yards to set up the field goal that tied the game 27-27 to send it into overtime. Fitzpatrick then hit a 56 yard touchdown to Kevin Curtis to win it for the Rams 33-27. Even though they lost David Carr had one of his best games statistically, going 25/34 for 293 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception(for a rating of 116.4) while Andre Johnson had 12 catches for 159 yards and 1 touchdown. The defense just completely laid down in the second half and the loss sent the Texans to 1-10. Certainly nothing honorable about this choke job from a Texans point of view but it was easily the best overall football game Houston was involved in that dreadful 2005 season.

There really aren't any other notable games for the Texans from 2005. The defense ranked dead last at 32 in the NFL because they lost Jamie Sharper and Aaron Glenn through free agency. Marcus Coleman and Gary Walker both missed 5 games due to injury and started to show their old age on the field, while rookie sensation Dunta Robinson turned out to be a bust after a stellar rookie year in 2004. The workhorse that carried the Texans offense on his back Dominick Williams ended up missing 5 games due to the knee injury that essentially ended his career while Andre Johnson the heart of the team was going through a sophomore slump. The whole season was a huge disaster that caused the franchise to hit the reset button, essentially starting over from scratch in 2006 with a new head coach.

One thing that does stand out about the 2005 season though was the support that the city of Houston had for the Texans even though they were terrible that year, every home game was a sell out with no less than 70,000 fans in attendance at NRG Stadium. The city of Houston embraced the team and was patient through those early years, a stark contrast to how the city would turn on the Houston Oilers when that team was down and out(attendance would always drop when the Oilers were bad). 

Vs Tennessee Titans(December 10th, 2006)

The Texans shocked the world when they passed on all the hyped players in the 2006 draft and took relative unknown defensive lineman Mario Williams with the 1st overall pick. Some at the time were calling it one of the biggest draft blunders in NFL history as the Texans passed on Houston hometown hero Vince Young. Young ended up being drafted by the Tennessee Titans. Titans coach Jeff Fisher wanted no part of Vince Young but the owner Bud Adams overruled him and forced them to draft the young quarterback who had just put on one of the all time great performances leading the University of Texas over USC in the epic 2006 Rose Bowl game. I don't know how true it is but I've heard a rumor before that Adams wanted Vince Young to prevent him from falling to the Texans in the 2nd round, others have stated in the past how obsessed Adams was with Young. The decision for the Texans to take Mario Williams turned out to be the right one in hindsight as he was a damn solid defensive end that made an instant impact on a defense that was in desperate need of rebuilding. Williams definitely had the better career than Young, or any of the other hyped top prospects in the 2006 draft(Leinart, Bush). 

It certainly looked like the Texans made the wrong choice when Vince Young led the Titans to victory over Houston in both games in 2006. The first game in Tennessee the rookie threw for a touchdown and ran for another to help the Titans beat Houston 28-22. The rematch in Houston though was quite a game, Vince Young came back to his hometown and put on one of his most memorable performances of his brief underwhelming NFL career. Vince Young's homecoming drew the biggest crowd of any Texans game in 2006 with 70,760 fans packing into NRG, the third biggest crowd in Texans history up to that point. The Texans led the Titans throughout most of the game, taking a 17-13 lead into the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. Vince Young and Travis Henry led the Titans on an 88 yard drive to take the lead in the final minutes. Vince Young hit a huge 15 yard completion to convert on 3rd & 9. Young then scrambled for a critical 5 yard gain to convert on 3rd & 4 near the goal line. Travis Henry ran in the 2 yard touchdown to give the Titans a 20-17 lead with 3:56 left in the game. David Carr then hit Andre Johnson with 3 huge completions to drive the Texans into field goal range to tie the game 20-20 and send it into overtime. 

A huge 36 yard return by Adam "Pacman" Jones put the Titans in solid field position in overtime. The Titans were held to 3rd and 15 at the Texans 40 yard line when Vince Young outran the entire Texans defense on a 40 yard game winning touchdown run to give the Titans the victory 26-20. It was really an amazing moment that had Texans fans second guessing that first round pick of Mario Williams. Vince Young really looked like he was going to be a star that first year but things just really didn't work out. I have to wonder how much differently his career would have turned out had he not been drafted by a head coach that didn't want him. Young's career got caught in a power struggle between Bud Adams and Jeff Fisher, I got to believe he would have had a better career had he been drafted by anybody other than the trash Titans organization. Even though I believe the Texans made the right pick in the 2006 draft I do often wonder what a Vince Young Texans team would have looked like. 

Vince Young's game winning run

Other notable games from Gary Kubiak's first season in 2006 include the 27-7 win over the Jaguars where David Carr went 25 of 34 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns(110.4 rating) and Andre Johnson caught 8 passes for 106 yards and 1 touchdown. Then there was the loss to the Bills a few weeks later, pretty good back and forth game with Buffalo going up 14-0 with back to back 83 yard touchdown passes from JP Losman to Lee Evans. Buffalo was up 17-7 but the Texans cut the lead to 17-14 after a scoring drive before the half. Dunta Robinson ran back a 9 yard pick six to put Houston up 21-17 in the third quarter. The Bills ended up winning it with a 15 yard touchdown pass with just :9 seconds left on the clock, giving the Bills the win 24-21. 

Vs Tennessee Titans(October 21st, 2007)

The 2007 season is one that I don't really remember all that well. There was definitely a turnover in the roster during Gary Kubiak's first 2 seasons. My boys David Carr and Dominick Williams were gone. Carr had his moments but never lived up to his potential, the franchise moved on from him in 2007 when they signed Matt Schaub. Dominick Williams retired due to his knee injury that plagued his 2005 and 2006 seasons. On defense Aaron Glenn and Jamie Sharper were long gone and there was a bunch of no namers, while Andre Johnson got hurt in the second game of the season and was out for 7 games. So instead of Carr, Williams, and Andre the Texans big 3 for most of 2007 was Sage Rosenfels(filling in for the oft injured Schaub), Ron Dayne, and Kevin Walter. To make matters worse due to their ineptitude in 2005 and 2006 the Texans were rarely ever on TV in 2007 in my part of Texas. So my memories of this season are a blur. The one game that I do remember very well though was the showdown against the Titans in Houston on October 21st. 

The Texans almost pulled off one of the greatest regular season comebacks in NFL history in this early season meeting with the Titans in 2007 in front 70,734 hometown fans, the 8th largest crowd in Texans history up to that point. Vince Young found himself on the bench while veteran Kerry Collins ran the Titans offense and led Tennessee to a 32-7 lead going into the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels threw 4 touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, his last a 53 yard strike to Andre Davis that gave Houston a 36-35 lead with just :57 seconds left on the clock. I was through the roof, the Texans just pulled off a 25 point comeback all in the fourth quarter to beat the sorry ass fucking Titans, this was on it's way to being one of the greatest Texans games ever, then Kerry Collins hit Roydell Williams for 17 and 46 yard gains in the final 56 seconds to set up a chip shot game winning 29 yard field goal by Rob Bironas with no time left. The Titans won it 38-36 with Rob Bironas kicking 8 fucking field goals, which was some kind of record at the time if I'm not mistaken. It went from being the greatest day of my life to me wanting to pull my fucking hair out. Poor Sage Rosenfels completed 22 of 35 completions for 290 yards and 4 fourth quarter touchdown passes. Rob Bironas robbed Rosenfels of going down in the books with an all time great comeback performance(would have tied for the biggest 4th quarter comeback in NFL history and would have tied for 3rd largest regular season comeback in NFL history), now all he's remembered for is the infamous "Rosen-copter" play. 

This was the game I remember the most from 2007. It was really a great game that was the final cut from the top 30, had we won it would have probably cracked the top 10 but since we lost on 8 field goals it was just too frustrating of a loss to include. 

Game Recap

Other notable games from that 2007 season would be the final game of the year hosting the Jaguars. The Texans blew out the Jaguars 42-28 in their most lopsided blowout in franchise history up to that point. The victory was a meaningful one for the Texans as it finalized our very first ever non-losing season, giving the team an 8-8 finish, the best finish up to that point. The Jaguars were 11-4 and had benched their starters since they had already clinched a playoff spot. The 2007 season really took a hit when Andre Johnson went down in week 2 against the Chiefs. Andre had really reached his prime in 2007, he caught 14 passes for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Texans first two games of the season, helping the Texans go 2-0. Even though he missed 7 games Andre still finished the year with 60 receptions and 851 receiving yards(averaging 94.6 yards per game).

The 2007 season was a big one for the Texans at the box office as they sold out every game once again, setting a new attendance record in their week 11 game against the Saints with 70,780.  Overall there were 4 games in 2007 that ranked in the top 10 biggest crowds for the Texans first 6 seasons. The showdown with the Colts in week 3 drew 70,765, the 2nd biggest crowd in NRG Stadium at the time. Both the Texans and Colts were 2-0 going into the game and the Colts were defending Super Bowl Champions. The Colts ended up taking a big lead and then holding off a comeback attempt from Schaub to win it 30-24. The game against the Titans in week 7 drew the 8th biggest crowd in Texans history up to that point with 70,734, while the Thursday Night Football meeting against the Broncos on NFL Network drew 70,747, 6th biggest crowd up to that point in NRG Stadium history. 

At Green Bay Packers(December 7th, 2008)

The 2008 season seen the Texans pull off a huge victory on the hallowed grounds of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, "The Frozen Tundra". The Packers were in a rebuilding year coming off of all the drama about Bret Favre. This was Aaron Rodgers first year at the helm in Green Bay. Even though Green Bay was a year or two away from being a Super Bowl caliber team they came into this game with a 5-7 record and eventually finished 6-10 that season. Nevertheless, Lambeau Field is one of the great historic stadiums in the NFL so for the Texans to play there was something special. The gametime temperature was 3 degrees with a -3 degree wind chill. The Texans came into the game at 5-7 after Hurricane Ike wreaked havoc on Houston and forced them to play their first 3 games on the road(their second game was postponed altogether), completely fucking the season over after they got out to an 0-4 start. 

The Texans jumped out to a 7-0 lead early after a 53 yard touchdown pass from Matt Schaub to Kevin Walter. Houston drove down to Green Bay's 9 yard line later in the first quarter but Owen Daniels lost a fumble on the 3 yard line. The Texans next drive ended with a Schaub interception that set Green Bay up on Houston's 23 yard line. Rodgers hit Donald Lee for a 20 yard touchdown pass that tied the game up 7-7 midway through the 2nd quarter. The Texans added another field goal to go up 10-7 on their ensuing drive. Houston intercepted Rodgers in field goal range just before the half but Kris Brown missed the field goal. Brown made up for it early in the 3rd quarter when he put Houston up 13-7. The Texans squandered a third scoring opportunity when Steve Slaton lost a fumble on Green Bay's 16 yard line late in the third quarter. 

Green Bay capitalized on Houston's fumble with Rodgers hitting Greg Jennings for 63 yards to set up a 6 yard touchdown run by Ryan Grant that put the Packers on top for the first time in the game with a 14-13 lead. Matt Schaub then responded by completing all 6 of 6 passes to drive Houston 63 yards, hitting an 11 yard touchdown strike to Andre Johnson followed by another pass to Johnson on the very next play on the 2 point conversion. The Texans went up 21-14 with 10 minutes left in the game. Aaron Rodgers answered with an 89 yard drive on Green Bay's very next possession, connecting with Jordy Nelson with a 9 yard touchdown pass that tied the game 21-21 with 6 minutes left. An intentional grounding penalty on Schaub put Houston at 2nd and 20 on their next drive and they failed to convert on 3rd & 11 when Kevin Walter was stopped just 1 yard short. Houston punted the ball away and pinned Green Bay back on their own 16 yard line with 4:37 left in the game. Rodgers hit Donald Driver for 59 yards on the Packers very first play of the drive to put Green Bay in range to hit the game winning field goal. A holding penalty set Green Bay back to Houston's 32 yard line. Demeco Ryans made a huge game saving play when he sacked Aaron Rodgers for a loss of 9 yards, knocking Green Bay back out of field goal range.

Green Bay was forced to punt and managed to pin Houston all the way back at their own 3 yard line. Matt Schaub put on one of his most clutch performances of his career on a frozen tundra in Lambeau Field with the game tied 21-21 with 1:49 left on the clock with -3 degree wind chill, Schaub drove the Texans from their own 3 yard line. Schaub all 4 of his passes on the drive, hitting Vonta Leach for 22 yards, David Anderson for 17 yards, and later a huge 27 yard completion to Owen Daniels that set up the game winning field goal with :04 seconds left on the clock. Kris Brown hit the field goal to give Houston the victory 24-21, Matt Schaub iced the Packers on their own frozen tundra. The Texans offense really came together later in that 2008 season, this performance was one of the highlights as Houston put up over 500 yards of offense. 

Game Highlights

 

Other notable games from the 2008 season would be the loss in Jacksonville on week 4. Just a really good back and forth game with Schaub leading another huge drive in the final 1:43 of the game with the Texans down 27-24. Schaub hit 4 big completions and got Andre Johnson for a 21 yard reception that set up the game tying field goal with :01 second left. The Jaguars were able to pull it out in overtime though after driving the opening possession down for a field goal. The Jaguars were lucky they won that coin toss in overtime because that Texans offense was rolling on that day, Schaub had a 119.5 rating throwing for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns. The whole first part of the 2008 season was fucked off because of Hurricane Ike. The storm fucked up the retractable roof of NRG Stadium and did all kinds of damage. So that loss to the Jaguars put us at 0-3, then the following week was another huge choke job as they gave up a 27-10 lead in the final 8 minutes of the game as Payton Manning brought the Colts back to win it 31-27.

Even though they started 0-4 the Texans really came together in 2008, they finished on an 8-4 run(including winning 5 of their last 6) to finish the season 8-8. I think it was one of Gary Kubiak's best years as a head coach because he salvaged a season that could have been a massive disaster after that 0-4 start, very easily could have been another 2-14 or 4-12 year but Kubiak pulled that team together to finish strong. The Texans first win of the season was another great one that just barely missed the top 30. Houston hosted the eventual 11-5 AFC East Division Champs(#3 seed in the AFC that year) Miami Dolphins in another thriller that came down to the final play. Miami took a 14-3 lead after two long bomb touchdowns from Chad Pennington to Patrick Cobbs. A field goal and a 70 yard Jacoby Jones touchdown run cut the Dolphins lead to 14-13 at the half. Schaub hit Andre Johnson for a touchdown to go up 20-14 but the Dolphins answered back with a Ricky Williams touchdown run to retake a 21-20 lead into the fourth quarter. The Dolphins scored a touchdown to take a 28-23 lead with just 1:45 left in the game. The Texans ended up driving 76 yards downfield in the final minute, winning it with a Schaub run up the middle to beat the Dolphins 29-28. It was one of Andre Johnson's most dominant games as he caught 10 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown. Andre Johnson dominated the whole 2008 season. This was the year he led the NFL with 115 receptions and 1,575 yards.

The Texans broke NRG Stadium attendance records in their last few home games in 2008. The Monday Night Football debut against the Jaguars broke the record with 70,809. The next week against the 12-1 Titans the record was broken again when 70,831 packed in to NRG to see the Texans win a low scoring defensive game 13-12 in a game where Andre Johnson caught 11 passes for 207 yards and the game's only touchdown. The season finale against the Chicago Bears seen the record broken again with 70,838 as the Texans took out the 9-6 Bears with Andre Johnson catching 10 passes for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns(Schaub had 328 yards and 2 touchdowns with 121.1 rating) to win it 31-24. The Texans were one of the best teams in the NFL there at the end of the 2008 season but that 0-4 start doomed them to miss the playoffs(this was the year New England missed the playoffs in the AFC with an 11-5 record). Always wondered how different this season would have turned out if Hurricane Ike didn't turn the season upside down early on. 

At Arizona Cardinals(October 11th, 2009)

Andre Johnson was the best receiver in the NFL in 2008 and 2009. In 2008 he led the league with 115 receptions and 1,575 yards. In 2009 he followed it up leading the league again with 101 receptions and 1,569 yards. Andre was the heart of the Texans for so long, from 2003 to 2014 he had a lot of great moments where he carried the Texans on his back. One of Andre Johnson's best moments came on week 5 of the 2009 season in Arizona in a duel with Larry Fitzgerald's Cardinals. The Cardinals jumped out to a 21-0 after two Kurt Warner to Fitzgerald touchdown passes but Andre dug us out of the hole just like he has done time and time again for the Texans. Houston cut Arizona's lead to 21-7 with a scoring drive in the third quarter. Andre Johnson then hauled in an 11 yard touchdown pass from Schaub to close the gap to 21-14 early in the 4th quarter. The Texans got the ball back later in the 4th quarter and drove down to the Cardinals 17 yard line where Schaub hit Andre Johnson for one of the greatest plays of Dre's career. Johnson caught the ball at the 5 yard line and destroyed all 3 Cardinals defenders that tried to stop him. In a radio interview in Houston last year Andre revealed that this was his personal favorite play of his career. 

The incredible touchdown tied the game at 21-21 with 7 minutes left in the game. On the Texans very next possession Matt Schaub threw the game away with an interception that was returned 50 yards for the game winning touchdown, giving the Cardinals the W 28-21. Andre finished the game with 8 catches for 101 yards and 2 huge clutch touchdowns in the 4th quarter that brought us back from a 21-0 deficit to tie the game. The more hyped Larry Fitzgerald finished the game with 5 catches for 79 yards and 2 touchdowns and finished the season well behind Andre in 2009 with 97 receptions for 1,092 yards playing with a Hall Of Fame/MVP/Super Bowl winning quarterback in Kurt Warner. 

Game Highlights

Other notable games from the 2009 season would be the game against the Colts in Indy where we came back from a 13-0 deficit to take a 17-13 lead early in the 4th quarter. Peyton Manning drove Indy downfield to retake the lead 20-17 with 7 minutes left. Matt Schaub completed 8 consecutive passes to drive us down from our own 15 yard line into field goal range in the final seconds of the game but Kris Brown missed the 42 yard field goal with :01 second left. Then there was the Monday Night Football game against Vince Young and the Titans just 2 weeks later. The game was tied 17-17 when the Titans drove down the field with big runs by Chris Johnson(ran for over 2,000 yards rushing that year). The Titans drive was stalled out on 3rd and 3 at mid-field when Vince Young broke a huge 12 yard run for a first down. Rob Bironas nailed a 53 yard field goal to put the Titans up 20-17 with :44 seconds left. Schaub completed 3 passes to put the Texans in range for the game tying field goal but Kris Brown missed it again from 49 yards out, his second last second game tying field goal miss in back to back games. The very next week the Texans gave up a 20-7 lead to the Colts when Indy ran away from them with 28 unanswered points scored in the second half. The 35-27 loss to the Colts was the Texans third in a row, the following week they lost to the Jaguars and fell to 5-7. The Texans rallied and won their last 4 games to finish with their first winning record in franchise history at 9-7 but they just barely missed the playoffs on tiebreakers.

It was another record breaking year for the Texans at the box office in 2009. The game against San Francisco on week 7 drew 70,820, the 5th biggest crowd in Texans history up to that point. The Monday Night Football showdown with Vince Young's Titans broke the NRG Stadium attendance record with 71,153 while the season finale against the Patriots drew 71,029, the second biggest crowd in Texans history up to that point.

Honorable Mentions
Part II: The Latter Days

Moving along to the latter days I decided to split this Honorable Mentions section into two parts, the first part covered the first 8 years of Texans history(2002-2009) and this one will cover the last 8 years(2010-2017). I edited in some games from 2008 and 2009 into that last post to even these out. These last 8 years have been a fun ride with the Texans. They really grew up and turned the corner over this period and there have been quite a few great memories. Here are some that just barely missed the cut on the upcoming top 30 games countdown. 

Vs Kansas City Chiefs(October 17th, 2010)

One of the biggest crowds in Texans history(70,926) packed into NRG Stadium to witness the Texans pull off an amazing comeback on week 6 of the 2010 season. Matt Cassel threw 3 touchdown passes(the first being a 2 yard pass to Mike Vrabel, former Texans defensive coordinator) to put the Chiefs up 21-7 by the third quarter. The Texans fought back with 2 touchdowns to close the chasm to 24-21 but the Chiefs put together a 70 scoring drive to go up 31-21 with 7 minutes left in the game. The Texans kept fighting, putting together an 86 yard trek on their next possession to cut KC's lead to 31-28 after a touchdown run by Arian Foster. The defense came up big to force a 3 and out on KC's next possession, giving Schaub and the Texans offense a chance with 2:22 left in the game. The Texans marched 80 yards downfield to put the Chiefs away with an 11 yard touchdown strike from Schaub to Andre Johnson with :36 seconds left on the clock, giving the Texans the win 35-31. Matt Schaub went 25 of 33 for 305 yards and 2 touchdown passes for a rating of 123.9! Andre Johnson caught 8 passes for 138 yards and the game winning touchdown while the new threat Arian Foster ran for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries and another 26 yards through the air with 6 receptions. 

Andre Johnson's game winning touchdown

2010 was really one of the most disappointing seasons in Texans history. The offense was loaded with talent all playing at a high level, we finally found a phenomenal running back in Arian Foster, who came out of nowhere in 2010 and led the NFL in rushing with 1,616 rushing yards. The Texans got off to a 2-0 start and was sitting at 4-2 after this epic comeback over Kansas City. Finally it felt like the Texans were going to break through and make the playoffs after 9 years but it just wasn't meant to be, the defense completely fell apart down the stretch and the Texans lost 8 of their last 10 games. Those 8 losses were some of the most frustrating losses too, like when we blew a 23-13 lead over the Chargers and lost 29-23 off of a pair of Phillip Rivers touchdown passes late in the game. Then there was the loss the very next week to the Jaguars where David Garrard hit Mike Thomas with a 50 yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock to give the Jags the win 31-24. Then the very next week the Texans fought back from a 23-7 fourth quarter deficit against the Jets, taking a 24-23 lead on an Arian Foster touchdown with 2:18 left in the game, adding to it with a field goal to go up 27-23 with just :55 left on the clock. Mark Sanchez then took the Jets down the field where he hit Santonio Holmes for the game winning touchdown with :16 seconds left on the clock.

A few weeks later the Texans defense blew a 24-20 lead when Mike Vick threw for a touchdown and ran for another in the 4th quarter to give the Eagles a 34-24 win in Philly. The very next week the Texans came back from a 28-7 deficit in the 3rd quarter at home against the Baltimore Ravens, managing to come back to tie it at 28-28 after Schaub drove the Texans 95 yards, completing 7 consecutive passes including the game tying touchdown to Andre Johnson with :21 seconds left. The Ravens intercepted Schaub in overtime and ran it back 12 yards for a touchdown to put the Texans away 34-28. And who could ever forget the Tim Tebow game the day after Christmas in Denver where the Texans lost a 23-10 lead in the fourth quarter. Tebow threw a 26 yard touchdown pass and then later ran in the game winning touchdown from 6 yards out to give Denver the 24-23 win. It was just awful. The win probability charts for the Texans 2010 games look like EKG graphs from someone with a chronic heart condition. While the high powered offense was 9th in the NFL in points scored(they ranked 3rd in the NFL in total yards) the fucking pass defense was the worst in the NFL. 

One of the more memorable moments came in the 2010 season in the Texans win over the Titans in November. Andre Johnson was being harassed all day long by infamous Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan. Finally the usually quiet and reserve Johnson unleashed a fury on Finnegan in a brief scrap that got Andre ejected from the game. It was really a great moment because it was like Andre was releasing all the frustrations that I was feeling as a Texans fan at that time, it was only that more fitting that it was the backbone of the Texans franchise, the conscience of the team, laying an ass whooping down on a sorry ass dirty Titans player that by all accounts truly deserved what he got that day. It was really a turning point type of moment that put the whole NFL on notice that this wasn't a team that you were going to come down here and bully around and intimidate. It produced one of the greatest pictures in Texans history, one day if I ever get rich I'm going to have a bronze statue in my front yard of Andre Johnson whooping the Titans ass.

The Texans had their best year yet in the box office in 2010 with 7 out of 8 of their home games cracking the top 10 biggest crowds in Texans history at the time. The game against the Dallas Cowboys in week 3 broke the NRG Stadium record with 71,456 fans witnessing the Cowboys whoop our ass 27-13. The Cowboys head coach in that game was the son of legendary former Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips, Wade Phillips. Wade would lose his job in Dallas after the 2010 season and would return to Houston to take the job as Texans defensive coordinator in 2011. They also brought in Jonathan Joseph to patch the secondary and Wade Phillips pushed the the Texans to draft JJ Watt in the 2011 draft. Things were looking up, finally. 

At New Orleans Saints(September 25th, 2011)

The 2011 season was the year the Texans finally broke through. In week 3 of that season the Texans traveled to New Orleans to play against one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in one of the best games of the year. This was the year that Drew Brees was unstoppable, throwing for 5,476 yards(which shattered Dan Marino's 1984 NFL record) and 46 touchdowns. Brees met a tough challenge against Wade Phillips' Texans defense in that early season meeting in 2011. The Texans jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the first half but the Saints cut it to 16-10 after a field goal just before the break. Brees turned it on in the second half and took the lead at 17-16 with his first touchdown pass of the day. The Texans retook the lead with a field goal late in the third quarter to go up 19-17. 

The fourth quarter seen both high powered offenses light up the scoreboard. Matt Schaub threw a 26 yard touchdown pass to James Casey to put Houston up 26-17 early on in the fourth. Brees hit back to back touchdown passes on the Saints next two possessions to put New Orleans up 32-26 with 7 minutes left in the game. Schaub led the Texans on an 80 yard scoring drive to retake the lead 33-32 with just 4:21 left in the game. Brees then took the Saints on a 93 yard drive downfield capped by a 13 yard touchdown run by Mark Ingram. A 2 point conversion put New Orleans up 40-33 with only 2:42 left. The Texans were pinned back on their own 9 yard line by a penalty on their final possession and the Saints held on to win it. It was a super frustrating loss because I remember this as a game we very well could have and should have won, but Brees just could not be stopped in 2011, I got an up close and personal look at his greatness that season in this game and that is why it is easily one of the most memorable from 2011. 

Game Highlights

Other notable games from that great 2011 season would be the win over the Pittsburgh Steelers the very next week after that loss to the Saints. The Steelers tied the game at 10-10 early in the fourth quarter but Arian Foster broke a huge 42 yard touchdown run to put the Texans up 17-10, then the defense really turned it on to hold the Steelers scoreless in the final minutes to seal the win. The Texans defense sacked Ben Roethlisberger 5 times(Mario Williams had 2 sacks) and intercepted him once to give us a huge win over the defending AFC Champions. The 41-7 win over the Titans in Tennessee was a pretty satisfying beat down. The win over the Cleveland Browns gave us one of the most memorable moments of the 2011 season when Brian Cushing got fired up and headbutted a dude without his helmet on.

And although the Texans loss to Baltimore in the 2011 Divisional Playoffs is one of the most painful in Texans history it was still a great game between two excellent defenses. The Texans put up a better fight in that game than many thought they would playing with rookie backup quarterback TJ Yates on the road substituting for the injured Matt Schaub. The Ravens jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the first quarter but the Texans defense rallied and sacked Joe Flacco 5 times(half of those were by rookie JJ Watt) to hold Baltimore to only a field goal in the rest of the game. Texans fans will never forgive or forget the Jacoby Jones fumble but I'll always remember TJ Yates being way in over his head in that game being the deciding factor, he missed some big wide open throws and threw 3 critical interceptions. Still the Texans fought their asses off in that game all the way to the very end, Arian Foster had 132 yards rushing and Andre Johnson had 8 catches for 111 yards against one of the all time great defensive units. This was the closest the Texans ever came to advancing to an AFC Championship Game, they wound up losing the game 20-13, who knows how things would have turned out in that game had we not lost Matt Schaub to injury earlier in the season.

2011 was the Texans most successful year yet both on the field and in the box office. All 8 of the Texans home games cracked the top 10 biggest crowds in NRG Stadium history up to that point. A crowd of 71,585 came to see the Texans win over the Steelers. University of Texas star Colt Mccoy helped draw the second biggest crowd in Texans history up to that point when 71,511 came to see the Texans beat his Browns. The games against the Falcons and Panthers cracked the top 3 biggest crowds in NRG Stadium history up to that point with over 71,540 fans attending both games. The Texans very first playoff game against Cincinnati later that year ended up breaking the record for NRG Stadium with 71,725.

At Denver Broncos(September 23rd, 2012)

The Texans really came together in 2012. In week 3 Gary Kubiak took the Texans back to Denver for a showdown with the Broncos, the same team where he spent 9 years as backup quarterback for John Elway(who was given the job as Broncos General Manager and Executive of Football Operations in 2011), the same team where he spent 11 years as an offensive coordinator and won 2 Super Bowls with. Another layer to this game was added by Peyton Manning leaving the Indianapolis Colts to sign with the Broncos before the 2012 season. Manning was a major thorn in the Texans side when he played for the Colts, he killed us so many times I lost count. Overall the Texans were 2-16 against Peyton Manning from 2002 to 2010(Manning missed the 2011 season with neck injury).

The Texans went to Denver and laid a beat down on Manning and the Broncos in this game. After the Broncos took a 5-0 lead early on the Texans scored 21 unanswered points to take a 21-5 lead midway through the second quarter. Houston's defense held Manning out of the end zone throughout the first three quarters and the offense built a 31-11 lead going into the fourth. We had seen Manning come from even further behind to ice the Texans so many times before, but this time it was different. Peyton managed to put up 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter to cut the Texans lead to 31-25 but Houston managed to hold on and run the clock out on their final possession. Manning got the ball back with only :20 seconds left on the clock backed up on the Broncos 14 yard line. The Texans held on to win it 31-25. Matt Schaub had 290 yards and 4 touchdown passes while JJ Watt sacked Manning 2.5 times and pressured him all day. It was a huge win that legitimized the Texans in 2012, moving their record to 3-0 with only their 3rd ever victory over Peyton Manning in 19 games against the all time great.

Game Highlights

The 2012 season was a dream come true for me having been with this team for 11 years at that time. There are 4 games from this season that made the top 30 countdown and countless others that year where I was really proud to be a fan of this team. That Broncos team was the only team to score more than 17 points on this defense during that 5-0 run that they opened the season with. We were humbled by the Packers on primetime Sunday Night Football on NBC to fall to 5-1 but they rebounded and went on a 6 game tear. One of the big wins over that 6 game streak was over the 7-1 Chicago Bears where we held them to just two field goals in a 13-6 win.

It was yet another huge year at the box office for the Texans in 2012. The opening day game against the Dolphins drew the third biggest crowd in NRG Stadium history up to that point with 71,566. The Texans returned home at 3-0 to face the Titans in week 4 and drew 71,581. A crowd of 71,702 witnessed the lashing at the hands of Aaron Rodgers' Packers, the second biggest crowd in NRG Stadium history up to that point(the largest crowd ever for a regular season game up to that point). Even though they were horribly embarrassed even more people showed up the very next week with a crowd of 71,708 attending the game against the Ravens. All 8 of the Texans home games in 2012 cracked the top 10 biggest crowds in Texans history, with 4 of them making the top 5. The Wild Card rematch against the Bengals in the playoffs broke the record set the previous year with 71,738, the largest crowd in Texans history up to that point. 

Vs New England Patriots(December 1st, 2013)

The 2013 season was really a dark time for the Texans. They won their first two games and then lost all 14 games of their remaining schedule to finish 2-14. They had to be THE greatest 2-14 team in NFL history though because they were loaded with talent, played a ridiculous schedule, and lost 9 of those 14 games by a touchdown or less, many of them came down to the last play/drive and they just couldn't pull it out. One of those games was a home game against the New England Patriots. The mighty Patriots were riding high with an 8-3 record coming into the game while the Texans came into the game riding a 9 game losing streak. Matt Schaub went down with an injury in week 6 against the Rams. TJ Yates came into the game to replace Schaub and threw 2 really bad interceptions, one of them ran back for a 98 yard touchdown in a 38-13 loss to St. Louis. The next week the Texans went with 3rd string quarterback Case Keenum, a local high school(Wylie High in Abiline, State Champions in 2004) and college football(Houston Cougars, he was NCAA's all-time leader in total passing yards, touchdowns, and completions) star that spent his rookie season on the Texans practice squad in 2012. The Texans lost all 5 of their games with Keenum coming into that December meeting with Brady and Belichick in Houston. 

The Texans gave New England a tough match in the first half, jumping out to a 17-7 lead after two Ben Tate touchdowns and a Randy Bullock field goal. Brady brought New England back to take the lead in the third quarter with a 9 yard touchdown pass to Shane Vareen putting the Patriots up 21-17. Houston stayed in it with a 5 yard touchdown run by Keenum to retake the lead for the Texans 24-21 late in the third quarter. The lead changed hands two more times early in the fourth quarter, first with New England going up 28-24 on a LeGarrette Blount touchdown run. Houston retook the lead 31-28 after Ben Tate's third touchdown of the day with 11:35 left in the game. New England tied the game with a field goal on their next possession. After a Houston three and out the Patriots drove down the field and booted the winning field goal with 3 minutes left. The Patriots shut Keenum down in the Texans final possessions to hold on to win it 34-31. The loss was the Texans 10th consecutive loss, their 6th straight loss with Case Keenum at quarterback, but I'll tell you what man, all six of those losses were by a touchdown or less and all six of them we were right there in it in the end. Also this was a classic game where the referees were super biased towards the Patriots. The Patriots secondary was all over Hopkins and Johnson in this game with some huge pass interference that was not called by the refs. It was really frustrating because the refs were really against us in this one, I just couldn't believe it. 

Game Highlights

Keenum would end up going 0-8 as a starter for the Texans in 2013. I actually really liked him at the time, he had some great moments where he looked like he had a lot of potential. He had a great game against the Colts where he threw for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns with a rating of 123.4. The next week he threw for 3 touchdowns against Arizona. Keenum struggled down the stretch but I still felt like the Texans should have stuck with him over Matt Schaub that year. Apparently Texans owner Bob Mcnair felt the same way, rumors I've heard is that he fired coach Gary Kubiak after he benched Keenum for Schaub in Jacksonville in what turned out to be the Texans 11th loss in a row. Kubiak was fired after the game and Wade Phillips finished the year as interim coach. I always thought they should have moved on from Schaub and went with Keenum but I also still to this day feel like firing Kubiak was just the wrong thing to do. I thought Kubiak had done enough to deserve another chance in 2014, Wade Phillips certainly did as well(he was released after the end of the 2013 season).

One of the first things they did after they hired new head coach Bill O'Brien was release Case Keenum. They ended up bringing in Ryan Fitzpatrick, who struggled in 2014 and ended up getting hurt later in the year. They brought in Keenum off of the couch to finish the year and he played really well in those final games of the 2014 season. Then they released him again to make room for Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett in 2015, then Brock Oswieler in 2016. I always felt like they should have just stuck with Keenum(and Yates) through all that time. In 2017 Fitzpatrick, Mallett, Hoyer, and Osweiler were all sitting on the bench for most of the year while Keenum helped the Vikings make it to the NFC Championship Game. 

Other notable games from that dreadful 2013 season would be the overtime loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks in Houston. This was the game where we got the infamous bloody nose JJ Watt after he got his nose broken badly fighting against double and triple teams from the Seahawks all day long. The Texans scored 20 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 20-3 lead into halftime. The Seahawks fought back to cut the lead to 20-13 but it looked like the Texans were going to hold on and win it when Matt Schaub threw a huge interception to Richard Sherman, who ran it back 58 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 20-20 and sent it into overtime. This was the third game in a row where Schaub threw a pick six, his decline that year was one of the worst falls from grace any quarterback has ever had in the NFL. The Seahawks would drive down the field to win it with a field goal 23-20 in overtime. 

The Texans had their best year yet at the box office despite being 2-14 on the field. They drew the 4 biggest crowds in Texans history at the time that year. The game against Seattle broke the attendance record at NRG Stadium at the time with 71,756. The record was broken a few weeks later when 71,778 came to see the Texans host the Colts. The game against the Patriots in December drew the second biggest crowd in NRG Stadium history at the time with 71,769. Peyton Manning's Broncos drew the third biggest crowd in NRG Stadium history at the time with 71,761 coming to the Texans home finale. 

