Texans just got hit with AFC South forecast that makes zero sense

The Houston Texans took a ton of people by surprise in the 2023 regular season by turning things around, winning the AFC South for the first time since 2020, and going on to win a playoff game. In 2024, they were no longer flying under the radar but still went on to win the division and win a playoff game (not to mention, they came close to knocking off the Chiefs at home in the divisional round).

One would think that with the Texans entering year three of the DeMeco Ryans/C.J. Stroud era that they'd be expected to continue their winning ways and go for the three-peat in the AFC South. That's not what Pro Football Network recently projected though, pegging the Texans to finish second in the division and missing the playoffs with a 9-8 record with the Jaguars taking the division with a 10-7 record.

Latest AFC South is huge slap in the face to Houston Texans

The interesting thing here is that the Texans didn't become a worse team in the offseason. They might have lost some help at wide receiver but added a pair of Iowa State receivers to help Stroud out on offense. The offensive line was a major problem a season ago but there does appear to be hope for the unit to improve and protect Stroud better in 2025.

The more frustrating part of this prediction is that the Jaguars are the ones projected to win the AFC South. The Jags won the division in 2022 and were expected to become mainstays at the top of the AFC South but disappointed over the past two years. Yes, they added Travis Hunter with the second pick in the draft but he's not going to be enough to take them from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the best.

It would be a massive disappointment for the Texans not only to not win their division for the third year in a row but also to miss out on the playoffs entirely so let's hope this projection is far off.