Houston Texans Remain Super Bowl Contender Despite Recent Hiccups

It wasn’t just that the Houston Texans lost on Thursday night that has some of their fans (and bettors) concerned about the remainder of the season. It was the way they lost. And it was the way quarterback C.J. Stroud looked in defeat.

Stroud finished the game 11-of-30 for 191 yards, and he was sacked eight times. The New York Jets did a great job of pressuring him. His offensive line was not good at all in the game, but Stroud ran himself into a few of the sacks. The pressure spread up his game clock, which in turn made him struggle through his reads, which is why his completion percentage was so low. 

Stroud completed 36.7% of his passes, the lowest single-game total of his career. The second lowest of his career was last season, when he completed 43.5% of his passes, also in a loss at the Jets. Maybe it’s a MetLife Stadium thing.

Stroud said after Thursday’s loss, “This is definitely a great wake-up call.” 

Wide Receiver Injuries

The Texans aren’t going to get any sympathy from the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or San Francisco 49ers. Injuries to wide receivers is a league-wide epidemic that has hit all of these 2023 playoff teams and 2024 playoff hopefuls. The Texans were the most recent when they lost Stefon Diggs for the season last Sunday.

Nico Collins has also been out, but he is expected to be activated by Week 10. Tank Dell had a big night against the Jets in the absence of both players. But don’t be surprised if the Texans make a move for another wide receiver before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Texans Upcoming Schedule

For a team that has lost two of its last three games, next week seems cruel. The Texans host the Detroit Lions on Sunday night, the best scoring offense in the NFL, and one of the top two or three overall teams in the league. The Texans had the misfortune of playing the NFC North this season, and they have already lost to the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.

After Detroit, things do get easier. Houston plays at the Dallas Cowboys, home against the Tennessee Titans, at the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then Houston has its bye in Week 14. That is the latest bye week of the season.

Getting healthy between now and then is paramount, because the Texans finish the season after the bye with a tough stretch. They will host the Miami Dolphins, who may or may not have something to play for. Then they go to the Kansas City Chiefs, and are at home to play the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Day.

A preliminary look at the odds has the Texans as underdogs against the Lions, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Ravens. If they lose those four games, they have to win every other game to get to 10 wins. Houston has already swept the Colts, so as long as they don’t finish behind them in the standings, the Texans would win the division.

Super Bowl Odds

When the season began, there was an expectation that the top teams in the AFC were still the Chiefs and Ravens. The Bills were going to take a step back because of their off-season losses, and the Texans would still ascend. Kansas City had the shortest odds to win the conference, Baltimore was behind them, and third at +825 was the Texans.

Houston hasn’t made the step forward that we expected yet, and the Bills are just as good as they have been in the past. The AFC odds today have the Bills in third behind Kansas City and Baltimore, and Houston has dropped to fourth. But at +800, the Texans are still well ahead of the first-place team in the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 6-2 Steelers are currently +1400 to win the AFC.

When the season began, the Texans were +1600 to win the Super Bowl, which ranked them eighth. Today, they are ninth at +2000, with the move down one space fueled by the unexpected rise of the Vikings.