There's still a sizeable chunk of the 2025 NFL season left to be played, but it's not inaccurate to say that the Houston Texans are beginning to peak at the right time. After losing their first three games of the season, the Texans have since rallied and are now winners in six of their last eight games.
It's not just that the Texans have turned their season around to the point where what once looked like a near impossible trek to the Playoffs now appears manageable, it's that the Texans have stumbled upon a formula that aligns perfectly with the team's identity. And it's not too dissimilar to the formula that franchises like the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets or Tampa Bay Buccaneers have used over the last 25 years to get to their respective championship games or beyond.
As long as the offense -- regardless of who is starting at quarterback -- doesn't actively lose the game, the Texans defense is plenty good enough to carry this team to wins against even the best competition in the league, as evidenced by the fact that Houston beat the Buffalo Bills abiding by this exact formula just two days ago.
That win over the Bills proved one thing to be true... if Houston actually completes this comeback and makes the Playoffs, nobody in the AFC is going to be too excited to have to play the Texans.
“They’re the one team that nobody in the AFC wants in the playoffs," ESPN's Dan Orlovsky said of the Texans on Friday's episode of First Take. "This team’s won 6 of 8, okay? This is the best defense in football. The teams that they’ve lost through, they’ve lost to by 5, 7, 8, 1, and 3. Those are their five losses. Every team they’ve lost to is a playoff team."
For the record, those five losses have come to the Los Angeles Rams (1st place in the NFC West), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1st place in the NFC South), Jacksonville Jaguars (Wild Card), Seattle Seahawks (Wild Card), and Denver Broncos (1st place in AFC West).
Dan Orlovsky compares Texans to historically great defense that made AFC Championship Game appearance
In their first 23 seasons in the National Football League, the Houston Texans have never advanced further than the Divisional Round of the Playoffs. This group came into the season with expectations of changing that. And Dan Orlovsky continued with his praise of Houston's D on Friday morning, he cited one particular team that did play in an AFC Championship Game as a comparison of sorts to the Texans.
"Right now, as far yards per game, this is the best defense we've seen in the NFL in close to 15 years. 2009, the Jets with Rex Ryan, that was the last time we saw a defense, in yards per game, give up what this defense gives up," Orlovsky added. "They've got a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Will Anderson. They've got a pass rush specialist in Danielle Hunter. They've got a linebacker group that is as downhill as anyone. A secondary that hunts and hawks the football. They can cover and they can take the ball away."
In addition to leading the league in yards allowed per game, the Texans are also 1st in points allowed per game, 3rd in sacks, 3rd in third-down conversion rate, and 2nd in turnovers forced.