Battle Red Blog
It is not all gloom and doom for Houston. For all the negatives, the team has some major positives as well.
To be a Houston fan is to expect the worst. Somehow, some way, whatever the most heartbreaking outcome you can imagine happening, double it and that will probably be the case. We need not recount the history of pain for being a Houston sports fan. We’ve already recounted the potential worst for the Texans. Yet, being a “realist” means that while acknowledging what can go wrong, you acknowledge what can go right. How might things work out in 2025-26? A few ways:
The offensive line, maybe not the modern 1980’s Hogs, but consistently adequate: No secret that the biggest weakness for the Texans last season was the offensive line. The interior could not hold off anyone, the tackles were somewhat adequate, and it was mainly due to the talents of Stroud, Mixon and Collins that the Texans’ offense played as well as they did. Few were shocked when players like Mason and Green got jettisoned (cut and traded respectively). A few eyebrows got raised with the Tunsil trade, but the cap hit plus some less-than-ideal play made it a bit more palatable. The replacements…you can say a number of things, from experienced to questionable. Hard to see at first how the current lineup will quickly gel and evolve into the next great O-line.
Yet, the reported toxicity of the O-line unit as a whole called for massive purges and new blood. Given the potential and capabilities of players like Stroud, Mixon and Collins, all that is really needed is for the O-line to not suck. For example, if they replicate the performance of the 2023 line, which after a horrid first two game (allowing 11 sacks, umpteen QB hits and not great run blocking), they would only allow 27 more sacks the rest of the season, that portents good things. If the O-line can show competency, then there is a lot of offensive potential for the Texans. If they can go beyond basic competency, especially in interior blocking, then the sky is the limit for this squad.
The new offensive coordinator unlocks God-Mode Stroud: We know what CJ Stroud can offer at this best. However, we didn’t get to see that often last season. The issues with the O-line we’ve already noted. You could also point to a bit of a sophomore slump (some of those insane non-INTs from his rookie season would regress to the mean). Yet, a major factor was also the inflexibility and issues with how OC Bobby Slowik ran the offense. In particular, he was quite persistent in sticking with the original game plan, even as teams adapted to his schemes and attacked those weaknesses.
Nick Caley is noted as being more flexible with his offensive designs, borrowing from his time in New England and Los Angeles. Stroud is already raving about the opportunity that this system will allow for him to take more direct...
