Re-ranking Houston Texans and AFC South after the 2021 preseason

The Houston Texans will remain in third place but improve greatly.

The Houston Texans got off to a great start by going 2-0 over teams such as Green Bay and Dallas, and despite it being preseason both wins were huge for a team that was in turmoil all offseason. Tyrod Taylor will be the starter who finally gets his chance to lead a team after that crazy injury that gave the starting spot to Justin Herbert for the entire season.

As for the defensive side of the ball for the Houston Texans, they are looking to continue their hot start in the preseason, forcing multiple turnovers and creating possessions for the offense. Justin Reid looks to help improve this team and feels good in Defensive Coordinator Lovie Smith’s scheme. The Texans forced more turnovers (10) in the preseason than what they had the entire 2020 regular season (9).

Houston has a pretty tough schedule this year, facing the AFC North and NFC West, arguably the best divisions in all of the NFL. Their key to success is staying close in games and just hope for a break to go their way. The Houston Texans suffered 7 one-score losses last year, and two of those were fumbles inside of the 5-yard line that killed any chance of winning.

For their record in 2021, a 7-10 record would be a great result. The stretch of weeks 4 through 10 is brutal, and even winning one of those games would be a huge morale boost as the rebuild continues in Houston.