Houston's playoff slot shift from Saturday afternoon to Monday night signals a seismic shift. This primetime spotlight confirms their stunning rise and Super Bowl contention.
For every AFC Wildcard game that the Houston Texans have ever played in, they've always been slotted into the Saturday afternoon slot reserved for the postseason kickoff matchup.
Saturdays at 3:30 pm, synonymous with Houston football.
By the time Sunday morning rolled around, we were either gearing up to face the conference's #1 seed, or lamenting another early postseason exit.
That is, until the Texans of 2025 showed up and completely changed the national narrative. With the franchise's ascension over the last three seasons, the national media has taken notice and begun to prop up the Texans as being one of the real Super Bowl-contending teams in the AFC.
As a result, for the first time in Houston's history, it was announced that the Texans vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Wildcard matchup would take place during Primetime on Monday Night Football.
Graphic courtesy of the official website of the Houston Texans: https://www.houstontexans.com/news/who-will-the-texans-face-on-monday-night-football-in-the-wild-card-roundThis breaks a streak of eight consecutive postseasons, and now has the city of Houston trying to adjust to this new reality of Texan-less football on a Saturday. Even Toro, the Texans' mascot, joined in on the conversation by posting:
Perception is Reality
Self-deprecation aside, this development reinforces the perception of an upward trajectory of the club. From 2020 to 2022, the Texans went a combined 11-38-1, finishing as a bottom-five team in all three campaigns. Since then, they've improved to 32-19 with back-back AFC South titles and now three-straight AFC playoff berths.
They have a top-10 head coach in Demeco Ryans, a premium team builder in general manager Nick Caserio and one of the top young quarterbacks in the game in C.J. Stroud. They're also in possession of a loaded defense that now sports at least three All-Pros and multiple Pro Bowl-level playmakers.
The NFL world has already been celebrating the two barn burning opening games from yesterday's slate. The Los Angeles Rams outlasted a game Carolina Panthers squad by a final margin of 34-31, while the Chicago Bears completed the greatest playoff comeback in their history by making up an 18-point deficit against the Green Bay Packers and defeating them in regulation 31-27.
All that, and we still have the Buffalo Bills vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars, the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Chargers vs. the New England Patriots.
Finishing Strong
The Texans will then cap off opening weekend with their road contest vs. the Steelers.
It truly is an exciting time in the city of Houston. This is legitimately the best opportunity the Texans have had to make a run at their first title in club history.
If the Texans are successful against the Steelers, they will already know their opponent for the Divisional round (which is never something one could say before) due to being last to play. It would either be the Broncos, Bills, Patriots or Jaguars.
Do you think the Texans have truly changed the narrative and are on their way to heights never seen before in the city of Houston?
Let us know in the comments section below and by mentioning us at @Texans_RTB on X!