Anytime an NFL team gets a huge win, like the Houston Texans defeating the Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday night, it’s incumbent upon talking heads on the radio (like myself) and online scribes (like myself) to try to contextualize the magnitude of the victory by asking the age old question — “Is this the biggest win in/of ______?” 

You can fill in that blank with a timeframe like “in the last ten years,” or fill it in with an era like “of the DeMeco Ryans Era.” I absolutely think that Sunday’s win is firmly in the conversation for ”biggest regular season win of the DeMeco Ryans Era,” when you hash out all the emotional pain the Chiefs have inflicted upon the Texans the last six seasons. 

The nice thing about having such a young franchise — the Texans are in just their 24th season of playing football — is that we can ask this question about all six full time head coaches in team history. 

So, what is the biggest regular season win for each Texans head coach? I have my list below, and understand that I am eliminating playoff clinching wins from eligibility, because those wins have an exponential advantage in such discourse. So, here we go — biggest, non-playoff clinching regular season win for each Texans head coach, even the bad ones! 

DOM CAPERS

Week 1, 2002 — Texans 19, Cowboys 10

This was the first game in Texans history, and an historic win for a newborn franchise, defeating the evil intrastate empire. From the Billy Miller touchdown to kick off Texans history to the safety from defensive tackle Seth Payne to close out the scoring, this was one epic night of football.

GARY KUBIAK

Week 13, 2011 — Texans 17, Falcons 10

Kubiak’s tenure is definitely one where a division clincher would likely win this campaign, if eligible. Instead, I’ll go with the game two weeks before the Texans clinched their first division crown. This was rookie T.J. Yates’ first start, as the Texans had lost Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart the two weeks before that. This might have been the loudest game in NRG Stadium history, as Yates rallied the troops to a huge win to move to 9-3 on the season. 

BILL O’BRIEN

Week 15, 2015 — Texans 16, Colts 10

For a head coach that won four division titles in six full seasons, the regular seasons are somewhat barren of memorable wins. So we will go with the first ever victory in Indianapolis, after 13 tries. Of course, it was Brandon Weeden to Jaelen Strong for the game winning touchdown, just like everyone had on their BINGO card. (No, not really.) 

DAVID CULLEY

Week 1, 2021 — Texans 37, Jaguars 21

I said we would even recognize the one-and-done head coaches in this exercise, and for Culley, while the late season win over the Chargers may have been more impressive, I’m going with the Week 1 win over the Jags, for a few reasons. First, it was Trevor Lawrence’s “welcome to the NFL” moment. Second, it was Urban Meyer’s “welcome to the NFL moment.” Third, the Texans were actually 1-0 to begin what ended up as a fever dream disaster of a season. Good vibes for one week! 

LOVIE SMITH

Week 18, 2022 — Texans 32, Colts 31

There are only three Lovie Smith wins to choose from, so the choice isn’t that hard. We will take the win that nobody wanted! If the Texans had lost this game, they’d lock up the first pick in the draft. If they won, they’d be picking second. In retrospect, the second pick was the one to get, because it landed C.J. Stroud. Lovie Smith, Houston hero! 

DeMECO RYANS

Week 14, 2025 — Texans 20, Chiefs 10

So here we are with the biggest win of the Ryans Era. If division clinchers were eligible, then it’s easily the Week 18 game against the Colts back in 2023, but since we are going with non division clinchers, last Sunday’s win was not only huge for standings reasons (Texans playoff probability escalated over 90 percent, after that win.), but for emotional reasons. All of the baggage that came from playing the Chiefs in Kansas City in two playoff losses, 2019 and last season, doesn’t fully wash away, but it’s certainly mitigated, especially because the Chiefs’ dynasty is done! 

This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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