The Houston Texans’ run game appeared to be the driving force for the offense in the 26-7 win over the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 14 in the first preseason game.
The Texans generated 170 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries. Against the Dallas Cowboys amid a 20-14 win on Aug. 21, Houston could only muster 89 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. The Texans were even worse on third down, going 0-10 in the process.
Coach David Culley told reporters before Monday’s practice at Houston Methodist Training Center that part of the reason why the rushing attack appeared to regress was due to what they wanted to see.
“I think that was more so of how we went into the approach of the game, to do some things differently on offense that we had not done before,” Culley said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with the fact that it was who we were playing. It just had something to do with the things that we were calling and what we were trying to see.
“We were trying to get the ball in certain people’s hands. We wanted to see certain guys in certain situation. [Offensive coordinator] Tim (Kelly) called the game to kind of evaluate some of our personnel.”
Mark Ingram was a notable running back who did have a good outing with seven carries for 24 yards and a touchdown. On the Texans’ opening drive, which began with a sack-fumble that was recovered at the Dallas 23-yard line, Ingram converted a fourth-and-1 and later scored a 2-yard touchdown.