The Houston Texans released their 2023 schedule on Thursday night, highlighting a season of optimism with new head coach DeMeco Ryans and a group of rookies highlighted by top picks in QB CJ Stroud and OLB Will Anderson Jr.
The Texans will open the season on the road facing the Baltimore Ravens before coming home to host the Indianapolis Colts.
The Texans will play in zero scheduled primetime games this season.
GORDY'S TAKE: Not going to lie, it sucks the Texans got zero primetime games. Having a dynamic rookie class, you'd like to showcase your rookie talent on a national stage, but they won't get to do that.
But the first half of the schedule is manageable - Week 1 at Baltimore facing Lamar Jackson will be very difficult, but Baltimore's defense isn't as treacherous as it once was. After that, of their next six opponents, only one of them was a playoff team last year in Jacksonville. The Colts, Steelers, Falcons, Saints and Panthers all missed the playoffs. The next opponent is Tampa who made the playoffs, but that Tom Brady guy is gone now. At the Bengals will be tough, Arizona is beatable, Denver expects to be better under Sean Payton with Russ Wilson. December games at the Jets and the Titans could be really cold, but both those teams don't expect to be elite. What will Deshaun Watson look like in Week 16 with the Browns? And finishing home vs the Titans, then at the Colts should be manageable.
Overall, this is not a difficult schedule. But how quickly does QB CJ Stroud adjust to the NFL? Does he go through his rookie growing pains? Can Dameon Pierce and Devin Singletary help carry the team with a dominant ground game? As of right now, I'd predict the Texans to win 5-6 games, with a ceiling of 7-10. Not bad, marked improvement, and a foundation laid for Year 2 of the DeMeco era.