Give credit to the Houston Texans this past offseason in recognizing the urgency of their problems on offense under former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. The offense had become predictable, stale, and looked like they had no clue what to do, at times.
So the Texans brought in a lot of “new” in the offseason. New offensive coordinator. New offensive line coach (or a promoted from within offensive line coach, at least). Four new starters on the offensive line. We were told things would be different. Fundamentals would be king! C.J. Stroud would be the maestro of this offense at the line of scrimmage.
On Sunday afternoon, under the shadows of the HOLLYWOOD sign in Los Angeles, we got the “season premiere” of DeMeco Ryans Era, Season 3, featuring the Texans’ new fangled offense, but if the debut of said offense is any indicator of how the rest of the season will go, I really don’t feel like binge watching this debacle.
Sure, the Texans were competitive, with a chance to win the game late on Sunday, but a Dare Ogunbowale fumble short-circuited any chance of a comeback, and the Rams made enough plays to survive.
Final score — Rams 14, Texans 9.
As always, there were winners and losers in this game, some very, VERY evident. Here is the list for the Week 1 loss:
WINNERS
4. Ka’imi Fairbairn
How can the guy who scored all nine of your points not be on the winners list? I say that somewhat tongue in cheek, but Fairbairn was mirroring his early season performance from last season, when he made kicking field goals of more than 50 yards look like child’s play. On Sunday, the field goals came from 51, 45, and 53 yards, so there were no chip shots among them. Good job, Fairbairn.
3. Texans’ defense overall
Look, this is a good Rams team, with two elite receivers, one of the better running backs in football, and a likely Hall of Fame quarterback (whose back injury was way overblown). Holding them to 14 points is an accomplishment. Forcing a turnover with four minutes left in the game, deep in Texans territory, gave the Texans’ anemic offense a chance to win the game. If that’s the effort the Texans get every week, they should win their fair share of games.
2. Puka Nacua
One thing they didn’t do well, though, on defense was account for Nacua, and his extreme “middle part of the field” playmaking ability. Nacua caught a few passes in the first half, and it felt like he paid for it every time. He even went into the tent to get checked for a concussion at one point. However, when the Rams needed Nacua the most, he got matched up on Jalen Pitre and cooked him on a 3rd and 8 to seal the game.
1. Matt Stafford’s herniated discs
Stafford’s back was one of the bigger topics throughout the NFL in the offseason, so much so that when it was revealed that Stafford was needing epidurals just to feel right, I did lots of deep dive research on epidurals. (It takes a lot for me to “deep dive research,” but when an opposing quarterback is injured, that’s definitely above the threshold.) Stafford finished the afternoon with 245 yards passing, no turnovers, and most importantly, an impressive 7 for 13 on third downs.
LOSERS
4. Nico Collins fantasy owners
Five targets, that was it for one of the best wide receivers in football. Collins ended up with a stunningly invisible afternoon, with just three catches for 25 yards. Say what you will about Bobby Slowik, but the one thing he did was find ways to get the football to Nico Collins. This was depressing, especially if you started Nico Collins in fantasy football (which you still should do every week).
3. Dare Ogunbowale
I feel awful for Ogunbowale, who was voted a captain this past week by his teammates, not just for his leadership, but his attention to detail, his consistency, and his ability to avoid mistakes. Unfortunately, he made the biggest mistake fo the game, allowing Rams linebacker Nate Landman to punch the ball loose on a run after catch, just as the Texans were getting into the Rams’ red zone.
2. Texans team discipline
One thing that excited me about the hiring of Caley as the team’s offensive coordinator was his background as a position coach, tight ends coach to be exact. As a position coach, as opposed to a running or passing game coordinator (which was Slowik’s background), you get your hand dirty teaching the nitty gritty stuff. Typically, I would expect a coach with this background to put out a more fundamentally sound product. Instead, Caley’s offense contributed more than their fair share of penalties to an 11 penalty (for 80 yards) effort. Disgusting.
1. Nick Caley
Indeed, in the end, Caley’s first game as offensive coordinator will not be remembered fondly. They were 2 for 9 on third down, and Caley made several questionable play calls and personnel decisions in game. (Why is Dameon Pierce touching the ball ever?) Caley has got to get this thing figured out, because for the first time in a postgame press conference, C.J. Stroud was rumbling about the offense’s practice habits and overall sloppiness.
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