The 2025 season was the Houston Texans' 24th in the National Football League (NFL), their fifth under general manager Nick Caserio and their third under head coach DeMeco Ryans. The Texans improved on their 10–7 record from previous two seasons after a win against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17, making the playoffs for the third consecutive season for the first time in franchise history. This is the first time in Texans history that they made the playoffs as a Wild Card team as they failed to hold their AFC South title after the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans in Week 18. For the first time since 2009, Jon Weeks was not on the team's roster, as he signed with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Texans began the season with a 0–3 record for the first time since the 2020 season and stood at 3–5 through Week 9. The team later rebounded with a nine-game winning streak following a victory over the Indianapolis Colts, finishing the regular season with a 12–5 record and surpassing their combined win total from the previous two seasons. Houston reached the playoffs for the second time in franchise history after starting 0–3, having previously done so in 2018, and became the first NFL team to accomplish the feat multiple times. They entered the playoffs the No. 5 seed in the AFC.
The Texans recorded their first road postseason victory with a 30–6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round, but the team's season would end when they were defeated by the New England Patriots by a final score of 28–16 in the Divisional Round (highlighted by quarterback CJ Stroud throwing four interceptions in the first half), preventing them from making their first AFC Championship Game appearance in franchise history.
The Houston Texans drew an average home attendance of 70,782, the 11th-highest of all NFL teams.
Draft
+ 2025 Houston Texans draft selections Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 25 Traded to the New York Giants 2 34 Jayden Higgins WR Iowa State From New York Giants 48 Aireontae Ersery OT Minnesota From Dolphins via Las Vegas Raiders 56 Traded to the Buffalo Bills From Vikings 58 Traded to the Las Vegas Raiders 3 79 Jaylin Noel WR Iowa State From Dolphins via Eagles and Commanders 89 Traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars 97 Jaylin Smith CB USC From Vikings 99 Traded to the Raiders Compensatory selection; from New York Giants 102 Traded to the Vikings Compensatory selection; From Jacksonville Jaguars 4 116 Woody Marks RB USC From Miami 128 Traded to the Washington Commanders 5 142 Traded to the Vikings From Jacksonville Jaguars 161 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles 166 Traded to the Cleveland Browns From Bills 6 179 Traded to the Miami Dolphins From Cleveland Browns 187 Jaylen Reed S Penn State From Vikings 197 Graham Mertz QB Florida From Denver 202 Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers 216 Traded to the Denver Broncos Compensatory selection; from Cleveland Browns 7 224 Kyonte Hamilton DT Rutgers From Miami 236 Traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars From Broncos via Eagles and Commanders 241 Traded to the Denver Broncos 255 Luke Lachey TE Iowa Compensatory selecton; from Cleveland Browns
+ 2025 Houston Texans undrafted free agents Name Position College Ref. Austin Brinkman LS West Virginia Eli Cox C Kentucky Alijah Huzzie CB North Carolina Daniel Jackson WR Minnesota K. C. Ossai LB Louisiana-Lafayette Junior Tafuna DT Utah
Draft trades
Staff Offseason changes On January 24, the Texans announced that offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and offensive line coach Chris Strausser had been fired. On February 3, Los Angeles Rams tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Nick Caley was hired as the Texans' new offensive coordinator. The following day, February 4, Houston's assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich was promoted to offensive line coach, while also being named the team's run game coordinator.
Final staff
Final roster
Preseason Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Minnesota Vikings L 10–20 0–1 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap 2 Carolina Panthers W 20–3 1–1 NRG Stadium Recap 3 at Detroit Lions W 26–7 2–1 Ford Field Recap
Game summaries Preseason Week 1: at Minnesota Vikings
Preseason Week 2: vs. Carolina Panthers
Preseason Week 3: at Detroit Lions
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 7 at Los Angeles Rams L 9–14 0–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 19–20 0–2 NRG Stadium Recap 3 September 21 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 10–17 0–3 EverBank Stadium Recap 4 September 28 Tennessee Titans W 26–0 1–3 NRG Stadium Recap 5 October 5 at Baltimore Ravens W 44–10 2–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 6Bye 7 at Seattle Seahawks L 19–27 2–4 Lumen Field Recap 8 October 26 San Francisco 49ers W 26–15 3–4 NRG Stadium Recap 9 November 2 Denver Broncos L 15–18 3–5 NRG Stadium Recap 10 November 9 Jacksonville Jaguars W 36–29 4–5 NRG Stadium Recap 11 November 16 at Tennessee Titans W 16–13 5–5 Nissan Stadium Recap 12 Buffalo Bills W 23–19 6–5 NRG Stadium Recap 13 November 30 at Indianapolis Colts W 20–16 7–5 Lucas Oil Stadium Recap 14 December 7 at Kansas City Chiefs W 20–10 8–5 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 15 December 14 Arizona Cardinals W 40–20 9–5 NRG Stadium Recap 16 December 21 Las Vegas Raiders W 23–21 10–5 NRG Stadium Recap 17 at Los Angeles Chargers W 20–16 11–5 SoFi Stadium Recap 18 January 4 Indianapolis Colts W 38–30 12–5 NRG Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: at Los Angeles Rams
With the loss due an underwhelming performance by the Texans offense, Houston fell to 0–1.
Week 2: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Despite taking a 19–14 lead with about two minutes remaining, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield led Tampa Bay on a game-winning touchdown drive to secure a 20–19 victory. With the loss, the Texans’ five-game winning streak against the Buccaneers was snapped, and they recorded their first home loss to Tampa Bay in franchise history.
