Houston Texans: Pre-training camp staff season predictions
By Randy Gurzi
Oct 20, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Houston Texans tackle Duane Brown (76) defends against Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hall (91) at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs defeated the Texans 17-16. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
September;
Kansas City, at Carolina, Tampa Bay
Prediction: A tough stretch to start the season here as Carolina won their division last season and Kansas City has had back-to-back winning seasons. Still, I think Houston finds a way to squeak out the home opener before falling to a strong team on the road. Tampa Bay is not a very good team still, and their top pick Jameis Winston likes to throw to the wrong team. A lot. So I expect that to be a win there.
Record for the month: 2-1
October;
at Atlanta, Indianapolis, at Jacksonville, at Miami
Prediction: Atlanta will most likely have a rebound year, because last year was not a good indictor of that offense, and I think they will be too much for Houston. Indianapolis may have gotten better on offense, but not on defense. I think Houston controls the clock here and that defense takes the shots fired at Houston by new Colt Andre Johnson as a challenge and shuts him down in this match-up (also, the Frank Gore signing doesn’t scare me at all). Jacksonville is getting better, but not quite there yet so the Texans take this one as well. Miami made some great moves in the offseason and hands Houston their third straight road loss.
Record for the month: 2-2
Record overall: 4-3
November;
Tennessee, BYE WEEK, at Cincinnati, New York Jets, New Orleans
Prediction: The Tennessee Titans were bad last year and their roster may be worse this year. The only talent on offense will be rookies, so this will be a good win right before the bye. After a week off to rest and prepare, Houston gets their first road win against the red rocket Andy Dalton and the Bengals. The Jets are sad, no coach can fix what Rex Ryan did to them in one offseason, so there is one more W. The Saints come to Houston and end the month of November on a sour note as that offense is too much for the Texans to keep up with.
Record for the month: 3-1
Overall record: 7-4
December;
at Buffalo, New England, at Indianapolis, at Tennessee
Prediction: The Bills are seriously considering Matt Cassel at quarterback…thats a win. New England at home will be a close one, but Houston drops this one in a heartbreaker at the end. On the road at Indy, Johnson and the Colts get their revenge on Houston with the win. By this time in the year, Tennessee is a bigger mess and the whole team is turned over to young players for evaluations, this one will be ugly.
Record for the month: 2-2
Overall record: 9-6
January;
Jacksonville
Prediction: Another team that may be evaluating this time of the year. I like the moves they made, but still they get swept by Houston.
Record for the month: 1-0
Overall Record: 10-6
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