The Houston Texans enjoyed a reprieve from the horrors last Sunday, as their bye week had arrived. This Sunday off came at a time when it felt like the moon was crashing down on the entire franchise, with cascading failures and injuries pushing the team, many Texans fans, and pretty much everyone on this website to a breaking point. Some are already declaring the season “lost,” some are wondering if the Texans should entertain the idea of tanking, and rumors had to be shut down at the possibility
of the Texans dealing DE Jadeveon Clowney. Yet, despite all of the doom and gloom, the Texans are still getting a 24.9% chance of making the playoffs from ESPN’s Football Power Index, largely because of their extremely favorable remaining strength of schedule:
- Week 9: @ Los Angeles Chargers (0-7)
- Week 10: @ Cleveland Browns (5-3)
- Week 11: Vs. Indianapolis Colts (2-6)
- Week 12: Vs. Baltimore Ravens (4-4)
- Week 13: @ Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)
- Week 14: @ Washington Commanders (2-4-1)
- Week 15: Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2)
- Week 16: @ Philadelphia Eagles (2-6)
- Week 17: @ Green Bay Packers (5-3)
- Week 18: Vs. Tennessee Titans (1-7)
It’s not a very intimidating final half of the regular season, and ESPN is actually favoring Houston in eight of these final ten games! Although, Houston was favored to win in multiple contests they lost in the first half of this season, and with how this team has been playing recently, do you really expect them to look much better against the Chargers or the Browns? The road back to contention is clearly there for Houston, but it will require both their defense to shake off their rocky start to the season and their offense to find some consistency – even as the injury bug targets some of their best players. Second-year WR Jaylin Noel is now on IR thanks to a season-ending turf toe injury, meaning QB CJ Stroud will be relying on his connection with trade acquisitions Kayshon Boutte and Marvin Harrison Jr. to develop at a record pace…which will be another challenge for Houston’s quarterback to overcome this year. He’s overcome stalled contract negotiations, a complete collapse of his team’s defensive backfield, multiple WR and RB injuries, and the reality that scoring 30+ points can still not be enough to win. It’s been a whirlwind of a year for the Texans franchise in general, but for Stroud in particular, this season was a big bet on himself, and despite the win/loss record, he is succeeding.
In fact, just yesterday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and DJ Bien-Aime released a piece on Stroud’s stalled contract negotiations, shedding some light on what Stroud’s camp was asking for. It turns out that, at least according to Fowler and Bien-Aime’s reporting, Stroud’s team was not looking for record breaking money, and instead was looking for something, “…similar to the deal Trevor Lawrence signed with Jacksonville two years ago, placing Stroud in the second-tier [of highly-paid QBs] of around $55 million per year.”
Stroud and his agent, David Mulugheta, made a counteroffer. They did not demand that Stroud be the league’s highest-paid quarterback, per a source. Stroud understands the business side of being an NFL player, from market pay for players at multiple positions, to team construction. He knows if he takes every penny possible, paying the players around him becomes harder. – Jeremy Fowler, DJ Bien-Aime, C.J. Stroud turned down a big contract. A bigger one awaits.
Now, this admittedly paints a favorable picture of Stroud and his agent, David Mulugheta, as some kind of “good faith” negotiators in the process, and the truth is probably something more complicated than this. Mulugheta is also not a stranger to using his relationship with ESPN reporters to cast his clients in a favorable light, so everything said in this article should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I still highly recommend reading through the article in its entirety, as it gives us an idea of what to expect next offseason: A lot of cap-clearing moves, potentially a big trade or two to get some big contracts off the books, and maybe even a yearly salary north of $70 million for Stroud.
But, all of this discussion can be spared for the offseason. We’re still in the thick of 2026, and the Texans aren’t dead yet, no matter who says so! Here’s where the Houston Texans are ranked following their bye week:
NFL.COM:
19. Houston Texans (2-5) (Last Week: 18)
While we can officially agree Houston’s defense isn’t the unit we’ve known it to be in recent years, the Texans have a favorable road out of the bye. Dates with the Chargers and Colts sandwich a meeting with the Browns, so while 2-5 is a tough place to be after eight weeks, there’s still a path back to relevance. Keep an eye on Marvin Harrison Jr.’s role in the offense, too.
