Coming off a frustrating loss to the Titans, the Texans head to Jacksonville looking to get back on track against the Jaguars.

With both CJ Stroud and DeMeco Ryans under the heaviest scrutiny of their tenure, a victory heading into the off-week after Sunday's game feels more critical than ever.

Stroud is taking heat for his uptick in interceptions, and Ryans is being called out for his refusal to admit that the offense is the main reason the team is losing games.

It's pretty amazing to see Ryans double down on the offense not being the problem when we know how pathetic they have been in the second half of games.

Here are some stats from PFF to put the issues with the offense in perspective:

In Houston's last 6 games, they have 1 second half TD, over 30 drives. Which was Joe Mixon's 1-yard TD in garbage time vs. Dallas.

They had 7 drives of 5 plays or fewer vs. the Titans.

The Texans have 56 punts on the season, 3rd-most in the NFL.

Only 3 times this season in the entire NFL has a team been unable to gain a single first down on the ground. Two of them are the Texans. Verses the Titans and Vikings.

Historic performances

There is clearly an issue. The Texans continue to lose games in historic fashion. Whether it's a game in which they sack Will Levis a whopping 7 times in the first half, or they find a way to lose to the Lions after intercepting Jared Goff 5 times. The Texans are making history, and not in a good way. If DeMeco and the team can't admit there's a problem with Bobby Slowik and his offense, how are they going to fix it?

Stroud's regression

It's apparent to anyone watching the Texans that Stroud isn't playing as well as he did last year, but it's not all on him. And anyone calling him "CJ Fraud" needs to have their eyes checked.

The pass protection and scheme have been atrocious in 2024, and as you can see from the stats, the running game has been bad too.

Joe Mixon has under 2-yards per carry in two of the team's last three games. The Texans o-line is also one of the worst run blocking units in the NFL, per PFF.

In the video below, we discuss some of the most impactful plays from the Texans' loss to the Titans. Stroud's interception where he underthrew Nico Collins, and the 3rd and 9 play with about 2 minutes left in the game before Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a short field goal.

Conclusion. The Texans scheme and the play of the o-line are much more at fault than Stroud.

On the interception, the Texans had 7 pass protectors to deal with 4 rushers, and Stroud was still hurried.

What happened? Here's the short answer.

Right tackle Tytus Howard gets beat and the defender falls at CJ's feet, making him step up. Juice Scruggs and Jarrett Patterson lose a double team to the DT, which allows pressure right up the middle.

Right guard Shaq Mason runs all the way to the left edge to pick up the outside pass rusher. He barely got there in time and left a massive hole up the middle in the process. Mason also had help from a TE and RB. No doubt, CJ should have made a better throw, but he shouldn't have been under this much pressure to begin with.

On the 3rd and 9 play, Stroud had a free rusher in his face immediately and was lucky to throw the ball away. We get into more detail in the video about what caused the pressure and who deserves the blame for the play. Let's just say this was easily avoidable.

Finally, we share our game preview for this week's matchup against the Jaguars. If there was ever a week for the Texans passing game to take a step forward, this is it.

The Jags defense allows 28.7 PPG, which is 30th in the league. Their pass defense is dead last in the league, and they're 31st in completion percentage.

What does Vegas think?

The Texans are favored by four points, and the total is set at 43.5.

Don't miss the video above for the full discussion, our predictions for Texans-Jags, and much more!