Where are the Texans ranked after their loss to the Packers?
Welcome back to the NFL Power Rankings! Unlike many years at Battle Red Blog, this year’s Power Rankings has seen the Houston Texans either maintaining or improving their already high ranking. This post follows just the second loss of the season, a heartbreaking loss to the Green Bay Packers. Running back Joe Mixon did what he could, the defense did what needed done to keep the team within striking distance, but C.J. Stroud and the offensive line were just completely perplexed by this Packers defense. They held him to ten completions for 86 yards! Like, I didn’t know a sub 100-yard passing performance was in Stroud’s vocabulary!
That pressure from Green Bay defensive end Rashan Gary and backup linebacker Eric Wilson turned out to be game-changing, foiling whatever plan Stroud and the offensive line had in store. Even two interceptions and recovering a muffed punt wasn’t enough to get Houston the win, placing an unsettling question in Houston fans’ heads: is the offense the problem? Is the offensive line this team’s major weakness, and can we overcome it in the playoffs? Joe Mixon may have been able to mask a little bit of the struggles last Sunday, but there’s no hiding how difficult it was for Houston to pass the ball all game long.
How about those turnovers, though? This game gave rookie safety Calen Bullock his third interception of the year, leading the Texans team in that statistic. He’s turning out to be one heck of a steal by the Texans in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he really is starting to realize his potential as the missing link at the back of the defense. Him and a healthy Kamari Lassiter may end up being some of the most important players to this entire defense.
Rookie Calen Bullock has his 3rd interception of the season!
: #HOUvsGB on CBS/Paramount+
: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/deEHrMJmr3— NFL (@NFL) October 20, 2024
Despite the impressive fight Houston’s defense showed, they still lost and will need to regroup for the divisional game at home vs. the Indianapolis Colts. How will they regroup from this loss? How will they restore confidence in the team? But, more importantly, how will the rankers react to this? Well, fear not! Here are the Week 8 Power Rankings of the 2024 NFL season:
NFL.COM
8. Houston Texans (5-2) (Last Week: 4)
The loss at Green Bay wasn’t a massive setback in and of itself, but it might have exposed a major concern for a team that harbors Super Bowl dreams. If the Texans can’t protect C.J. Stroud better than they did Sunday, those dreams will go up in smoke. The Packers flummoxed Houston with pressure both real and feigned, keeping Stroud and the offensive line off balance a lot of the game. That has been a season-long storyline (some weeks more than others), and it just wasn’t good enough against the Packers — even with an excellent chance to walk off of Lambeau Field with a win. There was only so much that could be asked of a shorthanded defense missing five starters. The Texans picked off Jordan Love twice in the first half and forced three straight second-half punts but couldn’t close out the game late.
ESPN:
7. Houston Texans (5-2)
Week 7 result: Lost to the Packers 24-22
Week 7 ranking: 4
Young riser: S Calen Bullock
Bullock, 21, has been a pleasant surprise in his rookie season. He leads the team in interceptions (two) and is tied for second in pass deflections (four). When opposing quarterbacks target Bullock, they have a passer rating of 46.9. The 2024 third-rounder has become a starter for the Texans’ defense and has a ball-hawk rate of 50%, which is by far the highest compared to the other defensive backs. There have been some rookie blunders when Bullock has been beat by receivers downfield, but the early returns have the Texans pleased.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:
9. Houston Texans (5–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: lost to Green Bay, 24–22
This week: vs. Indianapolis
Do we at all take the totality of Houston’s season to this point and put it under the microscope? My two thoughts of concern: All of Houston’s wins thus far have been one-score victories save for the Patriots in Drake Maye’s first start. Both of Houston’s losses have come at the expense of amoebic defenses rich with strong role players. Even with a great performance from Joe Mixon on Sunday, C.J. Stroud’s leading receiver did not eclipse 30 yards. He was on the run and he looked uncomfortable.
