Welcome back to Battle Red Blog’s NFL Power Rankings roundup! Every year, I take the honor of leapfrogging from website to website, taking the pulse on the greater NFL punditry and their thoughts on the Houston Texans. Last week, I kicked off the 2026 Power Rankings with my own, personal power rankings, but now in Week 2, I’ll return to the standard format of gathering other analysts’ thoughts on the Texans from organizations such ass The Athletic, CBS Sports, and ESPN. Houston is fortunate not only
to have one of the more successful programs in the NFL, but also some of the best coverage in the league, highlighted by ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr, and Yahoo! Sports’ Frank Schwab. All three have frequently appeared on the list below, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing their hot takes this season. Orr was one that I took note of being a bit more harsh on the Texans than other pundits, much to my chagrin. But, following his Sports Illustrated cover story of Will Anderson Jr., it appears Orr has now joined the Texans bandwagon! Hopefully, his seal approval is more of a blessing than a curse this season.
Last year, I teed off the 2025 power rankings by attempting to set the table on what I thought to be the expectations on the Texans entering the 2025 season:
While the Texans still had a very successful 2024 season by most standards, they ultimately still did not break through the glass ceiling of the divisional round, where every Texans team of the past has met their high watermark. Now, with the element of surprise in the rearview mirror, the Texans need to prove that they have learned from last year’s faults. They have to prove it to the fans and critics alike that they truly have Super Bowl talent. They have to prove to everyone that, finally, this year will be different – NFL Power Rankings Week 1: Where are the Texans? (2025)
…well, last year ended up not being very different! A third divisional round loss in a row for this new era of Texans football has fans feeling some Deja vu, if not a sense of impending doom for the end of this season. Led by coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback CJ Stroud, these Texans have enjoyed remarkable success since the 2023 season, carrying Houston to arguably its most dominant stretch in the franchise’s 25-year history. As for the 2025 season specifically, it may have gone down in flames, but if you put weight in analyst Aaron Schatz’s famous DVOA (Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average) metric, then you’d be pleased to hear that the 2025 Texans were the highest rated team in franchise history (Bryan Knowles, Aaron Schatz’s FTN Football Almanac 2026, p. 97). So, maybe the Texans did improve their playoff record in 2025, but they at least are making progress somewhere.
That leads us to this season, the big one. The one Texans fans the world over have been waiting for. 2025 was just an appetizer in comparison to the hype that this year’s Texans team has built. Not only did Houston firmly establish itself as a Super Bowl contender with their weekly destruction of opposing offenses all of last year, they also spent all of this offseason proving to the public that they are “all-in” on winning the championship this season. Texans general manager Nick Caserio spent heavily to keep their young core on defense happy, signed multiple starting-caliber offensive linemen in free agency, and then used two top-40 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft to further secure Houston’s biggest weak spots: defensive tackle (McDonald, 36th Overall) and interior o-line (Rutledge, 26th Overall.)
This time last year, Houston was still proving itself to suspicious national analysts, but now, many of those same analysts are picking the Texans to be a Super Bowl team in 2026. The expectations quite literally couldn’t be higher, and, if they go another year fizzling out in the second round of the postseason, there could be mutiny. The same result three years in a row has created tension in the fanbase, and the controversy surrounding QB CJ Stroud only magnifies the tension. His and the Texans’ decision to “table” extension negotiations until after the season places a massive personal stressor onto Stroud to ball out this year, and will encourage fans to demand perfection from him in every game. The bottom line is: this Texans roster is possibly the best in franchise history, and Stroud has to prove he can pilot the ship before massive changes are made next offseason. The Super Bowl window is wide open, and it waits to shut for no one.
Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the Week 2 NFL Power Rankings following Houston’s 36-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday:
NFL.COM:
12. Houston Texans (0-1) (Last Week: 10)
Few teams experienced a more crushing heartbreak in Week 1 than the Texans, who fought back and forth with the Bills for four quarters. Houston had a chance to win the game in the final minute but saw it vanish in an all-too-familiar fashion, with a C.J. Stroud fumble. Stroud largely played well otherwise, and David Montgomery produced an excellent Houston debut, but the vaunted defense failed to live up to expectations, a disappointing result that should serve as an early wake-up call.
ESPN:
11. Houston Texans (0-1)
Week 1 result: Lost to the Bills 36-31
Preseason ranking: 10
Non-QB newcomer debut: RB David Montgomery
Montgomery, who was acquired via trade from the Lions in March, finished with the most touchdowns in a debut in Texans franchise history. He had three touchdowns and 79 total yards (60 rushing and 19 receiving), as Houston scored its most points in a season opener under coach DeMeco Ryans. Overall, the Texans finished with 124 rushing yards on 32 carries, which helped create more passing lanes for quarterback C.J. Stroud en route to 287 passing yards. Montgomery said, “That’s going to be our identity.”
