The Difference Between the Texans; Then and Now

In December the Patriots hosted the number one seeded Houston Texans on a Monday night showdown in a game that was quoted by Texans players as being “the most important game in franchise history.”

The Patriots man-handled the Texans on December 10th proving once again that they are the dominant franchise in the AFC yet again.

There is one major difference between the Houston Texans from back in December and the Houston Texans on this day and that is confidence. When they came into Foxboro they were the number one seed in the AFC having all the confidence in the world ready to play “the most important game in franchise history,” but fell flat on their face, leading to where they are currently. After that game against the Pats they went 1-2 to slip out of their position as the number one seed and had to play Wild Card Weekend.

Currently their confidence is shot and I’m still having a hard time understanding why they had so much confidence to begin with. During the span they went 11-1 they only beat two playoff teams and now that I look back on it they didn’t really beat anyone on the Patriots level the entire season. False confidence was all they possessed and now that it’s gone I’m afraid it’s gone for good.

The declining Texans have next to no shot against the Patriots in freezing cold Foxboro this time around. Coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady are going for it all this year knowing that Brady’s career is inching closer and closer to the finish line. If they came in here with all that confidence and were as amped up as they were then you would have thought they would come in here with an effort better than the one that left the score 42 to 14 when the clock struck 0.

I do however think this time will be closer because you can’t get much higher than a 30 point win, but also there is added intensity in the playoffs and the added element of seeing what the Patriots want to do against them come game time. Quoting Tom Brady “it’s hard to win in this league” and it’s especially hard to win twice against a good team like the Texans. In saying that I still think the Patriots have the edge in every area of the game; from the QB play, to the offensive and defensive lines, to offensive weapons, to running back and even are comparable to the Texans in the secondary.