Houston Texans Complete 2015 Draft Preview
By Hayden Winks
Sep 15, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing (56) looks to the sidelines to call the play in the defensive huddle against the Tennessee Titans at Reliant Stadium. The Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans 30-24 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
2015 Texans Schedule (Bolded games are the most important):
Week 1: Kansas City Chiefs (Home)
Week 2: Carolina Panthers (Road)
Week 3: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Home)
Week 4: Atlanta Falcons (Road)
Week 5: Indianapolis Colts (Home) *Thursday Night Football*
Week 6: Jacksonville Jaguars (Road)
Week 7: Miami Dolphins (Road)
Week 8: Tennessee Titans (Home)
Week 9: Bye Week
Week 10: Cincinnati Bengals (Road) *Monday Night Football*
Week 11: New York Jets (Home)
Week 12: New Orleans Saints (Home)
Week 13: Buffalo Bills (Road)
Week 14: New England Patriots (Home)
Week 15: Indianapolis Colts (Road)
Week 16: Tennessee Titans (Road)
Week 17: Jacksonville Jaguars (Home)
The schedule is much tougher than expected after finishing 16th in the NFL last year. The non-divisonal opponents are difficult this year. The Patriots, Saints, and Chiefs are not easy home games. Even worse, the Texans have to travel to Carolina, Miami, Buffalo in December, and to Cincinnati on Monday Night.
Playing the Indianapolis Colts on a thursday night is a difficult draw as well. Anytime a team has 3 days to prepare for Andrew Luck puts them at a disadvantage. The Texans will need to at least split wins against their division rivals. This means they will need need to either win on the road or in this thursday night game.
Later in the year, the Texans come off their bye week to travel to Cincinnati for Monday Night Football. Bye weeks are a time for NFL teams to take a breathe and regroup. In a perfect world, the Texans would come off the bye week at home in order to build some momentum in the second half. This game will be very important as they head to the toughest part of the schedule directly after the bye week.
The last three weeks of the year are all against divisional opponents. The Texans will need to take care of the Jaguars and Titans in order to win the division. However, I think the Texans best chance at the playoffs are through the wild card because of the Colts.