What have we learned at the quarter-season mark about the Houston Texans?

Buffalo Bills v Houston Texans — Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Some thoughts about the first quarter of the season.

It’s hard to believe, but the season is over one-quarter complete. All teams have at least four games under their belts. Houston stands at 4-1, with a two game lead in the division. What has the season taught us so far:

Are the Houston Texans Really Any Good? HOLD IT!!!! Didn’t you just say that the team is 4-1 and…yes, yes, yes…I did. Yet, it is a fair question, especially in watching their games. In their four wins, the margin of victory reads: 2, 6, 4, 3. Good that they still win the close ones. Yet, those wins came against teams a collective 9-11. Sure, the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears sit at 3-2, but both saw Houston hold double-digit second half leads that somehow diminished to one-score games at NRG.

Then there is the one loss at Minnesota…by 27 [KITTEN]ing points. Admittedly, the Minnesota Vikings rates among the biggest surprises of the season, off to a surprising 5-0 start and Houston’s never beaten them. However, a brutal loss against a potential contender doesn’t sit well, especially factoring that the other games saw Houston just escape with victories. This doesn’t mean Houston equals the 2022 Vikings, who won 11 games and the NFC North with a negative point differential. How many other Super Bowl teams suffered massive beatdowns once in a season, only to recover to win it all (the 2012 Ravens, the “We’re on to Cincinnati” Patriots)? Perhaps that one game against the Vikings rates as a fluke, but more to follow. While the Parcells maxim that “you are what your record says you are” speaks well of Houston, the eye-test can also provide some areas of concern.

Penalties, Penalties, Penalties: A massively recurring theme for this squad, and not in a good way, is the number of penalties the Texans get. Refs that work Texans games get their money’s worth, and can expect UCL issues by the end of the season. In five games, the Texans have gotten 47 accepted penalties. That Houston “only” logged seven flags against Buffalo constituted improvement from a team that averaged exactly 10 penalties a game. One of the reasons why Houston can only beat teams by single digits goes back to those flags. On the season, they’ve lost 391 total yards due to penalties, 220 of those on offense. That doesn’t count the negated yardage of big offensive plays. Of the 47 total penalties, 19 (almost 40%) rate as pre-snap violations (False Starts, Illegal Formation, Encroachment), aka the inexcusable ones. Those tend to reflect poor discipline on the part of players and coaches. Perhaps that improves as the season wears on, but this team struggled with that all last season. Maybe it is endemic of the Ryans’ regime, but expect that to remain a major point of emphasis in the pre-game prep, and a point of angst during the games.

New Problem Area of the Punting Game: Coming into the season, questions about the performance of the offensive line, linebacker and secondary units dominated areas of concern. However, a new area of consternation bedevils Houston: the punting game. A slightly under-the-radar free agency move in the off-season saw Tommy Townsend replace Cam Johnston as punter. Replace a good punter with a perennial Pro-Bowler? Sounds good. However, since the start of the year, Townsend’s seen one punt blocked, and several other just miss that fate. A root cause involves his rather deliberate punt motion. Yet, other issues stem from the unit overall. The protection on that punt block against Indy did Townsend no favors.

Then we have the punt return game. Coming into the season, Steven Sims, coming off a playoff punt return TD against Baltimore, figured a lock to resume that role. Yet, that is not the case. In particular, Sims played his worst, and perhaps last, game for the Texans against Jacksonville, muffing a first quarter punt that set up a Jags TD and getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the same game, while out-of-bounds. Robert Woods took over on punt return duties against Buffalo, with perhaps his maturity/experience aiding the position. Yet, his inexplicable fielding of a Bills punt at the Texans’ 2-yard line in the fourth quarter set in motion the events that led to Buffalo tying the game. To its credit, the punting game did salvage the day, as perhaps Townsend’s best punt as a Texans pinned Buffalo inside their 5-yard line, setting in motion the most head-scratching series of play calls in the game. Still, the punting game promises plenty of more excitement as the season continues, just maybe not the good kind for Houston.

The Best Play of PK Ka’imi Fairbairn’s Career: There was a time not too long ago when many called for the team to purge Fairbairn off the roster, especially after he received what seemed an overly generous contract extension from B’OB (the GM). Now, it is seen as a major disappointment when Fairbairn can’t hit a 50+ yarder. On the season, Fairbairn is 8/9 on FGs of 50+ yards, including a 59-yard game winner against Buffalo. On the season, he is 11/12 on FGs and 9/9 on XPs. Given all of the close margins played by Houston, Fairbairn’s leg plays a huge role in keeping Houston on the plus side of the win/loss column.

The Raging Defensive Line: One of the strengths of the team coming into 2024 centered on the defensive line. With DROY Will Anderson Jr. and perennial Pro Bowler pass rusher Danielle Hunter, plus a lineup of solid defensive talent, strong defensive line play figured heavily into Houston’s play. So far, they’ve held up their end of the bargain. The line rates among the upper half of the league in key stats (sacks, QB pressures, hurries, etc). However, they also create chaos in areas that don’t always show up in the stat lines. In particular, against Buffalo, they made an All-Pro caliber QB in Josh Allen look like a middling rookie, contributing much to his 9/30 passing performance, including missing his last seven throws in the fourth quarter. Especially if the Most Interesting Defense in the World (TM) figures to continue its role in forcing close games and narrow wins, the DL needs to continue disrupting games.

These are but just a few of the areas of observation for this team. With 12 more games (plus the promise of the post-season), we get the opportunity to see if these trends, good or bad, continue. Likely new trends will emerge, also for good or ill. Still, what have you, the devoted Texans fan, seen with this team? You think they are good, lucky, or both? Let your (respective) take brighten the internet below.