At 0-2-1, the Houston Texans are one of two teams in the NFL who have yet to win a game this season. The only other winless team is the 0-3 Las Vegas Raiders, the Texans’ opponent upcoming in Week 7. This time last season, the Texans were 1-2, not exactly anything to write home about, but they won at home against the Jaguars in Week 1.
By Week 3 last year, Davis Mills was making his first NFL start, and that would touch off a stretch of futility that would see the Texans get into November before they won again. While they haven’t won a game yet, the Texans total points margin is only -10. ON the scoreboard, they’ve been a competitive football, which makes it a little ironic that the various power rankings have, for the most part, sunk the Texans down to the bottom of the NFL.
Each week on my radio show, we turn a composite of five of the most reputable NFL Power Rankings — ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, NFL.com, SI.com, and The Athletic. We add the rankings together, blend them, and average them into one summarized power ranking. The Texans have spent this season floating around the bottom five, but never the VERY bottom — until this week:
Thanks to a pretty stellar rookie draft class, the Texans are a more talented football team in 2022 than they were in 2021. However, thanks to abysmal tackling and nonexistent clutch play from Davis Mills, they are widely viewed as the worst team in football. The parity in the NFL in 2022 doesn’t do the Texans any favors, as three games in, every other team in the league (except the Raiders) has won a game.
Among the comments about the Texans from the various outlets generating these rankings, the most glowing comment probably came from SI.com, who was the only outlet to rate them anything BUT 32nd overall:
Dameon Peirce gets a season-high 20 touches and moves the ball more effectively than the rapidly-cooling Davis Mills. Silver linings?
Okay then.
By the way, probably the next most disturbing thing to Texan fans, behind their own team’s dismal ranking, is the Jacksonville Jaguars’ meteoric rise up the board. Heading into Week 1, the Jags were 27th overall, and 29th after losing in Week 1. However, after their shutout of the Colts in Week 2, they moved up to 24th, and after their blowout of the Chargers, the Jags are now 10th overall.
Why is this a problem? Well, the Texans have won a total of eight games since the start of the 2020 season. Half of them have come against Jacksonville. Those days appear to be over.
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 and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
