HOUSTON – Inside the Texans’ victorious locker room late Monday night, Tytus Howard was brutally honest about a substandard performance from the offensive line.
It was ugly, and Howard readily acknowledged just how badly the blockers were embarrassed by an overwhelming Seattle Seahawks defense.
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Flash forward six days later, back at home at NRG Stadium, back to knocking people down and creating enough time for quarterback C.J. Stroud and open holes for the running game, it was an entirely different mood altogether for the Texans’ offensive line.
They allowed zero sacks for the first time Stroud wasn’t sacked in a game he finished since a playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie. He passed for 318 yards on 30 of 39 accuracy while being pressured on a season-low 21.4 percent of the time, per Next Gen Stats. The running game piled up 157 yards on 36 carries as the Texans manufactured a 26-15 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, a five-win squad.
“We did a better job today,” Howard said. “We really just did what expected what expected of us. Each week, we gotta live up to that as as a group up front. I feel like we did a better job playing complementary football, keeping C.J. clean, opening on lanes. We just gotta continue it each week. That’s an amazing feeling.
“That’s the goal every week: to have a bully mentality, be able to get the ball going downhill and it’s only gonna open up the passing game for the offense. So, we just gotta apply what we did today and just try to stack on it, get better every week because we got a good team coming next week."
The Texans can start worrying about the Denver Broncos’ formidable defense Monday. On Sunday, it was time to celebrate.
The offensive line played a major role in this win as the Texans improved to 3-4 overall for the season as they try to battle their way back into contention.
“Our offensive line did an outstanding job,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “For us to stay upright the entire game when it wasn’t there, C.J. made great decisions of stepping up in the pocket, taking what was given, taking what was there for him. So, proud of the way C.J. played. Proud of the way the offensive line played. I know our offensive line can do it. When we do it and we do it at a high level and we’re focused, locked in, that’s what it looks like.
“Hopefully, they see that and it’s something that continues to give them that confidence that when we are working in unison, guys are together, on the same page communicating and we’re straining, no matter what happens, we’re straining to finish to make sure that the defense is staying off the quarterback, there is a lot of things open for us down the field. We have a quarterback who can deliver the football wherever it needs to go.”
This was a watershed change for an offensive line in flux that has had more low moments than good ones this season.
They traded five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil during the offseason to the Washington Commanders and installed five new starters, including Howard playing a different position than last year as he shifted from guard to tackle.
“They played great,” rookie wide receiver Jayden Higgins said. “They just went out there and bullied them.”
There were plenty of big holes for the running backs to roam through.
And Stroud had the rare luxury of time to let his targets develop as he threw two touchdown passes. After the game, Stroud received the game ball from Ryans. He reacted by saying he planned to give five more footballs out to his line of left tackle Aireontae Ersery, left guard Laken Tomlinson, center Jake Andrews, right guard Ed Ingram and Howard. Tomlinson carried the football out of the locker room while wearing a jaunty black cowboy hat and a smile.
Yes, the 49ers are depleted by injuries. Nick Bosa is out for the season. And Bryce Huff and Yetur Gross-Matos missed the game with injuries.
Nonetheless, the 49ers have a knack for getting after quarterbacks with blitzes designed by defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. This time, the Texans beat the blitz.
“I don’t want to say perfect, but I would say we had a complete four quarters,” Stroud said. “I think that was the goal was to control the line of scrimmage, run the ball, then use play action pass and other things to kind of bounce it off. I thought we did a great job of that. But it really starts up front with the offensive line.”
The Texans will be tested by a Broncos defense that’s leading the league with 34 sacks and 125 pressures.
“We just got to be locked in,” Howard said. “If each individual is locked in on what they’re supposed to do and not trying to do too much, it’s gonna be good.
“We’ve shown that when we’re doing the right thing, blocking the right people, the offense can look really good. We’ve just got to be able to be consistent with that and doing that each week.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com