Madden 22: Our 2021 NFL season sim results in some wild predictions

Houston Texans

8-9, 3rd place in AFC South

The Houston Texans are a train wreck. Poor roster decisions over the years and a quarterback facing allegations of sexual assault and harassment, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Houston this season, and I think an 8-9 record is actually generous.

The Texans have already stated that Tyrod Taylor will be the starting quarterback for Week 1, and likely for the foreseeable future. Madden 22 hasn’t gotten that notice yet, so Deshaun Watson played in the simulation. But it’s telling that even with Watson, the Texans failed to make the playoffs.

For those who actually care, if Watson had no surrounding issues, Madden would predict he throws for 4,244 yards and 28 touchdowns. I don’t think that’s happening this season. It’s more likely that he either doesn’t play at all, or he gets traded to another team.

There’s not much to talk about with the Texans in terms of this simulation. They aren’t a very good team and they lack star power. Their best receiver, Brandin Cooks, is projected to catch 76 passes for 906 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s about as exciting as it gets.

I think the Texans’ simulated record is a bit inflated due to the fact that Watson actually started which, in turn, somewhat impacted how the rest of the division records unfolded. That said, they still missed the playoffs in the simulation just as they will in real life.