Who do the Texans play next? Houston Texans' divisional schedule explained

The Houston Texans are one of the surprise teams of the 2023-24 NFL season. They will be appearing in the NFL divisional round after a statement wild card round win over the Cleveland Browns. The Texans annihilated the Browns 45-14, advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs.

Houston's rebuild is going way better than anyone expected, with DeMeco Ryans' side going from league laughing stock to AFC powerhouse seemingly overnight. Hence, with the Texans passing the "Joe Flacco test” in flying colors, let's look at their potential opponents in the next round of the 2024 playoffs.

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Houston Texans to face either Baltimore Ravens or Kansas City Chiefs in Divisional round

The Houston Texans are the fourth seed in the AFC Conference. Hence, there are two opponents they could face in the divisional round. They are:

Ravens (No. 1)

According to league playoff rules, the number one seed faces the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round game. Hence, if the Buffalo Bills (No. 2) and Kansas City Chiefs (No. 3) win their respective wild-card games, Texans will go to Baltimore to play the top-seeded Ravens.

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins in their wild-card matchup, so only a Pittsburgh Steelers win over the Bills can prevent Houston from a crunch matchup against the AFC leaders Baltimore.

Chiefs (No. 3)

In a scenario where Mike Tomlin's Steelers beat the Buffalo Bills in their wild-card round game, the Houston Texans would travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. This chain of events is because a win over Buffalo will make Pittsburgh the lowest remaining seed in the AFC.

That will pit the Steelers up against the No. 1 seed Ravens, pitting C. J. Stroud's Texans and Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs in a mouthwatering divisional round game.

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Should Texans fans expect another MVP-caliber game from C. J. Stroud?

C. J. Stroud is fresh off arguably the finest playoff debut appearance from a quarterback in NFL history. Stroud didn't play like a rookie on Saturday, as he regularly carved up the Browns' defense and made the more experienced team look like total newbies.

Stroud racked up a stat line of 274 yards and three touchdowns while posting a 157.2 passer rating against the Browns. This performance was instrumental in his team winning on their first foray into the postseason since 2019.

However, Houston Texans' fans should temper their expectations ahead of the divisional round. The Texans will face one of the two best quarterbacks in the league in the divisional round game.

Houston is relatively inexperienced compared to Kansas City and Baltimore, so it might be unfair to put too much on the shoulders of Stroud. Texans fans should enjoy the ride and back their team to put up a decent showing in their next postseason game.