Vs Buffalo Bills(September 28th, 2014)

The Texans week 4 meeting with the Buffalo Bills in the 2014 season produced one of the most awesome moments in franchise history. The game itself wasn't really anything special. New head coach Bill O'Brien's offense was really struggling in the first half of the game. Houston was down 10-0 when they finally found the end zone on a 55 yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Deandre Hopkins. It looked like Buffalo was driving down the field to extend their 10-7 lead when JJ Watt saved the day, intercepting EJ Manuel and running it back 80 yards for a touchdown. It was one of the greatest crowd pops in Texans history.

Watt's 80 yard pick six

Watt's touchdown gave Houston a 14-10 lead early in the third quarter. The Texans offense was unable to reach the end zone at all for the rest of the game so it was like Watt took the game over and won it for the Texans himself. It was really just an unforgettable moment in a season that was filled with them for JJ Watt. Another notable game from that 2014 season was the very next week on Thursday Night Football when the Texans played the Colts. The Colts took a 24-0 lead early in the game but the Texans fought back to close the lead to 33-28 in the fourth quarter after another huge JJ Watt fumble return for a touchdown(Watt also had 2 sacks in that game). The Texans had a chance to pull off the comeback late in the game but the offense fumbled the ball away twice to secure the Colts win.

Another honorable mention from 2014 would be the Texans win over the Baltimore Ravens in week 16. NRG Stadium was really buzzing for this game as this was JJ Watt's peak in popularity at the height of his physical prime. This was also Gary Kubiak's return to take on the new Texans coaching staff as Kubes was offensive coordinator for the Ravens that year. The win was easily Bill O'Brien's finest game as a head coach because they brought in Case Keenum off the couch due to Ryan Fitzpatrick getting hurt, so they had less than a week to get Keenum ready to start this game. O'Brien called a lot of really creative plays to catch a loaded Raven's defense completely off guard. JJ Watt only had 1 sack but he just completely terrorized Joe Flacco all fucking day long and really dominated the line of scrimmage even though he was being double and triple teamed all day, he finished with 7 tackles. The Texans handed it to the Ravens to win it 25-13 in a game that was far more lopsided than the final score suggests.

With JJ Watt reaching his apex the Texans had their best year yet at the box office in 2014 with 6 out of their 8 home games that year cracking the top 10 biggest crowds in NRG Stadium history. The Thursday Night Football game against the Colts on primetime drew a new record crowd with 71,787 while the game against Philadelphia drew 71,780, the second biggest crowd in franchise history up to that point. The season finale against Jacksonville drew 71,777 making it the 4th biggest crowd in franchise history up to that point. 

Vs Indianapolis Colts(October 8th, 2015)

Andre Johnson is my favorite player to ever play in the NFL in 98 years of history and the 26 years that I've been watching the league. In my opinion he is the greatest player to ever play for the Texans, the heart and soul, the backbone, the foundation of the franchise. There were just way too many games and moments where he came through and carried this team on his back. He embraced the city of Houston like very few athletes that have passed through my hometown ever have. He just had a certain attitude and a certain personality that he gave the Texans team that was a big part of my love of this franchise. After some of the brutal concussions I seen him receiving in the 2013 and 2014 seasons I thought it was time for him to retire. He decided to give it one more go in 2015 but had a pretty big falling out with the Texans after they had the unmitigated gall to ask the man to take a pay cut.

I was pretty upset when the Texans cut Andre Johnson like yesterdays garbage prior to the 2015 season to make room for Cecil Shorts III and Nate Washington. Andre would get picked up by the Indianapolis Colts and would make his return to the house that he built when the Colts played the Texans on Thursday Night Football in week 5 of the 2015 season. Andre hauled in 6 catches for 77 yards but caught 2 critical touchdown passes that burned the Texans for a 27-20 loss to their division rivals. The Texans came back from a 20-10 deficit late in the third quarter to cut the Colts lead to 20-17 but Indianapolis put it away when Andre Johnson caught a 2 yard touchdown pass from Matt Hasselback. The touchdown put the game out of reach for the Texans to give them a loss that I believe they deserved that night.

Game Highlights

I was happy for Andre Johnson even though he just burned my team, I always felt like he deserved better than what he got from the Houston Texans. Andre could have easily took huge money to sell out and go play somewhere else but he had real integrity to stick with the Texans for all those years and I'll always love him for it. Even though Andre was past his prime those last two years of his career I still would have loved to have had him finish his career in Houston.

I always thought it was a telling stat that Andre finished with a higher catch percentage in that 2015 season(caught 41 of 77 passes thrown at him, 53.2%) than Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington combined(combined they caught 89 of 169 passes thrown their way, 52.6%). The reality that the stats don't tell is that those two scrubs combined on their best day where not even half as good of a receiver as Andre Johnson was even in his worst day. The same could be said for most of the receivers the Texans have brought in since they cut him. Nate Washington retired after the 2015 season and Cecil Shorts was cut in preseason in 2016 while Andre Johnson was picked up by the Titans and caught a game winning touchdown in the final seconds to give them the win over the Lions in week 2 that year.  

Other notable games from that 2015 season would be the Texans win over the Jets where TJ Yates threw 2 touchdown passes to Deandre Hopkins, who had 5 catches for 118 yards. JJ Watt had 2 sacks and the Texans put the Jets down 24-17. The Texans would go on to win their division with a 9-7 record while the Jets finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs. Jets fans bitched and complained about the Texans making the playoffs over them but really I never understood why, both teams played each other straight up and the better team won, the better team went on to the playoffs. If the roles were reversed I wouldn't have complained about it, but I would agree that the whole system needs to be changed. 

The Texans plateaued at the box office in 2015. The home game against the Titans following the embarrassing 44-26 loss to the Dolphins seen the smallest crowd for a Texans game since the 2008 season. Overall 4 games from the 2015 season cracked the top 10 biggest crowds in NRG Stadium history up to that point. The attendance record was shattered for a primetime Sunday Night Football game against the New England Patriots when 71,908 came to see the Patriots lay a 27-6 beat down on the Texans. The home finale against the Jaguars drew the second biggest Texans crowd up to that point with 71,899.

Vs Jacksonville Jaguars(December 18th, 2016)

I had really high hopes for Tom Savage this past season and boy was I disappointed. The reason I thought he could be a solid quarterback was his performance in the Texans comeback win over the Jaguars in week 15 of the 2016 season when the Texans where in the thick of a 3 way race for the division title with the Jaguars and Titans. The Jaguars took a 13-0 lead early in the game after capitalizing on a Brock Osweiler interception. After the interception Bill O'Brien benched the big money free agent and put in Tom Savage, and I'll never forget the look of relief on Osweiler's face as he was pulled from the game, he wanted out. Tom Savage came in and drove the Texans down the field to put up 2 field goals before and after the half, cutting Jacksonville's lead to 13-8 before Jacksonville ran back a 100 yard kickoff return to go up 20-8 in the third quarter. Savage looked like a pro when he led the Texans on 3 consecutive scoring drives to pull off the comeback and win it 21-20. Even though he didn't throw a touchdown he went 23/36 for 260 yards and completed some clutch throws that saved the game. 

Game Highlights

Other notable games from that infamous 2016 Brock Osweiler season would be the loss to the Raiders in Mexico City on Monday Night Football. This was a huge game going in because the Raiders were led by the little brother of David Carr, Derek, having a breakout MVP caliber season. It was also really cool seeing the Texans playing in a setting like Mexico City but this was one of those games that made Texans fans sick at the stomach. The crowd was incredibly biased for the Raiders and were shining huge green laser lights into Brock Osweiler's face to fuck him up whenever the Texans had the ball. There was a long Deandre Hopkins touchdown that was called back because the officials thought he stepped out of bounds when clearly he did not. Then towards the end of the game the refs screwed the Texans with some of the worst spotting of the ball I've ever seen robbing us of first downs that would have sealed the victory. It was all rigged for the Raiders to get the big win to hype them up for the big move to Las Vegas, it was one of the worst robberies I've ever seen. 

The Texans had their biggest year yet at the box office in 2016 with 6 of their 8 games cracking the top 10 biggest crowds in franchise history. The opening day game against the Bears broke the attendance record with 71,933. The game against the Chargers later that year drew 71,899, the 4th biggest crowd in franchise history up to that point. 

At Cincinnati Bengals(September 14th, 2017)

One of the greatest moments of the Texans 2017 season and possibly one of the greatest moments in franchise history happened when Deshaun Watson started his first game for the Houston Texans against the Cincinnati Bengals in week 2. The game itself was ugly and low scoring. The game was tied at 3-3 in the second quarter when Geno Atkins nailed Watson for a huge 11 yard sack. Watson got up from the big hit and outran the Bengals defense for a 49 yard touchdown run just 2 plays later. It was an amazing moment that really lit a fire under the whole team. Watson's touchdown ended up being the Texans only touchdown of the game but the defense rallied to hold Cincinnati to 2 field goals to get the win 13-9.

Watson's Run

Good stuff as always Shin , as we've talked before - Houston has been my second favorite team in the league since their inception. I'm not exactly why , probably because they were my first real experience with an expansion team and going through the expansion draft and regular draft and watching a team roster literally being built from scratch was incredible to me. *More on that later. It also didn't hurt that they always seemed to be getting some of my favorite players like Andre Johnson to JJ Watt.

Still though I have to mention that my favorite Texans memory is probably one of the franchises most embarassing games.




** Expansion always fascinated me , I always wanted Madden to implement it at some point in their games but they never did. It's why I loved NBA2K17 so much and constantly played with expansion teams. 

That Packers game in 2012 was easily one of the worst Texans games of all time, I was so embarrassed to show my face around PW Gridiron after that cus I was talking some mad shit going into that game, I thought for sure the Texans defense would shut Green Bay down, not even close.

I cant remember if it was Madden 2002 or 2003 but one of those had an expansion team mode with the option to take over the Texans and go through the expansion draft, etc. It was crude and primitive but was a nice challenge because the best team you could put together was easily one of the worst teams in the history of Madden. Best I could do was 4-12 but I did take down the Colts in one of the last games, this was one of those old school PS2 Maddens where Peyton Manning was unstoppable so I'd consider it one of my finest Madden moments!

#30

Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
December 8th, 2002
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA

The Houston Texans were a work in progress in their expansion season in 2002. The offense had been put together completely from scratch with an all rookie backfield, a rookie receiver, and an offensive line plagued by injuries and inexperience that gave up an NFL record 76 sacks. The defense on the other hand the Texans were able to use the expansion draft to actually put together a talented group of veterans including Jamie Sharper, who was like the Wilber Marshall of the legendary 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense. The Texans also brought in two Bill Parcells guys from those 1997-1999 Jets squads in Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman along with former Houston Oiler Gary Walker, one of the stand outs of Jeff Fisher's Oilers that played in those final years in Houston in 95 and 96. The Texans also took Jay Foreman, who was drafted by and spent his first years playing under Wade Phillips in Buffalo. Kailee Wong and Seth Payne rounded out a really solid veteran defense that I really fell in love with those first three years in Texans history. The unit was really somewhat of an anomaly, the stats don't really tell the story of how good they were, they always ranked around the bottom of the league and they had bad games where they gave up a lot of points, but they also had a lot of games where they really looked like an elite unit. One of the Texans early days defense's finest moments was when they pulled off an upset on the road over the Pittsburgh Steelers late in the inaugural 2002 season. 

The Texans were 13.5 point underdogs on the road in Pittsburgh, with the Steelers coming into this game on a 6-1-1 run that was the best in the league at that time. Pittsburgh was being led by NFL Comeback Player of the Year Tommy Maddox(one of the best players in the XFL) who came in as a backup for injured starter Kordell Stewart in week 6 and eventually led Pittsburgh to the second round of the AFC playoffs that year. The Texans on the other hand came into this game at 3-9 but I don't think oddsmakers payed much attention to their 16-14 upset win over the Giants two weeks prior or their performance the week before this against the Colts where they held that high powered Peyton Manning/Edgerin James/Marvin Harrison offense to just 19 points(the Texans offense was dead in the water and they lost 19-3). 

Houston jumped out to a 7-0 lead early after a Tommy Maddox fumble was scooped up by Kenny Wright and returned 40 yards for a touchdown. Maddox looked to rebound on the Steelers next drive when he drove them into Texans territory. Aaron Glenn picked Maddox off and ran it back 70 yards for a touchdown to put Houston up 14-0. Pittsburgh managed to drive down the field to add a field goal to cut the Texans lead to 14-3 before the end of the half. Maddox drove the Steelers into scoring range in Pittsburgh's opening drive of the second half but Houston held them to a field goal after a huge Jamie Sharper sack on 3rd and 5. The 31 yard field goal put the score at 14-6. Pittsburgh drove down for another field goal early in the 4th quarter but Jeff Reed missed the 43 yarder. The Steelers drove down to the Texans 18 yard line later in the 4th quarter but they were stopped on 4th down with a sack by Gary Walker on 4th & 3. A muffed punt return gave the Texans the ball in field goal range to set up the 43 yarder by Kris Brown to put Houston up 17-6. Aaron Glenn picked Maddox off again and ran it back 65 yards for his second touchdown of the day, sealing the Texans 24-6 upset victory over the Steelers. 

The Texans win set new records for the fewest amount of yards gained by a winning team in NFL history(as far as I know this record still stands). The Steelers defense played a nearly flawless game, allowing only 3 first downs, giving up only 47 total yards, but the Texans defense scored 3 touchdowns to pull off the win. For me I'll always refer to this game as the Aaron Glenn game as those two touchdown runs of his were really amazing. He was an excellent player those first 3 years, good enough that I wouldn't mind seeing him put in the Texans Ring Of Honor some day. 

The most bizarre stat of the game though is that David Carr completed only 3 of 10 passes for a total of 33 yards and the Texans still won the game. Bill Cowher and his Steelers obviously underestimated the Texans going into this game and they paid the price by being embarrassed on their own homefield by an expansion team. Pittsburgh went on to finish 10-5-1 and defeat the Browns in the AFC Wild Card playoffs before falling to the Titans in overtime of the AFC Divisional playoffs. The Texans would lose their last three games after this to finish 4-12. Games like this one made me a huge fan of that Texans defense in the early days, Aaron Glenn was really an amazing player for the Texans back then, it seemed like every game he was making huge plays those first three years. I really think all the progress from those first three years was lost when the Texans lost Glenn and Sharper prior to that 2005 season. I also wonder how much better this defense could have been if Houston had drafted Julious Peppers instead of David Carr with that 1st overall pick in the 2002 draft. 

Game Highlights

#29

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans
October 16th, 2016
NRG Stadium, Houston TX

There was like a dark black cloud that settled in over the Texans in the 2016 season. I think maybe some of that 30-0 blowout loss to the Chiefs in the 2015 AFC Wild Card carried over into the 2016 season because I've never really seen such a stigma of negativity surrounding my team's public image more than this season. The big reason for it was Brock Osweiler and the brain numbingly bad free agent contract the Texans genius general manager signed him to. In a day and age where fantasy football is front page league news we've almost gotten to the point where NFL football is an individual sport with how much the game lives and dies by a team's quarterback and his performance from week to week. Brock Osweiler really was bad that 2016 season, he broke David Carr's single season franchise record for interceptions thrown. Brock had some really embarrassing moments and games for the Texans but I was willing to give him and everyone involved in that dreadful 2016 Texans offense a mulligan since the whole unit was rebuilt from scratch that offseason. Sure we had Deandre Hopkins, the best receiver in the NFL, but that was about all we had. Brock joined a backfield with new acquisition Lamar Miller while the 2nd and 3rd receivers on the depth chart were brand new rookies Will Fuller and Braxton Miller. To make matters worse the offensive line struggled with injuries, Duane Brown missed the first few games while Derek Newton suffered a career threatening double knee injury that cut his season short.

The majority of Texans fans, the general public, and mainstream sports media weren't nearly as forgiving and patient as I was willing to be, the Texans became the joke of the NFL in 2016, even though they had a phenomenal defensive unit that was really a joy to watch from week to week. There was just a big negative aura about the Texans that year. Whenever they would win it was all about how shitty the other team was and how they gave Houston the victory. The sports networks and halftime shows focused more on Brock's blunders and would skip great plays made by Deandre Hopkins or that defense. The Texans fans turned on Brock Osweiler by week 5 and started booing him off the field and leaving games early. One such game was the Sunday Night Football meeting with the Colts on primetime in one of the lowest rated Sunday Night Football games in a long time. The Texans played terribly early on and were down 23-9 with 7 minutes left in the game. NRG Stadium had emptied out, everyone gave up on the Texans and went home early. Not me(wasn't there though, I was watching on TV). I'll always stick with the Texans games because I've seen a lot of crazy shit happen in my days of watch NFL football. And I'll always believe that sticking with your team even through those terrible blowout losses will just make it that much sweeter when they finally do hoist that Lombardi trophy. 

This was a game where I never gave up hope that the Texans could come back and win it and my faith paid off, the Texans pulled off the upset after back to back Brock Osweiler touchdown passes. The first came with 2:37 left in the game when Lamar Miller had his greatest moment in a Texans uniform with a fabulous touchdown run that clowned on the whole Colts defense. 

The defense came up huge late in a game where they bullied Andre Luck, giving the Texans the ball back to set up the greatest play of Brock Osweiler's life. Brock made a clutch throw into double coverage for the game tying 26 yard touchdown pass to CJ Fiedorowicz with :49 seconds left in the game. To this day this throw is the reason why I got to believe there is some potential in Brock Osweiler. The touchdown tied the game 26-26. Houston's defense stopped Indy again in overtime and the Texans drove down the field and won it on a Nick Novak field goal, pulling off the 14 point comeback in the final 7 minutes of the game to win it 26-23. The game almost gave me a heart attack and I remember acting a fool in the tailgate thread on PW that night. Brock finished the game going 25 of 39 for 269 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception, finishing with a 90.7 rating(Andre Luck had a 87. rating that night)

To this day I still don't think Brock was as bad as he's made out to be, he was just in development. It usually takes a quarterback a full 5 years to really develop to a solid level in the NFL. With Brock he really created a toxic situation down here in Houston with a terrible relationship between the head coach and GM coming to a head. The whole thing swirled up a really bad aura around this whole team. I still think Bill O'Brien could have done a better job running that offense that season, at times it felt like WWE booking a WCW or ECW wrestler in the late 90's or early 2000's almost like they were out to prove a point to somebody. It also really felt like Deandre Hopkins was phoning it in that year, coming off of an offseason where he tried to hold out for a bigger contract I got to believe he was not happy about the Texans spending that money on a quarterback like Brock Osweiler. 

