Houston Texans: Vegas says 8 1/2 wins, what do you say?

May 11, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; General view of NFL Wilson Duke football at the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign on the Las Vegas strip on Las Vegas Blvd. Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis (not pictured) has pledged $500 million toward building a 65,000-seat domed stadium in Las Vegas at a total cost of $1.4 billion. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (not pictured) said Davis can explore his options in Las Vegas but would require 24 of 32 owners to approve the move. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
May 11, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; General view of NFL Wilson Duke football at the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign on the Las Vegas strip on Las Vegas Blvd. Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis (not pictured) has pledged $500 million toward building a 65,000-seat domed stadium in Las Vegas at a total cost of $1.4 billion. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (not pictured) said Davis can explore his options in Las Vegas but would require 24 of 32 owners to approve the move. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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After the initial frenzy of free agency, the draft, OTAs and minicamp Las Vegas still sets the Texans over/under at 8 1/2 regular season wins. What do you think?

Clearly, the Texans, like every NFL team, have strengths and weaknesses. Toro Times and many other sources spend much of the offseason dissecting each team, offering opinions about each player, position group, coaches and all the elements that ultimately combine to forge a team’s destiny.

Some sources are primarily quantitative, purely statistics driven. Others are very subjective employing traditional observation and experience, not algorithms. Pro Football Focus combines statistics and observation yielding what they tout as the best and some competitors consider the worst of both worlds.

No matter how it is analyzed a team is more than the sum of its parts. There are elements that cannot be quantified before the season. Health and synergy, or a lack thereof, are why some teams perform better or worse than their initial parts would suggest.

The next two slides identify many of the positive and negative factors that will determine the Texans’ 2016 final results. The final slide is my prediction. Certainly you have factors you want to add. Consider the slides, add your personal evaluation and make your pick. 8 1/2 regular season wins – Over or Under? Why?

Next: Top 10 Positive Factors

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