The "Almost" Team

Taking a punch in the mouth will leave your ears ringing, your head pounding, and your mouth a little bloody. The taste of copper coating your tongue and the sudden crack of clarity sharpening your mind will bring a new perspective, no longer clouded by the distractions of other emotions. It’s good to get punched in the mouth sometimes, especially if it is warranted. For the Houston Texans, their game against the Kansas City Chiefs was not only a punch in the mouth, but a punch in the gut as well. There doesn’t need to be a rehashing of what happened. All the men wearing deep steel blue, battle red, and liberty white know they were on the receiving end of a beatdown reminiscent of Mike Tyson punching out some sorry opponent who made the mistake of stepping in the ring and stepping up in caliber. The Texans were that unworthy on Sunday and the part that stings the most is that the narrative is fabulously familiar to fans and media. Sure, we might have conned our way into a first-round win in the cards, but far too often Texans players seem to forget that it’s not about how you start. Landing a great punch in the first round that rocks your adversary is great, but if you don’t knock him out, all you’ve done is piss him off. Boy were the Chiefs pissed. They took their punch in the mouth, used that sharp moment of clarity to wake up, and then beat the fight right out of the team from Houston. Houston loves to praise the Texans for their heart and for the refusal to quit. Pile on some more accolades for making progress and taking steps forward each and every year. Remove the rose-colored goggles and certain things start to ring rather hollow. For an almost 20-year-old franchise with aspirations of greatness, the Texans have achieved remarkably nothing. There have been many notable players walking through the doors at NRG stadium. Hall of fame caliber players, All-Pro, Pro-Bowlers, and highly touted draft picks. With all the talent and promise jealously collected over almost 20 years, the “almost” team is still stuck being the “almost” team. The mindset is flawed. The culture is complacent. Getting close to greatness isn’t something to hang your hat on, especially if greatness is the goal. In fact, it should light a fire inside that burns so hot, it starts to consume you because nothing should hurt worse than being the “almost” team. Instead, patience and hard work are being preached from a pulpit that stands before a despondent congregation. We’ve all heard the mantra, the company line, the team-speak. Talk that isn’t backed up by action is cheap, and the Texans are selling for pennies on the dollar. Everyone from the outside looking in has seen the story play out before. The same characters are giving the same exhausted performance while standing in defiance of the increasingly negative reviews. Those of us on the outside don’t know football as well as the professionals, that’s obvious, but people do know how to spot malarkey when they see and hear it. Losing is part of life and if you’ve got more than zero common sense, you understand that losing is acceptable if you know it was done leaving nothing on the table. It becomes offensive to lose when there is obviously a consistent pattern of failing to maximize potential. To see it wasted so carelessly, it hurts to watch. That can only be fixed by leadership. Fans can only hope that one day that leader emerges and no longer accepts “almost.”