The Texans have come close in the past, but this will be their first ever appearance in the playoffs. Although the Texans didn’t hit the field until 2002, the NFL’s 32nd franchise was officially christened the Houston Texans in 2000 when they unveiled the team’s name, colors and logo. In that same year, the Texans recorded their first preseason win, defeating the New Orleans Saints 13-10 at the Louisiana Superdome. That same year they become the first NFL team in 41 years to win their expansion debut, stunning the Dallas Cowboys. They also won on the road for the first time, defeating Jacksonville. I am sure the franchise never thought it would take them 11 years to secure their first playoff berth.

The Broncos have a “mile high” history of making it to the playoffs. The last time the Broncos made the playoffs in 2005, they also won their division. It’s been 13 years (1998) since the Broncos were conference champs. That same year they won the Super Bowl. In 1997 they were also division and Super Bowl Champs. Although 5 of the 6 Super Bowl appearances by the Broncos were with John Elway at the helm, they have only won the big game twice. In 1997 (XXXII) and 1998 (XXXIII), John Elway along with running back Terrell Davis led the Broncos to wins over the Green Bay Packers (31 to 24) and the Atlanta Falcons (34 to 19) to become Super Bowl Champions.

In Super Bowl XXXII, Terrell Davis rushed for 157 yards, caught two passes for 8 yards, and became the first player in Super Bowl history to score three rushing touchdowns. His performance earned him Super Bowl MVP honors. The next year, Davis rushed for 2,008 yards becoming a member of the 2000 rushing yards club, earned the league MVP honor, his third straight AFC rushing title, his first NFL rushing title, and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press for the second time. However, it was John Elway who was named MVP of the Super Bowl at 38 years old. Ironically, the former QB is now the executive vice president of football operations of the Denver Broncos, but the question remains whether or not current QB Tim Tebow will be able to follow in his footsteps on the field.

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