Turned in for the night, Texans players would be on the verge of sleeping after long training camp days when they'd hear the shout: "WHITE 80! WHIIIIITE 80!"
It was quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's voice, thundering through the hallways and across floors.
"I think I was maybe three floors away," rookie quarterback Tom Savage said. "I heard it. It was pretty scary. I thought something was wrong, actually."
That was one of the biggest early changes in the Bill O'Brien regime's first season. Veterans didn't have to stay in the training camp hotel under former coach Gary Kubiak, but everyone did in the new regime. They hated it, but that was sort of the point, and eventually that hate melted. Team camaraderie grew under the shared experiences of things such as playing miniature golf in the hallways and being awakened by Fitzpatrick's gruff shouts.
"When you look back on it, it was a lot of fun," said Andre Johnson, the longest-tenured Texan on the roster. "It was different, but it was a lot of fun. I think it helped everybody buy in to what was going on around here."
They bought in so completely that they were able to improve by seven wins. They missed the playoffs, but this season set a foundation for the future under O'Brien.
Team MVP: J.J. Watt made big plays when it counted the most more than any other player in the NFL. Watt had 13 disrupted dropbacks on third or fourth down, according to ESPN Stats & Information, the most in the league. Both of his defensive touchdowns came in such circumstances. It has been a hallmark of Watt's as long as he has played football. Watt became the first player since sacks were recorded in 1982 to have multiple seasons with 20 or more sacks. He was the first player in NFL history to have three touchdown catches, a pick-six and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown in a single season.
Best moment: Suspend your definition of a "moment" for, well, a moment, and allow it to include one half of football. So, the Texans' best moment of the season was a masterfully planned and executed first half of football against the Baltimore Ravens. The Texans' disguises confused the Ravens. Their blitzes turned Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco into a shell of himself. They gave up only 31 yards in the entire half, a franchise record, and they picked off Flacco twice in that time. Their performance meant the Texans' offense, then on Case Keenum's first start of the season, had minimal pressure in a difficult situation. They performed.
Worst moment: At the midway point, my choice here was Jadeveon Clowney's injury, but the defense played so well late in the year that I'd say that wasn't the worst moment. Ryan Fitzpatrick was far from perfect for the Texans this season, but he had a habit of improving during games and likely would have against the Colts in Indianapolis were it not for a broken leg suffered early there. Fitzpatrick's leg suffered a clean break and he had season-ending surgery the next day. An unprepared Savage entered the game, forced to learn as he played. That was the first in a string of dominant games by the Texans' defense. They held the Colts to what was then a season-low 17 points and lost by only a touchdown. Winning that game would have meant a franchise-first win in Indianapolis and controlling their own destiny in Week 17.
2015 outlook: This offseason will be important for the Texans with respect to player personnel. They'll have to resolve a question at quarterback, and they'll have a lot of work to do with their own free agents. Half of the defensive starting lineup is at the end of their contracts and that's a unit that played its best in December, having had almost a full season to jell and understand defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel's system. Safeties Kendrick Lewis and Danieal Manning and nose tackle Ryan Pickett were on one-year deals. Cornerback Kareem Jackson and outside linebacker Brooks Reed are at the end of their rookie deals, and inside linebacker Akeem Dent, who arrived in a trade this season, also will be a free agent if he's not re-signed before the league year ends.
