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          NFL Nation

          Injuries to Texans' Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt affect season prediction

          • Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff WriterJan 5, 2018, 03:00 PM
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              Sarah Barshop covers the Los Angeles Rams for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated. You can follow her on Twitter @sarahbarshop.
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          The Houston Texans ended their season on Sunday with a loss to Colts. Here’s a look back at how I predicted their season would unfold.

          My predicted record: 9-7

          Texans’ actual record: 4-12

          How I fared: I predicted the Texans to go 9-7 for the fourth straight season under coach Bill O’Brien. Houston got off to a 3-4 start after Tom Savage was benched at halftime of their Week 1 blowout loss to the Jags. Rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson put up huge offensive numbers and kept them in close games against good teams, including one-possession road losses to the Patriots and Seahawks and a home loss to the then-undefeated Chiefs, even with a struggling defense. Although they were under .500 before Watson’s injury, the Texans had a chance to make a run with the fourth-easiest schedule in the second half. Instead, the Texans went 1-8 after Watson tore his ACL in practice Nov. 2 and Houston missed the playoffs for the second time in O’Brien’s four seasons.