Texans at crossroads with pass protection crisis: ‘Can’t let one game define you, utmost respect and trust in my line’

HOUSTON – C.J. Stoud lacked the most precious commodity a strong-armed quarterback needs to succeed: time.

Stroud was under siege in Green Bay, in the eye of a storm of blitzes, stunt designed by Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and a constricting series of blown assignments and communication breakdowns that led to him taking fire in a collapsing pocket. When the Texans Pro Bowl quarterback was blindsided in the back by Xavier McKinney on a safety blitz for one of four sacks and seven quarterback hits, the defender was completely unblocked as tight end Dalton Schultz didn’t even slow him down.

The walk-up, gap-shooting from backup linebacker Eric Wilson for two sacks and four tackles for losses revealed confusion at the line of scrimmage from the Texans during the 24-22 loss at Lambeau Field as he came free again and again. In another sequence, offensive tackle Tytus Howard tripped to the ground and allowed Rashan Gary to sack Stroud.

As bad as it was and as much as a sky is falling mentality has invaded social media and sports talk radio, the Texans are 5-2 heading into Sunday’s pivotal AFC South showdown against the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium. The bigger picture issue is that these pass protection problems keep flaring up and Stroud has already been sacked 20 times for a season-long pace of 48 sacks absorbed. Stroud was pressured 48.5 percent of the time against Green Bay for a career-high rate, according to Next Gen Stats. He’s the seventh-most frequently pressured quarterback in the NFL. No quarterback is indestructible. A serious injury to the franchise quarterback is something no football team can afford to happen.

“You’ve got to move on,” Howard said. “You’ve got to correct it. You can’t just dwell on that. We’ve got a lot of games to go. You can’t let one game define you as a group. We just had a great week against the Patriots. It wasn’t our best outing, particularly the third-down stuff, but we’ve got to drill it all week and get better. We know some of the stuff that we struggled with last week we’re going to see this week because they’re going to watch film

“We don’t get mad at stuff like that because, at the end of the day, it’s football. These guys get paid a lot of money to make plays. We get paid a lot of money to keep them from making plays.

Indeed. Texans general manager Nick Caserio has invested heavily in the offensive line, including a three-year, $75 million deal for Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil, the highest graded pass blocker from the Green Bay setback, $56 million for Howard and $36 million for right guard Shaq Mason, a first-round pick for left guard Kenyon Green and a second-round selection for center Juice Scruggs.

On third down, it was particularly glaring as Stroud completed just 2 of 7 passes for 13 yards and was sacked three times.

Stroud’s frustration showed during the game as he tossed his helmet on the ground on the sideline before he talked with the Texans’ offensive line.

Days later, Stroud defended his blockers and was accountable about a need to get the football out of his hand faster.

“Honestly, for me, I can say just getting the ball out on time being able to try and stay comfortable after you get hit,” Stroud said. “I am really just trying to make everyone around me better. I have the utmost respect and trust in my O-line. One outing doesn’t make you a definition. There are plenty of games where you can go look at the film and they did an amazing job. I don’t believe in the banter, I don’t even see it.

“I am not really on social media, but I hear about it. Just like you guys beat them down, I want you guys to praise them as well. This next week, I know the protection is going to be great and I can’t wait for it. I want you all to do the same thing you are doing now and be more positive. At the same time, we are in the league, and we aren’t feeling bad for ourselves. We are grown men, we can take it. I know they want to be better and they will.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans has seen enough of the pass protection breakdowns. Bottom line: the Texans and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik can’t run the plays they want to without better communication, better blocking and timely, well-planned adjustments to the pressure packages. Although Ryans said everything is on the table for addressing the problem, there are no lineup changes planned and no change in offensive line coach Chris Strausser’s statu

All of that said, if it’s not the ability of the players, what’s the chief issue at play here?

“It is always a multitude of things, it is not just one thing,” Slowik said. “It has shown up probably about three times this year where we have had some issues in protection that are completely controllable. So, for me, that starts with me. I am not doing something right, I am not coaching something right, I am not saying things in a way that it needs to be interpreted. Honestly, the things that we missed in the game are things that DeMeco has been giving us day one in training camp.

“It is stuff that I know they have seen and have done, and they have knocked out before. Obviously, you are on the road, and you are in Lambeau, communication is going to be hard. You have to strain in that regard, but we have been working on that part of it for four weeks. We have been working on what it is like on a road game, even when we have a home game. We have been straining on silent. We have been going on silent cadence even on weeks like this. That has been an emphasis for us. You see it in the presnap, now we have to see it in the postsnap and I have to find a way to get that out of our game.”

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Tunsil had an 80.9 pass blocking grade and one pressure and one hurry allowed, according to Pro Football Focus analytics.

To make a serious playoff run, Tunsil emphasized things need to improve.

“They were doing twist games to get free, I think they did a good job of dialing it up,” Tunsil told KPRC 2. “We’re going to watch film and get better. We have to be on the same page. Just get better and fix our mistakes. It’s a long season. It’s on to the next. We’ve got to be a balanced offense. We’ve got to be on the same page to reach the goal we want and get to the destination we want to be in.

“We can’t just be good on one side. We have to be good on the other. We’ve got to be efficient. It’s still early in the season. We’re going to fix our mistakes. We’re going to take accountability. There’s no reason to dwell on it. We keep on going.”

