Battle Red Blog
Rejoice! Bust out that jersey! Bring out the party poppers, because the Texans are a winning football team for the first time in 2025! They welcome the favored Buffalo Bills, led by reigning MVP quarterback Josh Allen, and they kicked their butts all the way back to western New York!
In seasons like these, unlikely heroes emerge to save the season. In 2018, the last NFL team to make the playoffs after an 0-3 start, the Houston Texans counted on lesser known players like Brandon Dunn, Kendall Lamm, and Alfred Blue to keep the season alive is dire straits. Players that many Texans fans didn’t even know were on the team had become season-savers, earning fans as the season took a turn for the better. This year, you can take your pick of surprise stars! Rookie running back Woody Marks has a near-universially beloved lead back mere months after being drafted in the fifth round. Davis Mills had to jump back into the starting role, three seasons since his last start, after CJ Stroud went down with a concussion, and won three straight, playing largely clean football and launching his team back into playoff contention. After last Thursday, I imagine safety Calen Bullock has entered many fans’ minds as another season savior where he was relatively unknown just weeks ago. Heck, I imagine some fans may even argue kicker Matthew Wright should be credited for pulling this team from the brink with his game-winning field goals against the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Suffice to say, this has been a remarkable team-wide effort to claw back from 3-5 all the way to 6-5, with a long list of players that deserve some flowers. But, if there was a group in particular that deserves a world of credit for their efforts, it’s the defensive line. Josh Allen, despite his speed and athleticism, was sacked eight, yes, EIGHT times in this football game. Sack artists Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson combined for 4.5 sacks, and are now ranked third and fourth in the NFL in total sacks, respectively. And if they weren’t making plays, Houston’s defensive backfield was instead. There was just no stopping the Texans defense on Thursday, and because of their remarkable, veritable tenacity, the Texans are victors once again. They’re hitting their stride right in time for the most difficult stretch of games of the season, and will be welcoming back starters CJ Stroud and Jalen Pitre very soon.
So….those pesky power rankings pundits will have to push those powerful Texans up their lists, right? Those that doubted them will have to eat their crow, right? Last week, after ranking Houston 17th on his list, the one, the only, the Mike Florio stated, “Do they belong? Beat the Bills, and the answer is yes.” Well, now that they’ve beat the Bills, let’s see where the Houston Texans are ranked entering Week 13 of the 2025 NFL Season:
15. Houston Texans (6-5) (Last Week: 18)
Huge...
