I, for one, am glad that the Texans will be playing in the wildcard round. Their whole season and attitude has been based on overcoming adversity in losing not only a lot of player but some of their best players. I think that them getting a first round bye would have not gone along with this theme at all. There is more adversity to be overcome, and I think they BELIEVE that they can do it no matter who they play or how many games it takes. I think we will all see that same "WE WILL NOT LOSE" mentality during the first playoff game. We will see...
I was torn about getting a bye week...the Texans have not looked sharp the past few years coming off of a bye. 2008 - vs Ike... understandable loss vs. Tennessee 2009 - vs Tennessee ... Monday Night Football debacle I 2010 - vs Indy ... Monday Night Football debacle II 2011 - vs Jacksonville...win 1st game post Schaub...and Kubiak was in full "I was in the pool" mode, but running game looked out of sync and the juggernaut Jacksonville offense outgained us by 40 yards.
When you posted that "I hope we don't get a bye" post in another thread, I must admit I could not understand where you were coming from. I was convinced our gimpy team could use a week off to heal. But now that you've reviewed our post-bye history, I see your point quite clearly. I'm not sure I'm sold - still don't know if continuity > a week off to heal? - but I totally see where you're coming from.
Just looking at the way we've played since Tj took his first snap, & everyone knowing the deck is stacked against us to get to, much less win the Super Bowl with Tj (or Delhomme, or Garcia). The games we won with Schaub after the loss to Baltimore are the blueprint we have got to follow if we are going to do anything in the post season, I don't see any way around it. Tennessee, we scored 41 points Jacksonville we scored 24 on a top 5 defense Cleveland we scored 30 points on a top 10 defense at the time, ranked 11th now Tampa Bay we scored 37 points in a game Matt played on a broken foot He threw the ball 23 times against Tennessee, 30 times against Jacksonville, 23 against Cleveland, & 15 times against Tampa Bay All while giving up around 10 points. We can rub our heels together and cross our fingers, close our eyes real, real tight & hope Tj Yates turns into the next coming of Tom Brady. Or we can let Kubiak do his thing & get Tj up to Leinart's ability in 5 games (starting with ATL)....... Leinart led us to 17 points in 1.5 qtrs against a top 5 defense. I think he can do it.
