[anyclip-media thumbnail=”” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIGRhdGEtcGxpZD0iZzQydW10dDJncnp1ZXEyeG52ZnRld2xjbTV5aGs1enoiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMyNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]
When the Houston Texans started the 2023 season 0-2 with losses to the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts, it seemed as if Houston’s NFL franchise would be nothing but an interesting footnote with new head coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud. Coming off a 3-13-1 2022 season as they had, the Texans went all-out in the draft, taking Ohio State’s Stroud with the second overall pick, and trading up to select Alabama pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr. with the third overall pick. Ryans and general manager Nick Caserio also made some interesting free-agency moves, and took Houston speed receiver Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, but in those first two games, the Texans still looked worlds away from competitive status.
What a difference a couple of months can make. The Texans have won five of their last seven games since that 0-2 start, Ryans and his staff seem to have multiplied and maximized the efforts of just about every player on the roster, and Stroud has graduated from a college quarterback with some question marks about his NFL potential to one of the best quarterbacks in the league, regardless of tenure.
Stroud is the force multiplier for the Texans in conjunction with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, but is this team good enough to get to the playoffs and make noise there? Houston has had one of the league’s tougher schedules this season, and they close out the 2023 regular season with games against the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos, NEw York Jets, Tennessee Titans, and the Colts. So, it’s a legitimate question, and when you look at the Texans’ entire squad, there’s more than just Stroud to talk about. In truth, the Texans are performing over their projections at just about every position, and they’re doing so with a lot of players you may not even know.
“For us and our team and where we are, we’re still just grinding one week at a time,” Ryans said Monday, one day after his team beat the Cincinnati Bengals in a 30-27 last-second thriller. “Really focused on us and focused on getting better. From our game yesterday, I really loved the fact that everyone contributed to the win. I think that’s the most impressive thing to me about that game. True team win. Everybody stepping up, everybody made a play. If you were up in that game, you made a play, and that’s the cool part about our team is that it doesn’t matter who is out there, we expect everyone to do their best, play to the best of their ability, play fast, play physical, and that’s what you saw from our entire team yesterday.”
More and more, it’s what we’re seeing from the Texans week in and week out as things come together for them.
So, it’s time to focus on the feature question: Who are these guys, anyway, and why are they winning all of a sudden?
It’s about more than the quarterback.