The Houston Texans may have fired coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, but the club has still taken a tumble in the power rankings.
According to Doug Farrar from the Touchdown Wire, the Texans dropped from No. 24 to No. 27 in the latest NFL power rankings.
When your run defense is the worst in the NFL, and your pass defense allows Kick Cousins to put up a 127.1 passer rating, and quarterback Deshaun Watson can barely break the pocket without getting killed by 3-5 defenders, your best strategy is to *checks notes* run the ball as much as possible. The Texans gained 96 yards on those 26 carries, Watson ran the ball just five times for nine yards, and when it comes to O’Brien, the things he’s not doing well are adding up precipitously. That’s why the Texans are basically out of contention after 25% of the regular season has passed.
Assistant head coach Romeo Crennel will stand in for O’Brien through the rest of the season, at which point the Texans should have their choice of bright offensive minds — Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, and Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll among them — who would be more than happy to work with Deshaun Watson and a talented group of receivers. Finding a general manager willing to deal with a barren draft landscape after O’Brien’s trades might be a bit more complicated.
The Texans’ immediate challenge is an AFC South showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday at noon CT at NRG Stadium. Houston seeks their first win of the year and of the Crennel provisional coaching regime.
The Tennessee Titans dropped all the way from No. 9 to No. 32 because they had some COVID cases. The Jaguars moved up just one spot from No. 24 to No. 23. The Indianapolis Colts moved up from No. 10 to No. 8.