Per the official schedule release of the Houston Texans, the team will be hosting the Baltimore Ravens at Reliant Stadium in week 12. This will be the 15th regular season meeting all-time between the two franchises, with Houston sporting an abysmal 3-11 (21.4%, .272) record against Baltimore. The picture gets even worse when factoring in the postseason, as the Texans are 0-2 against the Ravens since 2011 (both losses coming in the AFC Divisional round).
Needless to say, the Texans have been owned by the Ravens since the organization returned to Houston back in 2002. Whether quarterbacked by Jeff Blake, Kyle Boller, Joe Flacco or Lamar Jackson, multiple iterations of Ravens teams have had their fun at the expense of the formerly lowly Texans.
In fact, Houston's 44-10 victory last season in Baltimore was their first win in the series since 2014's 25-13 win. Even then, Baltimore's two-time MVP in Jackson wasn't even suited up to defend home field in the contest. Regardless, six seasons between wins against an opponent is never an ingredient to a recipe for overcoming who's informally become your 'Boogeyman' over the years.
However, the Texans may finally be in position to conquer one of their biggest conference foes in convincing fashion in 2026.
Texans can finally conquer their 'Boogeyman' in 2026
In 2025, the Texans had a brand new offensive coordinator, a makeshift offensive line, injured playmakers in running back Joe Mixon and wide receiver Tank Dell and one of the most anemic rushing attacks in the NFL.
Even still, they managed to rip off nine-straight wins to close out the regular season and finish with a 12-5 record and an AFC Wildcard berth (mainly due to their historically effective defense). Since then, they've added multiple reinforcements along the offensive line, traded for running back David Montgomery and even added playmakers to an already staunch defense.
On the other side, the Ravens suffered through historically poor defensive play and multiple injuries to Jackson. Those factors combined led to Baltimore 8-9 record, which was punctuated by a game-losing, season-ending and playoff squandering 44-yard field goal miss by kicker Tyler Loop.
While the Texans will certainly be facing a Ravens team that are motivated to rid themselves of the memory of 2025 (including the 44-10 beatdown), they'll also be driven to completely shift the narrative when it comes to the legitimacy of their Super Bowl-worthiness in the AFC. In order for Houston to firmly cement themselves as a serious championship contender, they must defeat teams like the Ravens on a consistent basis. Not by way of flukes and injuries, but by sheer dominance and force of team infrastructure.
Especially with their own quarterback in C.J. Stroud who has his own narrative to flip, Houston must take advantage of this opportunity to show the league and themselves that the times of failure's past are now gone. The Texans are built to win now, and week 10 can finally be the time for them to flex that muscle and send their 'Boogeyman' back to Baltimore as a nothing more than a children's fable.
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