Personally I believe the Texans are Super Bowl bound this year. They are the best team in the AFC South and arguably the best team in the entire AFC. They don’t have nearly as easy of a schedule as they did last year but due to being a better overall team we should see an even better record at 12-4
Jan 15, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) walks along the sidelines after losing to the Baltimore Ravens 20-13 during the 2011 AFC divisional playoff game at M
Week 1: Texans vs Dolphins W
While it’s arguable that Ryan Tannehill is the quarterback that Dolphins fans have been waiting for, it’s his first start as a professional and that bodes well for a Texans defense that is eager to get after the passer. The Dolphins also traded their number one target, and cut Chad Johnson who was the favorite to take that spot this year. For those two reasons along with the Texans being a better team at full health than almost any team in the league I like the home team in the season opener.
Sure enough Tannehill was under pressure from the start and the Bulls on Parade made it too easy for the offense to not come away with a W in this one.
Week 2: Texans @ Jaguars W
The Texans again benefit from the early season matchup as the Jaguars have a young quarterback in Blaine Gabbert and a struggling receiving corps. The Texans will also see an extremely rusty MJD, meaning the Jaguars offense should be even more stagnant than they will be later in the season.
MJD was about the only thing the Jaguars had going for them in this one but had to abandon the running game early. Gabbert was eventually benched in route to a franchise low in total yards for the Jags as the Texans opened at 2-0.
Week 3: Texans @ Broncos W
The Broncos are on their second completely new offensive scheme in as many years. Peyton is still recovering from neck surgery and has yet to pick out his favorite target. No Texans fan should ever underestimate Peyton Manning as he has proven time and time again but I believe that they should come away with the win.
The Texans opened shakily in Denver but after a safety they came out throwing and Matt Schaub led them to a hard earned, and before the year is over quite possibly their best, win of the season.
Week 4: Texans vs Titans W
The Titans are good young team. The best news the Texans can hope for in this week is that Kenny Britt should still be a little rusty and that would take one of Locker’s targets away. The other thing in the Texans favor is that Locker is still a young quarterback and even with a year under his belt, going up against the Texans defense is no small task.
The Titans lost their quarterback in one of the first drives of the game. Couple that with a nearly non-existent defense and a Chris Johnson that was less than mediocre up until that game, the Texans had another easy win.
Week 5: Texans @ Jets W
I really do not like the Jets this year. Neither of the two potential starting quarterbacks in Sanchez and Tebow scored touchdowns in all of the preseason. The Jets quarterback situation is bad enough even if one of them is named as the guy but by week five I predict a controversy to be in full swing and both quarterbacks to be looking over their shoulder. That along with their horrible wide receivers and Rex Ryan’s big mouth should lead to a Texans victory.
The Texans had one of their hardest fought victories of the season up to this point against the Jets in this Monday night game. The Jets played significantly better than they are and the Texans significantly worse, but in the end the Texans prevailed giving them the best start in Franchise history at 5-0.
Week 6: Texans vs Packers L
Few teams can do what the Packers did last year and go undefeated for a majority of a season. While the Texans will be playing in Reliant Stadium giving them the home field advantage, Aaron Rodgers is too good of a player leading too good of an offense to continue to roll through. A win this week is completely possible but the Packers would be a completely respectable team to record a first loss to this late in the season.
This was a game that the Texans stood no chance of winning. When Aaron Rodgers came out he had the look in his eye that said that he would not be defeated and that is exactly what happened. He torched the Texans for six touchdowns and handed them their first loss of the season.
Week 7: Texans vs Ravens W
Other than the Ravens having Jacoby Jones there are many reasons the Texans will win this game. While they are similar teams the Texans have a better field general in Matt Schaub and a better defense considering arguably the Ravens best player will still be unavailable in Terrell Suggs. Finally if it comes down to a field goal, I trust Shayne Graham more than I trust whoever the Ravens have replaced Billy Cundiff with.
The ironic thing is that the two things I predicted here failed and the Texans still had a dominant victory. First I said that Suggs wouldn’t play, which was logical but he came back and had a sack. The second is that Justin Tucker is the guy that replaced Billy Cundiff and that he wouldn’t be as trustworthy as Shayne Graham. In the end the Texans got the win though putting them at an AFC best, 6-1.
Week 8: Bye
The Texans enter the bye week at 6-1.
Indeed they do.