Three tough games under the radar for the 2024 Houston Texans

Since the final day of the 2023 NFL regular season, when it became official that the Houston Texans would face division winners Baltimore, Dallas and Kansas City in 2024, to go along with the other 14 opponents we already knew about, the increased level of The difficulty of the 17 games from last season to this upcoming one has been a major topic.

We know that in 2023, the Texans faced a pretty mediocre group of quarterbacks, to put it mildly. We know that in 2024, they’ll face the four AFC quarterbacks who finished ahead of CJ Stroud in the Pro Bowl balloting, not to mention the NFC’s Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Jordan Love and Caleb Williams. These are superficial reasons why 2024 will be such a challenge, reasons that all Texans fans have probably internalized by now.

However, if you dig a little deeper into the nooks and crannies of the Texans’ 2024 schedule, there’s reason to be even more concerned about some of the games that, on paper, SHOULD be among the softest games on the schedule . Before we feature three of these tough, low-key games on the schedule, let’s refresh the entire schedule below, as a point of reference:

WEEK 1 – Sun. September 8 in Indianapolis NOON
WEEK 2 — Sun. September 15 against Chicago at 7:20 p.m.
WEEK 3 — Sun September 22 @ Minnesota NOON
WEEK 4 – Sunday, September 29 vs. Jacksonville NOON
WEEK 5 – Sun. October 6 vs. Buffalo NOON
WEEK 6 — Sun October 13 @ New England NOON
WEEK 7 — Sun October 20 in Green Bay NOON
WEEK 8 – Sunday, October 27 vs. Indianapolis NOON
WEEK 9 – Thu. October 31 @ New York Jets 7:15 p.m.
WEEK 10 – Sunday, November 10 against Detroit at 7:20 p.m.
WEEK 11 – Mon November 18 in Dallas 7:15 p.m.
WEEK 12 — Sun. November 24 vs. Tennessee MIDI
WEEK 13 — Sun Dec 1 @ Jacksonville NOON
WEEK 14 — BYE WEEK
WEEK 15 – Sunday, December 15 vs. Miami MIDI
WEEK 16 – Saturday December 21 in Kansas City NOON
WEEK 17 – Wednesday, December 25 against Baltimore at 3:30 p.m.
WEEK 18 — Sun Jan 5 @ Tennessee TBD

So, we already know that games like Green Bay at Green Bay, the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and the merciless ten-day brawl in December culminating with the Ravens on Christmas Day are going to be tough. We know it. However, here are three other games to circle that could be closer than we think, depending on schedule circumstances:

WEEK 6, in New England
I had this as one of my “best bets” based on offseason spreads, which make the Texans a 4.5-point favorite in New England, and I still feel very good about this game, in largely because I think the Patriots might be the worst offense. football team this season. However, if I look at the schedule details, this game falls between a Texans home game against Buffalo, which will be fueled by Stefon Diggs emotion in Week 5, and a trip to Green Bay in week 7. Add in the fact that the Patriots’ opening schedule (weeks 1-5 – at CIN, vs. SEA, at NYJ, at SF, vs. MIA) will likely take them to an easily overlooked record of 0-5 or 1-4 , and the Texans will have to be on guard not to suffer a “Carolina 2023” type disappointment, as they suffered just the two defeats that the Panthers inflicted on their opponents last season.

WEEK 12 vs. Tennessee
Like the Patriots, I expect the Titans to be one of the worst teams in football this season. The Texans swept them last year, and one of those games was a makeshift effort with Case Keenum playing quarterback. The other game was the total annihilation of the Texans at home. Schedule makers, however, did the Titans a big favor this season, placing the Texans’ home game against Tennessee directly after the three prime-time games in Weeks 9-11, capped by a football game Monday night in Dallas. the Titans will give the Texans a short rest, after three big, emotional games. On top of that, the Texans’ bye week doesn’t last until Week 14, so they will have played 12 straight weeks of football before this game. The only thing worse than that…

WEEK 13 in Jacksonville
….is the toughest contender for your division’s crown, on the road, after 13 STRAIGHT WEEKS of football. Add to that the fact that the Jaguars’ bye week is literally the week before this game. Not ideal.

Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6-10 a.m. weekdays. Also follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergaston Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.