Football did not look easy for the Houston Texans against the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday.
That’s not to say that NFL playoffs should be that way even for the best teams, especially the playoffs. But Houston couldn’t even get its offense going at times against Indianapolis. CJ Stroud was running for his life, especially in the first half, when he was pressured on 71.4% of his downs. One of his offensive players, former first-round left guard Kenyon Green, was benched. And the Texans almost gave up a 10-point lead they had midway through the third quarter.
“I’m happy to come out with a win,” coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game, “but there’s always going to be things to clean up.”
However, when did Ryans & Co. what should they worry about?
As the Texans enter their Thursday night game against the New York Jets, they are 6-2 and on the fast track to making the playoffs for the second year in a row. But they didn’t look like a team equipped to impress in the division stage last season. They certainly aren’t the juggernaut they were made out to be in the offseason after the many moves they made to strengthen the system around Stroud.
Losing star receiver Stefon Diggs to a season-ending ACL injury doesn’t help the cause — more than the fact that leading receiver Nico Collins will miss at least one game on injured reserve while dealing with a hamstring problem.
Houston is 4-0 against teams .500 or better, including a season sweep of Indianapolis. But it’s 2-2 for clubs with a winning record. One of those carts came with the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams, who was making his second career start. The other was against the Buffalo Bills, where the Texans scored 17 points in the second half and needed a 59-yard field goal as time expired to win.
Five of Houston’s six wins have been decided by six points or less. What wasn’t was a 20-point win over the 2-6 New England Patriots in Week 6.
The Texans are currently 15th in the NFL in point differential of plus-9, the worst mark among AFC teams currently in the playoffs. The last team to make the Super Bowl with the lowest point average for an entire season was the 2011 New York Giants, who ranked 19th in that regular season (and beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI). Long story short, putting out solid wins throughout the season has not historically been a recipe for success for championship-caliber teams.
Houston’s biggest problem has been execution.
The Texans are the fifth most penalized team (61 on the year). The offensive line was credited with 22 penalties alone, according to NFLpenalties.com – 12 Pro Bowl regulars to left tackle Laremy Tunsil, five to Green, three to right guard Shaq Mason and two to right tackle they faced Tytus Howard.
Adding to the woes of the forwards: They did a terrible job defending Stroud, who has been sacked 22 times this season, third in the league. The Texans were pressured on 29.2% of their downs, second-worst in the NFL, and were pressured 93 times overall, also second-worst, according to Pro Football Reference.
“As we go along, we’re going to continue to evaluate our offensive line and see where our guys are at,” Ryans said.
Running back Joe Mixon had to carry the offense – and it worked. In his three games since returning from the sprained ankle, he has rushed 63 times for 319 yards (5.0 yards per carry) and four touchdowns. This season, he is averaging 100.6 rushing yards per game, which ranks third in the league.
Ryans’ pass rush was also bolstered by Will Anderson Jr.’s rushing tandem. and Danielle Hunter, both ranked among the top four in quarterback pressures through the first eight weeks of the season, according to Next Gen Stats. They are the only two partners in the top 15.
Even with Diggs out, the Texans should be good at receiver, too. Collins is expected back soon and Tank Dell, who has had a slow start to the year, should see an increase in targets. He was rushing for over 1,000 yards receiving as a rookie last season before breaking his leg.
The truth is Houston still has the talent on both sides of the ball to make a deep playoff run.
“I’d just say we’re confident, stay aggressive, and I think we can do a better job of getting seven.” [points] and not three and scoring touchdowns in the red zone. I think that’s a big thing,” Stroud said of the Jets’ preparation on a short week. “I feel like we can continue to run the ball very well. I think that’s big for us and our passing plays have been going really well. We can work on our dropback pass and stuff like that.
“There are many things you have to learn to get better.”
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was a coach Titans beat the writer for a year and a half. He covered us Seattle Seahawks of SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) before moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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