Sources: Texans fire OC Slowik after 2 seasons

HOUSTON – The Texans have fired offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik after two years in Houston, a source told ESPN on Friday. Houston also fired offensive line coach Chris Strausser and assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich, according to sources, who added that a decision on the remainder of the offensive staff will be made when the team hires a new offensive coordinator.

The Texans won the AFC South (10-7) in 2024 and reached the divisional round for the second consecutive season, but the offense struggled throughout the year. The Monday after the season concluded coach DeMeco Ryans said he wanted to take a week to evaluate the staff and when asked about Slowik’s performance he was short and didn’t give a ringing endorsement.

“I think overall with Bobby, I saw some growth,” Ryans said. “I saw some improvement throughout the year.”

Ryans also mentioned how the Texans offense needed to “improve” after a disappointing season as the unit ranked 18th in scoring (22.1) and 16th in total offense (329 yards per game). The most alarming aspect of the offense was pass protection. Quarterback C.J. Stroud took a beating of 52 sacks, second-most, and was pressured on 38.6% of his drop back, third-most according to Next Gen Stats.

What made Stroud’s pressure rate of 38.6% worse was that the time to pressure rate was 2.59, the seventh fastest according to NGS. The pass protection struggled with defensive twists and stunts that opposing defenses threw at them leading to 52 unblocked pressures, second-most.

As a result, Stroud regressed statistically from a strong rookie year. He finished 15th in passing yards (3,727) and tied for 15th in passing touchdowns (20) after having 4,108 yards (eighth in the NFL) with 23 touchdowns (13th) in Year 1 in two less games. And that’s with having Pro Bowl teammates in left tackle Laremy Tunsil, running back Joe Mixon and wideout Nico Collins.

Beyond Stroud, the Texans’ offense struggled for large stretches of the year. The second halves were a massive issue for the offense as they averaged a league-low 7.5 points per second half. From Week 7 to Week 12 the Texans offense did not score an offensive touchdown.

Coming into 2024, there were high hopes for the Texans’ offense with the Pro Bowl additions of wideout Stefon Diggs and Mixon. Diggs tore his ACL in Week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts but even with Mixon rushing for 1,018 yards, the offense always felt challenged, especially in key situations. They were 17th in third downs (38.9) and 28th in red zone scoring (48.4)

“Overall, offensively, it wasn’t where we wanted to be,” Ryans said. “There were challenges throughout the year, that is every year. You have challenges, you have ups and downs where you try to figure out the course, who we have and how to make it work. We have to improve.”

Slowik was Ryans’ first offensive hire in 2023 after both spent six years together with the San Francisco 49ers. In their first season together, Houston offensively thrived highlighted by Stroud becoming the fifth rookie to pass for 4,000 yards in a season and led the league in passing yards per game (274) and touchdown to interception ratio (23:5), something only quarterback Joe Montana and Tom Brady have accomplished.