Winning Cures All

If you said “All I want for Christmas is a huge Houston Texans win,” congrats on seeing your dream come true! Not only did rookie quarterback Davis Mills put on a show for the hometown Christmas crowd, the rest of the team joined him in walloping the playoff hopeful San Diego Chargers.

For the briefest of moments, in the lingering wake of a Christmas miracle, all is well in the lives of Houston Texans fans.

Indeed, multiple Texans players won accolades.

Plus the real unsung hero of the Texans’ 2021 campaign is finally getting some of the spotlight:

Yes, it may have taken all season, but for the final week of 2021, we all have something wonderful to focus on - if only for the briefest of moments.

However, looking deeper still pulls back the curtain of happiness to show this victory pushed Houston further still from the first overall draft pick next April. It’s a huge win, but a hollow one in some ways. The Texans had nothing to gain and a lot to lose by winning.

The Jacksonville Jaguars currently hold the #1 overall pick. The Detroit Lions sit at #2. Houston still sits at #3, but if they win one more game, they could actually tumble all the way to the #9 pick, as the New York Jets (4th pick and 7th pick), New York Giants (5the pick and 8th pick) and Carolina Panthers (6th pick) hold the 4-8 slots and are all just one win ahead of Houston at 5-10 on the season.

With the wonderful momentum of last weekend’s 40-burger and the upcoming potential for a rookie back-up quarterback to lead the San Francisco 49ers this week, there’s a real chance the Texans could notch their fifth win of the year on Sunday. If the Jets, Giants and Panthers all lose, and the 49ers do as well, Houston would continue to lose by winning.

It’s my opinion—and I know it may be an unpopular one—that David Culley needs to pull the goalie, shut down Tim Kelly, and treat the next two games like they’re happening in the 2022 preseason. Any more wins are worse than meaningless; they actually hurt Houston’s future by diminishing the quality of their draft capital.

While it sucks to watch, we all need to pull up our boots and trudge through the final two losses, clinging tenaciously to the December 26th ‘Super Bowl’ of 2021 Texans fandom. We don’t have a star studded roster or hope for actual playoff glory, but that spark should be enough to keep the embers glowing until April, when Nick Caserio has had a chance to bring in more Davis Mills, Nico Collins, and Rex Burkhead types to continue rebuilding this roster in earnest.

In the meantime, never forget this: