Why the Houston Texans Could Be the Favorite in the AFC This Season 👀
I think this Houston Texans team even more than the Jets Out There is getting more talk and more love from just kind of the general casual fan which is so odd and weird to me because you think Aaron Rogers coming back and everyone’s going to flock to the big you know the Jets and all that like man what Deo Ryans and CJ stra were able to do last year for this Texans team one of the teams that entered the year with one of the lowest win totals in the NFL one of the teams that I thought I was just going to be fading in Survivor all year long ends up making the playoffs and and here they come in this year and they’re not going to sneak up on anybody at least from a betting Market standpoint because they are getting all the love no they’re going to have all the eyeballs on them because they were so under the radar last year and I I was looking at their schedule when I was writing up the guide from last year they had 16 games in the 1:00 Eastern window on Sunday so you know and probably getting like 5% of the country on your local CBS broadcast or fox or wherever they were now you get four Prime Time games all the lights are on this team now because of of what they did last year and the fact of what they did was have a rookie quarterback who led the league in average passing yards per game and touchdown to interception ratio the only quarterbacks over the last 50 years to do that besides CJ strad were Joe Montana and Tom Brady now it’s pretty Tall Cotton I’m not putting him there quite just yet but hell of a job considering your offensive line wouldn’t help you all year cuz he got sacked quite a bit because Shaq Mason was the only starter to start all all 17 games on that offensive line last year but they’re not rusted on their Laurels either like they’re going for it you know kind of kind of kind of like the Knicks in the NBA with what they’re doing they’re going for it they traded for Joe Mixon because the running game was I think 22nd in the League last year they traded for Stephon Diggs Stefon Diggs restructured deal so he’ll be a free agent next year and then Nico Collins who are our producer Stephanie was like one of the more underrated receivers in the league and I think she’s dead on there talking about that during the break uh he’s in a trct gear you could potentially get tank Dell back from that from that injury he suffered he’s that little small diminutive guy that gets in space and is so quick a dynamic in the in the return game as well so offensively there’s a lot of expectations and rightfully so but were were they really changed at what Nick cerio the GM down there in Houston did signed a ton of Talent on on defense now we’ll see if it works out and then brought in five draft picks uh were defensive players as well so will Anderson and we talk about stad but will Anderson who was the pick right behind him was the defensive rookie of the year so what do you do you get him another pass rusher on the other side denil Hunter comes in from Minnesota after 16 and a half sacks Deno alry had 11 and a half career high sacks he comes in from Tennessee you bring in Al Shah shahir from uh Tennessee who was with demo Ryan when he was the DC in San Francisco and then you brought in some guys that you’re taking Chances with you know CJ Henderson and Jeff okuda who are former first round corners haven’t really lived up to that but they’re basically death guys because you got Derek Stingley at least managing one of those spots it’s it’s you you look at the you kind of look at what Houston did and I agree with you they did kind of push their chips in the middle here and and look rightfully so you’re in a division that you could argue outside of the NFC South which I think is the the weakest this is like the most ripe for a team to kind of take over right because we haven’t been able to we don’t have any idea whether the whether we’re going to see anything that resembles NFL quarterback play from will Lis this Jags team we keep getting we we keep getting there we keep getting there and keep getting there and not being able to get over the humps I mean there is there is definitely something that Houston’s getting done here that I I you could look up and say wow Houston’s won the division four years in a row or so you know I don’t think that that’s crazy for us to for us to say that but yet as you mentioned man on the defensive side of the ball is really what impressed me with what they did in the off season sure you go out and get step dicks that’s always going to help he’s still on the other he’s on the wrong side of 30 like yeah he’s he’s still a one but it’s not like he’s the elite level one really anymore so so yeah that’s all going to help but it’s the it’s the defensive side where you really start to look at this and you bring like you said denal Hunter to go along with I know sauce Gardner got all the love there but Derek Stingley had an amazing season uh last year one of the very best corners in all of the NFL last year and you mentioned you bring in a couple of those linebackers all some other some other depth type of stuff and now you look around and you go oh if CJ stra and them are even close to what they were on offense last year now this defense might be able to keep teams from just moving up and down the field on them left and right this actually could be a scary team well and and look they upgraded that defense too I I think because they know that they’re going to get that first place schedule cuz when you look at that schedule and and that’s why they’re not I think in double digits yet in terms of win total because look at the quarterbacks I’m I’m I’m going out of order here but look at the quarterbacks that they have to face this year momes yep Lamar Jackson Josh Allen Dak Aaron roders Tua uh uh Jordan love Jared Goff Lawrence twice obviously and then you’ve got some young guys that were all high first round draft picks Richardson twice Caleb Williams JJ McCarthy potentially if he is starting uh by that standpoint they get him week three so he might not be starting as we were talking about in the good news bad news earlier but yeah this is a tough schedule and now you know you go from the I know this is cliche the hunter or Hunter to the hunted and you really do and now everybody’s eyeballs are on you and you’re playing Five division Champions and you’re playing two other Playoff teams so you had to get more Talent on that defense and uh I think you know with these guys in the in the scheme the second year of the scheme that uh that that that Ryan and Company bring in and then Bobby slowick on as the offensive coordinator they run a lot of Zone run like a Zone running scheme so Mixon certainly helps with the running game I think think on that and then a healthy offensive line but yeah this is the most talented roster in the AFC South now the most talented roster doesn’t always win divisions obviously but this to me I look at what they added and look I’m not one of those guys that’s like okay you’re a big player in free agency because it’s always sexier to add rather than subtract right and you know so not all these guys are going to work out but if a few of them work out like if if Hunter can still give you good production and Autry and alsaher then all the these other guys are just depth guys and you’re going to be okay yeah I I look at this schedule and it’s one of those sometimes I recommend you know hey if you want to play a win total on a team you probably want to do it you probably want to do it you know wait a few games in the season or something like no the the soft part of the schedule for Texans is early and you don’t want to wait on this if you want to play an over on this team because they’re going to have to win these games Indie Chicago Minnesota maybe even take that one at home against Jacksonville you start to look once you get out to week nine it is short week on on the road at Jets then it’s the Lions then it is Dallas you get a little maybe what might be a a playable bye there in Tennessee but then you’re on the road at Jacksonville Miami Kansas City Baltimore like all down you if you’re you are looking at the very very meat and bulk of that schedule coming down the stretch here for this Texans team and so again like that’s this is one of those teams if you were if you want to bet an over on the win total you you don’t want to wait on this one because this one’s there a lot of those wins are going to have to come early on in the season cuz Wes even a great season even a good good season for this Texans team you have to look at this stretch of the schedule and say I mean we’re going to be lucky to come out of this a game over 500 or 500 I mean there’s just a lot of tough games in a row yeah yeah so so they’re going to they’re going to have to step up here and and look they’re still in the second year of kind of that culture change within the organization right remember remember how like toxic this culture seemed and everybody was so down on this organization after after the trade of DeAndre Hopkins after JJ Watt leaves who’s the most beloved player arguably in the franchis history and you know Nick cerio I think has done a good job you know changing that and changing that culture demo Ryan’s only in his second year he was the uh he was the assistant coach of the year of that award uh two years ago with the 49ers when he was the defensive coordinator so look it’s taking time but and and they exceeded expectations that’s why you’re kind of worried it’s like okay did they get lucky are they going to regress but they had to do this like I was mentioning with that offensive line that was all kind of banged up with the rookie quarterback and and man they they found ways and and I I felt that strad was the best quarterback going into that draft I didn’t think he was going to do what he did last year but I felt he was maybe the most ready at least right now and he certainly showed that plus 105 to win the AFC South for this Houston Texans team so I mean it is it is a lot of love here a lot of backing and we’ll talk about the Jags a little bit later pretty big gap plus 275 for the Jags we’re talking plus 105 to plus 275 for the second shot there in this division Wes is a it is a team where it would not Shock me if they won 11 12 games also I think if a season that just kind of mirrors last year also wouldn’t shock me right I mean kind of like a nine and you know 9 and8 10 and seven type season as well um we’ve seen quarterbacks have really good years and maybe not followed up with as great a year the very next season so I’m not ready to Crown this team quite yet [Music]
Hosts of VSiN’s “The Handle,” Matt Brown and Wes Reynolds preview the Houston Texans’ 2024-25 season from a betting perspective in honor of VSiN’s NFL Betting Guide’s release… How do CJ Stroud and the Texans fare in the AFC South? Can Stroud lead them back to the playoffs after his rookie season? And what impact will the acquisitions of Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs have on their win total this year? Let us know what you think about Matt and Wes’ takes in the comments!
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