The Houston Texans lost in the worst way possible this past Sunday night. Despite a 16-point lead in the first half and five turnovers in the game, they lost to the Detroit Lions on a last-second field goal.
That left them on the wrong side of history as just the second team since 1970 to lose despite having five picks and a lead of at least 15 at the half.
C.J. Stroud put the loss on himself after throwing two picks, one that would have gone for a touchdown to Tank Dell. Ka'imi Fairbairn also missed a field goal near the end of the fourth quarter right before the game-winning drive from Detroit.
While those players will continue to say they dropped the ball, others are placing the blame at the feet of Bobby Slowik. The second-year offensive coordinator raised some eyebrows when he had a questionable take on the team's second-half struggles. That brought his play-calling into question, which is exactly where Chris Simms says the blame should be.
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Simms, who played for three different NFL teams from 2003 through 2009, says that Slowik is using a scheme similar to Kyle Shanahan. The problem is that he's using the "entry-level" portion of the playbook.
“It’s the Shanahan scheme, but it’s like the early, entry-level of the Shanahan scheme,” Simms said while discussing the Texans' offense under Slowik. “Now there needs to be more to it and a next level and a next group of plays.”
Unbelievable breakdown: @CSimmsQB on Stroud and Texans:
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) November 12, 2024
"It's the Shanahan scheme but it's like early, entry-level Shanahan. There needs to be more to it...we've yet to see that."
"Defenses have figured out how to expose them on how they block certain looks and trick them." pic.twitter.com/xIWgb5Vt4U
Simms said the Texans could help themselves with more pre-snap motion and formation usage. He said they have shown this at times but haven't been aggressive enough.
He also said the pressure on Stroud has a lot to do with their scheme. Simms broke down their "slide protection" and how teams are using this strategy against them to get after the QB.
While admitting Stroud has struggled, Simms added that he's still "really damn good" and his porous statlines are a product of the scheme.