With the retiring of Drew Bress and a win now roster that is completely strapped for cash, the Saints had to “shake the room” and get a proven signal caller. They did

just that and more. 

The Saints traded the 15th overall pick to the Green Bay Packers for QB Aaron Rodgers. This was not only a suitable replacement for Brees’ departure, but most definitely an upgrade at the position. The trade seemingly worked for both parties involved being that the Saints didn’t want to rebuild at the QB position and didn’t see a QB being there at pick no. 15 and the Packers are ready to unleash young QB Jordan Love, fresh off of a Super Bowl win. 

The Saints are excited for their new signal caller, who has stated, “I’ve got a lot left in the tank”. Nothing is more exciting for Coach Chan than the pure arm talent that comes with the legendary QB. Though the passing attack was top 5 in the league with QB Drew Brees at the helm and he almost averaged 12 YPA, he noticeably wasn’t able to make certain throws based off his arm. But, the sky is seemingly the limit now for the Saints having one of the best arms the league has seen.

'20 Season 1 Review:

The Texans finished the season 1 regular season, that saw a gauntlet of good teams and coaches, with a 13-2 record (1 game missed due to vacation) and headed into the post season with a first round bye. The post season was short lived however with the Jaguars handing the Texans a loss at home during the Divisional Round. To keep it quite simple, the Texans chose to have the sloppiest game of the season during the game that meant the most. The literal first play of the game for the Texans saw a poor throw from QB Deshaun Watson be intercepted for a defensive touchdown, which ultimately set the overall tone on how the rest of the game would go for the Texans. Multiple 3rd down conversions and big plays called back due to holding, missed tackles on defense and a muffed punt to put a cherry on top sealed the Texans playoff fate. Though out of character for this team and disappointing to say the least, thier are a lot of positives to take away from this season.

With a team and coach that expects to be contending every season for a Superbowl, especially after last cycle being the first in Coach Chan's SFL tenure being the first cycle he didn't win a ring, this years team seemed prime to do so. With a defense lead by JJ Watt and surprising standout Crossen at DB, they saw themselves being tough to move the ball on every week bolstering the least amount of points given up in the leauge and a top 5 defense in terms of yards given up as well. Standouts include: DE JJ Watt (16 sacks) DB Keion Crossen (11 INT/ 3 TD) DB Bradley Roby (9 INT).

Though the numbers aren't mind boggling, the Texans offense still remains to be one of the most efficient offenses in the league. Though his passing numbers weren't off the charts, QB Deshaun Watson led the SFL in passer rating at an efficent 117.5 with a 27 TD/ 8 INT clip. Deshaun remains to stand alone as not only one of few QB's to throw under 20 INT's, but the only QB that threw under 10 INT's on the season. Though the offensive yards were middle of the pack, this team was still top 10 in points scored on the season. With WR Deandre Hopkins showing he's one of league's best offensive players, the surprising emergence of HB Duke Johnson and better play then years past at Oline, the Texans offense should remain putting up points for years to come. Standouts include: QB Deshaun Watson (3,447 yds passing/ 334 rushing yds/ 27 Passing td's/ 5 rushing td's/ 117.5 rating/ 10.4 YPA) WR Deandre Hopkins (105 Rec/ 1888 yds/ 17 TD's) HB Duke Johnson (1218 yds/ 17 TD's)
 

9 games are in the books for the Texans 2019 season and the team is off and running to a 8-1 start. With a tough stretch going down “Past Champions Road”, the Texans saw four straight past champions in a row and went 3-1 over that stretch with the Texans seeing their lone loss on the season handed to them by the Falcons. It’s worth noting in that lone loss however, the Texans defense remained stout against a good Falcons team, only giving up 171 yds passing and 2 offensive TD’s in game that saw an untouched kickoff return TD by Falcon’s Telvin Colemen and a huge cutback 87 yard td by Devonta Freeman late in the 4th be the X factor. To finish off the tough stretch however, the Texans outscored opponents 95 points to 27 points.

