Houston Texans are last in NFL in yards per game entering Week 18

Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

It hasn’t been the best season on offense for the Houston Texans in 2021.

With only one game left in the 2021 NFL season, the Houston Texans offense took a huge step backwards this season as they are last in the NFL in yards per game and rank near the bottom in other stats for the entre NFL.

Granted, the Houston Texans are in the first year of a rebuild, but with injuries and indecision at quarterback, a rushing game that is one of the very worst in franchise history, a defense that is hit-or-miss this season, and being a team that is terrible in the second half, especially the third quarter this season, it is expected they are where they are on the stat totals.

A positive for the Week 18 is this is the final week and game for the Houston Texans for 2021, and though this season has been tough to watch, there is still a chance the Texans can at least improve on their overall numbers, but they will still most likely finish in last for total yards and yards per game on offense.

This season in 16 games played the Texans have 4,374 yards on offense, with an average of 273.4 yards per game. Just above Houston are the New York Giants at 4,703 total yards, an average of 293.9 ypg on offense.

The Texans aren’t last in passing yardage as they have 3,016 total passing yards with most of the passes by Davis Mills and Tyrod Taylor. The Chicago Bears are last in that category with 2,941 total passing yards in 16 games, averaging 183.3 yards passing per game, while the Texans are at 188.5 passing yards per game average.

None of these numbers are much to brag about for the Texans from the Mills and Taylor duo of ’21, but they are what they are, and with Mills being just a rookie, he needs more time to hone his skills, and a second offseason with the Houston Texans will improve his overall abilities.

Houston Texans: Rushing game needs to improve tremendously in 2022

One thing about the Houston Texans’ offense is they need to be so much better at running the football next season. The Texans are 32nd in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 84.9, as the Miami Dolphins are just ahead of them at 85.8 ypg rushing.

The Texans have 1,358 yards rushing as a team this season and leading the team going into the final week of the regular season is Rex Burkhead. If it was said Burkhead would finish the ’21 season as the leading rusher on the Texans at the start of the season, there would have been a room full of laughter.

Burkhead has impressed as of late, and maybe he’s earned a second short-term contract with the franchise for the ’22 season. Also remember the Texans at the start of the ’21 season had three running backs in David Johnson, Mark Ingram and Phillip Lindsay all on the roster, and all are former 1,000-yard rushers in a season.

That sure wasn’t the case this season with the Houston Texans as Johnson has been a huge disappointment since joining the team via the DeAndre Hopkins trade, while Lindsay and Ingram are no longer on the team.

So much can be said about the offense of the ’21 Texans, but averaging as little yards as they have this season, plus just no consistency in games, has been a big part of their downfall this season.

Things can hopefully improve next season, but right now, entering Week 18 against the Titans, the Texans could be in store for one more tough day of offense as Tennessee tries to seal up the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, while the Texans try to finish with some sort of positive as their season ends this Sunday.

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