NFL Week 7: Texans at Seahawks — Four Things to Watch For

If the Houston Texans’ trip to Seattle to play the Seahawks tonight feels unfamiliar, there’s a good reason for that. It’s because, as a result of a scheduling quirk which had Seattle come to Houston in back to back visits in 2009 and 2013, the Texans have only played two games IN Seattle in the franchise’s history.

The first one was in 2005, when a winless Texans team, playing on Sunday Night Football, got their clocks cleaned, 42-10, by a Seahawks team that would end up making the Super Bowl that year. The second one was in 2017, one of Deshaun Watson’s finest performances in a rookie season with several fine ones, in which he threw for 402 yards in a 41-38 loss. The worst part about that second loss was that Watson would tear his ACL in practice a few days later, and the 2017 season Was sunk.

At 2-3, after two wins in a row, the Texans are trying to put themselves back amongst the playoff caliber teams in NFL conversations. If we are using overall point differential as a measuring stick, the Seahawks (2nd in the NFL) and the Texans (4th) are two heavyweights. This is a real opportunity for the Texans to fully win back the fan base after their 0-3 start. Let’s give you a few things to watch for:

4. Momentum carryover?

The Texans’ 2025 season boils down pretty simply to— they started with three close losses, done in by their own mistakes and offensive ineptitude, and they’ve followed up with two super convincing wins. The caveat on the wins, of course, is the caliber of competition, the Titans and the injury-riddled Ravens. So, is momentum a real thing? Texan fans are hoping so, especially on offense, where C.J. Stroud has engineered 11 scoring drives in just over four quarters of football the last two games. The hope is that seeing and experiencing success might generate some confidence for Stroud and the offensive line. More on them in a moment….

3. Facing a Kubiak

On the defensive side of the football for the Texans, they will be going against a scheme (and surname) that is very familiar to Texans fans. Longtime Texans head coach Gary Kubiak’s son Klint is the offensive coordinator for the Seahawks, and the scheme they run may as well be genetic. The Texans have been excellent in defending play action this season, so they’ll need to continue that trend, because the Kubiak system is built on establishing the run and then killing you downfield with deep shots off play action. In our Texans 2012 offense comparisons, Sam Darnold plays the role of Matt Schaub, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba plays the role of Andre Johnson. So, let’s go there….

2. Stingley vs JSN

Smith-Njigba, a college teammate of C.J. Stroud at Ohio State, and a fellow 2023 draftee, has rapidly developed into one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL. Coming into Week 7, Smith-Njigba was the league leader in receiving yards, with 696 yards. He is the head of the snake that is the Seahawks offense. This is one of those “this is why we are paying Stingley $30 million” kind of games. Stingley should be following Smith-Njigba around all night, regardless of where the Seahawks standout lines up. This will be the most fun matchup to watch. 

1. In the trenches 

The most important matchup, though, is the Texans’ offensive line against the Seahawks’ defensive line. There is no getting around it, this is amazing major step up in weight class for the Texans’ offensive line compared to the last two games. The Seahawks’ defensive line is deep, big, and talented. They don’t blitz very much, and they are stout against the run. I would expect the solution to the Texans’ need to stay in favorable down and distance situations will be a lot of short passing, although the absence of Christian Kirk (hamstring) will make that element tougher to execute.  

SPREAD: Texans +3

PREDICTION: Seahawks 23, Texans 20

SEASON RECORD: 2-3 SU, 2-3 ATS

The post NFL Week 7: Texans at Seahawks — Four Things to Watch For appeared first on Houston Press.