When and where: Week 16 at home, Thursday Night Football on Christmas Eve
Key additions: RT Braden Smith, S Reed Blakenship, RB David Montgomery
Key subtractions: RT Tytus Howard
Last season: Had 12 turnovers in the regular season and 8 in two playoff games
The question for this team: Is this the last year for CJ Stroud?
Only two active coaches have won a playoff game in each of the last three seasons: Sean McVay and DeMeco Ryans. Ryans has done so with a rookie QB, a QB who played like a rookie, and a QB whose
play has the team seeing and waiting on a contract extension. All three QBs are the same person, CJ Stroud. Who, if you missed it, cut his hair. He looks like a guy with a regular job.
In 2025 only the Seahawks gave up fewer points than the Texans, and barely so, 3 points. But defenses can be fickle. Last year they were 14th, in 2023 they were 11th.
This should once again be a top defense, the foundations are there. Will Anderson is excellent, and Danielle Hunter has had 10.5+ sacks in each of the six full seasons he has played in the last eight years. Derek Stingley and Kamari Lassiter are an excellent CB duo. The rest of the defense is filled with a good mix of guys on their rookie deals and established veterans. They beat up some bad teams in 2025, but also held the Rams, Bills, 49ers, and early season Bucs to less than 21 points. But they went 2-2 in those games because the offense can’t get its act together.
CJ Stroud threw 4 TDs in a 44-10 demolishing of the Cooper Rush-led Ravens, then in the next game, which followed their bye, the Texans scored 19 points against the Seahawks, with Stroud completing 47% of his passes. They dropped 36 on the Jaguars but 31 combined in the game before and after. In games against the Chiefs, Patriots, and Seahawks the defense had 10 takeaways, but the Texans scored fewer than 20 points in all three and went 1-2.
Next year is the last year of Stroud’s contract. This year very well could be his last with the Texans.
