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During the period from 1997 to 2001, the Oilers made plans to exit Houston, and went to Nashville; that was in 1997.  After that, most people, especially in the Houston area, thought professional football would never return.  However, a wealthy oil man named Bob McNair wanted to bring the NFL back.  Along with business partner Chuck Watson, they put a plan together to build a retractable roof stadium that the Houston rodeo would share with a future NFL team.  They did this with the belief that this would attract a franchise.

And it worked.  In 2002, the NFL returned to the city as an expansion team.  The Texans' first game was against interstate rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, shown in prime-time on September 8.  This was also the first game to take place at Reliant Stadium, the NFL's first stadium to have a retractable roof (a feature which has since become a hallmark of new NFL stadiums). To put the icing on the cake, the Texans became only the second team since 1960 to win their first-ever game, stunning the Cowboys in their 19-10 victory.

The Texans started their second season in grand style with their game against the Miami Dolphins. Houston stunned the Dolphins on the road 21-20, though listed as two-touchdown underdogs.  The Texans lost the next two games, but  took a dramatic victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Later in the season, the Texans performed admirably against league-leading New England Patriots. The Texans led most of the game, although New England squeaked out a victory at the end.

Houston's 2004 season got off to a slow start, as the team lost the year's first two games.  Facing the prospect of an 0-3 start, the Texans pulled it together to defeat the Kansas city Chiefs in Kansas City, 24-21.  Kris Benson put the final nail in the coffin with his 49 yard field goal with just seven seconds left in the game.  Houston beat the Raiders the next week and in the following game, forced an overtime against the Vikings, though the Vikings won it in OT by 34 to 28. Houston won the next two games and pulled to 4-3 for the season, but with three consecutive losses, their hopes of making the playoffs were dashed.

The 2005 season was a disappointment for Houston fans, starting right from the beginning. In their first game, the Texans were clobbered 22 to 7 by Buffalo.  Their home-opener was their second game of the season, in which they were also hammered.  This time it was Pittsburgh which punished them 27 to 7. Then there was another loss, and another. In fact, the Texans lost their first six games, as playoff hopes were dashed early in the year.

The 2007 season was a starting-over season for the Texans, in many ways.  For one, the team was exhorted to forget the previous year and move forward.  More importantly, they had a new coach—Gary Kubiak.  Nonetheless, the season began much as the previous one, with three losses. In their fourth game, the team won 17 to 15 over the Miami Dolphins. The Texans then loss in a big way to Dallas, with a final score of 34 to 6, but then the team came back home and defeated the Jaguars soundly.  In fact, they beat the Jaguars a second time and the Miami Dolphins once, in almost a clean sweep of the Sunshine State.

It was not enough, though.  When Vince Young and the OLD Houston Team (Now the Tennessee Titans) came to town, he helped win the game for Tennessee by 26b to 20 with his 39 yard run toward the goal in overtime.

Things looked a bit better at the start of the 2007 season.  The Texans had high hopes for their new quarterback, Matt Schaub, and the team started by beating Kansas City 20 to 3.  Mario Williams had a particularly strong game for Houston that day, returning a fumble recovery to score a touchdown. Schaub passed for a total of 225 yards.

Schaub was equally strong the next week, passing for 227 yard and achieving a pair of touch down passes.  The end result was a resounding defeat of the Carolina Panthers 34-21, on the Panthers' home turf.  This gave the Texans their first-ever 2-0 start.

It didn't last, though, as Houston lost their next two games. They then faced the win-less Miami Dolphins.  They beat Miami in a late-game rally, overcoming a 16-7 deficit and finally coming out on top by 22 to 19.  the key play was a 57 yard field goal kicked by Kris Brown just as the clock hit “zero.”

During the next three games, the Texans struggled a bit, thanks partly to Matt Schaub's hip and ankle injuries and not being able to play.  They did manage to beat Oakland with Sage Rosenfels as QB, and the next week, Schaub returned to win again against the New Orleans Saints, to 10. Houston lost the next two games, and after Schaub suffered another injury, this time to his shoulder, the Texans had to rely on Sage Rosenfels. Still, the team finished with a respectable 8-8 record—clearly the best the team had ever done.

The 2007 season understandably started with optimism, and for the first couple of games, that optimism was justified. The team won both of their first two games, giving them their second-ever 2-0 start. However, again injuries plagued the team—Schaub, Dunta Robinson, Andre Johnson, and Ahman Green all missing key games.

The 2008 season started as a bit of a disappointment, with the team losing their first two match-ups. First they lost to Pittsburgh 38 to 17 and then to their arch-nemesis, the Tennessee Titans , 31 to 12.  Because of Hurricane Ike battering Texas, the team was forced to play three back-to-back-to-back road games and finally coming back home in October.  That partially accounts for their straight losses.  Their first win came against the Dolphins on a touchdown run by QB Matt Schaub, with only three seconds remaining. The next week, they beat the Detroit Lions 28 to 21, and blew out Cincinnati the following week 35 to 6. This was The Texans' largest point win in franchise history.  They also set a team record for consecutive wins—four straight.

The team once again finished with an 8-8 record, again respectable, but the real story of the season was how much better they could have done had it not been for the hurricane, as well as the few team records they set.