Season preview: How many wins will Texans have in 2021 and how many fans will watch?

The last few months have been as tumultuous as any in franchise history for the Houston Texans. January starred major drama around executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby and chairman and CEO Cal McNair’s devotion to his future in the Texans’ organization.

February transitioned to national media coverage regarding Deshaun Watson, once the future star of Houston for the next decade to come, demanding a trade away from a team that many said had “failed him” in 2021. February gave way to March, where 22 sexual assault allegations against Watson changed the public narrative and further sent the future of the Texans’ spiraling.

In April, new general manager Nick Caserio had his first draft and selected a quarterback, Davis Mills, with the team’s first selection at 67th overall. Since then, there has been many a snarky commentary piece about the Texans’ culture, the nature of their aging roster, and the generally perceived futility of the 2021 season — all sprinkled in with some fun story time with new coach David Culley.

With that said, the Texans have officially weathered the storm. The longest off-season in team history is giving way to the 2021 season.

It’s time for football.

This season promises to be a trying one for fans. The talent deficiencies seen during the 2020 campaign are still present and Watson has too many issues going on off-the-field this time around to come rescue the Texans. The Houston Chronicle is already writing articles about long-time season ticket holders who aren’t returning for this gruesome campaign and many fans have spoken online about their own reluctance to support an organization that seemingly blindly denies than anything weird has happened this off-season.

Others are doubling down on the direction of franchise and pointing fingers at Watson. It’s a truly divided fanbase despite what everyone expected following the departure of cantankerous coach and general manager Bill O’Brien.

Things have been so desperate that, at one point, the team seemingly bribed fans by making training camp practice an exclusive benefit to season ticket holders.

#Texans announce training camp schedule with some major changes regarding fans:

“New this year, public practices will be open exclusively to Season Ticket Members as a benefit for their support of the Houston Texans.”

— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) July 14, 2021

The team has done everything in their power to be likeable this off-season, from the emergence of Texans Pup and #ThatFootballFeeling to the hiring of David Culley who is essentially impossible to root against. The hope appears to be fans have reason to smile despite anything that may be happening on the field or with No. 4.

Which brings us to the season at hand.

There are four elements to address when considering the outlook of the 2021 Texans’ campaign both on and off the field: front office, the offense, the defense, and the schedule itself. They’ll all play a major part to both the team’s perception and how they win games.