The Texans' schedule was released Wednesday night. Payne & Pendergast give their biggest takeaways.
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00:00This is a fun schedule, man, and I think my early biggest takeaway, Seth,
00:04when I saw this schedule was that the Texans' demise as far as I was maybe a little exaggerated.
00:15I think there were – I had heard people say, man, maybe two primetime games
00:18just based on how they had played in primetime games last year.
00:22You know, they certainly ended last season with a different vibe around them league-wide
00:27than they had coming off of CJ's rookie year when they were thought to be one of the real rising hottest teams.
00:32They were still good last year.
00:34They were 10-7, but it was not as watchable a 10-7 as CJ's rookie year was
00:39when he was throwing 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
00:43They're going to be on primetime four times this year, and that goes over, I think, the total –
00:47you and I had talked about two-and-a-half, three-and-a-half being the total.
00:50They get four primetime games, and the four primetime games, they're spread out,
00:55unlike last year when three of them were literally three weeks in a row.
00:58I thought that was a rough stretch.
01:01They're spread out.
01:02There's one in each month of the schedule.
01:05They open at home on Monday Night Football in week two, the home opener is against Tampa Bay,
01:11and then five weeks later they're on Monday Night Football in Seattle,
01:15which is – that's the most – that's the – like the side eye of all the primetime games,
01:20that's the side eye one to me.
01:21I'm like, huh, Texas and Seattle.
01:239 p.m. start time locally.
01:25That's not Eastern time.
01:26That's locally.
01:28So –
01:28The Seattle game?
01:29Yes.
01:30Are you kidding me?
01:31Yes.
01:32Yes.
01:32No.
01:339 p.m. here.
01:34Not in – the game's in Seattle.
01:369 p.m. central.
01:37Yeah, no, 9 p.m. central.
01:38Sorry.
01:39Yeah, not in a home location.
01:40I'm at – for anybody – because a lot of times people are looking at schedules online
01:43where they're all in Eastern time.
01:44Sorry.
01:45Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:459 p.m. – no, but still.
01:47That's a – that's a – that's a late – that's a late –
01:51game next to primetime games.
01:53Because we're – we are careening towards a world where you can – you're going to
01:59have to download a different streaming app every single time you want to watch any different
02:03game.
02:04Yeah, yeah.
02:04Two of them for – you know, in Houston you can watch these primetime games on local
02:11television.
02:12But nationally, if you're not either in Seattle or in Houston, for instance, you've got to
02:18watch that one on ESPN+.
02:21Yeah.
02:21And likewise with the Thursday night game, you've got to watch it on Amazon Prime.
02:26Yep.
02:26So it's more like – yes, they're primetime, but they don't have necessarily the same
02:33center stage appeal that the broadcast –
02:36ABC, Monday Night Football, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
02:39Or just the old school ESPN.
02:42Right, right.
02:42So Tampa Bay, week two, at home, Monday Night Football.
02:46Monday Night Football in Seattle, I had not seen that start time yet.
02:48That postgame show is going to go until three in the morning.
02:51Oh, no, and then you have to do the – and then you have to do a radio show in the
02:54morning with me.
02:55Yeah, yeah, and it's not a two-hour show on a Monday either.
02:57It's a four-hour Thursday – or Tuesday show.
03:00Yeah.
03:00That's almost going to be – you might be on – you might be doing the postgame show
03:03until like 3.30 a.m.
03:06That's what I just said.
03:06Yeah, three in the morning.
03:07I know you said that.
03:08I'm just thinking like the – so 3.30 to – you might have two and a half hours.
03:12You're just not going to be able to sleep.
03:13I'll just stay up.
03:14Yeah, I'll just stay up.
03:15And then I'll –
03:16So we're going to rely on me being the guy that can keep track of stuff administratively?
03:20He's the ABC's of me, baby, yes.
03:21That's going to be – everybody – that is appointment listening.
03:23Tune in.
03:24Crane wreck.
03:24Absolutely.
03:25Tune in.
03:25Texans better win.
03:26I'll tell you that much.
03:27Sleep-deprived Sean and probably someone's sleep-deprived.
03:32I just won't watch the game.
03:33You can explain it to me.
03:36You can explain the game to me.
03:38Yep.
03:39That'll be – that'll be entertaining for the listeners.
03:41That'll go well.
