New heights. Those two words have been a key component in DeMeco Ryans' articulating his aspirations for the Houston Texans, as a franchise, in 2025. He uttered those two words multiple times in press conferences in the days following the team's divisional round loss in Kansas City. Ryans framed these "new heights" as, at the the very least, an appearance in the AFC Title Game, which would literally be new heights for the organization. They've never been to one before.
Of course, the ultimate goal is winning a Super Bowl, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, and then having six million of us get crazy drunk at a parade sometime in mid February. That's the highest of heights in the NFL, and it's a height that a dozen NFL teams have yet to scale, the Texans obviously being one of them.
On the list of 12 teams to never win a Super Bowl, there are some sure fire contenders, teams like the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions, both of whom have been to a conference title game in the last two seasons. There, of course, are teams like the Cleveland Browns, against whom I feel comfortable betting that they won't win a Super Bowl in my lifetime (and I plan to live for several more years!). Here is the full list, along with their odds of winning a Super Bowl, according to Fanduel:
Buffalo Bills +700
Detroit Lions +1000
Cincinnati Bengals +1800
Minnesota Vikings +2200
Houston Texans +2500
Los Angeles Chargers +2600
Arizona Cardinals +4400
Atlanta Falcons +6000
Jacksonville Jaguars +8500
Carolina Panthers +11000
Tennessee Titans +23000
Cleveland Browns +31000
While there will be fans and media in some cities that disagree, I feel like the Texans can be the team that removes themselves from this list in 2025, and wins a Super Bowl. So let's take these on, one at a time, and come up with a good reason, in a sentence or two, why the Texans will win their first Super Bowl, sooner rather than later, ahead of these other 11 forlorn franchises:
Buffalo Bills +700The Texans actually play the Bills on Thursday Night Football in November, but if you recall, they DID beat the Bills last season at home. Josh Allen won league MVP in 2024, despite having the worst game of his career at NRG Stadium in Week 5.
Detroit Lions +1000The Lions were the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC, with a 15-2 record in 2024. That said, they came to Houston for Sunday Night Football, and should have lost. The Texans coughed up a 23-6 halftime lead, only to lose, 26-23. The Texans are an improved bunch from the ones the Lions beat on a last second field goal in 2024.
Cincinnati Bengals +1800The Bengals have one of the most formidable offenses in football, with perennial MVP candidate Joe Burrow pulling the trigger. However, their defense was already a sieve last season, and now their best player, Trey Hendrickson, is threatening to skip the season. Bengals are way overrated.
Minnesota Vikings +2200The Vikings did beat the Texans in 2024, but that was with Sam Darnold as the quarterback. This placement on the odds board shows a lot of faith in new QB J.J. McCarthy, who's never taken a snap in a regular season game. For different reasons, but like the Bengals, the Vikings are overrated.
Los Angeles Chargers +2600The Texans took the Chargers to the woodshed in the playoffs last season, beating them by 20 points, and intercepting Justin Herbert more times in that game (four) than he'd been picked off the entire regular season (three).
Arizona Cardinals +4400Is there a team with a more generic, off-the-grid identity than the Cardinals? The only thing that makes them interesting is their QB Kyler Murray, and generally that's not for good reasons! I'm still wondering why J.J. Watt signed there in 2021.
Atlanta Falcons +6000Michael Penix, Jr. is entering his first full season as the Falcons' starting quarterback, They have some interesting weapons, but their defense is about as flaccid a unit as the "before" pictures in a Viagra commercial.
Jacksonville Jaguars +8500Since 2018, the Texans have beaten the Jaguars 12 out of 14 games, and in Jacksonville, the Texans are 7-0 over that time frame. The Jags should be more focused on winning more than five games this season than getting to a Super Bowl.
Carolina Panthers +11000Poor Bryce Young. If the Texans had just gotten the No. 1 pick in 2023, he might be the quarterback in line for a $200 million contract next offseason. Yeah, the Panthers are basically the Jaguars with cooler colors.
Tennessee Titans +23000Sorry, Tennessee. Somewhere in that Zombie Oiler carcass that you embody, the DNA of a playoff failure and choker exists. You're going nowhere.
Cleveland Browns +31000This video should make all the points we need for the Browns versus the Texans:
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