HOUSTON — When the Houston Texans left AT&T Stadium with a 20-14 preseason victory against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, they did so with a mediocre offensive performance. The Texans went 0-for-10 on third-down conversions while recording 220 total yards.
Immediately after the game, first-year head coach David Culley attributed a bulk of Houston’s offensive struggles to the Cowboys’ blitz defense. But after a lengthy film review, Culley became aware of more intangibles that made the Texans’ offense appear subpar.
“As we went back and looked at the video, there were mental errors that we had,” Culley said prior to Thursday’s practice. “It had nothing to do with them [the Cowboys] blitzing us more than what we have seen. We worked on them this week to make sure that doesn’t happen [again]. It was more us than them.”
The Texans’ run game struggled the most in Dallas. They recorded a total of 89 yards on the ground, one week after they rushed for 170 during their exhibition victory over the Green Bay Packers. According to Culley, the Texans’ drop-off in their run game was the result of Tim Kelly — Houston’s offensive coordinator — experimenting with different personnel for evaluation.
Presumed starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor says communication and execution are the keys to improving the Texans’ offense. It’s the two elements the Texans will focus on the most during their preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, at NRG Stadium.
