The 2024 season was the Houston Texans' 23rd in the National Football League (NFL) and the second under head coach DeMeco Ryans. The team introduced new uniforms for the first time since the franchise's inception. This was the Texans' first season with Cal McNair as the franchise's sole principal owner. The Texans started 2âÂÂ0 for the first time since 2016 following their Week 2 victory against the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football. The Texans would go on to have a 5âÂÂ1 start, being their best start since 2012, but lost six of their next ten, including a game against the Detroit Lions where they blew a 23âÂÂ7 halftime lead, and a loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas where they lost 31âÂÂ2, only scoring a safety. Poor offensive-line play alongside numerous injuries contributed to these losses, including injuries to their top three receivers, Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, and Tank Dell. Following a sweep of their division rival Indianapolis Colts, a Week 15 victory against the Miami Dolphins coupled with a Colts loss to the Denver Broncos that same week, the Texans successfully defended their AFC South title and second consecutive playoff performance. After a Week 18 victory over the Tennessee Titans, the Texans finished with the same record as the season before, 10âÂÂ7.
Despite their inconsistent regular season performance, the Texans' dominated the Los Angeles Chargers 32âÂÂ12 in the Wild Card Round to advance to the Divisional Round for the second consecutive season, where they lost to the AFC's top seed and two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 23âÂÂ14.
Draft trades
NFL Network began announcing its annual top 100 list on July 22, 2024. Four players were named to the list.
On March 26, the NFL announced that the Texans would play the Chicago Bears in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, August 1, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, at 7:00 p.m. CDT. The Texans were represented by Andre Johnson. The two teams also met in Week 2 of the regular season in Houston.
The game went into a weather delay with 3:31 left in the third quarter with a thunderstorm raining down on the stadium with lightning in the area. After a delay of 30 minutes, the game was officially called.
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
The Texans defeated the Colts for their first week 1 win since 2021.
With this win, the Texans earned their first 2âÂÂ0 start since 2016.
With this loss, the Houston Texans are 0âÂÂ6 all-time against the Minnesota Vikings.
A late touchdown pass from C. J. Stroud allowed the Texans to avoid the Jaguars' upset bid, improving to 3âÂÂ1, their best start since 2016.
Buffalo rallied from a 20âÂÂ3 deficit to tie the game late in the 4th quarter; however, after three straight incompletions by Josh Allen from his own 1-yard line, Buffalo was forced to punt and Houston took advantage of the field position to convert Ka'imi Fairbairn's game-winning 59-yard field goal. This improved the Texans to 4âÂÂ1, their best start since a 5âÂÂ0 start in 2012.
This game marked the Texans first win in Foxborough in franchise history. They were previously 0âÂÂ5 in the regular season and 0âÂÂ2 in the playoffs against the Patriots in Foxborough.
Despite forcing three turnovers in the first half, the Texans were unable to pull away, and the Packers were able to win on a last-second field goal. With the loss, the Texans dropped to 5âÂÂ2, as well as being 1âÂÂ5 all-time against the Packers.
With this win, the Texans swept the Colts for the first time since 2016, and improved to 6âÂÂ2, two games clear of the Colts (with the head-to-head tiebreaker) in the division race.
With the loss, the Texans fell to 6âÂÂ3 and lost their third straight game against the Jets.
The Texans, primarily from their defense which intercepted Lions quarterback Jared Goff five times, built a 23âÂÂ7 halftime lead; however, their offense continued its second half struggles, and the Lions rallied with 19 unanswered points, winning it on a walk-off field goal from Jake Bates. With the loss, the Texans fell to 6âÂÂ4.
This game marked the Texans first win against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in franchise history. They were previously 0âÂÂ2 against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium and 0âÂÂ3 on the road against the Cowboys in franchise history, as they lost the only game they played against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium in 2006. The Texans also snapped their 4-game streak without scoring a touchdown in the second half, improving to 7âÂÂ4.
Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 30-yard field goal that would have tied the game just after the two-minute warning; the Texans got the ball back one more time, but C. J. Stroud ran out of the end zone for a safety, similar to Dan Orlovsky's infamous play against the Vikings. With the upset loss, the Texans fell to 7âÂÂ5. This was their only division loss of the season.
During the second quarter, Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair made an illegal hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The hit and subsequent brawl between Al-Shaair and several Jaguars players resulted in Al-Shaair being suspended for three games. The Texans held off a late rally by the Jaguars to improve to 8âÂÂ5 and swept the season series for the first time since 2021, winning their seventh straight away game against the Jaguars.
With the win and the Colts losing to the Broncos later in the day, the Texans clinched the AFC South for the second straight season.
Tank Dell was lost for the season with a broken leg on a touchdown catch from C.J. Stroud in the 3rd quarter.
Christmas Day games In an ugly performance, the Texans offense got nothing going against the Ravens and were shut out, though they managed a safety on a tackle of Derrick Henry in the endzone in the 2nd quarter.
With the win, the Texans finished the season 10âÂÂ7 and won their fourth straight game against the Titans in Nashville.
This is the first time the Texans have played the Chargers in the playoffs, with the Texans being 3âÂÂ6 against them all-time. The Texans had made their eight appearance in the wild-card round in their 23-year history, and they had played in the Saturday 4:30 slot each time (this streak would finally be broken the following year when the Texans played on Monday night). Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert, who only threw a total of three interceptions during the regular season, was picked off four times during the game.
This was the third postseason meeting between these two teams, and the second meeting in the Divisional Round. The Chiefs lead the all-time series 10âÂÂ5, winning four-straight.
The Texans are winless in the Divisional Round, being 0âÂÂ6, with all six losses being on the road. Their closest victory was a 20âÂÂ13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the 2011 Divisional Round.
The last postseason meeting between these two teams was the 2019 Divisional Round, where the Texans had a 24âÂÂ0 lead in the second quarter, but trailed 28âÂÂ24 at halftime, and lost the game 51âÂÂ31.
Source: