Houston Texans Tickets

The Houston Texans were supposed to be one of the surprise teams of 2008, but a devastating hurricane that damaged their stadium seemed to be too much to overcome.

The Texans had to take their bye in Week 2, which doesn't exactly make it very useful for a period of relaxing and healing after playing just one game. It also forced them on a long road trip to the start the season.

Houston still needs to figure out its quarterback situation, although it did get cleared up some this offseason. The team traded away backup Sage Rosenfels, who is now expected to compete for the starting job in Minnesota.

There is no doubt that Matt Schaub is more than capable of being a quality starter in the NFL, but there is a lot of skepticism as to whether he can stay in the starting lineup. Health has been a major concern, and there is no telling whether or not he can avoid missing substantial time each year.

The Texans did find a starting running back last year in rookie Steve Slaton, and you know they have plenty of talent at wide receiver with Andre Johnson. The question becomes whether or not they will have the quarterback under center to guide a young but talented offense.

The schedule shouldn't be a major problem for the Texans, as they have the honor of facing off against the AFC East and NFC West.

They also get to play Cincinnati and Oakland outside of the 14 games against the AFC East, AFC South and NFC West, a major advantage over many other teams.

Because the schedule is so favorable, you have to look at the Houston Texans as one of those surprise playoff teams in 2009.