The team itself feels that way. In fact, 12-year vet Case Keenum is bullish, he couldn’t help but show how he felt about the direction of the franchise right after leading the Texans to a 19–16 overtime win Sunday in Nashville.
The 35-year-old told CBS’s Aditi Kinkhabwala that he sees the Texans as “top to bottom, one of the best teams in the league.” That got my attention, so I got Keenum on the phone and asked him why he said something that would’ve been incomprehensible three months ago.
“So one, I think it starts with C.J. [Stroud],” Keenum says. “Man, I’ll be honest. I think he’s got a chance to be one of the best of all time—I really do. I think [he’s a] generational talent. I’ll say that again. Man, the dude is a dog. Great vision, great pocket awareness, is athletic, can move, can make any throw on the field. Strong throws, touch throws, and he’s a great leader. He’s young, but, I mean, he’s mature for his age, and then the whole quarterback room in general can play. I’m confident in myself. I’m confident in Davis [Mills].
“And then you go around to the other rooms—like the receiver room. Yeah, we’ve had two injuries [to Tank Dell and Nico Collins] that have hurt a little bit, but, I mean, look at Noah [Brown]. He had a great game today. Robert Woods, man, he’s just this crafty vet that does everything and anything you ask of him. And he’s a big third-down weapon. And then you have some young guys that are proving themselves that are going to play hard.
“And then you look at the tight end room, Dalton Schultz is having a career year. I think some young guys in there are stepping up as well. And then defensively, man, it's just, it’s much young talent over there, and the way DeMeco [Ryans] coaches them, it’s special. It’s really cool to see.”
The Texans needed all of that and then some to get past the Titans (5–8 coming in and on a short week). But where so many of the Texans’ seven other wins showcased the budding young talent that’s come into the organization, this one was more about the foundation that Ryans is building. And maybe that was best illustrated with a text Stroud sent to Keenum and Mills before the game—and after being ruled out for it with a concussion.
“We’re all in this together,” Stroud wrote.
“He said he was rooting for us,” Keenum said, “praying for us and that he was here with us.”
In spirit, maybe. But physically, the Texans would have to do without him, and without Dell and Collins, and this week without Will Anderson Jr., among others, on defense.
Sure enough, a game Titans team jumped to a 13–0 lead and held a 13–3 edge at the break. Through three and a half quarters, the Texans were held to 224 yards and three field goals.
But Ryans’s defense kept giving the offense chances.
Keenum’s crew finally took advantage halfway through the fourth quarter—down 16–9, they drove 79 yards in 10 plays to tie it, with the biggest play coming from Schultz, who more or less went Randy Moss on Titans DB Roger McCreary.
Four plays into overtime, Keenum found someone to make a big play for him. This time, it was Devin Singletary—streaking free over the middle, then collecting the throw from Keenum for 41 yards, setting up Kai’imi Fairbairn for the game-winning kick.
“You can see how it’s going in San Fran, with that system and that culture that they’ve built,” says Keenum. “And you add a DeMeco, a C.J. to that, I think that’s the kind of culture you want. It’s the kind of powerhouse that I think the Texans are going to be for a while.”
And, as Keenum clearly sees it, the kind of powerhouse these Texans already are.
