A week one loss to the Baltimore Ravens did not do the Houston Texans any favors in Touchdown Wire’s latest power rankings. The result dropped them to the No. 30 spot according to the rankings. Writer Jarrett Bailey had this to say regarding Houston’s outlook.
"The Texans are like when a well-liked kid in high school is a benchwarmer on the basketball team. When everyone watches him play, they hope for the best, but we all know this isn’t going to end well. Godspeed, C.J. Stroud."Jarret Bailey - Touchdown Wire
It is important to understand that power rankings are fluctuating metrics based on recent performance. In that regard, the Texans did not offer much optimism in their first regular season contest.
Week one was a rough one for the Texans' offense. The two-headed horseman of Dameon Pierce and Devin Singletary was unable to get the run game going against a formidable Ravens front. The result was a heavy mix of pressure against rookie signal caller C.J. Stroud and no touchdowns were scored on the afternoon.
As for Stroud, his first taste of NFL action was a mixed bag. The rookie completed just under 64% of his passes and was able to limit the turnover mistakes that can plague young signal callers. However, there were moments where Stroud took too long to dissect coverages, allowing the defense more time to collapse the pocket and ultimately disrupt the play.
On a positive note, the Texans defense was able to accumulate five sacks, and be a constant thorn in the side for the Ravens all game long. The immediate results on defense offer optimism heading into their week 2 bout at home.
Houston will get their first chance to improve on these rankings as they get set to host the Indianapolis Colts at home in what’ll be a critical early season divisional matchup.