Before the 2023 NFL season, the Houston Texans were the longest of longshots to win the Super Bowl at 200-to-1, which made sense coming off a 3-13-1 season that resulted in installing a new coaching staff and a rookie quarterback taken with the No. 2 overall pick. But C.J. Stroud performed better than probably even his most vocal backers expected, helping the Texans get over their win total of 6.5 by Week 13, edge out the Colts for the division crown in the final week of the year then batter a great Browns defense to the tune of 45 points in a wild-card win.

While that provides reason for optimism, it was just one year prior when the Jacksonville Jaguars followed essentially the same script in the same division, making a late run behind an improved coaching staff getting enough out of the team's young QB to win the division in the final week, then secure a wild-card win that had arrows pointing up heading into 2023. No two situations are exactly alike, so this isn't meant to be a buzzkill for Texans optimism, and it's not like the Jaguars massively underperformed last year with a 9-8 record either. But the most likely scenario for Houston based on what we've seen in the past from similar teams is stalling out at around 9-10 wins again this year rather than taking another big leap forward and entering the top tier of the AFC.

Of course, if you want to dream big with this team, the Texans' strength last year was its passing game, and it added another major piece to that unit with the acquisition of Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills, giving the Texans one of the best wide receiver trios the NFL has seen in recent years. If Stroud has more untapped potential and Houston can stave off regression in other areas, this team could surely surprise again. 

Below, we'll go through the futures and win total markets for the 2024 Houston Texans, sharing recently updated odds from major U.S. and Nevada sportsbooks as well as the SportsLine Projection Model forecast for each betting market. We'll then take a look through the schedule, share my power ratings line projections for every game and note any rest or travel advantages or disadvantages to remember. Then we'll examine the changes to the depth chart and what the effect of each could be, before wrapping up with our early forecast of what to expect from this team in 2024.

What are the key factors to consider before locking in Houston Texans futures bets? And how does the SportsLine Projection Model see the season going? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Texans betting strategy from the expert who's 636-534-34 on ATS picks from 2017-23, returning $4,899 to $100 players!