All in all, the start has been solid but this team knows a good start to the season is merely a fraction of the end goal in mind, but they will take it. Through 9 games, the Texans boast the number 4 overall offense and the number 1 overall defense. In an offense that is methodical, yet explosive, usually is led by the arm of Deshaun Watson. But a new game plan has seen this Texans team 3rd in the league in rushing yards to tag along with a 6th best passing attack that is one of two teams in the league that has 3 receivers post 600+ yds each. The Texans defense has been nothing short of lights out, being number 1 in total yards allowed by a wide margin while being the only team in the top 6 teams to play 9 games so far. The defense on average is giving up a league best 13.5 points a game while the offense posts on average 33.5 points a game, giving them a league best 20 point average per game differential. 

The offense and defensive MVP’s also happen to be the Most Surprising award winners as well for the team; The first half Offensive MVP’s are HB Lamar Miller and WR Latteral Bryant. HB Lamar Miller rejuvenated his career posting top 10 in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns at 5.6 ypc. He has been a huge reason for the teams success, but sadly has been setback with an adominal tear that will see him out till week 14. The rookie WR Latteral Bryant has taken the league by storm posting the 3rd most TD’s (9) and avgs. 80 yards a game on an impressive 23.4 yards a reception. The first half Defensive MVP is uniamious in MLB Benardrick McKinney. He is the only one in the league with 5+ sacks and 5+ INT’s. He can also pair that with 8 TFL’s and 2 FF’s. 

To make this season truly special, the Texans must keep up this pace and finish the season strong. 

Season 1 didn’t go as planned for the Houston Texans & co. but season 2 has some promising upside due to acquisitions made through the draft and free agency as well. 

Key Acquisitions: 1st Round Pick RG Delonte Fields (6’6/ 333 lbs/ 21 years old)- Obvious upside to one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. He’s got the size matched with already strengths in the run game. He should be an immediate impact player. 

2nd Round Pick WR Latteral Bryant (6’0/ 186/ 24 years old)- A true speedster out of Cal University should compliment star wideout’s Fuller and Hopkins with his field stretching ability. His hands were a bit of a problem (like WR Fuller) in college but should make up with lack of hands with his release ability. 

Free Agency Pickup DT Muhammad Wilkerson- A big compliment to an already stout defense and specifically defensive line with Clowney/Watt/Reader. He should have an impact plugging inside runs up and more importantly help with stopping the run in Nickel sets with majority of the league running out of 3+ WR’s sets. 

Free Agency Pickup CB Kayvon Webster- Having already being apart of a top defense in the Texans last season, he re-signs with the team once more to hopefully fill the hole CB Jonathan Joseph left due to retirement. 

Season 2 things to fix: -All plays on offense start with the offensive line and for Watson & Co. to flourish the Oline simply has to play better. Look for RG Delonte Fields to help bolster the line Week 1.

-Even though this team had the least amount of turnovers in the league, they must refrain from turnovers in the red zone and late game turnovers. 

-Lastly, this team needs to stick to its strengths and not try to change its identity, which is an efficient offense and a stingy defense. Keeping this identity in check starts with Coach Chan not swaying away from the gameplan. Look for the Houston Texans to regroup and make a run for the AFC once again.

The Houston Texans first season did not end the way Coach Chan and his team wanted it to end, but there is hope for the future. The Texans were defeated by the emerging  Indianapolis Colts, who ultimately won the Super Bowl, by a walk off field goal.

When asked about the close game, Coach Chan at the podium stated, “Yeah we knew going into the game it was going to be a good one with Coach Deme. We split the regular season series, so it was only right the victor advanced with a walk off score like that. The boys played a great game and played well enough to win, no doubt about it. But we can’t expect to win a playoff game not focusing on the little things. We gave up our only kickoff return TD on special teams this season, missed blocks for a safety, fumbled late in the game up 2 in the redzone (FG range as well) and had a misplay on a ball thrown to give them a 30+ yard gain to set up their field goal. We can’t expect to win against a team like that with these kind of mistakes. We clean those up, I undoubtedly believe we advance. But hey, that’s the name of the game, we can’t sit back and say “what if” or “if this happened”, it didn’t so we have to keep our chins up and get our selves ready to win next year”

Key players returning *before FA*- SS Andre Hal ( Hodgkin’s Lymphoma), ROLB Jadeveon Clowney 7 Yr/$103M contract signed, FS Tyrann Mathieu 4 Yr/ $43.5M contract signed

Key things to fix for next season: Offensive line is the main priority, a more sufficient running game and late game turnovers

The first season of this cycle saw a Texans team finish with a 13-3 record and ultimately the first seed in the AFC, with one of the league’s best all around defenses and one of the most efficient offenses leading them to the covenant first round bye. 

