Each year, I like to rate the road trips for Houston Texans that plan to travel each upcoming season. The fact of the matter is, even when the Texans are bad at football, it’s still fun to see other cities, attend other stadiums, and interact with opposing fans. The last couple seasons, hitting the road to watch the Texans has probably been more fun than staying home and watching them in a downtrodden, half full NRG Stadium.
The good news is that it appears the team is turning a corner, and will be, at the very least, more interesting in 2023. With a new rookie quarterback, C.J. Stroud, it may become cool and fun to go to Texans home games again. So why not rank the home games? Would you like that? Good, because here you go:
9. BUCCANEERS, Week 9, November 5
This is the last of four straight games against NFC South opponents. With Tom Brady retired, there are really zero compelling qualities in Tampa Bay as an opponent, unless you want to go boo Baker Mayfield, which can be fun!
8. CARDINALS, Week 11, November 19
The Cardinals are believed by many to be the worst team in football. They worked with the Texans on the trade that brought Will Anderson to town, so there’s a connection. What bumps this game ahead of the Bucs game is the higher likelihood of a win. If you’re going to see an unwatchable opponent, may as well get a W.
7. SAINTS, Week 6, October 15
The Texans’ only other NFC opponent at home is New Orleans. Derek Carr makes them more interesting this season, and I would imagine that there are a fair amount of Louisiana folks making the trip, which should make for some fun (if incoherent) trash talk.
6. BRONCOS, Week 13, December 3
Sean Payton was briefly on the Texans’ head coaching radar, having had a Zoom call with Texans brass during the early portion of the search that ended in DeMeco Ryans as Texans head coach. Payton was reportedly put off by the interview being held over Zoom, maybe thinking he’s special enough for all meetings to be in person, on his turf. Whatever. Payton and Russell Wilson are annoying, the Broncos aren’t good, and this will be a sneaky fun win, if the Texans can pull it off.
5. JAGUARS, Week 12, November 26
The Jaguars finally snapped their nine game losing streak against the Texans, with a huge win late in the season at NRG Stadium. Now, the Jags are favored to win the division, so this could be a fun piece of revenge.
4. TITANS, Week 17, December 31
The Texans play the Titans twice in a three-week period late in the season. The two teams meet in Nashville two weeks prior to this affair, and it’s widely believed the Titans will wear the old Oiler uniforms for the game in Nashville. Will Levis might be starting at QB for the Titans at this point in the season, so winning is a strong possibility for the Texans here.
3. COLTS, Week 2, September 17
First home game of the Ryans Era. C.J. Stroud versus Anthony Richardson. Those are two really good reasons to want to be in the building on September 17.
2. BROWNS, Week 16, December 24
For the second time in 13 months, Watson returns to NRG Stadium. it probably won’t be as newsworthy as the first time he came back, his first start as a Brown, last December, but it should still be a raucous atmosphere, as every Browns loss means the Texans only first round pick next spring is a higher pick.
1. STEELERS, Week 4, October 1
J.J. Watt’s Ring of Honor induction. Nothing else needs to be said.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
