It wasn’t long ago when the Houston Texans struggled when they reached the dreaded red zone. In 2018, they scored touchdowns on 50% of their attempts, 29th in the NFL. The season before: 52.38%, 20th in the NFL.
In 2019, however, the Texans are on a tear in the red zone. They’ve scored touchdowns on 85.71% of their attempts in the toughest area to score, good for second in the NFL, behind the Seattle Seahawks, and first in the AFC by a wide margin.
Houston’s success in the red zone spawns from the man tasked with leading the offense: quarterback Deshaun Watson. In all seven of Houston’s red zone scores (one field goal), Watson is responsible for five of them; one rushing touchdown and four passing ones.
Watson, behind an upgraded line, is schooling defenses in the red zone. Not only is he scoring with both his legs and arm, but he’s also thrown efficiently. According to PlayerProfiler, he’s hitting on 66.7% of his passes in the red zone, good for 10th in the NFL. In 2018, he made 54.4% of his red zone throws, 33rd in a 32-team league.
The Texans are rolling in the red zone. They’ll get to show that to Houston on Sunday, when they host the 1-2 Carolina Panthers, who are allowing 66.7% of red zone visits to turn into touchdowns, 22nd in the NFL.
