What to expect from Houston Texans' new offensive coordinator Nick Caley
TEXANS ON TAP
03 February
Houston has a new leader on offense. Composite Getty Image.
The Houston Texans are hiring Los Angeles Rams assistant Nick Caley as their offensive coordinator, a source familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Monday.
The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move.
Caley spent last season as the passing game coordinator and tight ends coach for the Rams. He replaces Bobby Slowik, who was fired last month after two seasons in the position.
The 42-year-old Caley has worked for the Rams for the past two seasons after working as an assistant for the Patriots from 2015-22.
Before moving to the NFL, Caley spent 10 years as an assistant at various college programs.
Caley takes over an offense led by C.J. Stroud that took a step back in the quarterback’s second year. In 2023, the unit finished 12th in scoring (22.2 points per game) and yardage (342.4). Stroud ran away with AP Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in leading the Texans to their first playoff appearance in four years.
Houston defeated the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round as Stroud at 22 became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game.
The Texans this past season were 19th in scoring (21.9) and 22nd in yardage (319.7) as Stroud took a step back. He was sacked 52 times, the second-highest number in the league behind Bears rookie Caleb Williams’ 68. Stroud’s numbers dipped across the board while his interceptions total rose from five to 12.
Despite this, Houston went 10-7 for the second year in a row and again won its wild-card playoff matchup, defeating the Los Angeles Chargers. The two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs eliminated the Texans in the divisional round.
Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts to the hire and shares what we should expect from Houston's new OC.
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Jalen Green had 25 points and Alperen Sengun added 23 to lead the Houston Rockets to a 100-97 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night in a game where Amen Thompson was ejected for a hard foul on Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The game was tied at 95-all when Sengun made 1 of 2 free throws to put Houston on top. He made two more free throws with 30 seconds left to make it 98-95.
Brook Lopez missed a 3-pointer, but a turnover by Sengun gave the Bucks the ball back and a dunk by Antetokounmpo cut the lead to one with 8.1 seconds to go.
Green added two free throws to make it 100-97 and Damian Lillard was fouled and missed the first free throw before a double lane violation on the second one triggered a jump ball.
Lillard came away with the ball and his 3-point attempt bounced off the rim.
The Bucks were down by 2 with about 4 1/2 minutes left when Thompson pulled Antetokounmpo down from behind by the head and neck as he went up for a shot in the lane. The play was reviewed and determined to be a flagrant foul 2 and Thompson was ejected.
Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bucks, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Takeaways
Bucks: Milwaukee needs to work on offensive consistency after failing to score in the fourth quarter until Lillard made two free throws with about six minutes to go.
Rockets: Houston needs to do a better job of capitalizing on offense when its defense shuts teams down. They only scored seven points in the first six minutes of the fourth when they held Milwaukee scoreless.
Key moment
Sengun’s free throws that put the Rockets up for good.
Key stat
Milwaukee scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Up next
The Rockets host San Antonio on Wednesday night and the Bucks host Denver on Thursday night.
