The Houston Texans' 2011 preseason schedule will begin on prime time in front of a national audience with an ESPN Monday Night Football matchup against the New York Jets at Reliant Stadium on Aug. 15. It will mark the third consecutive year that the Texans have hosted a nationally-televised preseason game and the sixth time in the franchise's 10 years of play it will be featured on a national broadcast in the preseason.
The remainder of Houston's preseason schedule includes a home date against perennial preseason foe, the New Orleans Saints (August 19-21), and road games against the San Francisco 49ers (August 26-28) and Minnesota Vikings (Sept. 3-5).
The Texans and Jets have played five times in the regular season, including a game that was decided in the last minute during the 2010 season at the New Meadowlands Stadium, but the teams will be meeting for the first time ever in the preseason on Aug. 15.
Houston will then take on the Saints for the fourth straight year and fifth time ever in the preseason. The preseason series is even at 2-2, with the Texans last winning 31-27 in New Orleans in 2008. The Texans and Saints also will square off in the regular season in New Orleans, marking the sixth time Houston will face an opponent during the preseason and regular season. Houston also faced Tampa Bay (2003 and 2007), Dallas (2010), Denver (2004) and the New York Giants (2002) twice. Houston is 2-3 in those regular season rematches.
The preseason road schedule opens with a trip to San Francisco for the first-ever preseason meeting against the 49ers. Houston last visited San Francisco in the 2005 regular season finale and the teams last met in the 2009 regular season, with Houston coming out on top, 24-21.
Houston closes out the 2011 preseason in Minnesota against the Vikings. The teams have met only once in the preseason, a Monday Night Football affair in 2009 at Reliant Stadium. All three meetings between the two teams (two regular season games) have been decided by seven points or less.
Specific dates, times and television participants of all preseason games will be released at a later date. The NFL will release the Texans' 2011 regular season schedule later this month.
