Twenty-four to nothing, and I thought the Texans had finally arrived. January 2020, a divisional game in Kansas City, Houston up 24-0 in the second quarter and playing like the better team. Then Patrick Mahomes happened, all at once, and the Chiefs scored forty-one straight before it was over. One of the great collapses, and for a young franchise it was a hard lesson in how fast January turns.

A short history, learning fast

The Texans only joined the league in 2002, so the postseason book is thin. They won their first playoff game after the 2011 season and spent the next decade making the odd January cameo without ever breaking through. The 24-0 night in Kansas City is still the one that stings, the closest a young team had come to something real.

The Stroud era

Then C.J. Stroud arrived and the Texans got serious again. They have been back to January in each of his seasons, winning a wild-card game and then running into the wall a round later. This past postseason they hammered the Steelers 30-6 in the wild card before the Patriots ended it 28-16 in the divisional round. Steady progress, no breakthrough yet.

A young franchise with one famous collapse and a quarterback who has it climbing again. Texans fans, you have not yet learned the truly long version of January heartbreak, and I hope you never do. You are building toward the room, not wandering away from it. That is the good part of the story.