The Houston Texans are back on track.
The best is yet to come for this rag-tag roster and now, they're adding reinforcements.
Pro Bowl C.J. Stroud threw for 261 yards and scored two touchdowns as Houston's offense found life in the second half to snap its winless start with a 26-3 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
And following Sunday's win, the Texans officially traded for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. entering Week 6's matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
Everything that could have gone right for the Texans did on both sides, primarily in the second half. The offense stalled because of penalties in the first half, but Houston did enough to set up four field goals from Ka'imi Fairbairn,
building a 12-3 halftime lead.C.J. Stroud once again delivered a performance to be proud of, throwing for 347 yards and two touchdowns. With the return of Nico Collins, there was life in the passing game, as the Pro Bowl receiver finished with seven receptions for 118 yards, making up for lost time after missing two games with a hamstring injury.
But the lack of a run game and careless penalties cost Houston a chance to finish drives. Houston was flagged 13 times for 90 yards, including four holding calls on the offensive line. For the third straight week, the combination of David Montgomery and Woody Marks rushed for under 60 yards and combined for less than 4.0 yards per carry.
From there, Houston took over and dominated. The offense totaled 225 yards and two touchdowns, including a 9-yard reception to Jaylin Noel in the fourth quarter. As for the defense, it held former No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and the Titans offense to 49 yards and had 16-0 point advantage.
Houston held the Titans to a season-low 187 total yards. Headlined by a three-sack performance from Will Anderson Jr., the pass rush recorded four sacks, including two on fourth-down stops.
Ward finished throwing for 170 yards while Joey Slyve scored the only points on an opening drive field goal.
Houston, which now looks to gain ground in the AFC South, hits the road next week for a trip against the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on NFL Network.
Let's take a quick look at where the Texans sit among NFL power rankings throughout the major publications entering Sunday's AFC South matchup across the pond.
Nate Davis, USA TODAY:26 (Last Week 27)
From Davis: "Just noting DE Will Anderson Jr. is on pace for 25.5 sacks, which would break Garrett's nine-month-old record. Of course, Anderson couldn't have expected his Texans to be as bad as Garrett's Browns were.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: 23 (Last Week 26)
From Prisco:"The offense with C.J. Stroud has been playing good football. The change to DeMeco Ryans calling plays seemed to work as they ready to play a big game this week with Jacksonville."
Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: 24 (Last Week 26)
From Schwab: "Beating the Titans this season doesn't mean a whole lot. But at least the Texans looked good doing it. Their defense gave up a 58-yard drive and a field goal on Tennessee's first possession of the game. The rest of the day, the Texans allowed no points, 129 yards and no drive longer than 27 yards. C.J. Stroud played well, and while the running game still lagged at 2.9 yards per carry, it was good enough on offense."
Nick Shook, NFL.com: 25 (Last Week 27)
From Shook: Houston did what everyone expected it to do: take care of business against the worst team in the NFL. C.J. Stroud added another fruitful week to what is quickly becoming a very strong rebound season, the Texans finally got a little bit more out of their ground game (despite losing David Montgomery to injury), and the superior AFC South team walked away with an easy win. It’s a start, and we'll see what becomes of the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade, but it’s going to be a long climb out of 0-4."
The Score: 24 (Last Week 26)
From The Score:"DeMeco Ryans' team finally got off the schneid by beating up on the Titans. Houston then finalized a trade for Marvin Harrison Jr., hoping the former top-five pick can spark its offense. The move reunited Harrison with C.J. Stroud, his college quarterback at Ohio State. Harrison entered the NFL as a blue-chip prospect, but the 24-year-old was a major disappointment on the Cardinals."
Josh Kendall, The Athletic:17 (Last Week 9)
From Kendall: "It’s been a roller-coaster ride for Houston fans and C.J. Stroud. In his first 23 games, Stroud was 15-8 with 26 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 101.7 passer rating. In the next 21 games, he was 9-12 with 11 touchdowns, nine interceptions and an 86.2 passer rating. Then another climb: seven straight wins that included nine touchdowns and four interceptions and a 91.5 passer rating. But now, Stroud has lost four straight games, and the Texans have started a second straight season 0-3."
Maurice Moton, Bleacher Report: 24 (Last Week 28)
From Moton: "Don't write off the Houston Texans yet. Yes, they should've beaten the winless Tennessee Titans, and no, Marvin Harrison Jr. isn't the savior who'll turn the offense into a juggernaut. However, if the Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in London this week, they'll be 2-4, like last season before winning 10 of 11 games. It's a tough feat, but Houston did it with mostly the same players from the previous campaign. It's not time to jump back on the Texans bandwagon, but a win over the division-leading Jaguars could spark a season turnaround."
Ralph Vacchiano, FOX Sports: 23 (Last Week 26)
Super Bowl odds: +4500
From Vacchiano:"It says a lot about parity in the NFL that the Texans think they’re still in the race enough to trade a second-round pick for WR Marvin Harrison Jr. Yeah, they’ve got their eyes on the future too, but doing the deal now suggests they think they can climb out of their 0-4 hole this year. Blowing out the Titans on Sunday isn’t enough to convince anyone that they can. This week’s game against the Jaguars in London will be a much bigger test. The sooner DeMeco Ryans and QB C.J. Stroud figure out how to tap Harrison’s old potential, the better."
Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated: 14 (Last Week 20)
From Orr: "My column on the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade.Something tells me this is going to be a fleecing for the Texans. But either way, there will be one clear winner."
D.J. Bien-Aime, ESPN: 21 (Last Week 24)
From Bien-Aime: "The Texans have dealt with injuries to key players. Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair sat out time because of a groin injury. Nickelback Jalen Pitre just sustained a shoulder injury against the Titans, defensive tackle Kayden McDonald was on IR because of a quad injury to start the season, and linebacker Henry To'oTo'o landed on IR after Week 1 because of a shoulder injury. That has factored into their defense giving up 234 passing yards per game (23rd). Overall, Houston is tied for 15th in scoring defense (22.4 per game) after ranking second last season (17.4)."
Cole Thompson, Texans Wire: 21 (Last Week 26)
From Thompson: "Win a game, trade for a potential game-changing wide receiver. That's what the Texans did after their victory on the road in Nashville. Right now, they’re in the race to come back in the AFC South, so trading a second-round pick for WR Marvin Harrison Jr. in theory makes sense. Should Houston lose across the pond, well, at least it has C.J. Stroud's favorite college wideout for the next two seasons.."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: NFL power rankings round-up 2026: How do Texans fare entering Week 6?
