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Clearing the hurdle has never been easy for the Houston Texans. Advancing past the divisional round has remained something attainable yet elusive, a pursuit now stretching 24 years back to the franchise’s inaugural season in 2002.
That journey began on a national stage. Joe Theismann was in the booth on Sunday Night ESPN when the Texans played the first game in franchise history. David Carr was under center. Dallas was on the other sideline. Houston won. At the time it felt like a beginning filled with possibility. Two decades later, the same voice who called that opening night is now describing just how long it can take for belief to turn into proof.
They have arrived at this doorstep before. Six times in fact. Each ended the same way, turned back and often decisively. Two of those exits came at the same place and against the same opponent they will face Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. In 2012 and again in 2016, Tom Brady and company delivered their familiar January verdict. Brady threw four touchdowns in the first meeting. Four years later, Dion Lewis crossed the goal line three times.
In sports, time has a way of compounding disappointment. Years quietly become decades. The Detroit Lions once went more than 30 years between playoff wins. The New York Jets have managed just 10 total postseason victories since Joe Namath famously guaranteed Super Bowl III some 57 years ago. For Houston, the frustration has been more specific and more immediate. Six divisional round losses, outscored by a combined margin of 203 to 112.
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Theismann understands that weight better than most. He was there at the beginning of the Texans’ story, calling their first ever game, and he lived through a similar wait during his own career. Speaking to Sporting News, he recalled the moment Washington finally pushed through its own barrier.
“When we finally beat Dallas in the playoffs it was a huge sense of relief. You’re never quite sure until you actually do something and get it done in this league. We were no longer afraid of the big bad wolf”
Two weeks later, Theismann hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XVII against Miami. The lesson, he said, is never accidental.
“it takes forever because you have to build the right culture. Along the way, you’re meshing different personalities and coaches and schemes trying to construct a winner.”
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For the Texans, it is a striking full circle moment. The same analyst who called their first ever win is now explaining why simply reaching this stage can take a generation, and why breaking through it can change everything.
As Houston heads east into outdoor elements with a chance to rewrite its own narrative, Theismann’s evaluation of DeMeco Ryans’ team was direct.
“The defense is off the charts but C.J. Stroud has to step up and be a playoff caliber quarterback on Sunday.”
For the Texans, the hurdle remains the same. Sunday is simply another chance to finally clear it.
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