After several weeks of anticipation, and a few dozen hints, rumors, and actual verified announcements of random games on the 2026 NFL schedule, we finally got the full schedule on Thursday evening. Let’s not dilly dally around. Let’s get right to it. Here is the Houston Texans’ 2026 schedule (all times Central):
Week 1 – vs Bills, Sunday, September 13, Noon
Week 2 – vs Bengals, Sunday, September 20, Noon
Week 3 – at Colts, Sunday, September 27, Noon
Week 4 – vs Cowboys, Sunday, October 4, Noon
Week 5 – at Titans, Sunday, October 11, Noon
Week 6 – vs Jaguars in London, Sunday, October 18, 8:30 a.m.
Week 7 – vs Giants, Sunday, October 25, Noon
Week 8 – BYE
Week 9 – at Chargers, Sunday, November 8, 3:05pm
Week 10 – at Browns, Sunday, November 15, Noon
Week 11 – vs Colts, Thursday, November 19, 7:15 p.m.
Week 12 – vs Ravens, Sunday, November 29, Noon
Week 13 – at Steelers, Sunday, December 6, 7:20 p.m.
Week 14 – at Commanders, Sunday, December 13, Noon
Week 15 – vs Jaguars, Sunday, December 20, Noon
Week 16 – at Eagles, Thursday, December 24, 7:15 p.m.
Week 17 – at Packers, Monday, January 4, 7:15 p.m.
Week 18 – vs Titans, TBD
Okay, a few thoughts on the gauntlet that is the Houston Texans 2026 schedule. We can basically use my “wish list” from yesterday as the framework here, because the football gods basically gave me a gigantic middle finger:
The Texans open the season against the Bills at home
My wish was that the Texans would open the season with one of their easier games on the schedule, in order to (a) get off to a 1-0 start, and (b) break the record for consecutive regular season wins, a streak that currently sits at nine wins. Well, they got the opposite of that, being dealt one of the few games where the Texans could be an underdog this season, a game versus the Buffalo Bills. The good news is that the game is at home, and Josh Allen has never won a game at Reliant Stadium. He is 0-4 there lifetime, including the postseason, and has lost in Houston in each of the last two years.
The Texans better buy some nice winter gear
Trhe Texans’ road schedule includes six teams who play in cities that would qualify as “cold” weather once mid-November hits — Green Bay, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Nashville. One of my wishes was that the schedule makers would steer clear of overloading the Texans with games in those cities late in the season. Well, the schedule makers obviously don’t care about what I want, because the Texans have December games in Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia, and a January game in Green Bay. Oh, and have you heard…..
Oh, you wanted a quiet holiday season? Think again.
….the Philly game is on Christmas Eve! That was my other wish, that the Texans wouldn’t get dealt a holiday gauntlet, like they did in 2024, when they had to play three games in eleven days, culminating with getting skull-drug by the Ravens at home on Christmas Day, 31-2. They not only got a holiday gauntlet — three games between December 13 and Christmas Eve — but the gauntlet includes two flights up north, sandwiched around the most important division game of the year, and then it’s all chased with a trip to freaking Green Bay!
One thing is certain — the NFL scheduling committee is not a big fan of me nor any of my wishes.