But the whole deal just had a sour vibe to it. The Texans in the media were really treated like a bottom of the barrel team, they were constantly shafted in power rankings by often being ranked below teams they beat that year. You really would have thought the Texans were a 4-12 team judging by the stigma surrounding them, but they finished with a 9-7 record(should have been 11-5, the Raiders game in Mexico was rigged and the season finale against the Titans we pulled our starters and O'Brien called it like a preseason game and we still just barely lost), won the division, beat some good teams, and won a playoff game. Brock Osweiler will most likely turn out to be one of those guys I was wrong about, but I was willing to give him another chance in 2017. He was certainly better than Tom Savage. The whole deal was just bad bad bad, from the way they signed him to the way they practically gave the Browns draft picks to take him off of our hands. It's really a shame though that Brock overshadowed a really great year for the defense in 2016, it was a unit that was so fun to watch with Clowney, Mercilus, Bouye, Demps, Joseph, Cushing, Mckinney all really coming together through the season(and 325 pound big man Vince Wilfork dropping back into coverage, stuffing short yardage runs, and pancaking quarterbacks) to lead the NFL in fewest total yards allowed, 2016 was good times. 

Game Highlights

#28

Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans
October 21st, 2012
NRG Stadium, Houston TX

The 2012 season was the peak of the Texans franchise so far. The end of the season the team really laid down on Gary Kubiak and gave up potential homefield advantage with the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs within their grasp when they lost 3 of their last 4 games. Those last 2 games and that playoff loss to New England was really a preview of the things to come in that dreadful 2013 season. But god damn this team was really great during that 11-1 run in 2012, for me it was really like a dream come true. The apex of that talented 2012 Texans team was easily their 43-13 beat down of the eventual Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens in week 7 of that season. That Ravens team was 5-1 coming into that game, they would finish 10-6 and would run the table in the playoffs, eventually defeating the 49ers in New Orleans in Super Bowl XLVII. The Texans really handed their ass to them in this game though. 

In a game where hometown 5 time WCW World Champion Booker T was honored as the special team captain the Texans broke the franchise record for biggest blowout win over the 5-1 Ravens. The Texans were coming off of one of the most embarrassing losses in franchise history the week before where they got burned by 5 Aaron Rodgers touchdown passes by the Packers on primetime Sunday Night Football beat down. Many pundits had written the Texans off as contenders after that loss in Green Bay despite a dominant 5-0 start to the season before that. Houston regained some respect with this huge win over Baltimore. Joe Flacco was sacked 4 times(once for a safety early on) and threw a huge interception to Jonathan Joseph, who ran it back 52 yards for a touchdown. The Texans went into the half with a 29-3 lead. 

^I know I'm in the minority with this but I've always really loved the Texans battle red uniforms, especially when they wear them with the white pants and red socks. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing those used as the regular uniforms. However, I don't like it when they wear them with red pants and I hate it when they wear them with the blue pants/red socks it looks like generic Madden create-a-team uniforms. 


Arian Foster ran for 2 more touchdowns in the second half to secure the 43-13 win. NRG Stadium was rocking about as hard as it ever has and the Texans were rolling at their highest level with this win. Matt Schaub had a great game going 23 of 37 for 256 yards and 2 touchdown passes. It was just a perfect game on both offense and defense that really legitimized these Texans as one of the best teams in the NFL at the time. Houston ended up winning their next 5 games to get out to an 11-1 start, the best record in the NFL at the time. Things fell apart when they were destroyed in New England in week 14. The Texans then lost to the Vikings at home two weeks later but they were still in the drivers seat at 12-3, all they had to do was beat the Colts in the season finale and they would have secured home field advantage in the playoffs. Matt Schaub really collapsed in that last game against Indy and the Chuck-Strong Colts upset Houston 28-16. The loss knocked Houston down to the #3 seed and forced them to play the Bengals in the Wild Card. Houston's dream season came to a crashing halt in New England in the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs in a 41-28 route. 

Even though this was a game that was not even competitive and was over at half time, and the record for points/biggest win was broken this past season with the 57-14 romp over the Titans, this game still deserves a spot on this list. This game was the Houston Texans running on all cylinders at their peak of greatness, and it really says something about how great they were that it came against the team that went on to win that year's Super Bowl. If I ever finally get around to making that "Top 100 Teams That Didn't Win The Super Bowl" countdown I would absolutely have to slip the 2012 Texans in there somewhere. 

Full Game(condensed version)

#27

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans
September 20th, 2009
LP Field, Nashville TN

Here within this football universe that I exist in as a Texans fan there is no greater rivalry than Texans vs Titans. As a fan of NFL history I recognize the greatness of Cowboys vs Redskins, Raiders vs Chiefs, Packers vs Vikings, Dolphins vs Jets, all the great rivalries throughout NFL lore, but to me with what I've been through nothing means more than the Texans playing the Titans. Sure it really hasn't been much of a rivalry compared to the great ones, they have never played in the post-season, hell they've never really played a big regular season game where the division or anything for that matter was really on the line. The Titans owned the Texans for the first 7 years of the series, winning 11 of the first 13 games, the only 2 of those were the Texans sweep over Jeff Fisher's Titans in the 2004 season. The closest this series ever really got to a true heated rivalry was the games they played in 2009 and 2010. The week 2 meeting in Tennessee in 2009 was a heated battle that had multiple fights and scuffles along with the seeds being planted for the Cortland Finnegan vs Andre Johnson brawl in 2010.  

The Texans vs Titans game in week 2 of the 2009 season was one of the most heated confrontations between the two teams but it was also one of the best games in the series. The game featured the two most dangerous offensive weapons in the entire NFL that season, the Texans' Andre Johnson(led the NFL in 2009 with 101 receptions and 1,569 yards) and the Titans' Chris Johnson(led the NFL with 2,006 rushing yards). Chris Johnson had 2 huge plays in the first quarter, a 57 yard touchdown run early on and then a 69 yard touchdown reception that put the Titans up 14-7. In that same quarter Andre Johnson hauled in one of his greatest catches with a one hand bobbled 19 yard touchdown. The second quarter seen the Titans take a 21-7 lead but Andre Johnson kept the Texans in it with another great 72 yard touchdown catch and run to cut the lead to 21-14. Schaub threw another touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones later in the second quarter to tie the game 21-21. Both teams traded field goals to take a 24-24 score into halftime. 

The Titans' Chris Johnson scored his 3rd touchdown of the day with a 91 yard touchdown run giving Tennessee a 31-24 lead early in the third quarter. Matt Schaub completed 7 of 9 passes to lead the Texans on a 65 yard scoring drive capped by a 1 yard touchdown pass to Owen Daniels to tie the game 31-31 late in the third quarter. The Texans defense held Chris Johnson to 18 yards on 7 carries in the rest of the game, with rookie Brian Cushing stepping up huge and stopping him on 5 of those 7 runs. The Texans were able to win it with a field goal in the final 2 minutes to beat the Titans on the road 34-31. Matt Schaub went 25 of 39 for 357 passing yards and 4 touchdowns with a rating of 127.8. Andre Johnson had 10 catches for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns while the Titans' Chris Johnson had 284 total yards from scrimmage(16 carries for 197 rushing yards and 9 catches for 87 receiving yards). It was a really great back and forth game between two teams who really did not like each other at the time. The only reason it isn't higher up on the list is because it was an early season game that didn't have a whole lot of impact on anything, the Titans would end up going 0-6 before Jeff Fisher benched Kerry Collins and Vince Young came in to burn the Texans one more time in a rematch later that year on Monday Night Football in Houston. Another factor for this low ranking was the officiating was terrible, the Texans got a lot of help from some really bad calls in this game. Still, it was a good one with two of the best offensive players of the era playing their asses off in a duel. 

Game Highlights

#26

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans
December 28th, 2014
NRG Stadium, Houston TX

I'm not a religious man by any means but I don't think you really have to be to recognize when you've been "blessed" with something. The city of Houston and the Texans franchise was truly blessed when JJ Watt landed in our laps in the 2011 draft. All of the credit really goes to Wade Phillips, the defensive coordinator that signed with the Texans that year. Phillips fought hard to get the Texans to draft Watt(similar to how his father Bum Phillips fought to get the Houston Oilers to draft Earl Campbell) and they caved in to his demands and took the Wisconsin Badger with the 11th overall pick in the first round. Watt instantly made a huge impact in his first two seasons in 2011 and 2012. In 2012 Watt became the only man in NFL history to record more than 14 sacks and 14 passes defended in a single season(he broke the Texans franchise record with 20.5 sacks while defending 16 passes). By 2013 the NFL had plenty of footage on Watt, he was what opposing offenses built their gameplan around whenever they played the Texans, often double and triple teaming him at the line. Even still JJ had 10.5 sacks. In 2014 Watt had one of the greatest seasons any player has ever had in NFL history. It really was unbelievable to watch from week to week, and if you had me try to pin down his greatness that year to one single game I would have to say it was this season finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The Texans 2014 season finale against the Jaguars had major playoff implications on the line. The Texans had to win the game but they also needed Kansas City to defeat San Diego and for the Cleveland Browns to upset the Baltimore Ravens in order to steal that last Wild Card playoff spot in the AFC. All three games were played at the same time, I remember having the Texans game on my tv while streaming the Chiefs/Chargers and Browns/Ravens games at the same time, watching all 3 games at the same time it was absolute madness that Sunday afternoon. In the Texans game against the Jaguars NRG Stadium was truly electric. JJ Watt created a really unique atmosphere in Houston that 2014 season. I really don't think it's an overstatement to say that this was the most amped Houston was for it's football team since the "Luv Ya Blue" days of the Oilers. I was not a fan of the Texans firing Gary Kubiak for Bill O'Brien but gradually through that season O'Brien won me over. After a 3-4 start the Texans ended up winning 5 of their next 8 games leading up to the finale against Jacksonville. The week prior the Texans really handed it to the Baltimore Ravens, one of the top teams in the AFC at the time. 

JJ Watt truly dominated the game just as he did just about every game that season. He terrorized Blake Bortles throughout the game. The Jaguars managed to jump out to a 10-7 first quarter lead after a 55 yard interception return. An Alfred Blue touchdown put Houston up 14-10 going into half time. The Jaguars caught the Texans with a trick play to retake the lead when Jacksonville receiver Cecil Shorts hit Jordan Todman for a 23 yard touchdown pass to put the Jags up 17-14 in the third quarter. On the Texans ensuing possession Case Keenum led Houston on an 80 yard scoring drive by completing 8 of 9 passes(half of that all to Andre Johnson) the last of which was an 8 yard touchdown pass to Andre Johnson to put Houston up 21-17. We didn't know it at the time but this would be the final drive and the final touchdown Andre Johnson ever scored wearing a Texans uniform. After the touchdown Andre did his leap into the crowd for one last time. 

Later in the fourth quarter JJ Watt took Bortles down in the Jaguars end zone for a safety, securing the Texans win 23-17. The sack was Watt's third of the day and put him at 20.5 sacks on the season, making him the ONLY player in NFL history with 2 seasons with more than 20 sacks. And he did it that year being targeted by opposing offenses, constantly battling double and triple teams in the trenches. Watt also had the 80 yard pick six earlier that season, defended 10 passes, forced 4 fumbles, recovered 5 fumbles(ran 1 of them back for a touchdown), had 59 tackles and recorded 1 safety. On top of that he also caught 3 passes on offense for 3 touchdowns. He really should have been NFL MVP that year but in this fantasy football era that we live in I knew it would never happen. I really never seen anything like JJ Watt in 2014 and I seriously doubt I ever will again. I wouldn't say JJ Watt rejuvenated my love of football in 2014 because it didn't really need rejuvenating, but man it was like watching Watt on the field that year really took my love for the Texans to another level. 

While this game against the Jaguars was what I consider the peak of JJ Watt's prime, it was also notable because this was Andre Johnson's final game playing for the Texans after 12 amazing years of carrying this team on his back from the infancy of being an expansion team to being a contender. Johnson finished his final game with the Texans with 10 catches for 134 yards and 1 touchdown. 

It was a pretty tense Sunday afternoon that day because the Texans were right there on the cusp of a playoff birth. They needed the Chiefs to beat the Chargers and then they needed the Browns to beat the Ravens. The Chiefs came through and defeated San Diego 19-7 but the Browns let me down big time. It looked like the Texans were going to sneak into the playoffs because Cleveland was leading Baltimore 10-6 up until the final 7 minutes of that game, then they laid down for Joe Flacco to pull off the comeback with 2 touchdown passes in the final 7 minutes, winning it for Baltimore 20-10 and eliminating the Texans from the playoffs. It's fun to think how far this 2014 team could have went in the playoffs with a healthy prime JJ Watt and Andre Johnson still around. The Texans were pretty hot down the stretch in that season, winning 4 of their last 5. Even though they missed the playoffs 2014 was still a great year. This win over Jacksonville put the Texans with a 9-7 finish on the year that will forever be known as JJ Watt's year to me.

Full Game
Andre Johnson's last Texans game(highlight)

#25

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
September 15th, 2013
NRG Stadium, Houston TX

For this countdown I've really tried to be as objective as possible. That's the reason why this Texans vs Titans game from 2013 finished at 25. If this was a countdown of my personal favorite games in Texans history this game would probably be top 5. The reasons why are quite personal, far beyond my bitter dislike of the Titans franchise. I lost my little sister on September 12th 2013, just 3 days before this game. I don't feel like talking about the details right now but the circumstances of her death were quite tragic, mysterious, and really frustrating. The first few years after her death were really tough. The first few days after her death was really unlike anything I've ever been through in my life. The sorrow was intoxicating, almost mind numbing.

Everything in my life was turned upside down in the course of a day. I just completely fell apart. I racked my brain and stayed up for a few days trying to figure out what the hell happened. I went back and forth with some really unhelpful, grossly insensitive fuckhead police. I dealt with the rest of my family falling apart at the seems and worked to plan my sister's funeral. To say it was a stressful week would be putting things mildly. That Sunday though I had to put it all away for 3 hours and sit down and watch a Texans game in an effort to maintain some sort of sanity. The Texans played their asses off and Andre Johnson sacrificed himself in the end to make one of his most clutch catches to win a game that really lifted my spirits at a time when I needed it the most. 

^My boys, all of them received lifetime passes for winning this game, I'll love them forever for it

The first half of the game was a low scoring defensive affair. This was the year the Titans met with Rodger Goodell to get permission to hire Greg Williams as their "Senior Defensive Assistant" after he was suspended the previous season due to the "Bounty-Gate" controversy. The Titans defense in this game really came out swinging and they made it their mission to eliminate Andre Johnson from this game. After both teams missed multiple field goals and neither defense budged the Titans took a 10-7 lead into halftime. Houston went up 14-10 in the third quarter after an amazing touchdown catch by Owen Daniels(the Texans GOAT tight end). 

The game started to pick up in the fourth quarter. The Texans defense backed Tennessee up to their own goal line and got a safety to put the score at 16-10 but the Titans responded with a touchdown drive on their next possession to take the lead at 17-16 with 6:45 left in the game. Matt Schaub threw a pick six on the Texans next drive to give the Titans a 24-16 lead with just 5 minutes left. The Titans defense was successful eliminating Andre Johnson from the game as they kept him double teamed all day and whenever he sniffed the ball they tried to take his head off. So the Texans got the ball back on their own 13 yard line, down 24-16 with 3:07 left. They pulled off an 87 yard drive down the field that endeared them to me forever. With Andre smothered by double coverage it was rookie Deandre Hopkins who came up huge, hauling in 3 huge receptions to move the Texans down the field. The second of those three catches by Hopkins seen him get absolutely hammered by Bernard Pollard. He got back up and caught another one for 28 yards on the very next play. 

Matt Schaub then hit Andre Johnson with a 21 yard throw towards the sideline and Andre made an amazing catch, managing to hold on to the ball even though he was decked so hard by Pollard that he was knocked unconscious. 

Andre Johnson made a catch that most receivers would have wanted no part of. It was one of my favorite moments of his career I guess because of the timing of when it happened, against the team that it happened against. It ended up knocking Andre out of the game but Arian Foster managed to run in a touchdown and then a 2 point conversion to tie the game 24-24 following that catch. In overtime Deandre Hopkins stepped up in Andre Johnson's absence and eventually caught the game winning touchdown, giving Houston the victory 30-24. 

^Brian Cushing was in rare form in this game, he was a fucking jacked madman who was all over the field with 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks on the day. I'm really going to miss Cush, one of the greatest Texans.


So this was kind of a meaningless game, the Texans ended up losing 14 straight after this and the Titans finished 7-9. But for me this game meant a lot, it gave me a shimmer of sunshine in what was certainly the darkest week of my life. Maybe it was because in all the grief I was losing my mind but to me that day it felt like they won this game for me, for my little sister. It was a noteworthy game also because this was really the first big breakout performance by Deandre Hopkins, his performance in that drive that tied the game was really something special and the game winning catch was big time. Hopkins ended up finishing the game with 7 catches for 117 yards. I always gave that 2013 Texans team a pass for that 2-14 run that year because of this game. 

Game Highlights

#24

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans
September 12th, 2010
NRG Stadium, Houston TX

Arian Foster put on one of the all time greatest single game performances in Texans history on opening day in 2010 when he burned the defending AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns, giving the Texans only their 2nd victory over Peyton Manning's Colts. Foster was an undrafted free agent that spent most of 2009 on the Texans practice squad. He really showed some flashes of greatness when he came in for the final 2 games of the 2009 season, finishing the year by helping the Texans beat the Patriots in the season finale with 119 rushing yards. Foster picked up right where he left off by putting on what was at the time the second best opening day performance in the NFL since 1933(OJ Simpson had 250 yards in 1973). 

Going into that opening day matchup against Indianapolis the Texans were 1-15 against Peyton Manning, with their lone win coming back in 2006 so they were riding a 6 game losing streak against the Colts going in. In the early goings of this opening day 2010 matchup the Texans defense finally decided they just weren't going to take it anymore. The NFL's golden boy Peyton Manning got roughed up by Mario Williams and company. The Colts were held scoreless by the Texans defense in the first quarter but the offense was held to just 2 field goals for a 6-0 lead. The Texans added a touchdown in the second quarter to go up 13-0 but Manning answered back with 10 points before the half to cut the lead to 13-10. It was in the second half where the Colts were just absolutely blindsided by a no name running back from out of nowhere. 

