In Case You Forgot, I Warned You About This Texans Team Months Ago

You know those annoying people who when you say you've been listening to a new artist you found on a random Spotify playlist, smugly respond by saying they were fans of them before they were big like they deserve a seat on the Grammy nomination board? The ones that laugh at you or give you the chuckling "you're just hearing about them?", belittling you as if they're some musical royal who's grounds we're blessed to be sharing?

That's me, right now, with the Texans.

The Houston Texans are the NFL's hottest toy; they've won five in a row, eight of their last 10 after starting 0-3, have the best defense in football, and may have just knocked the Chiefs out of playoff contention in their own building under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football.

Today you will likely hear proclamations of Super Bowl appearances. You'll hear how they may be the team to beat in the AFC, that they'll overtake the Jags to win the South, and are the number one "team you don't want to play in the playoffs" team in the league.

This is all fair, we know how the game goes. People react to what they see. They make "bold" and obvious statements as if they were the first to the party, although that's rarely the case.

Unless you're me, who said this about the Texans in a blog I wrote October 15th when they were a mere 2-3:

If I had to pick my dark horse in the AFC right now this is my pick. They've won two in a row to get to 2-3, but are not being considered as threats in the AFC South given the separation of the Colts and Jags ahead of them.

At 2-3 they're being extremely overlooked. I think it's completely possible for them to climb back and fight for this division. I think the offense and CJ Stroud are more than capable of righting the ship and scoring 20 points a game, which is all they need to do right now. And I have no reason to believe the defense won't continue playing at an elite level for the foreseeable future. If they beat Seattle on Monday night, look out for this team. Just know I warned you.

Now THAT'S being first to the party (they actually lost that Seattle game, but the take remains sharp as a tack).

This is one of the better defenses in recent memory and they show it every week. The offense still isn't playing at an incredibly high level, but they don't need to. Like I said, all they need to do is score 20 points.

Since that post, the Texans are 6-2. They've scored 20 points in five of those eight games. Care to guess their record in those five? To give you a hint, the three they haven't include their two losses and a victory over Tennessee, who was a rhetorical exception to the rule.

We've doubled down on this team multiple times since that original blog. We've bet on the Texans more than anyone else this season. And although we didn't on Sunday, they continue to show why they were and are the team I can't quit.

I'm right often (as I am wrong, that's the take business), but I feel weirdly prideful with this one. I'm soaking in the Texans love as if I was a fan, but for all the wrong reasons. I watch ESPN hoping to see "per Fundamentally Unsound" italicized in small text on the bottom of a headline as if I was the podcast getting credit for a quote someone said. I'm walking down the street waiting for someone to stop me and say "were you the guy who told us to look out for the Texans when they were in the basement of the league?" So far I'm still waiting, but a man can dream.

Houston deserves all the credit and love they're receiving. I agree that they are the scariest team to me as a Patriots fan in the AFC. They are in fact not a team I want to face in the first round of the playoffs as we would if the season ended today. They have an all-world and all-time defense who's consistently shut down the best offenses and players in the sport, and, when CJ Stroud has the time in the pocket, pose an extremely dangerous vertical passing game on the other side.

So shower them with love and appreciate what they're doing. Just remember who told you first.