FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 18: Azeez Al-Shaair #0 of the Houston Texans reacts as he leads a huddle prior to an NFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on January 18, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The entirety of the NFL will turn the page to 2026 as the regular season schedules are announced on Thursday, May 14th. Tomorrow, the road to Houston’s first Super Bowl will be laid in front of them, and debate will rage onward as the bitter pills of the 2025 season are swallowed and forgotten. But, even though we won’t know the exact schedule until a bit later, the Texans have already announced their opponents for the upcoming season, and they are:

Indianapolis Colts (Home & Away)
Tennessee Titans (Home & Away)
Jacksonville Jaguars (Home & Away)
Baltimore Ravens (Home)
Cincinnati Bengals (Home)
Buffalo Bills (Home)
Dallas Cowboys (Home)
New York Giants (Home)
Cleveland Browns (Away)
Pittsburgh Steelers (Away)
LA Chargers (Away)
Philadelphia Eagles (Away)
Washington Commanders (Away)
Green Bay Packers (Away)

Texans schedule 2026: Tracking all of the Rumors

Houston Texans 2026 Schedule: How many Primetime games should Houston get?

Lions/Cowboys: Which team do you want to play on Thanksgiving?

So many intriguing matchups in a single season, you can almost smell the fireworks from four months away! It may seem like a daunting schedule at first glance, but the combined win percentage of all of these opponents is just .474, good for seventh-weakest in the league. Although now that free agency and the draft have come and gone, many of these teams (especially the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders) are far more intimidating than they were just a few months ago.

But, what are the most exciting matchups? The games that will get you excited, or maybe even nervous? What games will define the 2026 season for the Houston Texans? Well, don’t wait to tell us down in the comments below, as you can vote on your most anticipated game in the most recent Battle Red poll right here:

All of these are good options, and I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on which of these games will be the most exciting in the comments section below. Personally, there’s four games that stand out to me as the most interesting, the most worrying, and/or the most impactful on Houston’s hopes of bringing home the Lombardi Trophy in 2026.

Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens

Take yourself back to Christmas Day, 2024. Hopefully, fond memories unrelated to football come to mind, because there was nothing worth remembering about that 31-2 drubbing at home besides the Beyoncé halftime show and that safety forced by then-rookie CB Kamari Lassiter. Even with his virulent energy and Beyoncé’s heavenly intonations serenading her hometown crowd on Christmas Day, both felt just like a footnote to a day dominated by the relentless churning of Baltimore RB Derrick Henry’s legs.

Derrick Henry recorded a 74.1% success rate in Week 17, the highest by any player in a game with 25+ carries in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).

Henry ran between the tackles on a season-high 81.5% of his carries, gaining 140 of his 147 rush yards.#BALvsHOU | #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/L48Q6ozHqw
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 26, 2024

Behind Baltimore’s punishing offensive front, Texans d-linemen Tommy Togiai and Tim Settle were utterly helpless as they were tossed to the side to make way for the Henry tsunami, who finished the game with 147 yards rushing on 27 attempts. Houston simply could not stop him, and even when the ball wasn’t going to Henry, the Ravens’ offense was still a dream-killer for Houston fans because of QB Lamar Jackson’s handful of back-breaking completions and successful scrambling. Standing at 9-6 and limping their way into the playoffs, this loss signified one of Houston’s lowest points in the CJ Stroud era…which would make a second year in a row of revenge all the more sweeter! Houston already completed some act of retribution last year in their 44-10 beat down of the Ravens in October last year, but considering Baltimore’s injuries at the time of that game, Houston won’t get full satisfaction of getting the purple albatross off their neck until they beat Lamar Jackson fair and square.

The Texans have had many games end sourly because their defense failed to contain a mobile quarterback, and Jackson is no exception to that rule. Keeping him contained would vindicate general manager Nick Caserio’s roster building, head coach DeMeco Ryans’ game-management and coordination, and it would make the big contracts handed out to DE Danielle Hunter, DE Will Anderson, and LB Azeez Al-Shaair look all the more worth it. At the end of the day, Caserio, Ryans, and all of these players were brought to Houston to beat great opponents like Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, and they were able to do it once last year, now it’s time to make that success the norm. If the Steelers can beat the Ravens every year, then it should be no problem for the Texans.

Houston Texans @ Washington Commanders

To paraphrase Charles Barkely, I’ve got two words for you: CJ Stroud and Jayden Daniels – Must-see TV! Okay, maybe that was a little more than two words, but you can’t tell me that a match between two of the NFL’s best young signal callers isn’t one of the most intriguing matchups of the season, especially when you consider the connective tissue between both teams. Former LT Laremy Tunsil was traded to the Washington Commanders last March, concluding his heavily debated tenure in Houston with an equally controversial ending. Then, during this most recent cycle of free agency, Texans DT Tim Settle departed Houston after Washington offered him a three-year, $24 million contract. It may be a homecoming for Settle, who grew up in the Virginia area and was drafted by Washington in 2018, but that won’t stop me from feeling a little burned when I see him lining up against one of Houston’s new interior linemen this coming season.

#Commanders defense this offseason:

Hired DC Daronte Jones
Drafted LB Sonny Styles
Added DE Odafe Oweh
Added DE K’Lavon Chaisson
Added...

Battleredcomrssindex

Message History

Delivery option(s)