2012 Schedule

[Arky]

Four prime time games + Thanksgiving. Two Sunday night, two Monday night.

From the chron:

Texans’ schedule released, and team will see plenty of prime time

The Texans, the defending AFC South champions, kick off the regular season against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 9 at Reliant Stadium.

The NFL announced the 2012 season schedule Tuesday, and the Texans are a hot property on network television.

The Texans, who finished 10-6 and defeated Cincinnati in the playoffs before being eliminated in the division round at Baltimore, play four prime-time games, including two on Sunday night on NBC. They also play the Thanksgiving Day game at Detroit. Four of those nationally televised games are on the road.

This is the first time in team history they’ve played a prime-time game on NBC.

“We get some opportunities to play in some big prime-time games,” Kubiak said. “That’s a credit to the team, the players and the job they did.

“Our games, throughout the season, are kind of all over the map, so that’s a big challenge for us, but it’s one that I’m looking forward to. We knew we had a tough schedule coming, and that’s part of it, but we’ll be ready to go.”

The first prime-time game is Oct. 8, a Monday night game at the New York Jets. Six days later, the Texans host Green Bay in a Sunday night game.

On Nov. 11, the Texans play a Sunday night game at Chicago. On Dec. 10, they visit New England in a Monday night game.

Mario Williams and the Buffalo Bills come to Reliant Stadium on Nov. 4 after the Texans’ open date.

When the Texans play the Dolphins, a team they beat last year, they’ll be going against a new Dolphins coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Mike Sherman. He was the Texans’ assistant head coach before he became Texas A&M’s head coach and was fired after last season.

“It’s nice to open at home,” Kubiak said. “It’s a few years in a row that we’ve had the chance to do that. We’ve had some great games with Miami. It seems like we’ve played them every year since I’ve been here. I’m sure this one won’t be any different.”

After traveling to Jacksonville for the second game, the Texans go to Denver to get their first look at quarterback Peyton Manning since he was healthy in 2010 and still played for Indianapolis.

In their fourth game, the Texans host AFC South rival Tennessee on Sept. 30.

“Playing Jacksonville in the second game and Tennessee in the fourth carry a lot of weight (in the division), and then we go against an old foe in Peyton in Week 3,” Kubiak said. “It’s a very exciting schedule. There’ll be some great football to be played on some big stages.”

After the prime-time games against the Jets and Packers, the Texans entertain Baltimore on Oct. 21. Then comes the open date and the games against the Bills and Bears.

Having the open date in the middle of the season is ideal for coaches and players.

“I like it,” Kubiak said. “Anytime it’s close to the middle is good. You never know how it’s going to pan out for your team as far as is it a good time? Do you need some extra time to get some guys healthy? I think anytime you’re somewhere there in the middle, it gives you a break and gets you ready for the back end (of the schedule).”

The Texans finish their AFC South series with Jacksonville on Nov. 18 at Reliant Stadium.

Then they play three consecutive road games against Detroit (11-22), Tennessee (12-2) and New England.

The Thanksgiving Day game at Ford Field gives the Texans a chance to showcase their team in front of one of the largest television audiences of the year.

“That’s just a tough week,” Kubiak said. “It’s a tough turnaround, but there’s a reward after it. You get a chance, almost like an extra bye week after that game, to freshen up coaches and freshen up players as you go into December, which is usually a big, big month.”

The Texans should finish strong because they play Indianapolis in two of their last three games, with a home game against Minnesota sandwiched between the games against the Colts. Indianapolis and Minnesota were two of the three-worst teams in the league last season.

The first game against the Colts is Dec. 16 at Reliant Stadium. After hosting the Vikings a week later, they end the regular season at Indianapolis on Dec. 30.

“Those division games just carry so much weight,” Kubiak said. “We’ve always had some big games against those guys (Colts). Hopefully, we’ve got ourselves in position right there, that those games are really, really big games for both of us, and we can take care of our business.”

