How much of a solid did NFL schedule makers do for the Houston Texans? Try the fact that the AFC South champions won’t have to travel any further west than their home city in 2020.
Because the Texans do not play the NFC West, Arizona, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are off the list. Similarly, because their same-place finisher is the Kansas City Chiefs, who are in the Central Time Zone, the Texans won’t have to adjust to any jet lag.
Coach and general manager Bill O’Brien appreciates the Texans missing out on racking up extra frequent flyer miles.
“It’s all got to play out, like I always say, but I do think that not having to travel as much as we did last year hopefully will help us,” O’Brien told Texans TV’s Drew Dougherty on Thursday.
In 2019, the Texans traveled to London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars and earned a 26-3 win in Week 9.
“I think that the London travel game, we went over there, our operations people did a great job for that game,” said O’Brien. “We were able to win the game, but that’s not an easy trip.”
Earlier in the season in Week 3, the Texans had a comeback win against the Los Angeles Chargers that improved Houston’s record to 2-1 on the season. They traveled to Baltimore in Week 11, losing 41-7, but made up for their trip to coastal cities with a 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16.
In fact, the Texans have a string of eight consecutive early games from Weeks 3-11 that only see two trips in the Eastern Time Zone.
“Being able to get into a routine I think is a great opportunity for our players to be ready week in and week out,” said O’Brien.
If routine is one of the keys to success, then the Texans should be able to unlock a few victories in 2020.
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