It’s been a turnaround for the ages in Houston this season.

Expectations weren’t too high coming into the season with a rookie head coach, rookie offensive play caller and rookie quarterback taking the reins of the organization.

But whatever the expectations may have been, the Texans exceeded all of them, as they clinched an AFC South Division Title and the No. 4 seed in the AFC playoffs with a 10-7 record just a year after finishing tied for the worst record in the league.

Houston did it in dramatic fashion, beating the Indianapolis Colts 23-19 on Saturday in a game that came down to the final minutes, behind a big day from CJ Stroud and Nico Collins. Stroud finished the day 20 for 26 passing throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns while Collins caught nine passes for 195 yards and a touchdown, which came on the first offensive play of the game for the Texans, which was a 75-yard touchdown pass.

The win guaranteed the Texans a playoff spot and then they clinched the AFC South title on Sunday when the Titans beat the Jaguars.

“This is a special one,” Ryans said. “It’s special to win the division and that was the goal. You know if you win the division you’re in the playoffs so that’s the goal every year. We’re proud of that accomplishment and proud of the work the guys put in to get to this point because they earned it even if it wasn’t pretty every single week. I’m happy the way we learned it, we’ve grown and I feel like we’re much better. We’ve gotten valuable experience that will carry us throughout the playoffs.”

The win sets up a rematch from just three weeks ago, as Houston will host the Cleveland Browns at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at NRG Stadium, in what will be the Texans first playoff game and first home playoff game since 2019.

The Texans will be hoping for a better performance than in their last matchup which they lost 26-22 while allowing Joe Flacco to throw for 368 yards and three touchdowns and Amari Cooper to catch 11 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns. But Houston will get a boost in this game. Last time out the Texans did not have CJ Stroud at quarterback and were without both of their best pass rushers in Will Anderson Jr. and Jonathan Grennard on the defensive side of the ball and a big issue was the amount of time they gave to Joe Flacco to throw the ball.

But both Stroud and Anderson will be back for this matchup and the Texans are hoping that Grennard will be able to get back on the field for the playoff game as well.

“There were a lot of self inflicted wounds in that first game against the Browns,” Ryans said. “We made big plays that were negated by penalties or mishaps by us. We have to play clean football because this is a good team and they’ll take advantage of it. On defense we just gave up too many explosive plays and Amari had an outstanding game, we have to cover him better and we have to get off the field on third down.”

But no matter the outcome of the game, this season has already gone down as a huge success for the Texans, but for the players in the locker room, they aren’t satisfied yet.

“Every team that lines up at the start of the season the goal is to make it to the playoffs and that was our expectation in this locker room,” said head coach DeMeco Ryans. “That’s why you play the game and I don’t know any other expectation. When you’re a competitor that is exactly why you do those things, so you can be in this situation. We continue to do our best and work the right way and that’s how you get the opportunity. Now we’re here and we are looking forward to it.”