Breaking down Houston Texans victory over the Chargers

All right, welcome to another edition of Texans Football Panel. I'm Lenard Davis Jr., and of course, I got my dynamic duo here, Reggie Adetola, In The Loop, 957, The Fan, and my guy, Brian Barefield, Big Sarge, Texans Tailgate Show. Fellas, here we go again, but I'm going to address the first thing first. Yeah. When you wear the same shirt as Sarge, you must be doing something right. Because it looks like we've got the identical shirt going on here. You know what I mean? We're twinning. We're twinning a little bit, but I know for sure he didn't get his from Walmart. I know that. So we're going to end it right there. But, fellas, coming off a win for the Texans, you know, I feel like we bring stuff. to reality sometimes for the conversations that we bring up. I'm not saying we, you know, Mr. Cleo, you know, call me now. But, I mean, some of these young folks might not know about that one. That's old school right there. But... What is your guys' overall analysis on this victory, now that they're 3-5? It's like deja vu a little bit. Reggie? Yeah, but interestingly enough, if you're talking about the 2005 season versus this – or 2025, I should say, versus this 2026 season, it's a different elite side, right? Last year was the defense that was the elite side of the football as you were dealing with the 3-5 season. This year, interestingly enough, I think that this game versus the Chargers, admittedly not a great team, shows you that there can be an elite side of the football, and it's probably C.J. Stroud in this offense. If they allow Nick Haley, the play calling, all of that, if they allow C.J. Stroud to have the ball in his hands, what you've seen is when they do that, which was the game in London versus the Jags, it was obviously in L.A. versus the Chargers. 34 and 44 points, multiple touchdowns. In fact, C.J. Stroud is the AFC Player of the Week offensively, and it's because he has the capability of doing this if you put the ball in his hands. I think that that was one of the huge takeaways from this game, is that C.J. Stroud can dice up any defense that you put in front of him, and especially if it's a bad one, he can make them look really silly. Yeah, Reggie, I'm old enough to, you know, have played in converse, you know, back in the day when I used to hoop. So I'm going to use a basketball analogy. You know, they say when you're a shooter and you're missing, just keep shooting and all you need to do is see the ball go through the hoop one time, right? I feel like that's what the Houston Texans defense did this past Sunday. They just needed to get that type of confidence back. They got eight sacks, which tied the game they had against the Buffalo on last season. I mean, Derek Stingley Jr. had one interception. He said he should have had three. But you're watching the way that that defensive line is rushing and getting to the ball. You're watching the way the linebackers are moving, the defensive backs are moving. They played with a bunch of... Confidence and a bunch of swag and so I felt like this past weekend They saw the ball go through the hoop and I think that they get back on track to where they are an elite defense again Yeah, and when you have elite defense it also pays to have a really good quarterback and CJ Shroud AFC player of the week first time this season that any player got it twice and and this so Where do we go from here as far as CJ goes? Obviously, he's looking like a man that should be paid. Let's go back to the basketball analogy. Feed the big man, right? Like this is when you have a hot hand, feed the hot hand. Continue to allow him to do this. This is a team that came into the season. In fact, I always like going back to draft day where Keelan Rutledge on night one was drafted. You draft an offensive lineman and everybody goes, okay, Nick Caserio is sitting down and saying, we're going to run the football. Well, months later, that's not the identity of this team, and it should not be the identity of this team moving forward. The identity of this team should be a quarterback that is playing like at least a top two-tier quarterback in C.J. Stroud. You allow him to continue to do what he does. Not saying that you won't run the football at all, but the tip of the spear, the lead of what you're doing here, has to be C.J. Stroud. I think that that's the real big takeaway. When you look at a player like C.J. Stroud, I think that you have to go and look at the coaching staff and them saying to themselves, yes, we can draw up the play, but let's get out of the way. Hey, look, here's the play, C.J., you do whatever it is you need to do with it. Or, hey, C.J., here's a series of plays. Pick out whichever one you want to run. And I like that they've moved out of the way. Nick Caserio said that this is year two in a system that it's C.J.'s. It belongs to C.J. It's C.J.'s and whatever he wants to do with it. And so watching the way that he's been able to maneuver, how he's been able to run this offense this year, and it's only getting better. I think that last week, the pass to Keishawn Booty, he threw that off his back foot. He was falling backwards. And so he was mad at himself because he started off the game 5-5, and then the next four out of the five passes were incompletions. But he kept saying to himself, I'm seeing these guys open. I know I can get the ball to them, and I just need to do a better job of that. But, hey. He hooping. Yeah, and can I add a finer detail to that? Because it's easy to just say that he was playing some great football. Not to point fingers, but you talk about missing some of these passes. There were offensive linemen in his lap. And not to say that the offensive linemen have been putrid or anything like that, but I love what you said there because C.J. Stroud took it upon himself to say, how can I then overcome this and then still make the play? And then he went out and did it. That's the thing that is incredible is that you have a guy that can acknowledge that. Go out and do it to the tune of 384 yards, five touchdowns. How good did it feel to see Tank Dell, that 63-yard catch and run into the end zone? It was a great pass by CJ, but give credit to Tank Dell. What a phenomenal story that's unfolding in front of our eyes right now. Yeah, watching Tank Dell, it was funny because after the game, he looked at me and said, I told you what I was going to do, twin. And I was like... All right, but I like the fact that CJ and Tank were able to get back on the same page and they're starting to get that camaraderie and building that chemistry that they had Two years prior to getting that back. Tank Dell is a guy, and I don't think that people give him enough credit because, I mean, coming out of college, we've seen what he was able to do. Tank Dell can run great routes. I think they underestimate his speed, and I think they look at his size and don't think that he can be an outside receiver. But when you get a blessing from Steve Smith Sr., former wide receiver from the Carolina Panthers, and say, hey, this guy. Can do