Every week, the Battle Red Blog staff get together on Discord and chat during the Texans game, offering conversation and brief analysis of the team as they grind through another game. One expression that has become a mainstay on the chat is “C.H.U.M.,” which is an acronym for “Carlos Hyde Up the Middle.” This acronym came about during the Texans 2019 season, when then head coach/general manager Bill O’Brien seemed determined to jam Texans RB Carlos Hyde straight up the middle of the field nearly
every other play on offense, much to the exhaustion of the writers of the Blog. They sought some comedic relief from this frustrating playcalling, and thus, the word CHUM was born. This acronym has continued to be used in the chat to describe practically any uninspiring Texans rush, detaching itself from the player Carlos Hyde and now becoming a generalized term unto its own. CHUM was used to express displeasure in many runs by David Johnson, Rex Burkhead, Dameon Pierce, and more. But, at least to me, CHUM has begun to shed its hard shell, and is now developing a more positive connotation thanks to the growing frequency of impressive runs by rookie RB Woody Marks.
Woody Marks, a rookie back drafted in the fourth round (116th overall), has seen his role grow week by week as the team realized RB Nick Chubb wouldn’t be a viable cover to Houston’s Joe Mixon-shaped hole on their depth chart. Chubb is still a tough runner to bring down, but he unfortunately does offer the juice that Mixon had in 2024. So, after the first few games of the regular season didn’t go Houston’s way, Marks began to get more opportunities, and he took full advantage of the attention. After a breakout game in week four against the Tennessee Titans that led to Houston’s first win of the 2025 season, Marks would receive at least 30 snaps in nearly every game afterwards, finishing the regular season with 196 carries for 703 yards (3.6 Y/A) and 2 rushing touchdowns, as well as 24 receptions on 36 targets (66.7 Catch%) for 208 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. He rushed for more than 60 yards in 8 of 12 games he had 10+ carries, and had his first game of the season with 100+ rushing yards in the wildcard round against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now, these aren’t the most gaudy numbers for a rookie tailback, I’m not saying that if you’ll squint you’ll see RB Christian McCaffrey, but…Marks has become a bit of an x-factor for the Texans. From his big runs against the Jaguars in the comeback win, to his big-time runs that pushed the dagger into the hearts of the Kansas City Chiefs, to his complete performance against the Steelers most recently, Woody Marks has often been Houston’s best playmaker when the game hangs in the balance. With Marks on the field, and this Texans offensive line lining up against a slightly less threatening Patriots defensive line, I find myself thinking that he may end up being the unlikely star of Houston’s first divisional round win in franchise history. But, before we go into detail on how I suspect Marks will attack the Patriots, let’s give some preface on the defense he’ll be facing:
The Patriots defense is a group of very well covering, disciplined, and multi-purpose athletes that rank near the top of the league in turnovers and tackles, and near the bottom in big plays given up and penalties taken. They’ve improved on defense coming into the playoffs thanks to DT Milton Williams returning from injury, and had a field day against the Los Angeles Chargers in the wildcard round. Even though they rarely used the cover 0 defensive scheme during the regular season, the Patriots used it most frequently of all teams in last week’s wildcard round, dialing up heavy pressure on the Chargers’ severely unprepared offensive line and holding them to just 3 points. Unfortunately, Houston’s offense has often struggled to handle that coverage (-0.1 EPA per drop back vs. cover 0).
Although, Houston’s offensive line (as evidenced by last week) is not nearly as bad as Los Angeles’, so I expect the Patriots to dial back their pressure a bit and play a little more coverage. New England actually ranks in the bottom half of all teams in both sacks and pressure rate, and have rather been winning on that side of the ball through solid coverage and excellent tackling from nearly all players on their roster. They rank dead last in the league in missed tackles with only 71 on the season, so it’ll be challenging for Houston’s skill position players to get extra yardage anywhere. In their stadium, and potentially in the snow, the Houston Texans are going to have to earn every inch of each of their offensive drives. So, how is Woody Marks going to attack them? Well, to put it simply: exploding through the holes made by his offensive line!
