One of the most important developments for the Houston Texans throughout the 2025 season has been the necessary improvement of the team's offensive line, a group that was among the worst in the NFL during the 2024 season. It took a handful of offseason additions and a midseason rejiggering of the group for the Texans to finally get to the point where they believed they had the right group to pave the way for ball-carriers and keep quarterback CJ Stroud upright.
For the most part, this group has held up far better than anyone expected it would back in Week 1. The Texans have surrendered just 31 sacks in 2025 after allowing Stroud to be sacked 52 times during the 2024 season. Despite not having a true bell-cow back like they did in Joe Mixon during the 2024 season, the Texans have remained a middle of the pack rushing offense, in large part because of the work the big fellas up front have been doing.
But now, with just two weeks left in the regular season and the Texans just one win (or one Indianapolis Colts loss) away from clinching a postseason berth, a pair of injuries could potentially derail any semblance of momentum Houston's offense, and specifically, Houston's offensive line, has accrued throughout the long regular season.
In a 23-21 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Texans starting tackles Aireontae Ersery (hand) and Trent Brown (knee) were both forced to exit with injuries, forcing Tytus Howard back to right tackle, Blake Fisher into the left tackle spot, and Jarrett Patterson into the void at left guard that Howard's move to right tackle created.
Fortunately for the Texans, having a player like Tytus Howard, who has been a starter at every position along the offensive line except for center, makes these impromptu transitions much easier to manage.
“I’ve been preparing for that moment every week. “Even though I’ve been playing guard, I’m always taking tackle reps because I know at any given moment, I gotta go back out there and I gotta be ready,” Howard said after the game, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 Houston. “We’ve got guys that’s gonna step in like Jarrett and play some good football. Blake came in and played well for us, too. You’ve always gotta be ready in this league. You never know what’s gonna happen. I’ve been preparing my whole career, my whole life for moments like that in the game to step up and help the team.”
All things considered, the Texans handled the adversity pretty well, especially considering they had All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby to deal with all afternoon. CJ Stroud wasn't sacked once, a nice change of pace from last season, but Houston's ground attack left a lot to be desired.
“The main thing is we couldn’t run the football,” Ryans said postgame after Houston was limited to just 3.2 yards per carry. “We didn’t control the line of scrimmage how we needed to control the line of scrimmage. They got a lot of negative tackles for loss, knocked us back a few times and we didn’t run the ball well."
Not having rookie running back Woody Marks was at least partially responsible for Houston's inability to run the ball, and the pair of injuries to Ersery and Brown didn't help matters. But this is a problem the Texans will need to solve, and quick, if they hope to make a deep postseason run.