Battle Red Blog
Welcome to the final week of the Houston Texans Power rankings! Every year, the power rankings create an interesting chart of the greater football public’s thoughts on the Texans, almost like watching a stock ticker. Their gains and losses week by week mark the thoughts of those bullish and bearish on the Texans alike, and every inflection point tells a story. Out of all my years rounding up the power rankings and throwing my two cents in, this year was by far the most unpredictable.
With Houston’s last victory in the regular season finale against the Indianapolis Colts, they’ve reached a franchise-tying record of 12 wins and tie another franchise record of consecutive wins with their ninth in a row. This is the highest win total quarterback CJ Stroud and head coach DeMeco Ryans have reached while in Houston, and arguably their most impressive season yet considering the gauntlet of playoff teams they faced. Despite the Texans’ many warts on offense and their concession of the AFC South title to the Jacksonville Jaguars, this long win streak has given Texans fans reason to be confident entering the playoffs as a road team. This team just excels at winning close games, and more importantly, the Texans have a defense so overwhelmingly powerful that they’re getting comparisons to the legendary Seattle Seahawks “Legion of Boom” defense of the early 2010s.
They are without equal on defense, lifting the Texans all the way back to the top ten positioning they were receiving before the season had started. In fact, where the Texans reside in the rankings now is far, far higher than the spots authors were plugging them in around this time last year, where practically everyone had sold out on Houston entering the postseason. Even the common playoff time slot signaled disinterest: Saturday @ 3:30 PM, a time slot that the Texans have never been able to drum up enough hype to dig out of – until 2025!
So, for the first time ever, the Houston Texans get out of that Saturday afternoon game and onto Monday Night Football to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. A defense that ranks sixth in passing yards/game, fourth in rushing yards/game, fourth in turnover percentage, and second in point differential will take you places you’ve never been before, even all the way to prime time on Monday night…where the Steelers have gone undefeated under head coach Mike Tomlin….
Well, I guess the Texans can have the win streak and the good vibes, but they still can’t have everything. Although, if I had to pick the most vulnerable opponent in the playoffs for the Texans to face, it’d be the Steelers. Pittsburgh needed the division rival Ravens to completely lose their pass rush, stop handing the ball off to RB Derrick Henry, throw an interception deep in Baltimore territory, and suffer a missed field goal to win their regular season finale by just two points. The Steelers clearly aren’t a powerhouse, and, seeing that Houston is currently favored...
