Texans 2023 Schedule: Easiest in NFL for Coach DeMeco Ryans Takeover?

After finishing an AFC-worst 3-13-1, the Houston Texans are in dire need of improvements. Though that expands across multiple aspects of both its roster and management, the first step may be as easy as playing worse opponents.

The Houston Texans are in for an easy year. Supposedly.

As All Sports Culture discovered, taking the regular season win percentage of every 2023 opponent for Houston, both home and away, makes its schedule the third easiest in the league — harder than only New Orleans and Atlanta, both of which were part of a three-way tie for last place in the NFC South.

Here is the 2023/2024 NFL strength of schedule for each team based on the winning percentages of their opponents 👀

Where does your team stand? pic.twitter.com/S9Nb0mjIkC

— All Sports Culture (@ASCSportsMedia) January 25, 2023

For the Texans — who are no doubt in the market for a better regular season record — that could be just what they need.

In 2022, not only did the Texans have the league's fifth-hardest schedule while finishing last in their conference, but they also finished second-to-last in total touchdowns in the NFL — a byproduct of a lackluster offense.

Luckily, six of Houston’s 2023 opponents — Tennessee, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Atlanta, Arizona, and Carolina — all finished in the bottom 10 teams in passing offense, so taking advantage of its opponents’ weakness in the passing game will be a big to-do.

In the three games that the Texans won, they out-passed their opponents twice, recording two interceptions in the one game against the Jaguars where they were not able to do so, making out-passing opponents something to watch for the re-loading Texans.

Another checklist item for Houston will be doing so in close games. More than half of its games of the season were decided by seven points or fewer, though it only managed three wins, instead recording five losses and a tie across those contests — a sickening statistic for any squad.

Close games are likely to be a frequent occurrence for Houston next season as well. The Texans will enter next season coming off of a bottom-10 ranking in total scoring, but so will seven of their opponents, which may prove to be a leveling factor for their struggling offense.

Key matchups will once more be divisional rivals Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis, where the Texans will look to add more wins in the division than they did this year — all three of their 2022-23 wins coming in the AFC South.

Another matchup to look for will be when the Texans host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who may or may not be with star quarterback Tom Brady. Houston has won its last four matchups against Tampa Bay dating back to 2003, though none of them were against Brady. If the Texans’ passing game can click, trouble could be present for a visiting Buccaneers team.

Other home opponents for the Texans include seven teams with losing records — the only exceptions being Pittsburgh and Jacksonville — so stopping opposing offenses will prove crucial and extremely doable for Houston, especially if the defensive-minded DeMeco Ryans steps into the head coaching vacancy.

And on the road, not much changes.

Five of the eight teams Houston will face also have losing records — the exceptions being Jacksonville once again, Baltimore, and a freshly-bounced Cincinnati, though managing to slow down those high-powered offenses will be a bigger challenge for the Texans’ defense.

But as the defensive unit proved this season, it is up to the challenge. Led by rookie safety Jalen Pitre, who had a rookie-leading number of tackles, along with Derek Stingley’s solid year, no team took playing the Texans lightly, and for a defense forcing as many turnovers as Houston has — building upon that might be first on the list for its new coach.

Despite the hardships that Houston faced during a not-so-great season, things seem to be trending in the right direction — a top-two draft pick, a new head coach, and a more experienced defensive unit leading the way.

And while getting there will be an uphill battle — the offseason will become that much more important for the Texans ahead of a hopefully less-challenging season in 2023. 

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