The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of Week 1:
Meet the new offense, same as the old: The offensive line faced consistent pressure, forcing Stroud to move around and throw the ball off-schedule. Even when he wasn’t under a ton of pressure, Stroud had an uneven game throwing. When Stroud got sacked, he lost a LOT of yards (37).
The team struggled to execute in the red zone and failed to score in the second half. Also, injuries deprived the team of key contributors, especially in the passing game. The defense kept this game within distance, but the offense couldn’t get it done. So, what changed again? Yes, the Rams’ defense had something to do with that, but for a fanbase desperate to see new and improved, they got a lot of old and recycled. Of course, it is Caley’s first game as play-caller. He has 16 more games to show better flexibility/adaptability than his predecessor.
Road penalties. It is a feature, not a bug: Ryans’ teams play with passion and fire. The hitting in this game, especially with the Texans defense, was fierce. That passion can be an asset…but also a liability. The Texans have been among the league leaders in penalties since 2023. In particular, those flags flare up on the road. Facing a favored team on the road is tough enough. it is even more difficult to beat those teams when you keep drawing flags. A combination of over-aggressiveness and lack of focus results in a lot of work for the refs. In this game, it was 11 flags for 80 yards, to include some momentum-killing acts. Not that it was all home-cooking, as the Rams got flagged 7 times for 60 yards. It was one thing when Houston did this in the 1st year of the Ryans regime, but this is year 3.
Struggling with the new kickoff rules: Kickoffs were the best part of Houston’s day. On the opening kickoff, the Rams succeeded in getting the ball to hit within the landing zone, and Houston returners allowed it to bounce into the end zone. They were forced to take the touchback, but a quirk of the rule is that a ball that hits in the landing zone and bounces to the end zone only comes back out to the 20. Houston lost a lot of field position and suffered accordingly. Then, later in the first half, Fairbarin overkicked the ball, leading to it sailing one yard deep into the end zone, where the Rams player smartly knelt down. This time, since the ball flew directly into the end zone, it resulted in a touchback at the 35. The Rams took the gift of field position and leveraged that into a TD. Houston’s kick coverage was a bit inconsistent, surrendering 30 yards a return, not including a massive return from the Rams called back due to a hold. Special teams is a strength of Houston, but between some uneven performances in the preseason and this game, you wouldn’t be wrong to worry about kickoffs.
Let’s not sell the Rams short: There has been plenty of ink/computer strokes expended on the Texans’ performance in this game. However, don’t forget that the Rams are a fairly solid team here. They still have elements from their Super Bowl LVI winning team (Matt Stafford, Sean McVay), they have an emerging defense and they have some weapons like Puka Nacua. They were but two long Barkley runs away from the NFC Championship last season and expect to be in the mix in the NFC this season. They are taking this as a hard-earned win, but certainly they have their own issues to consider. This was an under the radar matchup, and while it lacked some style points, you saw two teams engage in a defensive slugfest. Would’ve been better quality than the blowout that CBS subjected the nation to in the Detroit/Green Bay matchup (just saying).
About those TEs. Coming into this season, I was keen on seeing what improvement we might get from the TE position. The verdict: Fair to middling. Dalton Schultz offered early hope, with two receptions for 1st Downs. However, he finished the day with but 3 catches. Cade Stover logged the most receptions on the day (4), but for a mere 22 yards. However, the bad news came after the game, when it was revealed that Stover broke his foot. Schultz is now the only TE currently on the active roster. Luke Lachey and Harrison Bryant are the two options on the practice squad. (Note: The Astros medical staff best not have had any interaction with the Texans at any time).
FUN WITH NUMBERS
7: Straight losses to NFC West teams on the road: It is a good thing that Houston doesn’t have to face the NFC West all that often. Especially on the road, as it really, really doesn’t go all that well. The last time that the Texans won a game on the road against an NFC West team was December 20, 2009, when they beat the then St. Louis Rams 16-13. That win is the ONLY road win the Texans have against a NFC West squad (1-10) Houston gets another chance to snap a 16-year drought when they go to Seattle later in the season.
8.3/66 yards: Average number of penalties/yards assessed on Houston in their 3 season openers. Houston has opened on the road every season of the Ryans’ regime. The locations: Baltimore (where Houston has never won), Indianapolis (usually a difficult place for Houston), So-Fi Stadium (against a tough Rams team). There is something to be said for early-season struggles, and that you see more flags then, but for the Texans, it is all too common. They exceeded the 9 penalties from the Baltimore game but didn’t lose quite as much yardage (88 in 2023 vs. 80 2025). Only 5 flags for 30 yards at Indy in 2024, but the excessive road flags have to stop.
GAME BALLS
LB Henry To’oTo’o: He flew around the field, hitting hard and making an impact. 6 total tackles (2 solo), 1.0 sack and 1 PD. He wasn’t perfect (the unnecessary roughness penalty on Nacua on a 3rd down play that kept a drive alive). However, he was part of a defense that played well enough to win.
P Tommy Townsend: 4 punts, averaging 52.0 a kick. On day where the Houston special teams played unevenly (allowing 10.5 yards on a punt return and struggling on kickoffs and kickoff coverage), at least Townsend could help flip field position.
SHOULD BE FORCED TO LISTEN TO ALL THE ASPIRING SCRIPTWRITERS WORKING CONCESSIONS AT SOFI STADIUM GIVE THEIR DETAILED PITCHES FOR THE NEXT FRANCHISE OF LIVE-ACTION CATS MUSICALS
RB Dare Ogunbowale: For a player that normally makes the big play to help Houston win games, this one was not part of that highlight reel. On the final Houston drive, Ogunbowale had a catch and run for 16 yards. The next play, Stroud found Ogunbowale for a solid gain inside the Rams 18. However, the Rams LB Landman knocked the ball out of Ogunbowale’s hands, which LA recovered and ran out the clock. This was only the 2nd fumble in his 9-year career, but it is a switch from the clutch plays that he normally provides the team.
HC DeMeco Ryans: Excessive number of penalties, players complaining, and a yuck offense/O-line. Ryans will take the hit for that list of criteria. Only one game, but this game was there for the taking for Houston. You hope that this doesn’t come back to bite the Texans. The vibes are still positive around Ryans, but if the team stumbles into the bye week with a losing record, the boobirds will make their appearance.
With that, Houston falls to 0-1. They get some extra time to prep for their home opener, a Liberty White show down with another NFC playoff team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on Monday Night, September 15th at 7:00 CDT (found on ABC/ESPN).
