Quarterback Deshaun Watson has taken 18 sacks through the first four games, the third-most in the NFL, and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly has the answer.
The first-year coordinator told reporters Thursday that offense has to simply do a better job of handling pressure. However, Kelly went into specifics.
“Again, kind of similar things from the past couple of weeks, it’s really everybody that’s involved in it,” Kelly said. “From winning the one-on-one match-ups up front, to Deshaun getting us into a good play, to the backs and their pick-ups, and the wide receivers and their route running.”
There doesn’t seem to be one definitive answer for why the Texans are unable to handle the pressure. While it would be easy to dismiss sacks as not being a quarterback stat, or point out Watson is tied for the third-most “time to throw,” according to Next Gen Stats at 2.92 seconds, the reality is he has been blitzed 47 times, tied for fourth-highest in the league. Furthermore, Watson has had to scramble on nine of his drop-backs, the seventh-highest overall.
While there may be no clear cut answer, the Texans’ offensive staff is working to correct it.
“That’s definitely an area that we’re focusing on,” Kelly said.
