Sep 15, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) drops back to pass during the first quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

ESPN Offers Texans Optimistic Prediction Despite 0-2 Start

Originally posted on Houston Texans on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Sep 18, 2025 12:33 PM ET

Is it time for the Houston Texans to panic after starting the year off 0-2?

Not quite, according to ESPN metrics.

After 10 teams around the NFL have begun the new season off with a winless record, ESPN stacked up each of those 0-2 teams from most to least likely to rebound from a slow start for a playoff appearance.

And for the Texans, their outlook was pretty favorable, all things considered.

Even at 0-2, ESPN's Football Power Index places the Texans with a 24.3% chance to still advance to the postseason.

"Texans fans will undoubtedly find it frustrating that their team is 0-2," ESPN's Bill Barnwell wrote. "In addition to the understandable preseason expectations after winning the AFC South and wild-card games in back-to-back seasons, the Texans were only a couple of plays away from starting 2-0... It's one thing to lose two close games to a pair of last season's playoff teams. It's another to play the way the Texans have in doing so."

"Last season, though, the Texans were a league-average team that won 10 games because they faced a below-average schedule and went 6-3 in one-score games. That formula wasn't going to be sustainable in 2025. And right now, while they're probably unlucky to start 0-2, the Texans sure look a lot like the frustrating team we saw last season."

Houston doesn't place quite as high as the 0-2 Kansas City Chiefs in the number one spot, who still have over a 50% chance to make the playoffs, but it's the next best result for a Texans team that's had far from the optimal start to the year.

Barnwell goes on to note two glaring concerns that hurt the Texans' playoff chances: a shaky offensive line that's bled into the production of both the air attack and the ground game, paired with the surrounding AFC South that holds a 2-0 Indianapolis Colts and 1-1 Jacksonville Jaguars; the matchup on tap for Houston in Week 3.

Neither of those factors really helps the Texans' case at moving up the ranks, but it's far from an insurmountable climb up the standings, especially while sitting so early in the season.

If the Texans can rely on their defensive star power upfront and in the secondary, along with banking on the ceiling-raiser that C.J. Stroud is on the offensive side of the ball, there's enough talent on this roster to pull together a winning record, even if they're currently down in the count and two straight duds offensively.

However, that also requires more luck to be in the Texans' favor, and fast. Only once in the past 25 years in the NFL has a team gone from an 0-3 record to wind up in the postseason– that being none other than the Houston Texans in 2018.

The Texans have proved they can defy history, and maybe they could do that once again. But it's probably in this team's best interest not to let the season unravel to that point, starting with a win this weekend in Jacksonville.