Music connoisseurs will remember the hit single “Almost Doesn’t Count” from R&B singer and actress Brandy Norwood, released in 1999, off her second album titled “Never Say Never.”
The song is about a relationship that cannot sustain itself because her boyfriend is doing just enough to give the impression that he wants to take it to the next level, but not consistently showing enough action to make it happen.
In the last two stanzas of the break before the second chorus, Norwood bellows out with ferocity:
“Everybody knows
Almost doesn’t count.”
Most Houston Texans fans can relate to Norwood when they hear the players and coaches talk about their terrible 0-3 start, as they keep mentioning how close they’ve come to winning this season.
“We were close in our three games,” said Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans on Monday. “We were there in the fourth quarter. We were close to finishing and closing those games out. There are plays in each game that we’ve had, these first three games, that we didn’t finish and win the game.
“So, I’m not talking about close as a team, I’m talking about winning the football game. That’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to win football games. We’ve been in a position to win those games, and we have not won the game.”
Semantically, Ryan is correct. The Texans have been in a position to win all three games they’ve played this season.
In the season opener, reserve running back Dare Ogunbowale fumbled late inside the red zone as they lost to the Los Angeles Rams 14 -9.
It took a late touchdown-winning drive by Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield to give Houston a 20-19 home opener loss on Monday Night Football.
This past Sunday, the offense appeared sluggish but still had a chance to tie the game at 17 against the Jacksonville Jaguars before a C.J. Stroud deflected pass was intercepted, sending the Texans to their first 0-3 season since 2020.
“We got to find a way to win the game,” Ryans said. “We got to make the plays in the fourth quarter of the games we’ve been in. We got to make those plays to put us in position and to just ultimately win the football game. That’s what we’re here to do.
“That’s what we work tirelessly and hard for is to win football games. So, the games have been close. We’ve been right there in the games. We just got to find a way to get it done.”
Where the “So Close” narrative falls short is that the score doesn’t reflect how poorly the offense has played this season, as they have not scored a touchdown in the red zone and are averaging just 13 points per game.
It is the defense that has been holding opponents to under 20 points per game, giving the offense every chance to get on track, finally.
Ryans, who is in his third season with the team, doesn’t want the wrong message to be conveyed about the current state of the Texans.
“It’s not encouraging to be in close,” said Ryans. “We want to win games. It’s not about being close. That’s just stating the facts or stating the obvious of how the three games have played out, how those games have happened for us. But, we’re not here to just be close, we’re here to win the football game.”
Even Ryan knows that “Almost Doesn’t Count.”