The Defense: the defense was the strength of this team and rightfully so. With playmakers all over the field, this defense was ranked 4th in the league in terms of yardage given up. If you take a deeper dive into the statistics however, you’ll see maybe they were even better than that. They were number one against the run, second in points allowed, first in fumble recoveries and only gave up a 4th best 19 touchdowns when a team reached the red zone out of 4th best 42 trips. This stingy defense saw its number of takeaways finish 5th on the year and had 3 games not been simmed that had 4+ picks in each, would have been even better.

Defensive standouts include- •MLB Dylan Cole (team leading 100 tackles/ team leading 17 TFL/ team leading 8 INT/ 3 Sacks)• ROLB Jadeveon Clowney (team leading 15 sacks/ 11 TFL)• FS Tyrann Mathieu (6 INT/ 73 tackles/ 9 Defl) •SS Justin Reid (2 INT/ 72 tackles/ 11 Defl/ 4 Sacks)

The offense: With the defense taking most of the spotlight, many overlooked an offense that was ranked 20th statistically. However, the Deshaun Watson led offense was better than the Total Yards gained shows. They were 7th in points scored a game, 3rd in Passing TD’s, 7th in 3rd Down Conversions, 7th in Redzone Points % and at season’s end, led the league in turnover differential with a +33 and had the least amount of turnovers at only 21. *And just like said earlier for the defense, 3 games that ended up being simmed took away added offensive gains for the record* With one of the league’s worst offensive lines and running games, The Houston Texans offense overperformed with Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller taking a major step forward

Offensive standouts include-• QB Deshaun Watson( 3rd Most 38 Passing Touchdowns/ League Best 11 INTs/ 2nd Best 127.7 QBR/ League Best 70% Completion %/ 11 YPA)• WR Will Fuller (64 Catches/ 1,441 Yards/ 13 TD’s) • WR Deandre Hopkins (41 catches/ 970 yards/ 8 TD’s) 

•In a cycle that will start seemingly with the SFL owners almost completely flipped in not only the AFC, but the NFC as well, the Houston Texans will try to not skip a beat from the last 2 cycles under Coach Chan.

•Chan and his Texans have won 2 rings (out of 3 chances) in the last 2 cycles since he won one coaching the Patriots his first cycle, but the AFC and the AFC South specifically, have made leaps and bounds in regards to putting out a good conference and a good division as well. In regards to the AFC; the conference saw FOUR different owners make it to the Super Bowl last year and two owners from the AFC take home the trophy. The conference has shown promise to be a problem for the league as a whole this cycle again. In regards to the AFC South specifically; the division is losing two good owners (to the Bears and Chiefs) respectively, but is gaining two owners that are very good as well and can make this division even more competitive. The division will now add Coach Deme, whom coached the Jets last cycle and whom has shown more than enough signs that he his a legitimate coach and legitimate threat in the AFC. The division will also add Coach Gabe whom coached the Giants last season. With the x-factor obviously being best friends with Coach Chan and the league sentiment being both Chan and Gabe have same play styles, the divisional rivalry (though HEAVILY in Chan’s favor) will be one to watch this cycle.

•With Coach Chan stating, “this is the most talented team I’ve started with to begin a cycle. We’ve got playmakers all over the field on both sides of the ball”, the city of Houston has high hopes to start off the cycle strong. But even good teams have weaknesses and this team has a pretty blaring weakness in regards to the offensive line. It’s great to have playmakers everywhere but if Deshaun doesn’t have time to throw and Lamar has no holes to run through, this could be a long season for Houston.

•Things to watch out for season 1: 1. Tyrann Mathieu added to a stout defense that has yet to see a safety of his caliber 2. (As previously stated) the offensive line and its ability to keep it’s MVP caliber QB upright 3. Will Fuller’s leap in development status with his All Pro counterpart taking the bulk of the defensive spotlight 4. Rookies KeKe Coutee (slot WR) and Justin Reid’s (starting SS) impact on both sides of the ball 5. The dynamic duo of Clowney and Watt wreaking havoc on offenses

The 2019-2020 season for the Houston Texans saw coach Chan & company in very unfamiliar territory. This season marking the first season in coach Chan’s career where he didn’t make the playoffs or win his division. With a surging AFC, the 11-5 Texans had to watch the playoffs from home. When asked about this season coach Chan stated, “you know, it’s just one of those years where if a couple little things change our season looks a whole lot different. But this is a good group of guys and they understand the learning aspect in failing. They won’t hang their heads either, they are starving for another ring”.

