Watch Clint Stoerner and Ron "The Show" Hughley react to the Texans' 2025 schedule.
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00:00Now we have the full schedule, the full go of it.
00:03We're seeing the full of it all.
00:05You've seen it.
00:06You've heard about it.
00:07If you have not, real quick, and one thing I was taught a lot early in this is
00:11don't just assume everybody knows what you're talking about.
00:14The schedule, if you missed it, they kick things off in L.A. to face the Rams,
00:20then come home on Monday night to get the Buccaneers.
00:23They face the Jags on the road in week three.
00:26Then they face Tennessee at home.
00:28Then they take on the Ravens, the Bugaboo on the road.
00:33Then they have an early week six bye.
00:35We'll get into that later.
00:36Then they go to Monday night football again at Seattle.
00:40Then they start that run of three in a row right here at NRG against the Niners,
00:45the Broncos, and the Jags.
00:47Then they go to Tennessee, the Titans, and then come back home on Thursday night
00:54football to face the Buffalo Bills.
00:57They go to Indianapolis after that.
00:59Sunday night football on the road in Kansas City.
01:02Then they play two in a row here against the Cardinals and the Raiders.
01:07Then they finish up in L.A. against the Chargers.
01:11That could be a big game with two teams that may be competing for things.
01:15Then at home against the Indianapolis Colts.
01:17That is the 17-game schedule for those who have not heard it.
01:217-1-3-5-7-2-4-6-10.
01:24You can jump in as well as you on YouTube and Twitch.
01:28You can respond and communicate that way as well.
01:32Clint, just overall, now that you see the whole thing and how it shapes up,
01:38what are you seeing about this schedule?
01:41What jumps out?
01:41Look, I think the schedule gods were nice to us down here in Houston.
01:45This thing could have played out, even though we knew the opponents,
01:48it could have played out in a way where you have murderer's row.
01:51We did not get that.
01:52It could have played out in a way where we didn't get any primetime games.
01:55We got four.
01:56It could have played out to where the bye week was late, late season.
02:02You got this long season with training camp at the beginning.
02:07It seems like forever before you get to the bye week.
02:11Look, it could have been much more difficult the way it laid out, man.
02:16I think overall, from a 30,000-foot view, just to kick this thing off,
02:20I thought the Texans landed in a really nice place with their schedule.
02:24I thought they landed in a really nice place several different times.
02:30You know, it's only three games in ten days.
02:33No.
02:34There's no stretch of three opponents where you're playing three of the best
02:37quarterbacks in the game.
02:39You know, there's no stretch where in seven of eight weeks you're playing seven
02:43of the best quarterbacks in the game and four Hall of Famers.
02:46So, I mean, yeah, I think overall, man, the schedule gods were friendly to the
02:51Houston Texans.
02:52Now, we obviously got to break this thing down, you know, a little bit more
02:56extensively, but I think overall, if we're just giving a one-minute soundbite, man,
03:01the schedule gods were friendly and the Texans didn't run into any buzz saws here
03:06schedule-wise.
03:07Yeah, I think with the exception of a couple of things, I think it did.
03:11I think it worked out great.
03:13You got one cold game, one cold game, and that's in Kansas City.
03:20The rest of them, Clint, late, you are either here in the Dome at NRG or you're in L.A.
03:27or, you know, you're in a Dome in Indy.
03:31You know, I mean, there is, like, you are in outside of November 16th in Nashville,
03:37which, you know, I would assume ain't going to be like 10 degrees or something.
03:42You are, you know, you're a pretty good spot, good shape in terms of weather and
03:46everything.
03:47So, that works out for you.
03:48And I think the point you mentioned, all of their tough games, if you look in there and
03:54you say, all right, we knew on the schedule they play Kansas City, they play Baltimore,
03:59they play Buffalo, right?
04:01Like, those are the three that really jump out when you saw what the schedule was and
04:06to the point you're making, Clint.
