Laremy Tunsil<\/a>.<\/p>\nBoth offensive tackles, Aireontae Ersery and Trent Brown, have been called for six penalties each, tied for the league lead.<\/p>\n
The pass protection has been average, too. The Texans rank 16th in sacks allowed.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
<\/p>\n
The Texans’ defensive line has been its best unit on that side of the ball, leading the league in sacks.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Defensive line: B<\/p>\n
The line has been the Texans’ strongest unit on defense. How it performs often determines how the defense will perform. The Texans are tied for the league lead with 21 sacks.<\/p>\n
Will Anderson Jr. got off to a fast start with 7 \u00bd sacks, which still leads the league despite his not having any in the past two games. Danielle Hunter has four, and defensive tackle Sheldon\u00a0Rankins has two.<\/p>\n
The Texans\u2019 run defense has been one of the best in the league, in large part because of the defensive line\u2019s performance. But last week\u2019s game against the Giants and the game against the Jaguars were major setbacks. That\u2019s why this group doesn\u2019t get an A.<\/p>\n
In the past, coach DeMeco Ryans has relied on his front four to pressure the quarterback without blitzing. That just hasn\u2019t happened as much this season.<\/p>\n
The Texans have had to blitz more, which at times has left their secondary susceptible to big plays.<\/p>\n
![\"Linebacker]()
<\/p>\n
Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is 10th in the NFL in tackles, but also has missed plenty this season.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Linebackers: D+<\/p>\n
Injuries have played a huge part in the Texans\u2019 linebacker room struggles. Henry To\u2019oTo\u2019o missed four games. Azeez Al-Shaair missed one. E.J. Speed will miss the entire season, so the linebacker position has been in flux.<\/p>\n
But the biggest stain on the group\u2019s record is its missed tackles.<\/p>\n
Al-Shaair has 10 missed tackles in six games this season. That\u2019s tied for seventh-most in the NFL and fifth-most among linebackers. He also has the 10th-most tackles in the league.<\/p>\n
But the missed tackles are inexcusable for a player who is arguably the most important in Ryans\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n
Both To\u2019oTo\u2019o and Al-Shaair missed tackles on Devin Singletary\u2019s game-winning touchdown in overtime last week.<\/p>\n
![\"Safety]()
<\/p>\n
Safety Reed Blankenship, a free-agent acquisition, largely struggled in coverage before suffering a concussion during the London game against the Jaguars.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Secondary: F+<\/p>\n
The Texans\u2019 secondary has been their most disappointing group. It was elite last season. This year, it has been exposed. The Texans have surrendered 34 pass plays of 20 yards or more, the most in the league.<\/p>\n
Five of those plays have gone for 40 yards or more.<\/p>\n
Kamari Lassiter and Reed Blankenship have struggled in coverage. It feels like teams are picking on both. There have been far too many communication issues between the safeties and cornerbacks.<\/p>\n
There have also been too many missed tackles. Derek Stingley Jr. has seven. Before Jalen Pitre\u2019s injury, he was struggling, too.<\/p>\n
The worst part is that the Texans haven\u2019t forced many turnovers. They have only two interceptions this season, one by Blankenship and one by Calen Bullock.<\/p>\n
Some of the struggles are on the coaching staff, too. It hasn\u2019t always put the players in advantageous situations or played to their strengths.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Kicker]()
<\/p>\n
Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn (15) has been as reliable as\u00a0ever, but the Texans’ coverage units on special teams have largely been lacking.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Special teams:\u00a0C<\/p>\n
Kicker Ka\u2019imi Fairbairn has been on the money this year. He has made 15 of 16 field goals, a 93.8% conversion rate, and has accounted for 61 points. Six of his 15 field goals have come from 50 yards or more. He has played at a high level.<\/p>\n
Kai Kroeger hasn\u2019t been bad, either.<\/p>\n
But early in the season, the kick and punt return coverage teams were horrendous and cost the Texans games. They\u2019ve improved some over the past few weeks with the additions of Dare Ogunbowale and M.J. Stewart. They have to keep improving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"DeMeco]()
<\/p>\n
DeMeco Ryans’ defense, the best in the NFL last season, has seen a dramatic drop-off through seven games this year.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Coaching: F+<\/p>\n
How the Texans went from No. 1 in the NFL in total defense last season to 18th, despite having most of the same players and all but one of the same starters, is the team\u2019s biggest conundrum. Ryans took over play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Matt Burke to address communication issues, but it hasn\u2019t had much of an effect. The Texans are still getting beat deep.<\/p>\n
For the most part, the offense has done well under coordinator Nick\u00a0Caley and has been the least of the team\u2019s problems. However, the play-calling when Collins was out and in last week\u2019s game was questionable.<\/p>\n
And special teams coordinator Frank Ross hasn\u2019t had a good year, either.<\/p>\n
They all have to be better.<\/p>\n
![\"General]()
<\/p>\n
General manager Nick Caserio had an active offseason but his moves in free agency and the draft have yielded little impact so far.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
General manager: F<\/p>\n
The Texans were a little more aggressive in free agency and the draft this year. But it can be argued that their free-agent acquisitions haven\u2019t worked out.<\/p>\n
Wyatt Teller is the primary backup at guard. Braden Smith is the third-string offensive tackle behind Trent Brown and Blake Fisher. Blankenship has struggled this season.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the draft. First-round pick Keylan Rutledge has made a ton of mistakes. Second-round pick Kayden McDonald has been mostly quiet. Second-round pick Marlin Klein has been inactive for four games.<\/p>\n
Fourth-round pick Wade Woodaz has mostly played on special teams.<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, the Texans locked up Anderson long term but failed to reach an agreement with Stroud on a long-term deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson\u00a0Jr. (51) are easily the Texans’ MVPs through seven games this season, but haven\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-478451","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\/478451","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=478451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}