Houston Texans Will Enter the Playoffs For The First Time
I was going to put a photo of TJ Yates here but it was just too difficult to find one. Not surprising since he's lived in relative obscurity until now.
Yes, you read that correctly. This year will be the first time the Houston Texans have made the playoffs. Of course, the team was started in 2002…so it either is or isn’t a huge feat depending on how you look at it. The story for the Texans has been similar to the story of the Green Bay Packers of 2010-overcoming injuries to key players to stroll into the playoffs. The Texans lost two quarterbacks (Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart) and have had to depend on 3rd string 5th round draft pick TJ Yates to lead the team. Andre Johnson, one of the league’s best receivers, has also been in and out of the line up.
Yates has been the biggest surprise. At first it seemed as though the Texans would basically continue to rely on Arian Foster and Ben Tate using the QB as a game manager mostly. But Yates has been much more than that. In Yates first game he had only 70 yards passing. Since then — 188 and 300. He’s led some impressive drives including a come back drive yesterday that put the Texans over the Cincinnati Bengals bringing their record to 10-3 and clinching the AFC south.
I think one thing that needs to be said is that Wade Phillips (yes, former Cowboys head coach) is doing a fabulous job with he Texans defense. They’ve held their last 3 opponents to less than 20 points. Football outsiders has their defense ranked 5 overall and 3rd against the pass which is a real advantage in the playoffs if that holds up. When it comes to scheduling, the Texans have had one of the easiest 2nd halfs I’ve seen. They get to finish the season by playing the Panthers, Titans, and Colts. So it should be smooth sailing for them from here til January.
Once the playoff picture is set I’ll take a look at the Texans matchups as well as all the other teams.
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