Houston Texans Look To Get Ground Game Back On Track

The Houston Texans are re-emphasizing the running game after failing to get much traction in Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

As the Houston Texans prepare to host the Denver Broncos in a battle of AFC playoff hopefuls on Sunday, the ground game has been a particular point of emphasis in practice this week.

At first glance, it might look like the Texans ran the ball well in Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, racking up 91 yards on 18 carries. In context, though, that number becomes a lot more concerning. C.J. Stroud accounted for 47 yards, over half of Houston's rushing total, on scrambles, while Tank Dell added 12 more on an end around. On 11 traditional designed runs, Devin Singletary and Dameon Pierce combined for just 32 yards, less than three yards per attempt.

The Texans aren't a particularly great rushing team, ranking 24th in the league with 98.7 yards per game, but keeping some semblance of balance is still important, as coach DeMeco Ryans preached on Thursday.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud hands the ball off to running back Devin Singletary during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 12 / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

"I think I voiced many times how important the run game is," Ryans told reporters. "Like when you stay on schedule in the run games, how much that opens up play-pass and stuff, that it's going to be more guys in protection, it's going to be sounder in protection... Any time you can keep the defense off-balance, and they're not sure what you're going to play or what you're going to run, that's always going to be the hardest for them."

DeMeco Ryans Reveals Key Reason For Denver Broncos Turnaround

The stats absolutely back up Ryans' sentiments about the run game. Houston is 4-1 when it rushes for at least 100 yards this season, but 2-4 when it does not hit that mark.

Fortunately for the Texans, the Broncos rank dead last in rushing defense this season, and by quite a large margin too, allowing an average of 155.2 yards per game. If there was ever a time for Singletary, Pierce and others to get back on track, this is the game to do it.