You Could Win The Super Bowl! Houston Texans

They have a great offense. Is the defense finally good enough?

NFL Training camp season is always a time for irrational exuberance. Every team thinks it can win the Super Bowl, even though 31 of those teams will end being horribly wrong. And so, to preview the upcoming NFL season, which could be the most unpredictable ever, we now give you five reasons why your favorite team could win the Super Bowl. Today, it's the Houston Texans.

1. Because this is still perhaps the most talented offense in football. We'll get to the defense in just a moment, since that's pretty much the reason this team went into the gutter in 2010. For now, let us marvel at just how good this offense is. For years, the Texans were widely derided for never addressing their offensive line woes through the draft. Now their line is rated among the five best in the sport by Football Outsiders. They also have the best wideout in football (Andre Johnson), and the 2010 NFL rushing champ in Arian Foster. Foster not only ran for over 1,600 yards last season, he also caught 66 passes and got over 600 yards. It was one of the best seasons ever by a running back, much less one that was never drafted. There's no reason that Foster can't duplicate that success once more. Then you have Matt Schaub, who just can't seem to break through to big-time status as a QB but never fails to deliver gaudy numbers. This is a playoff offense. This should be a playoff offense, EXCEPT...

2. It's not like the pass defense can get any worse. After the Texans beat Indy in Week 1 last season and Foster had his breakout game, everyone immediately reassessed them and figured they were finally due to win 12 games make the playoffs. The problem is that no one told the pass defense, which went on to have perhaps the worst season any NFL pass defense has ever had. Dead last in yardage. Dead last in allowing gains of 40+ yards. Tied for last in touchdowns allowed. My friends, this was a masterpiece of atrocious pass defense. We may never see the likes of it again, especially since the team signed CB Johnathan Joseph away from the Bengals and dedicated virtually all of their draft to the defensive side of the ball. And, as a cherry on the sundae...

3. WADE! Say what you will about former Cowboys head coach and Jerry Jones hand puppet Wade Phillips. He's not much of a top dog. But as a defensive coordinator? He's quite good. The last time Wade was a defense-only coach, he was running a Chargers D that consistently generated sacks and turnovers. And he'll have plenty of raw materials to work with on this defense in Mario Williams and Joseph. This doesn't have to be a bad defense. In fact, it merely needs to be average and let the offense do the rest.

4. Gary Kubiak bonked his head and is now a GENIUS. Few coaches come as close to being fired without getting fired as Kubiak was last season, and he kept his job with Houston mainly because there was a lockout coming and few decent candidates out there. The Texans will have the advantage of continuity going into this season, and perhaps Kubiak's dance with the unemployment line will spur him to become a better clock manager and use less pomade. And if he still sucks...

5. Did you hear Peyton might be hurt real bad? De-fault! De-fault! De-fault!

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