After an early season thrashing like the one the Houston Texans sustained at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the 34-7 drubbing that has every battle-red blooded Texans fan irate at left tackle Laremy Tunsil (and his five penalties — YES, FIVE! — in that game), the question that we need to ask ourselves is “How indicative was that game of what we THINK the Texans will be over the course of the season?”
The fact of the matter, thus far this season, is that loss to the Vikings was a steroid-fueled version of what the Texans have been through three games. Sure, the Texans had one their first two games of the season, but they weren’t particularly impressive in either game.
Against the Colts in Week 1, they allowed the Colts to hang around in the game thanks to three massive chunk plays of more than 50 yards (two of which were touchdowns) and a blocked punt deep in Texans territory. Against the Bears at home in Week 2, a dozen penalties for 115 yards gave the Bears WAY too much life in that game.
On Sunday, in Minneapolis, quite simply, the Texans finally ran into a team that would make them pay for their mistakes, and wow did they ever pay! Eleven penalties for 88 yards, many of those penalties occurring before there was even a snap, that’s what did the Texans in more than anything. The good news is that penalties, especially pre snap penalties, rank among the more fixable problems in football, assuming the Texans’ players focus enough to fix them.
So back to my original rhetorical question at the top of the article — “How indicative was that game of what we THINK the Texans will be over the course of the season?” I will tell you that, in the eyes of oddsmakers and national experts, they seem to view the loss to the Vikings as a mere speed bump.
Oddsmakers
The Texans had climbed to the highest point that I can recall since 2012 on the Vegas Super Bowl odds board last week, after the win over the Bears, at 10 to 1. The loss to the Vikings did some damage, but not major damage, as the Texans remain a viable Super Bowl contender at 14/1, seventh overall on the board:
Kansas City Chiefs 19/4 (+475)
San Francisco 49ers 7/1
Buffalo Bills 15/2 (+750)
Baltimore Ravens 12/1
Detroit Lions 12/1
Philadelphia Eagles 12/1
Houston Texans 14/1
For some context on the long term nature of these odds, the Vikings made a big move up the board but still remain well back of the Texans at 28 to 1. In other words, it was an impressive win by Minnesota, but it was just ONE game.
National expert “power rankings”
I love power rankings. I know that they are subjective and, oftentimes, illogical, but I still can’t stop from clicking them. Hell, on my show on SportsRadio 610, each Tuesday we power rank the various power rankings outlets, in terms of how they view the Texans. As of Tuesday mornings, here’s where five big outlets had them slotted:
ESPN.com — 8th overall
SI.com — 8th overall
NFL.com — 6th overall
CBSSports.com — 6th overall
The Athletic — 5th overall
So we can wring our hands over the bad loss to the Vikings. At the end of the day, the Texans are still viewed as an upper quartile team in the NFL. For now….
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
