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The NFL Network has somehow managed to take the announcement of the NFL 2021 schedule and turned it into a 3 hour long Mega-TV-Event airing tonight. Not sure the ratings for that one will rival those of the Super Bowl, but you can’t blame them for trying, right?
We already know the opponents each team will face, just not when the games will happen.
All that changes tonight.
For your Houston Texans, here’s the rogue’s gallery of opposing teams.
Houston Texans 2021 Home Game Opponents
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (would it be a Texans season w/o a game against New England? might as well be in the same division at this point)
L.A. CHARGERS
Houston Texans 2021 Away Game Opponents
ARIZONA CARDINALS (DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt vs Jack Easterby)
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
TENNESSEE TITANS
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Houston Texans 2021 Playoff Opponents
These teams were all in the post-season in 2020:
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
TENNESSEE TITANS
BUFFALO BILLS
L.A. RAMS
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
CLEVELAND BROWNS (yes, the Browns are actually noticeably better than the Texans... sigh...)
The combined record of Houston’s 2021 opponents from last season is 137-135, giving them a collective win-loss percentage of .504. Aggregate that with the 8 matches against playoff opponents, and Houston lands on the wrong end of the strength of schedule once again.
Which NFL teams have the most games vs. opponents who made the playoffs in 2020?
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) May 10, 2021
10: Steelers, Packers
9: Ravens, Bengals, Vikings, Lions, Seahawks, Cardinals.
8: Titans, Texans, Raiders, Bears, Rams, 49ers
Fewest:
5: Cowboys, Eagles
While this isn’t as tough a stretch as Houston faced to begin 2020, without the likes of Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt and Will Fuller, this squad will certainly have it’s work cut out for it.
Unless you’re the man slated to make millions of dollars off this schedule in ticket, concession and merchandise sales, there’s not much here to get excited about.
Cal McNair excited for Houston Texans 2021 schedule release https://t.co/4EUPhIbCMa
— The Texans Wire (@TheTexansWire) May 11, 2021
Caption: Cal McNair laughs all the way to the bank with your hard earned money stuffing his pockets...
Other than the Jets, it’s hard to imagine the 2021 flavor of Houston Texans football getting an easy win against any of these opponents. And, while we don’t want to continually seem pessimistic, there’s not much room for optimism in this schedule.
But, the old adage of Any Given Sunday still applies.