The Houston Texans offense is 10th in the league in points for (238) and sixth in the NFL in total yards (3,570), which are part of the club’s 6-3 record and first place in the AFC South.
There is plenty with the unit to be pleased with, but first-year offensive coordinator Tim Kelly really likes the way the offense has concluded their drives with quarterback Deshaun Watson at the helm.
“We’ve shown the ability to sustain and finish drives,” Kelly told reporters Thursday. “Deshaun’s doing a good job of really going out there and getting us into good plays, and our guys are going out there and making the plays that are coming their way and they’re able to do it and, like I said, sustain the drives.”
The Texans are averaging 2:59 time of possession per drive, fifth-best in the NFL, and 2.47 points per drive, the fourth-best in the league. The biggest stat that shows the offense is finishing drives is their 65.7% red zone conversion rate, tied with the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday’s opponent, for the fifth-best in the NFL.
Not bad for a unit that last season finished in the bottom-10 in red zone conversion at 50%, the only other playoff team other than the Dallas Cowboys to finish that low in red zone conversions.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a chunk play in order for us to score,” Kelly said. “So, that’s something that we’re continuing to try and get better at, but have shown improvement at.”
The Texans will need to sustain long drives, and finish them off, when they take on the Ravens Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore is the highest-scoring offense in the NFL with 300 points tallied thus far. In order for the Texans to keep the Ravens at bay, Houston will need to out-play them on the scoreboard both proactively and in an indirect manner via time of possession.
