When the Houston Texans’ schedule was released back in May, we knew that the middle of December through the Christmas holiday was going to be a rough stretch — three games in 11 days against three playoff teams from 2023, including the two finalists in the AFC, one being the defending Super Bowl champs. That’s tough sledding.
If you’d told me that the Texans would have clinched a playoff spot before the second of those three games was even played, I would have said you were crazy. Concurrently, if you’d then told me that the lowest point of the DeMeco Ryans Era would have taken place AFTER that playoff clinching, I would have said you’re even crazier.
My point is that this has just been a weird Texans season. They’re headed to the playoffs for the second year in a row, and the fans are as angry as they’ve been since Lovie Smith beat the Colts in Week 18 of 2022 to lose out on the first overall pick. That ended up working out okay (yes, I am still a C.J. Stroud believer), so hopefully something good is still in front of us in January.
For now, the Texans have one regular season game remaining in Tennessee, before hosting a wild card round playoff game in the first weekend of January. With their playoff seeding solidified at the 4-seed, what else needs to get accomplished between now and the postseason? Glad you asked! Here are four things:
Cobble together SOMETHING positive offensively
C.J. Stroud accurately described the loss to the Ravens as one of the worst games of his football career. It was undoubtedly his worst game as a Texan, maybe not statistically, although his stats were awful, but certainly the worst in terms of generating points and creating negative buzz on a big stage. To that end, despite the Titans game in Week 18 being meaningless in the standings, the Texans have to play their starting offense, if for no other reason than to feel some positivity going into the postseason. That, of course, assumes they do positive things in that game, against a team versus whom they generated just 20 points at home a month ago. Who cares? Play everybody on that side of the ball.
Get as healthy as possible (while still playing the starting offense)
For the second year in a row, season ending injuries are playing a huge role in the Texans’ ceiling for accomplishment. Knee injuries to Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs on the offensive side of the ball, along with shoulder and foot injuries to Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward, respectively, have put a serious strain on the Texans’ depth in those spots. While I’d like to see the offense play against the Titans, I have no issue with resting defensive stalwarts like Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, and Derek Stingley. They’ve earned it, and they are 100 percent essential, if the Texans are going to pull off some playoff upsets. .
Hit key milestones and maintain streaks
While the Titans game doesn’t matter in the standings, it likely does matter to a lot of Houstonians, particularly the owners of the Texans, the McNairs, as we know that there is no love lost between Hannah McNair and Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk. I have to imagine avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Titans this season is a major unspoken concern in the building (or who knows, it may be a SPOKEN concern), and I’ll point out the Texans are currently riding a 10 game road winning streak in the AFC South, which is one of the wilder streaks of my lifetime, considering it dates back to the season David Culley was the head coach.
Who will they play in the wild card round?
As mentioned earlier, the Texans, as a result of the loss to the Ravens, now know they will be the 4-seed, which is the spot for the worst of the four division winners, and make no mistake, the Texans are undoubtedly the worst of the four AFCC division winners. There is a 79 percent chance, according to most of the computer models, that the Texans will face the Pittsburgh Steelers in a home wild card round game the weekend of January 11. There is a decent chance that will be the Monday night wild card round game, the final game of the weekend, since, by Monday, the 4-seed versus 5-seed matchups have no ramifications on where wild card round winners have to travel in the divisional round. There is still around a 15 percent chance the Texans face the Chargers in the opening round, and a minuscule chance they face the Broncos.
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.
