The Houston Texans Offensive Operation Is Just That — Offensive

DeMeco Ryans told all of us after Sunday’s 17-10 abomination of a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that the Texans are “close.” Since there was no follow up question as to what exactly this slipshod operation is close to, I can only assume he means “close to becoming the winning team we thought we were getting during training camp.”

From a final score perspective, I suppose he isn’t lying. I mean, each game they’ve lost has been by a margin of a touchdown or less, and deep into the fourth quarter of each game, the Texans actually had a chance to go win the game. Obviously, they did not, not a single time. So there’s that.

However, for me, being “close” doesn’t mean they almost beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that was just as mistake stricken as the Texans on Sunday. Being “close” means that they are close to being a consistent winner, and make no mistake, with the operation that is Nick Caley’s offense, this team isn’t “close” to anything good.

Consider the actual facts. The Texans’ offense is last in the league in points scored. Not close to anything remotely good. Beyond that, the team has only made four trips into the red zone ALL SEASON. TRIPS, not scores. They are 0-4 on those four trips. I’m not sure what’s more embarrassing — not scoring on any red zone trips this season, or only getting there four times.

Indeed, the red zone, the area of the field inside the opposition’s 20 yard line, is adjacent to the end zone, where last I checked, points are scored. Thus, the Texans could not be farther away from whatever DeMeco Ryans sees them as close to.

In addition to the sheer numbers outlined above, here are two moments from Sunday’s loss, where the optics, execution, and decision making all point to an offensive coordinator, and perhaps a quarterback, who are in over their heads:

Final play of the 3rd quarter
On the stat sheet play-by-play, it’s a throwaway play, just a three yard run by Nick Chubb on 2nd and 5, near midfield, where the whistle blows and the clock runs with about 30 seconds to go in the quarter. This means that, with the clock running, the Texans can either run a play or take it all the way down to the end of the quarter. Watch what happens, and pay attention to the Texans’ huddle and how slow everything moves:

This is a distrubing sequence that flew under the radar on Sunday — clock running near end of Q3, less time on game clock than play clock, so taking it to the EOQ is fine. Texans clearly, though, wanna run a play. Fine. What’s NOT fine — (1) the play is VERY late getting called… pic.twitter.com/1sfSTZdQJn

— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) September 22, 2025

They clearly want to run a play, but by the time they break the huddle, there are less than five seconds on the game clock. They’re functioning like a team that was paying zero attention to the game clock. I’d have had no issue with them regrouping, and taking the clock to the end of the third quarter, for an important 3rd and 2, but they clearly wanted to run a play, but couldn’t even get lined up in 30 seconds!

4th-3 at HOU 33 yard line, 1:12 to go in Q4
This was on the final Texans drive of the game, just a few plays before Stroud’s second pick ended things. Here, Stroud hooks up nicely with Christian Kirk on 4th and 3 to keep the drive alive. Kirk runs the ball out to near midfield for a 1st down. The clock is running, but the Texans have two timeouts. Instead of using one, Stroud decides to spike the ball on 1st down to stop the clock:

Another small tactical thing here that just bugs me — CJ hits Kirk on 4th-3, AWESOME! GREAT PLAY! They have two timeouts and under a minute to go, near midfield. Why is THIS offense burning a down on a spike? They need ALL THE PLAYS THEY CAN GET! This is what timeouts are for!… pic.twitter.com/0ed8HG8ilv

— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) September 22, 2025

Why on earth the Texans would feel like wasting a down is a good idea, in stopping the clock OC, instead of, ya know, USING A TIME OUT, I have no idea. If any team needs to keep all four downs to run plays, it’s these Texans. It’s a little thing, and ultimately, the Jags committed a penalty to help move the chains, but that’s another move where, at the very least, the Texans don’t seem all that self aware.

We’ve got 14 more of these games, but I don’t know how many more we have to where I won’t break something after another Nick Caley-led fiasco on offense.

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