NFL analyst lays out 'institutional problem' with Houston Texans offense
red flags
07 November
red flags
It's no secret that the Houston Texans are having some real issues with protection, which is causing CJ Stroud's numbers to dip and the team to lose games.
Stroud has only tossed one touchdown pass over his last three contests, which clearly isn't sustainable if the Texans want to compete with the top teams in the AFC.
After watching the Texans film from last Thursday's game against the Jets, NBC Sports' Chris Simms noticed some issues plaguing the Houston offense.
Simms was quick to point out that he believes Texans OC Bobby Slowik is “not doing enough” to help CJ Stroud. He sees Houston's offense as a very basic version of the Shanahan scheme, which opposing defenses have seemingly figured out when attacking Houston's protections.
He would also like for Stroud to take over the role of calling out the protections, instead of leaving it up to the center. In this case, it's Juice Scruggs making the calls. A second-year player that has less experience in the Texans' offense than Stroud. (Scruggs missed about half of last season due to injury, and spent time at guard).
Simms makes the case that since Stroud is not in charge of protection, he may not know where the pressure is coming from.
ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime recently confirmed that this is not the case. Scruggs does make the calls, but Stroud knows what the protection calls are. He referenced a story from September where guard Shaq Mason discussed this very topic.
Here’s right guard Shaq Mason confirming this from a story back on Sept 11. pic.twitter.com/maBNAAJzMM
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) November 7, 2024
So if Stroud is fully aware of the protection calls on each play, it would suggest that the poor left guard play, and the predictability of the Texans sliding protections when they get certain looks as the main problems Bobby Slowik has to get corrected.
Jarrett Patterson should start at left guard this week after returning from a concussion. That could immediately give the o-line a boost, even if he's just average. If Patterson does play a decent game, and Stroud is still running for his life, Slowik and his scheme will have nowhere to hide.
Be sure to watch the Simms video above as he shows some examples from the Jets game to illustrate his points.
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Texas' Quinn Ewers and Clemson's Cade Klubnik already have a championship history between them.
Both quarterbacks hail from Texas, and in January 2021 they were two of the highest-rated junior recruits in the nation when they met on the biggest stage of high school football in the the country: the Texas Class 6A state championship.
Klubnik got the best of Ewers that day, leading Austin Westlake to a 52-34 win over Southlake Carroll. They meet again Saturday when No. 12 seed Clemson (10-3) and No. 5 seed Texas (11-2) clash in the first round of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
For Klubnik, the first step toward leading Clemson back to a national title begins in his hometown just a few miles from where he grew up and played at a high school that produced NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees, Nick Foles and Sam Ehlinger.
And it promises to be an emotional return. When the Tigers and Longhorns were announced as first-round opponents, a camera quickly found Klubnik with a stunned look on his face as Tigers coach Dabo Swinney hugged him.
Then it was talk of the rematch with Ewers, with even bigger goals at stake this time.
“You know, Quinn and I go way back. We played each other in seventh or eighth grade and so on. My junior year in the state championship game was definitely a very high profile game," Klubnik said.
It was more than “high profile.”
Because of the two star quarterbacks and the pedigrees of their programs, their championship game against each other holds legendary status in a state that has produced too many great college players and games to count.
Klubnik and Westlake had won the state championship the previous year. The 2020 season was delayed by the pandemic, pushing the championship game into 2021. Ewers was the top-rated junior QB in the country, had already committed to Ohio State. Klubnik was ranked the No. 2 QB in Texas right behind him, but was still uncommitted.
Ewers passed for 351 yards and three touchdowns. Klubnik was just as good, with 18-of-20 passing for 220 yards and a touchdown, and another 97 yards rushing.
“That ain't fun when the fastest guy on the field is touching the ball 100% of the time,” Southlake Carroll coach Riley Dodge said that day.
Klubnik's Westlake teammates included Michael Taaffe, who is now a Texas safety, and Ethan Burke and Colton Vasek, who are now Longhorns defensive linemen.
Taaffe this week described Klubnik as his “best friend” that season at Westlake. He noted the school and social disruptions of the COVID season before the championship game.
“There was nothing we could do but throw the football around," Taaffe said. “We had nothing to do but become best friends. We were trying to win a state championship.”
Taaffe did his part in the state championship game, intercepting a pass from Ewers in the second half. He'd love to do the same to Klubnik. And Taaffe and won't pull any punches if he gets a chance for a sack or big hit on his old friend.
“My job is my to take my opponent's soul," Taaffe said. “It doesn't matter if it's my best friend or the guy I hate the most on this planet.
"Cade does everything it takes to try to win. He's going to do whatever it takes. I don't assume there's going to be a lot of sliding out of Cade come Saturday. I don't think there's going to be a lot of stepping out of bounds. Especially if he sees (me). He's definitely going to try to lower his shoulder on me and tell me about it, too," Taaffe said.
After that 2021 state title game, Klubnik and Westlake followed it up with another state championship the next season. Some recruiting outlets rated Klubnik the No. 1 quarterback in the country in 2022.
He became Clemson's regular starter last season. His 33 touchdown passes this season helped revive Clemson after an ugly 34-3 season-opening loss to Georgia. Klubnik had four TD pass as the Tigers won the ACC championship to earn their playoff berth, the program's first since 2020.
Ewers left high school early after that state championship game loss. He declared for college that spring and enrolled at Ohio State. His freshman season of 2021 was spent deep on the Buckeyes bench before transferring to Texas, where he led a Longhorns rejuvenation.
Texas won the Big 12 title last season and made the four-team playoff for the first time. The Longhorns reached No. 1 this season for the first time since 2008 and narrowly lost the SEC championship to Georgia in Texas' first year in the league.
As for facing Klubnik again, Ewers called it “cool.” Back in high school, Ewers had a swashbuckling mullet haircut that flowed from under his helmet. Now the most radical thing about him might be a slightly scraggly beard.
“Me and Cade have a good relationship,” Ewers said. “It's definitely cool to get to play each other again, come full circle.”