The Houston Texans’ offense has to catch up with its defense. They went 12-5 in 2025, won their Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and reached the Divisional Round before losing to the New England Patriots. While the defense ranked second in the league, allowing only 295 points, the offense was 13th, scoring 404.
Yahoo has placed the Texans in the tier just below the NFL’s elite teams. It has also noted a similar situation for the Chargers, where the offenses do not rise to the occasion on the biggest stages. C.J. Stroud is the biggest piece of the offensive puzzle. Houston knows there is more passing production available from him despite his stepdown in the 2025 season. The encouraging part is that offensive coordinator Nick Caley is entering Year 2 with Stroud.
The Texans need Stroud to become more consistent, especially on third downs and in games when the defense cannot completely control the opponent. For that, Houston has made moves to give Stroud more help.
The Texans traded for David Montgomery for the backfield, who joins Woody Marks, giving them a more experienced one-two punch. They also traded for Kayshon Boutte after Jayden Higgins’ ACL injury and acquired Nathan Thomas from the Cowboys while sending Jarrett Patterson to San Francisco.
Nico Collins gives Stroud a foundation, but the passing game needs more. The Texans need an offense that stops wasting the advantages created by a historic defense.
Injuries are Making Houston’s Offensive Margin Even Smaller
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Higgins was expected to have a major role after a promising rookie season, but his injury immediately created a hole behind Collins. Tank Dell will also miss the opening stretch and is eligible to return in Week 5. It makes the early season workload for Hutchinson, Noel and Boutte more important.
The offensive line has its own concerns. Braden Smith’s foot injury created uncertainty at tackle. As discussed earlier, the Texans offense was ranked 13th in the NFL with 3,956 passing yards, 232.7 passing yards per game and 341.6 total yards per
