Back in 2019, the Houston Texans finished with a 10-6 regular-season record and won the AFC South for the sixth time in nine years. The team knocked off the visiting Buffalo Bills in overtime in the wild card round. The Texans actually owned a 24-0 second-quarter lead at Kansas City in the divisional playoffs before things fell apart and the team found itself on the very short end of a 51-31 loss.
It’s been all downhill ever since. The franchise went from 11 total victories in 2019 to a 13-40-1 mark in the past three-plus seasons. However, head coach DeMeco Ryans has led the team to two straight wins, both by 20-plus points. On Sunday, the Texans stifled the Steelers, 30-6. The previous Sunday, Houston had no problem with the Jaguars at Jacksonville and Ryans’ club came away with a stunning 37-17 triumph.
It has been a much different story the past two Sundays vs. the Jaguars and Steelers, especially when it came to pass protection. Stroud combined to connect on 36-of-64 throws for 586 yards and four touchdowns. In each game, the Texans played turnover-free football. More importantly, he wasn’t sacked by either the Jacksonville or Pittsburgh defense. Consider that the Steelers came into Sunday’s game with an NFL-best 13 quarterback sacks after three games. Nearly half of those came from AFC Defensive Player of the Month T.J. Watt (6.0).
However, the Texans kept Stroud out of harm’s way. This despite the fact that left tackle Laremy Tunsil missed his third straight game and backup Josh Jones was out as well. All told, Ryan’s team amassed 451 total yards in the rout of the Steelers.
2023 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 4
Making NFL picks and predictions for every game on the Week 4 slate. Which teams will emerge victorious in Week 4 of the 2023 NFL season?