it. He has the total package. And now you're starting to see it. I like that. You know, Nick Callie says tank is going to be tanky. There's no restrictions on him. We don't have any game reps that he that he cannot be in. And so I'm looking forward to see him take the ball, take take the game a little bit further and real quickly. I feel like he's going to be on the outside. Keishawn's going to be on the outside. You might see Nico in the slot. Which, that's what the great players in this league, wide receivers, what they get is the ability to move inside and outside. So, that would be cool. But to the Tank Dell point, right, obviously you needed somebody that could take the top off the defense, especially with Jalen Noel lost for the season due to an injury. You were looking around. You have a lot of guys that can really win in the intermediate. Obviously, Nico Collins is a weapon unto himself. But you needed somebody that could uniquely take the top off the defense. And in comes Tank Dell to do that specifically. Yeah. And one of the really finally encouraging points in this was the GPS speed that they track. He got up over 20 miles per hour, which was, I think, his 11th best speed that he's ever clocked in the NFL. That is to say, he is running just as fast as ever. Maybe he could be a little bit faster, but obviously he's only a few weeks removed from returning. And maybe the biggest thing that you got from Tank Dell was not just the touchdown, everything after the touchdown. I felt like everybody dapped that man up on the sideline. Ben McDaniels, the wide receiver coach, had a unique special depth. With Tank Dell, he's that kind of personality, and there's something to be said for a guy that raises all spirits. Not just because he can make electric plays, not just because he's a good dude, but all of that together. He's unique in his ability on the field, but also off the field to help level up this team. Infectious energy is what they call it. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Now, as we move ahead to next week on the road, Cleveland, everyone's talking about, obviously, C.J. Stroud versus his old predecessor, Deshaun Watson. But then we found out this week that the The running game could be affected. Woody Marks was not at practice because of a knee injury, and David Montgomery, he returned to practice. He hasn't played since week five because of that groin injury, fellas. They're playing a defense that is not known to be strong against the run. How concerned are you with this situation here, Reggie? I mean, definitely a little bit concerned, right, when you don't have your full complement going out there. This offense played really well against the Chargers, but they've had some issues in going up and down this season, and I don't think anybody wants to go into any game in the National Football League without your full complement of what you're doing. But in a weird way, I think that there is something that this team does, which is they call themselves a game-plan offense, and that they want to play to the other team's weaknesses. And it feels like right now, you're not versatile enough offensively to say, we're going to play to somebody else's weakness. It feels like they need to play to their strength. And so I think that that C.J. Stroud, it's not great that you don't have. Woody Marks, who is incredibly versatile, has been really good in pass protection and rushing the football for you. But as long as you have C.J. Stroud, it feels real simplistic, but sometimes you don't need to make it harder than it needs to be. I think as long as you have C.J. Stroud, that's where your focus should be. And the other things should hopefully level out enough for you to be able to get Ws. I think this is one of the worst weeks to not be able to have your full complement, running backs. And you might be without an offensive lineman in Keelan and Ricky, especially going into... A Cleveland stadium that's going to be raucous and rowdy but the weather conditions and it's supposed to be windy, it's supposed to be rainy, it's supposed to be cold and how many times do you want T.J. Stroud to drop back and throw the ball? You don't want him to be like Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix trying to throw in a monsoon and throw four interceptions but you're going to lean on his arm but by the same token. You're also talking about a running game that has been very ineffective this year. I've got an opportunity to speak with DeMeco Ryans a lot about the physicality of the offensive line, and this is something that you're definitely going to need to do because I think the Cleveland Browns defense is very underrated, Excuse me. and so this is a terrible week for you not to have Montgomery, well, a hobbled Montgomery, no Woody Marks, no Jawar Jordan, Demarcus Devers and Dameon Pierce is who you're leaning on. Okay, fellas, and very quickly, my last question. When you look at the schedule, and they were 3-5 last season, but now they have the Browns, a very winnable game. Next Thursday, Thursday night, they have the Colts, who are clearly in rebuild. And then they have a Lamar-less, potentially Ravens team to get to 6-5. What are the chances of them accomplishing that goal to potentially increase their chances to the playoffs? I mean, there's winnable games. There's winnable games for them. Now, there's going to be some tough games down the stretch, and unfortunately, they've dug themselves a hole starting as slowly as they did. But there's winnable games, especially in the immediate future. And ultimately, not to borrow the clichés of the head coach, but they've got to focus on themselves more than these other opponents, right? So, ultimately... Football is football, like what we're talking about right now with this Browns game. Injuries can happen that make things a little uneasy, depending on the opponent. You can't look at the other teams and say, those aren't good teams. You have to look at yourself and say, how do we be the best version of ourselves this week? But looking at the schedule, it is fair to say that they are very winnable games in the immediate future. The best part about this is that when they started out 0-3 this season, they started out losing to three AFC teams. They have an opportunity to beat three AFC teams. And that's going to matter when you're looking to trying to get into the playoffs at the end of the season. You know, beating up on NFC teams does them no good. But if you can win these three AFC matchups, then that's going to look good as far as the record is concerned. And them getting to the postseason, I think that they will, not can, but they will win all three. Hey, well said, brother. Bravo on that one. Hey, like we said in the beginning of the show, we speak some stuff into reality these days. Okay. Okay, and we're going to leave it right there. Mic drop. But thank you again for tuning in on our weekly show, Texans Football Panel, to give you the best content we can with the realest content and the realest folks. I'm Leonard Davis, Jr. with Fox 26 Sports.