FUN WITH THE SCHEDULE
Fred Faour: Doing the silly thing where we predict the Texans record based on Thursday's schedule release
Apr 19, 2018, 9:38 pm
The Texans schedule was released Thursday night. We could do the silly prediction game, but that would be ridiculous. We should just analyze the actual schedule. But nobody wants that. So instead we will do the silly prediction game.
First the meaningless preseason schedule:
Week | Day | Date | Opponent | TV Network | Kickoff Time |
1 | Thursday | Aug. 9 | at Kansas City Chiefs | KTRK | 7:30 p.m. |
2 | Saturday | Aug. 18 | SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS | KTRK | 7:00 p.m. |
3 | Saturday | Aug. 25 | at Los Angeles Rams | KTRK | 3:00 p.m. |
4 | Thu. | Aug. 30 | DALLAS COWBOYS | KTRK | 7:00 p.m. |
None of these games mean anything so who cares? Let’s get to the important stuff. The regular season: | |||||
Week | Day | Date | Opponent | TV Network | Kickoff Time |
1 | Sunday | Sept. 9 | at New England Patriots | CBS | Noon |
2 | Sunday | Sept. 16 | at Tennessee Titans | CBS | Noon |
3 | Sunday | Sept. 23 | NEW YORK GIANTS | FOX | Noon |
4 | Sunday | Sept. 30 | at Indianapolis Colts | CBS | Noon |
5 | Sunday | Oct. 7 | DALLAS COWBOYS | NBC# | 7:20 p.m. |
6 | Sunday | Oct. 14 | BUFFALO BILLS | CBS | Noon |
7 | Sunday | Oct. 21 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | CBS | Noon |
8 | Thursday | Oct. 25 | MIAMI DOLPHINS | FOX/NFLN# | 7:20 p.m. |
9 | Sunday | Nov. 4 | at Denver Broncos | CBS | 3:05 p.m. |
10 | BYE | ||||
11 | Sunday | Nov. 18 | at Washington Redskins | CBS | Noon |
12 | Monday | Nov. 26 | TENNESSEE TITANS | ESPN# | 7:15 p.m. |
13 | Sunday | Dec. 2 | CLEVELAND BROWNS | CBS | Noon |
14 | Sunday | Dec. 9 | INDIANAPOLIS COLTS | CBS | Noon |
15 | Saturday | Dec. 15 | at New York Jets | NFLN# | TBD |
16 | Sunday | Dec. 23 | at Philadelphia Eagles | CBS | Noon |
17 | Sunday | Dec. 30 | JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS | CBS | Noon |
# - Televised Nationally.
Game 1 at New England: The Texans open with another road game in Foxboro. The bad news? They can't win there. The good news? If it is going to happen, wouldn't it be now? The Texans will presumably be 100 percent healthy, and with Deshaun Watson dealing, they might have a shot. Most likely they open 0-1 with a loss in New England, because that is what happens every year.
Game 2 at Tennessee: The Titans should be more talented this season, but who knows what kind of coach Mike Vrabel will be? Marcus Mariota may have a breakout year, but if the Texans are going to be a good team, this is one you need to win.
Game 3 Giants: The Texans get a home game against a Giants team that may or may not be a competitor. Give them a win.
Game 4 at Indianapolis: Wouldn't it be great to see a Watson vs. Andrew Luck matchup? This game (and the Colts season) hinges on a healthy Luck. Guessing it doesn't happen, which means the Texans should escape with a win.
Game 5 Dallas: Another game where we have no idea what the opponent is going to look like. Or the Texans for that matter. It's a home game. Give it to the Texans. You can count on fights in the parking lot.
Game 6 Buffalo: The Bills made the playoffs last year, but also look weaker heading into 2018. Bills Mafia breaks some tables tailgating. The Texans roll but Watson gets injured late.
Game 7 at Jacksonville: The Texans are feeling good about life at 5-1, but the Jags are legit Super Bowl contenders. Brandon Weeden plays poorly and the Texans get blown out.
Game 8 Miami: The Dolphins are an absolute mess. Short week, home game. Weeden does just enough for the Texans to hit the halfway point at 6-2.
Game 9 at Denver: Case Keenum gets his revenge and the Texans fall to 6-3 as Weeden is also injured.
Game 10 at Washington: Watson returns but is not 100 percent and Alex Smith does what he did often in KC -- beats the Texans.
Game 11 Tennessee: Watson returns to form and the Texans take care of the Titans to go 7-4.
Game 12 Cleveland: The Browns will be better, but a healthy Watson at home gives the Texans a win.
Game 13 Indianapolis: By now, Andrew Luck is healthy. And he is too much for the Texans. First home loss of the season and an 8-5 mark.
Game 14 at NY Jets: The Jets are surprisingly decent, but Baker Mayfield has an off game and the Texans get win No. 9 and are looking good.
Game 15 at Philadelphia: The Eagles are well on their way to the best record in the NFC. Watson puts up a valiant effort, but the Texans come up short.
Game 16 Jacksonville: The Jags need a win to clinch best record in the AFC. They get it with a last-minute field goal.
Final record: 9-7 (of course). It is good enough for a wild card.
Disclaimer: All predictions are based on relative health.
Disclaimer 2: All predictions are complete BS since we haven't even had the draft and we are only doing this to satisfy everyone's morbid urge to know the season results in April.
Disclaimer 3: 9-7 is never a bad guess with the Texans.
Christian Walker homered among his three hits and had a season-high four RBIs to lead the Houston Astros over the Chicago White Sox 10-2 on Wednesday night.
ALL-STAR SMASH.#VoteWalker ⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHQMR1 pic.twitter.com/DDzNOvnsXt
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 12, 2025
Jose Altuve added two hits to give him 2,300 in his career, joining Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (2,342) as the only active players with at least 2,300.
The GOAT with another milestone.
Congrats to Altuve on 2,300 career hits! #VoteAltuve ⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHRkGz pic.twitter.com/gtaLqdegqM
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 12, 2025
Altuve got things going with an RBI double in the first. There were two outs in the inning when Walker homered to left field off Sean Burke (3-7) to make it 3-0.
Houston starter Ryan Gusto (4-3) allowed seven hits and two runs with a season-best seven strikeouts in a season-high six innings.
Josh Rojas had two hits for the White Sox, who fell to 7-27 on the road.
Altuve singled with two outs in the third before Yainer Diaz walked. Walker then smacked a line drive to center field for a double to score them both and push the lead to 5-0.
There was one out in the fourth when Cam Smith hit a ground-rule double. With two outs, Jeremy Peña doubled on a ball that bounced off the wall in left field to make it 6-0. Isaac Paredes followed with another RBI double to chase Burke, who yielded eight hits and seven runs — both career highs — in 3 2/3 innings.
Rojas singled in the fifth and moved to third on a ground-rule double by Vinny Capra. Rojas scored on a groundout by Mike Tauchman to cut it to 7-1. Miguel Vargas hit an RBI single to make it 7-2.
Paredes had three hits and two RBIs to help the Astros snap a two-game skid.
Walker’s home run that put Houston up 3-0 early.
He talked about his big night following the game.
Christian Walker’s four RBIs were a season-high pic.twitter.com/V2cQWk6pRC
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 12, 2025
Walker had just two RBIs in his previous six games.
Houston LHP Framber Valdez (6-4, 3.07 ERA) opposes RHP Davis Martin (2-6, 3.62) when the series concludes Thursday night.