The story of the Texans' preseason, going all the way to the start of training camp, has been their defense.
Whether it was the defensive backs making plays against rookie quarterback Davis Mills, or the defensive linemen winning one-on-ones against their offensive counterparts, it appeared like one group was clearly ahead of the other.
That has translated into the Texans' first two preseason games, in which they've recorded seven total takeaways.
Offensively? It's been a bit underwhelming.
The Texans netted 319 total yards and gained 4.6 yards per offensive play two weeks ago against the Green Bay Packers.
Last week against the Cowboys, it was just 220 yards with 4.2 yards per offensive play.
The Texans struggled on third down, going 0-for-10 in Arlington (though they did convert a 4th down, which set up their first touchdown of the game).
When asked earlier this week about what the Texans' offensive does well, Culley did not hold back.
"The thing is, I don’t feel like we’ve done as well as we need to do running the ball or throwing the ball," Culley said. "Obviously, when you go 0 for 10 on third downs, that’s not what you want. I think we just need to keep improving, both with the balance of what we want to be running the ball and passing the ball, and we’re going to continue to work on that. But we’re not anywhere near where we need to be at that point."
For offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, the challenge is curtailing this offense to fit so much new personnel.
No longer does he have Deshaun Watson, last year's NFL passing leader who is still on the roster but likely will never play again for the team.
The staple of running backs are different, inserting Phillip Lindsay, Mark Ingram, and lessening David Johnson's role.
On the offensive line, only Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil returns in the same role from last year's starting five, with Tytus Howard moving from right tackle to left guard; Max Scharping from left guard to right guard; Charlie Heck stepping in as the new starter at right tackle; and replacing Nick Martin with Justin Britt at center.
"Each year is different so once we got through the first, whatever you want to call it, week, two weeks of training camp, you get a feel for what the identity of your team is going to be," Kelly said earlier this week. "Even going back to the first time I interviewed with Coach Culley, he made it very clear that he wanted to make sure we had a very tough and physical football team. We’re going to do what we can to make sure this team reflects the image that he wants, and our guys are doing a good job of putting in the work to get that done."
The Texans' offense will get its greatest challenge yet, facing the Super Bowl defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their final preseason game.
Both head coaches have said they intend to play their starters, setting this up to be the closest they've had to a regular season game.
"First and foremost, want to see our guys come out there and play hard," Kelly said when asked what he wants to see from the offense against Tampa Bay. "It’s going to be good to come out and play in front of our home fans and go out there and execute and really just let the offense work for them. In the preseason, it’s a little bit different than the regular season obviously, so we want to make sure our guys are able to come out here execute, play fast and go out and make plays."