Battle Red Blog
Well, that start to the season wasn’t exactly planned!
After flying into Los Angeles with the hype of half of Texas (or most of Texas) under their wings, the Houston Texans arrived at SoFi Stadium to play the Rams, and lost in a rather familiar fashion: allowing too much pressure on Stroud, too many penalties, and ending up with field goals on their best drives when they needed touchdowns.
It’s a bit of a deflating start to the season after so much focus on the offense as a whole, but it’s still only week one. This is going to give Texans skeptics all the ammo they need to send Houston plummeting down the ranking, though. So get ready: it’s time to find out where the Houston Texans are ranked entering week two of the 2025 NFL season:
14. Houston Texans (0-1) (Last Week: 13)
The Texans lacked explosiveness offensively in the opener, and they shot themselves in the foot with some big mistakes — two big turnovers and far too many penalties. They had 11 accepted flags, including a few big ones on defense and offensive penalties that erased short and medium gains. As a result, C.J. Stroud faced a lot of long-yardage situations, and the Rams were playing to prevent the chunk plays. You can’t really blame Stroud on his INT, but Dare Ogunbowale’s late fumble was absolutely brutal. It was first down, and the Texans were in no hurry; ball security has to be job No. 1 right there. Stroud had trouble getting the ball to Nico Collins all game. Afterward, the QB called out his team’s practice workleading up to the game. They’re a tough Bucs team away from an 0-2 start, although the game is in Houston.
16. Houston Texans (0-1)
Week 1 result: Lost to the Rams 14-9
Preseason ranking: 12
Best newcomer performance: RB Nick Chubb
Chubb ran well in his Texans debut with 60 rushing yards on 13 carries. Compared with the other newcomers, the former All-Pro running back made a noticeable impact on the game with two runs over 10 yards and a positive EPA on seven rushes, per NFL Next Gen Stats. As the Texans continue to mesh within new coordinator Nick Caley’s offense, having a reliable run game will ease the transition for quarterback C.J. Stroud.
19. Houston Texans (0–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: lost to Rams, 14–9
This week: vs. Tampa Bay
Here’s my question leftover from the weekend: was the Rams defense as good as I thought, or is the C.J. Stroud hangover just lingering a bit? My guess: a lot of teams aren’t going to show this Texans offensive line this much trouble. Look at how much work Stroud had to do on completions, nevermind the pressures that really affected his throws.
– Conor Orr...