Arian Foster sliced up the Colts defense with several huge runs, scoring 2 touchdowns to give Houston a 27-10 lead early in the 4th quarter. The Texans 17 point lead meant nothing since Manning had come back from even further behind to burn the Texans multiple times in the previous years. It looked like Manning was on his way to doing it again when he hit Dallas Clark for a 10 yard touchdown pass to cut Houston's lead to 27-17 with 4:52 left in the game. The Colts tried to go for an onside kick but couldn't get it. Arian Foster could not be stopped on the Texans ensuing possession, running for 41 yards on 6 plays including his 3rd touchdown of the day from 8 yards out, putting the Texans up 34-17 with just 1:15 left in the game. It was check mate on a team and a player that had completely owned us for 8 years and it was such a fucking glorious feeling. Manning ended up scoring again in the final minutes to cut the Texans lead to 34-24 but there was nothing else he could do, it was over. 

Foster's performance in this game was really amazing. He was literally getting 7-8 yards on almost every carry, and he did it against a fresh opening day Colts defense that had Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. The real secret to Foster's success in this game though was phenomenal performances in the trenches from Chris Myers, Duane Brown, Eric Winston, and a beast of a fullback named Vonta Leach. Leach and the Texans offensive line absolutely dominated the Colts front 7 in this game in a truly amazing performance, they just completely ran them over, Foster cut through the holes for 231 rushing yards on 33 carries, to this day it is still the Texans single game rushing record. It was one of the best performances ever in a Texans game in all of their 16 year history and it was one of the sweetest victories that had me absolutely hyped for the rest of the 2010 season. 

Arian Foster went on to lead the NFL in rushing yards in 2010 with 1,616 yards. Foster also set the Texans single season franchise records for touchdowns(18) and total yards from scrimmage(2,220) in 2010, both of these record also still stand. As for Arian Foster's overall run with the Texans he was definitely a case of the brightest star burns out the fastest, while he only had 4 good years with the Texans due to injuries, those 4 years were really something special and he was an amazing player on the field. An interesting comparison can be made with Arian Foster to Terrell Davis. Foster had 8,873 yards from scrimmage and 68 touchdowns while Terrell Davis had 8,887 yards from scrimmage and 65 touchdowns. Foster averaged 4.4 yards per carry while Terrell Davis averaged 4.6. Both Foster and Davis played in the same offense since Kubiak was the offensive coordinator in Denver during those Super Bowl years. Terrell Davis was inducted in the NFL Hall Of Fame last year. 

Game Highlights
Arian Foster 2010 Highlight Video

#23

Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals
November 16th, 2015
Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati OH

Nobody gave the 3-5 Texans much of a chance when they went on the road to take on the 8-0 Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football in 2015. This was the season when Bill O'Brien flip flopped back and forth between Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett in a quarterback controversy that was ultimately decided by an alarm clock malfunction that led to Mallett's release from the team. The Texans offense was still looking to find it's identity while the defense was in crisis mode in the early parts of that 2015 season. A 44-26 loss to the Dolphins in week 7 had many speculating about Bill O'Brien's job security. Romeo Crennell's Texans defense really came together after that embarrassment at the hands of the Dolphins, they rebounded the next week by defeating the Titans 20-6. Meanwhile the Cincinnati Bengals were riding high with one of the best offenses and defenses keeping them undefeated with the best record in the NFL at the time. This along with the Texans propensity to collapse and get embarrassed on primetime had everybody thinking that the Texans would be easy pickings for the Bengals at home. 

Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer managed to lead Houston down to a field goal in the second quarter but he wasn't able to do anything else against the Bengals stifling defense(finished 2nd in the NFL that year). Meanwhile the Bengals offense had their hands full with the Texans defense, only managing to put up 6 points by halftime. Romeo Crennell's unit would keep Cincinnati scoreless for the rest of the game. The Bengals didn't realize it but the worst thing they could have done was to knock Brian Hoyer out of the game with a concussion late in the 3rd quarter. Hoyer was having a terrible game, going 12 of 22 for 123 yards and an interceptions while never managing to really move the chains at all. The Texans were down 6-3 with a little over 5 minutes left in the third quarter when Hoyer was pulled from the game for a concussion. Enter "The Bengal Slayer", TJ Yates. 

Yates earned his spot in Texans lore when he led the Texans to the win over the Bengals in the 2011 regular season that clinched the Texans first ever division title and secured their first trip to the playoffs. Yates took the Bengals down in the rematch in the 2011 AFC Wild Card game just a few weeks later to give the Texans their first playoff win. Yates found himself on the bench in 2012 and 2013 before being released prior to the 2014 season. After they released Ryan Mallett the Texans signed TJ Yates off the couch in late October 2015 just a few weeks prior to this Monday Night meeting with the Bengals. Yates came in late in the third quarter and instantly started moving the chains, hitting a 15 yard pass to Ryan Griffin on 3rd and 8 when it appeared the Bengals were going to force yet another Texans punt. Later in the drive the Texans stalled out again and were faced with 3rd and 13 when Yates hit Griffin again for another 15 yard strike. Two plays later Yates dropped a beautiful pass right into Deandre Hopkins hands for a 22 yard game winning touchdown. 

The touchdown put Houston up 10-6 with 14:27 left in the fourth quarter. The Texans defense held on to win it to pull off the upset. Brian Hoyer was credited with the win on his stat sheet since he started the game but make no mistake about it, he did absolutely nothing to win this game, this was a game where Hoyer really stunk, Yates should have got the W on his record. I was really ecstatic about this win because nobody gave the Texans a chance. I was also really fond of Yates for what he did for the Texans in 2011. I seen the collapse of Matt Schaub coming pretty early and was calling for the Texans to go all in on Yates as far back as 2012, I certainly wasn't very happy that they released him to bring in scrubs like Hoyer, Mallett, and Fitzpatrick, so imagine my elation when they brought him back and he pulled off this upset that night. 

Something really great happened to that Texans defense after that blowout loss to the Dolphins in 2015. They really came together after that loss and became one of the best defensive units in the NFL over the next two seasons, they finished the 2015 season holding 7 of their last 9 opponents to 17 points or less(4 of those teams they held to just 6 points) to help the Texans win 7 of their last 9 games that year, finishing with a 9-7 record and winning their 3rd AFC South Division Title. They sacked Andy Dalton 4 times and intercepted him once in this victory over the Bengals. TJ Yates was really never that much of a quarterback but I'll always love the hell out of him, he was definitely one of my guys.   

Game Highlights

#22

Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys
October 5th, 2014
AT&T Stadium, Arlington TX

The Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans play each other every year in preseason but they only hook it up once every 4 years in regular season competition. The Texans won the first ever meeting on opening night in 2002 but Dallas completely smashed the Texans, getting their revenge for Jerry Jones by running the score up in a 34-6 blowout in the rematch in the old Texas Stadium in 2006. Dallas took the rubber match in Houston in 2010 by the score of 27-13. The 4th game in the "Texas Governors Cup" series was an instant Texas football classic back in 2014, with both teams coming in red hot at 3-1 for their first ever meeting in the Cowboys new AT&T Stadium. Even though the Texans fell short against the Cowboys for the 3rd consecutive time it was a notable game for the Houston franchise because Texans fans completely invaded AT&T Stadium and took it over. 

The game drew a crowd of 91,159 to AT&T Stadium, one of the biggest crowds the Texans have ever played in front of, and by all estimates nearly 60% if not more of the fans there that day were rowdy Texans fans from Houston. The fans that made the 3.5 hour drive from Houston to Arlington that Sunday made their presence felt throughout the game, essentially turning it into a road game for the Cowboys and a home game for the Texans. After mainstream sports media hyped the Cowboys offensive line all week it was the Houston Texans defense that made the impact early on, bullying Tony Romo to hold Dallas to only a field goal in the entire first half. Dallas' defense held the Texans scoreless in the first half, intercepting Ryan Fitzpatrick on the Texans second drive of the game. Dallas took a 3-0 lead into the end of a tightly played, highly physical first half that was dominated by defense.  

Arian Foster carved up the Cowboys defense on the Texans opening drive of the second half. Foster broke a 33 yard run to put Houston into scoring range, then punched in a 15 yard touchdown run on the very next play to put Houston up 7-3. The Cowboys retook the lead on their next possession with a play that has haunted my nightmares for the past 4 years. Tony Romo spun out of JJ Watt's arms and launched a 43 yard touchdown pass to Terrance Williams to put Dallas up 10-7 with 6:18 left in the third quarter. Romo hit another touchdown pass early in the 4th quarter to put Dallas up 17-7 with less than 10 minutes left to play. 

The Texans fought back from a 17-7 fourth quarter deficit by driving 86 yards on their next possession, cutting Dallas' lead to 17-10 with a field goal with 2:31 left in the game. Crowd noise from the Texans fans forced a crucial delay of game penalty on Dallas' next drive, giving the Texans the ball back with just 2 minutes left to play. Andre Johnson hauled in a catch and ran 20 yards to move Houston into scoring range. Fitzpatrick hit Deandre Hopkins for 19 yards and then Arian Foster punched in the game tying touchdown to knot it up at 17-17 with just :45 seconds left. Tony Romo managed to move Dallas into field goal range but Dan Bailey's 53 yarder missed with just :03 seconds left, sending the game into overtime tied at 17-17. The Cowboys defense held Houston at midfield in their first possession of the overtime period. Romo then drove Dallas down to set up the game winning field goal, giving Dallas the win 20-17.    

It was a painful loss that really probably has no place this high on a "Greatest Texans Games" countdown. I decided to include it because from an objective unbiased football fans perspective this really was just a great football game, a rare once-every-four-years clash between the two pro football teams in one of the premier states where the sport is life. You had the upstart 13 year old underdogs that get no respect taking on the established "America's Team" which has been the Texas pro team for 54 years. To me this will always be a landmark Texans game just because of the fan support. Seeing the Cowboys stadium invaded by Texans fans was a sight to behold for me after living in Cowboys country for the past decade or so, rarely ever(never really) encountering another Texans fan. Tony Romo was quoted after the game saying "We played on the road today in that football game. We need to do a better job as a fan base". Jason Witten told reporters after the game that the Texans fans were so loud that the Cowboys offense had to switch to a silent snap count at times.

The Texans got absolutely no love outside of Houston in the early days, even in Texas it was almost as if they didn't even exist. Back in 2012 when the Texans were the best team in the NFL with an 11-1 record all the local media and radio talk shows wanted to talk about was the struggling Cowboys. Slowly but surely though over the last 4-5 years I've noticed things really start to change. Next year the Texans and Cowboys will battle it out for the first time since 2014. When next year's schedule comes out this will be the game that I'll have circled in dark red ink, every time these teams play there's just so much on the line, the fact that they only play each other every 4 years only intensifies everything. 

Game Highlights

#21

Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
September 26th, 2004
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO

I've already alluded to this in the honorable mentions posts but the 2004 season was really the most memorable of all the Texans first 9 years for me. This was a really fun year where this team really felt like it was on the right track, a year where this team felt like it had a really bright immediate future. Even though Texans fans got a strong dose of reality the next year, the reality that this team was years away from being a contender, that 2004 season was really exciting and gave us hope that this team was on the rise. This week 3 showdown with the Chiefs is one of the great forgotten Texans games from the early days and the first of 4 games from that 2004 season to appear in the top 30. 

The Texans went on the road to face the Dick Vermiel/Priest Holmes/Tony Gonzalez/Trent Green/Dante Hall Chiefs in Arrowhead. The Chiefs were coming off of the 13-3 season a year before but they had really fallen apart early in that 2004 season. Both teams came into this game with 0-2 records. The Chiefs took an early 7-0 lead on a 14 yard touchdown pass from Green to Gonzalez in the first quarter but Houston answered with two field goals to go into the half down 7-6. Green threw another touchdown pass early in the third quarter to put KC up 14-6, a seemingly insurmountable lead for a 2 year old expansion team playing on the road in Arrowhead of all places. The Chiefs looked to put the game out of reach later in the third quarter when they drove all the way down to the Texans goal line. The Texans defense stuffed Priest Holmes at the goal line and then Marcus Coleman picked off Trent Green and ran it all the way back for a 102 yard touchdown return on the very next play. The Texans managed to punch in the 2 point conversion to tie the game 14-14. 

Kansas City answered back early in the 4th quarter with a big return by Dante Hall on the ensuing kickoff, setting up an 8 play 54 yard drive capped by a touchdown run by Jason Dunn to put the Chiefs up 21-14 with 10:55 left in the game. The Texans ensuing drive was one of those that endeared me to the scrappy underdog Texans quarterback David Carr, down 21-14 on the road in Arrowhead with 10 minutes left to play the Texans ensuing drive was vintage David Carr. The drive was nearly snuffed out early but the Texans managed to convert on 4th and 1 just barely by the skin of their teeth. The very next play seen offsetting penalties, intentional grounding by Carr negated by a roughing the passer penalty against KC. The play after that seen David Carr almost lose the game with a fumble but he managed to regain the ball, only to be sacked on the very next play for a loss of 4. Faced with 3rd and 17 Carr made a game saving pass to Derick Armstrong for 20 yards. The next play seen Andre Johnson steal an interception out of the hands of Eric Warfield for a huge 37 yard completion that put the Texans into position to tie the game. 

Andre's catch set up the 9 yard touchdown pass from David Carr to Jabar Gaffney on the very next play, tying the game at 21-21 with only 5:24 left to play. The Texans underrated defense of those early years came up huge on the Chiefs next possession, sacking Trent Green twice for a total of 20 lost yards, forcing the punt that gave the Texans the ball back with just 2:18 left on the clock. Carr led the Texans 42 yards downfield with 3 huge completions to set up the game winning 49 yard field goal in the final seconds of the game. The Texans pulled off the huge upset on the road with a 24-21 win in a game where Trent Green went 21 of 30 for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns and Priest Holmes rushed for 134 yards. Even though the Chiefs were going through some hard times they were still absolutely loaded with talent in this game, the scrappy young Texans never gave up and fought it out until the bitter end. Jamie Sharper and that Texans defense had one of those games that I would point to as evidence that they were a really great unit whenever they were on, they stopped Priest Holmes on a goal line stand at the 1 yard line, and we're talking a Chiefs offensive line that had Willie Roaf and Will Shields for crying out loud man, they ran back a 102 yard pick six on the very next play. Andre Johnson also had one of his greatest catches/moments from his early days as a Texan, one of the first on a long list of plays where he stepped up huge for this franchise.

The game has been totally forgotten since both teams were 0-2 at the time and the game was not broadcast anywhere outside of Kansas City or Houston, there is no video footage online for it, only a small handful of pictures by Getty Images exist. I find it strange that with all this internet in the year 2018 there's no way to go back and watch old games like this. 

#20

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
December 21st, 2003
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

The 2003 Houston Texans were like a scrappy Chihuahua puppy that just would not back down from the big dogs no matter however outmatched they were. They led the league that season with the most players on injured reserve(19) and they played by far THE toughest schedule in the entire NFL in only their 2nd season in existence. In the second to last game of the season they went up against a fucking game bred Pitbull in the Tennessee Titans, who were 10-4 coming in(had the 5th best offense in the NFL that year and ranked 1st in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed) and being led by that season's NFL co-MVP winner Steve Mcnair. The game was played in front of the biggest crowd in Texans history up to that point(70,758) and it turned out to be a forgotten classic where the underdogs were in way over their heads but they still stood their ground and put up a hell of a fight, the kind of a fight that made me a diehard fan for life. 

It's no secret that I hate the fucking Titans with a passion. The way they left Houston left a real sour taste in my mouth, the organization sold us all out, they sold me out. Just hearing the words "Tennessee Oilers" was enough cringe for me to essentially stop watching NFL football entirely in 1998 and 1999(and really, who needed NFL when pro wrestling was as awesome as it was back then). And then the amount of bandwagon fans in Texas that latched on to the Titans in 1999-2000 was really nauseating, a majority of it was Cowboys fans who jumped off of their bandwagon as soon as times got tough in the late 90's early 2000's, and don't even get me started on the Houston fans that joined that rainbow party, reminds me of a bunch of fucking cuckolds that like watching their wife get banged by somebody else. To me it meant a lot to have a hometown team back in my back yard and it meant even more whenever they went against the sorry sell out son of a bitch Titans. The Texans in the early days where a work in progress that didn't have much to play for so whenever they played the Titans in those early years it was practically their Super Bowl for me, it was everything, it was a matter of pride, a matter of revenge on a sorry piece of shit owner Bud Adams who basically said fuck you kiss my ass to me and my hometown, it was a matter of sticking it to all these fairy ass bandwagon fans of the NFL's trendy new franchise that it was seemingly cool to be a fan of, fuck all that shit and fuck the Titans. I wanted to see the Texans bury these cockroaches. 

So needless to say the first few Texans vs Titans games were the biggest games in the NFL at the time for me, nothing else really mattered. The Titans swept the Texans in both of their first games in 2002, then they just demolished Houston 38-17 in the first game they played in Tennessee early in 2003. The rematch in week 16 though was a different story, the Texans gave the Titans all they could handle, even though they lost it was still a game that I was very proud of my team for, a game that only increased my love and passion for the team that represented my hometown. 

The game started out as a defensive stand off, with the Titans hard hitting physical defense preventing Houston from even crossing midfield until 5 minutes into the second quarter where they managed to take a 3-0 lead with a 49 yard Kris Brown field goal. Meanwhile the Texans defense forced the Titans offense to punt on 4 of their first 5 drives, managing to stop them on 4th and 2 early in the second quarter. Steve Mcnair finally managed to get the Titans offense going late in the 2nd quarter when he hit a 73 yard pass to Justin McCareins. The Titans found the end zone with a 2 yard Mcnair touchdown pass two plays later to take a 7-3 lead with 3:21 left to play in the first half. The Titans were able to get the ball back and drive down to add a field goal in the final minute of the first half to take a 10-3 lead into halftime. 

