What a difference a year makes.

A season ago the Texans were the joke around the state. A loss
to the Cowboys, a horrible second half of the season and a big step
back in terms of wins.

This year, though, the Texans have to be the pride of Texas.

Sure, they lost three consecutive games heading into this
Saturday’s wildcard playoff matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.
And maybe the quarterback position is about as steady as a house of
cards in an earthquake.

But the Texans have to like their chances in the franchise’s
first ever playoff game regardless.

The Texans have what every good playoff team needs – a tough run
game and a steady defense. If those two aspects of their game can
step up, then there rookie quarterback T.J. Yates can simply steer
the bus to a victory.

Sounds easy right?

Yates should have some added confidence, too. Remember, the
Texans last win came against these same Bengals nearly a month ago
– a game that Yates drove the offense down the field in the last
minute before finding Kevin Walter for the go ahead touchdown.

Thanks to the great start, the Texans get the added boost that
is home field advantage. Houston fans have been waiting for 18
years for a playoff game – expect them to be loud and proud.
There’s a reason why the Reliant Stadium atmosphere is consistently
ranked near the top in the NFL.

It’s hard to imagine Saturday’s game being any sort of cakewalk,
but the Texans will and should be the favorites heading into it.
Let’s just hope they show more fight than what the Cowboys did in
their elimination game with the New York Giants on Sunday
night.

The Cowboys’ performance only adds to the lure of the failures
of Jerry Jones, Tony Romo and a largely overrated team.

It’s hard to imagine a team can’t get up for a game as big as
the Dallas’ on Sunday. Their season on the line and the Cowboys
didn’t even get off the bus.

Then again, it happened to them before. See the 44-6 whooping
that the Philadelphia Eagles put on the hapless Cowboys in
2008.

That being said, the whole state should be behind the Texans as
they enter the playoffs. Not that it will help much being that most
will be in front of their TV sets instead of in the stadium, but it
has to count for something.

While the Texans could very well come out on bottom of a dog
fight on Sunday – though I doubt that will be the case – this
season will forever go down as on of the most memorable in the
team’s history.

Regardless of what happens, at least the Texans aren’t the
Cowboys.

Keith MacPherson is the Sports Editor of The Courier. He can be
reached at kmacpherson@hcnonline.com or follow him on Twitter
@ConroeSports