THE ATHLETIC:
6. Houston Texans (5-2)
Last week: 5
Sunday: Lost to Green Bay Packers 24-22
Who have they beaten? Colts, Bears, Jaguars, Bills, Patriots
C.J. Stroud had the second-worst passer rating of his career Sunday (58.8), and the Texans are now 0-5 when Stroud doesn’t hit at least 82 on that scale. Stroud, who completed 10 passes for 86 yards against the Packers, has been sacked on 8 percent of his dropbacks this season (which ranks 12th in the league) and hit 43 times, which is the seventh most. Joe Mixon’s 115 rushing yards were about the only bright spot against the Packers.
Up next: vs. Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
BLEACHER REPORT:
7. Houston Texans (5-2)
Last Week: 4
Week 7 Result: Lost at Green Bay 24-22
The Houston Texans have been one of the AFC’s hottest teams, in large part because C.J. Stroud has been one of the hottest quarterbacks.
The Texans came up just short in Green Bay on Sunday, and it’s not hard to see why. Stroud went 10-of-21 for a career-low 86 passing yards and zero touchdowns.
After the loss, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters that his team just wasn’t good enough through the air in Week 7.
“Obviously, we didn’t pass the ball well all day,” he said. “So, it wasn’t good all the way around. We ran the ball well. I thought Joe (Mixon) did a good job running the ball. We needed to pass it. It was not good enough, starting with the protection. If we can’t protect, then that’s going to be difficult for the quarterback to make the plays.”
Ryans had a point. Stroud was pressured on over half his dropbacks Sunday and got sacked four times.
When you tally less than 200 yards of offense, you aren’t winning many games in the NFL.
Analyst’s Take
Until wideout Nico Collins returns, Houston will run the Joe Mixon show on offense. Mixon has 217 rushing yards and four total touchdowns over the last two weeks in Collins’ absence.
Though Mixon is a Pro Bowler-caliber playmaker, the Texans need Collins to balance their offense and open up space for wideouts Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs downfield. In the loss to Green Bay, Stroud had the worst day in his NFL career to date. — Moton
– Gary Davenport, Maurice Moton, Kristopher Knox, Brent Sobleski
CBS SPORTS:
7. Houston Texans (Last Week: 3)
They’ve had too many injuries to the defense that show up weekly. The other concern: C.J. Stroud has to get back to racking up big numbers.
YAHOO! SPORTS:
7. Houston Texans (5-2) (Last Week: 5)
Dropping a game on the road against a good team on the final play is part of life in the NFL sometimes. The struggles of the passing game were troubling, but we’ll excuse that as a one-off.
USA TODAY:
6. Houston Texans (8): Sophomore slump claims are premature, but – coming off his least-productive game as a pro – QB C.J. Stroud’s numbers are generally down across the board. At least his rough run through the NFC North is almost over
PRO FOOTBALL TALK:
6. Texans (No. 4; 5-2): They almost got the signature road win that has been eluding them.
Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images
Sigh, well, I guess you can’t have everything you want. The Packers were a perfect, playoff-worthy opponent for Houston to use as an example to the nation on how far they’ve come since last year. Instead, they lost and will inevitably dip in the rankings this week, but considering Green Bay’s high placement on a lot of analysts’ power rankings, the damage has been a little dulled. Although, until Houston can put a complete game together against a challenging opponent, they will continue to bump shoulders with teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Seattle Seahawks at the bottom of the top ten, Are the Texans better than the Steelers? To me, absolutely. That 86-yard passing performance Stroud had, though? That’s going to leave a mark on the Texans zeitgeist for this year, and it’ll take some work to get the national media believing in the Texans, again. At least their uniforms looked spicy!
I think it’s time for this Texans team to put their foot down. I know Nico Collins and Christian Harris/Henry To’oTo’o are hurt, but that shouldn’t’ make a difference. This Texans team should be able to guarantee victory if they receive three turnovers from the other team, and they should also be able to snap out of their doldrums on offense with relative ease with Mixon and Stroud in the backfield; at least I hope so! I know it didn’t work against the Packers, but I refuse to believe that game was nothing more than an aberration. I would be shocked if the Colts are able to muster the same kind of defensive dominance next Sunday.
What do you think, though? Was this disappointing outing on offense big surprise you and your hopes of a Texans Super Bowl this year? Or, is this loss an exception to the rule? Let us know down in the comments below! Go Texans!!!!