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What Will You Consider a Successful Season?

What Would Make You Consider This Season a Success?

  • We Won the Division

    Votes: 4 5.6%

  • First Playoff Win

    Votes: 44 62.0%

  • If We Can Beat the Ravens

    Votes: 8 11.3%

  • Playing in the Super Bowl

    Votes: 4 5.6%

  • Champs, Baby!

    Votes: 11 15.5%
  • Total voters
    71
TheCD

TheCD

Rookie
Hey all. Just wanting to gauge everyone's thoughts and feelings on what outcome you think would suffice to make you consider this season "successful".

My poll is as follows:

1. We were successful because we won the division, and that guarantees the playoffs. Only 12 playoff teams a year makes (almost) anyone who gets a birth successful.

2. We won our first playoff game - First trip + first win = how can you be upset about that?

3. Beating the Ravens in their house - Going on the road and winning against a team we've never beat before in their house when they haven't hosted a playoff game in 11 years? How can you be dissapointed in that?

4. Super Bowl Loss - We would have won our conference with this depleted team and gone to the big stage. Who can say a Super Bowl appearance is unsuccessful?

5. Champs, Baby! - The only way you could be satisfied and call this season a success is to be measuring those ring fingers in the offseason. Isn't this why we play the game? Anything else is loser talk...


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So what say you, fellow Texans fans? At a bare minimum what would you want out of the Texans to consider this season a "success" (and you can define success however you want here). Personally, I'm torn but I'm going to go with if we can beat the Ravens. We expected the Texans to compete and win the division. Losing at home would have been ridiculous, even with our injuries. If we can get out of Baltimore with a win, I will be satisfied...probably because I feel the only team that could stop us from there would be the Saints.
 
With the big time injuries we had, I think our first playoff win is the thing that makes this season a success. If we lose to the Ravens we should not hang our hats, they are a tough team and fully healthy (for the most part), we will get revenge next season with our roster back!
 
Texan_Bill said:
While my head tells me this, my heart wants it ALL!
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Exactly. Beating the Bengals made this season a success when it was beginning to have the slight odor of disappointment to it after that three game losing streak at the end. We all understand that the injuries have played havoc with our season. Still, one playoff win goes a long way.

But more is "more". Beating Baltimore would be amazing. Best season in this town since Bum Phillips took the Oilers to Pittsburgh the second time for the AFC Championship game. That would make this te best season of football since 1979.

That would incredible and topping that would be "more incredibler".
 
amazing80 said:
With the big time injuries we had, I think our first playoff win is the thing that makes this season a success. If we lose to the Ravens we should not hang our hats, they are a tough team and fully healthy (for the most part), we will get revenge next season with our roster back!
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Good post "Noob" LOL! I agree with your assessment and now I don't have to post all of that.
 
dream_team said:
To me, this has already been a successful season. Everything else is just gravy.
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My thoughts exactly.

This team has traditionally taken "baby steps" with success over the years. Stuff like finally having a three game winning streak several seasons into it, finally having a winning season, and so on.

But this season has blown the doors off of all that trend. Just think about the firsts in 2011:

First 7 game winning streak

First double digit win season

First division title

First playoff game (and at home!)

First playoff win

I want it all like anyone else, but not matter how the rest of the playoffs pan out, this season is clearly a success in terms of Texans history. Now the team has standards to live up to and something positive to build on. And that, my fellow fanatics, is a wonderful thing.
 
Double Barrel said:
My thoughts exactly.

This team has traditionally taken "baby steps" with success over the years. Stuff like finally having a three game winning streak several seasons into it, finally having a winning season, and so on.

But this season has blown the doors off of all that trend. Just think about the firsts in 2011:

First 7 game winning streak

First double digit win season

First division title

First playoff game (and at home!)

First playoff win

I want it all like anyone else, but not matter how the rest of the playoffs pan out, this season is clearly a success in terms of Texans history. Now the team has standards to live up to and something positive to build on. And that, my fellow fanatics, is a wonderful thing.
Click to expand...

I won't be happy on Sunday unless we get the "W", but that's short term. Regardless of what happens in the divisional game - or any game we play after that - everybody associated with this team should feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. Not just with what this team did, but how they did it.

They should also have a burning desire to feel that same thing again, and again, and again...
 
TheCD said:
At a bare minimum what would you want out of the Texans to consider this season a "success" (and you can define success however you want here).
Click to expand...

I didn't look at it this way, I saw the poll & answered the question.

Success to me is a Super Bowl Championship... that's why you play the game. Anything less, & I'm waiting for next year to give it another shot.

