A ‘Special Season" Comes To An End for Houston Texans In New England Patriots Loss

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Walking into the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium on Sunday after the Houston Texans’ loss to the New England Patriots in their divisional-round playoff game felt nostalgic in many ways.

In 2023, it was the visiting locker room at M&T Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, and last season it was at Arrowhead Stadium that the Texans heard the home crowd of the Kansas City Chiefs, even after the final whistle blew 15 minutes earlier.

It was that eerie feeling of defeat, with each player at their locker in silence, trying to process what had just occurred on the field, knowing the media would ask them to speak about another devastating end to their season.

Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. and quarterback C.J. Stroud, the two players drafted back-to-back in the 2023 NFL Draft as the cornerstones of the rebuilding process, sat next to each other at Anderson’s locker and had a brief conversation that was not open to the media.

Not only was another loss in the divisional round for the third year in a row hard to process, but the emotions of defeat were something the Texans players had not felt since Week 9 against the Denver Broncos, which, ironically, is the revenge Houston was seeking in the AFC Championship Game next Sunday.

For ten consecutive games, including a Wildcard win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Texans locker room had been filled with music blaring and every player in a jovial mood, replaying certain plays out loud that stood out throughout each game.

But this time around, emotions were running high for a very good reason.

This felt like the season of destiny, with the team bouncing back from a 0-3 start to the regular season and finishing with a 12-5 record.

The defensive side of the ball had its best run since the DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke era began, as they claimed the number one overall defense in the NFL and ranked in the top ten in several defensive categories.

Edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Anderson Jr., along with cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., were named to the NFL All-Pro teams.

At the same time, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time, and others, including defensive backs Jalen Pitre, Kamari Lassiter, and Calen Bullock, barely missed being named to the Pro Bowl as well.

This was the season the team was supposed to make its first-ever AFC Championship appearance. Everything was set up for this to be the team of destiny, even after being counted out and disrespected, with a 3-5 record.

The Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars were the odds-on favorites to represent the AFC South in the playoffs, while the Texans found themselves on the outside looking in.

Overcoming all kinds of adversity to put together a winning streak, defeating the Steelers in Acrisure Stadium on Monday Night Football, and ending the historic head coaching career of Mike Tomlin, who stepped down after the loss, and on one snowy, cold Sunday, it was over.

Now, Houston will have all offseason to ponder what could have been with this group, as players move on to free agency and extensions loom that will certainly hamper the franchise financially and may cause the Texans to lose some good players in the future.

“This season was so special,” said Will Anderson Jr. during his exit interview inside the Texans locker room on Monday. “Such a big group of special guys and its just like ‘Dang’ I wish we could have did it with this group. I know next year we are going to keep getting the right guys in here, the right people in here.

“The people that are already in here will keep bonding together and keep getting better. I think it is just the consistency part of keep building this culture and getting the people in here that we know fits the culture.”