Some might view an early kickoff time in the playoffs as an insult.
For the Houston Texans, it feels natural heading into Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. kick against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Texans return to the postseason for the eighth time in franchise history. For the eighth time, they’ll be the first game of the afternoon, airing this season on CBS and Paramount+.
That’s not a negative when looking at the team’s success on Saturdays. While the Texans are still trying to advance to their first-ever conference championship, they’re 5-2 all-time on wild-card round week and are currently riding a three.
Fresh off a 23-14 win over the Tennessee Titans, Houston has regained a much-welcomed spark. Expectations from the outside are quite dim, but internally, players still see a path to New Orleans and potentially a Super Bowl title.
“We’re going to bring our style of football, our brand of football on Saturday regardless of what any one of those talking heads’ opinion is about us,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It really doesn’t drive or change our approach.”
Second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud, who’s struggled to regain the pedigree of his rookie season, said he’s embracing being counted out before a whistle has even blown.
“I kind of like being the underdog,” Stroud said. “I’ve been the underdog a lot of my life and my career, so it’s actually comfortable for me.”
With a win, the Texans would improve to 6-7 all-time in postseason games. Barring an upset, Houston would return to Arrowhead for a redemption arc tale against the Kansas City Chiefs.
