Texans will be in playoff opener for eighth straight postseason trip

While the old saying says “Nothing can be certain, except death and taxes,” we may be able to throw a third certainty into the mix — at least in certain years. When the Houston Texas make the playoffs, they will play in the postseason opener on Saturday afternoon.

The NFL released its postseason schedule during the Week 18 game between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. Things will get underway on Saturday, Jan. 11 when the Texans host the Los Angeles Chargers at 4:35 p.m. ET/3:35 CT.

For Houston and its fans, it’s a case of déjà vu all over again — actually déjà vu all over again several times.

This is the eighth time the Texans will play in the postseason. Houston fan Nick Scurfield noted on X, “The Houston Texans have made the playoffs 8 times. They have played in the Saturday 3:30 p.m. slot Every. Single. Time.”

Indeed.

The Texans reached the playoffs for the first time in the 2011 season. Their first playoff game came against the Cincinnati Bengals. A year later, the two teams met in the same round. Both times, the games started at 4:30 ET on Saturday, opening the postseason.

After missing the playoffs for a couple of years, the Texans were back in 2015. This time, Houston’s first-round foe was the Kansas City Chiefs. Their start time was 4:35 ET on Saturday. As was the case with the Bengals in 2011 and 2012, the Texans’ game against the Chiefs opened the postseason. A year later, the Texans took on a different AFC West foe in the first round — the then-Oakland Raiders. Once again, Houston played in that 4:35 ET spot on Saturday, opening the postseason.

While the Texans missed the playoffs in 2017, a year away from the postseason did nothing to cleanse the pallet of the schedule makers. Houston was back in the playoffs in 2018 and 2019, taking on the Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills, respectively, in the first round. As you can probably guess, those games both started at 4:35 ET and opened the postseason on Saturday.

Following a rebuilding period, the Texans returned to the playoffs in 2023. While that game brought a new opponent, the Cleveland Browns, it brought the same start time. Houston’s game against Cleveland had a Saturday, 4:35 ET kickoff — getting the postseason going.

After another game in the same slot this postseason, what can we learn?

Well, for starters, the NFL postseason schedule makers can’t get enough of the Texans in that spot. We can’t even pin this on geographical similarities of the opposing teams. The Texans have faced teams from each of the AFC’s four divisions who play in three of the Continental USA’s four time zones (all but the Mountain). And to be fair, that’s generally worked out well for the team. Houston will go into Saturday’s game against the Chargers with a strong 5-2 record on Wild Card Weekend.

It also speaks to a pair of additional consistencies. In each of their now eight postseason trips, the Texans have won the AFC South. They’ve never been a Wild Card team. As such, all seven (soon to be eight) Wild Card Weekend games have been played at NRG Stadium. But while that’s positive, a negative against the Texans is that they’ve never earned a bye week. While six of the eight postseason trips came before postseason expansion, when a conference’s top two seeds had a bye, Houston has never been in that spot.

If the Texans want to avoid that same Saturday afternoon time slot the next time they make the playoffs, earning a bye is probably the best way to do it.

[Nick Scurfield on X, Photo Credit: NBC]