Over the past two weeks, one of the main talking points about the Houston Texans’ lack of consistency on offense has been their offensive line and their inability to perform when needed.
Although that point can be discussed repeatedly and mistakes along the way can be magnified, that is not the most significant issue they face under first-year play caller Nick Caley, and the solution could be an easy fix if one thing happens.
“Get Nico Collins The Damn Ball!”
While that last sentence is an understatement, it reflects the real and common-sense view on the Texans’ current offensive struggles, and Caley will need to find a way to fix it as Houston heads into Jacksonville on Sunday to face the Jaguars in their first AFC South divisional game.
It seemed like they found a way to involve Collins, their 2024 NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver, more in the offense during the Monday night loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when quarterback C.J. Stroud connected with Collins on a 29-yard touchdown pass on the Texans’ first offensive drive.
However, they failed to make a scoring connection again as Tampa Bay made some necessary adjustments to take away one of Houston’s most explosive weapons, a theme that has seemed to emerge throughout the first two games of the season.
“Every play’s its own entity, and what I can tell you is, from the standpoint of evaluating and assessing those things, we try to go in with a really good plan,” said Caley about getting Collins more involved.
“Every single week, we have intentions to try to get our guys in a good position to make plays, and that’s going to always be the focus. So, coming out of the game, I think you know people do different things.
“There’s certain things, we might be off schedule on a play, and it disrupts the initial reads or stuff like that. But the intention is to go out there and try to play clean football and as long as we can continue to improve on that I’m very confident in the group that we’ll be able to do that.”
That answer might work well as a sound bite for television or radio. However, the overall situation reveals everything, as sometimes the offense lacks the creativity or movement to assist Collins in route concepts, and this is evident both on the field and in the statistics.
Throughout the first two games of 2024, former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik found ways to get Collins the ball early and often, and his 14 receptions for 252 yards and one touchdown showed that.
Yet, the combined six receptions (which were his total in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts in 2024) for 77 yards and one touchdown are indicative of how bad the offense has been this season.
He has faced press coverage on 52.0% of his routes this season, the 3rd-highest rate in the NFL (min. 25 routes) and nearly 20 percentage points higher than his previous career high of 32.6% in 2022, according to NextGen Stats.
Collins and Stroud may get much-needed help on Sunday against the Jaguars with the return of veteran slot wide receivers Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios, who have not played this season due to hamstring injuries suffered during training camp.
With Kirk returning to Jacksonville, where he played for three seasons before being traded to Houston this past offseason, he recognizes the importance of being another offensive weapon that Stroud can use and helping to ease the defensive pressure on Collins.
“Just the presence and being able to provide the vertical threat over the middle of the field,” said Kirk at his locker on Wednesday, on helping Collins. “That is how we are built as an offense, to be able to complement each other well, along with the other pieces that we have.
“So, I just think it is another element that defenses have to account for and I hope to bring that. I definitely want to get Nico some more single coverage and see him making more plays like he did on Monday.”
With a 0-2 record, Houston desperately needs a win and an offensive surge to boost their confidence and get back on track.
If they adhere to a straightforward rule, they can achieve success on Sunday and return to Houston with a victory.
“Get Nico The Damn Ball!”