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:
8. Houston Texans (0–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: lost to Bills, 36–31
This week: vs. Bengals
Here’s a column on the Texans to dive a little deeper. A new C.J. Stroud? An old one? Yes.
BLEACHER REPORT:
11. Houston Texans (0-1)
Last Week: 4
Week 1 Result: Lost vs. Buffalo 36-31
The Houston Texans’ pass defense didn’t have any answers for Josh Allen, who threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns. The Bills’ dynamic signal-caller also ran for 23 yards and two scores.
The Texans defense has to take accountability for this season-opening loss, giving up 7.9 yards per play without a turnover. For comparison to the previous season, Houston allowed 4.8 yards per play and recorded a takeaway in all but two games, including the playoffs.
The Texans fall in our rankings, but they should be able to bounce back from an atypical leaky defensive performance.
CBS SPORTS:
12. Texans (0-1) (Last Week: 13)
So much for the idea that this defense would be like the 1985 Bears. They didn’t look good in losing to Josh Allen and the Bills.
USA TODAY:
11. Houston Texans (10): That’s nine turnovers in QB C.J. Stroud’s last three games. Worth wondering if he should have taken whatever extension was offered rather than tabling negotiations.
YAHOO! SPORTS:
13. Houston Texans (0-1, LW: 10)
The defense should be fine when it’s not facing Josh Allen. If that’s the case, the positive about the loss to the Bills is that the offense looked good. Houston ranked ninth in offensive success rate through Sunday’s games behind an improved rushing attack with David Montgomery and quarterback C.J. Stroud playing better. Stroud had 274 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. If that carries over, Houston is going to be good this season.
THE ATHLETIC:
9. Houston Texans (0-1)
Last week: 7
Sunday: Lost to Bills 36-31
What we learned: The defense is beatable
That side of the ball is supposed to carry this team. Even though the Bills had the ball for under 24 minutes of game time, the Texans’ usually dominant defense still got gashed at home. C.J. Stroud was better Sunday than in the playoffs, which is the last time we saw him, but his strip-sack in the final seconds cemented Houston’s loss.
Up next: vs. Bengals, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
PRO FOOTBALL TALK:
4. Texans (No. 3; 0-1): Scoring 31 points should be more than enough for that defense.
Average Ranking: 10.11 (Last Week: 8.56)
So, it looks like everyone is in agreement that the Texans are still a playoff team, but this loss to the Bills is edging them off of the top ten of many author’s lists. Personally, I ranked the Texans 3rd and the Bills 5th on my personal power rankings, so I don’t believe a close loss to Buffalo could justify dropping Houston out of the top ten. But, to briefly put aside Houston’s loss in their season-opener, it’s worth noting that the sheer number of opinions and hot takes related to the Texans in the world of football media has grown since this time last year, and many of those new voices happen to be believers in Houston’s process. On the eve of the regular season in 2025, the Texans had an average ranking of 13, and then finished that regular season with an average ranking of 6.29. An impressive leap up the board that could predict a similar rise for Houston in 2026, but, it wouldn’t be a Texans season without some existential drama, and after Week 1, the drama surrounded Houston’s poor defensive showing against quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills. It’s been a long while since we’ve witnessed an opposing team pick apart Houston’s defensive backs, this time to the tune of 36 points, and hopefully it will be awhile longer till we see it again.
If it’s any consolation, Houston’s offense was more than up for the task of keeping pace with the Bills scoring. CJ Stroud was able to keep the offense chugging all game long, and even gave his team a chance to steal the win with less than a minute remaining before…fumbling the ball away on 3rd & Goal.
Yeah, there were certainly some difficult scenes to this game for Texans fans, but it is nothing that DeMeco Ryans and the team can’t overcome, especially if the offense is going to play like this. Despite the loss, Houston looked significantly improved on offense over last year, and the 31 points they scored in Week 1 is a total they surpassed only four times in all of 2025. If they can keep this offensive production up while rekindling their flame on defense, they may actually realize those Super Bowl aspirations.
What do you think, though? Will the Houston Texans finally break through like so many are expecting this year? Or, will 2026 be another divisional-round exit, or even worse? Next week, the Houston Texans will host the 1-0 Cincinnati Bengals on September 18th at 12:00 PM CST. Like a reverse image of the Texans, the Bengals have been desperately trying to assemble a good-enough defense to pair with their prolific offense to get them back to their 2021-2022 highs. This will be another remarkable test for Houston’s defense, which will hopefully feast on QB Joe Burrow and the Bengals o-line more so than they did against the Bills. Let us know your thoughts down on the comments below!
Go Texans!
