Texans stay humble despite winning streak

HOUSTON – We have hit the final stretch of the regular season, and life is good for the Houston Texans.

Remember that 0-3 start?   We’ve all moved on from that, right?

The Texans are now the talk of the NFL after reeling off eight consecutive wins, setting a new franchise record along the way.

You would think there is a lot of celebration at NRG Stadium going on, but Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was quick to push the reset button Tuesday.

“There will be no talk from me about anything other than the game last night (Monday) and then moving on to Cleveland, “ said O’Brien.

O’Brien was also asked about him and his team focusing on the one-game-at-a-time mentality.

“It has to be that way.  This league is the most humbling professional sports league there is.  If you start to take the cheese, you start to the drink the Kool-Aid, you are going to get humbled, “ said O’Brien. “That is something we talk about to our players.  What I have learned in this league, it’s never as good as you think it is and it’s never as bad.  Our players need to just show up, get their lifts in, get rehab, get going and be ready to go to work."

O’Brien downplaying the streak and approach could send a message that he is minimizing the accomplishment, but that is far from the case.

“I’m not minimizing that.  I think it is something that the players should be very proud of.  There’s no doubt that to be able to set a franchise record with what Gary Kubiak did here in the years that he was here, winning seven in a row, and then we’ve won seven in a row and now eight.  I’m not trying to minimize that, but in the end, we haven’t done anything other than that,” said O’Brien.

“But what is the goal?  Is the goal to be known as the first team that came back from 0-3 to win eight straight?  That’s great, but the goal this week is to get better and try to understand how we’re going to be able to beat Cleveland."

The Texans and Browns kickoff at 12 p.m. Sunday at NRG Stadium looking for a ninth straight victory.