The Houston Texans home schedule is full of exciting games

The dust has settled since the NFL schedule was released on Wednesday this week, and we now know that the Houston Texans are undoubtedly considered a marquee team in NFL circles. With four prime-time games and two more national games during Christmas week, the Texans have it from relevant addiction to relevant penthouse.

The electric excitement should carry us through the hot summer months into training camp and the preseason, so that begs the question: As we sit here in mid-May, now knowing WHEN All Texans home games will be held, which home games are you most excited for?

Here are my power rankings of the Texans’ eight home games based on my personal enthusiasm level for each:

8. TENNESSEE TITANS, Week 12
7. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS, Week 4
6. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS, Week 8
These are the Texans’ three divisional opponents. We see all three of them for one home game each season, so unless one of them threatens to win the Super Bowl (they don’t) and/or the Texans play them at prime time (it’s not), so these automatically go to the bottom of the list purely because I like variety!

5. MIAMI DOLPHINS, Week 15
It has to be a pretty tricky home schedule for a team with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle at wide receiver to fall to the bottom of non-division home games, but that’s where I stand with the Dolphins, who were a playoff team last season. , but I think they are regressing this year. This game also comes before the Chiefs-Ravens Christmas challenge, so maybe I’m falling into the trap of looking ahead here.

4. BUFFALO BILLS, week 5
Before the calendar was released, this one would have been at the top of the list for me. The Bills are Super Bowl contenders and, more importantly, for storyline purposes, they are the former employer of Stefon Diggs. This scenario and all this build-up would have made this match possible. However, the fact that it’s at noon on a Sunday in Week 5, a somewhat blah part of the schedule, takes some of the starch out of the energy surrounding this game.

3. BALTIMORE RAVENS, Week 17 (Christmas Day)
I hate that the Texans have to play the Ravens just four days after playing the Chiefs and just ten days after playing the Dolphins. I love, though, that we have football on Christmas Day! There will be plenty if Houston-area kids get football tickets in their stockings that day.

2. CHICAGO BEARS, Week 2 (Sunday Night Football)
The race for first and second place on my “Most Excited Topics” list was very, very close. The case for this game is that it is the Texans’ home opener, and it will be the first time they have played on Sunday Night Football since Week 13 of the 2019 season! That was three head coaches and several quarterbacks ago. This will be Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams’ second career start, and hopefully DeMeco Ryans has a good game plan ready for him.

1. DETROIT LIONS, Week 10 (Sunday Night Football)
The Texans’ other Sunday Night Football game this season wins this power ranking by the narrowest of margins. There are a few differences here that take this game up a notch. First, the Lions are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The announcers for this game will probably repeatedly point out that “this could be a dark horse Super Bowl game,” I predict. Second, the Texans will sport their new version of the combat red uniform, complete with the new red helmet design. FINALLY, this will be a night game in November, and thus, it will be dark at kickoff, allowing for a much cooler pregame light show than the Week 2 game against Chicago.

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