rookie guard Keylan Rutledge,<\/a> whom general manager Nick Caserio says might be the best lineman on the team.<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
That\u2019s high praise from Caserio, who doesn\u2019t typically crown players before they play in a game.<\/p>\n
But the Texans are excited about their first-round rookie. He\u2019s relentless, plays to the end of the whistle and sometimes past it. He\u2019s not afraid to tussle with other players. And he played well in the preseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI show up every day, work hard,\u201d Rutledge said. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain kind of attitude I bring. There\u2019s a certain way I play. Toeing that line, trying to go dominate every play.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll make his debut at left guard in the season opener, barring any unexpected injuries.<\/p>\n
Rutledge has helped change the mindset of Houston\u2019s offensive line, a shift in personality that began last year after Cole Popovich was elevated to offensive line coach. There was a mass exodus of offensive linemen, including Laremy Tunsil, Kenyon Green, Shaq Mason, Juice Scruggs and Tytus Howard.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
But the Texans now believe they have the right pieces to achieve the success they\u2019re seeking. It took several attempts, but Houston finally found its best starting five before the Raiders preseason game.<\/p>\n
The starting unit will consist of second-year lineman Aireontae Ersery, Rutledge, free-agent acquisition Evan Brown, Ed Ingram and Trent Brown.<\/p>\n
While Stroud\u2019s improvement will be the biggest key for the Texans\u2019 offense this season, it will start with the improvement of the offensive line. Protecting Stroud will be paramount.<\/p>\n
The Texans were 5-0 when Stroud was sacked once or less and 8-2 when he was sacked twice or less.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put that s\u2014 on tape,\u201d Brown said when asked about the offensive line\u2019s goal. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to dip our toe in the water. We\u2019re trying to go out there, first play, game one, and set the tone for who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown said he has seen a ton of improvement from last year. Everyone has been on the same page, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we can be an elite group,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s just the goal we\u2019re chasing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing our job and keeping Seven (Stroud) upright so he can do what he does. Because he\u2019s special when he has the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can the Texans replicate their success against Josh Allen?<\/p>\n
The last time the Texans faced the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Josh Allen, they sacked him eight times and intercepted him twice. They chased and defended him with a tornado-like intensity.<\/p>\n
Ryans likes to call it S.W.A.R.M., which stands for Special Work Ethic and A Relentless Mindset.<\/p>\n
It was one of Allen\u2019s worst games of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the prime-time showing served as an introduction to the Texans\u2019 top defense.<\/p>\n
But if you talk to players and coaches inside Reliant Stadium, you\u2019d think that performance last year had no bearing on what will happen in their season opener Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this being our first game, anything goes,\u201d Ryans said. \u201cAny looks, any type of schemes, anything can come up. For that reason, I don\u2019t put a lot of weight into the games that we played prior.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not to mention, the Bills have a new coaching staff and defensive system.<\/p>\n
After longtime Bills coach Sean McDermott was fired last offseason, the Bills elevated offensive coordinator Joe Brady to the role.<\/p>\n
Brady then hired Jim Leonhard, who previously was the assistant head coach and pass-game coordinator for the Denver Broncos under Sean Payton and Vance Joseph, as his defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
As for Allen specifically, the Texans know they can\u2019t rest on their 2025 performance. As confident as they are in their ability, they know the former MVP \u2014 who was voted the second-best player in the NFL this past year by his peers \u2014 is too good to assume he\u2019ll struggle again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a great player, dangerous throughout the play,\u201d defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. \u201cHe has a history of making off-schedule plays and extending plays and creating explosives off that, which is obviously a thing we\u2019ve talked about a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really great talent, one of the top quarterbacks in the league,\u201d he said. \u201cPlayed at an extremely high level.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can pretty much do it all. Run the ball, throw the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen, though, hasn\u2019t had a great history inside Reliant Stadium. He\u2019s 0-4 all time against the Texans in Houston, losing in 2025, 2024, the 2020 playoffs and 2018.<\/p>\n
The Texans and their vaunted defense are hoping to make that 0-5.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a whole new season,\u201d Al-Shaair said. \u201cWe have to put it on tape. Obviously, we think highly of ourselves, but it doesn\u2019t mean anything if you don\u2019t go do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) throws a pass during an NFL training camp practice at Houston Methodist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-433887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}