There are some key milestone dates coming up on the NFL calendar. The NFL Scouting Combine begins next week in Indianapolis. Soon after that, free agency will begin in the middle of March. Then, of course, all roads lead to Green Bay and the NFL Draft in late April.
Of course, to me, the most underrated date on the calendar is the schedule release in early May, which has become a whole lot more fun with the Houston Texans being relevant once again. One scheduling element that has eluded the Texans over the last few seasons, though, has been in an international trip. The last time the Texans played a game outside of the United State was in the middle of the 2019 season, when they drubbed Jacksonville in London, 26-3.
Since then, every year is a puzzle at about this time, when the league announces which teams will be hosting international games. The exercise essentially is a cross reference involving Texans road opponents and the international host teams. Up until yesterday, there was just one of the five announced international host teams that were n the Texans’ 2025 schedule — the Colts were named the host team for a game in Berlin, Germany.
My guess, though, is the NFL won’t export a divisional game overseas. Those games are too crucial to the integrity of the standings. However, on Wednesday afternoon, a new international game was announced, and honestly, I’d be mildly surprised if the Texans weren’t involved. Per ESPN/s Adam Schefter, the Chargers will host a Week 1 game in Sao Paolo, Brazil:
If you recall, last season was the first time the NFL played a game in Brazil, as the Eagles eked out a win over the Packers. The game was played on Friday night, which I would imagine will be the modus operandi for this coming season, as well.
So let’s dive in on this exercise, and at the end, we will see if you agree with me that the Texans playing the Chargers in Brazil makes a ton of sense. Here are the Chargers home opponents for the 2025 NFL season:
AFC West: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders
AFC South: Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts
NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC North: Minnesota Vikings
Okay, let’s do this. Here are the steps to arrive at the Texans playing the Chargers in Brazil in Week 1 next season:
1. Eliminate all the divisional games as a possibility. There is no way, in that division, that the league con promise a divisional game. So good bye, CHIEFS, BRONCOS, and RAIDERS!
2. Eliminate the Eagles. They are already spoken for in Week 1. As the defending Super Bowl champions, they’ll play at home the night before this Brazil game. So good bye, EAGLES!
3. Eliminate the Steelers and Colts, as both are already hosting international games next season in Dublin and Berlin, respectively. So good bye, STEELERS and COLTS!
Okay, let’s take a breath. That leaves us with the Vikings, Commanders and Texans. Okay, here we go. Continuing:
4. Eliminate the Commanders, as I could very well see them being the Eagles’ opponent in Week 1 on Thursday Night Football, in a rematch of the NFC Title Game. Good bye, COMMANDERS!
5. Eliminate the Vikings, who were indeed 14-3 in the regular season last season, and yet still banged to get bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Also, for a team that’s clearly good, they’re boring as hell, and will likely be quarterbacked by J.J. McCarthy, making his career debut. Good bye, in my mid, VIKINGS!
Last team standing? YOUR HOUSTON TEXANS! I would also add that, currently, the Texans are scheduled to make two trips to Los Angeles this season, one to play the Rams and one to play the Chargers. If nothing else, sending the Texans to Los Angeles once and to Brazil, as well, would increase the number of trailing Texan fans. I doubt many will go to Los Angeles twice.
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