04:07All of those games are surroundings before or after that you feel like you should probably
04:15either be favored or very winnable games.
04:19Like, when the first one, you play Baltimore, the week before you play Tennessee at home
04:25and then the week after is a bye.
04:27Like, you don't, there's no, there's no, as you said, murderer's row.
04:31You play, you play Buffalo the week before that, it's Tennessee, the week after that is
04:37Indy.
04:37You play the Chiefs the week before it is the Colts, the week after it is the Cardinals at
04:41home.
04:42So, like, none of it stacks.
04:44What did you say?
04:44The toughest stretch may be, what, Buffalo at Indy at Kansas City in Arizona.
04:51Like, that may be the toughest stretch.
04:54I saw Dallas, Clint, in the second half of the season, they have a stretch where they go
04:59to Philly, host Kansas City, go to Detroit, host Minnesota, and then play the Chargers and
05:07then the Commanders.
05:08Like, the Texans don't have any of that on their schedule.
05:13So, I think overall, outside, to me, the only thing that, you know, I don't love is the
05:18bye week.
05:18But outside of that, Clint, I mean, it's a pretty, it's a pretty workable schedule for
05:25this team that's playing a first place schedule.
05:27Yeah, the Texans are going to benefit from playing in a crappy division, no doubt about
05:30that, where the Cowboys and the Eagles and, you know, Baltimore and Kansas City, they're
05:35not going to benefit from that.
05:36The Texans have that luxury.
05:38I think when you talk about tough stretches on this schedule, I think there's two of them.
05:42I do think out of the gate, the first five games, you've got the Rams, the Bucs, and
05:48the Ravens in three of your favorites, they've been important because they're division games.
05:53So, that five-game stretch right there, leading into the bye week, I think it's going to be
05:57a tough stretch.
05:58And I think we know a lot about our Houston Texans when that bye week hits, right?
06:03You're going to have faced Baltimore, who you know who that is, Derrick Henry, Lamar
06:07Jackson, as physical and offense as you're going to find, and a really, really solid to
06:11great defense, depending on what they look like in 2025.
06:14Look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
06:15We talked about it yesterday.
06:17You know, when you look at that receiving core, they're going to be, they're potentially,
06:21depending on how the rookie, the first-round draft pick out of Ohio State, depending on
06:25how he plays, they potentially could be one of the top three to five receiving cores in the
06:30league, and you know Baker Mayfield will sling that thing down the field.
06:32So, you know, that's going to be a challenge.
06:34And then we talked about the Rams with Devontae Adams and Puka and McVay calling plays and
06:39Stafford throwing it down the field.
06:41Those are going to be three big-time challenges.
06:43They're all going to be different challenges, I think, for D'Amico Ryan's defense and really
06:48for the team as a whole.
06:50So, we're going to know a lot about these guys when that bye week hits.
06:53That first five games is going to be a tough stretch.
06:56And then I think, as you said, the Buffalo on Thursday night, Indy away, and then Kansas
07:02City Monday night, those three games right there, I think, because Indy, to me, is going
07:07to be the best team opposite the Texans in the division.
07:09Yeah, they're a wild card, depending on what kind of team they're going to be.
07:11So, I think that three-game stretch in terms of just back-to-back-to-back opponents or
07:16back-to-back primetime and away games, that stretch right there could be a little bit
07:22rough.
07:22But, again, I mean, you've got to really dig to catch, to find those tougher stretches.
07:27And the way the schedule, to me, we talk about the schedule ends this year with three of
07:35four games being at home.
07:36It's Arizona-Vegas, LA Chargers, and Indianapolis Colts.
07:40Three of the four at home.
07:42Teams that you should be either neck-and-neck with or favored.
07:47I think it sets up nicely if the Texans need to win, you know, three of their last four
07:53or, God forbid, you know, whatever, however many three games they have left, they've got
07:56to win all three of them to get in kind of deal.
07:58If it's tight, if it's tight.
07:59Yeah, if it's tight.
