The NFL Schedule will be announced tonight at 6pm houston time

Looks like 4-8 to me.

How did the Texans score a more difficult schedule from 6-10 than they did after going 9-7???

 

Texans SOS was #1 last year.

This year it's #10.

 

I was thinking about going out on a limb and predicting we start 1-5.

 

Predictions at this point are useless, but I counted 8-8 off the top of my head and that's with a 2-0 start (we always beat the Dolphins, and Kubiak will not have his head completely up his ass yet in week 1).

 

I'm actually wondering what his gameplan will be for week one. In one game versus the Colts we pounded the ball on the ground and we won. In the second game we didn't and we lost. Logic would dictate that we come out running, but that's what they're expecting us to do . . .

 

it won't be a gimme playoff birth, that's for sure.

 

4-8?

@TEN
JAX
CLE...

thats 3 wins right there...

they'll start 2-0...and slaughter the Raiders at home...and even the goofy ass Texans win road game they aren't supposed to win.

 

Shh, you're going to give Gary a headache!

Well, shucks. This ones on me, guys. We knew they had no chance of stoppin' the run, but we knew they knew that, so we thought that was the perfect opportunity to throw the ball for the entire half.

 

Perhaps I'm overly negative, but I give a lot of credence to how they pretty much sucked big donkey balls after week 1 last year. Not convinced hiring Phillips fixes that. You still have Gary "Minimize our strengths" Kubiak planning the games and calling the plays, and for me that works against all this talent they have assembled on the offensive side of the ball.

Here's what I see.

L  Indy
L  @Miami
L  @NO
L  Pittsburgh
W  Oakland
L  @Baltimore
L  @Tenn
W  Jax
W    Cleveland
L  @TB
Bye the week we'll be joking how they're certain not to lose!!
L  @Jax
L  Atlanta
W  @Cincy
W  Carolina
L  @Indy (Thursday)
W  Tenn

...for a 6-10. That's actually 3-9 instead of 4-8, but I think the Texans can mebbe steal one more of those for 4-8 and then a 7-9 improvement, and another year of Kubiak.

 

as an aside, if you were given the choice between keeping Kubiak or keeping Adelman, who would you choose?

 

LOL, that's what we said about Dallas, Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Denver last year....

And does anyone expect us to win at Jacksonville coming out of a bye-week? Kubiak is 1-4 all-time after the bye-week. That's the sign of a great coach right there...

We just didn't come out ready to play, and that's my fault. We've just got to continue to get better.

 

Good God, SheMac should take up football or Gary should go coach in the NBA. Those two were made for one another.

 

Can't say I care that much about National TV games. I DO wish the NFL would throw us a damn bone and let us have one or two home 3pm games. Tailgating in the early afternoon >>>>>>>>> Tailgating at 9 am.

I really don't think they're going to be as bad as a lot of you are expecting, fun reversal from last year. Of course, they HAVE to install competent secondary help, because as it stands, Nolan is the only safety.

Steelers, Ravens, and Falcons are the only games I look at as being surefire losses (though honestly, there is hope home against the Falcons). Wish all 3 were on the road (let the losses be losses and improve your chances for the rest), but hey. Colts aren't getting any younger. Titans are rebuilding. MoJo may not be himself after those knee issues and the Jags smelled of fluke anyway. Saints keep flipping between a juggernaught and a mess.

My way too early forecast:

Colts - W
@Mia - W
@NO - L
Steelers - L
Raiders - W
@Balt - L
@Tenn - L
Jags - W
Browns - W
@TB - W
Bye
@Jax - L
Falcons - L
@Cinc - W
Panthers - W
@Ind - L
Titans - W

9-7, probably edged out of the last WC spot. Steal one extra win after the bye at home against Atl or on the road against Jax, and maybe we finally see that berth. Of course, those surprise wins tend to be balanced by a shocking loss.

I don't like putting down back-to-back home opener wins against the Colts, but too things going for us are a shortened camps/preseason and the Colts playing us with little to no film possible to study the new Phillips defense.

 

Gary will outstupid himself in week 1.

 

Man... that is, as of right now, a disappointingly brutal schedule. Wow. They did the Texans no favors in the first half, did they? Take care of JAX and TEN and you have the possibility of limping to 4-4 at the midpoint - but that's assuming no-easy victories against Miami and Oakland. Speaking of... I'll never curse a team for winning games, especially in relation to draft position.... but lose to Jacksonville in the final game and you get to switch Miami/Oakland for Buffalo/Denver.

Primetime-wise, the NFL continues to show absolutely no insight into its own league. The Chiefs, a prime candidate to regress this year, get 3 primetime games? Really? The Jaguars own fans are apathetic - yet they're on MNF twice? Because the league wants the nation to see what a half-empty stadium looks like? And did they even bother to look at last year's standings? By my count, 11 teams with losing records last year (including the Texans) were given primetime slots including mutliple dates for Dallas, of course, but also Miami, St. Louis, the 49ers and the freaking Broncos. This may be the worst slate of primetime games I can remember.

 

Why so quick to assume home games are easier? We've been 4-4 at home for the last 2 seasons in a row. Many an egg has been laid at Reliant over the last few years.

 

Just been my norm that's worked well for me over the years:
Split division games as home wins/road losses
Break the ties for generally even matchups by road/home
Then add in the obvious wins/loses

No sense in my overthinking things and trying to predict upsets and the unexpected no-shows.

I look at Raiders, Browns, Panthers...and I can't predict those as home losses. But yes, it's very conceivable that the Texans will blow one (Raiders most likely).

If I were to make a more pessimistic forecast, I'd have Raiders and Dolphins as losses (7-9). But with a defense that can't possibly do anything but be more competent next season, I personally feel confident in at least 8 wins....and I'm the same guy that took plenty of flak a year ago for calling 7 wins when 75% of the BBS considered 10+ a shoe-in.

 

If we can play defense we have a chance against anyone. We will soon find out how much was scheme and how much was personnel.

I'm not too optimistic. The first 6 weeks of the season, I have a feeling I'll be on Texans suicide watch.

Maybe they get locked out those first six games then start playing after that . . . .

 

Only 2 games a year are variable based on record, and even they are subject to the annual rotation of divisions.

3rd place finish in your division gets you two matchups against other 3rd place finishers in your division that you weren't otherwise scheduled to play. It's not done by actual W/L record.

The biggest factor in SoS is which divisions you face. Been kicking the tires for some time that the Texans blew a fantastic opportunity two seasons ago when they had the NFC West to beat up on.

In 2012, we have NFC-N (Packers, Vikings, Bears, Lions) and AFC-E (Pats, Jets, Fins, Bills)
...so anyone crying about strength of schedule this year is in for one hell of a migraine in about 12 months. And I'm saying that before the Pats load up like drunken sailors in the draft this week.

(2013: NFC-W, AFC-W)

 

I actually prefer a strong schedule. I want my teams to be good against the good teams.