Since the final day of the 2023 NFL regular season, when it became official that the Houston Texans would be facing division winners Baltimore, Dallas and Kansas City in 2024, to go along with the other 14 opponents we already knew of, the increased level of difficulty of the 17 game slate from last season to this coming one has been a major topic.
We know that, in 2023, the Texans faced a fairly mediocre group of quarterbacks, to put it lightly. We know that, in 2024, they face all four of the AFC quarterbacks who finished ahead of C.J. Stroud in Pro Bowl balloting, not to mention Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, and Caleb Williams from the NFC. These are surface level reasons why 2024 will be such a gauntlet, reasons that every Texan fan has probably internalized by now.
However, if you dig a little deeper into the nooks and crannies of the Texans’ 2024 schedule, there is reason to have even further concern over a few of the games that, on paper, SHOULD be some of the softer games on the calendar. Before we lay out three of those low key difficult games on the schedule, let’s refresh the entire schedule below, as a point of reference:
WEEK1 — Sun, Sep 8 @ Indianapolis NOON
WEEK 2 — Sun, Sep 15 vs Chicago 7:20 PM
WEEK 3 — Sun, Sep 22 @ Minnesota NOON
WEEK 4 — Sun, Sep 29 vs Jacksonville NOON
WEEK 5 — Sun, Oct 6 vs Buffalo NOON
WEEK 6 — Sun, Oct 13 @ New England NOON
WEEK 7 — Sun, Oct 20 @ Green Bay NOON
WEEK 8 — Sun, Oct 27 vs Indianapolis NOON
WEEK 9 — Thu, Oct 31 @ New York Jets 7:15 PM
WEEK 10 — Sun, Nov 10 vs Detroit 7:20 PM
WEEK 11 — Mon, Nov 18 @ Dallas 7:15 PM
WEEK 12 — Sun, Nov 24 vs Tennessee NOON
WEEK 13 — Sun, Dec 1 @ Jacksonville NOON
WEEK 14 — BYE WEEK
WEEK 15 — Sun, Dec 15 vs Miami NOON
WEEK 16 — Sat, Dec 21 @ Kansas City NOON
WEEK 17 — Wed, Dec 25 vs Baltimore 3:30 PM
WEEK 18 — Sun, Jan 5 @ Tennessee TBD
So, we already know that games like Green Bay in Green Bay, the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and the merciless ten-day slugfest in December culminating with the Ravens on Christmas Day are going to be difficult. We know this. However, here are three more games to circle that could be closer than we think, based on scheduling circumstances:
WEEK 6, at New England
I had this as one of my “Best Bets” according to the offseason spreads, which make the Texans a 4.5 point favorite in New England, and I still feel very good about this game, largely because I think the Patriots could be the worst offensive team in football this season. However, if I’m looking at the schedule details, this game is crammed right in between a Texans home game against Buffalo, which will be fueled with Stefon Diggs-driven emotion in Week 5, and a trip to Green Bay in Week 7. Add in the fact that the Patriots’ early schedule (Weeks 1 through 5 — at CIN, vs SEA, at NYJ, at SF, vs MIA) will probably have them at an easily overlooked record of 0-5 or 1-4, and the Texans will need to be on guard so they don’t sustain a “Carolina 2023” style letdown, when they suffered one only two losses that the Panthers inflicted on their opponents last season.
WEEK 12 vs Tennessee
Like the Patriots, I expect the Titans to be one of the worst teams in football this season. The Texans swept them last year, and one of those games was a makeshift effort with Case Keenum playing quarterback. The other game was total annihilation by the Texans at home. The schedule makers, though, did the Titans a big favor this season, by placing the Texans’ home game versus Tennessee directly after the three game prime time gauntlet in Weeks 9 through 11, capped off by a Monday Night Football game in Dallas, so the Titans will get the Texans on short rest, after three big, emotional games. On top of that, the Texans’ bye week isn’t until Week 14, so they’ll have played 12 straight weeks of football going into this game. The only thing worse than that….
WEEK 13 at Jacksonville
….is playing your the toughest contender to your division crown, on the road, after 13 STRAIGHT WEEKS of football. Add in the fact that the Jaguars’ bye week is literally the week before this matchup. Not ideal.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