[Arky]

1 Sun, Sep 9 vsMiami 1:00 PM
2 Sun, Sep 16 @Jacksonville 1:00 PM
3 Sun, Sep 23 @Denver 4:15 PM
4 Sun, Sep 30 vsTennessee 1:00 PM
5 Mon, Oct 8 @New York 8:30 PM
6 Sun, Oct 14 vsGreen Bay 8:20 PM NBC
7 Sun, Oct 21 vsBaltimore 1:00 PM
8 BYE WEEK
9 Sun, Nov 4 vsBuffalo 1:00 PM
10 Sun, Nov 11 @Chicago 8:20 PM
11 Sun, Nov 18 vsJacksonville 1:00 PM
12 Thu, Nov 22 @Detroit 12:30 PM
13 Sun, Dec 2 @Tennessee 1:00 PM
14 Mon, Dec 10 @New England 8:30 PM
15 Sun, Dec 16 vsIndianapolis 1:00 PM
16 Sun, Dec 23 vsMinnesota 1:00 PM
17 Sun, Dec 30 @Indianapolis 1:00 PM

[HPF Bob]

I like this schedule. We own the Dolphins so that's a great start. We get a bye week before playing Mario. The Lions are very unpredictable on Turkey Day and not always in a good way. The Patriots game is the only one where we could get snow. I wish they played the Colts early instead of late because it will give the Colts more time to gel. Without any crippling injuries, the Texans should be at worst 8-8 and at best 12-4. I think they'll win their division and anything beyond that is up for grabs.

[jcp]

wow...that lays out pretty good i think

5-2 heading into the bye should be expected

7-2 down the stretch with 3 easy ones on paper to close it out

it's early yet but i'm thinking 12-4 would be a reasonable expectation

[Keith]

With these prime time games, the other worry here are the trap and letdown games. Hopefully Kubiak will keep the team focused. There are "easy" home games against the Jags and Colts coming after a couple of these prime time games that could be painful if dropped.

The good news is the Texans are at home each week following one of these, except the Thanksgiving game where they have 10-day break to recover.

...at least the rest of the AFC South sucks. The Texans should win this division even at 8-8.

[chuck]

This is about as good a schedule as we could have hoped for. The season starts with a long series of highly winnable games and only one cold weather game (against a team that they're not likely to beat under any conditions). The three game in a row road stretch is tough but the team then gets rewarded by what should be three easy victories (if necessary) to close out the season.

I'm worried about the Green Bay game on a short week but at least it's still relatively early in the season.

[HPF Bob]

On ESPN last night, one of the hosts said "everyone's temptation is to take their teams schedule and immediately put Ws and Ls next to each game" to which one of the analysts said "and they almost always come out with 10-6".

And, for the Texans, yep, 10-6 is the mean.

1 Sun, Sep 9 vs Miami 1:00 PM CBS W
2 Sun, Sep 16 @ Jacksonville 1:00 PM CBS W
3 Sun, Sep 23 @ Denver 4:15 PM CBS W*
4 Sun, Sep 30 vs Tennessee 1:00 PM CBS W
5 Mon, Oct 8 @ New York 8:30 PM ESPN L*
6 Sun, Oct 14 vs Green Bay 8:20 PM NBC L
7 Sun, Oct 21 vs Baltimore 1:00 PM CBS L*
8 BYE WEEK
9 Sun, Nov 4 vs Buffalo 1:00 PM CBS W
10 Sun, Nov 11 @ Chicago 8:20 PM NBC L*
11 Sun, Nov 18 vs Jacksonville 1:00 PM CBS W
12 Thu, Nov 22 @ Detroit 12:30 PM CBS W*
13 Sun, Dec 2 @ Tennessee 1:00 PM CBS W
14 Mon, Dec 10 @ New England 8:30 PM ESPN L
15 Sun, Dec 16 vs Indianapolis 1:00 PM CBS W
16 Sun, Dec 23 vs Minnesota 1:00 PM CBS W
17 Sun, Dec 30 @ Indianapolis 1:00 PM CBS L*

* - considered toss-up games that will determine our season.

About week 17, I can see two reasons we might lose this game. One is that we've never won at Indy and second, we may have the playoff spot sewn up and not need to win this game so we bench our stars and play our scrubs.

I think we benefit catching the Broncos early, even though they are on the road because this team isn't nearly as talented as last year's 8-8 record and they will not have worked out the kinks in the Manning offense by week 3.

Although the Packer game is at home, I just think they have too many weapons for us to defend and when it comes down to Kareem Jackson against their third-best receiver, we're toast. Same goes for the Patriots.

I think we can beat the Lions because they are as likely to lay an egg on Turkey Day (like last year) as they are to pull an upset. Their fans turn on them quickly too so an early lead can mean a big road win.

We've had no luck with the Jets and the only way I see us winning that one is if the Jets players are already in back-stabbing mode which could happen.

The Bills and Bears are the two greatest Jeckyl-and-Hyde teams in the league. You just never know if they'll be great or terrible. By mid-season, you could get either.

As i said previously, I could see us finishing anywhere from 8-8 to 12-4 but we ought to win the division almost by default.

[chuck]

Bob, ever the pessimist, has the team losing all four of its nationally broadcast night games.