For the ninth time in franchise history, the Houston Texans are headed to the playoffs. For the first time in franchise history, the Houston Texans are headed to the playoffs as a wild card team. The previous eight times they’ve made the postseason, the Texans have done so as AFC South champions. This time, they’re a powerful wild card team, headed to Pittsburgh to take on an iconic, blue blood franchise in the PIttsburgh Steelers.
The time for analysis is coming, but for now, we can take a moment to reflect on Texans history. The team has six playoff wins in franchise history. Hopefully, whatever win they craft on Monday night surpasses all six in terms of impact and fun, but for now, how do we stack rank the wins we’v experienced? Here is one man’s power ranking:
6. 2016 Wild Card Round — Texans 27, Raiders 14
This was the season in which Brock Osweiler was the starting quarterback for most of the season. He lost his job in Week 15, and due to an injury to Tom Savage, was back starting again by the playoffs. The Raiders started rookie Connor Cook at quarterback, due to a season ending injury to Derek Carr. Osweiler vs Cook was entirely forgettable.
5. 2012 Wild Card Round — Texans 19, Bengals 13
If you don’t remember this game, don’t worry. This is the far less remarkable of the two playoff games that the Texans have played against the Bengals. (The other one is coming later in this list.) All you have to do is look at the box score to know how boring this game was. The total scoring was a combined six field goals, a Bengals pick six, and a one yard touchdown run by Arian Foster. The Texans more than doubled the Bengals in total yards, 420 to 198, and still won by just six. Blah.
4. 2024 Wild Card Round — Texans 32, Chargers 12
This was last season’s wildcard round win. This game was a snoozer until deep into the second quarter, when an errant snap to C.J. Stroud turned into a scramble drill deep shot to Xavier Hutchinson, a play that ultimately led to a touchdown. This got Stroud and the offense going, and ultimately the Texans would ride four picks of Justin Herbert and over 100 yards from Joe Mixon to get the win.
3. 2019 Wild Card Round — Texans 22, Bills 19 (OT)
This was the last great moment for the combination of head coach Bill O’Brien and quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson was stupendous in this game, bringing the Texans back from a 16-0 third quarter deficit for the final win of the O’Brien Era, as the Texans would lose 51-31 to the Chiefs the next week, then start 0-4 the following season. O’Brien was fired the next day after the fourth loss in 2020.
2. 2023 Wild Card Round — Texans 45, Browns 14
This was the first playoff win for DeMeco Ryans, and the best part about this win was the avenging of a Week 16 blowout loss at home to this same Browns outfit. The difference in the playoff game was the return of quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was outstanding. The Texans also tacked on two picks sixes in the second half off of Browns QB Joe Flacco, who looked every bit his 40 year old age in this game.
1. 2011 Wild Card Round — Texans 31, Bengals 10
This was literally the first playoff game in Texans history, and all you need to remember from this one was the most famous play in Houston Texans franchise history:
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.