The Texans turned the ball over with a David Carr interception on Houston's second play from the line of scrimmage in the second half. The Titans looked to be running away with yet another game as they drove all the way down to Houston's 11 yard line. The defense came to the rescue with a huge 95 yard pick six by Marlon Mcree that tied the game 10-10 with 8:59 left in the third quarter. The Titans defense answered by scooping up a fumble and running it back for a 61 yard touchdown to take a 17-10 lead with 5:35 left in the third quarter. The Texans offense rallied on their next possession with a 71 yard scoring drive that seen David Carr complete 4 huge passes, a 37 yarder to Andre Johnson and finally a 20 yard touchdown to Corey Bradford that tied the game 17-17 with 2:55 left in the third quarter. 

The Titans retook the lead with a field goal putting them up 20-17 early in the fourth quarter. Houston struggled to gain anything through a majority of the rest of the 4th quarter, it finally came down to one last possession starting at their own 20 yard line with just 2:50 left in the game. David Carr completed 2 back to back clutch passes to open up the drive, hitting Derick Armstrong for 18 yards and then hitting Andre Johnson for 43 yards to move the Texans into scoring range. Dominick Davis broke a 15 yard run and then punched in the 5 yard go ahead touchdown on the very next play, putting Houston up 24-17 with just 1:53 left to play! My heart was jumping out of my chest, I was screaming at the TV and punching the air, we FINALLY beat these sorry motherfuckers. Then Steve Mcnair took the wind out of my sails by completing 4 passes in the final minute, moving the Titans right down the field to ice it with a 23 yard touchdown pass to Drew Bennett with just :24 seconds left on the clock, giving the Titans the win 27-24. I think I might have cried. I was absolutely devastated. 

Even though we fell short we still hung in there and almost won a game against a team we had no business even being on the field with. That Titans team was very good, they ended up nearly defeating the eventual Super Bowl Champ New England Patriots in the second round of the playoffs. This was one of the best games from the early days of the Texans for sure, one of those games that I was emotionally invested in. Even though this game ripped my heart out I was still just proud that they hung in there with this team, regardless of who wins or who loses it was just a fantastic game of football, had we won this game it probably would have been a top 5 on this countdown(maybe even top 3 considering who the opponent was and the context of the game), it was that good. 

NFL Primetime Highlight

#19

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans
December 24th, 2006
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

They say you never forget your first time. For the Texans first win over Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts it was a sweet victory that was 5 years in the making and certainly one of the major landmark victories in the franchise's first 5 years of existence. For all the hoopla I've made in this thread about the Cowboys and Titans really the biggest thorn in the Texans side for their first decade was Peyton Manning. The NFL did the expansion Texans no favors by putting the Colts in the AFC South division when they realigned the league in 2002(really it makes no sense from a geographical standpoint). This meant that the Texans had to go head to head with arguably the best player in the NFL twice a year. Manning torched the Texans in each of their first 9 games. The biggest beating came in the 2004 season, the year that Manning broke the record for most touchdowns thrown in a season, he dropped 5 on us in a 49-14 ass whooping in Indy that year. The closest the Texans came to beating Manning in those first 9 games was the last game in 2003 in Houston where we had a 17-3 lead going into the 4th quarter. Manning led the Colts to 17 unanswered points including the game winning field goal in the final seconds to win the game 20-17. Altogether Manning completed 197 of 277(71.1%) passes for 2,424 yards, 23 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions in those first 9 games against the Texans. 

The Texans played Manning's Colts for the 10th time on Christmas Eve in 2006. Houston came into the game at 4-10 under Gary Kubiak's first year as head coach while the Colts were riding high at 11-3 and were fighting to secure homefield advantage in the playoffs. The Texans jumped out to an early 14-0 lead after driving down for a Ron Dayne touchdown run on their opening possession. Mario Williams forced a fumble on the Colts opening drive and the Texans parlayed the turnover into another Dayne touchdown to go up 14-0 with 6 minutes left to play in the first quarter. Manning drove the Colts down the field and hit Marvin Harrison with a 37 yard touchdown pass to cut the Texans lead to 14-7 by the end of the first quarter. 

The Colts put together an 80 yard drive to tie the game 14-14 early in the second quarter. The Texans responded by putting together a 75 yard drive that ate up the final 8 minutes of the first half. David Carr hit Vonta Leach for a 3 yard touchdown pass to put the Texans up 21-14 at the half. The Colts drove down to the red zone late in the third quarter but the Texans defense held them to a field goal that cut their lead to 21-17. The Texans then used a strong power running game led by former Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne to eat up the entire first 8 minutes of the fourth quarter on their next drive, extending their lead to 24-17 after a Kris Brown field goal. Peyton Manning drove the Colts 71 yards downfield to tie the game at 24-24 with a 7 yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison with 2:46 left on the clock. David Carr hit Andre Johnson with a big 17 yard completion to move the Texans into field goal range, setting up the game winning 48 yard Kris Brown field goal with no time left on the clock. The kick gave the Texans their first ever victory over Peyton Manning's Colts after going 0-9 in their previous 9 meetings. 

It was a minor victory in the grand scheme of a 6-10 season but by god it felt so damn good to finally beat this team. It was kinda like finally kicking that bully's ass on the last day of high school after he fucked with you all the way through grade school. The win ended up costing the Colts homefield advantage in the playoffs but they didn't need it, they ended up running the table and winning Super Bowl XLI that year. Ron Dayne ended up being the hero of the day after pounding the rock 32 times for 153 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. David Carr went 16 of 23 for 163 yards and 1 touchdown for a 104.1 rating in one of his final Texans games, while Manning went 21 of 27 for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns for a rating of 135.3 in a losing effort. This was easily the most memorable game of the Texans 5th season and was one of those early landmark moments in franchise history. 

Game Winning Field Goal(Fan Cam footage)

#18

Houston Texans at San Diego Chargers
September 9th, 2013
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA

The 2013 season was an absolute disaster for the Houston Texans. After coming off of their best season in franchise history in 2012 they went from first to worst in 2013. After winning their first 2 games of the season they dropped 14 in a row to finish 2-14. For the life of me I still really can't figure out what the hell happened that year. Looking back at the 2013 season the part that blows my mind the most is that this team was just 2 plays away from going 0-16 because the two games they did win were clutch last second games that came down to the last play. One of those was the biggest comeback in Texans history on opening night on the road in San Diego on Monday Night Football in the season opener. 

The Texans very first play of the game was an ominous preview of their 2013 season to come as Matt Schaub threw an interception. Phillip Rivers threw a touchdown pass on the very next play to give San Diego a 7-0 lead in the opening minute of the ball game. Schaub got it together with a touchdown pass to Owen Daniels late in the first quarter to tie the game 7-7. The Chargers answered with an 80 yard drive on their ensuing possession capped by Rivers' second touchdown pass, putting the Chargers up 14-0. Rivers threw his third touchdown pass of the day just before the end of the half to give the Chargers a 21-7 lead. The Chargers took a 28-7 lead with their opening drive of the second half after Rivers hit his 4th touchdown pass of the day. 

Matt Schaub got it together and led the Texans on scoring drives of 70 and 75 yards to cut the Chargers lead to 28-21 after two touchdown passes in the second half. The Chargers were able to stop the Texans next drive early in the 4th quarter to hold on to their 28-21 lead with a little under 10 minutes left in the game. Brian Cushing took matters into his own hands on the Chargers ensuing possession, pulling off the greatest play of his career with a truly amazing clutch interception. Cushing ran the pick back for an 18 yard touchdown return, tying it up at 28-28 with 9:38 left to play in the game. 

The Texans were able to drive into field goal range in the final 3 minutes, setting up a 41 yard game winning field goal with just :05 seconds left on the clock to give Houston the win 31-28. This was the Texans biggest comeback in franchise history and it came on primetime Monday Night Football on the road. Matt Schaub went 34 of 45 for 346 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception for a rating of 110.0. Andre Johnson fought his ass off with 12 catches for 146 yards. The game ended up not meaning much since it was one of only 2 victories that year. I really don't even think many people even seen the game since it came on late at night as a part of ESPN's goofy Monday Night Football double header on opening week(I fell asleep and missed the game back then but downloaded it off of Youtube a while back and watched it for this countdown). It was a great comeback though and it features my favorite play from one of my favorite players to ever play for the Texans. Brian Cushing was a savage beast. 

Game Highlights

#17

New England Patriots at Houston Texans
January 3rd, 2010
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

It took the Houston Texans a full 10 years to become a legitimate contender in the NFL. Along that decade long ride the team took tiny baby steps and hit small moral victories and minor milestones, almost like learning how to crawl before learning how to walk. One of those milestones came in year 8 when we FINALLY finished with a winning record for the very first time. It all came down to the season finale against the New England Patriots in Houston in January 2010. 

It was a meaningless game for the Patriots because they already had their playoff spot locked up. The Texans had already been eliminated from playoff contention the week prior. Houston needed the Colts to beat the Jets in week 16 to have a shot at making the playoffs for the first time. The Colts had the game under control with a 15-10 lead late in the 3rd quarter but they pulled all of their starters since they already had the #1 seed locked up. This was my reaction when they pulled their starters in the final minutes of the third quarter, I don't think I've ever been so fucking pissed off in 26 years of watching this sport. The Jets were able to come back against the Colts second teamers and knock the Texans out of playoff contention by winning the game 29-15. After waiting 8 years to see Houston in the playoffs it was the absolute worst to see it slip away like this. Even though the Texans were out of the hunt the season finale against the Patriots was anything but a meaningless game, 71,029 fans packed into NRG Stadium, the 2nd biggest crowd in Texans history up to that point. 

The game was locked up at 13-13 at the half. The Patriots jumped out to a 20-13 lead after the Patriots picked off Matt Schaub and ran it back 91 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter. The Patriots went up 27-13 early in the fourth quarter after an 11 yard Fred Taylor touchdown run. Schaub led the Texans on scoring drives of 69 and 66 yards to tie the game 27-27 in the final 5 minutes of the ball game. Tom Brady was picked off by Bernard Pollard and Arian Foster ran the ball 4 times to break into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown, putting Houston up 34-27 with just 2 minutes left in the game. Bill Belichick conceded the game to the Texans by benching Tom Brady to save him for the playoffs. The Texans were able to hold on to stop backup Bryan Hoyer from pulling off the game tying drive, securing the victory and the first ever winning season in Texans history with a final score of 34-27.  

The fact that Belichick benched Brady in the final 2 minutes practically letting us win was the reason why this game wasn't higher on this countdown, also it was essentially a meaningless game, but for us Texans fans who had been along for the ride for the first 8 years it really meant a lot to finally finish at 9-7. This remains as the Texans lone victory over the Patriots in franchise history. This was also the first time I had ever really heard of Arian Foster, an unknown running back off of the practice squad that ran for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns, a pretty nice little preview of the season he would have in 2010 where he led the NFL in rushing yards. After the game the crowd gave the Texans a pretty great standing ovation. 

Texans Clinch First Winning Season(Fan Cam footage)

#16

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans
December 1st, 2008
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

Primetime TV games were few and far in between for the Houston Texans first 7 seasons in the NFL. You can count the number of primetime televised games the Texans played those first 7 years on one hand, and one of those was a Thursday Night Football game on NFL Network(which isn't even a regular cable channel it's like a specialty channel you have to pay extra for, and that was back before those games were simulcast on network TV). It took until late in the 2008 season for the Texans to finally debut on Monday Night Football and it was one of the team's finest performances in the early days. 

After Hurricane Ike rocked the Texans first part of the 2008 season they really got it together down the stretch, rebounding from an 0-4 start to win 8 of their last 12 games, including 5 of their last 6. One of those was this Monday Night Football debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars on a cold December night in Houston. Houston opened the game with a 69 yard drive that ended with a 31 yard touchdown pass from Sage Rosenfels(subbing for the injured Matt Schaub) to Andre Johnson. From that point on the whole game was like a party for Texans fans. 

Sage Rosenfels threw an interception on the Texans next drive but the defense took it right back on the very next play by picking off Jaguars quarterback David Garrard, setting up a field goal that put Houston up 10-0 with 6:33 left in the first quarter. The Texans defense took the ball from the Jaguars again with a fumble recovery on their ensuing drive. The Jaguars third drive of the game ended with a missed field goal. A big punt return by Jacoby Jones set up another Texans field goal early in the second half to extend their lead to 13-0. Jacksonville finally got on the scoreboard with a field goal later in the 3rd quarter to cut the Texans lead to 13-3 but Houston tacked on another field goal to go up 16-3 going into the fourth quarter. 

The Texans started to run away with it in the fourth quarter after a Mario Williams strip sack set up a 7 yard Steve Slaton touchdown run that put Houston up 23-3. The Jaguars finally found the end zone in the final 2 minutes to cut the lead to 23-10 but Steve Slaton put the exclamation point on it with a beautiful 40 yard touchdown run to seal the victory, putting the Texans up 30-10. The Jags scored another touchdown in garbage time to cut the lead to 30-17 but make no mistake about it, this was a straight ass whooping laid down on primetime television on Monday Night Football and it was really just such a great feeling to see this team shine like this on such a stage. NRG Stadium was as electric as it has ever been for this game and it really felt like a coming out party.

Mario Williams completely dominated the game with 3 sacks, a forced fumble, and 5 tackles. Rookie sensation Steve Slaton stole the show with 130 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns with another 52 yards receiving. This was definitely one of the best feel good wins in Texans history. The only reason it isn't higher on this countdown was because Monday Night Football just didn't have the same luster on ESPN that it did on ABC and the Jaguars were not a very good ball club(they were 4-7). Still though, this was easily one of the most memorable games from the 2008 season and one of the most satisfying victories in Texans history. The Texans were running on all cylinders in the end of that 2008 season. The week after this game they went into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers on the Frozen Tundra, and after that they beat the 12-1 Titans. I still think this team could have made some noise in the playoffs that year had that hurricane not had such a big impact on their first 4 games. 

Steve Slaton Game Highlight

Special Bonus List: 

Top 10 Worst Texans Games Of All Time

Time to take an intermission and cover the other end of the field. These are the Texans lowest moments in their first 16 years so far. Good times, bad times, you know we've had our share, but you know sitting through games like these is just only going to make it that much sweeter when this team wins the Lombardi.


#10. at Jacksonville Jaguars(Dec. 17th, 2017)

That Jaguars team from last year was really fucking good. I got an up close look at just how good they were in the 2 Texans games where the Jaguars unleashed the frustrations of losing 6 straight to Houston from 2014 to 2016(Houston was 11-3 vs the Jags from 2010 to 2016). After being called trash by Jadeveon Clowney in the media Blake Bortles burned Houston by completing 21 of 29 passes for 326 yards and 3 touchdowns, with a rating of 143.7. The real trash on the field was Mike Vrabel's defense, which finished the season ranked dead last at 32nd in the NFL. The Jaguars sacked TJ Yates 4 times and destroyed the Texans 45-7


#9. at Miami Dolphins(Oct. 25th, 2015)

Texans head coach Bill O'Brien's job security was in serious doubt after this 44-26 loss to the Ryan Tannehill Dolphins in 2015. Up until this game the Texans were undefeated against the Dolphins(7-0 from 2003 to 2012). The Dolphins destroyed Houston in this game in one of the biggest beat downs in franchise history. The score was 41-0 at halftime. Brian Hoyer padded his stats in garbage time after the Dolphins defense coasted through the rest of the game, the final score as 44-26, this was about as bad as this football team has ever looked in 16 years I've been a fan. The defense rallied together after this game and developed into one of the best units in the NFL over the next year and a half though.


#8. vs Jacksonville Jaguars(Sep. 10th, 2017)

The opening day game against the Jaguars this past season was a sobering one. The Jaguars offensive line just completely manhandled JJ Watt, Whitney Mercilus, and Jadeveon Clowney. Brian Cushing had one of his worst games of his career and the Jaguars defense just completely humiliated the Texans with 10 sacks and 4 turnovers. Houston had been absolutely ravaged by Hurricane Harvey the previous week and the atmosphere in my hometown was really depressing and miserable, and that carried over to this game. I think a lot of people were expecting this to be like the Monday Night Football game in New Orleans in 2006 but it was anything but, the atmosphere from the onset of the game was somber and dreary and the Texans football team was nowhere near ready for this game, they got their asses handed to them 29-7 and the new kings of the AFC South were crowned.


#7. at New England Patriots(Dec. 10th, 2012)

This Monday Night Football showdown with the Patriots was by far the biggest game in Texans history up to this point. They were 11-1 going in with the best record in the NFL and the Patriots smashed them in a way that just kind of cut the heart out of this team, they ended up laying down and losing 2 of their last 3 games to inferior teams after this to fumble away homefield advantage in the playoffs, dropping from the #1 seed in the AFC to having to play in the Wild Card round. Tom Brady threw 4 touchdown passes to put New England up 28-0 going into the 3rd quarter. The final score was 42-14. The teams met in a rematch in the second round of the AFC playoffs but the result wasn't much better, New England handed it to Houston again with a 41-28 defeat. I recently rewatched both of these games and noticed a major factor in this game was Vince Wilfork just completely dominating Texans All Pro center Chris Myers, just completely wreaking havoc on the middle of the Texans offensive line.


#6. at Seattle Seahawks(Oct. 16th, 2005)

There was a perfectly good reason why the Texans got no primetime television games in the early years, the blame falls on these pathetic performances in 2005 in both of the Sunday Night Football games where they completely laid down against the Seahawks and later the Chiefs. David Carr threw 3 interceptions and the Texans defense allowed 284 rushing yards in this beat down in Seattle, the Seahawks blew the Texans away 42-10.


#5. at Atlanta Falcons(Oct. 4th, 2015)

This was the biggest blowout loss in Texans franchise history. The Falcons just completely burned the Texans in all aspects of this game, taking a 42-0 lead going into the third quarter. Texans quarterback Ryan Mallet was benched for Brian Hoyer, who came in and padded his stats with 2 touchdowns after the Falcons defense dropped into celebration mode. The final score was 48-21.


#4. at Dallas Cowboys(Oct. 15th, 2006)

This was Jerry Jones' revenge game that he waited 4 long years for ever since the Texans embarrassed the Cowboys in their debut back in 2002. This was the only game in the series played in the legendary old Texas Stadium and the Texans really got embarrassed. David Carr threw 2 interceptions and had a rating of 37.3. Terrell Owens caught 3 touchdown passes to help the Cowboys destroy the Texans 34-6.


