Where do the Houston Texans stack up in FPI rankings following their bye week and ahead of the matchup out west against the Los Angeles Chargers?

Since there was no evidence of a win or loss last week with the team resting, the Texans remained idle at a 1.5 Football Power Index (FPI) rating from ESPN, which ranks 15th in the NFL. Last week, Houston was ranked No. 14 in the FPI index with a 1.5 rating after losing in overtime to the New York Giants thanks to a walk-off touchdown run.

According to ESPN, the FPI is "a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season.

"FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 10,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule."

So, with that background in mind, here's how the league's 32 teams stack up based on ESPN's FPI ratings heading into the Texans' Week 9, which marks the beginning of the second half of the 2026 NFL season.

NFL FPI rankings

1. San Francisco 49ers: 5.9

2. Kansas City Chiefs: 3.5

3. New England Patriots: 2.4

4. Dallas Cowboys: 1.7

5. Houston Texans: 1.5

6. Minnesota Vikings: 0.3

7. Pittsburgh Steelers: -0.0

8. Los Angeles Chargers: -2.3

9. Indianapolis Colts: -2.4

10. Las Vegas Raiders: -2.6

11. Atlanta Falcons: -3.9

12. New York Jets: -3.9

The Texans return to the field this Sunday for what feels like a must-win game over the winless Chargers. The Bolts, who lost to the Los Angeles Rams in a crosstown rival game, currently rank 19th in the FPI ratings with a -2.3 index.