(SportsRadio 610) - Texans second year running back Dameon Pierce along, veteran receiver Robert Woods and tight end Brevin Jordan have officially been declared out for Sunday's home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Pierce will miss his first game of the season due to an ankle injury suffered in the Texans' 15-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers last weekend, while Woods and Jordan will miss their second consecutive game with foot injuries.
In seven games, Pierce has rushed for just 327 yards on 109 attempts for just 3.0 yards per carry. The longest run of the season for Pierce, a 16-yard scamper, came against the Panthers last weekend and the Texans remain one of only two teams in the league without a run of at least 20 yards on the season.
Veteran running back Devin Singletary will be charged with the bulk of the workload Sunday. The fifth-year back has seen more success per attempt than Pierce in limited opportunities this season, having rushed for 183 yards on 49 attempts in seven games for an average of 3.7 yards per carry. Maybe he or Mike Boone can bust through for the team's first explosive play on the ground this season.
The offensive line, which has been in flux since training camp, will have a new center against the Bucs with veteran Michael Deiter stepping for the injured rookie Jarrett Patterson. Sunday's line will be the fifth different set of starters for the Texans through eight games as they continue to patch things together through a rash of injuries.
The Texans projected OL for Sunday looks like this:
LT: Laremy Tunsil
LG: Tytus Howard
C: Michael Deiter
RG: Shaq Mason
RT: George Fant
Tunsil did not practice Wednesday, was a limited participant Thursday and a full participant on Friday as he continues to deal with a banged up left knee. Everyone on the line is banged up to some degree and all of them have shown up on the injury report this season.
Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and rookie quarterback CJ Stroud hope they've figured out a more effective plan of attack this week as they'll be without Woods for the second consecutive game.
He's been Stroud's most reliable target on third-down behind Nico Collins.
The Bucs are an aggressive front, among the top blitzing defenses in the league and their 14 takeaways to just six turnovers is the best differential in the league during that stretch.
Texans have got to find a way to increase the targets for both Collins and Tank Dell as well as be more aggressive in the pass game down the field.
After a combined 53 targets for the two in the first four weeks, that duo has garnered just 27 opportunities the last three weeks and it's clearly not because the run game has flourished.
If the Bucs stay with an aggressive attack and blitz heavy approach, it may bode well for Stroud and the offense Sunday.
Stroud, to date, has only been blitzed 55 times by opposing defenses. For context, the league leader in facing the most blitzes entering week eight is Washington's Sam Howell with 107.
Teams seemed to have cooled in recent weeks in attacking Stroud and the Texans pass game with heavy pressure, but there's no question that Stroud's 117 passer rating when blitzed, which is fourth-best in the league, sets up nicely against such a blitz heavy Bucs defense that brings pressure 39% of the time on passing downs.
The Bucs boast the best red zone defense in the league so far as well, holding opponents to just a 27% success rate inside the 20-yard line. Conversely, the Bucs are the worst third-down defense in the NFL so far, allowing opponents to convert 50.5% of the time.
While coaches hate the term, the Bucs statistically seem to be the epitome of a bend but don't break defense.
One of the moves the Texans have yet to really explore making as they continue to struggle running the ball, is passing more early on downs. Without tight ends Brevin Jordan and their best blocking tight end Teagan Quitoriano, the Texans are going to be up against it and have to pivot to a different approach to running the football.
Can the Texans break the Bucs at home, get back to .500 and officially insert themselves as a team to watch out for in the second half of the season?
