Football Is Back!

Open are the double doors of the horizon.

Unlocked are its bolts.

The 2020 NFL season is upon us. Melodrama abounded, speculation otherworldly, and morbid curiosity are inscribed on the pillars of this 2020 offseason. Controversy, politics, and pandemic spread over sport like wildfire, context shattered by a reality absolutely unfathomable at the onset of this offseason. The Texans made their stunning exit from the postseason stage, and their rival claimed the highest summit of the NFL not one month later. The final billowing of a season defined by such highs and lows, was now over. The offseason had begun, but it was only another month until drama had swarmed Houston once again...

A stunning trade, sending a spartan of battle red to an enemy whose plume we now know for all the wrong reasons. Nationwide outrage and sadness of the Houston faithful cried out in desperation, “What is he doing? Does Overlord O’Brien even want to win?” While dulled by the recruitment of a veteran and an archer, the confusion still searches for an answer. Enter a draft unlike any other, where the Texans didn’t surprise or impress in their handful of selections. Mostly set on plugging a few holes on their rickety vessel of a defense, not much was anticipated or gained...

.And then…silence…

...As the door closed on the NFL dDaft, the sharp winds of nothingness absorbed its place. The harsh desert on the NFL offseason entered our collective psyche. The unnerving quiet, coupled with a world reeling from pandemic, turned giddy anticipation of football returning into worrisome conscience that its coming may see harsh delays. Only by the winds of time were inklings of a new season unearthed from their dry entombment. A blockbuster trade, a stunning release, and training camp were oases on the pilgrimage, providing a moment’s reprieve from the endless void.

But then...hark! A twinkle beyond the horizon! September hath arrived, and in tow, a tidal wave of football! The days, that turned into weeks, that turned into months, that felt like years, are now over.

Open are the double doors of the horizon.

Unlocked are its bolts.

We now stand at the precipice of the 2020 Houston Texans season. Our prayers answered, the show will go on. The Texans will, in fact, embark on their gridiron gauntlet with crosshairs set on a Lombardi Trophy. Their season will begin on opening night against those that ended our season just the year before, the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. In just a few more fleeting moments, the Houston Texans will assume Arrowhead Stadium seeking vengeance against Patrick Mahomes and Co., ushering us all into football nirvana. Deshaun Watson, now the definitive face of the franchise, will dazzle our television screens with his magic once again.

Why not kick that hype machine into high gear with highlights from last season?

On offense, the stars could not be any brighter. Aforementioned franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson will start his MVP campaign tonight, throwing bomb after bomb to a streaking Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller V, Kenny Stills, and Randall Cobb as every defender gets dusted. Watson will navigate the pocket and avoid pressure in his signature tango around grasping linebackers, tossing short passes to Duke and (newly acquired) David Johnson, who aims to silence any detractors with every first down he earns. Every play has the chance to end in a touchdown, every possession a threat to big red.

J.J. Watt and Justin Reid will headline a defense featuring star linebackers Benardrick McKinney and Zach Cunningham. Returning corners Bradley Roby, Gareon Conley, Vernon Hargreaves III, and Lonnie Johnson Jr. seek to build on the foundation created last year. Rookies Ross Blacklock and Jonathan Greenard will be the most enticing pass rushers to watch and will hopefully shore up a suspect defensive line. The defense may be questionable, but beauty lies in the eyes of the Weaver.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

I’m just so excited. I can’t believe it’s actually going to happen in hours after months of waiting. After everything this year has been, football felt like an impossibility, or something a million years away. I’ve been pacing around my house all day thinking about how the game might go, how this season might go, what might happen. The lack of entertainment during the pandemic has made the return of football that much more exciting. I just began writing for Battle Red Blog this July, when prime season of football penmanship was still months away! Now, it’s here, and the weeks of speculation, questioning, analysis, and hype will be blasted away by the exhilarating reality of live football on national television. Everything changes today.

It reminds me of when I was a kid on Christmas, slowly making my way through presents to the large one in the back that just might be the present I’ve been wishing for all year long. Looks like the right size, the right shape, but there’s no way...Suspense builds as I reach for my wishes through discarded wrapping paper. It could be anything, anything in the world, but...could it be? After so many months of patience and speculation, so many months of worry about whether or not there would even be an NFL season...one definitive tear to the concealment, and there it is! A discovery tinged with excitement unlike any other, sparking such rampant glee that its radiance could be seen all the way to NRG Stadium.

The NFL season is here. It feels good to be back in the saddle. Welcome to Texans football.

Follow me on Twitter to watch me live tweet the game and go crazy: @FizzyJoe

Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports