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Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had one of his best games of the season this past Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers as he produced 348 total yards (318 passing, 30 rushing). It was a dominant performance all the way around for the offense.
The offensive line kept Stroud upright by not allowing a sack, and the run game helped control the clock for most of the game.
It’s a game the Texans would love to repeat this week against the Denver Broncos, but it will be a very tough challenge with a tough and aggressive Broncos defense that can match the intensity of the Texans’ defense.
“The [Denver] Broncos rush group is a really good group,” said Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans. “All five guys they have are really good on the edges. I would say [Denver Broncos OLB Nik] Bonitto is a really good speed rusher. There’s not many guys like that in the league who has the explosiveness and the first step quickness that he has, which has allowed him to get a few sacks.”
Bonitto, a 2024 Associated Press NFL Second-Team All-Pro, will do his best to make life difficult for Stroud, especially with cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, out with a pectoral strain that could keep him sidelined for multiple weeks.
The Broncos lead the NFL in sacks with 36, which averages to 4.5 per game, and are first in quarterback pressures at 45.9 percent (141 total), led by Bonitto’s league-leading 24.0% pressure rate—at least 3.8% higher than any other player (min. 100 pass rushes), according to Next Gen Stats.
“[Denver Broncos Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Vance] Joseph does an unbelievable job of bringing a variety of pressures every single week,” Ryans said when asked about the different looks of the Broncos defense. “You have to be ready. Again, all your protection rules get tested. Vance does a really good job of knowing how to stress your protection and where the weak points are.
“So, we know we’re going to get strained in that area. It’s going to take all 11 [players], again, whether that’s the [running] backs stepping up in protection, tight ends, our [offensive] line, and quarterbacks making the proper call. If we can ID it the proper way, we feel like we can have some plays.
One thing that the Texans’ offensive line perfected last week against the San Francisco 49ers was controlling the pressure from their defensive front seven. According to Next Gen Stats, they allowed pressure on just 21.4% of drop-backs, at least 6.7% lower than they’ve allowed in any other game this season.
It will be a concerted effort across the entire offense, which should get some help from wide receivers Nico Collins and Christian Kirk returning to practice after missing last week’s game.