page_title: History of the Houston Texans
section_title: 2008
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Houston Texans / Gary Kubiak Era (2006–2013) / 2008
caption_attribution_description: English: Williams Tower showing the word "TEXANS"
context_page_description: The history of the Houston Texans began in 2002, bringing the National Football League back to Houston, Texas after the city's previous franchise, the Houston Oilers, relocated to Nashville, Tennessee to eventually become the Tennessee Titans. The Texans are thus the newest franchise in the NFL. Despite some growing pains in the first nine years of their existence, the Texans have become a dominant team in the NFL's AFC South division in the 2010s, though they have yet to appear in a Super Bowl.
context_section_description: The Texans opened the 2008 season with consecutive losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers 38-17, and the Tennessee Titans 31-12. Their week two home opener against Baltimore was rescheduled due to damage in and around the city of Houston Hurricane Ike forcing the Texans to play three consecutive road games before finally returning home in October. After back-to-back heartbreaking losses against Jacksonville and Indianapolis, the Texans secured their first win of the season against the Dolphins in dramatic come from behind fashion capped with a fourth and goal touchdown run by Matt Schaub with three seconds remaining in the game. The Texans then went on to beat Detroit 28-21. The following week they blew out the Bengals 35-6, the largest point differential in Texans history. They set a franchise record for consecutive wins with 4, after beating the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, and the Tennessee Titans. After a disappointing loss to the Oakland Raiders in Week 16 the Texans finished the 2008 NFL Season with a 31-24 win against the Chicago Bears, effectively playing spoiler and eliminating the Bears from a playoff spot that they would have secured with a win over the Texans. On December 1, 2008, the Texans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-17 in their first-ever game on Monday Night Football. Rookie Steve Slaton rushed for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns and caught 2 passes for 52 yards. Mario Williams had 3 sacks and a forced fumble, and Andre Johnson caught 7 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown.
  They finished the season with an 8-8 record, tying the franchise record for wins in a season. Little did the Texans realize that their 2nd of two 3rd round picks in the 2008 NFL Draft, acquired via trade, would be one of their two best offensive players in 2008. Steve Slaton was the 10th running back selected in the draft, but wound up being the steal of the draft by leading all rookies with 1,282 yards rushing and 1,659 yards from scrimmage. Other highlights included Andre Johnson leading the NFL in receptions with 115 and receiving yards with 1,575. The Texans also sent three players to the Pro Bowl: Andre Johnson, Mario Williams, and Owen Daniels.
caption: The Williams Tower in Houston showing the word "TEXANS" using its office lights.
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