After today's game (at the end of the 3rd Quarter, the Texans are down 31-10 to the troubled Tennessee Titans*) there won't even be a mathematical hope for Texans players to hand their post-game interview hats on. A season that started with high-hopes (by some) and expectations of making the play-offs (by some) will have figuratively ended with a resounding thud at the home of the team that used to hold a place in Houston's heart.**
The sad thing is, what will follow will be platitudes and sound-bytes from a clueless coach, players who don't know how to win and an owner who only pays lip-service to winning but seems content just keep running up season ticket sales while sticking with mediocrity (or worse) on the field. "It's better than when we had no team!" Texans supporters will say, a feeling to which I respond "No, it's really not."
At least when there wasn't an NFL team in Houston television options included the best league match-ups of the day***. Today, for example, Houston fans could have watched the Saints vs. Ravens, or Jacksonville vs. Indy. Both games are matches where each team has very real playoff hopes. Instead, in Houston, we're stuck with watching a team come out flat in the first half with a defense that's incapable of stopping a hard-charging Jr. High marching band. It's bad football, Kubiak football, Denver Broncos football.
It should be obvious to Texans fans that the team has selected the incorrect model. After the retirement of John Elway (one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game) Shanahan's NFL recipe has been mediocre, at best. Who does that remind you of?
That's right, Gary Kubiak.
Of course, there's little hope that McNair is going to blow this mess up and start over next year. As he said in last week's interview, he feels the team is "on the right path" and "on the cusp" of being a playoff contender. What this means is that Houston football fans have another average team to look forward to next year (when, and if, the year finally starts) with no significant changes to a roster that only has two or three NFL quality players on the 2-deep. In a football mad city like Houston (In a football mad state like Texas) that shouldn't fly.
As it stands now I'm already picking the 2011 Texans to finish somewhere around 8-8. I don't see Kubiak getting let go so I don't see much improvement. The schedule will depend on whether I pick them to go 6-10 or 8-8 but it won't be any higher. This is the most irrelevant team in the NFL right now, unless the ownership catches a clue this won't change any time soon.
*If the Texans were really serious about winning, Kubiak and staff would be summarily dismissed after this stinker of a performance. Look at Dallas, they fell out of the playoff race, got humiliated on TV and their coach was gone. Say what you want about Jerry Jones at least the guy tries to win.
**In many cases, they still do. The biggest reason I'm not a Texans fan is because they're not the Oilers.
***Well, OK, and the Dallas Cowboys.