Green had a team-low 29.0 pass blocking grade with one sack allowed, two hurries and three pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

“Just communication, we’ve got to communicate and lock in,” said Green, a former first-round draft pick from Texas A&M. “They came out in the second half with a different game plan and they executed. We got to execute and that’s what we didn’t do. We need to execute and finish. It’s football. You have good game and bad games. You have to keep fighting. It’s a long season. We have to get ready for the Colts.”

Scruggs allowed a sack to Wilson and two pressures, and right guard Shaq Mason surrendered one hit and two pressures.

The Packers adeptly ran a football routine of a pick-and-roll to get free rushers through the A and B gaps to shoot into the backfield unencumbered.

“Just put your head down and keep working, but it’s definitely frustrating because we’ve seen the blitzes on film,” Scruggs said. “Shoutout to them, their DC did a good job game-planning us for sure. On one, he picked Kenyon. On the next one, I thought for sure he would pick him again and they ended up picking me. We just have to be better, me and Kenyon for sure, we got to be on the same page.”

The Texans averaged just 2.2 yards per passing play.

“They were mixing up looks, pressure, stunts, those type of things,” Mason said. “It’s really about us more than anything. Very disappointing. We left a lot of plays out there. All we can do is watch the tape, learn from it, continue to grow. Games like this hurt, but we’re going to be in this position again.

“We have to find a way to win. Absolutely, we know there are plays out there we missed. We regroup. There’s a lot of ball left. We go back to the drawing board, watch the tape and put our best foot forward for next week.”

It was a career-low for passing for Stroud, five yards less than his total in a concussion-shortened game against the New York Jets last December.

“It’s tough,” Stroud said. “I consider myself a really good football player and I have a really great God-given talent, and I love to show those talents. At the same time, I have to have that controlled aggression and that is something I think I can be better at. I think I have been doing a good job at protecting the ball and taking my opps, but I just think I would love some more and just take on that responsibility of just putting more on my plate because I think I can handle it. I have had these conversations with my coaches and my teammates, so I think as we continue to go and the season gets longer and longer, I will continue to flourish and grow. I am excited for that.”

Stroud has an 8.7 percent success rate on deep ball percentage this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

He was electric last season on deep balls as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. The lack of time is taking its toll, and the hamstring injury that has sidelined star wide receiver Nico Collins.

Stroud never turned the football over and he nearly led the Texans to a comeback victory.

He’d like to take more ownership of the line calls in tandem with Scruggs to make those adjustments to pressure packages.

And yelling and screaming at his teammates isn’t the plan for Stroud.

“I know the personalities of my guys,” Stroud said. “I know it has been my second year with them and I know it is a little different than I am used to just with an older line, except for Juice and Kenyon. For me, the message is just being honest with them and being heartfelt. I have been on teams before where I have had to scream and yell. That is a way you can get to a player as well but for this team they understand. They have played a lot of meaningful football before, that for Kenyon and Juice and the rest of the older guys as well. They understand we have to be better but I don’t believe in beating somebody down because when I throw a pick, they uplift me. I understand that we all want to be better but there is a way to do that.”

“For me, that is a responsibility that I want to help with is helping Juice and helping those guys upfront. I really just watch a lot of film to help pick those things up. Honestly, more times than not, were in the right looks it is just we have to execute. That is the main thing is just execution. It really breeds confidence, and it breeds wins. The more we can execute those looks that we get, we see them in practice, we just have to be able to do it on Sundays. Once we do that we will be able to see our offense flow some more.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com

Stroud’s longest completion was a 28-yard toss to tight end Dalton Schultz.

He completed just one pass to a wide receiver not named Stefon Diggs, who led the Texans with five catches for just 23 yards. Xavier Hutchinson had the other reception. Tank Dell was 0 for 4 on targets with a dropped touchdown.

The setback is something the Texans expect Stroud to respond to well.

“C.J. handles adversity really well because he’s really grounded,” Ryans said. “He’s grounded in the word, first and foremost and that helps him to be able to weather the adversity when tough things come his way. Losing a game or having a tough game isn’t the only adversity he’s faced in life. And it doesn’t dictate who he is or change his personality and what he’s about.

“So, I’m excited to see how, not only C.J., but how everyone responds after losing a game. Is it adversity? No, we lost a game. There’s a lot more adversity in life that a lot of people deal with. We lost a game. It happens. Let’s move on. Let’s see how we play this week.”

Read more on the Texans:

• ‘I believe in Tank, I have all the faith in Tank,’ Texans want to get Tank Dell more involved after zero-catch game
• How ‘everything is on the table’ for Texans after pass protection meltdown, Laremy Tunsil emphasizes bigger picture
• ‘It’s not good enough,’ Texans’ banged-up defense played well, but can’t get one final stop in loss to Packers
• ‘I’m never the bigger person,’ tempers flare between Texans’ Stefon Diggs and Packers, Jaire Alexander
• Best in class: Texans’ C.J. Stroud, Packers’ Jordan Love meet for first time in battle of talented quarterbacks, friends
• ‘I’m ready for the ball,’ Texans corner D’Angelo Ross reflects on first NFL start, ‘challenge’ of Packers’ Jordan Love

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.