DJ Bien-Aime, ESPNO, October 23, 2024, 6:00 a.m. ET
CloseDJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July 2022 after covering the New York Jets. He is a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch the DJ on ESPN Radio on his show “Talkin’ Texans.”
HOUSTON – Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers was rooted in a career low for the Houston Texans, as their pass protection woes continued.
The Texans totaled 55 yards passing, a low for DeMeco Ryans, who is in his second year as their head coach. Sophomore quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for a career-worst 86 yards. It was a rare performance from Stroud, who averages 262.3 yards for his career, but has been sacked four times and was pressured on 48% of his dropbacks.
When asked if there would be changes on the offensive line to protect his franchise QB, Ryans said “everything is on the table.”
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“It needs to be fixed,” Ryans said. “I know how we run it and what we’re asking to do, and it doesn’t show up on tape. It’s not just one person, it’s the whole thing. So it’s just a complete offense from top to bottom. We’ve got to clean it up at the bottom.”
It’s been a theme all season for the Texans (5-2). Stroud has the third-most dropbacks (102) in the NFL, and has been sacked 20 times, tied for third.
Third downs are when the Texans’ blocking dips the most, as Stroud has been sacked 10 times (tied for second), and has been pressured 46 times — 10 more than the next quarterback — with a pressure time of 2.39 (third fastest).
However, Stroud has the most first downs on third downs (31) as the Texans rank 14th in third down conversions (40%).
“We have a lot of things to clean up when it comes to our defense, and it’s everyone getting involved — the O-line, the tight ends, the running backs. It’s everyone working together, being on the same page and just getting things done,” Ryans said. “We’ve had a few weeks where the same things hurt us multiple times, so we’ve got to fix it, from the coaches to the players in finishing and executing.”
With the Indianapolis Colts (4-3) traveling to Houston on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), this could be a crucial AFC South game at the end of the season. The Texans defeated the Colts, 29-27, in their opener, so a sweep against their divisional opponent would give them a cushion in the standings, but a loss would tie them up.
The Colts have applied pressure on 28% of dropbacks (third-fewest) this season, but in Week 1 against the Texans, they sacked Stroud four times.
“We understand we’re going to see some of those same looks, some of the weird looks that the front gave us for our offensive line,” Ryans said after the Week 1 win. “We just have to communicate better and expect the best.” “We have to put together film where we can handle that and handle it properly. Even though we were really good in the run game, the pass protection has to step up. There are too many times someone touched the quarterback, our quarterback yesterday, “This cannot happen.”
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked four times on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Dan Powers/USA Today Network
Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
Stroud has been hit 60 times this season on turnovers, tied for third, and the offensive line hasn’t shown on film that it can handle stunts from opposing defenses.
“[The Packers] Rush as one. “They have a lot of twisting up front, so the more twisting and turning, we just have to settle down a little bit and just try to work things out,” Stroud said. “But I thought they did a good job with their stunts. We just have to be better on defense, and I’ve got to be better at getting the ball out at the right time. It’s a lot of things.”
Stroud faced four unblocked pressures, one of which resulted in a sack, in the Week 7 loss, and on the year, he saw 19 unblocked pressures (tied for fifth-most).
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The Packers’ defensive backs were able to sit on routes because they knew the ball had to come out quickly. The receiving trio of Xavier Hutchinson, Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs combined for 34 yards on 12 targets, and none of them averaged more than two yards of separation, according to Next Gen Stats.
“I said during the week that we have a lot of horses in the stable,” said Diggs, who finished with 23 yards on five catches. “We’ve got to find a way to make it happen. There’s so much talent out there that we can’t have 55 yards–er, 86, whatever—it was. Excuse my language. We just have to play better.”
Houston was also playing without the NFL’s leading receiver heading into Week 7 in Nico Collins, where he is set to miss at least two more games after being placed on injured reserve.
But all is not lost with the offensive line. Running back Joe Mixon finished with 115 yards and two touchdowns against the Packers, and his 100.3 yards per game (in four games) ranks third in the NFL.
Mixon, in his second game back from an ankle injury that caused him to miss three games, and the rushing attack outperformed the passing attack for the second straight game. It’s not an ideal trend, but unless the offensive line can find ways to protect Stroud, this could be Houston’s reality.
“We just have to communicate better,” left tackle Laremy Tunsil said. “All five guys have to be on the same page.”
