Phillip Rucker said, "To be the adult in the room is to suffer the tantrum of the kid and not to take it seriously." Since 2014 the Houston Texans have had their share of kids in the room, but you know that story, so I won’t linger on it. The organization had become an alternate universe for its city and its fans filled with many self-inflicted trials and tribulations. I remember the adage "If you find yourself in a deep hole… just stop digging." The Houston Texans signaled they stopped digging when they hired Demeco Ryans.

Ryans a former Texan player signals the return of a player’s coach to Houston. He understands what it is like to be on that field. He understands the full spectrum (as a player and Coach) of winning and losing, but more than that he is meticulous in the development of the defense. The defense has always been and will always be the heartbeat of any NFL franchise.

It is the implementation of this defensive strategy toward teambuilding that creates "hope" for the Texans' future. Ryan now has become the adult in the room for this organization and regardless of what wins and losses occur this season the Texans will be better. His philosophy is simple "Do your job". In football, the teams that do their jobs consistently find success. I believe DeMeco knows that before they can "do their job" he has to "do his job" and thus become "the adult in the room." His maturation in the role as head coach is definitively job 1.

But enough of the TEXSON approval of the coaching hire. Here’s my take on the Houston Texans 2023-2024 NFL Season. Although I still think there is one more cut to be made in our front office that will remove the previous stench of the alternate universe, I feel the Texans will be competitive this season.

In this year’s Predictathon narrative, I will divide the 2023-2024 NFL season into three parts: Early Season (5 games), Midseason (6 games), and Late Season (6 games). When looking at the overall strength of the Texans’ schedule it makes me somewhat "Wade Phillips giddy" about the possibilities this year. We will play many teams that are offensively challenged which is all the reason that defensively the Texans must meld and grow quickly.

A consistent pass rush and back-end coverage should be the priority early. The offense, on the other hand, has much further to go for me to expect much more than the last two years. If I was Meco, I’d sit the kid and let old Case Keenum lead for this season. The schedule demands that we get off to a solid start and throwing a rookie into the mix early seems a bit much at this point thus the offense should focus on just execution. No need to overdo it, knowing the future should be brighter.

Now join me as I fire up the Back to the Future Delorean and preview our 2023-24 TEXSON Predictathon…

EARLY SEASON: The first five games provide opportunities and set the tone for our Houston Texans with Baltimore, Indianapolis, and last year’s AFCS winner Jacksonville. Pittsburgh, and Atlanta round out. Baltimore and Jacksonville both have playoff potential and are the toughest teams we face in the early season, but I feel we may have a chance going 2-1 with the others.

MID-SEASON: As our team discovers its identity, the mid-season run should provide multiple opportunities for building confidence as they face New Orleans, Have their bye week, then Carolina, Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Arizona, and Jacksonville round it out. This is the bumps and bruises part of our season and except for Tampa and Arizona our hometown guys are probably going to fail this test to the tune of 2-4 at best.

LATE SEASON: As the NFL playoff race is taking shape the team’s last opportunities come with Denver, the NY Jets, Tennessee twice, Cleveland, and close out the season with Indianapolis. Based on our health and progression at the end of the season could be time for us to pull out our rally caps or become the nail in our coffin for the season. Therefore .500 is about the best we can expect as our season comes to an end.

AFCS Season Results

• Jacksonville 10-7, Tennessee 8-9, Houston 6-11, Indianapolis 4-1

So in TEXSON’s opinion, the Texans are a team on the upswing and the AFCS and along with the NFCS are truly the worst divisions in this league. That leads me to be cautiously optimistic as this team develops under the DeMeco era that they can become the adults in the room called the AFCS. Slow and steady will win this race.

So fellow BRB’ers... Stay strong… We’ll be praying for wins, but at this point… we can live with any improvements given. Patience is the most unforgiving virtue. That is the Houston Texans Way!!!