Looking into this season closer, all 5 of the losses taken were lost by one score. So how could a team that saw itself top 5 and mostly top 10 in every statistical category in the entire SFL not make the playoffs? The answer is simple, not closing games out. Out of the 5 losses, one play late in each game could seemingly change each outcome. “All of the stats look great, whatever. But they don’t matter if you’re not closing each game out and winning in the process”, said coach Chan. 

With the glaring negative being closing games out, these Texans also had a lot of positive things to grow on for the future. QB Deshaun Watson had another stellar year that saw him second again in the mvp race, RB Lagarette Blount won AFC RB of the year and the offense as a whole was top 5 or top 10 in every statistical category besides passing yards. On defense, the unit as a whole shined,    finishing the year top 5 in almost every category. These Texans have a lot to look forward too and they must have a good draft this year to make up for last years draft

The 2018-2019 season was obviously a special one for the Texans as they met the expectations set by coach Chan with a championship at the end. But the journey along the way was, as coach Chan stated, “equally as important as the ending result”. 

With last season being a disappointment due too a playoff exit, fixes on both sides of the ball were in order to make a Super Bowl run this season. The biggest adjustments that this team made were last season’s achilles heel, including: converting at a much better percentage on third down during the entire season, not fumbling the football on offense and more production out of the secondary. These three key adjustments for this team full of young superstars really shows their ability to learn and adapt, which is the main rule if you want to succeed in the league. 

The season however, didn’t start the way the team and most certainly Deshaun wanted. After week one, QB Deshaun Watson caught a controversial two game suspension for “stat padding”. With no prior history for 10 seasons of stat padding from coach Chan and the fact they didn’t actually score left a lot shaking their heads at the punishment casted down. When asked about the suspension, coach Chan and Deshaun both used the same sentiments in, “we will use this as motivation. No since in bitching about what’s done. No lip necessary, I’ll just ball”. Deshaun used that motivationa and capped off a wonderful season with: 4634 yds passing(11.2 avg)/45 passing tds-12 ints/75.5 cmp%/ 131.7 passer rating/ 212 yds rushing/ 4 rushing tds. Ultimately, finishing second in the mvp race for back to back seasons. But at only 23 years of age and now a Super Bowl champ, the sky is most certainly the limit. 

Other standouts on offense were the dynamic duo at WR in Deandre Hopkins and Will Fuller. They combined for: 158 catches/ 2,824 yards/ 25 tds. With Will Fuller taking some of the load off Deandre, this offense seems to be the real deal for the future. 

Defensive standouts for the Texans included huge years from Jadaveon Clowney and Carlos Fields. Clowney finally seemed to live up to the defensive stud and  finished with 21 sacks and Fields finished leading the team in tackles and 12 INTs. 

Big time standouts for the team were the unsung players in OLB Clay Matthews who coach Chan said, “was an overall defensive game changer for this team. He could rush the quarterback, play the run and play in coverage at a very high level”. Matthews also stepped up for the Texans playoff run big time for filling in for Clowney as he was injured. The other standout was WR Desean Jackson who seemingly made clutch catches over and over again on third down and in late games. Not to mention the effort put in at returning kicks/punts. 

The Texnas look to defend their title this season and have hopefully picked up where they left off with a week one 45-16 win over a good Los Angeles Chargers team.

The ending to the 2018-2019 SFL season was a special one for the Houston Texans and coach Chan. This championship win made coach Chan one of four coaches in SFL history to have 3+ rings. These three rings in fact, have come in the last 12 seasons, which is when coach Chan started his SFL career. 

In a special playoff run that started with the first seed Texans having a first round bye, their first challenge in these playoffs were the defending SFL champion Patriots. The Texans came out the gates hot in the Divisional Round and didn’t show any signs of rust from the bye week, ultimately taking care of business winning 43-27 behind another Deshaun Watson 158.3 passer rating. To get into the super bowl, the Texans had to beat an SFL team on the rise in the Jets. This time the defense had to win the game with 4 interceptions and multiple sacks leading to a close 27-19 win. 

