How the Houston Texans have fared since 1999

The replacement arrived on 6 October 1999, when the league awarded Bob McNair the 32nd franchise for a fee of around $700 million. The Texans are now a fixture in the AFC South, and a divisional meeting like the Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars Odds is one of the first prices Houston supporters look for each autumn.

A new franchise, not a renamed one

One point is worth clearing up at the start. The Oilers became the Tennessee Titans and took their records with them, so everything in the Houston book begins from zero. The name was chosen in 2000, Reliant Stadium opened in 2002, and the Texans played their first game on 8 September 2002, beating the Dallas Cowboys 19-10. No expansion side had won its opening fixture since the Minnesota Vikings in 1961.

That was close to the high point of the early years. David Carr, the first overall pick in 2002, was sacked 76 times as a rookie, which is still an NFL record, and Dom Capers left in 2005 without a winning season.

The Kubiak years and a first January win

Gary Kubiak took over in 2006 and spent the first overall pick on Mario Williams ahead of Reggie Bush and Vince Young, a decision mocked at the time and vindicated within three years. Houston finally posted a winning record in 2009 at 9-7, then won the AFC South for the first time in 2011 and beat Cincinnati 31-10 for a maiden play-off victory. He was sacked in December 2013 midway through a 2-14 season, replaced by Wade Phillips as interim coach.

The best Texans team

The 2012 side remains the benchmark. Houston started 11-1 and finished 12-4, the best record the franchise has managed, with J.J. Watt recording 20.5 sacks on the way to Defensive Player of the Year. They saw off Cincinnati again in the wildcard round before New England ended the run 41-28. The DeMeco Ryans teams of 2023 and 2024 have a case of their own, though neither has matched that win total.

The players who defined the franchise

Watt is the obvious first name. Three Defensive Player of the Year awards, in 2012, 2014 and 2015, place him among the best defenders of his era, and his 2014 season brought 20.5 sacks and five touchdowns.

Andre Johnson is the other pillar, a receiver who led the NFL in receiving yards in both 2008 and 2009 before going into the Hall of Fame in 2024. Arian Foster arrived undrafted and led the league in rushing in 2010. DeAndre Hopkins, Duane Brown and Brian Cushing complete most Houston shortlists. Anyone following the American Football Odds through those years saw how far a single Houston defender could move a line.

The Ryans rebuild

The Deshaun Watson era ended badly. Houston traded him to Cleveland in March 2022 after seasons of 4-12 and 4-13 and 3-13-1 with a 3-13-1 year still to come Hiring Ryans in 2023 turned it round immediately. He had been a Texans linebacker himself, drafted in 2006, and he inherited two picks that landed C.J. Stroud at second overall and Will Anderson Jr at third. Both won rookie of the year awards as Houston took the division and beat Cleveland 45-14 in January.

Can they reach Super Bowl LXI?

Back-to-back division titles in 2023 and 2024 ended in divisional-round defeats at Baltimore and Kansas City, which is where this franchise has always stalled. The Texans have yet to play in an AFC Championship Game.

The case for February 2027 rests on the defence. Anderson, Derek Stingley Jr and Danielle Hunter give Ryans a unit capable of holding any offence down, and Stroud has already shown he can win a post-season game. The case against is an offensive line that has been the weak point of every recent Houston season, and a conference that still runs through Kansas City, Buffalo and Baltimore.

Treat them as a live outsider rather than a favourite. The Texans are good enough to win the AFC South in most years and good enough to beat anyone across a single afternoon, but Super Bowl LXI asks them to clear a hurdle that has stood since 1999.

Betting is for over-18s only.