Nick Caley Gets Bye Week Evaluation From Texans General Manager Nick Caserio

As the Houston Texans regroup during their Week 6 bye, there are practically no unanswered questions about the team's defense. By any measure, Houston's D has been as dominant as expected. But on the opposite side of the ball, where the Texans made wholesale changes during the offseason, plenty of questions still linger even after a month of football.

The main one -- the one that will define just how much success the Texans may end up having this season -- is how quickly the offense can adapt to new offensive coordinator Nick Caley. Caley, who had been on the offensive staffs of both Bill Belichick in New England and Sean mcVay in Los Angeles, was expected to arrive and immediately boost Houston's offense from the middle of the pack, which is exactly where they resided under previous OC Bobby Slowik.

Unfortunately, the Texans have yet to make meaningful strides on this side of the ball. Check the two tables below and you'll probably be surprised by how similar the offensive numbers have been this year through five games and where they were under Slowik in 2024.

Now check out the 2024 Houston Texans offensive numbers:

This doesn't paint a picture of a team that's necessarily heading in the right direction on the offensive side of the ball. However, Texans general manager Nick Caserio does seemed pleased with the way Caley has commanded the offense through the first five weeks of his OC tenure.

Nick Caserio Offers Praise For Nick Caley, But Cautions That There Is Still 'A Learning Process'

Although Caserio's evaluation of Caley -- as you'll soon see -- is mostly positive, he was mindful enough to acknowledge some of the early struggles and note that ups and downs were expected as the first-time offensive coordinator eased his way into the position with a team that doesn't necessarily have the sort of firepower on that side of the ball that you'd ideally want.

“Anytime any of us are put in the position for the first time, you're going to have to deal with some ups and downs. It's a learning process. We've all been there. I've been there," Caserio said of Caley, per Jeremy Brener of Sports Illustrated. "Nick is going through it. You look around the league, there's a lot of coaches that go through that. He’s got a good attitude, taking the right approach. There's always a little bit of give-and-take."

Over the course of the first three weeks of the season, Caley certainly was 'going through it,' as Nick Caserio put it. Despite coming into the season with Super Bowl ambitions, the Texans found themselves in a deep 0-3 hole coming out of Week 3. And if you're slicing up a blame pie, nearly none of it would be assigned to a defense that had allowed just 17 points per game in those three losses.

The biggest slice was devoted to Caley and the rest of the offense, and as you'd expect, Texans fans were quick to request that Caley's head, metaphorically of course, be delivered on a spike following the slow start.

But following a pair of wins versus the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens, Caley is officially off the fan-appointed hot seat for now. The Texans offense has exploded for 70 points in the last two games while the defense has remained as dominant as ever, shutting out Tennessee and holding a Lamar Jackson-less Ravens offense to just 10 points last Sunday.

"We've made some modifications and adjustments as we've gone. We've talked about this. You probably figure out what you have with your football team over the first four or five weeks," Caserio added. "We have five games in the bank here. Figure out what we're doing well, what are some of the things we can build on. Nick has done a really good job. Had a good attitude, good approach."

Now if only the Texans could become a 'good offense,' things would be great in Houston.