History of the Houston Texans

Despite some growing pains in the first nine years of their existence, the Texans became a more dominant team in the NFL's AFC South division in the 2010s, though they have yet to appear in a Super Bowl or a conference championship game.

In June 1997, Bob McNair and Chuck Watson were bypassed by the National Hockey League in an attempt to bring a team to Houston, in part because of a lack of a suitable NHL arena.

Houston officials worried that Los Angeles would get the nod because of its media market size; in early May, those fears became reality as entertainment guru Michael Ovitz announced he would lead a largely privately financed $750 million project to build a stadium in Carson, California in hopes of landing the expansion team.

However, both McNair and Ovitz stated that they needed to know the NFL's intentions regarding expansion by early 1999, lest they lose public support as a result of long delays while the league developed its plans.

However, the award was contingent on the city's putting together an acceptable ownership team and stadium deal by September 15; if the parties could not reach an agreement or be close to doing so, the committee would then turn its recommendation to Houston.

Though Tagliabue and the NFL officials were pleased with the concept, they were daunted by the cost which included $225 million for parking garages, especially since neither Los Angeles nor the State of California was willing to commit the necessary funds.

The NFL noted that the Los Angeles effort was still making no progress and now featured a three-way battle between Ovitz, Roski, and newcomer Marvin Davis.

During this time, a handful of team names were trademarked for potential use by the franchise, including Apollos, Bobcats, Challengers, Colt 45's, Energy, Hurricanes, Roughnecks, Roughriders, Roustabouts, Stallions, Stormcats, Texans, Texians, Toros, Wildcats, Wildcatters, and Wranglers.

After almost a year of speculation, the team was officially christened the Houston Texans during a downtown celebration on September 6, 2000, that included NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Bob McNair unveiling the new logo.

McNair declared that he was positive about naming the team Stallions, but opted out of this since the horse imagery was overused in the league with the Denver Broncos, the Indianapolis Colts and the secondary logo of the San Diego Chargers.

The Texans launched their inaugural campaign on August 5, 2002, against the New York Giants at Fawcett Stadium in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, in front of 22,461 fans.

Rookie David Carr hooked up with tight end Billy Miller on the third play from scrimmage for a touchdown (scoring the first points for the franchise).

The season was deemed a success despite David Carr being sacked an NFL record 76 times and the realization that Tony Boselli, the man they had hoped would protect their young quarterback, would never play a down of football for the team.

That optimism soured, however, after the Texans started the ’04 season 0–3 and for the first time fans began to question the direction in which head coach Dom Capers and the front office were taking.

Conspiracy theories that the Texans were tanking games to secure the number one pick after several close losses late in the year culminated with the "Bush Bowl" in San Francisco during the last week of the season.

Gary Kubiak, offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos and a Houston native, was hired to take over and the franchise headed into the most controversial off-season in team history.

Snapping a nine-game losing streak to the Indianapolis Colts, the Texans stunned the eventual Super Bowl Champions 27–24 as Carr went 16–23 with 1 TD and no interceptions or sacks; and finished the game with a 6-play, 31-yard drive to put Kris Brown in a position to kick the winning field goal.

Had it not been for the last minute defensive failures versus the Bills and the Titans, the Texans would have finished with their first breakeven season at 8–8, on the back of their rapidly improving offense.

After back-to-back heartbreaking losses against Jacksonville and Indianapolis, the Texans secured their first win of the season against the Dolphins in dramatic come from behind fashion capped with a fourth and goal touchdown run by Matt Schaub with three seconds remaining in the game.

They set a franchise record for consecutive wins with 4, after beating the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, and the Tennessee Titans.

Despite losing their opening game against the New York Jets, the Texans went 5-3 through the first half of the season including a victory over division rival the Tennessee Titans in week 2.

[8] Under Phillips' guidance and the additions of draft picks J. J. Watt, Brandon Harris, Roc Carmichael, Brooks Reed, and Shiloh Keo, the revamped Texans defense rose from 30th to second in the league.

Despite lengthy injuries to Matt Schaub (replaced by T. J. Yates), Mario Williams, and Andre Johnson, the Texans went 10–6 in 2011 and won the AFC South to advance to the playoffs, both firsts in franchise history.

Matt Schaub struggled, throwing a pick-six in four consecutive games before getting injured and benched for Yates and rookie Case Keenum,[12] and would eventually be traded to the Oakland Raiders following the season.

[14][15] Starting off with journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Texans won three of their first four games, defeating the Redskins in the season opener, the Raiders, and the Bills, losing to the New York Giants.

After throwing two interceptions in Week 15 against the Jaguars, coach Bill O'Brien benched the offseason acquisition in favor of backup quarterback Tom Savage.

[23] Houston also traded Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks, but added receiver Kenny Stills and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil in another deal with the Miami Dolphins.

Due to both factors, the Texans signed veteran journeyman Tyrod Taylor and drafted Davis Mills to play at quarterback in Watson's stead in 2021, ultimately keeping the latter inactive throughout the season despite not releasing or suspending him.

The team's season would officially come to an end when they would lose to the one-seed Baltimore Ravens 34–10 in the Divisional round, preventing them from making their first AFC Championship appearance in franchise history.

Following a Week 15 victory against the Miami Dolphins coupled with the Indianapolis Colts losing to the Denver Broncos, the Texans successfully defended their AFC South title and ensured one home playoff game.