#3. vs Green Bay Packers(Oct. 14th, 2012)

This was the Texans debut on primetime network television on Sunday Night Football on NBC and they were riding high with an undefeated 5-0 record going into this game. I remember talking a lot of shit to UT the week leading up to this game and boy was I embarrassed to show my face in the PW Gridiron after this debacle. The Texans lost the QB of their defense Brian Cushing for the season the week prior. Aaron Rodgers completely picked the defense apart with 6 touchdown passes and 338 passing yards for a rating of 133.8 as the Packers completely fucking derailed the Texans hype train with a 42-24 ass whoopin in front of a national audience.


#2. at Denver Broncos(Oct. 24th, 2016)

The Texans made headline NFL news in the 2016 offseason when they stole Brock Osweiler from the Denver Broncos with a ridiculous $72 million dollar contract. Brock and the Texans went to Denver to play the Broncos on Monday Night Football in front of the whole world on ESPN and their performance that night made them the laughing stock of the whole league. Throughout the whole game they kept showing graphics of Brock's ineptitude compared to other lesser paid quarterbacks. They constantly would show Texans owner Bob Mcnair and General Manager Rick Smith watching on looking like absolute clowns as Brock played horribly in front of a national audience, finishing the game with a 60.1 rating. Adding to it all the Broncos were coming off of a Super Bowl winning year with Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips coaching the team, two guys the Texans discarded like garbage after the 2013 season(to this day I believe the biggest mistake in franchise history). This game was like a dog having his nose forcefully shoved into his own pile of shit on the living room floor as punishment, with everyone in the world watching.


#1. vs Kansas City Chiefs(AFC Wild Card Playoff, Jan. 9th, 2016)

Back when I went to the Texans preseason games in 2002 I just couldn't believe how electric the crowd was for completely meaningless preseason games. I couldn't imagine what it would be like for an actual playoff game in that building. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined the stadium being completely invaded by another team's fan base and that the Texans would get completely shut out like they did in the 2015 AFC Wild Card game against the Chiefs. I swear there had to be more Chiefs fans in NRG Stadium for this game than Texans fans, it was mind blowing, and I still don't know how something like this would even be possible, but it happened. The Chiefs completely embarrassed the Texans in this game to win their first playoff game since they beat the Houston Oilers in the Astrodome right next door back in 1993 in the AFC Divisional Playoff game that essentially sent the team packing to Tennessee. Brian "The Shitman" Hoyer threw 4 interceptions and fumbled twice for an unbelievable rating of 15.9!!! The defense kept the game close in the first half by playing their asses off. Brian Cushing had one of his best plays of his career with an unbelievable one handed interception before the half. Bill O'Brien and the Texans offensive coaching staff called an unbelievably horrible game, completely hanging Hoyer out to dry with some of the shit they were calling. At one point they sent in JJ Watt on the goal line for one of the dumbest fucking plays I've ever seen called in a playoff game. This was also the game where JJ Watt got injured and really had the prime of his career cut down. It was terrible all the way around, the Chiefs ended up winning 30-0.

I don't think it's a coincidence that 6 of these 10 games happened under Bill O'Brien's tenure as head coach of the Texans. Really I thought it was time to move on from him this offseason. I desperately hope he proves me wrong, and I'll be the first to eat crow if he does, but I really believe he is completely in over his head as a head coach in the NFL and I don't have much hope for our future as long as he is head coach of the Texans.

#15

Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans
October 10th, 2004
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

This week 5 meeting with the Minnesota Vikings in 2004 was a truly amazing game back in the early days of the Texans that very few people seen. I could only find about 7-8 seconds of video footage of it online and only about 4-5 pictures on Getty. The game was aired on Fox in Texas so this meant that nobody outside of Houston seen it in Texas, Fox affiliates in Austin, San Antonio, and the entirety of the northern part of Texas all had their priority on the Cowboys vs Giants game(Cowboys got their ass kicked 26-10). To add to that the Houston Astros were playing the Braves in a playoff game at the same time so a lot of people in Houston were probably watching that instead. The postgame shows barely covered the highlights of the game with the bare minimum of maybe 1 or 2 plays highlighted. Nobody was paying attention to this and they ended up missing what was easily the best game played in the NFL that weekend, perhaps one of the best games played in the entire NFL in the 2004 season and without a doubt one of the best games ever played in Texans history, even though we lost in overtime. 

The Texans were coming into the game on the heels of their very first ever 2 game winning streak, which evened their record at 2-2. The 2-1 Minnesota Vikings came into Houston that day with Daunte Culpepper in peak form with one of the greatest offensive weapons in Randy Moss in the prime of his career. What went down that day in Houston in this game was a forgotten classic shootout that had me believing the Texans had the next Steve Young/Jerry Rice duo. 

Daunte Culpepper burned the Texans with 3 touchdown passes to Moss, Nate Burleson, and Marcus Robinson, the last of which put the Vikings up 21-0 with 12 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. From that point on David Carr had the game of his life and nearly pulled off one hell of a comeback for the Texans. Carr led the Texans from their own 6 yard line for a 94 yard scoring drive to cut the Vikings lead to 21-7 later in the 3rd quarter. Early in the fourth quarter Carr put together a 58 yard scoring drive to close the gap to 21-14. The Vikings looked as if they were going to squash the Texans comeback hopes when Culpepper hit Randy Moss with a beautiful 50 yard touchdown bomb that put Minnesota up 28-14 with 7 minutes left in the game. David Carr just refused to lay down and give up, carrying Houston to another 58 yard scoring drive, moving the Texans down to the Vikings 11 yard line. The Vikings held the Texans to force a 4th and 11 with the game on the line but Carr made a clutch touchdown pass to Derick Armstrong to cut Minnesota's lead to 28-21 with 3:15 left to play. 

On the Texans next possession Carr hit Andre Johnson with a 22 yard touchdown pass to tie the game 28-28 and send it into overtime. It was an amazing leaping catch by Johnson that seen him hold on to the ball even after he was completely up-ended by the defender. 

Neither team was able to score on their opening drives of overtime. The Vikings put the young Texans away on their second possession with another 50 yard rainbow bomb from Daunte Culpepper to Marcus Robinson, winning the game for Minnesota 34-28. Culpepper finished the game going 36 of 50 for 396 yards and 5 touchdown passes for a rating of 128.4. David Carr finished perhaps the best game of his entire career going 27 of 42 for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns for a rating of 116.4 even though he was brutalized by Minnesota's defense sacking him 4 times. When Carr was on he was tough as nails, fiery, and he played with a lot of heart and emotion, this was one of those games. 

What I'll always remember this game for though is that it was Andre Johnson's breakout game. This was early on in his sophomore season. I never watched College football so I really didn't know anything about his run in Miami. He had a few good games before this one but this was the game that made me realize that we had something truly special here, he really balled out on this day going up against The Great One Randy Moss. So you had the future best receiver in the NFL going up against what was arguably the best in the NFL at the time. Moss finished with 5 receptions for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns. Andre Johnson finished with 12 catches for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns, the last of which that tied the game in the final 2 minutes was one of my favorite catches of his entire 12 year Texans career.  

Andre Johnson's Game Tying Catch

#14

New England Patriots at Houston Texans
November 23rd, 2003
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

If there was ever a fitting NFL football metaphor for the Muhammad Ali vs Chuck Wepner fight, it has to be this 2003 meeting between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans. For those unfamiliar with Ali vs Wepner it was a boxing match that took place in 1975 with Ali(arguably the best boxer of all time) in the prime of his career. Ali was Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World and was coming off of huge wins over Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. In March of '75 promoters set Ali up against a huge long shot underdog in journeyman Chuck Wepner, a small time tomato can with the nickname "The Bayonne Bleeder" for his propensity for getting cut open in fights. Nobody gave Wepner a snowball's chance in hell against Ali but he surprised everyone by taking the champ 15 rounds deep(the ref stopped the fight with just :19 seconds left in the last round, a questionable stoppage also). Wepner knocked Ali down in the 9th round of the fight, it was one of only 4 times that Ali was ever knocked down in his 61 pro fight career. Sylvester Stallone was in the crowd watching the fight that night in the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Ohio and was so inspired by what he saw that he went home and wrote the script for Rocky. 

If there has ever been an Ali vs Wepner that played out on the gridiron it was definitely this week 12 game of the 2003 season in Houston, in front of an NRG Stadium record crowd of 70,719, the second biggest crowd to EVER watch a pro football game in the city of Houston up to that point(behind only Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in 1974). Playing the part of Ali was the Belichick/Brady New England Patriots. We're talking about the greatest of all time, a dynasty that goes all the way back to 2001 a year before the Texans even existed! I really think the absolute best team that Belichick had during that 17 year stretch was the 2003-2004 teams. I think maybe the 2004 team was the peak of the Patriots greatness but that 2003 season was just as good if not better in certain areas. I think you can say the 2003 Patriots was the best defensive unit that Belichick ever had in New England. Of all of the Patriots 5 Super Bowl winning teams the 2003 team had the fewest points allowed(238, only the 2006 Pats allowed fewer points with 237 but they lost to the Colts in the AFC Championship that year). The Patriots defense finished 1st in the NFL in 2003 with fewest points allowed, while finishing 7th in fewest yards allowed(4th against the run, 15th against the pass).

The whole game was a defensive chess match between some of the best defensive minds in the NFL at the time, Dom Capers and Vic Fangio vs Bill Belichick and Romeo Crennel. Crennel and Belichick's lineage goes back to the Bill Parcells' New York Giants in the late 80's/early 90's(where they won 2 Super Bowls together). Capers and Fangio had roots going back to the "Dome Patrol" defense in New Orleans(Capers was defensive backs coach there from 86 to 91, Fangio coached the legendary linebacker corps of Rickey Jackson, Sam Mills, Pat Swilling, & Vaughan Johnson on that same coaching staff). Capers left the Saints to take the defensive coordinator job for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 92 to 94 where he put together one of the best defenses in the NFL. It was during this time that Belichick and Capers became familiar with one another because Belichick was head coach of the Cleveland Browns, who had to play Capers' Steeler defense twice a year(Steelers were 5-2 against the Browns during those years, they swept them in the 94 season and beat them a third time when they eliminated them from the AFC Divisional Playoff game). So that adds a bit of a historic backstory to this game, especially since Belichick was a guy that never forgets(he ran the score up on Joe Gibb's Redskins in 2007 as payback for Gibbs doing it to him when he coached the Browns in 1991). 

This 2003 Patriots defense was perhaps one of the best defenses in NFL history. We're talking about a unit led by defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel and starring Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Willie Mcginest, Roman Phifer, Mike Vrabel, Ty Law, Tyrone Poole, and Rodney Harrison. Four of those guys made the Pro Bowl that year, three of them were named All Pro. They had 5 games that year where they didn't allow a single touchdown, 3 of those were shut outs. The Patriots were riding a 6 game winning streak coming into this game against the Texans, sporting the 2nd best record in the NFL at the time at 8-2. Meanwhile the Texans were the Chuck Wepner of the NFL. The Texans got beat up a lot but they also had a lot of heart those first 2 years, they only won 8 of their first 26 total games played up to this point in their second season but 5 of those were fourth quarter comebacks. In 2003 the Texans led the NFL with 19 players on injured reserve while also playing the toughest schedule in the league(9 games against teams with a .500 record or better, 8 of those against teams with winning records including 4 of the 6 AFC playoff teams and both of the NFC/AFC Conference Champions that year). Even though they were busted up and still such a work in progress the games the 2003 Texans squad did lose were usually dog fights where they just refused to go away. The Texans were 4-6 and were coming into this game against New England with their defense really coming together(they upset the eventual NFC Champion Carolina Panthers and defeated the Bills on the road in the weeks prior to this game). Even though Houston was playing very well that month in November nobody really gave them much of a chance in this game. 

The game was all defense right from the start as both teams went three and out, with both team's opening drives being killed with huge sacks(Tony Banks sacked for 8 yards by Richard Seymour, then Brady sacked for 6 yards by Steve Martin, who played the game with a huge chip on his shoulder against his former team). The Texans were able to move the chains on their second possession, capitalizing on a big pass interference penalty against New England to put up a field goal and take a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter. New England was able to put together a 10 play 67 yard drive early in the second quarter. Brady hit a 27 yard touchdown pass to put New England up 7-3. The Patriots caught a huge break on their ensuing drive when Brady's pass in the red zone was intercepted by Houston's Eric Brown on 3rd and 5. Brown fumbled trying to run with the ball and New England was able to recover, with the change of possession setting Brady up with a fresh set of downs at the goal line. Houston's defense was able to recover and hold with a strong goal line stand, forcing the Patriots to a settle for a field goal that put them up 10-3 late in the second quarter. Both defenses played stiff for the rest of the half. New England was able to drive into field goal range in the final seconds but Adam Vinatieri's 38 yarder was missed. 

The Patriots opened up the second half with a ground and pound 11 play drive that ate up 6:19 of the clock to move a mere 37 yards into Houston's 34 yard line. Belichick opted to go for it on 4th and 5 instead of going for the long kick but Houston's defense was able to force the turnover on downs. New England's second drive of the second half ended with Tom Brady being picked off by Marcus Coleman. The interception set up a 10 yard touchdown pass from Tony Banks to Andre Johnson just 2 plays later, tying the game at 10-10 with 4:01 left in the third quarter. The Patriots drove down to the Texans 10 yard line with their third possession of the second half but the Patriots had to settle for another field goal after Brady was sacked on 3rd and 10. The 32 yard field goal by Vinatieri put New England up 13-10 early in the 4th quarter. New England's defense stifled the Texans young receivers and completely shut down their offense but Houston's defense kept them in the game, strip sacking Brady on the Patriots next drive to set the Texans up in scoring range. Banks hit a 17 yard touchdown pass to Billy Miller. The Texans blocked a Patriots punt on their next possession, setting up a field goal to add to the Texans lead 20-13 with just 3:04 left in the game. 

Brady was able to move New England 80 yards in 9 plays in the final minutes of the game. It all came down to a 4th and 1 at the Texans 4 yard line with :40 seconds left in the game. Brady hit Daniel Graham for the game tying touchdown, sending it into overtime tied 20-20. In overtime it looked like New England was about to finish the Texans quickly when Mike Vrabel intercepted Tony Banks on the Texans very first play from scrimmage. The Patriots looked to put Houston away with a field goal but Vinatieri's 37 yarder was blocked! New England's next possession in overtime they were backed up to their own goal line where Jamie Sharper nailed Tom Brady for a huge sack that gave the Texans another shot. Houston had 2 chances to win the game and they got so close, but were stopped just yards outside of field goal range by New England's defense(and some pretty poor offensive playcalling) both times. New England drove 76 yards in 9 plays in the final minutes of overtime, finally finishing Houston with a 28 yard field goal with :45 seconds left in the overtime period, giving New England the win 23-20. 

So everything about this game was Ali vs Wepner right down to the finish. Even though the Texans did not win, they took one of the all time great teams in NFL history the distance and had them on the ropes. The defense sacked Tom Brady 4 times, intercepted him twice, and recovered two fumbles while the special teams blocked a punt and a field goal. I remember watching this game live as it happened and it was about as intense as any of the Texans playoff games, I desperately wanted to see them pull off this upset and they were so damn close. I was still very proud of them for the fight they put up when they were this outmatched, in fact this was one of those early Texans games that made me a diehard fan of the team. I'll always have fond memories of watching this game back in the day but the context has only deepened over time when you look back at how great this Patriots team was in hindsight, for a not-even-two-years-old-yet Texans to take them this deep into championship rounds was really impressive. This game was the last time that year that New England ever trailed in any game, they went on to win Super Bowl XXXVIII in this same building a few months later. That 2003 Texans team only finished 5-11 but man they had a ton of heart, pulled off some big upsets and lost some close games like this one where they just fought it out with everything they had until the very end(even against teams who on paper it seemed they didn't even belong on the same field with). 

Full Game

#13

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
October 1st, 2017
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

I came up with my own nickname for Deshaun Watson after he scored 5 touchdowns in this supreme beating of the Titans in week 4 of the 2017 season, that nickname is "The One". This game was really like the end of The Matrix where Neo realizes he's the man and clowns on all the agents. I really had tempered expectations for Watson during his rookie year. In fact, I was actually Team Savage in training camp and preseason. I just felt like Watson was going to go through a lot of growing pains adjusting to the NFL his rookie year and I wanted to see what Tom Savage could do since he was familiar with Bill O'Brien's offensive system. Also I wanted to make sure Watson didn't get injured with something career altering like what we seen happen with RGIII in 2012. I actually even thought the Texans jumped the gun by putting Watson in and benching Tom Savage on opening day against the Jaguars. HA!!! 

We seen real flashes of greatness in Deshaun Watson in the two games prior to this massacre of the Titans, the Thursday Night Football win over the Bengals in his debut as a starter in week 2, then his performance against the Patriots in week 3. The Texans came into this game against Tennessee with a 1-2 record while the Titans at 2-1 were EVERYONE'S pick to win the AFC South in the off-season. What unfolded on the field in this game was one of the most thorough, satisfying ass whoopins I have ever watched take place on an NFL football field, and it couldn't be more fitting that it took place against the Titans of all teams. 

Houston jumped out to a 21-0 lead early on after scoring drives of 43, 76, and 76 yards each capped by a Lamar Miller touchdown run and two touchdown passes from Watson to Deandre Hopkins and Will Fuller respectively. I was just in awe at how the Texans moved the ball at will in this game, I had really never seen anything like it in all of my years watching the Texans, especially not during Bill O'Brien's tenure as head coach. Marcus Mariota kept the game competitive with 2 really nice touchdown runs that cut the Texans lead to 24-14 but the Texans' Andre Hal picked him off twice in the first half, the second of which set up a 1 yard touchdown run by Watson to put Houston up 30-14 going into halftime.  

