2012 Schedule

[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.

[nunusguy]

This schedule should be very gratifying to Texans fans because it means once and for all after 10 long years we've arrived: won the AFC division and a playoff game last year, and now we are recognized as a serious contender for the AFC conference crown by way of being awarded 5 prime-time games this season. If we fans feel good about this kind of national exposure and attention, just imagine how the team members feel right now ?

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by chuck

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

Can you cite where we have ever won one other than the first franchise game against the Cowboys and that one Thursday-nighter at home against the Broncos? In the regular season, we don't win prime-time national games.

It should also come as no surprise that most national games are going to come against tough opponents so they are the ones we are most likely to lose.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Can you cite where we have ever won one other than the first franchise game against the Cowboys and that one Thursday-nighter at home against the Broncos? In the regular season, we don't win prime-time national games.

On the contrary I vividly recall such highlights as giving up over 500 yards of rushing against the Seahawks six or seven years ago. I could go on but won't.

I guess you'll just continue to play the dark-cloud pessimist to my can-do optimism.