With only one team standing in the way of the crown, the Texans knew they had to play well on both sides of the ball to defeat the undefeated Atlanta Falcons. Coach Chan had the Falcons on the ropes early, leading to a 17-3 score and key possession of the ball to seemingly put the Falcons out reach at half. But poor decisions on back to back drives by Deshaun brought the Falcons back into a game that turned out to be a classic. Efforts turned out to be for nod as the Texans held on and won 44-41. 

With another trophy brought to Houston, coach Chan could only say one thing, “it’s all for the city, they deserved this”

Houston Texans 2017-2018 Season Recap:

In a season with high hopes falling short of the ultimate goal, a championship, the team and city of Houston can hang their hats on a lot of things the team did well at. 

For starters, the obvious, quarterback Deshaun Watson had a very good start to his NFL career. He piled up a total of 5,691 (5,025 passing/666 rushing) yards and a TOTAL of 47 (37 passing/10 rushing) touchdowns, with a passer rating at a ridiculous 131.6 and only 12 INT’s through 15 games, earning him OROY/OPOY awards and a Pro Bowl appearance in his first year. With many nods at the league MVP it makes you wonder if anything would be different had he not been suspended a game. Just goes to show, even with carrying a team, he’s still a rookie and has to learn still. 

Another bright spot on the team was superstar wide receiver Deandre Hopkins who’s pro bowl season ended with 91 catches (3rd in NFL) 1,918 yards (3rd in NFL) and 20 touchdowns (2nd in NFL). With injuries all over the Texans offense, “DHop” really stepped up for his rookie QB with one of the highest usage rates in the NFL at wide receiver. With over 54% of Deshaun’s passing touchdowns and 37% of Deshaun’s passing yards, it’s exciting to see what the future holds for this dynamic duo. 

With these two really carrying the load for the team and ultimately getting them to the playoffs, a few more bright spots stood out, including: running back Lamar Miller who had 1,062 yards on only 175 carries (6.1 avg YPC). Lamar understood his role and still shined with what he was given. Will Fuller was a bright spot as well, when healthy. He spent most of his sophomore campaign injured but was prouductive when on the field hauling in 772 yards on ONLY 29 catches (6 were touchdowns). 

Major things this team needs to fix-

What the hell happened to this defense? A feared unit in the past that seemingly every year of Coach Chan’s career was top 5 overall in defensive yards, always top 3 in interceptions and top 3 in points allowed, saw its defensive unit 15th in total yards,15th in interceptions and 9th in points allowed! If not for being 4th in sacks (79) this defense would be average at best. With efforts last cycle and the one before that saw historic interception numbers made, including over 100 interceptions made with McKinney in 5 seasons, the most one defender could muster up this season was 8 by rookie MLB Zach Cunningham, who if not injured for 6 games would have been a sure fire pro bowler with 66 tackles (5 tfl), 7.5 sacks and 8 INTs. Needing to have the same efforts again next season are defensive ends J.J Watt and Whitney Mercilus, who produced 27 combined sacks and 28 tackles for loss. Needing to step up next season is defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (only 9.5 sacks) and the ENTIRE secondary.  

Another issue that needs to be addressed is quarterback protection and holding on to the football. Deshaun Watson was under duress all season long getting sacked a whopping 75 times! Watson needs to be able to recognize blitzes next season along with an absolute remodeling of the Oline as well. Now on to the most frustrating point of emphasis for fans and Texan’s coaches alike, fumbling. It’s not even the lousy top 10 ranking in fumbles lost, its the timing of when they occurred. Yes this offense is legit and can score points, but wow they left a ridiculous amount of points on the board because of fumbling in the red zone (i.e the divisional playoff game against the Browns that was played recently saw the Texans fumbling FOUR TIMES IN THE RED ZONE). This issue must be fixed for next season. 

Overall, a lackluster 12-4 season and 1-1 in the playoffs with a coach and organization that demands more than that will certainly get its act together come next season with major holes being hopefully filled in the secondary and offensive line. Lead by young stars, the future is bright in Houston though.