On Sunday, in their 23-14 win over the Tennessee Titans, the Houston Texans had some key goals. Certainly, aside from winning the game itself, gaining confidence on offense and staying healthy were probably at the top of the list, maybe even more so than winning the actual game.
The game itself meant nothing to the AFC standings. If the Texans had lost, they’d have been 9-8 and sitting at the 4-seed in the AFC playoffs. However, they did win the game, so instead, they’re 10-7, and — you guessed it! — the 4-SEED IN THE AFC PLAYOFFS!
I contend, however, that there were important reasons to win that game, aside from the positive optics of a double digit win total for a second straight season. First, the Texans avoids a sweep at the hands of the Titans. Considering the Titans wound up with the worst record in football, a split of the season’s two games against them is embarrassing enough.
Secondly, though, the Texans kept alive one of the most mind boggling win streaks in my personal history of being a sports fan — they’ve now won 11 games in a row, on the road, inside the division. That’s right, the Houston Texans have not lost a divisional road game since Week 6 of the 2021 season! Here is the list of games they’ve won in compiling that streak:
(NOTE: The Texans’ record at the time of kickoff for each game is in the first set of parentheses, and the betting spread and moneyline for each game is in the second set/)
2021, Week 11 (2-7) – Texans 22, Titans 13 (LINE +10, +350)
2021, Week 15 (3-10) – Texans 30, Jaguars 16 (LINE +6, +210)
2022, Week 5 (0-3-1) – Texans 13, Jaguars 6 (LINE +7, +250)
2022, Week 16 (1-12-1) – Texans 19, Titans 14 (LINE +3, +135)
2022, Week 18 (2-13-1) – Texans 32, Colts 31 (LINE +2.5, +120)
2023, Week 3 (0-2) – Texans 37, Jaguars 17 (LINE +9.5, +325)
2023, Week 15 (7-6) – Texans 19, Titans 16 (LINE +3, +135)
2023, Week 18 (9-7) – Texans 23, Colts 19 (LINE -1.5, -130)
2024, Week 1 (0-0) – Texans 29, Colts 27 (LINE -2.5, -140)
2024, Week 13 (7-5) – Texans 23, Jaguars 20 (LINE -3.5, -190)
2024, Week 18 (9-7) – Texans 23, Titans 14 (LINE: +1.5, +105)
Here are some amazing facts about this remarkable streak:
This streak dates back to the David Culley Era
Yes, remember David Culley? The most overmatched head coach in the history of football watching? Honestly, I barely remember the 2021 Texans season. It feels like a fever dream. However, the first two wins of this streak came against the Titans and Jaguars in the Culley year.
Lovie Smith’s only three wins as Texans head coach are all part of this streak
After Culley came the promotion of Lovie Smith from defensive coordinator to head coach. That, too, was an abysmal season, with just three wins total. Indeed, all three were road wins in the AFC South, capped by the Week 18 win over the Colts which gave the Texans the number two pick in the 2023 draft, which became C.J. Stroud.
The Texans have been underdogs in these games WAY more often than not
In most 11-game win streaks of any kind, even one like this that’s spread out over four years, chances are the team accomplishing the streak has been favored in a majority of the contests. Not the Texans! They’ve been underdogs in eight of the 11 games in this streak, which directly leads to….
Contextualizing the streak via gambling stats
….BIG MONEY! That is, it leads to big money if you had the foresight to open a parlay back in 2021, and solely bet Texans road division games. If you’d done a $100 parlay on these 11 games, your payout would be $2,392,421. Put differently, the odds on this streak are approximately 24,000 to 1. 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.
