The turnaround on Kirby is complete. The Texans are headed in the right direction. They have a franchise quarterback, a good young head coach, solid pass rusher, a cover corner, etc. Lots of things in place over there. Coming into this year, nobody thought it would be this good, this fast. People thought it could be good, or have a decent shot. Love it when a plan comes together, especially quickly.

In week 18, the Texans play the Colts in Indianapolis. The winner makes the playoffs. Where they're seeded is another story. They'll have to wait until Sunday to determine where they'll be playing and seeded. If the Jags lose, the winner will take the AFC South crown, the four seed, and get home-field advantage in the Wildcard round of the playoffs. The stakes are so high, the NFL flexed this game to Saturday night at 7:15. The television execs put their top broadcast team on the call. It's kind of a big deal. How big of a deal is it really?

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Considering where this franchise was a few seasons ago, a very big deal. Factor in this team hasn't been to the playoffs since 2019, which was also the last time they won the division. Gary Kubiak took this franchise to its first playoff appearances. Although it took him six seasons before getting there, 2011 and 2012 was a time for this city. They never lived up to their potential, and Kubiak was fired after the 2013 season. A 14-game losing streak the year after making the playoffs will do that.

In came Bill O'Brien. He was a “Patriots South” hire. While that regime will be remembered for how things ended (especially Jack Easterby, the trades, the contracts, etc.), it did result in four playoff appearances. O'Brien made the playoffs in his second year in charge. In my opinion, this, along with coming from New England's system, gave him a false sense of security and inflated his ego, which ultimately led to his downfall. 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019 were good times. They, too, failed to live up to expectations.

After a couple trial and error hires, DeMeco Ryans came in and immediately gave this franchise some respectability. General Manager Nick Caserio (a “Patriots South” hire that's actually working out) has worked his magic to clear cap space, sign, draft, and trade to give DeMeco the groceries he needed. It's working and will continue to work.

The main reason I've been so high on what this team is doing this season, and moving forward, is because it's sustainable. Having a franchise QB on his rookie deal, in his rookie year no less, doing the things C.J. Stroud is doing is unheard of. Add in Will Anderson Jr. and Derek Stingley Jr. (also on rookie deals), plus some late round gems, you see where I'm going. This team has the infrastructure in place to continue to build on the success of this season. They have draft picks to use and cap space to spend.

Winning this game and making the playoffs is the biggest and best thing to happen to this team if it does. This game is the biggest game in the team's history because it could symbolize the start of something really special. They're already living up to their potential way ahead of schedule. If they can keep this up, this team could go further than any other team in franchise history. I'll go as far as to say they'll appear in an AFC Championship game before DeMeco and Stroud are done in Houston. Looking forward to Saturday, but I'm even more excited about their future.