The 2023 season was the Houston Texans' 22nd season in the National Football League (NFL) and the first under head coach DeMeco Ryans. This season began with the team's fourth head coach in five seasons, and was also the team's fourth consecutive season with a different head coach. While the team went into the season with low expectations as a rebuilding period and started 0–2, they not only improved on their 3–13–1 record from last year with a Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Texans qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2019 with a win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 18, ending with a 10–7 record. After the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Tennessee Titans the day after, the Texans also clinched the AFC South for the first time since 2019. The Texans became the fifth team in NFL history to make the playoffs with both a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach, as well as making history as the first team in NFL history to win a division entirely with a rookie head coach and rookie quarterback.The other teams to make the playoffs with a rookie QB and HC were: 2008 Atlanta Falcons 2008 Baltimore Ravens 2009 New York Jets 2012 Indianapolis Colts
In the Wild Card round of the playoffs, the Texans blew out the Cleveland Browns with a 45–14 win. The team's season would officially come to an end when they would lose to the one-seed Baltimore Ravens 34–10 in the Divisional round, preventing them from making their first AFC Championship appearance in franchise history.
In the NFL draft, the Texans selected quarterback C. J. Stroud from Ohio State second overall. Stroud would break several NFL and franchise rookie records on his way to being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, becoming the first player in franchise history to win the award. After trading with the Arizona Cardinals, the Texans would select Alabama defensive end Will Anderson Jr. third overall. Anderson was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, marking the fourth time in NFL history that teammates won the offensive and defensive rookie of the year awards.
The Houston Texans drew an average home attendance of 71,193 in 9 home games in the 2023 NFL season.
Offseason On January 8, the Texans fired Lovie Smith after just one rebuilding season as the head coach with a record of 3–13–1. On January 31, the Texans hired San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator and former player DeMeco Ryans as their new head coach.
Draft
+ 2023 Houston Texans draft selections Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 2 C. J. Stroud QB Ohio State 3 Will Anderson Jr. LB Alabama From Cardinals 12 Traded to the Arizona Cardinals From Browns 2 33 Traded to the Arizona Cardinals 62 Juice Scruggs C Penn State From Eagles 3 65 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles 69 Tank Dell WR Houston From Rams 73 Traded to the Los Angeles Rams From Browns 4 104 Traded to the Las Vegas Raiders 105 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles From Cardinals 109 Dylan Horton DE TCU From Raiders 5 — Selection forfeited 161 Traded to the Los Angeles Rams From Cowboys 167 Henry To'oTo'o LB Alabama Compensatory selection; from Rams 174 Traded to the Los Angeles Rams Compensatory selection; from Raiders 6 179 Traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 188 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles From Saints 191 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles From Packers via Rams 201 Jarrett Patterson C Notre Dame From Vikings 203 Traded to the Las Vegas Raiders From Giants 205 Xavier Hutchinson WR Iowa State From Bills 207 Traded to the New York Jets From 49ers 7 219 Traded to the Minnesota Vikings 230 Traded to the Buffalo Bills From Jets via Buccaneers, Texans and Eagles 248 Brandon Hill S Pittsburgh From Eagles 259 Traded to the Los Angeles Rams Supplemental compensatory selection
+ 2023 Houston Texans undrafted free agents Name Position College Ref. Jake Bates K Arkansas Tyler Beach G/T Wisconsin Joe Doyle P Memphis Dylan Deatherage T Western Michigan Ali Gaye DE LSU Darius Joyner S Duke Jesse Matthews WR San Diego State Jordan Murray TE Hawaii Xazavian Valladay RB Arizona State Jared Wayne WR Pittsburgh Kilian Zierer T Auburn
Draft trades
Staff
Final roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at New England Patriots W 20–9 1–0 Gillette Stadium Recap 2 Miami Dolphins L 3–28 1–1 NRG Stadium Recap 3 August 27 at New Orleans Saints W 17–13 2–1 Caesars Superdome Recap
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 10 at Baltimore Ravens L 9–25 0–1 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 2 September 17 Indianapolis Colts L 20–31 0–2 NRG Stadium Recap 3 September 24 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 37–17 1–2 EverBank Stadium Recap 4 October 1 Pittsburgh Steelers W 30–6 2–2 NRG Stadium Recap 5 October 8 at Atlanta Falcons L 19–21 2–3 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Recap 6 October 15 New Orleans Saints W 20–13 3–3 NRG Stadium Recap 7Bye 8 October 29 at Carolina Panthers L 13–15 3–4 Bank of America Stadium Recap 9 November 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 39–37 4–4 NRG Stadium Recap 10 November 12 at Cincinnati Bengals W 30–27 5–4 Paycor Stadium Recap 11 November 19 Arizona Cardinals W 21–16 6–4 NRG Stadium Recap 12 November 26 Jacksonville Jaguars L 21–24 6–5 NRG Stadium Recap 13 December 3 Denver Broncos W 22–17 7–5 NRG Stadium Recap 14 December 10 at New York Jets L 6–30 7–6 MetLife Stadium Recap 15 December 17 at Tennessee Titans W 19–16 8–6 Nissan Stadium Recap 16 December 24 Cleveland Browns L 22–36 8–7 NRG Stadium Recap 17 December 31 Tennessee Titans W 26–3 9–7 NRG Stadium Recap 18 at Indianapolis Colts W 23–19 10–7 Lucas Oil Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: at Baltimore Ravens
In C. J. Stroud's NFL debut, his first completion was to himself, becoming the second quarterback in NFL history to do so, after Brett Favre.
