Texans 2025 Season in Review

Houston's defense finished minus one hundred and twenty-nine in expected points added allowed — first in the entire league. Out of thirty-two. Here's how the league's best defense dragged this team to twelve wins, why the offense couldn't punch it in close, and the one stat that explains how the season ended. Twelve and five, a wild card berth, a thirty to six demolition of the Steelers, then a sixteen to twenty-eight divisional exit in New England. This was a defense-wins-football season — until it wasn't.

Let me set the team-level table. The defense led the league at minus one hundred and twenty-nine in expected points added allowed — that's how much Houston lowered opponents' scoring chances per snap, and nobody did it more. The offense? Minus thirteen point nine in expected points added, twenty-first, thirty-eighth percentile. Houston also led the NFL in field goal percentage at ninety-two point three percent — forty-eight of fifty-two. And here's where the story sharpens: only forty-two point two percent of their scoring drives ended in touchdowns. Dead last. That mix tells you everything. After an oh-and-three start with losses to the Rams, Buccaneers, and Jaguars where the offense couldn't break twenty, this team rattled off twelve wins in fourteen games. The defense was the steady floor every week. The offense was a parade of field goals.

Now let's talk about the passing offense. C.J. Stroud and the passing game finished plus twenty-one point nine in expected points added on six hundred and eighteen attempts — a hair above league average, fifteenth, fifty-sixth percentile. Stroud himself: two hundred and seventy-three of four hundred and twenty-three for three thousand forty-one yards, nineteen touchdowns, eight interceptions across fourteen games, with completion percentage over expected of plus zero point eight — right at expectation. The headline number isn't a counting stat though. It's thirty-one sacks allowed on six hundred and forty-eight dropbacks, a four point eight percent sack rate, twenty-sixth in the league. Stroud absorbed twenty-three himself. Nico Collins led the receiving room — seventy-one catches, eleven hundred and seventeen yards, six touchdowns on a twenty-four percent target share. Boom-or-bust on a weekly basis: in week five at Baltimore, in a forty-four to ten beatdown, this passing game looked top-five. Most other weeks it looked exactly like the numbers say — average, sack-prone, and reliant on Collins to manufacture explosives.

Now let's dig into the rushing offense. This is where the season got muffed. Houston finished minus forty-four point nine in expected points added on four hundred and seventy-six carries — thirtieth, ninth percentile. A bottom-three rushing attack by efficiency. Three point nine yards per carry, twenty-second. Woody Marks led the team with one hundred and ninety-six carries for seven hundred and three yards — three point six a pop — and two rushing touchdowns. Low floor, low ceiling, almost every week. And it shows up in the worst place — the red zone. Houston scored touchdowns on just fifty point seven percent of red-zone trips, thirty-first in the league, sixth percentile. When you can't run it inside the twenty, you settle for three. Which is exactly why that kicker led the league in field goal percentage.

Next up, the pass defense. This was the unit that smashed. Houston allowed minus one hundred and nine in expected points added across the season — minus zero point one nine per dropback. Forty-seven sacks, seventh in the league, eighty-first percentile. Twenty-eight takeaways including nineteen interceptions, third in the league, ninety-fourth percentile. An opportunistic, ball-hawking, quarterback-hunting unit working in concert all year. The defining moment came in week eleven at Tennessee, fourth quarter, third and ten, Texans up ten to six. Will Anderson Jr. arrived on Cam Ward, stripped the ball, recovered it himself at the Tennessee thirty-four. One play, one sack, one fumble, one recovery — minus four point four expected points for the Titans. That's the identity in a single snap: get home, get the ball, change the game. Consistent week to week — even in losses to Seattle and Denver, the defense kept Houston in striking distance. This is the engine that made twelve wins possible.

And the run defense matched the standard. Houston allowed ninety-four point one rushing yards per game and posted a rushing expected points added allowed of minus nineteen point seven — seventy-fifth percentile, top-eight in the league. Per carry, opponents managed just minus zero point zero five in expected points. Nothing easy on the ground all year. Thirteen rushing touchdowns allowed across seventeen games, right around the league benchmark. No single hero story here — a collective front-seven effort that complemented the pass rush. Steady, disciplined, and largely uneventful in the best way a run defense can be.