First Thoughts on the 2011 Houston Texans Schedule

The NFL has released the 2011 schedules for all 32 teams. Here's the Houston Texans schedule and I will give my thoughts at the end.

HOUSTON TEXANS 2011 SCHEDULE
from HoustonTexans.com

PRESEASON

Day	Date	Opponent	Time (CT)	TV
Monday	8/15	NEW YORK JETS	7:00 p.m.	ESPN
	8/19-21	NEW ORLEANS SAINTS	TBA	KTRK
	8/26-28	at San Francisco 49ers	TBA	KTRK
	9/1-3	at Minnesota Vikings	TBA	KTRK

REGULAR SEASON

Day	Date	Opponent	Time (CT)	TV
Sunday	9/11	INDIANAPOLIS COLTS	Noon	CBS
Sunday	9/18	at Miami Dolphins	3:15 p.m.	CBS
Sunday	9/25	at New Orleans Saints	Noon	CBS
Sunday	10/2	PITTSBURGH STEELERS	Noon	CBS
Sunday	10/9	OAKLAND RAIDERS	Noon	CBS
Sunday	10/16	at Baltimore Ravens	3:05 p.m.	CBS
Sunday	10/23	at Tennessee Titans	Noon	CBS
Sunday	10/30	JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS	Noon	CBS
Sunday	11/6	CLEVELAND BROWNS	Noon	CBS
Sunday	11/13	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Noon	CBS
Sunday	11/20	BYE WEEK
Sunday	11/27	at Jacksonville Jaguars	Noon	CBS
*Sunday*	*12/4*	*ATLANTA FALCONS*	*Noon*	*FOX*
Sunday	12/11	at Cincinnati Bengals	Noon	CBS
Sunday	12/18	CAROLINA PANTHERS	Noon	FOX
Thursday	12/22	at Indianapolis Colts	7:20 p.m.	NFLN
*Sunday*	*1/1*	*TENNESSEE TITANS*	*Noon*	*CBS*

Home games in BOLD
Games subject to flexible scheduling in Italics

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The Texans, again, get no favors to start the season as for the second year in a row they open up at home against Indy. I've never understood why the NFL gets into scheduling ruts, but they have here with the Texans versus the Colts. Also, with another 8-8 finish, Houston only has one primetime game, this season in Week 16 against the Colts on a Thursday night.

I could see the Texans splitting against their NFC and AFC South opponents, 5-5, with the Texans needing to outperform in their games against the rest of the AFC. They play the tough AFC North, with additional games against the Raiders and Dolphins. Unfortunately, nothing points to this being the season in which the Texans break through the 8-8 barrier and go 10-6 or 11-5 and make the playoffs.

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What do you think? Let me know in the comments section

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Categories: NFL, Opinion