Despite an up-and-down season and tons of adversity on the injury front, the Houston Texans were able to win the AFC South division title, finish the season with a 10-7 record, and get into the playoffs.
In the Wild Card round of the playoffs, the Texans are scheduled to face off against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Beating the Chargers is not going to be easy. With all of the injuries that Houston is dealing with, they have an uphill battle to face entering the playoffs. Even though there are things going against them, the Texans have a chance to catch fire and making a shocking run.
C.J. Stroud is more than capable of turning things up a notch and scoring big in any given game. Hopefully, that will start this week against Los Angeles.
One former NFL head coach doesn’t see Houston having a single chance against the Chargers.
Rex Ryan, who is currently an NFL analyst, but is also interviewing for the New York Jets’ head coaching job, spoke out and brutally ripped into the Texans ahead of the Wild Card.
“Chargers, basically I never realized they get a bye [on Saturday],” Ryan said. “Oh wait, they gotta play [the Texans]. What’s the difference?”
Those words should simply give Houston more motivation. No one believes that they have a chance. Sometimes, playing with the underdog mentality can be very helpful for a team.
Ryan continued on, opening up more about why he doesn’t think the Texans can win in the playoffs.
“The Texans’ offense is struggling so bad. They can’t protect the quarterback, The Chargers’ No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL going up against that offense? Wooh! Get ready for the next round.”
Granted, Houston has struggled throughout the season. Losing pieces like Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell have set them back. However, there is enough talent still on the field to make some noise.
Hopefully, the Texans will embrace these kinds of negative takes. It should fuel their fire to prove all of the doubters wrong.
A win over Los Angeles would shut up the analysts like Ryan. It would be sweet to see Houston overcome all of the hardship that has been thrown at them and win at least one playoff game.
