The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The Texans are members of the South division in the American Football Conference (AFC) of the National Football League (NFL). They were founded in 1999 and began play as an expansion team in 2002. The team was owned by Bob McNair until his death in 2018; following McNair's death, the ownership of the team went to his wife, Janice. [2] [3] The Texans are the youngest franchise currently competing in the NFL. [4]
While the Texans mainly struggled in the 2000s, the franchise experienced an upturn during the 2010s. They first found success in the 2011 season, winning their first division championship and clinching their first playoff berth. [5] [6] The team won their first playoff game that same year, beating the Cincinnati Bengals 31–10. [7] The Texans have gone on to win six more AFC South division championships in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2023. They are the only franchise never to have won a road playoff game and the only one never to have appeared in a conference championship game. [8] They are also one of four franchises never to have appeared in a Super Bowl, alongside the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and Jacksonville Jaguars. [9] In the Texans' 22-year history, they have an overall regular season record of 142 wins, 195 losses, and 1 tie, plus an overall postseason record of 5 wins and 7 losses. The team currently has eight winning seasons, two 8–8 seasons, and eleven losing seasons.
Super Bowl champions * | Conference champions# | Division champions† | Wild Card berth^ |
Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards [Key] | Head coach | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finish | W | L | T | |||||||||
2002 | 2002 | NFL | AFC | South | 4th | 4 | 12 | 0 | Dom Capers | [10] | ||
2003 | 2003 | NFL | AFC | South | 4th | 5 | 11 | 0 | [11] | |||
2004 | 2004 | NFL | AFC | South | 3rd | 7 | 9 | 0 | [12] | |||
2005 | 2005 | NFL | AFC | South | 4th | 2 | 14 | 0 | [13] | |||
2006 | 2006 | NFL | AFC | South | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | DeMeco Ryans (DROY) | Gary Kubiak | [14] [15] | |
2007 | 2007 | NFL | AFC | South | 4th | 8 | 8 | 0 | [16] | |||
2008 | 2008 | NFL | AFC | South | 3rd | 8 | 8 | 0 | [17] | |||
2009 | 2009 | NFL | AFC | South | 2nd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Brian Cushing (DROY) | [18] [19] | ||
2010 | 2010 | NFL | AFC | South | 3rd | 6 | 10 | 0 | [20] | |||
2011 | 2011 | NFL | AFC | South† | 1st† | 10 | 6 | 0 | Won Wild Card playoffs (Bengals) 31–10 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Ravens) 13–20 | [21] | ||
2012 | 2012 | NFL | AFC | South† | 1st† | 12 | 4 | 0 | Won Wild Card playoffs (Bengals) 19–13 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Patriots) 28–41 | J. J. Watt (DPOY) | [22] [23] | |
2013 | 2013 | NFL | AFC | South | 4th | 2 | 14 | 0 | Gary Kubiak (2–11) [lower-alpha 1] Wade Phillips (0–3) [lower-alpha 1] | [24] | ||
2014 | 2014 | NFL | AFC | South | 2nd | 9 | 7 | 0 | J. J. Watt (DPOY) | Bill O'Brien | [25] [26] | |
2015 | 2015 | NFL | AFC | South† | 1st† | 9 | 7 | 0 | Lost Wild Card playoffs (Chiefs) 0–30 | J. J. Watt (DPOY) | [27] [28] | |
2016 | 2016 | NFL | AFC | South† | 1st† | 9 | 7 | 0 | Won Wild Card playoffs (Raiders) 27–14 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Patriots) 16–34 | [29] | ||
2017 | 2017 | NFL | AFC | South | 3rd | 4 | 12 | 0 | J. J. Watt (WPMOY) | [30] [31] | ||
2018 | 2018 | NFL | AFC | South† | 1st† | 11 | 5 | 0 | Lost Wild Card playoffs (Colts) 7–21 | [32] | ||
2019 | 2019 | NFL | AFC | South† | 1st† | 10 | 6 | 0 | Won Wild Card playoffs (Bills) 22–19 (OT) Lost Divisional playoffs (at Chiefs) 31–51 | [33] | ||
2020 | 2020 | NFL | AFC | South | 3rd | 4 | 12 | 0 | Bill O'Brien (0–4) [lower-alpha 1] Romeo Crennel (4–8) [lower-alpha 1] | [34] | ||
2021 | 2021 | NFL | AFC | South | 3rd | 4 | 13 | 0 | David Culley | [35] | ||
2022 | 2022 | NFL | AFC | South | 4th | 3 | 13 | 1 | Lovie Smith | [36] | ||
2023 | 2023 | NFL | AFC | South† | 1st† | 10 | 7 | 0 | Won Wild Card playoffs (Browns) 45–14 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Ravens) 10–34 | DeMeco Ryans | [37] | |
Total | 152 | 202 | 1 | All-time regular season record (2002–2023) | ||||||||
5 | 7 | — | All-time postseason record (2002–2023) | |||||||||
157 | 209 | 1 | All-time regular & postseason record (2002–2023) |
DROY | National Football League Defensive Rookie of the Year Award |
DPOY | National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award |
WPMOY | Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award |
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