ESPN:
22. Houston Texans (2-5)
Week 8 result: Bye
Week 8 ranking: 21
Best in-season trade acquisition ever: WR Demaryius Thomas in 2018
Historically, the Texans haven’t made many in-season trades. Zero have resulted in Houston receiving a game-changing player. The hope is Marvin Harrison Jr., who was acquired from the Cardinals in early October, could become exactly that. Thomas was at least the most effective player out of all the choices. In 2018, Houston started 0-3 and reeled off nine consecutive wins to finish 11-5. Houston acquired Thomas after five wins in a row, and in his first game, he had 61 receiving yards against his former team, the Broncos. He finished the season with 275 receiving yards for Houston with two touchdowns.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:
25. Houston Texans (2–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: idle
This week: at Chargers
The Texans will face the Chargers this weekend in a battle of the two most confoundingly disappointing teams I can ever remember. This is the kind of hype that forces me to never trust again.
BLEACHER REPORT:
20. Houston Texans (2-5)
Last Week: 22
Week 8 Result: Bye Week
General manager Nick Caserio was blunt in his assessment of the Houston Texans’ defense after disappointing through the team’s first seven games. Houston’s offense has played relatively well, but the defense underperformed after finishing as last year’s top-ranked unit.
“We’re the worst team in the league in tackling,” Caserio said. “Too many missed tackles. Giving up too many explosive plays. Take those two areas right there. If we tackle better and we give up less explosive plays, then (you’ll) probably see a better result defensively.”
Expect those previous problem areas to be points of emphasis coming out of the Texans’ bye week, especially with the winless Los Angeles Chargers next on the docket.
CBS SPORTS:
23. Texans (2-5) (Last Week: 21)
It’s hard for many to see how this team is down this low in the rankings. Here’s why: the defense has been a mess. They can’t afford another loss or they might be done.
USA TODAY:
26. Houston Texans (24): As generally bad as this 2-5 outfit has been, their schedule still very much portends a world where Houston winds up 10-7.
YAHOO! SPORTS:
19. Houston Texans (2-5, LW: 21)
Biggest need: Running back, again
The Texans made a big and questionable move in the offseason, trading fourth- and seventh-round draft picks, along with offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, to the Lions for running back David Montgomery. Scruggs has been more valuable this season than Montgomery, who has averaged 2.7 yards per carry and missed two games with injury. Woody Marks hasn’t been much better. Houston has no running game and it’s a big reason it is 2-5.
Do the Texans possibly trade for another running back? Do they trade for anyone at all? It’s hard to give up the idea that Houston can still get back in the playoff race. It’s a talented but underachieving team. But the Texans still have a 33.8% shot to make the playoffs, via DVOA, and can theoretically be a dangerous playoff opponent. Is that enough to ship off more picks, especially if it’s for another running back?
THE ATHLETIC:
24. Houston Texans (2-5)
Last week: 22
Sunday: Bye
Reality check: We still can’t cross this team off
It’s frustrating, honestly. Houston started 0-4, showed a spark of life, but then disappointed in a 27-21 loss to the Giants in Week 7. The Athletic’s most recent playoff projections have the Texans with just a 19 percent chance to make the playoffs. But here’s the problem: Houston has the second-easiest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon.
Up next: at Chargers, Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET
PRO FOOTBALL TALK:
23. Texans (No. 23; 2-5): The margin for error is getting smaller all the time.
Average Ranking: 22.33 (Last Week: 21.44)
Despite the favorable upcoming schedule, Houston’s 2-5 record is still enough for plenty of pundits to give up on them. Analysts like SI’s Conor Orr and NFL.com’s Nick Shook kept the Texans closer to the middle of the rankings for weeks, pining for the moment where the old 2025 Texans defense would make their triumphant return…but, after that New York Giants loss, they have given up. I myself fed into the pessimism last week as well, throwing doubt to the idea that the Chargers game is a win Houston can even count on. I still don’t think any of the Texans upcoming games will be “easy wins,” but, it’s time to leave that pessimism behind! We got all of that anger and frustration out last week, and now it’s time to turn the page.
A new season lies in front of the Texans now, one that can completely revive the optimism of the fan base. Two months from now, we can be talking about how CJ Stroud brought this team back from the brink thanks to Marvin Harrison Jr., Kayshon Boutte, and Tank Dell returning to form. We can be talking about how the new DT combination of rookie Kayden McDonald and recent signee Naquan Jones saved the Texans run-defense when it mattered most, or even about CB Kamari Lassiter rebounding following an ugly first half of the 2026 season. Some pundits even feel a little more optimistic about the Texans following their bye week, with Yahoo! Sports’ Frank Schwab and Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski pushing the team up two spots, respectively. Anything is possible for this roster that is still very, very talented, and a 2-5 record shouldn’t completely obstruct our view from that.
What do you think, though? Are the Texans primed for a second-half surge following their midseason intermission? Or, will they continue to flounder on defense until debate around tanking suddenly sounds preferable? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!
Go Texans!
