The day has finally arrived. Christmas morning for NFL schedule nerds like me! The league has been dropping little schedule nuggets all week. Those are like presents you get at a holiday office party. Tonight, though, we get to run down the stairs and see what all 17 gifts look like, as the entire schedule will be released at 7 p.m. Houston time.
Needless to say, tonight is far more a night of intrigue than it was before DeMeco Ryans arrived in 2023. Back then, and even in Ryans’ first season here, the schedule release consisted of finding out, for the most part, the order of opponents for a bunch of noon Sunday kickoffs.
Now, say what you will about the thud with which the Texans crash land in the playoffs every season, they are an intriguing team with a defense that is fun to watch. Thus, the Texans should get their fair share (at least four, maybe five) of prime time games, or in the case of games like Week 17 last season against the Chargers, a “stage to themselves” Saturday game.
So having said all that, if a genie were to pop up out of a lamp with an NFL logo on the side of it, what would my three wishes be for the Texans schedule? Good question, and since one of them has reportedly already been granted — a game in London against the Jaguars in Week 6 — it’s almost like I got a bonus wish!
So, without further ado, here are my three wishes for the Texans’ 2026 schedule:
A Titan cupcake in Week 1
As you likely remember, the Texans finished last season on a nine home winning streak in the regular season. What started as a 3-5 debacle finished with a 12-5 record and a playoff win in Pittsburgh. (We will ignore the playoff game in New England!) The Texans’ regular season record winning streak was the nine game run that Bill O’Brien coached them to in 2018, after an 0-3 start. Winning in Week 1 would break the O’Brien-led Texans record and give the Texans their first double digit win streak in the regular season in team history. So let’s make this easy. Given them a home game against the Titans to break the mark!
No holiday gauntlet, please
Last season, the schedule makers were pretty kind to the Texans, as the bye week was in Week 6, as opposed to Week 14 the year before. The 2024 season was just miserable in December, with three games in an 11 day stretch, including the 31-2 wipeout at the hands of the Ravens on Christmas Day. It looks like the bye week will be early again this year, as the week after the London game makes logical sense. That would be Week 7, so it appears the Texans may have circumvented the Santa Claus Gauntlet again. I am wishing for that.
Keep these six games out of December and January
One thing that the Texans schedule is flush with this season: road games in cold weather cities. They play nine road games this season. Three of them are in Jacksonville (Florida weather), Los Angeles (California weather), and Indianapolis (domed stadium). Outside of that, there is the potential for winter treachery! The other six road games are in Green Bay, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Nashville. It will be impossible for all of these games to get stacked up in September and October, but I’d love for at least four of them to take place before the weather looks like, well, New England from last January!