03:42The other two primetime games, Thursday night football and week 12 at home against Buffalo,
03:47that will be fun.
03:48And then Sunday night football at Kansas City.
03:51The league just gave me a big middle finger on that one.
03:53I'm like, can we get Kansas City like at noon in October?
03:56They're like, no, Sean.
03:57It'll be in December at night on Sunday night football.
04:01Screw you.
04:02Listen, listen.
04:02I ain't scared of the Chiefs.
04:03I don't give a damn about that.
04:04The only team that intimidates me personally, the one that really makes my gut start to get
04:09a little bit bubbly is the Baltimore Ravens.
04:12They face the Baltimore Ravens one week before the bye week, and that's the big test for
04:19me because the Chiefs, at the very least, the Texans have recently slugged it out with
04:24them for three quarters at least.
04:26The Ravens, the last two – well, three games, the last three times they've played them have
04:30been non-competition.
04:32Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:32You got to get over this Ravens hump.
04:34Yep, you do.
04:35That's in week five in Baltimore.
04:37All right, so how are we feeling about the opener, Seth?
04:39The opener is the Nick Kaley Bowl in Los Angeles.
04:43Kaley going back to where he – his old stomping grounds in the last couple years.
04:47Texans' new offensive coordinator, for those who aren't up to speed on that.
04:51He's going back.
04:51A little teacher against pupil thing going on in L.A. in week one.
04:54Yeah, the first thing I thought when I saw the – you know, when I knew the Rams initially
04:58were going to be an opponent, it was, okay, how's the 2025 Texans offensive line going
05:04to do versus that Rams defense?
05:06Because in training camp last year, we saw – we saw in training camp that two rookies
05:12that looked really good, Jared Verse and then Fisk there.
05:18Brandon Fisk, yep.
05:18They went off versus the Texans offensive line.
05:21I mean, that was one of the instances where CJ couldn't get a playoff because those rookies
05:25were going off against the Texans, whichever starters they had in that day.
05:29They've got a very good defensive line, and we don't know what the Texans offensive line
05:32looks like yet.
05:33So, that's a huge test.
05:36Week one.
05:37Numero uno.
05:37Let's do it.
05:38This is like – this is like for Cole Popovich and Nick Kaley, this is like getting – this
05:43is like entering college and getting the – you get handed the final exam to like a 400-level
05:48course in week one of being on campus.
05:50I mean, it is – that is a tough defensive line to go against.
05:53Then the other big one is just Nick Kaley's institutional knowledge of the Rams and of
05:59Sean McVay.
06:00Yep.
06:00This is – this is a weird one because Sean McVay, boy, genius, all that.
06:04We get it.
06:04But in some respects, Kaley has the edge in terms of if D'Amico wants to kind of pick
06:10Kaley's brain over the next few months about perhaps how they should game plan against
06:14McVay.
06:15Like, Kaley knows more about how McVay calls a game than McVay knows about how Kaley's
06:21going to call a game.
06:21That's right.
06:22Yeah.
06:22So, we've got a little bit of an ambush factor there from the Texans' perspective.
06:27Yep.
06:27That if – you know, without the Rams having any clue exactly what the Texans' offense
06:32is going to look like, hopefully they can gain some kind of an advantage in game planning
06:37with Kaley's knowledge.
06:38Yeah, that's an afternoon, late afternoon window game in week one.
06:42It's one of the best games of week one.
06:44I'm looking at the week one schedule right now.
06:45The other really good game, not primetime game, is they're going right up against – they're
06:52on CBS also.
06:53They'll probably get the Nance Romo treatment.
06:56I'm guessing that's – I think – I'm guessing that – that game, though, is – Ian Eagle
07:02is the one who's with J.J. Watt this year, right, on CBS?
07:05Yeah, yeah.
07:07We might get a J.J. Watt sighting on that game.
07:09Which game is that, then?
07:10The Rams and the Texans.
07:11It's a CBS game.
07:12Yeah, it's a CBS game.
07:13Yeah, they might get J.J. Watt right off the bat.
07:14We might get J.J. Watt right out of the shoot.
07:16Yeah, yeah, that'd be fun.
07:19So –
07:19People will be – then J.J. will get the awesome experience of both Rams fans claiming he's
07:25a homer and Texans fans angry that J.J. says anything nice at all about the Rams.
07:30He's not biased enough, yes.
