Battle Red Blog
Down for the count, tied for last in the AFC South at 0-2 with the Tennessee Titans, the Houston Texans are in desperate need of a get-right game. The first two games against NFC playoff teams were a real shock to the system, and now the Texans will seek their first win against a familiar opponent: the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Since quarterback C.J. Stroud and head coach DeMeco Ryans joined the Houston Texans in 2023, they’ve kept the pesky Jaguars under control. They’ve gone 3-1 against Jacksonville, with Stroud passing for seven touchdowns and averaging a passer rating over 110 while facing them. Such a small sample size of games should be taken with a grain of salt, though, especially considering the elephant in the room: the current state of Houston’s offense.
Between penalties and head-scratching sacks, the Houston Texans offense has generated only brief spurts of movement downfield. Largely relying on great routes by their wide receivers or the occasional 6-10+ yard rush by their running backs, the Texans are clearly still a work in progress in offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s scheme. Wide receivers Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson, and tight end Dalton Schultz have tried their best to make up for an inconsistent ground game, but points have still been exceedingly difficult to come by.
This pitiful state has dumbfounded many Texans fans, including myself, who were expecting a snappier offense. Maybe it’s the high rate of pressure in the pocket Stroud is still receiving, maybe it’s a result of a poor rushing attack, or maybe it’s just Stroud himself, but whatever it is, it has every other Texans fans theorizing in their armchairs about what is really going on with the offense.
While the answer likely resides somewhere in the middle of all of the theories, the Texans can make those claims all moot by unleashing the offense against today in Jacksonville. But, how will they do that? What will need to change to get this show on the road? Well, out the many, many avenues to curing a stagnant offense, I can think of four paths Houston can take today in order to get the offense back on track:
One major evolution to the offense that doesn’t require any schematic changes will be the return (or the arrival) of Christian Kirk to the starting lineup. Kirk missed the first two games due to a hamstring injury, but he will now suit up for his first game in battle red…against his former team.
Besides the added emotion of a revenge game, Kirk’s speed, savvy, and knowledge of the opponent will provide the perfect compliment to Nico Collins’ outside-receiver acumen. As a slot receiver in an offense that steals notes from Sean McVay’s and Josh McDaniels’ schemes, Kirk should expect to receive a hefty amount of targets in his first game of the 2025 season. He may not be the x-factor superstar like Tank Dell was in 2023, but...