Houston opened the second half with a 14 play 75 yard scoring drive that ate up over 8 minutes of the third quarter. Watson hit his 3rd touchdown pass of the day with a 10 yarder to Will Fuller to put Houston up 37-14. Matt Cassel came in to replace Marcus Mariota for the Titans but their offense was dead, going three and out in each of their first two second half drives. Deshaun Watson hit Lamar Miller with an 8 yard touchdown pass, his 4th of the day, putting the Texans up 44-14 early in the fourth quarter. The route was on. This was everything I ever dreamed of. Tennessee was completely embarrassed in every way imaginable on the football field. With Deshaun Watson's performance in this game it was like we were really witnessing greatness. The touchdown pass to Lamar Miller was Watson's 5th score of the day, tying an NFL rookie record for quarterbacks. He easily could have broken the record but the Texans pulled him from the game with Houston driving into scoring range late in the 4th quarter. 

A Dylan Cole pick six and a field goal ran the final score up to 57-14, setting new franchise records for most points ever scored in a game for the Texans, also the biggest most lopsided beat down ever handed out, the fact that it came against the NFL team I hate the most was truly poetic. Deandre Hopkins finished the day with 10 receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown. Lamar Miller had 126 yards from scrimmage(19 rushes for 75 yards and 4 receptions for 56 yards) with 2 touchdowns. "The One" finished the game going 25 of 34 for 283 passing yards 4 touchdown passes and 1 rushing touchdown with a rating of 125.0. I had some family at the game and they told me that the buzz around Watson in that stadium that day was unreal. This young man is like the Luke Skywalker for the Houston Texans, A New Hope...   

Game Highlights

#12

Houston Texans at Seattle Seahawks
October 29th, 2017
CenturyLink Field, Seattle WA

The hype for the 2018 Texans season is growing. Almost overnight they went from being a team that nobody wants to see on TV to being one of the MUST SEE teams in the league. The reason is obviously Deshaun Watson, "The One" that the prophecy spoke of, The One that Houston has been waiting 59 years to lead us to glory like Luke Skywalker in Star Wars or Neo in The Matrix, Deshaun Watson is that man and I know it to be true deep down in my heart. It all started for me on January 9th 2017 when I tuned into the College Football National Championship where Watson put in a heroic performance defeating Alabama in the final moments in one of the most clutch performances I've ever seen on a football field. I never thought there was any way the Texans could get this young man even though they were in the market for a quarterback. Honestly I never cared about college football and I never got interested in the NFL draft but for some reason I got into the 2017 draft that April, it was fate that led me to tune in and watch the biggest moment in the history of the Texans, the drafting of The One.

In 16 years as a loyal Texans fan I've never seen anything like what Watson did for this team in his first 6 games in the NFL. It really all started with his touchdown run against Cincinnati, a single play that breathed a new life into the whole franchise. The next week against New England on the road in only his second start was really the eye opening performance that made it clear that Watson was not a normal football player, he's not going to be another Mike Vick or RGIII, he's something else, something better. In his first 6 games Watson went 107 of 174(61.49%) for 1,297 yards with 15 touchdowns and 5 interceptions for a rating of 101.1 with 2 more touchdowns rushing! What really endeared me to Watson was when he showed up to NRG Stadium for the Browns game wearing a throwback Warren Moon Houston Oilers #1 jersey just 2 weeks after killing the Titans 57-14. Warren Moon, Houston Oilers, THAT'S OUR SHIT FUCK THE TITANS!

Going into Watson's 7th NFL game the Texans would have to go on the road into Seattle in one of the toughest environments to play in the NFL against the best defense in the NFL over the past 5 years. What unfolded was one of the best games in all of the NFL in the 2017 season and a game that truly solidified my belief, Deshaun Watson is.... THE ONE!

The big news story going into the game was all the kneeling to protest the National Anthem, something I honestly don't give a shit about and quite frankly got sick and tired of hearing about last year, it all snowballed and got caught up in a two sided political media propaganda game, one of the many sad end results of the 1996 Telecommunications Act where the media can be manipulated the way it is, its all a big game that I'm just personally not into at all. Take that shit somewhere else and let me have my football. All the drama came to Houston when Texans owner Bob Mcnair was quoted saying that "we can't let the inmates start running the asylum" at the owners meeting about the issue. When the Texans took the field and most of the team knelt for the National Anthem before the game against Seattle it started a shit storm in Houston, here we finally had The One that was going to lead us to greatness here putting on a legendary performance when the deck was stacked against him and instead you had a lot of Texans fans getting caught up in the game being played off the field by the media on TV and the internet like sucker ass marks. 

On the field though this was easily one of the greatest football games that the Houston Texans team was ever involved in the 16 years of existence. It really doesn't even matter that they lost it in the dumbest most frustrating way imaginable, and make no mistake about it, it truly was. I've rewatched the game a few times in my several attempts to finally finish this writeup, each time I watch it I facepalm just a little bit harder every time we get to the point of the game when the Texans were winning 38-34, with 2:10 left in the game the Texans had the ball on their own 8 yard line. Deshaun Watson had just ran an 8 yard run to convert for a 1st down on 2nd and 6. Then Bill O'Brien shit the bed and pissed the game away by calling the same bullshit run up the middle THREE STRAIGHT TIMES! Seattle got the ball back with just over 1:30 left and Russell Wilson was able to put it away with an 18 yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham to give the Seahawks the comeback win 41-38. 

Oh man what a great game this was though. Deshaun Watson, Will Fuller, and Deandre Hopkins were really on point going against Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman of the Legion Of Boom defense. The One went 19 of 30 for 402 yards and 4 touchdown passes for a rating of 106.9 on the road in Seattle against Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas. Fuller burned both Sherman and Thomas for touchdowns early in the game, first a 59 yard bomb in the Texans first possession to give them a 7-0 lead, then a 20 yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter to put Houston on top 21-14. Seattle took a 27-24 lead into the 4th quarter after both teams exchanged field goals. Watson led Houston on a 71 yard drive with a pair of deep passes to Hopkins and Fuller before putting Houston back on top 31-27 after a 2 yard touchdown pass to Lamar Miller.

The Seahawks answered with a 75 yard drive on their ensuing possession to retake the lead 34-31 with just over 5 minutes left in the game. The Texans seemingly took the game on their next possession with my favorite play of the 2017 season, an amazing 72 yard catch and run by Deandre Hopkins where he outran the entire Seahawks defense en route to the go ahead touchdown. I couldn't believe it, Houston was leading Seattle 38-34 with just under 5 minutes left. Marcus Williams intercepted Russell Wilson on Seattle's next drive and with just over 2 minutes left Bill O'Brien choked big time as a head coach calling those 3 bullshit running plays. Had we held on to win this game it would be way higher, maybe top 5 or even top 3, best game of the entire 2017 NFL season.

Deshaun Watson got injured in practice shortly after this game and as out for the rest of the year last year, with the Texans going 1-8 without him. The Texans during that 1-8 stretch was the most spineless and heartless I've ever seen this team in 16 years. They were the worst team in the NFL during that 1-8 finish, I think had they rematched the Browns they would have lost, the 5-11/4-12 expansion Texans from 2002-2003 had even more injuries to deal with and played a far tougher schedule those two years and played with more heart, hell I think that 2005 team would have whooped that Texans team that took the field during that stretch, they were the worst. 

Game Highlights

#11

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans
January 5th, 2013
NRG Stadium, Houston TX

I struggled ranking the Texans second playoff win over the Bengals in the 2012 AFC Wild Card game. I honestly struggled to remember anything about it truth be told. After digging out my VHS copy and rewatching the game I'm pretty happy about it's place at #11. There was really nothing memorable about this game, in fact upon rewatch I've given the game it's own nickname, "The Game That Should Not Be" as a play on words for the Metallica song "The Thing That Should Not Be" from Master Of Puppets. Really looking back at the 2012 season I can't help but get into fantasy booking fan fic mode with the what if's, the should've and what could've beens. That's why I feel like this is The Game That Should Not Be.

The Texans were 11-1 at one point in the 2012 season, that was the best record in the entire NFL. It was finally the dream season that I had been waiting years for, we were on our way to homefield advantage in the playoffs and then it all fell apart. All that is left are the what ifs. What if Brian Cushing the lynch pin of the defense didn't get lost for the year with injuries when we were 5-0? What if we had been able to stop the "Chuck Strong" Colts from scoring in the 4th quarter in the last game of the season to hold on and win homefield advantage with the #1 seed in the playoffs? What if we would have gotten that desperately needed bye week and hosted a beaten up Patriots at NRG Stadium in the divisional round? What if we won that game and then had the ultimate showdown with the Peyton Manning Broncos(whom we already defeated on the road earlier that year) at home at NRG Stadium in the AFC Championship? Against the 49ers in Super Bowl 47 in the Superdome!?!? Oh man, the what if's of the 2012 Houston Texans season will drive you crazy if you think about them long and hard enough, when you look at it really this was the Texans real true shot at winning the Super Bowl. Instead they blew a lead over the Colts in the final game of the season and went from being the #1 seed in the AFC to playing in the fucking Wild Card round, against the Bengals. 

When you get down to the game itself it was nothing spectacular or memorable, nothing like the Texans first ever playoff game the year before. The Texans offense was really struggling and the seeds were planted for the collapse of Matt Schaub, one of the most thorough and complete collapses a quarterback can ever have. He played horribly against the Colts in the game where they blew the #1 seed and really tried his hardest to throw this Wild Card Game against Cincy away after throwing a pick six in the second quarter that cut the Texans lead to 7-6. Wade Phillips defense held on to dominate the game though, holding Cincy to go 0 for 9 on third down conversions and rattling the young Andy Dalton to a 44.7 quarterback rating. 

The Bengals kept this one closer than they did in the 2011 Wild Card Game, their defense kept them in it until the final 4 minutes when they were trailing 19-13 when they were able to move into the Texans 36 yard line. The Houston defense was able to hold strong and force a turnover on downs to hold on and win it. Jonathan Joseph had a huge interception in the 3rd quarter that helped preserve the Texans lead while JJ Watt had 1 sack and 5 tackles with constant pressure on Andy Dalton. The real star of the game was without a doubt Arian Foster and that Texans offensive line led by Duane Brown and Chris Myers. The Texans dominated the line of scrimmage and Forster slice Cincinnati up for 140 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 32 attempts. If there was ever a game to make a case that Foster was one of the best Texans of all time this was definitely one of them, he put in a big time performance in a huge game and carried us to a playoff win.  

It was bittersweet because the Texans really should not have even been playing in this game but what can you do, at least it was a playoff win, something that was pretty hard to come by for a good portion of the teams in the NFL since Houston entered the league in 2002. Houston of course would get destroyed in New England the next week at Foxboro and the dream season was over just like that. It was certainly one hell of a ride though, I'll tell you that.  

Game Highlights

Special Bonus List:

Top 10 Greatest Houston Texans Of All Time

#10.



Owen Daniels

Owen Daniels was without a doubt the best tight end that the Texans ever had. He currently ranks #11 in most games ever played for the Texans with 100 games from 2006 until 2013. Daniels' 70 receptions for 862 yards in 2008 is the best single season receiving performance by any Texans receiver not named Hopkins or Johnson in franchise history. The 2 time Pro Bowler sits behind Hopkins and Johnson in 3rd place all time in franchise history in receptions(385) and receiving yards(4,617) as well. Daniels had some big time clutch catches and some great moments during his 8 years as a Texan so I decided to put him in over others that came close to cracking the top 10 like Matt Schaub(who's sole responsibility for so many losses outweighs a lot of other factors for me), linebacker Demeco Ryans and defensive back Kareem Jackson. Owen would leave Houston to follow Gary Kubiak to Baltimore in 2014 and then to Denver in 2015 where he started all 16 games for the Broncos Super Bowl winning run that year. Daniels unfortunately will probably not be on this top 10 for much longer with rising young stars in Clowney, Mckinney, The One, and Mercilus nipping at his heels, I predict he gets bounced out by one of those guys over the next year or two.

#9.



Mario Williams

Before there was JJ Watt, there was Mario Williams. The Texans controversial #1 draft pick in the 2006 draft where they passed over Matt Lienart, Reggie Bush, and the almighty Vince Young. In hindsight the Texans made the right choice, Mario Williams was a real beast. Williams played 82 games for the Texans from 2006 until 2011 and currently sits behind JJ Watt in second place all time in franchise history with 53 sacks. Up until JJ Watt came along Mario led the Texans in career sacks and held the record for most sacks in a single season with 14 in 2007, he was also a 2 time Pro Bowler with the Texans(2008, 2009). Williams was a real force that honestly I would have loved to have seen them keep around for a few more years.

#8.



Deandre Hopkins

Man I really believe Hopkins is one of the most underrated players in the NFL, and I say that because I think he's the best receiver in the entire NFL and if you let the experts tell it he's not on Julio Jones or Antonio Brown or even Odell Beckham Jr.'s level, hell he didn't even make the top 100 players countdown last year(Jones, Brown, and Beckham made the top 10, what a joke). Maybe the stats don't match up but I just feel like if you had Hopkins playing with those quarterbacks that Brown, Jones, and Beckham have throwing them the ball he would leave them in his dust statistically. Hopkins made a big first impression with me in the Titans game in 2013 his rookie year when he caught the game winning touchdown in a game that had a lot of meaning to me. He had one of the finest years any Texans receiver has ever had in 2015 with the absolute bottom of the barrel quarterbacks throwing to him(Hoyer, Mallet, etc, etc, etc). Hopkins has got a lot of boot left to fill when it comes to the legacy that Andre Johnson left behind as a Texans receiver but I feel like he's well on his way to maybe breaking all of Dre's franchise receiving records, especially now that we got The One. I fully expect Hopkins to jump up this list several spots over the next few years.

#7.



Jonathan Joseph

Quite possibly the greatest free agency acquisition the Texans have ever made was when they picked up former Bengal Jonathan Joseph in 2011. Joseph made an immediate impact on a defense that ranked dead last in pass defense the year before he arrived, I think he was a major impact player in helping the Texans get over the hump and finally break through into the playoffs those years in 2011 and 2012(he made the Pro Bowl both years). In my opinion Joseph is the best defensive back in Texans history. He currently sits tied(with Kareem Jackson) for first all time in interceptions in franchise history with 14 but he has a pretty nice cushion as the all time franchise leader in passes defended(96). Joseph's 105 games played for Houston ranks him 9th all time in franchise history.

#6.



Arian Foster

If not for the injuries that cut Foster's career short I think he could have easily been a lock for #3. Foster came out of nowhere and burned the NFL in 2010 with 1,616 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 101 yards per game. He had 3 more great years after 2010 but never was able to hold it together physically as the wear and tear of being an NFL running back caught up with him and robbed him of his prime pretty quick. Still, Foster had some games where he looked like one of the best ever. He sits comfortably as the Texans all time leading rusher and in a lot of ways his career as a Texan is strikingly similar to Terrell Davis' career in Denver. Both guys played for Gary Kubiak's zone blocking scheme, Foster had 8,873 yards from scrimmage and 68 touchdowns while Terrell Davis had 8,887 yards from scrimmage and 65 touchdowns. Foster averaged 4.4 yards per carry while Terrell Davis averaged 4.6. Both guys had their careers chopped down due to injuries, the only difference really in their careers is that Davis got 2 rings and was inducted into the Hall Of Fame, Arian Foster was that level of talent without a doubt, and he had a great personality to boot. Subjectively he is one of my all time favorite Texans but objectively I felt like this was the highest I could put him on this list. 

#5.



Chris Myers

This may be a little bit controversial putting Myers over Foster but to me I think Myers was a major factor in Foster's success. The fact that Myers didn't make the All Pro team in 2010 or 2012 is just proof of how overlooked and ignored the Houston Texans players are when it comes to shit like that. Myers was the anchor of the entire offense during those years when they were putting up big stats, the years when Arian Foster led the NFL in rushing, the years when Matt Schaub led the league in passing, that offensive line of Myers, Brown, and fullback Vonta Leech were the reasons why. Myers never missed a game during the 7 years he played for the Texans, he sits 7th all time in franchise history with 112 games played.

#4.



Brian Cushing

I really hated to see Brian Cushing get cut this past off season. He was without a doubt one of my favorite players to watch. Seeing him play with the intensity that he would play with always got me all jacked up. When I'm in the gym lifting weights I always channel my inner Brian Cushing. He was the quarterback of the defense for years and sits second all time in most tackles in franchise history. His career was derailed by injuries and failed steroid tests but I don't care, he was always and will always be a personal favorite of mine and I think objectively he has earned this 4th spot and the final spot on the Houston Texans Mt. Rushmore.

#3.



Duane Brown

It frustrated me and made me sad to see the Texans front office have such a huge falling out with Duane Brown last year. It all started when he started protesting the national anthem, then he held out for a new contract and it was over with. It made no sense to me because he was still playing at a high level. Fuck what you heard, go back and watch that playoff game against the Raiders where he walled off Khalil Mack(DPOY that year) and eliminated him from the game. Now we are in desperate need of an offensive line and we let our best one we ever had walk over a bunch of bullshit. Duane Brown is one of the most underrated players of the last decade of NFL history, without a doubt one of the best offensive lineman in the league. Brown played 133 games for the Texans, second only to Andre Johnson in most games ever played for the team.

#2.



JJ Watt

 Watt became a folk legend in Houston the same way Earl Campbell did with the Oilers back in the Luv Ya Blue days and in many ways he was the man who put this franchise on the radar of the sports world outside of Houston. You never seen or heard anything about the Texans in the news until JJ Watt became a big draw. Watt generated more excitement and hype for the Texans than anything I've seen. When he was in his prime and rocking I think Houston was more in love with their football team than they had ever been since the Luv Ya Blue Oilers from 1978 to 1980.

#1.



Andre Johnson

I don't know what more I can say here that I haven't already said in this thread. If you want to know why Andre is #1 all you got to do is read through this thread. As great as JJ Watt is I feel like he's still a few years away from taking this spot from Andre. Andre holds the record for most games played for the Texans with 169 from 2003 until 2014, that's 12 years of a franchise that has only existed for 16 years. Andre was the backbone, the heart, the soul, and the consciousness of the Houston Texans and to me he will always be the original Houston Texan. He dominated the NFL in 2008 and 2009, leading the league both years in receiving yards. Andre currently sits 11th all time in NFL history in career receiving yards with 14,185, that's more than Michael Irvin, Chris Carter, Steve Largent, Art Monk, and Calvin Johnson. There were just way too many games and way too many moments where Andre carried my favorite football team on his back for him not to be #1. I watched his entire career unfold from the time he was drafted until the time he retired and I can honestly say that Andre Johnson is my all time favorite player in all of NFL history.

Houston Texans Mt. Rushmore