In fact, the Texans should have gone 12-4 in 2008 ( not 8-8 ) but they let those two games slip away against the Colts, the loss at Jacksonville in Overtime should have been a win, and the loss against the Vikings in Minnesota was also winnable.

There were at least four winnable games the Texans didn't grasp last season, and those one-score losses still eat away at my mind all off-season long.


I love the Texans, but why do you constantly set yourself up for disappointment, Ryan? It's tough to watch.

Yes, the Texans were ridiculously unlucky against the Colts and Jaguars... but guess what? They were very lucky in other games! You can't just look at the one-score losses and say "man, we really should have been 12-4, if we had had one extra bounce here..." because the exact reverse is true in one-score wins! Take the Miami game, for example -- the Texans had no business winning that game. The Dolphins dropped a point blank INT that would have ended the game, and Andre Johnson made by far the greatest catch of his entire career on 4th and 10 just to keep the drive alive. Then Schaub scores on a fourth-and-goal with three seconds left... think about how you'd feel if the Texans were on defense and something like that happened to them to end a game.

Same is true of the 13-12 game with the Titans. What if Jeff Fisher kicks a FG with 2 minutes left? What if Kerry Collins doesn't overthrow a WIDE open receiver on that 4th down? Same with the 24-21 win over Green Bay.

You can't just look at the "almost" wins and conclude what a team should have been. You also have to look at the "almost" losses, and in almost all cases (and it's definitely true of the Texans in 2008), they even out and the team got the record (8-8) it deserved. I think the Texans will improve behind further development and an easier schedule, but 12 is a little much. I'd go 9-7 or 10-6, outside shot at 11-5 if everything goes right and big injuries are avoided.

P.S. The Colts are still the class of this division (yes, I know the Titans won it last year - fluke) and I have no clue how anyone could say they got "noticeably weaker" or make a legitimate argument that the Texans are a superior team. I hate the Colts, but that's the reality.