Houston Texans: Evaluating The Position Groups – Offense
By Bob Dove
The Texans offense was an anchor in the first half, and not in the good sense. It was a drag that limited the team’s potential and disappointed Texans fans.
The Texans offense, to date, is an example of the whole being worse than the sum of its parts. In the second half some group must show significant improvement to take pressure off the others so they, in turn, can reach their potential. I have two candidates for that.
The most logical is quarterback. Brock Osweiler must improve all the skills mentioned earlier in this post. Can so many shortcomings be improved so quickly? Probably not, but recognizing defenses and putting the Texans into the right play would be a good start.
However, if the quarterback position is not the first to improve all is not lost. The receivers can get the ball rolling by getting open. If receivers are consistently open Osweiler can worry less about accuracy and the pass rush and focus on other aspects of playing quarterback.
If the Texans are in the right play…not the safest play…but the play with the most potential and the receivers get open everything improves. The offensive line plays better because they are blocking the right people, the ball is getting out faster and the play is attacking the defense’s weak point. The running backs exploit the pass conscious defense.
That sounds so easy. Recognize the defense, be in the right play, set the protections, get open, block the right guy, run to daylight. The really good quarterbacks and the really good teams make it look easy. For Brock Osweiler and the Texans at best it’s a work in progress.
The good news is that in the first half the Texans won every game they projected to win. If they do the same in the second half they will win the AFC South. However, there’s bad news, too. The Titans are improving, the Colts just beat the Packers, and surely Jacksonville can get all that talent pointed in the right direction at least once, hopefully not against the Texans.
Repeating the first half offensive performance won’t get the job done. The offense must get better or be ready to watch the Titans in the play-offs. Yes, those Titans. The Titans with the punishing running game matched against the weakest part of the Texans defense. But analyzing the first half defense is for the next post. Stand by.