07:59Yeah.
08:00So, look, I think those stretch runs, whether you're talking about the difficult ones or
08:03the easy ones, I think, again, it worked out in the Texans' favor.
08:07Yeah.
08:07So, text line coming through to those of you on YouTube and Twitch, your thoughts here
08:11on the schedule, someone texting, we'll be three and two after the first five games.
08:18So, you know, you could be.
08:21I don't, yeah, I think they're better than three and two in those first-round games, those
08:27first-round games.
08:28Like, I think they beat the two division, potentially beat the two division teams.
08:32You've got to feel good about that.
08:33And then, I mean, I think they probably at least get one of the, like, I don't think
08:39they're going to go 0-3 against the Rams, Bucs, and Ravens.
08:43Like, I think they at least get one of those games, if not maybe a couple of them.
08:49So, I think they could do better.
08:51They could be 4-1.
08:52If they're 4-1, like you said, that really sets up for them moving forward throughout.
08:57Well, I mean, that's the thing is we're going to know, right?
09:00If you're 4-1, if you're 3-2, we're good.
09:02If you're 4-1, we are absolutely stoked in Houston, right?
09:05You should run away with it.
09:06Now, if you're sitting at 2-3, we're concerned about whether it's the old line or injuries
09:12have plagued or CJ's not playing as well, Nick Caley's not being, you know, the weapon
09:17on the sideline that you hope your offensive coordinator is.
09:20There's something wrong.
09:21The key there is, and I'll be honest with you, I don't have a feeling one way or the
09:25other, Ron, to be honest with you.
09:26I don't know if we're going to be 4-1.
09:27I don't know if we're going to be 2-3.
09:28I have no idea.
09:29Like, I honestly don't.
09:31I'm straddling the fence here big time, so get ready.
09:34I just don't know what to think about this team.
09:37I mean, you've got some major, major issues on the offensive side of the football that
09:41could potentially be good, but could also potentially be bad enough to where it won't
09:47matter how good D'Amico Ryan's in the defense is, right?
09:49I mean, you could really have those level of issues.
09:52So, you know, we'll see.
09:55But the good thing is we'll find out early.
09:57All right, coming up, I do want to bring some of the people in here a little bit in
10:03the next segment, but where are you at now as you look at the schedule?
10:08Let's just get it out of the way.
10:09Where are you at now record-wise, right?
10:11You asked me yesterday during Dirty's Daily.
10:15I said, well, let me look at the full schedule.
10:17Let me pull it up.
10:18Let me look at the full schedule before we get to Wednesday.
10:21You can participate.
10:22And as I said, we will open up the phone lines next segment, and we will hear from you.
10:26But if you want to text in or send it in on YouTube and Twitch, you can.
10:30As you look at that schedule, and we went through it and we talked about it, yes, this
10:34appears to be favorable, especially when you compare it to other teams, especially other
10:39teams that had first-place schedules like the Texans.
10:43This is a schedule that feels workable.
10:47Now that you see how it's laid out, what's your turn of record with this team now that
10:56you have this schedule?
10:57I got nine wins.
10:59That's what you said yesterday.
11:00I got nine wins.
11:00And you're still at nine.
11:01Yeah, I got nine.
11:02And like I said, honestly, man, I want to feel really good about my Texans, but there's
11:09too many pieces offensively that I just check up and go, oh, I'm just not real.
11:14That make me nervous.
11:15Let's put it that way.
11:18And we can go game by game at some point in time if you'd like.
11:21But I do think they're going to be the best team in the division.
11:24I don't think they sweep the division.
11:26I mean, I got over my skis yesterday talking about I think they dominate the entire division.
11:29And I don't think they're 6-0 in the division.
11:32I think they end up 4-2 in the division.
11:34Oh, you got two losses.
11:35Yeah, I got two losses in the division.
11:40And, you know, I think the rest of the way, you got a first place schedule, man.
11:43So you got some absolute monsters there.
