The Houston Texans were expected to make a big leap in 2024. They had just won their first AFC South title and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs since 2019. They had a promising franchise quarterback in C.J. Stroud and a hot head coaching candidate, Bobby Slowik, leading the way as offensive coordinator.
The Texans also added Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon in offseason trades, but it provided the same result. The Texans had an identical 10-7 record and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs, but their offense took a step back, ranking 19th in scoring and 22nd in yardage.
The stagnant nature of the Texans offense led to Slowik’s dismissal and the arrival of Nick Caley. But although Slowik found a second chance, his former players wasted no time in throwing him under the bus.
Texans Players Slam Bobby Slowik for Team’s Offensive Failures in 2024
A report by ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime shed some light on why the Texans decided to fire Slowik. While Slowik was a good friend of head coach DeMeco Ryans who came over when he left the San Francisco 49ers to take the job in 2023, the decision ultimately came down to his lack of adjustments and an ability to coach his players.
“I don’t think we had a true identity of what the f*** we wanted to do,” an anonymous Texans player reportedly said.
“When teams would take away what we wanted to do, we didn’t have answers for it,” another anonymous player said.
We don’t know the identities of the players, but it’s certain they were on the offensive side of the ball based on Bien-Aime’s report. The Texans faced 52 unblocked pressures according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats last season, and offensive line coach Chris Strausser reportedly struggled to connect with his players.
The sword ultimately fell on Slowik, whose offense struggled in a Halloween loss to the New York Jets and was shut out in the second half of a 26-23 loss to the Detroit Lions the following week. A common theme was the lack of adjustments between halves as Houston ranked eighth with 13 points per game in the first half and an NFL-worst 7.5 points per game in the second half.
Slowik was also ripped for making Stroud play to his system as opposed to playing naturally. Stroud had the steepest decline of all the Texans last year, completing 63.2% of his passes for 3,727 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season after completing 63.9% of his passes for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, and five interceptions to win the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2023.
While Stroud also admitted to having less fun than he did in his rookie season, the Texans are hoping Caley can turn things around. A former assistant on Bill Belichick’s staff with the New England Patriots and Sean McVay’s staff with the Los Angeles Rams, Caley hinted at one major change he could make taking over the Houston offense next season.
“I am really excited to evolve this scheme,” Caley said during his introductory press conference last week. “It’s not going to be my spin, it’s going to be what’s best for our players. We aren’t pounding a square peg into a round hole.”
Whatever changes the Texans make, they have to be better this offseason if they want to break through and become a Super Bowl contender in 2025.