NFL Power Rankings Week 2: Where are the Texans now?
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:
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.
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.
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.
Chris Shula was in his bag all afternoon against Houston. Every stunt and pressure looked like a carnival. pic.twitter.com/QYsL6oOuBt
The Houston Texans offense expectedly looked out of sorts.
Guard Ed Ingram didn’t suit up because of an abdominal injury. Left tackle Cam Robinson and center Jake Andrews suffered injuries; the former returned, but the latter missed most of the second half.
The Texans could be in trouble if the coaching staff has to keep moving bodies around across the offensive line.
On top of that, their top running back, Joe Mixon, is on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and they have a first-time offensive play-caller.
17. Houston Texans (16): Their defense, anchored by DEs Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., should be one of the league’s best and looked the part Sunday. But how long can it compensate for an offense, one that didn’t find the end zone in Week 1, with this many prevalent issues?
The Texans’ issues shouldn’t be surprising. They have a bad offensive line, and aside from Nico Collins, are thin at the skill positions. Houston’s defense is very good, but it might not matter that much if its offense can’t block or make any plays in the passing game.
The Texans made one of the surprise moves of the offseason, hiring Nick Caley as offensive coordinator to replace Bobby Slowik. The Caley era didn’t exactly begin with a bang. Houston’s leading receiver, rookie Jayden Higgins, had just 32 receiving yards. The Texans went 2-for-9 on third downs. This defense is great, but the offense? Not a good start.
Unfortunately, it looks like the Texans took a serious tumble into the teens, going as far as 19th on a few power rankings. The trepidatious feelings towards the Texans have started already in week one, where they didn’t start cropping up in 2024 until Houston’s loss to the Green Bay Packers in week seven. So, the Texans are off to the antithesis of a hot start by the power rankers’ perspectives, but there’s still remnants of belief in their new-look offensive line.
And there should be, too! This is only the second week of the long NFL regular season, it’s far too early to leap off the bandwagon now. The oasis awaits, but first, the offensive line must gel as soon as possible before their upcoming matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bucs defensive tackles Vita Vea and Calijak Kancey could eat the Texans’ interior line alive if they aren’t careful, so big things will be expected of center Jarrett Patterson as he fills in for an injured Jake Andrews.
What do you think, though? Will the Texans get their line on the same page in time for this suddenly more dire week two matchup, or are we still in for an even bumpier ride? Let us know down in the comments below!
