Back in January of 2023, as the head coaching carousel spun feverishly, the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans were both in search of their next leader. DeMeco Ryans and Jonathan Gannon were two of the biggest names on the market. Both were viewed as viable candidates to take over in Houston, Gannon with his John Carroll University (Nick Caserio’s alma mater) ties and DeMeco with his years of Pro Bowl caliber play here.

Ultimately, the Texans gleefully hired Ryans to return home, and the Cardinals (not sure of their glee level) hired Gannon. Since then, the Cardinals have largely remained mired in the muck they were when Gannon arrived, 3-10 so far this season, while Ryans has won two division crowns, two playoff games, and has the Texans sitting right now as the hottest team in the NFL. 

The two teams met back in 2023, in Week 11, the first season for both head coaches in their new roles, and met under very similar circumstances. On that day, the Texans came in on a season high three game win streak, with a 6-5 record. Sunday, they’ll be riding a five game win streak, with an 8-5 record. Back in 2023, the Cardinals were 2-9, while this season, they’re 3-10.

On that day back in 2023, the Texans won the game, 21-16, an outcome they’d gladly take again this time around, as they continue to march toward the postseason. Here are four things to watch for in Sunday’s game at NRG Stadium: 

4. Trey McBride

The Texans entered this stretch of schedule, starting in Week 13, with a gauntlet of opposing tight ends. In a four week span, they were slated to face off against Tyler Warren (Colts), Travis Kelce (Chiefs), Trey McBride (Cardinals), and Brock Bowers (Raiders). So far, so good, as they’ve held Warren and Kelce to a combined four catches for 30 yards in the first two games. McBride is a game wrecker, no doubt, and will be a tough assignment for Jalen Pitre, Azeez Al-Shaair, or whoever ends up matched up against him. That said, if the Texans hold him down the way they did Warren and Kelce, the Cardinals are cooked.

3. Will Anderson, what might have been? 

Back in 2023, on the first night of the draft, we had a pretty good idea that the Texans would be using their first pick, which was second overall, on a quarterback. That wound up being C.J. Stroud. What we didn’t expect was the huge move up from the 12th overall pick (acquired in the Deshaun Watson trade) to the 3rd overall pick, held by the Cardinals, to draft Will Anderson. Now, here comes this Sunday, in which Will Anderson can torment the team that passed up the chance to select him back in 2023. It will not help matters for the Cardinals that their starting left tackle Paris Johnson is out with an injury.

2. C.J. Stroud protecting the ball

I was a guest on a national streaming show, brought on the show to discuss the Texans, and was asked the question “What’s been the biggest difference between the Texans now, and when they got off to an 0-3 start to the season?” I thought about it, and certainly the differences have come on the offensive side of the football. The defense has been great all season. I narrowed the “one thing” down to protecting the football. During this five game winning streak, the Texans have only thrown two picks, one apiece for Davis Mills and C.J. Stroud. That will be a key saga in on Sunday. The only way you let the Cardinals hang around is with short fields off of turnovers. Protect the football! 

1. Running the ball, who’s gonna do it? 

It’s not a coincidence that the Texans seem to have found at least a little bit of magic on offense once they started leaning more heavily into rookie Woody Marks as the featured running back. This past Sunday against the Chiefs, they leaned into Marks as heavily as they have all season, with Marks toting the rock 26 times. Now, Marks is on the injury report with a knee injury. Nick Chubb is on the injury report with a rib injury. Hopefully, one or both can be healthy Sunday, but this running back room is getting banged up, and the dynamic Marks is approaching unprecedented usage levels.

SPREAD: Texans -9.5

PREDICTION: Texans 27, Cardinals 20

SEASON RECORD: 7-6 SU, 8-5 ATS 

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

Related