The Texans had the worst starting QB in the NFL last season and still won the AFC South at 9-7 and a wild-card game over the Raiders. Now that's impressive.
With J.J. Watt back healthy, and Brock Osweiler now starring in hype videos shot at Browns training camp, there's plenty of reason for optimism in Houston. Then again, the rest of the teams in the AFC South only got better this offseason and the prospect of Tom Savage or heralded rookie Deshaun Watson leading the Texans to a Super Bowl looks far-fetched. Here's what our projections say.
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SportsLine
| Projected wins | In playoffs | Win division | Conference | Super Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.0 | 36.9% | 28.3% | 2.1% | 0.9% |
SportsLine projects the Texans to be right around a .500 record this season, and that puts them neck and neck with the Titans (8.3 projected wins) to win the division title yet again. While a trip to the playoffs may count as a small surprise, seeing the Texans make a Super Bowl run would defy just about everyone's expectations.
Vegas
| Win total | Playoffs | Division | Conference | Super Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.5 | +160 | +225 | 20/1 | 40/1 |
All odds via Westgate.
The Texans have finished 9-7 in each of their last three years, and they've had a winning record in five of their last six seasons (as well as eight of their last 10 seasons), which might help explain why this win total is sitting above .500. And it's not like they enjoyed a stable quarterback situation during that three-year stretch of 9-7 seasons either.
Experts
| |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Record | 8-8 | 8-8 | 6-10 | 8-8 | 8-8 | 7-9 |
| Playoffs? | No | No | No | No | No | No |
John Breech defends his 8-8 prediction:
If I had any confidence in the Texans quarterback situation, I'd probably pick them to go 10-6, but I don't. Even if Deshaun Watson wins the job -- and ends up being amazing -- he's probably going to struggle early, which is bad news for a Texans team that's going to have it pretty rough coming out of the gate during the regular season
After a Week 1 game against Jacksonville, Houston's next four games are against teams that combined to go 41-22-1 in 2016. I don't see them getting out of the first five weeks with anything better than a 2-3 record.
