Guest Post: Why the Texans Will Win the Super Bowl

I had a pretty ambitious plan this week. I was going to find fans of every team remaining, and they were each going to write why their team was going to win. Then I was going to post them together in their respective matchups. “You’re so clever,” I told my reflection as I brushed my teeth. “This is one of your best ideas yet.”

But unfortunately, the plan didn’t turn out as I hoped. In fact, of the 8 teams, only one had a fan stand up for them. Clearly, this means the Houston Texans are going to win.

Texans fan Mike Jaynes writes a few words about his favorite team. If you like what you see here, follow him on twitter, where I’m sure there will be reactions to the playoff game this weekend. Take it away, Mike!

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Being a sports fan in Houston is, generally speaking, an exercise in heartbreak and disappointment. And sure, there are a lot of cities that can claim the same thing. And sure, we have our occasional moments – but for every ’94 and ’95 NBA championships, we have five years of being shackled to Yao Ming’s glass ankles. And how many cities the size of Houston have their NFL team simply shipped away? Our only constantly successful franchise is the Dynamo and, while I love them, the other 99% of America would rather watch 60 Minutes than the MLS Cup.

That’s why, as a lifelong fan of Houston sports, it is easy to be pessimistic, even as our team clinched its first playoff berth and division title ever. The lasting effects of David Carr are hard to shake.

“I LOVE FUMBLES!!!”

It would have been particularly easy this year to give up hope, as half the starting lineup’s hamstrings exploded, and Matt after Matt suffered season-ending injury.

I hope you're happy, Albert.

But something strange happened – the team kept going, and they kept winning (until they clinched, at which point I guess they decided they had done enough). Our defense stopped drive after drive, Connor Barwin declared a jihad upon Blaine Gabbert, our third-string rookie QB came through in clutch situations, and Wade Phillips smugly smiled upon it all.

The reason the Houston Texans will win the Super Bowl is because they have a term I often heard used to describe the Rockets of 2009, when they pushed the Lakers to Game 7 – heart. Heart, while the worst imaginable Captain Planet power, is one of those sports intangibles that can, on a good day, make up for injuries, rookie players, and gypsy curses (word is, Reliant Stadium is built upon an old Indian burial ground, which makes sense, as it is adjacent to the Astrodome). It is an essential part of the never-say-die attitude that has comprised the “Next Man Up” philosophy of this season. The Texans will win because they are a team infused with a hunger that only comes with never having achieved success before (look at the some of the previous teams in the NFL who entered the playoffs for the first time). The remaining seven teams are all great (well, at least five are) but the Texans have already suffered through everything a team can imagine suffering and made it this far – what’s another few games?