Texans fans hope for consistancy, more wins than losses

    The Texans coaching staff will have more to tackle on the gridiron this year than the opposing team. They’ll have to battle the team’s inconsistent level of playing and maintain the momentum the team picked up during their final six games of 2008, five of which the Texans won.

    The franchise finished last year with an 8-8 record, matching the 2007 record for the young team’s best season thus far, but for many Texans fans, thus far isn’t far enough. Aaron Pizana, a Houston fan who has followed the Texans since their opening season in 2002, said that maintaining momentum will be key to the team’s success this season.

    “The Texans are going to have to start the season as strong as they end,” he said. 
Houston’s 2009 season has the potential, as many fans hope, to bring more wins than losses for the team. Fans shouldn’t hope for anything less. Since head coach Gary Kubiak was hired in 2006 after the franchise record low season of 2-14 under then-head coach Dom Capers, the team’s record has been slowly improving until last year’s stalemate.

    Realistically, the team should be able to pick up some momentum this season with the return of some of last season’s key players, including left guard Chester Pitts and center Chris Myers on the offensive line. Kubiak exhibited optimism in a January interview about the offensive linemen after the close of last season.

    “As I’ve said from the start, they can become the strength of the team,” Kubiak said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that they have somewhat headed in that direction. And the longer those guys play together, work together and stay together, the better.”

    This strong league of veteran players, combined with the versatile rookies like newly drafted tight end James Casey should lead to a season record of nine wins. At worst, the team could regress to sacking more losses than wins.

    Sloppy play, such as allowing far too many sacks, is a potential pitfall for the Texans. The offensive line allowed 32 sacks last season. This may not be the lowest number of sacks experienced by AFC quarterbacks, it is an improvement over the 72 sacks QB David Carr had to face in 2002 with the Texans. 

    While it’s obvious that the Texans team is still growing as an NFL franchise, fans might have to expect a Texas-sized miracle to see any drastic changes this season in the number of games the team wins. Small improvements, however, should be expected, not withstanding any Texas-sized setbacks.