Houston Texans One of Most Improved Teams According to Vegas’ Projected Win Totals

SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 29: Quarterback Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans rushes against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 29: Quarterback Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans rushes against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

The Houston Texans are projected to win 8.5 games next season according to the Westgate SuperBook.

With the NFL draft and the majority of the free agency period completed, the rosters for teams are relatively established. This leads to Las Vegas’ annually projected win totals for all 32 NFL teams.

The Texans may have missed out on the draft day buzz with no picks until the third round, but fans still have a lot to be optimistic about.

Las Vegas have the Texans as the second most improved team, upgrading their four wins in 2017 to 8.5 in the 2018 regular season. The only team with more of an improvement in win totals is the Cleveland Browns who are projected to win 5.5 games after going 0-16 last season.

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This improvement in win totals for the Texans can be attributed to DeShaun Watson and J.J. Watt returning from injury as well as the additions of Aaron Colvin and Tyrann Mathieu to the secondary.

Also, according to CBS, the Texans may have one of the easiest schedules of the 2018 regular season. This strength of schedule is based off of 2017’s statistics so it should be taken with a grain of salt.

The full Houston 2018 regular season schedule can be found here.

The Texans had the same win total for 2017 at 8.5. They fell well short of that total after Watson’s mid-season injury.

Unsurprisingly the New England Patriots lead the pack with 11 wins. Below them are the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles with 10.5 wins.

If each team wins exactly the number of games Vegas expects, this is what the AFC South will look like at the end of the season.

(1) – Jaguars – 9 wins
(2) – Texans – 8.5 wins
(3) – Titans – 8 wins
(4) – Colts – 6.5 wins

And these six teams will make up the AFC playoff field.

  • AFC: Patriots (1), Steelers (2), Jaguars (3), Chargers (4), Texans (5), Chiefs (6)

Aside from the Texans and the Los Angeles Chargers, the other four teams are identical to last year’s AFC playoff teams.

Next: Breaking Down the Texans Draft Haul

The rest of the projected 2018 win totals according to Westgate SuperBook are below:

New England Patriots – 11
Philadelphia Eagles – 10.5
Pittsburgh Steelers – 10.5
Green Bay Packers –  10
Minnesota Vikings – 10
New Orleans Saints – 9.5
Los Angeles Rams – 9.5
Atlanta Falcons – 9
Carolina Panthers – 9
Jacksonville Jaguars – 9
Los Angeles Chargers – 9
San Francisco 49ers ​– 9
Dallas Cowboys – 8.5
Houston Texans – 8.5
Kansas City Chiefs – 8.5
Baltimore Ravens – 8
Detroit Lions – 8
Oakland Raiders – 8
Seattle Seahawks – 8
Tennessee Titans – 8
Cincinnati Bengals – 7
Denver Broncos – 7
Washington Redskins – 7
Buffalo Bills – 6.5
Indianapolis Colts – 6.5
Chicago Bears – 6.5
New York Giants – 6.5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 6.5
Miami Dolphins – 6
New York Jets – 6
Arizona Cardinals – 5.5
Cleveland Browns – 5.5

Schedule