07:32He'll get it right off the bat.
07:33He'll realize, like, oh, I just can't win.
07:35I got it.
07:35Got it.
07:36Yep.
07:36I would say, Seth, just looking at the schedule, I always like to look at patches of the schedule
07:40when it comes out.
07:41Like, okay, what's the toughest stretch of schedule?
07:44Like, what's the easiest stretch of schedule?
07:46And as I look at this schedule for the Texans, I think a little like last year, it really
07:51starts to spice up midway through the season.
07:53The stretch that I think is the hardest stretch is weeks 11 through 14 where they go at Tennessee
08:02and then a short week to play Buffalo at home.
08:06Then they're at Indianapolis, then they're at Indianapolis, and then there's Sunday night football at Kansas City.
08:11So you've got two division road games, which are never easy, even though the Texans are on a crazy winning streak on the road in the division right now.
08:19But you get two division games, both on the road, and then interspersed in there are two primetime games against the teams that played in the AFC title game last year.
08:28I guess the first thing that jumped out at me about Thursday night football at home versus the Bills.
08:36So I didn't look at the Bills schedule unless they have a bye week the week before that.
08:41I'll look.
08:41You keep talking.
08:42The Texans have the advantage there, and they also, man, they've shown that they can really turn Josh Allen into mush at NRG Stadium.
08:51That's true.
08:51So I actually got excited about that stretch, at least from going from at Tennessee, which, come on, Texans, take care of your business versus the Titans.
08:59All right?
09:00Yeah.
09:00Let's do this.
09:01Then you face a genuine test in a real NFL football team against the Bills at home.
09:06They're going to have the short week with the travel schedule being all messed up.
09:10The Bills will.
09:10So I like that.
09:11Yeah.
09:12No, there are definitely aspects I'm excited about with that for sure.
09:16The Bills are home for Tampa Bay the week before that.
09:19And let's be honest, too.
09:21Week 13, we know for sure Anthony Richardson will be coming off of at least his second injury at that point.
09:28They'll have played both quarterbacks probably an equal amount during the season.
09:32And you're not going to face a good quarterback in week 13.
09:36It's either Daniel, decrepit Daniel Jones, or prematurely decrepit Anthony Richardson.
09:40Yep.
09:40Yep.
09:41That's the hope for sure.
09:42Now, that said, as I say, that weeks 11 through 14 are probably the toughest stretch that they have.
09:49I love how the schedule looks down the stretch for the Texans right now on paper.
09:53Now, these things, especially by weeks 15 through 18, can all change based on injuries and things like that.
09:59But if we're just going on paper right now, their schedule, the final four games of the year,
10:04the only division game is the home game to close out the year with the Indianapolis Colts,
10:09which is, I think, pretty exciting.
10:12There's a team like it was against the Colts two years ago.
10:14Could be for a playoff spot.
10:15Could be for the division.
10:17But they play three out of four at home to close out the season.
10:21And the three home games are against teams that didn't make the playoffs last year.
10:26Arizona week 15.
10:28Las Vegas week 16.
10:29Now, those teams are frisky, but they're not great teams.
10:32Then you're at L.A. for the Chargers in week 17, which is, that's fine.
10:37Not a really tough road environment you're going to.
10:40You smoked that team in the playoffs last year.
10:42And then you come back home for Indianapolis.
10:44I think that is a, on a schedule that's, I think, overall fairly difficult.
10:50There's not a ton of patsies on this schedule.
10:52A lot of average teams to above average teams.
10:55That, I think, is a pretty fortuitous final month of the season right there.
10:59I like that the Chargers game is in week 17.
11:02Because if they had put it in week 18, it could have made sense.
11:05Hey, this, this might end up being a play-in type of game or whatever.
11:09And it's, there's symmetry there because the Chargers got just humiliated by the Texans
11:14in the first round of the playoffs last year.
11:16But there would also be a good chance if they played in week 18 that the game was meaningless
11:20for one of the teams.
11:22Well, they would never play in week 18 because it's always a division game in week 18.
11:25It's always a division game.
11:26Always a division game in week 18, yeah.
11:28So then that's the best possible scenario.
11:30So week 17 is, like that, it'll probably be meaningful for both teams.
11:35Yeah.
11:35So it could be a meaningful team in a rematch of the playoffs from last year.
