Houston, we have a problem... but it's not the Texans defense

As of this afternoon, it's officially fall, and that means we're at least without shouting distance of Thanksgiving, and when I think about Thanksgiving, I start thinking about pie. Well, first I think about stuffing, and then football, and then why pilgrims wore those funny hats, and THEN I think about pie. But if we're thinking about pie as it relates to the Houston Texans, it's only appropriate that we create a blame pie for why the Texans are 0-3 to start the 2025 season.

Obviously, the biggest slice of pie will be devoted to the struggles of the Texans offense... a unit that was supposed to be improved under new offensive coordinator Nick Caley. With Bobby Slowik gone and Caley theoretically bringing over a Sean McVay-esque system with him from Los Angeles, the expectations of many were that the Texans would find their stride offensively and look more like the 2023 version of the team than the 2024 version.

However, with three weeks of the season in the books, it's safe to say that this isn't the case. A re-worked -- notice I didn't use the word 'improved' -- offensive line is continuing to fail quarterback CJ Stroud, and without Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon, the Texans currently have a rushing attack that is in the bottom half of the league in both total yards and yards per rush.

The next biggest slice of pie could probably be given to the schedule makers who front-loaded Houston's slate with the Los Angeles Rams (2-1 after a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia Eagles), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-0), and Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1). Houston has yet to play a slouch, and these three losses have come by an average of 4 points per game.

Divvy up the rest of the slices of blame pie to Nico Collins (for a crucial 4th quarter fumble against Jacksonville), CJ Stroud (for not looking sharp at all in these first three weeks of the season), Nick Caserio (couldn't the Texans have done a little bit more to bolster this offensive line ahead of the season?), and the aforementioned injury to Joe Mixon. But one group that shouldn't get more than a baby slice of pie is the Texans defense.

Houston Texans Defense Remains Among the Best Units in the NFL

You know how when you're cutting a pie, how someone is inevitably gonna say, "I just want a taste of it," or "Just cut me a tiny sliver, I'm not that hungry"... well that's the size of the blame pie that the Houston Texans defense deserves. It hasn't been perfect by any means, and that was particularly the case against Tampa Bay, when the Texans offense did their part and took a lead late before the defense allowed Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers to work their way down the field for the game-winning score in Week 2.

But all things considered, this unit has been nearly as good as we expected they would be heading into the 2025 season.

As you can see, by many statistical measures, the Texans measure out to be one of the league's ten best defenses, and that's not even factoring in the fact that the Texans offense has often been unable to flip field position or give the defense many opportunities to play with the lead, which would do wonders for both the pass rushers and the secondary. Still, Houston has allowed only 51 points this year, meaning they're the only 0-3 team in the last 20 seasons to give up fewer than 55 points in their first three games of the season.

Now of course, there are issues here too, and strangely, the biggest problem area for the defense in 2025 was a strength of the unit in 2024... forced furnovers. Last season, Houston forced 29 turnovers, the 5th-most in the entire league. But thus far this season, Houston has only forced a pair of turnovers, not allowing an offense in need of all the help they can get to capitalize on good field position of their own.

Turnovers tends to be a pretty flimsy stat year over year, so seeing Houston, or any team for that matter, take a step back after a strong season the year prior isn't a huge surprise. But the Texans set their sights on being one of the league leaders in forced turnovers, with Derek Stingley Jr. saying before the season that Houston should lead the NFL in interceptions by "10 to 15" picks. They've got just one interception in their first three games of the season.

A Week 4 matchup with the Tennessee Titans could be the remedy that the Texans offense is in need of, and that, of course, would be huge for the defense as well. More than anything else, it provides Houston their best chance of finally coming away with a win, which is all that's on the mind of head coach DeMeco Ryans.

'We've got to find a way to win the game," Ryans told members of the media after the loss, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 Houston. "The games have been close. We've been right there. We have to find a way to get it done. No, it's not encouraging. It's not about being close. We're not here just to be close. We're here to win football games."