Jaylin Noel is one of those players who just moves different than everybody else on the field. Excellent call from Nick Caley here and Noel’s ability to stop and start is next level. Noel has caught his last 15 targets with the only incompletions targeting him this season coming against the Bengals in Week 2. He’s your WR2 until further notice.

Nick Caley brought back the Texans "Stover Cat" short-yardage package on Sunday, which should help their poor short-yardage offense so far. I continue to be impressed with Nick Caley's ability to self-scout and try new things when he realizes they can't be the offense he wants them to be. Houston went 3-5 in their 3rd and short situations, with the final Stover push being one I thought was a poor spot.

Kayden McDonald's early returns have been extremely positive, with his snap count increasing to 29 defensive snaps this week. He takes on the double team from Pregnon and Hainsey, which he sheds and shuts down this run, along with M.J. Stewart.

Texans Target Share over the last 3 weeks (since Nico Collins returned). Stroud has done an excellent job spreading the ball around with 5 players having 12+ targets along with Marks and Moreau having 6+. (@FantasyPtsData)

Best throw of C.J. Stroud’s career and maybe of the NFL season?

C.J. Stroud says he thought he may have missed Marvin Harrison Jr. on the fake screen late in the game. Here’s that play & there is an opportunity to give Harrison a shot here.

The Jaguars let Emmanuel Pregnon & Kayden McDonald get a 1v1 rep here near the goal-line and it was a clear win for McDonald. Wins quickly and then gets grabbed by Pregnon but no hold was called. Houston gave Pregnon fits in the run game yesterday.

The Jaguars tried to confuse & throw different sim pressure looks at Stroud with basically no success. Stroud floats this ball perfectly to Schultz to beat the dropping LB. He has taken a massive step forward this year with his pre and post-snap processing.

Big run from Jawhar Jordan on the final drive to get in a better FG spot for Ka’imi Fairbairn. Keylan Rutledge & Evan Brown take care of Arik Armstead + Ventrell Miller slips which opens this up for Jordan. Changed the kick from a potential 55+ yarder to 49.

Great job from Marvin Harrison Jr. throttling down into the open zone on 3rd & 2. Can see Stroud hitch once to see if MHJ would throttle down and he does. Also really like Caley with 5 wide here including Nico on the inside of the formation.

The Texans' running backs have averaged 2.9 yards per carry this season, the fewest in the NFL, along with the lowest success rate (28.0%) by a Houston team since 2018 via @NextGenStats. Houston's running backs have been hit at the line of scrimmage at the third-highest rate (54.7%) and stuffed at the second-highest rate (25.3%). David Montgomery and Woody Marks have averaged 0.4 and -0.1 yards before contact per carry

There's a noticeable difference in how C.J. Stroud is handling pressure in 2026 vs 2025. Mechanically, he's much more sound and keeping his base to step into these throws, looking less panicked/sped-up. Credit Stroud & QB Coach Jerry Schuplinski for being able to snap out of some bad habits.

It’s hard to pinpoint one thing that is wrong with Houston’s run game but once again it’s hard to imagine this becoming a non-bottom 10 run game. The players up front seem to block nobody or not be put in good situations schematically, but even when they are they miss blocks.

For as much crap as Nick Caley & Nick Caserio have gotten for the offense, they have been far from the issue with Nico Collins healthy. +0.13 EPA/Play +16.75 Total EPA 45.6% Success Rate +0.22 EPA/Pass +0.01 EPA/Rush 9.0 YPA It’s obviously a unit that still has question marks but they have exceeded the expectations for the group with their best player healthy. (@SumerSports)

Texans EPA/Play & Success Rate % by personnel groupings via @SumerSports. 11 Personnel - -0.02 EPA/Play (14/32) 41.7% Success Rate (18/32) 12 Personnel - -0.16 EPA/Play (21/32) 34.8% Success Rate (28/32) 13 Personnel* - +0.09 EPA/Play (5/18) 50% Success Rate (8/18) Jumbo* - -0.33 EPA/Play (7/8) 34.6% Success Rate (6/8) (Final 2 are among teams with 10+ snaps in those groupings.)

Texans Start 0-3 for 2nd Straight Season. Texans Probe w/ JacobBarzilla & DrewScouts. xitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1nxeLMvRp…

Something to add to their identity was brought up earlier by @Djbienaime with motion during the snap. (@FantasyPtsData) 41 Plays (19th) 6.95 YPP (6th) +0.181 EPA/Play (9th) +0.432 EPA/DB (7th) 58.5% Success Rate (6th) 69.6% Passing Success Rate (3rd) 19% Explosive Pass Rate (2nd) Over 50% of those snaps came in week 1 with Nick Collins healthy. Could we see more of it with his return?

Through 3 games, the Jets & Texans RBs occupy the bottom 4 in xYPC via @NextGenStats. Montgomery currently sits at 45/46 RBs in Success Rate at just 24.3% with only 2 successful runs in the last 2 weeks. Not great from Houston’s run game.

NEW: Why the Texans' 0-3 Start Is Bigger Than the Record. What has Gone Wrong? Issues that continue to plague the Texans over the last few seasons show up in a strong way through 3 games. jacobbarzilla.substack.com/p…