Houston sports history in a nutshell: think your team is great? Your team is trash. National joke that makes local fans uneasy? Become a contender!
Some examples:
1986 Rockets: no way three peat lakers-celtics gets stopped, until we go to the finals with a super young hakeem and Sampson after beating magic and Kareem on the craziest game winner ever
1993 Oilers: in the Superbowl, great team? Choke as hard as possible.
1994 Rockets: hahahaha, no way they get past the number 1 seed mortal bane, the supersonics (BOOM DIKEMBE TO THE RESCUE)
1995 Rockets: 47 wins, 6th seed, aging stars, down 3-1, face all the best records in the league, then boom championship
2013 Rockets: Most likely to tank team, then boom harden trade, but harden and Lin aren't stars, then boom harden is a star.
2014 Rockets: with dwight and a more conventional team win 55, have expectations, lose in a nightmare series to blazers. Harden not yet leader, is doubted all season long.
2015: Dwight injured? A bunch of other injuries? Jason Terry, Josh Smith, and Corey Brewer your key pick-ups from the trade deadline? No bosh? Down 3-1 after humiliating losses to the clippers? Boom 56 wins, 2nd in mvp voting harden, wcf
2016: never happened
2017: "they'll be entertaining...", NO we will. E the 3rd/4th best team in the league!
2015 astros: worst team to great out of nowhere
2016: expectations, terrible season
2017: tempered fans now, great season so far
That's why the Texans suffer. The key is that the nation and parts of Houston need to give up on the team, but nope houstonians in general rarely think the Texans will be crap