The Texans spent Week 8 on the sideline, but the rest of the league kept moving them around anyway.
Houston enters Week 9 with a 2-5 record and a fresh batch of consensus power rankings that paint a pretty clear picture: the bye did not buy them much goodwill. Across the board, the Texans are still sitting outside the league’s upper tier, with most evaluators keeping them in the back half of the top 25 or lower. One ranking even moved them down despite the week off.
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr had been one of the more optimistic voices on Houston earlier in the season, but now he has the Texans just inside the top 25. He was blunt about the matchup ahead with the Chargers:
"The Texans will face the Chargers this weekend in a battle of the two most confoundingly disappointing teams I can ever remember. This is the kind of hype that forces me to never trust again."
NFL.com’s Nick Shook also nudged Houston down a spot, though he still sees a route back into the conversation if the Texans can take advantage of what comes next. He pointed to the schedule as the reason for that optimism:
"While we can officially agree Houston’s defense isn’t the unit we’ve known it to be in recent years, the Texans have a favorable road out of the bye. Dates with the Chargers and Colts sandwich a meeting with the Browns, so while 2-5 is a tough place to be after eight weeks, there’s still a path back to relevance. Keep an eye on Marvin Harrison Jr.’s role in the offense, too."
ESPN’s panel also dropped Houston one spot and kept the team outside the top 20. D.J.
Bien-Aime used the Texans’ in-season trade history as his lens and settled on Demariyus Thomas in 2018 as the best example. His explanation tied that move to one of Houston’s better stretches that season:
"Historically, the Texans haven’t made many in-season trades. Zero have resulted in Houston receiving a game-changing player.
The hope is Marvin Harrison Jr., who was acquired from the Cardinals in early October, could become exactly that. Thomas was at least the most effective player out of all the choices.
In 2018, Houston started 0-3 and reeled off nine consecutive wins to finish 11-5. Houston acquired Thomas after five wins in a row, and in his first game, he had 61 receiving yards against his former team, the Broncos.
He finished the season with 275 receiving yards for Houston with two touchdowns."
The Athletic’s Josh Kendall and Chad Graff didn’t write Houston off, but they didn’t exactly sound encouraged either after the Week 7 loss to the Giants. They called the defeat frustrating and noted that the Texans’ playoff odds remain slim, even with a soft stretch ahead:
"It’s frustrating, honestly. Houston started 0-4, showed a spark of life, but then disappointed in a 27-21 loss to the Giants in Week 7.
The Athletic’s most recent playoff projections have the Texans with just a 19 percent chance to make the playoffs. But here’s the problem: Houston has the second-easiest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon."
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco zeroed in on the defense as the biggest issue dragging the Texans down. His concern was simple and direct:
"It's hard for many to see how this team is down this low in the rankings. Here’s why: the defense has been a mess. They can't afford another loss or they might be done."
FOX Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano was the most bullish of the group. He was the only one who actually moved Houston up, and he kept them inside the top 20 despite the bye. Vacchiano pointed out that the Texans still sit in second place in the AFC South and have a second-half schedule that leaves room for a turnaround:
"Here’s the good news for the Texans coming out of their bye: They’re in second place in the AFC South despite a 2-5 record. They’re 2.5 games out of a wild-card spot, but the point is that their division is pretty awful and they still have to play the two worst teams - the Titans and Colts - one more time each.
They also get the Chargers, Ravens, Commanders and Eagles, so there are a lot of soft spots in the second half of their schedule. If they can get over their pre-bye loss to the Giants, they still have an outside chance to be OK."
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