Ignored. Slighted. Dogged. Dissed.
Part of life as a Houston Texans fan is expecting a significant percentage of the national media to dismiss or poorly characterize the franchise. Superficial “research”, echo chamber’d fake news, old narratives and mountains made from molehills have been the way for a long time.
But… 2026 feels… different.
Texans head coach Demeco Ryans and general manager Nick Caserio have quietly built 1 of, if not the, best cultures in the NFL. And, they’ve filled that culture with
incredibly talented players. World class athletes who are fully bought in on the Texans Way.
This is no longer “Patriots South”. It’s H-Town Baby!
While those of us “in the know” have known the truth for some time, the rest of the world is finally waking up to the reality that this Texans team is as for real as it gets.
Case in point: Every year, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell puts together a comprehensive set of predictions for the season outcome.
ESPN.com (Bill Barnwell)
My pick for 2026: In the playoffs (AFC South champions)
The 2025 Texans became just the second team since 2002 to start 0-3 and still advance to the postseason, following in the footsteps of the 2018 Texans. And after that 0-3 start, they were as good as any team in football. Despite losing C.J. Stroud for a month, the Texans went 12-2, outscored their opponents by nearly nine points per game and led all defenses in points allowed per drive (1.5).
Stroud melted down in the postseason, which is obviously a concern if it carries over into 2026, but he was better in the regular season than those playoff memories would suggest. He has been a solid-or-better starter without any semblance of a running game, and if the move to add David Montgomery behind a reconfigured offensive line finally unlocks the Texans on the ground, we could see something closer to the rookie-year version of Stroud this season. The combination of Stroud, a truly dominant defense and a relatively weak division gives Houston a high floor.
While he flirts with the “C.J. Stroud sucks” narrative crowed by those not-in-the-know, the notion that this offense will look entirely different with a competent run game isn’t wrong.
Where things really got well for H-Town fans is the post tacked to the end of Barnwell’s piece, credited to “ESPN Staff”. 64 NFL insiders surveyed about their picks for 2026-27 Super Bowl glory. 10 of which chose the Houston Texans to make the show.
AFC winner
“Stanford Steve” Coughlin, commentator and betting analyst: Texans
Turron Davenport, Titans reporter: Texans
Jeremy Fowler, national NFL reporter: Texans
Dan Graziano, national NFL reporter: Texans
Mike Kaye, Panthers reporter: Texans
Jason McCourty, NFL analyst: Texans
Jordan Raanan, Giants reporter: Texans
Nate Taylor, Chiefs reporter: Texans
Stan Verrett, anchor: Texans
Nick Wagoner, 49ers reporter: Texans
Notice a betting analyst, BESF reporter, Carolina Panthers (who joint-practiced with Houston this year) reporter, and a Kansas City Chiefs reporter picked H-Town to claim the AFC Championship crown.
Next up, 3 picked the Texans to bring a Lombardi trophy to NRG:
Coughlin: Texans
Fowler: Texans
Raanan: Texans
Also intriguing, Coughlin, the betting analyst, chose Will Anderson Jr. as the regular season NFL MVP. Definitely long odds for any defender to win the MVP, but notable that a betting analyst, who knows all about odds, would choose that – and chose Anderson Jr. as the player to grab that brass ring.
With only a few days to go before Kickoff 2026 and the 1st Houston Texans game of the year, what do you think about these predictions?
