The tale of the 2024 Houston Texans cannot be told without highlighting their offensive struggles.
Thanks to an offseason change at offensive coordinator from Bobby Slowik to Nick Caley, however, head coach DeMeco Ryans believes they're perfectly positioned to move beyond those difficulties entering 2025.
"I talked to a lot of great people throughout this process," Ryans told reporters on Thursday at Caley's introductory news conference.
"It was clear, as I kept going through it, talking to people and going through my process, it was very clear that (new offensive coordinator) Nick (Caley) was the right guy for our team. His energy, his leadership ability, and with him being able to understand the run game, pass game, with him being in multiple schemes, multiple schemes that were successful, understanding how to tailor the offense to the players that we have, that led me to Nick.
"I feel really strong in my conviction that he can lead us and get us over the hump. We've had a lot of good success these first two years, and the reason we're doing it is I think there's another level that we can go to. I said earlier, it's my job to take this organization to new heights, and I think hiring Nick will help us to get there."
Caley joined the Texans earlier this month after spending the last two seasons under Sean McVay in Los Angeles, serving as the Rams' tight ends coach before taking on the role of pass game coordinator in 2024. With McVay calling plays and Caley overseeing the air attack, the Rams finished 10th in passing yards per game, a number reached even after Matthew Stafford finished the regular season on a cold streak.
Los Angeles' passing game shined in the postseason, improving by nearly 20 yards per playoff contest. Stafford threw for 324 yards amid frequent precipitation in the Divisional Round, nearly leading the Rams to a comeback win in a close loss to the eventual Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Houston, meanwhile, struggled to establish a consistently explosive passing attack due to problems that started up front. The Texans' offensive line was ineffective throughout much of 2024, failing to reliably protect budding superstar quarterback C.J. Stroud, which resulted in him being sacked 52 times in 17 games.
With a lack of trust in his blocking, Stroud saw his growth interrupted, if not stunted. He made uncharacteristic mistakes in deciding when and where to throw the ball and displayed unusual accuracy issues during an especially trying middle portion of the season, producing statistical totals that fell below his sensational rookie year in almost every category. It wasn't until the final five weeks of the campaign (including their wild-card win over the Chargers) that Stroud finally seemed to find a rhythm through the air, and even in that period, he took off running more often than he'd like in order to get the job done.
Slowik -- who was lauded for his work with Stroud as OC in 2023 -- ended up shouldering the blame and lost his job as a result. Ryans found a replacement in Caley, who Ryans believes is arriving in Houston with the pedigree and experience necessary to elevate the Texans' offensive operation to new heights.
With Stroud entering his third season, the Texans knew they couldn't afford to waste another year of his early career development with a coordinator they might not fully trust to guide him. They've hired Caley, who preached the importance of fundamentals on Thursday, but still has to prove himself as a first-time play-caller. Perhaps even more importantly, Houston needs to address why their offensive line was so porous, either via personnel changes, scheme adjustments or both.
"I think it all starts up front obviously and it's really all 11," Caley said of improving protection for Stroud. "We all have to be in sync and I think protections starts with communication, trust and cohesiveness up front and really having clear rules in the protection system. We're going to be going through that process. Obviously, I have a history with (offensive line coach) Cole (Popovich) dating back to my time in New England when he was our offensive line coach and I coached the tight ends, so I have a really good working relationship and level of trust with Cole. He is a very good football coach and I'm excited to go through this process with him."
They've taken one step toward improvement. With a second straight division crown and postseason victory under their belt, they have reason to feel optimistic. But as is the case with all 32 teams at this point in the season, plenty of road remains in front of them.