Bare minimum, I expect the Texans to provide an entertaining experience. For me, that doesn't necessarily mean we have to win. As a Texans' fan I always want the Texans to win.

The first 4 years, we were getting spanked, & basically getting lucky & winning every now & then. The last 6 years, I've seen some of the best football I've ever seen. I don't expect to win them all, if we play a good game & lose, I'm fine with that.

So if we have a year like 2009, where we finished with a winning record & simply got beat 7 times...... I was fine with that.

2010.... most of those were exciting games. There was almost always an element of come back in them. So while I left the stadium feeling entertained, I wasn't necessarily happy with the direction the team was headed.

At a bare minimum winning the division was good enough for me.... but if we lost to a team (the Bengals) that I thought was definitely inferior, I wouldn't have been happy.

Losing to the Panthers, Colts, & Titans did not bother me, because I felt Kubiak was looking at the big picture... we'll see next week if it paid off.
 
For me, a successful season ends in nothing short of a superbowl.

Now, that doesn't mean that I will be pissed off at the team if they don't make it, but if the main goal is truly to win a superbowl then by definition alone you have failed to reach that goal.

I will be optimistic heading into next year, but I will have concluded that we failed to reach our ultimate goal this season.
 
If you ain't first your last!
thumbnail.aspx

"SUPERBOWL WIN"
 
If the team goes into BAL and plays a competitive game, I'll be satisfied with the season, win or lose. They've already won a playoff game, which was my criteria, but they can kill a lot of good will by going into BAL and playing like crap.

Also, like Bill said above, this is just what my head tells me. My heart wants it all. You never know how many times the playoffs will happen. I know we all want to believe this is the first of many trips, but most teams don't go on a multi-year run. Take advantage of the chances that come along.
 
I'm sure there are going to be a lot of fans "demanding" big changes if we lose on Sunday.
 
Success equals a Super Bowl, trading 2 players from our practice squad each with a bag of peanuts, to Indianapolis for that 1st pick in the draft as well as also drafting Andrew Luck, just to put him on the bench until he drifts off into obscure mediocrity ala Matt Leinert.

Also, the defense crashes the Pro Bowl, ties up all the starting defenders and locks them away in a basement while taking the field in a dominating effort against all the "best" the NFC has to offer holding them to 3 points.

That is a measure of success!
 
thunderkyss said:
I'm sure there are going to be a lot of fans "demanding" big changes if we lose on Sunday.
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And here I thought you should have put "fans" in parenthesis. Must be my skewed way of thinking. After the way this season has gone and the past seasons, heck, I'm tickled that we not only made it to the playoffs, but won our first playoff game! A good showing against the Ravens would be enough for me, a win would set me off into ultimate homer mode!
 
Perki-Perk said:
And here I thought you should have put "fans" in parenthesis. Must be my skewed way of thinking. After the way this season has gone and the past seasons, heck, I'm tickled that we not only made it to the playoffs, but won our first playoff game! A good showing against the Ravens would be enough for me, a win would set me off into ultimate homer mode!
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That's big picture thinking. Some of our fans are real football fans. & if we're on the goal line about to score when a field goal would win the game & Kubiak has Jacoby Jones taking a direct snap.... then he fumbles the ball away......


That's his ass.
 
Goal and success for me is to different things. There can be more than one goal as there can be degrees of success. I predicted 15-1. McNair stepping up to bring Wade Phillips in was big as was the signing of Manning & Joseph. The move of Quin to safety as I had advocated was huge. The draft was amazing and all were degrees of success & reaching goals. We still have only glimpses of what the team could be barring injuries.

The championship was my primary goal after Leinert went down. Everything else is a rainbow after a rain in a drout. I will be very satisfied if Phillips returns. This will be the first time "Wait until next year" is a happy scream rather than a resentful defensive mutter.
 
Double Barrel said:
But this season has blown the doors off of all that trend. Just think about the firsts in 2011:

First 7 game winning streak

First double digit win season

First division title

First playoff game (and at home!)

First playoff win

I want it all like anyone else, but not matter how the rest of the playoffs pan out, this season is clearly a success in terms of Texans history. Now the team has standards to live up to and something positive to build on. And that, my fellow fanatics, is a wonderful thing.
Click to expand...

This. Seven game winning streak, first division title, first playoff win, etc.. It's hard not to say this season hasn't already been a success.
 
thunderkyss said:
I'm sure there are going to be a lot of fans "demanding" big changes if we lose on Sunday.
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Every fan wants a Super Bowl win, and when they don't get it, they want changes in their team so they can get a Super Bowl win. That's kind of like the sun rising in the East.

