{"id":74290,"date":"2025-05-24T01:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T01:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/74290\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T01:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T01:36:10","slug":"houston-texans-should-shine-in-4-primetime-games-the-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/74290\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Texans Should Shine in 4 Primetime Games \u2013 The Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 NFL schedule has been released, and it is time to increase the excitement going into training camp.<\/p>\n<p>The Houston Texans landed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstontexans.com\/schedule\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">four primetime games<\/a>\u2014one on ABC, ESPN+, Amazon Prime, and NBC. While the team is going from six in 2024 to four in 2025, these are still big games that should garner a lot of hype.<\/p>\n<p>Standalone games bring more attention to the team, and success in these games brings more excitement all around. The games are split between two NFC and two AFC teams, with two home and two away games.<\/p>\n<p>Week 2: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, September 15th, ABC<\/p>\n<p>The first primetime game of the season comes in Week 2, just like last season.<\/p>\n<p>This time, it is against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MayfBa00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Baker Mayfield<\/a> and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It has been two seasons since the Texans played the Bucs, when the Texans won a shootout game 39-37 in 2023. It was a high-flying offensive bout that left the crowds wanting more and really established what CJ Stroud brought to the team.<\/p>\n<p>Both teams came from a 10-7 2024 season that saw them take the AFC and NFC South division titles. The Texans are looking to start the season off strong after a disappointing performance against Kansas City in the playoffs. Getting a crack at one of the NFC\u2019s better teams is a way to get started on improving from last season.<\/p>\n<p>Week 7: @ Seattle Seahawks, October 20th, ESPN+<\/p>\n<p>The first game against the Seattle Seahawks since 2021 will be at Lumen Field.<\/p>\n<p>The Seahawks are coming off a 10-7 season in Mike Macdonald\u2019s first season. That record saw them just outside the playoff picture in the NFC. With new quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/D\/DarnSa00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sam Darnold<\/a>, they will be looking to compete in a log-jammed NFC West.<\/p>\n<p>This will be a good test of the Houston Texans\u2019 loaded defense and revamped offense. New offensive coordinator Nick Caley came from the Rams, so he will know how to plan for Seattle. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RyanDe20.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DeMeco Ryans<\/a>\u2018 time with San Francisco will be valuable as well. The Texans will also benefit greatly that this Monday Night game is coming off their bye week, so the team will be rested and ready to go. A rested team on a west coast flight will get every opportunity to shut down the potent offense Seattle hopes to have.<\/p>\n<p>Week 12: vs. Buffalo Bills, November 20th, Amazon Prime<\/p>\n<p>A rematch of last year\u2019s Week 5 matchup, the AFC runner-up will look to avenge their 23-20 loss.<\/p>\n<p>Another wonderful test in primetime, this time against a conference opponent. The Bills will be hoping that MVP quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=AlleJo02,AlleJo00&amp;search=Josh+Allen&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Josh Allen<\/a> is more prepared for the Texans\u2019 high-powered defense.<\/p>\n<p>The Texans, on the other hand, will be looking to keep the reigning MVP at bay. Houston proved last season that they can compete and beat some of the AFC\u2019s best teams. CJ Stroud and company will have to start proving they can compete and beat them regularly to show the Texans are taking that next step. Buffalo\u2019s defense will be ready to attack, and it will look to be another tough game on Battle Red Day.<\/p>\n<p>Week 14: @ Kansas City Chiefs, December 7th, NBC<\/p>\n<p>Ending the primetime slate with the back-to-back-to-back AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p>The Texans had two cracks at them in 2024, both resulting in losses. The Week 16 matchup was competitive until wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/D\/DellNa00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Tank Dell<\/a> went down with his devastating knee injury that sucked the energy out of the team. The divisional round playoff game was anything but competitive, leading to the Texans\u2019 trend of not advancing past Round 2.<\/p>\n<p>This season may prove different. The Chiefs\u2019 offensive line lost a key piece in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/ThunJo00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Joe Thuney<\/a>, who was incredibly versatile for them. They lost wide receivers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=WatsJu01,WatsJu00&amp;search=Justin+Watson&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Justin Watson<\/a> (Texans) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HopkDe00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DeAndre Hopkins<\/a> (Ravens), which sapped the veterans from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MahoPa00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Patrick Mahomes<\/a>. And former Texans and Chiefs safety <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/ReidJu00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=theleadsm.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-22_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Justin Reid<\/a> departed for the Saints.<\/p>\n<p>If Nick Caley can improve the offense, the Texans may finally have a chance against the Chiefs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 NFL schedule has been released, and it is time to increase the excitement going into training&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2056],"tags":[1222,7,221,253,2368,6,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-74290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-cj-stroud","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-texans","12":"tag-houstontexans","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114560249607633919","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}