See, despite all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Patriots DTs Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, they are the heads of a run defense that has still shown a little air between the tackles. Now, they looked great against the run last week against the Chargers and have fared better against opposing tailbacks when Williams is on the field, but the Patriots defense still gave up over 100+ yards on the ground in 9 games this year. When Williams is effectively blocked or double-teamed, opposing RBs are able to attack New England’s defensive backfield, delivering body blows to their linebackers and safeties. The Texans may be able to wear down the Patriots’ defense in the first half, and then really deliver them to the offseason with the same sort of long, grinding drives they executed in Pittsburgh in the second half. Will Houston’s o-line and tight ends be able to open these rushing lanes for Woody Marks all game long against the Patriots like they did against the Steelers? Well, it depends on who you ask, but after last week’s blocking palooza, I’m willing to ride the hot hand and trust in Houston’s blockers to get the job done.
Woody Marks was great last week, but the blocking in front of him may have been the most surprising revelation. C Jake Andrews, RG Ed Ingram, RT Trent Brown, and even TE Dalton Schultz shredded the Steelers vaunted defensive line, giving Marks and Nick Chubb wide open holes to gash Pittsburgh on early-down runs. Stopping the run had become the Steelers’ specialty over the last month of the regular season, making Houston’s success on the ground in that matchup even more impressive. In fact, Houston’s dominance in this aspect of the football game was the impetus to this article; it caused me to change my tune on what I believe will be Houston’s key to victory against the Patriots. For much of the season, I’ve been calling for Nick Caley to let Stroud throw more and dictate the offense, but right now, I want them to run the ball down New England’s throat. Houston may have been the little smashmouth team that never could for the majority of the season, but that Steelers game laid bare the fact that they’ve clearly turned a corner, and I’m willing to table my immutable love of CJ Stroud to ride the ground game until the wheels fall off.
Marks may not be the bruising tailback that many want him to be, but his aggressively fast rushes often result in big collisions with linebackers or safeties, and he’s no stranger to dishing out punishment. Another layer of his game is beginning to rear its head, too: the outside zone run. As Houston’s offensive line has developed more experience zone blocking, they’ve shown more success getting Marks rushing lanes that he can exploit. Just take a look at this:
It’s only a modest gain by Marks, but look at all the leverage these lineman are getting at push up to the right side! If Marks would’ve stayed behind some of his blockers, there’s no telling how many yards he’d get. He’s had plenty of success with rushing schemes like this in college, as well, so it’ll only be a matter of time until he’s killing opponents with runs remarkably similar to this one. But, it’s not just zone-blocking, of course. The Texans are still primarily a gap-based rushing team, and looked excellent clearing holes for both Marks and Nick Chubb last week:
And, I just have to show this play. Look at Texans LT Blake Fisher just push Steelers LB T.J. Watt (with a little help from Dalton Schultz) out of the way for his tailback. This is the second quarter and on a drive where the Steelers are getting gashed by the Texans line and need a stop before it’s too late. This is the moment T.J. Watt, one of the league’s very best defensive lineman, makes a play to keep his team in the game. But, against Fisher and a chip from Schutlz, he was blown off of the play, allowing Marks to get the edge on him and surge upfield for a 20-yard gain:
This doesn’t feel like the “normal” Texans team we’ve been cheering on all season. This doesn’t feel like the Texans team that couldn’t punch it in inside the five yard line over and over again. Once I saw this line pushing T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, and Derrick Harmon around, I knew something had changed. This is a team that has players blocking well individually, blocking well in tandem, and throwing their shoulders around like its nothing. And, to complement that, the Texans have a punishing rookie back in Woody Marks that can hit the hole in a hurry and seems to only get better as time goes on. There’s no telling how long this hot streak will last, but I’m going all in on it, baby! Woody Marks and the o-line in front of him are hitting their stride at the exact right time, and it will be by his legs that Houston will break the glass ceiling and get to their first conference title game in franchise history.
Gimme another 100-yard performance from Marks, and if he can’t do it, let the other x-factor running back give the Patriots a scare: RB Jawhar Jordan. I know I just spent this entire article talking about Marks, but Jawhar Jordan’s return to the healthy lineup could mean another weapon in the backfield for the Patriots to struggle against.
Go Texans!!!
