I have them losing to the patriots, Eagles, Jaguars and I threw in a random loss just due to a trap game.
The most "obvious" losses I see are: @NE, @JAX, @PHI Aside from that, I don't see any matchups that are "unwinnable."
Yet another year with no true 3:25 national TV game. Texans have only had one in their existence (2011 vs Broncos). Even Jacksonville has two this year. At this point, its far more of a marquee game (in terms of exclusivity) than the SNF package.
But it wasn't the national game. That was Dallas at Washington.... which you can tell because why else would an east coast team have a 4:25 pm start time? Meanwhile, the Texans game was at 3:25 CST because it was played in Seattle... where all their Sunday afternoon home games are on in that time slot. Also, the Dallas at Washington game was on in every market except Seattle (which like Houston, doesn't put on a competing game when their team is at home). SNF does have to cater to "every" market, so they give all playoff teams at least one game. However, the 3:25 game merely has to be the best game, and doesn't have to show every single team there.
The Seattle game was on in every market as well, and way more people watched that game than the Dallas-Washington game. May not have been the official national game, but there were 2 games on at the time and way more people were watching Texans-Seahawks.
It was not on in every market. Way more people did not watch that regional game vs. the game of the week (which is usually on par, ratings wise, with SNF games). Cities do not always show games on CBS and Fox in both time slots. The national game of the week (which Dallas vs Washington on Fox was) takes priority and usually is unopposed, except in the cities that have other teams playing opposite them, or cities that lost a noon CBS game due to "exclusivity" rules. The entire nation had the Fox game available to them at 3:25 (except for Seattle, as previously mentioned). Here was the coverage maps for that day (red indicates who got the Dallas-Washigton game). The bottom picture was the CBS games that day. Only the areas in blue got the Houston-Seattle 3pm game (and the red on that map was the Chargers-Pats noon game, which got CBS' 'A' team).
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...redictions-analysis-games-scores-all-32-teams Houston Texans Full schedule | Predicted record: 11-5 If the Texans can avoid the injury bug that plagued them last year, they will be among the most talented teams in football. With the return of J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus and the additions of safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerback Aaron Colvin, the defense is poised to bounce back, while a healthy Deshaun Watson could make the offense one of the NFL's best if he can pick up where he left off last season. There will be great competition in the AFC South with Jacksonville and Tennessee but this Texans team should be able to compete when healthy. -- Sarah Barshop http://www.espn.com/blog/houston-texans/post/_/id/22113/2018-houston-texans-game-by-game-predictions Week 1: @ NE (L) Week 2: @ TEN (L) Week 3: vs NYG (W) Week 4: @ IND (W) Week 5: vs DAL (W) Week 6: vs BUF (W) Week 7: @ JAC (L) Week 8: vs MIA (W) Week 9: @ DEN (W) Week 10: BYE Week 11: @ WAS (W) Week 12: vs TEN (W) Week 13: vs CLE (W) Week 14: vs IND (W) Week 15: @ NYJ (W) Week 16: @ PHI (L) Week 17: vs JAC (L) https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...dicting-the-Texans-2018-schedule-12848888.php Week 1: @ NE (L) Week 2: @ TEN (L) Week 3: vs NYG (W) Week 4: @ IND (W) Week 5: vs DAL (W) Week 6: vs BUF (W) Week 7: @ JAC (L) Week 8: vs MIA (W) Week 9: @ DEN (L) Week 10: BYE Week 11: @ WAS (W) Week 12: vs TEN (W) Week 13: vs CLE (W) Week 14: vs IND (W) Week 15: @ NYJ (W) Week 16: @ PHI (L) Week 17: vs JAC (L)
Why is everyone writing us off against the Patriots? They play horrible first few games and have lost a lot. Player/Coach relationships seem to be shaky right now. Texans shock the Patriots week 1
If you're gonna beat New England, the first month of the season is the time to do it. Especially week 1.
Especially with all of the potential chaos going on over there. For all we know Gronk and Brady could be gone.
I’m not making any predictions until after the draft is over but 11-12 wins is very doable. And you can count me in on questioning the writing off of us for week one. That’s like a staple of the Pats over the last few years; play bad the beginning of the season, come on strong later. Also I highly doubt we get swept by the Jags this year.
You have to expect the Jags to be massively overrated this season due to them winning the division last year by default due to the Texans many injuries. That said, I expect their bubble to bust as the Texans regain the stranglehold they've had on the division for years.