Even though it's been brought up constantly over the last month and a half, it feels as though the Houston Texans' 0-3 start to the 2025 season happened three years ago. In reality, the Texans were staring down that 0-3 hole less than three months ago, on the brink of succumbing to a lost season following back to back years that flashed so much promise.
But now all of that promise, that optimism, that offseason hype is proving to be true, as the Texans have peaked at the right time, not only saving their season with a mid-year turnaround that propelled them back into the Playoff hunt, but developing into a legitimate Super Bowl contender before our eyes.
Dating back to October 26th, the Texans have won six of their last seven games, with their only loss coming by 3 points to the Denver Broncos in a game in which CJ Stroud suffered a concussion. Otherwise, the Texans have been flawless since the Sunday before Halloween, earning wins over the likes of the San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and the pre-Patrick Mahomes ACL tear Kansas City Chiefs.
A three-week stretch in which the Texans defeated the Bills, Colts and Chiefs seemed to change the way both fans and the rest of the league looked at the NFL's youngest franchise, and just for good measure, the Texans put a taking-care-of-business butt-whooping on the Arizona Cardinals this past Sunday. Now, at 9-5, the Texans appear to be a safe bet to make the Playoffs for the third straight year.
But could this be the year that the Texans break through that glass ceiling and finally make it to a Super Bowl?
Well, Sportsbooks seem to be getting behind this idea.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Texans have the 5th best odds (+1100) in the NFL to win Super Bowl LX. Among AFC contenders, only the Buffalo Bills (+800) and Denver Broncos (+800) have better odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy on February 8th. Before the season began, Houston's odds (+3500) were only the 15th-best in the league.
This is a tremendous amount of respect for a team that is presently only the 7-seed in the AFC, but also a fair evaluation of the state of every Super Bowl hopeful around the NFL.
Currently, only the Denver Broncos (11 games) boast a longer winning streak than the Texans do. Only the Seattle Seahawks (+163), the Los Angeles Rams (+159) and New England Patriots (+106) have better point differentials than the Texans (+95). And among teams in the AFC, only the Indianapolis Colts have a higher DVOA than Houston, and they're starting a grandpa who can't throw the ball further than 15 yards down the field at quarterback the rest of the season.
What we know for sure is that there is historical precedent for a team like the Texans to end up being crowned Super Bowl champions. Pairing a middle of the pack offense with a defense that is the best in the NFL is a formula that teams like the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2013 Seattle Seahawks and 2015 Denver Broncos used to make Super Bowl runs.
The question is, could the Houston Texans become the next such team to achieve a similar fate?