For myself, I'm happy with what we got ONLY if Wade comes back next year. If we lose to Baltimore AND lose Wade, I'm going to be a grumpy poster again until the Texans do something to shut me up.
 
I know it is too much to expect that you young people (anyone not in their 7th decade) would understand, but after seeing Billie Cannon and George Blanda, and the rest of the very first Oilers win the whole thing (in the old AFC), the only thing that I've wanted is to see the Oilers, nee Texans, win the SB. So I voted to win the whole thing Bably. Just Win!
 
The results are surprising to me. You guys are telling me that with all the injuries we've sustained, you would have considered the season a failure if we would have lost against Cincy last week? Winning the division deemed the season a success methinks.
 
Allstar said:
The results are surprising to me. You guys are telling me that with all the injuries we've sustained, you would have considered the season a failure if we would have lost against Cincy last week? Winning the division deemed the season a success methinks.
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Cincinanti was beatable, even in our depleted condition. The Bengals, unlike the Ravens, just aren't that good a team.
 
Thorn said:
Cincinanti was beatable, even in our depleted condition. The Bengals, unlike the Ravens, just aren't that good a team.
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I concur! I would have been extremely disappointed with a loss to the Bengals, now all I want is a good showing against the Ravens, and if we win...Oh Lordy, look out! I just don't think TJ is enough to get it done, but I hope, beyond the hope of hoping, that he proves me wrong.
 
Thorn said:
Every fan wants a Super Bowl win, and when they don't get it, they want changes in their team so they can get a Super Bowl win. That's kind of like the sun rising in the East.

For myself, I'm happy with what we got ONLY if Wade comes back next year. If we lose to Baltimore AND lose Wade, I'm going to be a grumpy poster again until the Texans do something to shut me up.
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Well then, you have two possibilities. Being grumpy about other teams wanting to hire your top assistants, or whatever your reaction would be to teams not showing any interest in them.

I choose grumpy (Although I've said before, I think Wade will be back next season)!
 
Thorn said:
Cincinanti was beatable, even in our depleted condition. The Bengals, unlike the Ravens, just aren't that good a team.
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I agree, but would the season really be a failure if we won the division with all of our injuries, and that was it?
 
Allstar said:
I agree, but would the season really be a failure if we won the division with all of our injuries, and that was it?
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The season would have been a success with only a division title, and a one and done game in the playoffs, ONLY if that loss was against a team that was as good as the Ravens are going to be. I can handle a loss to a very good team given our circumstances, but not to a poor team like the Bungles.
 
I'm not content with just winning a first round playoff game, but I'm pretty damn happy with it. You gotta start somewhere. :texflag:
 
I think our first ever playoff appearance/win definitely means this was a successful season. I'll be upset if we lose Sunday, but it will be short term. I always want us to win. This team had all the excuses in the world to fail this season, but still went out and won the division and a playoff game with a 3rd string QB.

So, no matter what happens this weekend I think they've had a great year and we'll be even stronger next season.
 
badboy said:
The championship was my primary goal after Leinert went down. Everything else is a rainbow after a rain in a drout. I will be very satisfied if Phillips returns. This will be the first time "Wait until next year" is a happy scream rather than a resentful defensive mutter.
Click to expand...

The AFC South Championship?

When I saw who we would possibly face Wild-Card Weekend... I was like... psshh we should beat the Bengals/Jets/Raiders

Now, after watching our last game against Baltimore.... Schaub was off. Aj wasn't there, Casey wasn't there, & it was the first game after we lost Mario..... & it was our game to lose after 3 qtrs...

I'm not going to say we should win this game, but I won't be surprised when we do.

If you can, watch the game again (supposed to come on NFLN tonight (midnight)).. imagine our defense played for 4 qtrs the way they played the first 3

Imagine JJ Watt played then the way he's been playing for the last 3 weeks.

Believe.
 
Allstar said:
The results are surprising to me. You guys are telling me that with all the injuries we've sustained, you would have considered the season a failure if we would have lost against Cincy last week? Winning the division deemed the season a success methinks.
Click to expand...

The team we saw at the end of the season was not the same team we saw at the beginning of the season. That team that lost to New Orleans, to Baltimore.... those aren't these guys.

If either of those teams were to face the Bengals after injuries or whatever... nah, we wouldn't have stood a chance.

But these guys.... these guys... hell yeah I'd have been very disappointed if they lost to the Bengals & I'll be very disappointed if they don't show up Sunday.

These guys aren't waiting for the opponent to have an off day. They aren't hoping the opponent's key players are hurt. They don't hope that the other team looks past them.