Week 3: at Jacksonville Jaguars
The loss ended the Texans' seven-game road winning streak against the Jaguars, marking their first road loss to Jacksonville since the 2017 season.
Week 4: vs. Tennessee Titans
This was the first shutout win the Texans had since 2010. Coincidentally, that was also a home game against the Titans.
Week 5: at Baltimore Ravens
Houston delivered a dominant performance with a 44–10 blowout victory over the Baltimore Ravens, thoroughly outperforming them in all phases of the game. Quarterback C.J. Stroud led the Texans on scoring drives in all eight offensive possessions while he was on the field. The game marked the first time Stroud led the Texans to an offensive touchdown against the Ravens, after failing to do so in the team's previous three matchups against Baltimore.
The victory was Houston’s first over Baltimore since the 2014 season, snapping a six-game losing streak against the Ravens, and also marked the franchise’s first-ever road win in Baltimore. The 34-point margin tied a franchise record for the largest road win in team history, equaling their 41–7 victory over the Tennessee Titans in 2011. Additionally, the 44 points scored set a new franchise record for the most points in a road game, surpassing the previous mark of 41, which had been reached three times.
With the win, Houston improved to 2–3 and headed into their bye week.
Week 7: at Seattle Seahawks
With the loss, the Texans fell to 2–4 and 0–2 against the NFC West.
Week 8: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Texans faced off against the 49ers, whose head coach DeMeco Ryans served in a coaching position from 2017 to 2022. This was Jon Weeks's first game against the team he had formerly played for.
The Texans upset the 49ers, 26–15, for the first win against them since 2009, and improved to 3–4 on the season.
Week 9: vs. Denver Broncos
Despite building a 15–7 lead, the Texans' offense struggled against the Broncos' defense, resulting in only field goals scored. With the loss, Houston fell to 3–5.
Week 10: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars started off strong, jumping out to a 17–0 lead by capitalizing on Texans mistakes and extending their lead to 29–10 at the start of the fourth quarter. However, Davis Mills caught fire, throwing two touchdown passes in the final period and scrambling 14 yards for the go-ahead score with 31 seconds remaining. Meanwhile, the Jaguars went three and out on two consecutive drives. Jacksonville got the ball back with 30 seconds left to try to win the game, but Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was sacked as the Texans completed their comeback victory.
The 19-point comeback was the second-largest in Texans franchise history, behind only their 21-point comeback against the San Diego Chargers during the 2013 season.
Week 11: at Tennessee Titans With their fifth win in Nashville since 2021, the Texans extended their win streak against Tennessee to three straight and improved to 5–5.
Week 12: vs. Buffalo Bills
The Texans’ defense swarmed the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen, sacking him eight times as Houston held on for their 6th straight home win against the Bills since 2012.
The eight sacks tied a franchise record for most in a single game.
Week 13: at Indianapolis Colts
With their 4th straight win over the Colts, the Texans improved to 7–5 and handed the Colts their first home loss of the season.
The Texans also move to 3–0 when their former Pro Bowl defensive end J. J. Watt is the color commentator.
Week 14: at Kansas City Chiefs
In a rematch of the Divisional Round from the previous season, the Texans avenged their playoff loss by defeating the Chiefs on the road, forcing three interceptions of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In a pivotal sequence, the Chiefs faced fourth-and-1 at their own 31-yard line and elected to go for it, but Mahomes’ pass fell incomplete with just over ten minutes remaining. Six plays later, Dare Ogunbowale rushed for a five-yard touchdown, giving Houston a lead it did not relinquish. With their first win over Kansas City since 2019, Houston snapped a six game losing streak against the Chiefs and improved to 8–5.
Week 15: vs. Arizona Cardinals
With the win, the Texans improved to 9–5 and finished 2–2 against the NFC West as well as 2–3 against the NFC. This marked the second time in franchise history that the Texans had 3 consecutive winning seasons (2014 through 2016).
Week 16: vs. Las Vegas Raiders
With the win, the Texans improved to 2–1 against the AFC West, and matched their win total from the last two seasons at 10–5.
Week 17: at Los Angeles Chargers
With the win, the Texans clinched their third straight playoff berth after starting the season 0–3. Houston became the fifth team since 1990 to reach the playoffs after an 0–3 start, and the first franchise to accomplish the feat twice, having previously done so in 2018. This also marked the first time in franchise history Houston qualified for the playoffs in three straight years.
Week 18: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Despite winning, the Texans’ win was offset by the Jaguars’ win over the Titans, which clinched Jacksonville the AFC South and secured the Texans a Wild Card berth for the first time in franchise history. Later that day, when the Steelers defeated the Ravens, the Texans were scheduled to face Pittsburgh in the Wild Card Round.
Houston’s defense set franchise records by limiting opponents to 17.3 points and 277.2 yards per game during the season.
This win also marked the third time the Texans swept the Colts in franchise history, and the first time they did so in consecutive years, as they swept them in 2016 and 2024.
The Texans also moved to 4–0 when J.J. Watt was the color commentator.
Standings Division
Conference
Postseason
Schedule Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap Wild Card at Pittsburgh Steelers (4) W 30–6 1–0 Acrisure Stadium Recap Divisional January 18 at New England Patriots (2) L 16–28 1–1 Gillette Stadium Recap
Game summaries