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HOUSTON — As the Houston Texans opened training camp on Thursday morning, it was hard to ignore the juxtaposition surrounding this NFL franchise.
Angry gray clouds were hanging over the team’s practice fields, threatening another in a seemingly endless string of storms since Hurricane Beryl rolled through the city on July 8. One parking lot away, hundreds of utility trailers, trucks and electrical employees were massing for another day of restoring service to the 2.2 million residents that lost power in oppressive July heat. That number included a large swath of the Texans’ organization, from the coaching staff to players to a multitude of team employees. Even the team’s homefield took a hit, with massive strands of NRG Stadium roofing ripped off by 90-mile per hour winds.
As you might imagine, all of that has made power a big topic of conversation in this city right now — who has it, who lost it, and who’s responsible for the mess left behind it. And in the middle of it all, you have the Texans getting one of their most anticipated seasons in team history underway. Fielding a team that has had the opposite of a power drain this offseason, drawing an intense spotlight to a roster with an embarrassment of juice.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud is a preseason MVP candidate. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik is a virtual lock to receive head coaching offers next offseason. And the Texans as a franchise? Well, if they’re not a dark horse Super Bowl pick right now, that seems like an inevitability in the next few months.
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That’s how good these Texans can be. They’re neck-deep in local and national hype — or “rat poison” as head coach DeMeco Ryans once called it, borrowing some colorful terminology from former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. But Ryans is right. Without a doubt, the early applause is present and hard to ignore. From the appreciation of a front office that masterfully rebuilt and balanced…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/the-next-heavyweight-afc-contender-coming-for-the-chiefs-crown-its-the-houston-texans-043607548.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-19 04:36:07
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