These guys are looking for the best the other team's got & they're going to ram it back down their throats.
 
Seems like folks have different definitions of successful...

For myself, being content or ok with not winning a superbowl doesn't mean the season was successful...

You are only successful if you set out to do what you intended on doing.

Anything short of that is a failure to reach that goal. Pretty simple for me.

I already consider this season to have been great so far....awesome in fact....but successful?

We have achieved a lot of success...I'm sure we have succeeded in reaching many of our goals...

But overall season success, for me at least, is paramount on winning a superbowl. If that doesn't happen, then IMO, then we failed to reach our primary goal.
 
Rey said:
Seems like folks have different definitions of successful...

For myself, being content or ok with not winning a superbowl doesn't mean the season was successful...

You are only successful if you set out to do what you intended on doing.

Anything short of that is a failure to reach that goal. Pretty simple for me.

I already consider this season to have been great so far....awesome in fact....but successful?

We have achieved a lot of success...I'm sure we have succeeded in reaching many of our goals...

But overall season success, for me at least, is paramount on winning a superbowl. If that doesn't happen, then IMO, then we failed to reach our primary goal.
Click to expand...

Really good points, man. It really does come down to perspective.

Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

So obviously, on some levels, this was a successful season within the goal of reaching the playoff and clinching the division.

But, that being said, I'd bet the players and coaches are more inclined to agree with you that the main goal is a championship, and every season only has one team that is truly successful from that perspective.

For myself, I go back to the Texans fan perspective using the past decade to reflect upon. I'm glad that they finally got the monkey off their backs as it pertains to getting into the playoffs. Fortunately, they never had the monkey of not winning a playoff game.

But, next season, just clinching a division title and making the playoffs won't be enough for the majority of fans. Our perspectives will have shifted to greater goals, and we will be like the fans of 31 other teams at that point. Super Bowl or bust!
 
Double Barrel said:
But, next season, just clinching a division title and making the playoffs won't be enough for the majority of fans. Our perspectives will have shifted to greater goals, and we will be like the fans of 31 other teams at that point. Super Bowl or bust!
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I've got to think if I were a Steelers fan, just to make the play-offs would have been a success this year as they, more or less, fell apart physically at the end of the season.

Losing to Tebow puts a different spin on it, but if they lost to us or the Raiders, they'd have been "content"

Maybe, I don't know. I'd wonder why in the heck we've got guys like Charlie Batch on the freak'n roster if we don't trust them to fill in when a guy like Tj Yates is clinching divisions & winning in the post season.

But other than that, I'd take it on a game by game basis.

Falcons offense putting up 0 points.... yeah I'd be pissed.
 
There's only one winner at the end of the season - the other 31 teams went home losers.


Championship or bust.
 
First playoff win is what I think made this team a success. The Division win is something that should have been feasible for a few years and this year there should have been no doubt that they would win.

Not only their first appearance in the play-offs, but a win in the play-offs WITH a third string, fifth round rookie makes the rest of this season gravy. I want them to beat Baltimore though, badly. They being given absolutely no chance to do so which will make it even better.
 
I've had to think long and hard about this one. But after examining my inner gut I'd have to say I think this is a successful season reagardless of the outcome of that Ravens game this week. Hey! I changed my avatar didn't I?...
 
Marcus said:
That's how I feel about it. Anything after this is house money.
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This exactly...

I'll be disappointed with a loss on Sunday, but not the soul crushing loss type scenario the Oilers used to dish out on a regular basis. I think the Texans have a punchers chance against Baltimore.

A win...and hoo boy...I really think that we will take out NE or the Tebows the following week.
 
Señor Stan;1878728 said:
This exactly...

I'll be disappointed with a loss on Sunday, but not the soul crushing loss type scenario the Oilers used to dish out on a regular basis. I think the Texans have a punchers chance against Baltimore.

A win...and hoo boy...I really think that we will take out NE or the Tebows the following week.
Click to expand...

I'll be disappointed as well, but I expect them to lose this. I do agree, if the Texans manage to get past Baltimore, then we can most certainly get past NE or Denver. I refuse to mention the QB's name from Denver though. LOL

But...having said that, the Texans can beat Baltimore. It will take a supreme effort by the defense, and it require Foster having a big day so TJ can complete a few passes. Or, perhaps TJ completing a few passes so Foster can have a big day. Two way street there because they both have to happen.

Also, I think the Raven's players are taking the Texans seriously this Sunday, and they'll play like it. It's the Raven fans and sports writers that aren't taking the Texans seriously.
 
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