Last Thursday, we finally got what we’ve been waiting on for the last few months — the NFL schedule release, telling us the “when” and “where” on all 272 NFL games this coming season. We already knew who all 17 opponents would be for all 32 teams since the end of the 2025 season. Thrusday gave us the dates, times, and, for the international games particularly, the venues.
However, each year, hours after the schedule is released, MY people (the degenerate gamblers) are always waiting on one more nugget of information for each game. We want to know what the betting lines are for each game, realizing that there might be some value in placing our bets in the offseason right now, if there are lines that appear a tad askew.
So, now that I’ve possibly piqued your betting interests, here are the betting lines — spreads and point totals, in that order, in parentheses — for all 17 Houston Texan games in the 2026 season:
Week 1 – vs Bills, Sunday, September 13, Noon (TEXANS +1.5, 41.5)
Week 2 – vs Bengals, Sunday, September 20, Noon (TEXANS -2.5, 46.5)
Week 3 – at Colts, Sunday, September 27, Noon (TEXANS -1.5, 45.5)
Week 4 – vs Cowboys, Sunday, October 4, Noon (TEXANS -2.5, 47.5)
Week 5 – at Titans, Sunday, October 11, Noon (TEXANS -3.5, 43.5)
Week 6 – vs Jaguars in London, Sunday, October 18, 8:30 a.m. (TEXANS -1.5, 41.5)
Week 7 – vs Giants, Sunday, October 25, Noon (TEXANS -5.5, 43.5)
Week 8 – BYE
Week 9 – at Chargers, Sunday, November 8, 3:05pm (TEXANS +1.5, 43.5)
Week 10 – at Browns, Sunday, November 15, Noon (TEXANS -4.5, 43.5)
Week 11 – vs Colts, Thursday, November 19, 7:15 p.m. (TEXANS -5.5, 43.5)
Week 12 – vs Ravens, Sunday, November 29, Noon (TEXANS -1.5, 45.5)
Week 13 – at Steelers, Sunday, December 6, 7:20 p.m. (TEXANS -1.5, 41.5) ,
Week 14 – at Commanders, Sunday, December 13, Noon (TEXANS -2.5, 44.5)
Week 15 – vs Jaguars, Sunday, December 20, Noon (TEXANS -3, 43.5)
Week 16 – at Eagles, Thursday, December 24, 7:15 p.m. (TEXANS +2.5, 37.5)
Week 17 – at Packers, Monday, January 3, 7:15 p.m. (TEXANS +2.5, 42,.5)
Week 18 – vs Titans, TBD (TEXANS -7, 39.5)
Okay, a few thoughts on the schedule now that we have the context of point spreads to discuss:
The Texans are favored in 13 games, which places them among the NFL’s leaders.
Here is the scoreboard for NFL teams favored in the most games, out of 17 total, on their respective schedules:
The most surprising one on that list is the Cincinnati Bengals, who are favored in all but two games this season (one of which is in Houston in Week 2). As for the Texans, that’s the respect you get when you have a defense that was the best in football last season, and made a few improvements, while retaining all of the star players for at least two more years.
The oddsmakers expect the Texans to play in a lot of bloodbaths.
While the Texans are favored in 13 of their 17 games, the most since before Bill O’Brien became the head coach in 2014, there are no games in which the spread exceeds seven points. There are only five games in which the spread exceeds a field goal. 12 of their 17 games have the Texans either favored or underdogs by three points or less. In other words, there are a LOT of coin flip type games. Also, there are only four games whose point totals exceed 45 points. In other words, the Texans should be expected to play in a ton of close, low scoring games. We have a word for those — BLOODBATHS.
The most surprising spread to me is…..
….the Ravens as 1.5 point underdogs at Reliant Stadium in Week 12. Yes, this is a very good Texans team, particularly on defense. However, even with a good defense, they’ve not proven they can figure out Lamar Jackson. Last season, the Texans caught a break with Jackson missing the Week 5 matchup between the two teams, a Texans blowout. The last time the two teams met with Jackson healthy, the Ravens ran the Texans off the field on Christmas Day 2024, by a score of 31-2.
