r/Texans • u/pawghugger • 20h ago
We Can’t Waste This Championship Window
I really hope CJ Stroud goes off this year and proves he’s an elite QB, but I also hope Caserio and DeMeco don’t make the same mistake this franchise has made before by staying too loyal to certain players.
One of the biggest “what ifs” in Texans history will always be Kubiak and Rick Smith sticking with Matt Schaub instead of seriously pursuing Peyton Manning. That 2012 team was loaded, and I’ll always believe Manning could’ve won a Super Bowl here.
That’s why I don’t want to see history repeat itself. This is arguably the most talented roster we’ve ever had, but the window isn’t going to stay open forever. Danielle Hunter and other veterans are getting older, while guys like Kamari Lassiter and Calen Bullock are eventually going to need new contracts. We simply won’t be able to keep everybody.
Receiver is another concern. Nico Collins isn’t getting any younger and we still don’t know who our long-term WR2 is. Tank Dell is an awesome player, but that was a horrific injury to come back from. A lot of us expected a big year from Jayden Higgins before his season-ending injury, so now his development gets pushed back. And if Kayshon Boutte goes for 1,000+ yards and starts looking like a legitimate WR1/WR2, that’s another talented player you’re going to have to find a way to keep.
That’s why I actually respect Stroud betting on himself instead of taking top-12 QB money. Now he gets a season to prove he deserves elite QB money, and Houston gets another season to evaluate him before making a massive commitment.
I’m rooting for CJ. I want him to be our QB for the next decade. But if we get another season where an elite defense and loaded roster are being held back by mediocre QB play, Caserio has to be willing to make a difficult decision. There’s a difference between believing in your quarterback and becoming so committed to him that you ignore what’s happening on the field.
Hopefully this conversation looks ridiculous by January because CJ balls out. If we get anything close to rookie-year Stroud with the defense we have now, I genuinely believe this team can win a Super Bowl.
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u/OcelotTerrible5865 20h ago
Keep em under 20 and score 20, winning philosophy
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u/IceDemon31983647 18h ago
If stroud's philosophy is to score 20 points per game then I don't wanna pay him 50m/year, let alone 60. 2 touchdowns and 2 field goals shouldn't be considered the goal for any team.
If it wins a game, it wins a game. But it shouldn't be the weekly philosophy in my opinion
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u/Able_Gap918 11h ago
25 would be damn near a guaranteed superbowl victory, but 20 would still give us a chance. That’s crazy to say, but this defense is that good
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u/htownballa1 19h ago
Steelers - almost 100 years - 6 rings
Packers - over 100 years - 4 rings
Pats - 67 years - 6 rings
Niners - 77 years - 5 rings
Point being, having a team that has a legitimate shot is a common occurrence, but actually having everything go right and being able to convert it is pretty rare unless you have a player considered the greatest of all time at the QB position. It's not always about a team or player wasting an opportunity. Unfortunate injuries, the ball bouncing the wrong way, a missed or bad flag, there are a ton of things that have to go right for a team to make a super bowl Run.
Hopefully DeMeco can navigate us to one, but I am not going to label not winning a Super Bowl as a complete wasted opportunity. A deep run for the first time in franchise history is still a good thing, even though no one wants to hear that. They want to win now. I want to win now too.
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u/pawghugger 18h ago
I agree with most of this. I’m definitely not saying anything short of a Super Bowl makes the season a failure. My point is more that windows like this don’t last forever, which is exactly why I don’t want us getting overly attached to anyone if they’re clearly holding the roster back.
If Stroud plays well and we make a deep run, great. But if we get to January again and QB play is obviously the reason we can’t get over the hump, I don’t want the organization being afraid to explore other options just because he’s CJ Stroud•
u/dream_team34 17h ago
The lack of resources Nick devotes to the offense is a bigger concern to me. We keep trotting out rookies, mid-level FAs, and first time OCs.
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u/The_New_New 16h ago edited 16h ago
He has has been using high draft picks on the OL since he's gotten here. It's just a lot of them have not turned out well.
They were one of the top teams in terms of money allocated to OL in Stroud's first 2 years, and we haven't had much cap space to splurge on an OL in FA.
He used a 2nd and 3rd on Higgins and Noel last year, Higgins has been great but unforuntately injured. Noel has shown promise when he's been out there
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u/galacticplum 17h ago
What exactly is the difficult decision?
Unless Stroud turns into budget Fields he isn't going anywhere. He was a safe game manager last year in tge regular season. That's enough.
The " pursuit of Manning " was an incredibly unique situation. HoF qbs generally arent available to pursue. If we move on from Stroud it is the " pursuit of an aging slightly better than Stroud qb " which is most likely not worth it.
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u/pawghugger 17h ago
I’m not saying move on from Stroud for some 35 year old QB who’s marginally better. I’m saying don’t become so committed to him that you refuse to consider an upgrade if a rare opportunity presents itself. Obviously Peyton Manning becoming available was an incredibly unique situation. But if we keep failing to get out of the divisional round because of QB play, at some point you have to consider doing something different
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u/DarthNobody14 20h ago
Don’t want to be “that guy” but it’s incredibly hard to win a Super Bowl. I just don’t trust this team to do what needs to be done post the Wild-Card round. I wish we wouldn’t waste this window, but at the same time after watching football for 25 season, anything can happen.
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u/OFFLINEwade 20h ago
“waste this window” is an odd phrase to me. We have the players we have. The team is trying to win. No one is wasting anything.
