Houston Texans Odds

Injuries put a serious crimp in the Texans' Super Bowl aspirations last season. But, with Peyton Manning gone from the AFC South, hope springs eternal. Apart from the Packers, Patriots and 49ers, no team has better odds to win it all.

The Texans had the worst luck of any NFL team last season, and in Week 1, they get a nice warm up game. Houston hosts the Dolphins, a team that doesn’t seem to be going in the right direction. Houston is favored by a touchdown at -7, with a total of 43 points.

Both teams have great defenses, which could help the game go under, but at first glance, the total is pretty sharp. However, I also think the Dolphins will be a pretty horrible team this season, so if the Texans are healthy and ready to get back to the playoffs, a blow out here is pretty likely. With that being said, I will gladly lay only -7 points with the Texans.

My Pick: Texans -7

It’s all about the health of their key players for Houston this season, as last year they could not catch a break in that department. They made a load of improvement last season, but when almost their entire offense and their best defender went down for the season, it was tough to overcome.

They ended up making the playoffs in a weak division, and even won a game against the Bengals. This season, the Texans are looking at the AFC title, a conference that will have plenty of challengers. The Patriots and Ravens aren’t going anywhere, and now that that guy named Manning is in Denver, he might have a few words to say about that title.

Matt Schaub seems to be coming off of his injury nicely, and will be ready to get back to work when training camp hits. Schaub was on pace for nearly 4000 yards last season and 24 touchdowns before missing the Texans’ last 6 games. If he, Andre Johnson, and Arian Foster can remain healthy, the Texans might just be my AFC Super Bowl pick. They have the defense, which ranked 2^nd in the NFL last season, and their running game is still one of the best. I might just go out on a limb here and say to take a small bet on the Texans to win the AFC at +550 and at +1200 to win the Super Bowl.

The Texans were making huge strides last season, and taking full advantage of Peyton Manning being hurt. The AFC South was ripe for the taking until it all fell apart.

Mario Williams got hurt at the beginning of the season, and he was out for the rest of it with a pectoral tear. He was arguably their best player last season. Then the roof fell off.

Star receiver Andre Johnson and quarterback Matt Schaub went down as well. To top if off, Arian Foster was hurt on and off for the first half of the season, so the Texans barely played any games with their whole unit.

Williams is now gone, and the Texans are getting healthy and ready for another season under Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips.

The Texans have been quiet this offseason, but I see them making a whole lot of noise when the season comes around. Only one of their first five games are against playoff teams from last season, (Denver) and even though three of them are on the road, I could potentially see the Texans starting the season 4-1 or even 5-0. 

As I mentioned in my first blog on the Texans, last season was a big disappointment. Injuries were a big part of it. However, the Texans still made the playoffs and won a game, despite not having some of their best players.

Mario Williams is gone, and Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson seem to be ready to go, and the Texans will be back to dominating the AFC South. To make up for losing Williams, the Texans drafted Whitney Mercilus, defensive end out of Illinois with their first round pick.

Mercilus is still pretty raw, as he only had one year of starting experience with the Illini in college, but in a defense like the Texans have, he should fit right in. After drafting Mercilus, the Texans focused on offense in the draft, as five of their next seven picks were offense.

The main focus of Houston this season will be to remain healthy and get back to the playoffs. They looked like a team that could have challenged anyone for the AFC crown before all of their injuries, so it will be interesting to see hoe good they can be if they are healthy.

The Texans made the playoffs last season despite being without both their best wide receiver and quarterback for the second half of the season. The Texans won their division and their wildcard game against the Bengals 31-10. The next week, however, they lost to the Ravens in the divisional round. “What if,” was the phrase most commonly muttered in the Houston area after last season. Hopefully, for the Texans and their fans, this can be a healthy and winning season.

Free agent/trade news 

Without a doubt, this offseason's biggest news has been the resigning of star running back Arian Foster. Foster will be getting $43.5 million over the next five years, $20.75 million of it  guaranteed. This is a huge move for all parties involved. Not only does it keep the key component of one of the best rushing attacks in the league together, but Houston keeps its franchise player for the next five seasons. 

The Texans have made some other deals, too. Below, I have listed the group of newly acquired Texans.

Chris Myers C

Donnie Jones P

Quintin Demps S

Bradie James LB

Tim Dobbins LB 

The problem with the Texans this offseason has not been their free agent signings, but the players they've lost, LB Mario Williams being at the forefront of that list. Williams sat out most of last season with a pectoral tear, then signed a free agent contract with the Bills. So far, the Texans have either released or lost out on signing seven of their 19 free agents. 

Some big names still out there that the Texans would love to have back include running back Derrick Ward and defensive end Tim Bulman. Needless to say, the Texans will have to remain busy in free agency and hit it big in the draft to make up for losing out on some of their key guys.

Draft buzz 

The Texans have the 26^th overall pick in this month’s draft and several needs to address. Defense and wide receiver will be high on their list. After Andre Johnson went down last season, and was ineffective once back, the Texans found that they needed big time receivers to go along with Johnson. Teams focused on Johnson, not worrying about anyone else. After Johnson, their next best receivers were tight end Owen Daniels (54 receptions, 677 yards, 3 touchdowns) and running back Arian Foster (53 receptions, 617 yards, 2 touchdowns).

Wide receiver will almost certainly be the focus on day one for the Texans. Receivers Stephen Hill (Georgia Tech) and Rueben Randall ( LSU) have both been named as potential choices for the Texans at 26^th overall.

Most NFL betting futures odds are status quo and the numbers won't move much until after this month's draft.