Monday 30 January 2017 12:53, UK
Houston Texans have the youthful vigour and hunger that befits their status as the youngest team in the NFL.
Playing their first season in 2002, the new unit became the 32nd franchise in the national league after Houston's previous dwellers, the Oilers, packed up and moved to Tennessee to become the Titans and Cleveland Browns' staff and team moved to Baltimore with Art Modell to become the Ravens at the same time.
Houston Texans had difficulty gelling under head coach, Dom Capers, in the early 2000s and didn't record a winning season until their eighth in 2009 when Houston native, Gary Kubiak, was in charge.
Two years later, they won the AFC South and reached the playoffs for the first time - the shifts were beginning to pay off.
It was a short-lived success in that they lost out to a superior Baltimore defence in the Divisional Round, but the signs of progress they showed also carried into the next season with a franchise-best 12-4 winning season.
Defensive end, J.J. Watt, had plenty to do with the most successful pair of seasons to date for the Texans. Drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft, the 6ft 5in Watt set records left, right and centre in his first five seasons with his power and penchant for sacking the opposition with a carefully considered approach to the defensive game.
The Texans finished the 2016 season as divisional champions in the AFC South and, with the league's top-rated defence in the regular season, beat Oakland Raiders to progress from the Wild Card Round.
For the second time in five seasons, they faced a strong New England Patriots in the Divisional Round, who, fronted by veteran quarterback, Tom Brady, went big on the first few plays and convincingly pulled away to an eventual 34-16 win.
Despite early struggles in the playoffs, in ending four out of six recent seasons as divisional champions, the Texans are charging towards sure-fire success in the formative years of their franchise. Watch this space.
