The Houston Texans are in the midst of a heated playoff battle. And despite the odds being stacked against the team, Houston has stayed undeterred.
Houston has won five consecutive games in a stretch that has included the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs. In the process they have defeated the likes of quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville), Josh Allen (Buffalo) and Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City) and the league’s top running back in Jonathan Taylor.
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In the blink of an eye, the Texans have gone from a 3-5 record to 8-5 this season and completely transformed their playoff outlook. Still Houston has plenty of work to do and holds the No. 7 seed, the last spot in the NFL playoffs, with the Indianapolis Colts (8-5) just below them due to a head-to-head tie-breaker.
The Texans do not have any time to get comfortable knowing that the Colts are not going to let up. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud shared how he is able to stay focused on the task at hand rather than the low margin for error. He said the following to the media of his mindset.
“Just short-term memory and trying to forget every failure, forget every success and move on and try to put our best foot forward. We try to go win every game if we can and put our best ball on tape so by the time it’s do or die, we’re able to play some good ball.”
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) greet each other after the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Some would say the Texans are taking the one game at a time mantra to the extreme. You could say it is working for them with the team now having won four games in a row. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans described the teams almost impossible-to-believe laser focus. He said the following of the team’s recent approach.
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“Sometimes when I say it’s truly one game at a time, sometimes my kids may ask, ‘Dad, who do we play next?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I really don’t know who we play next.’ You guys tell me who we play next because I can’t do anything about the next opponent until we handle the one that’s facing us right now.”
It is difficult to believe that Ryans truly does not know the next week’s opponent as he suggests, but the Texans have been playing like a team that is wholly focused on the next opponent. They will look to take care of business against the Cardinals on Sunday.