Anatomy of a Touchdown Drive
Preseason Week 2 - Carolina vs. Houston
Hi everyone, TC here,
In this issue of Cap & Trade, I am reviewing the first-quarter touchdown drive by the Houston Texans. This drive included play action, a lot of power gap scheme, and one-on-one blocking assignments with some Duo sprinkled in.
Let’s dive into the tape!
Play 1 - 1st & 10 at Houston 40-yard line:
Houston is in 11 personnel with Carolina presenting a light 6-man box. My area of focus here is wide receiver Christian Kirk in the slot. This position is the F receiver, also known as the “adjuster” in Nick Caley’s offense. Kirk will run an option route based on the defender’s leverage. Kirk identifies the outside shade from the nickelback and takes the inside short glance route for an easy 7 yards.
The catch was quite the adjustment for Kirk, scooping the ball off the turf from a low attempt from Stroud.
Play 2 - 2nd and 3 - Houston 47-yard line:
Newly acquired free agent running back Nick Chubb’s first carry as a Houston Texan comes early. Houston is in 11 personnel with Stover inline to the left with Kirk and Hutchinson tight against the strong side. Carolina has a 7-man box with an Over front. This is a simple Duo concept with Hutchinson and Kirk working quickly to the second level from the play side.
Play 3 - 1st and 10 - Carolina 48-yard line:
Houston remains in their 11 personnel with an initial 2x2 look that motions to a 3x1 bunch to the weak side. Stroud fakes the action to Chubb, and the linebackers do not bite. Kirk, Hutchinson, and three offensive linemen quickly gather steam upfield. A slight miscue by left guard Tomlinson keeps this from becoming a huge gain.
Houston fans have continually witnessed a less-than-stellar screen game in 2023 and 2024. This play is a welcome sight for a big positive gain play on a wide receiver screen.
Play 4 - 2nd and 2 - Carolina 40- yard line:
Houston changes the look up on 2nd and short with 21 personnel with Jakob Johnson as the offset fullback. Carolina with a 5-man under front (the NT is shaded to the strong side). The play comes out as a play action off the run with a 6-man protection. The action gets both linebackers and box safety to bite forward; Houston sends out a two-route concept. Both receivers (Noel at the bottom and Higgins at the top) run a spot dig at the 15-yard depth. Stroud hits Higgins on the edge with Higgins laying out for the ball. The timing of this route will need to be cleaned up as the season progresses.
Play 5 - 1st and 10 - Carolina 26-yard line:
Houston remains in their 21 personnel; however, Johnson lines up as an off-the-line tight end. Houston runs two bench routes with the tight ends and two short curl routes with the receivers. Stroud’s first read to the flat was not available, and the two curl routes were covered. The offensive line holds up to allow Stroud to find Chubb on a short gain.
Play 6 - 2nd and 6 - Carolina 22-yard line:
Houston presses on with the 21 personnel with Johnson as the offset fullback to the strong side. Carolina has a 5-man over front with a 7-man box. Kirk will motion in from the right to act as a chip edge blocker. My area of focus here was a potential missed assignment or communication between Ersery and Tomlinson. Despite this, Tomlinson works back from his duo to get a shoulder on a blitzing linebacker. Fisher handles a tricky assignment on the right edge with a changeover. Chubb does a great job with his vision and getting skinny in the lane. Chubb gained 5 yards on this play, including 2.9 yards after contact.
Play 7 - 3rd and 1 - Carolina 17-yard line:
Third and short, Houston does not take any chances. 12 personnel with a double tight end look to the short side. Houston sticks with their power gap scheme with a “hat on a hat” blocking scheme. The “mike” linebacker was responsible for two run fits, leaving Chubb and an easy choice for the strong side B gap. If Fisher had been able to turn his defender to the sideline, this would have been a sizeable gain. Chubb pushes through the arm tackle for a big 9-yard gain.
Play 8 - 1st and Goal - Carolina 8-yard line:
Caley flips the look with the double tight end set to the field side, running essentially the same play as before. A “prove you can stop us” play. Carolina works through some blocks to shut down the running lane. Chubb is still able to gain 4 yards.
Play 9 - 2nd and Goal - Carolina 4-yard line:
Houston comes out in 11 personnel in a 2x2 formation with Schultz inline to the short side. Houston deploys five routes with two over routes from the left and a speed out by Higgins at the bottom. Carolina defends this well, dropping 7 in coverage with 6 blanketing the goal line. Stroud has nowhere to go and gives himself up for the sack. In a regular-season game, Stroud likely takes off for the edge for positive yards. With this preseason game having a minimal score concern, Stroud does the smart thing.
Play 10 - 3rd and Goal - Carolina 5-yard line:
This play was interesting. Running 11 personnel with trips right with Schultz inline to the field left side. Ogunbowale motions to the back field. Watch Schultz’s route as he runs a flat route to the boundary and purposely picks the linebacker attempting to cover Ogunbowale out of the backfield to the boundary. Ogunbowale then runs the “Texas” route, angling back to the middle of the field wide open. Unfortunately, Carolina’s DL gets a hand on the ball to prevent the touchdown.
Play 11 - 4th and Goal - Carolina 5-yard line:
The final play of the drive results in a touchdown. Caley keeps the same personnel on the field, again with trips right; however, Schultz to the left is flanked out to the boundary. From the bunch, Collins runs a flat speed out, Kirk runs a second-level deep out, with Hutchinson running a choice route. Stroud had two options for a touchdown here, and opted for the safest bet to Collins to the speed out at the goal line. Stroud’s early release prevented the 7-man blitz from Carolina from getting any pressure, as Houston had only six blockers—great job by all on this execution.
This has been the first Anatomy of a Touchdown Drive. I hope you enjoyed it. I will do these throughout the season here on Cap & Trade.
-TC