By The Capital Sports Report Staff
The Houston Oilers packed up their NFL team and relocated it to Tennessee in 1997. Football in Texas, and particularly Houston football, suffered greatly as a result. Here come Bob McNair’s Texans.
The Houston Texans’ NFL debut in 2002 put an end to the city’s five-year absence from professional football. The Texans had a rough start, finishing below 500 in six of their first nine seasons, and missing the playoffs entirely. However, the Houston franchise has had a significantly more prosperous ten years.
The NFL’s youngest team made its first playoff appearance in 2011, and since then, they’ve advanced six more times, each time taking home the AFC South championship. Despite winning four of their last six Wild Card playoff games, they have never advanced past the Division round. The Kansas City Chiefs most recently defeated the Houston Texans, and they went on to win Super Bowl LIV.
READ MORE: Click here for our latest NFL coverage
As of August 30, the Houston Texans’ +20000 odds to win the Super Bowl were the second-longest in the NFL. The Texans presently have +475 odds to enter the playoffs. The Texans finished 3-13-1 the previous year, falling short of the playoffs. For your NFL playoff betting, you can take to busr.ag for your bets.
Houston has quickly evolved from a franchise that was simply happy to be back in the NFL to one that has routinely fielded a team ready to fight for their division crown and in the postseason after playing fewer than 20 seasons during their time in the league.
Houston has experienced a lot of success and excitement, largely due to the presence of their man at the center right now. So let’s take a look at the top three quarterbacks for the Houston Texans before their 19th season begins.
Honorable mentions:
Sage Rosenfels, Brian Hoyer
#3. QB David Carr, 2002-2006
David Carr, the first Texans quarterback, helped Houston’s return to the NFL in the greatest way imaginable. The Texans selected the former Golden Arm champion first overall, and he received the keys to the kingdom after just one game.
The team’s first win came under Carr’s leadership against Texas’ older brother, the Dallas Cowboys. Sadly, they would finish the year with a 4-12 record, thus this was arguably the season’s high point. His time in Houston would be centered around this.
With 52 losses and 22 victories, Carr would finish his time as a Texan. He would finish his career with the Houston team with 1,243 completions for 13,391 yards and 59 touchdowns.
READ MORE: Click here for our latest Sports coverage
#2. QB Deshaun Watson, 2017-present
Without a doubt, Deshaun Watson deserves to be on this list and may end up being remembered as the greatest quarterback in team history. Watson has already established himself as the most dynamic weapon Houston has had behind the quarterback in just two full seasons with the Texans, with his rookie season being cut short by an ACL rupture sustained during a non-contact exercise in practice.
The Clemson product, who won the Golden Arm award like Carr, not only gives the Texans a strong aerial attack but also gives their ground game a boost with his tenacity and quickness. The Houston Texans’ comeback overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills in the postseason’s Wild Card round last year was the best example of Watson’s dual-threat offensive abilities.
In the Texans’ comeback victory over the Bills, Watson had a key role in both of the teams’ touchdowns, running in one and throwing a pass to Carlos Hyde for the other. In the end, Houston prevailed 22-19 in overtime, and Watson finished with 302 all-purpose yards and 20 completions out of 25 attempts.
There is no denying the talent or the numbers. Watson has accumulated totals of 804 pass completions for 9,716 yards and 71 touchdowns as of the time of writing. He has also run for 14 touchdowns thus far. The fact that Watson has regularly and really won is more significant than any statistics. Watson has a 24-13 record in 37 starts with the Texans and has guided them to two straight postseason appearances. His best performance to date came in last season’s playoffs.
Hopefully, his injury during his first season was only a minor setback on the way to what is already shaping up to be one Texas-sized career.
#1. QB Matt Schaub, 2007-2013
Watson would undoubtedly be at the top of the list if it weren’t for the limited sample size, but for now, Matt Schaub is in first place.
When Carr was replaced in 2007, Schaub wasn’t as effective at winning games as Watson was. Schaub had a record of 46 wins and 42 defeats as a starter while playing for the Texas team. He did, however, have a two-year stretch in which he guided the Texans to consecutive postseason trips, giving the brand-new Houston team its first playoff berth in 2011.
In terms of statistics, Schaub unquestionably wins. In his time with the Texans, he completed 1,951 of 3,020 passes for 23,221 passing yards and 124 touchdowns.
Houston’s two-time Pro Bowler Schaub is in charge for the time being, but it won’t be long before the team’s current starter replaces him.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Tumblr, YouTube, and TruthSocial
Keep Independent Journalism Alive! Ad-free experience and Exclusive Premium-plus content. Join our Paid Substack for additional content for $10 per month. This is ad-free content. We believe that what you read matters and great writing is valuable. Through Substack, writers can flourish by being paid directly by their readers. © 2007-2023 The Capital Sports Report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcasted, rewritten, or redistributed.
