The Houston Texans had something to play for in Week 17 against the Jacksonville Jaguars with the sixth and final AFC wildcard spot on the line.
While the Texans took care of everything they had control over in beating the Jaguars 23-17 at home, no help was found from the Cleveland Browns as the Baltimore Ravens won 20-10 to take the final playoff spot. The Texans did get some of the help they needed as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Diego Chargers 19-7, but that turned out to be a moot point by the time the clock struck zero at NRG Stadium.
After the game, head coach Bill O'Brien was disappointed in missing the playoffs despite the win, but noted the Texans shouldn't have had to rely on the help of other teams.
"At the end of the day, you can't leave it up to somebody else. You've got to control your own fate," O'Brien said. "You've got to go back and find out why we lost some of those close games, what we can do better, how we can improve in all areas starting with me."
While the Texans defied the odds playing with their fourth quarterback of the season in Case Keenum and without running back Arian Foster for most of the game after he was knocked out early with a hamstring injury, Houston nearly lost its lead in the fourth quarter, however a goal-line stand the by the defense prevented such an event.
"We finished the the season a little bit strong here at the end. We are on our fourth quarterback here, come on," Watt said. "It's not ideal by any means where we are, but I think that I'm looking forward to getting back to work. I wasn't ready for it to end, that's for sure."
The victory sealed a winning season for the Texans at 9-7, one year after finishing 2-14 losing their last 14 straight, and much of the credit once again went to J.J. Watt, who helped his MVP case with three sacks, a forced fumble and a safety with chants of 'M-V-P' raining down often from the sellout crowd Sunday afternoon.
"As an athlete, I think that's one of the coolest things of all time, to have a stadium chant for you or whatever," Watt said. "I can't say enough about our fans and I've only been here for four years."
After sacking Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles for the third time, Watt became the first NFL player to have 20-plus sacks in multiple seasons.
"Obviously, to be able to do something that's never been done before, it's unreal," Watt said. "It's a testament to my coaches and teammates and everybody around me. I mean, that's one of the coolest things ever."
Keenum, who started his second-straight game for the Texans, managed the game well enough to move to 2-0 on his short season since re-signing with the team from the St. Louis Rams' practice squad. He finished the game with 250 yards, two touchdowns and an interception that was returned for a Jaguars' touchdown.
"It's pretty surreal," Keenum said about being 2-0 as a starter in 2014. "I really can't put it into words. It's been a really special two weeks. It's been a lot of fun. Even though we're not in the playoffs right now, but we did what we can control today, and that was go out an win the football game."
Keenum's effort was helped out in large part by receiver Andre Johnson, who recorded his first 100-yard game of the season gaining 134 yards in the air while scoring a touchdown in what could end up being his last in a Texans uniform. Johnson seemed optimistic that the Texans will keep him on roster for would be his 13th season in Houston.
"To be honest, no. I never really thought about it until one of my teammates came up to me and said, 'I hope this is not your last game here,'" Johnson said about this possibly being his last time in a Texans jersey. "When they said that, it kind of hit me a little bit. It doesn't feel like it's going to be my last time here so to be honest, I really haven't given it much thought." Johnson said.
Overall, while an improvement on last season's disaster, the Texans are preparing to regroup in the offseason with year one of the Bill O'Brien era closed with a winning record and thoughts of what could have been coming so close to the playoffs.
"We weren't there at this point, but I do think we made a lot of strides," O'Brien said. "Being 9-7, from where we started in April, I think is a decent start, but again, it's not the ultimate goal. We all know that. Everybody understands that. We don't have to sit here and talk about it. It is what it is, but we ended on a winning note and I thought that was important."
Follow Shawn Ramsey on Twitter: @ShawnPRamsey
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