11:45I'm going nine and eight on the season.
11:49And it's a dogfight down the stretch to see who wins the division.
11:52So you think this is a tight race?
11:55Yep.
11:55And I'm guessing, as you said earlier, the guests kind of put it together, the Colts.
11:58You think the Colts are going – it's going to be a tight race with the Colts down the stretch.
12:02Yep, yep, absolutely.
12:04And I think both teams in this division – again, while I still have the Texans as the best team in the division,
12:10I don't think the gap is as wide as it once was.
12:12I think the gap has closed a bit.
12:14And I do think Jacksonville's better.
12:16And I do believe that –
12:18It is.
12:19Well, no, that Tennessee's better as well.
12:21I think Cam Ward and year two with Callahan and, you know, some of the pieces that they've added.
12:31Defensively, they –
12:32So I think they are – they don't have Will Levis.
12:35I don't think they're going to have Will Levis back there that's going to give games away throughout the season.
12:39That's the one game they lost in the division.
12:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:43I mean, that's where I'm going with this.
12:45It's like the Titans, year one Callahan with Will Levis trying to lose the game, they won.
12:51So I just don't think that gap is as wide as we think that it is.
12:55And so maybe C.J. Stroud, year three, maybe Nick Cayley is a bigger game changer as we think.
13:03But, I mean, from a talent standpoint, this is a lesser football team on the offensive side of the ball.
13:09So we'll see what Nick Cayley can do.
13:12I got 10 and 7.
13:15You got 10?
13:15Okay.
13:15Yeah, I got 10 and 7.
13:17And I've looked at it multiple – I've gone through things.
13:20As you said, game to game.
13:22I've looked at it multiple times.
13:24I do think one of the division teams gets them in this thing.
13:28One of the road games I do think gets them.
13:30But they're 10 and 7.
13:33It feels like a 10-win team.
13:35And I think they will win the division with double-digit wins.
13:39So I got them at 10 and 7.
13:42It's weird, man.
13:43They've got some weird things with this schedule.
13:45There's some unpredictable teams that I can't tell, like, what are they going to be.
13:53Like, you know, you get the feeling when you look at Buffalo, Kansas City, Baltimore, I feel like I know what they're going to be.
14:00Tennessee, I feel like I got to – they may be improved some, Clint, but I feel like I got a feel of what Tennessee's going to be.
14:06I don't – like, I don't know what San Francisco – like, I look at it right now today, I would say the Texans should be a better football team than the Niners.
14:19But the Niners have been one of the best teams in football the last several years, and they've had a ton of injuries.
14:24Like, what is Kyle Shanahan and them – like, what are they going to be?
14:27Like, the Chargers, like, what are they going to be?
14:29What does Pete Carroll and Geno Smith make for the Raiders, right?
14:33Like, are the Cardinals – the Cardinals kind of surprised a little bit last year.
14:36They just got some teams on this schedule where it's like, I can't quite – like, Seattle.
14:41What's Seattle now with Sam Darnold?
14:43Like, I can't quite pinpoint how good those teams are.
14:46So, they've got a weird – some – a weird grouping of teams that you don't really have a clear view of what they're going to be.
14:53So, it's an interesting schedule.
14:54I think a bunch of those are going to be absolute dogfights, Ron.
14:57When you look down at San Francisco, Denver, Arizona, Vegas, L.A. Chargers.
15:04Like, I think that is where the Texans lie right now.
15:07Can they separate themselves?
15:09Yeah.
15:09Can they win more of those than they lose?
15:11Because there's some teams that are coming, man.
15:13I mean, Denver – I don't mean – Denver's got a chance to be a problem.
15:16That defense is nasty.
15:17No, it is.
15:18Yeah, like, yeah, Denver's another one.
15:19Like, are they – how much are they ascending?
15:21Yep.
15:21You know what I mean?
15:23And –
15:23And who's ascending faster, right?
15:24Yes, yes.
15:25You've got a bunch of those.