Week 2: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Week 3: at Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 4: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
For the second straight week, the Texans had back-to-back upset victories, and improved to 2–2. Former defensive end J. J. Watt was inducted to the Houston Texans Ring of Honor during halftime. Coincidentally, his brother T. J. Watt was playing in this game, though for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Week 5: at Atlanta Falcons
Week 6: vs. New Orleans Saints
With the win, the Texans improved to 3–3 and matched their win total from the previous season.
Week 8: at Carolina Panthers
Week 9: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Placekicker Kaʻimi Fairbairn exited the game at halftime with a quad injury. Running back Dare Ogunbowale handled kickoffs for the Texans during the second half.
Quarterback C. J. Stroud sets the NFL single-game record for passing yards by a rookie with 470 passing yards, surpassing the record set by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. Despite the Buccaneers taking a 4-point lead with just 46 seconds left, CJ Stroud marched 75 yards down the field to score the game-winning touchdown.
Week 10: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 11: vs. Arizona Cardinals
Week 12: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 13: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 14: at New York Jets
Week 15: at Tennessee Titans
Week 16: vs. Cleveland Browns
Week 17: vs. Tennessee Titans
Week 18: at Indianapolis Colts
Down 6, the Colts drove the ball to the Houston 15 yard line before failing to convert on 4th and 1 with 1:06 remaining thus sealing the game for the Texans. With the win, the Texans clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2019 and finished the regular season with a record of 10–7. The 10 wins also broke the franchise record for most wins in a season by a first-year head coach. The following day, the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Tennessee Titans; as a result of the Jaguars' loss, the Texans won the AFC South.
Standings Division
Conference
Postseason
Schedule Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap Wild Card Cleveland Browns (5) W 45–14 1–0 NRG Stadium Recap Divisional at Baltimore Ravens (1) L 10–34 1–1 M&T Bank Stadium Recap
Game summaries
AFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. (5) Cleveland Browns
This was the first postseason meeting between the Browns and Texans. During the regular season, the Browns defeated the Texans 36–22 in Houston in Week 16. Deshaun Watson, who was the starting quarterback for Cleveland since 2022, suffered a season-ending injury in Week 10. He was the starting quarterback for Houston from 2017 to 2020.
After a competitive first half that was led by the Texans, they took a commanding lead after the turn of the half, in which Joe Flacco threw back-to-back interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. This was the Texans' first playoff win since the 2019 season.
AFC Divisional Playoffs: at (1) Baltimore Ravens
Despite keeping up with Baltimore in the first half, the Texans failed to score any points in the second half in the blowout loss. With this loss, the Texans remain winless in the Divisional Round and road playoff games, being 0–5, along with remaining winless at M&T Bank Stadium, being 0–8. This was the second postseason meeting between the Ravens and Texans. The Ravens won the first matchup, the 2011 AFC Divisional Game, by a score of 20–13 in Baltimore. In the regular season, the Ravens defeated the Texans by a score of 25–9 in Baltimore in Week 1. Despite a ragged offensive start in the first half, the Ravens outscored the Texans 24–0 in the second half and advanced to their first AFC Championship game since 2012 with a 34–10 rout.
Though not getting a takeaway nor recording a sack on rookie quarterback C. J. Stroud, the Ravens defense dominated Houston. They did not allow any offensive plays by Houston inside the Ravens' 25-yard line nor gave up an offensive touchdown. Houston's only points came by a field goal and a punt return touchdown in the first half. The Baltimore crowd noise also caused a litany of Houston pre-snap penalties.
Lamar Jackson had two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns as he improved to 2–3 in playoff games and 1–2 in home playoff games. This was also the Ravens' first home playoff win since the 2012 AFC Wild Card round.
Notes
Statistics
Team CategoryTotal yardsYards per gameNFL rank Passing offense 4,173 245.5 7th Rushing offense 1,647 96.9 23rd Total offense 5,820 342.4 12th Passing defense 3,979 234.1 23rd Rushing defense 1,643 96.6 6th Total defense 5,622 330.7 14th
Individual CategoryPlayerTotal Offense Passing yards C. J. Stroud 4,108 Passing touchdowns C. J. Stroud 23 Rushing yards Devin Singletary 898 Rushing touchdowns Devin Singletary 4 Receiving yards Nico Collins 1,297 Receiving touchdowns Nico Collins 8 Defense Tackles Christian Harris 65 Sacks Jonathan Greenard 12.5 Interceptions Derek Stingley Jr. 5 Source:
References
External links