11:40And one of these teams might really need a win to even get into the playoffs.
11:43Yeah, definite juice on that game for sure.
11:45For sure.
11:45So, so overall, I mean, look, it's, there's never, they're never going to put out a fun
11:53schedule for sure.
11:53I didn't feel, am I missing anything?
11:55I never felt overly screwed by any of these scheduling items.
12:00I feel like four primetime games is just fine for me.
12:03I don't, I'm not greedy for more.
12:05All right.
12:05One of those primetime games is actually an early slot game.
12:09So, um, and that's at home.
12:11So it doesn't really screw up my, it doesn't screw up our, our listeners sleep schedules
12:15or the players sleep schedules as much.
12:17No, especially coming off of the schedule from last year where I'm not going to say,
12:21I'm not going to sit here and say they screwed the Texans last year.
12:23It was just, it was, it was fun to be back in the conversation of relevance, like doing
12:28things that relevant teams do, but there's no holiday games this year, which I like.
12:32There's only one stretch of three games in 11 days.
12:36Whereas last year there were two because of the Christmas game and whatnot.
12:39So no, this is a, this is about, you know, this, this is about as, this is about as,
12:46uh, as, as reasonable a schedule as I think you could expect for the Texans here.
12:52Right.
12:52Even the bi-week when, okay.
12:54So the bi-week is in week six.
12:55It's a little early.
12:56That's a little early.
12:57Yeah.
12:57When was it last year?
12:58Week 14.
12:5914.
13:00Yeah.
13:01So at least this is, it's in week six.
13:04Yeah.
13:04So you've, you've still got a long stretch of uninterrupted football after that.
13:09But it's not as long as the uninterrupted stretch of football.
13:12What's better?
13:13What's as a player, what's better week six or week 14?
13:17I think just week 14, it felt like those last few weeks there, you're really running
13:21on fumes.
13:22Yeah.
13:22And I think that the bi-week didn't even matter.
13:24The bi-week was that late.
13:25And when the guys are trying to play through injuries, it feels like that was more of a
13:28punishment.
13:29I don't.
13:32Week six, the NFL preseason is so easy now and teams barely play their starters that
13:37you're just, you're, it's, so I, yeah, in an ideal world, I would just smack down in
13:43the middle.
13:43But yeah, that's, I'm not going to complain.
13:45I'd rather it be a little early than too late.
13:46Like it was last year.
13:47Plus you get that Buffalo game on Thursday night at home in week 12 and you get a long
13:51stretch.
13:51You get that quasi bi-week in week 12 there on the Thursday game.
13:55Well, plus you've got a, you've got a new offensive coordinator.
13:57So after six games, you can sit back, assess, maybe, yeah, self-scout some and figure out
14:04exactly what you need to tweak.
14:05So yeah, actually with a brand new offensive coordinator, I'm actually happy that it's
14:09week six of the physical fatigue and everything aside.
14:13Yeah.
14:13I think it might help out Nick Caley.
14:14Most of all odds on the Texans chargers being flexed to Sunday night football.
14:19That's a great point.
14:20Now here's the thing people need to know.
14:21The last thing, and then we'll get to headlines.
14:23We'll, we'll circle back to the schedule.
14:24There's a lot to dig in.
14:25I just liked it.
14:26We're looking at the schedule now, and we're looking at some of these games and we're talking
14:29about the games with some context, like all your thoughts on Kaylee and the Rams.
14:33Like, this is fun.
14:34We know when the games are now.
14:36We should point out that the date and times for week 17 and 18, the chargers game in LA
14:43and the season finale against the Colts are TBD.
14:46They could be Saturday games.
14:48They could be Sunday games.
14:49They could get flexed to prime time.
14:50So there's no date nor time.
14:52Obviously a lot of these games could get flexed, even the ones that have dates and times right
14:56now, but odds on the Texans chargers getting flexed to Sunday night football up as good
15:01as any other team, as good as any other game between two playoff teams last year.
15:05I would say, I think there's a decent chance.
15:06Yeah.
15:06The only thing that they only check against them is they don't, neither of those teams
15:10have the nationalists, the other potential matchups too.
15:14Good quarterback matchup though.
15:16Stroud and Herbert, they got that going for them.
15:18Yeah.
15:18All right.
15:18All right.
15:19All right.
15:21Have a good job.
15:23Good quarterback.