The NFL season is a cruel mistress. My other love is baseball. There are 162 of those suckers, so no one in their right mind jumps to any conclusions after just two games. In a 17 game schedule, you are talking about nearly 15 percent of the total season. In baseball terms, that equals about 25 games. Suddenly, slumps take on new significance. Things that might seem like blips on the radar become trends. When you see them in both games then you have to take notice.
Unlike baseball, the NFL is a capped sport. Teams find it much harder to do course corrections midstream. Trades are also much less frequent. So, unfortunately you have to deal with what you have in house. This is particularly true as it pertains to the offensive line. We talked about the decisions that Nick Caserio made during the offseason. We can belabor the point yet again, but it is what it is at this point. You have a couple of second round backups and you could roll the dice on them. You also have Cam Robinson. That is pretty much the extent of what you have unless you want to roll the dice on Trent Brown being healthy.
The tight end room is pretty thin as well. You really only have two healthy ones. I would expect them to sign someone else to the practice squad at this point, but the odds of them playing meaningful plays is probably slim. Fortunately, it looks like Christian Kirk is finally ready to make his Texans debut against his old team. That leaves just one position group since the Texans aren’t making a change at quarterback.
Before we go too far into the ins and outs of that position and others, let’s take a look at the overall numbers through two games. We will look at a number of different numbers and you tell me what jumps out at you. I usually like to look at numbers like these before making any grand pronouncements.
* Points: 28 (32nd)
* Total Yards: 531 (28th)
* Rushing Yards: 198 (20th)
* Passing Yards: 333 (28th)
* First Downs: 30 (29th)
* Yards per play: 5.2 (18th)
* Passing Rating: 85.0 (23rd)
* Sack Percentage: 10.5 (29th)
At some point, there will be a referendum on the quarterback position. There has to be. You don’t pay a guy 60+ million per season without really looking at his performance. However, those kinds of decisions aren’t made after two games. We can surmise that the receiving situation will get better with Kirk back in the fold as well. So, that still leaves one group.
Both Caserio and DeMeco Ryans are well within their rights to play Joe Mixon’s health close to the vest. Reporters and commentators also have the right to keep asking what is going on. However, they must know what the likely outcome of that is. A world with Mixon, Nick Chubb, and Woody Marks as your tailbacks is a pretty darn good one. A world with just Chubb and Marks is not quite good enough.
Two things happened on Monday that cemented this state of affairs. First, the Texans decided to make Dameon Pierce a healthy scratch. It makes perfect sense. He only had a handful of carries in week one and did nothing. He also struggled mightily on kickoff returns. Once Frank Bush announced he would not be returning kicks, suddenly his spot on the 47 seemed dubious. In point of fact, his spot on the 53 man roster is probably in jeopardy. If it isn’t then it should be.
That leaves Dare Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale is definitely not worthless. If he isn’t the best special teams player on the team, he is easily on the short list. We saw how important special teams was on Monday night. So, I have absolutely zero issue with him being on the 53 man roster or the 47 man active list. I have a serious issue with him being on the field for any offensive play. He fumbled in one of his few attempts during week one and then turned around and got Stroud mauled on a blitz pickup. If you aren’t an effective runner, receiver, or blocker then what are you doing out there?
The answer is that there is no one else. For whatever reason, the club doesn’t feel comfortable putting British Brooks out there, so if it isn’t Marks and it isn’t Chubb than it has to be Ogunbowale. This is where they need to be honest with at least themselves. If Joe Mixon is only out for two more games then making a move makes a lot less sense. Just limp your way through. If he is missing more time (as is rumored) then this situation cannot continue as is.
The first half of the solution is the easy part. It is time to say goodbye to Dameon Pierce. I realize how harsh that sounds, but it is a decision we have been dancing around for over a year. We at BRB have been calling for that since training camp 2024. I understand that he had a great rookie season and has made a few plays here and there. The further and further we get away from that rookie season the less and less sense it makes to keep him.
The second part of that decision is the harder part. The list of free agent running backs leaves a little to be desired. There is seldom a time when it doesn’t at this part of the year. You could roll the dice on a Gus Edwards, Zack Moss, or Cam Akers or you can promote Jawhar Jordan. Jordan has looked good in training camp two years in a row and can’t seem to break into the final running back rotation. Realistically, he is not better than Chubb or Marks. He doesn’t need to be. He just needs to be better than Pierce and Ogunbowale. People have already listed Alvin Kamara, Jerome Ford, and Breece Hall as early season trade targets. Those three would likely be on the Chubb level, but at what cost? At any rate, there are options and if the Texans want to get this thing turned around, this is a tweak worth doing.
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