How can the Texans cash in?
Stroud’s TD pass to Schultz a good model for unpredictability in the red zone
The Texans practiced for the final time Tuesday before they took off for the next four days with no game this Sunday.
Then it’s back to the grind as they prepare for their next game against the winless Carolina Panthers on Oct. 29
With a third of the season complete, the Texans are 3-3, and second in the AFC South with a legitimate chance to win the division.
They’ve outperformed most expectations. But there are clear areas they must improve upon, and you all had questions about that.
Any time you have a question for this mailbag, which appears online every Wednesday morning, send me an email at Jonathan.alexander@houstonchronicle.com or message me on X, formerly known as Twitter, @jonmalexander. On to your questions: Q: How can the Texans improve their red zone/goal-line run game. It feels like we take too many chip shot field goals because we can’t run it in from within the 5-yard line? — @ChilscuttsDeep
JMA: The best way to improve their red zone and goal-line run game is to continue to mix it up and not be predictable.
That will ultimately help with goal-line runs when opposing teams stack the box with 11 defenders. The Texans did that on their first touchdown drive in the first quarter against the Saints.
I went back and looked at the film and the Texans ran nine plays inside the Saints’ 10-yard line, not including field goals. Here’s what happened: Play 1: The Texans had first-and-goal from the 4-yard line with 3:54 left in the first quarter. They ran an end around with wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson, which gained three yards.
Play 2: The Texans had second-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Saints stacked the box with all 11 men, perhaps expecting a run. The Texans lined up in a goal line formation and ran a play-action fake and C.J. Stroud found tight end Dalton Schultz in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown, giving them a 7-0 lead.
Play 3: The Texans were facing a third-and-3 from the 5-yard line with 10:38 left in the second quarter. They lined up in an empty set shotgun formation. It looked like Noah Brown flashed open briefly, but everyone else was tightly covered.
Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders and defensive end Cam Jordan ran a stunt, which allowed Saunders to get some pressure in Stroud’s face, causing Stroud to scramble and buy more time for his receivers. The Saints’ defense covered the Texans well. Stroud tried to fit in a pass in tight coverage to Brown before the pressure gets to him, and his pass was incomplete.
Play 4: The Texans were facing first-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 4:28 left in the second quarter. They lined up in a goal-line formation with all three tight ends, including two on the left side, and fullback Andrew Beck as the lead
blocker. The Saints stacked the box will all their defenders again.
They ran it to the left behind Beck. Defensive tackle Malcolm Roach got a good push on right guard Shaq Mason, pushing him into the backfield and forcing Pierce to run left. Linebacker DeMario Davis pushed Beck into Pierce, forcing him to slow down and try to get around them before he was wrapped up for a 3-yard loss by safety Tyrann Mathieu and Cam Jordan.
Play 5: The Texans were facing second-andgoal from the 5-yard line. The Texans lined up in a single back formation with three receivers split out and tight end Schultz. The Saints stacked 10 in the box. The Texans ran an outside run to the right. Cam Jordan got a good push on right tackle George Fant, which caused Pierce to try and cut back and change directions.
Pierce avoided defensive end Carl Granderson on the cut back. However, he ran right into Marshon Latimore, who came from the other side of the formation and managed to bring Pierce down for a 1-yard loss.
Play 6: The Texans were facing third-andgoal from the 6-yard line. They ran an empty set with three wide receivers, a tight end and a running back split out wide. Woods, who was split out to the right, ran a slant route to the middle of the field. He was wide open and Stroud found him for the 6-yard touchdown.
Play 7: The Texans had first-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 7:56 left in the third quarter. They ran an empty set. The Saints crowded the line of scrimmage. When Stroud received the snap, Granderson came off the left edge unaccounted for, with a free pass to Stroud. Stroud threw it quickly to Schultz, who was running a slant route, but threw it a little too high. It was incomplete.
Play 8: The Texans had second-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Texans lined up in another goal-line formation. This time they tried an inside run with Pierce. Rookie defensive tackle Bryan Breese beat Fant to the inside and got a good push on the Texans right tackle. Meanwhile, tight end Teagan Quitoriano, who was lined up to the left, was unable to get a solid push on Granderson, who pushed past him and hit Pierce three yards behind the line of scrimmage for a loss, along with Breese.
Play 9: The Texans had third-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The Texans lined up in an empty set, with four wide receivers split out wide, and a running back.
Woods motioned, and flashed open in the end zone but Stroud later said he didn’t see Woods. Stroud tried to look for his other reads, but Jordan got pressure on Stroud forcing him to run out of the pocket. Stroud got free and kept his eyes down field. He tried to throw on the run to Brown, but missed him. Woods was in the back of the end zone, too.
“The red zone one, I couldn’t see far back in the end zone, so I tried to stop him with the ball,” Stroud said. “And he did a good job by just keep rolling, because he didn’t know it was behind him. It’s just communication, talking about it, getting those reps at practice when things don’t go well.”
It seems like a matter of execution on some of those plays against a good Saints defense. On all the negative runs for Pierce, a Saints defender got into the backfield and disrupted the play. Credit the Saints defense. They get paid to make those plays, too.
Q: Do you think Pierce doesn’t fit in Houston’s offensive strategy or does he need time to adjust? — @the_advisor_btc
JMA: I wrote about this last Sunday. I don’t think it’s that he doesn’t fit their offensive strategy, it’s just taking more time than they had expected. Going from a gap, powerrunning scheme to an outside zone scheme was an adjustment.
As Devin Singletary explained to me, it takes time learning it.
Singletary already had the experience running an outside zone scheme, so he knew how it worked. The outside zone scheme does typically look for fast runners, and Pierce is a power back.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t adjust to it. It will just take patience.
I also don’t think all the blame should be placed on Pierce.
There were times Sunday, as outlined above, where the Texans allowed a blocker to get into the backfield and stop him for a negative run. The Saints were good.
“When you’re starting outside zone, it’s a pretty simplified read for the
back. The defense dictates where you go,” Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik told the Chronicle. “A lot of time in gap scheme, you can predetermine where you go, and just go hit it.
“It takes a while to free yourself and just go run. I think (the running backs) did a good job in camp getting to a point where they felt comfortable with that. Now you’re in season and every week you’re going against different structures, different fronts. In camp, we went against the same defense every time.”
“The detail and the feel of that takes a little time. I think Dameon has progressed every week.”
The first half against the Saints, was the best the Texans had looked all season. The Texans are getting continuity on the offensive line. And barring anything crazy happening over the bye week, they should play with the same offensive line for the third week in a row when they play the Panthers.
That’s something to look forward to. But it’s going to take patience.
Q: What (does) Houston need to become a real contender? — @the_advisor_btc
JMA: Honestly, I think it’s experience and depth.
Many of their key players this year are young guys who haven’t played in the playoffs. I think this Texans team can get to the playoffs this season. While the Jaguars are playing well, I think they are beatable.
Having said that, to become a contender and go far in the playoffs, they need more experience and depth.
This year, they went out and signed key pieces like safety Jimmie Ward, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, Schultz and Singletary, who are all making plays.
But it’s a long season, and as we saw earlier this year, injuries will happen. The Texans will need more and that takes time.
Nick Caserio said something interesting at his press conference on Tuesday. The Texans will get four days off for their bye week. But after that, there will be no days off for the next 11 weeks.
That’s where depth comes in. And while the Texans have done a great job of maintaining while some of their better players have been injured, it’s clear that there is a drop off in talent when it does happen.
I also don’t think you can have enough wide receivers. Adding another dynamic playmaker with speed, would make this Texans offense even more dangerous.