The Houston Texans are the NFL’s 11th-ranked scoring offense, putting up 24.3 points per game. Despite so, they are the NFL’s 30th-ranked first-quarter team, scoring 2.7 points per first-quarter.
Houston’s first quarter woes start from the beginning. They struggle to start in the first drive of games, not recording a touchdown once on the opening drive in 15 attempts, making them the NFL’s worst first drive team.
The Texans struggle early despite possessing an offense littered with starts. They have a Pro Bowl quarterback in Deshaun Watson, an All-Pro receiver in DeAndre Hopkins and a 1,000-yard rusher in Carlos Hyde. So why do they struggle?
Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly blames execution.
“I think each game is independent, let alone each year,” Kelly said on Thursday. “I think it is, it’s all execution, and that’s the frustrating part with it is because a lot of times it’s mostly a self-inflicted wound that ends up stalling the drive. Again, that’s something we’re going to focus on this week and hopefully we can come out and get some better results.”
Generally, the Texans start games as if they are hungover. Whether it’s a bad throw from Watson, a penalty on the offensive line or an errant turnover, Houston finds themselves in a hole they dug too often.
“Just, you look at it on tape and there’s a lot of things we could do better relative to our first drive of a game,” coach Bill O’Brien said on Thursday. “Sometimes it’s penalties, sometimes it’s missed assignments, sometimes it’s a TFL, a sack, maybe it’s bad play call. Whatever it is, we’re all in it together and we need to fix that.”
The Texans can’t go into the postseason with an inability to score in the first drive or first quarter. Though they have gotten by doing so, sitting at 10-5, that won’t cut it in the playoffs where every possession matters.
If Houston can’t fix their woes, they may see another quick postseason exit.