The Oilers would have lost this game

[GP]

I had that "we're gonna' win" feeling in this year's Jets game, and I had that same feeling in the Bears game. I had an initial shock in the first quarter of both those games, but by the second quarter the outcome was clear.

As a fan of the NFL, I have come to appreciate all 32 teams...not just my favorite team...and each year you can see, clearly by this point in the season, which teams are built for genuine success and which are getting some bounces go their way.

When the talking heads were riding Arizona Cardinals' jocks for being 4-0, or whatever it was, it was a cute story but you knew full well that it was just the same sort of fluke that Buffalo had achieved the year prior. Not built for distance.

THIS team? I thought last year, in the first 5 games, we had a Super Bowl team. But then as I watched our Conference opponents play, and how they won their games, I saw that we were only really a playoff team. A 1-win playoff team, and that's what happened. I was pleased with that.

Now, I believe this team is on a course with destiny. And if they win it all, the legend of Gary Kubiak is born. There will be none who can slander it. It will be like how the ancient rulers would go ad strike the names of his predecessors from the monuments of those societies. All we will be able to do is revere Kubiak in almost a papal manner. Pope Kubiak. And I will be saying rubbing those rosary beads like everyone else. LOL.

[GP]

I think the reason the Oilers choked in the 1990s was because of leadership over them. Cocky, a bit on-the-edge, and when things didn't click perfectly the rats fled the ship. En masse.

For all of Kubiak's warts, one of his chief attributes is his ability to make people believe in themselves to the point that I think all 53 guys expect to win BUT they know they have to remember that failure is always knocking at the door of their courage.

I think there are key players who have instilled this attitude for Kubiak:

1. Schaub. Yeah, I would want Peyton Manning throwing the ball for us. But I would want Mat Schaub LEADING this team. One guy is a gem on camera, so we naturally think he's a great people-person with his coworkers. The other guy is a recluse and we think he might not a good locker room guy, but hey...turns out that Matt Schaub excels in areas that Peyton doesn't. And last time I checked, Peyton's gaudy stats don't always equal trophies.

2. Chris Myers. He has this vibe about him that says "I might be the center, but I could block anywhere you put me. Try me."

3. Owen Daniels. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, can get open and take a pass the way OD does. You want that 1st down? Throw it at his head, his ankles, 4 feet too far in front of him, he doesn't care. You KNOW you're getting that pass completed when you throw it to him.

4. Brian Cushing. A guy who eats football. Seriously, I think he boils footballs and makes smoothies out of them.

5. JJ Watt, Manning, JJo. The newest additions to the team, these guys have almost a serial killer mentality to how they play the game. They have raised the play of everyone around them. Period.

I would say that Andre Johnson and Arian Foster are two guys who are so chill and so fluid in their work ethic and game day talents...you can include them in the above group, but I think they are in a different league of their own. You cannot quantify these two guys. They are "x" factors that do things in a game you thought impossible. They are so heavily feared that often times the opponent screws up entirely because of just their presence on the field. They get the scores, they make a few highlight moves, and they pick up where the team might need them the most.

All in all, this team is talented like the mid-90's Oilers...but they have a built-in mechanism for success that I think that Oilers team lacked. When the pressure was truly on, the teams react differently. For one, it is an embracing of the pressure. For the other, it was a panic reactive response that always self-destructed out of fear of being called "losers."

[Hervoyel]

Deliver a Super Bowl and it's all been worth it. Gary Kubiak joins the pantheon of "successful" coaches. Win another and he's a legend. I've never been a fan but I'd demand a 55 gallon drum of that Kool Aid and never look back.

[TexansFanatic]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Tony Zendejas was cut for Howfield and went on to make 100% of his FG attempts (for the Rams) the year Howfield missed that huge, huge, kick vs the Redskins (91). Howfield missed five kicks in his rookie season, was cut after the Redskin game and he never played again.

Bottom-line Bud. Even as he was spending a fortune on his QB, his O-line, his D-line, etc. his inner demons would still come back to kick him (and Oiler fans) in the ass.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

DB and I had a conversation the other day about how experiences build expectations. He was explaining the air of always waiting for the other shoe to drop and how you could sit in the stadium in Houston and hear people muttering "how are they going to figure out how to lose this one." I was explaining how that mystified me when I started going to games here (although the only Oilers game I ever attended was the KC playoff loss against Montana). Coming from the halcyon days of Dallas with Roger "Captain Comeback" Staubach through playoff clutch Aikman I grew up thinking every game was winnable even when down by 20 pts.

From the perspectives of fans, this is the crux of the matter. It's all about conditioning, and year after year, the Oilers conditioned Houston fans to expect choke.

We simply do not know how to believe in a championship team in this city. We have had very talented football teams that certainly had potential, but the fact of the matter is that they always fell short. Some moments are so ingrained into our collective psyche, the "where were you when...?" moments, that they rival huge events of national importance. For instance, ALL Oilers fans vividly remember that January day at the drop of a hat.

Hopefully the Texans really are a so-called 'team of destiny' and break that cycle with a Super Bowl win. Like Marcus mentioned, this is the ONLY cure for chokaphobia. And only then can we lay the past to rest and allow ourselves to renew pure optimism with every new football season. Exorcising those demons from the hearts, souls, and minds of Houston football fans would be a huge relief.

But, until that happens, I cannot deny that voice in the back of my head reminding me of that other shoe and wondering when it's going to fall.