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u/pawghugger 19h ago
I get what you’re saying, but that’s kind of my point. Teams absolutely can waste a championship window by being too loyal to certain players or waiting too long to make a move. The roster won’t stay this talented or affordable forever
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u/hellasecretsmusic 11h ago
he doesn't even have to be elite, just stop the turnovers and be like 15% better than last year
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u/theotheramerican 6h ago
- No shit
- The team is not held back single handedly by CJ. There were issues with players staying healthy, specially in that playoff game. If Nico wouldve played and Schultz stays healthy, we could've won. Also the run game was inexistent. No offensive line. Marks fumbling in the red zone in the playoff game. We need to stop blaming CJ. Lets not even talk about the awful play calling.
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u/Venator850 15h ago
I love how you completely glossed over the roster reality for the Texans in 2012. They didn't have the cap situation to just add Manning. There's a reason why a very limited number of teams even tried to go after him.
Manning also had the extremely serious neck injury and there was serious doubt he'd even be able to play.
On top of ALL that the 2012 defense ended up destroyed with injuries so very unlikely they win the SB that year with that defense. The SB Manning won with the Broncos was him getting hard carried by a legendary defense.
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u/pawghugger 13h ago
I’m not glossing over any of that. Obviously Manning was a massive risk coming off the neck surgeries, and Houston would’ve had to make moves financially to even pursue him. My point isn’t that signing Manning was some easy no-brainer.
My point is that when you have a championship-caliber roster, you shouldn’t become so committed to your current QB that you won’t even explore a rare opportunity to upgrade. Manning ended up throwing for 55 TDs and winning an MVP two years later. If Stroud becomes elite, great. But if QB play is what keeps this current Texans roster from getting over the hump, I don’t want them treating him as untouchable just because he’s “our guy”
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u/Luckytxn_1959 20h ago
CJ going to choke it up again and waste a great defense and everyone knows it.
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u/DesensitizedRobot 19h ago
Found the Titans fan
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u/Luckytxn_1959 19h ago
Found the clueless Dallas Cowgirl fan
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u/PhillyEagle19087 19h ago
I think a litmus test for whether a team is in a Super Bowl window is a pretty simple Reddit test. See if anyone outside their team subreddit thinks the team is in a Super Bowl window.
I got bad news for Texans fans. The rest of us like your defense, and those of us from Philly love your coach, but you're in a Super Bowl window the same way I'm on MVP watch, which is to say that I'm excited to see who wins MVP, but it won't be me.
The way you'll find a Super Bowl window this year is if you put your TV on one side of a window, yourself on the other, and spend your Valentine's Day watching it.
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u/pawghugger 19h ago
I mean, y’all are kind of the blueprint for what we’re trying to do. Build an elite roster and defense around the QB and give yourself a chance. I’d take Hurts over Stroud right now, but I still wouldn’t feel great betting everything on Hurts, especially now that teams have had more time to figure out his limitations as a passer
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u/PhillyEagle19087 18h ago
Believe me, nobody feels worse about betting on Hurts than Eagles fans, and he's done nothing except be the winningest QB in the league since he was drafted. It's an annual discussion.
Point remains. It's difficult to win a Super Bowl if it isn't clear you are the best team in the division, and depending on how Mike McDaniels handles the Los Angeles offense and how Mahomes bounces back, the Texans could be 2nd, 3rd or 4th in their division.
Nothing against them, I just don't see a path towards a Super Bowl.
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u/Forward_Rest_7951 11h ago
the seahawks weren't even the definitive best in their division for most of last year. A healthy 49ers or the rams could've realistically took their spot if the chips fell differently, don't forget how close their playoff matchup and regular season games were. Nobody really understood how good the seahawks were until we saw it with our own eyes. This time last year, how many people had the seahawks in the super bowl? expectations for them were lower than ours are now.
im also going to assume you meant conference instead of division. Our offense was one of the worst in modern nfl history for the first three games last year, AND we lost our starting qb for multiple games in a row after that and we were still a single game away from the jags. Just about everything that could've gone wrong on offense last year, both in and out of the playoffs, went wrong and we were still neck and neck with the afc champs in their stadium in the freezing cold for most of the game. The path is really easy to see: we have arguably the most talented defense in the league carried over from last year, with a revamped offensive line and running game. score a little over 20 and don't let up 20. limit possessions and bully the other team on defense. the seahawks scored ONE touchdown on offense in the superbowl last year.
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u/PhillyEagle19087 10h ago
Eh, you gave me benefit of the doubt that I didn't deserve, I just had a brain fart and had them in a division with the Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs and Texans since I completely forgot the Raiders existed and the AFC South is for all intents and purposes an imaginary division. So... That was just me being stupid.
I retract my previous nonsense, Houston is either the 1st or 2nd best team in the AFC South.
Maybe you're right, maybe I'm wrong. I definitely wasn't a Darnold believer last year and I thought it would take Macdonald longer to put together success than it would taking.
The good news is we get to start watching the games to prove us right or wrong in 48 hours!
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u/Forward_Rest_7951 9h ago
to be honest, if i wasn't a fan of an afc south team i'd probably forget the division existed too. We are on straight bullshit for like half the year, maybe top 3 goofiest divisions in football. best or worst depending on the week.
I agree though lol, i say all of that but for all i know we could regress or the offense could be even worse, or god forbid, we could even deal with injuries that derail the season. It's a game of inches, anyone can win or lose and blah blah blah. We won't know until the games are played lol. All i know is i'm happy football is back.
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u/Whizzleteets 20h ago
I don't have much time left.
I started rooting for the Oilers starting at 10 years old until the day they moved. FUCK THE ENTIRE ADAMS CLAN!
I have rooted for the Texans since Inception. I need a Superbowl before I have the big sleep.
Any Texan reading this...please win one for the Teets!