Film Room: Mixon Gets Rushing Game Going and Collins Continues Success

Joe Mixon brought new elements to the running game and the offense showed everyone what they think about Nico Collins

The Houston Texans finally debuted their ‘five-headed monster’ as they opened the season with the Indianapolis Colts. In 76 plays and 417 total yards, the Texans did not disappoint.

Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik showed a balanced offense firing on all cylinders. The film reveals that the team was able to utilize their new talent, but did so in a way that built on their offensive structure from last season. It may have just been one game, but there are some notable takeaways in the coach’s film.

Joe Mixon & the Run Game

Unlike any performance from last season, the rushing attack exploded. The Texans ran the football an astonishing 40 times for 213 yards, controlling the Colts front seven to the tune of 5.3 yards per carry. 

This result was multi-factorial, a combination of many factors including the offensive line’s second year in the system, having all five starters healthy, and plugging in Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon. 

The focus, deservedly, should be on Mixon but the offensive line deserves credit before we move to that sequence. This play, despite not finishing properly, got a lot of run on social media this week and for good reason. Kenyon Green was a heat-seeking missile on Sunday and not only consistently won at the line of scrimmage but was violent at the second level to continue opening up lanes. 

If the interior is able to play this well throughout the season, Houston becomes a near impossible challenge to stop. Now, to address the primary beneficiary of that dominance up front. 

Mixon carried the football 30 times for 159 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. It was the true bell cow performance Houston desired when they acquired him from the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s also the type of performance we know the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay tree loves to lean on.

The first element that cannot be over-emphasized is just how successful Mixon was at running zone. He consistently found lanes and cuts to make plays successful that rarely happened last season.

His vision and change of direction to make these plays happen were pivotal to how they called the running game and it wasn’t just on one occasion. This happened repeatedly. Over and over again Mixon found space.

In a zone-heavy running scheme employed by Slowik, the offensive line moves in one direction and forces the defensive line and linebackers to make decisions about where to go. It’s pivotal that the running back reads the defense well and ultimately punishes them. The runner is responsible for making the defense look ‘wrong’. This is where Dameon Pierce so frequently struggled last season.

If these plays go from some of the least efficient in football, as they were last year, to a net positive for Houston’s offense, the trickle down effect cannot be overstated. It should keep Stroud in favorable passing situations while also having the option to continue to hammer Mixon on manageable second and third downs. 

Beyond his vision, Mixon’s speed was evident and played extremely well in conjunction with Houston’s exterior line play (largely the left side). 

Mixon was credited per NFL Next Gen Stats on running ‘outside the tackles’ on 22 attempts for 118 yards and his only touchdown of the day. Slowik had no problem asking Mixon to get behind Laremy Tunsil and Kenyon Green and read out the play, which often resulted in him going outside to punish defensive backs for yard after contact. 

They largely spammed this concept, whether it was on a must-have fourth down conversion or on the goal line when everyone in Indianapolis knew that Houston wanted to run the football.

Finally, Mixon’s physicality should be celebrated.

He slammed himself into and through defenders for most of the day and gradually wore down the second level of the Indianapolis defense. It is a brutal running style to play against. It is also a wonderful compliment to the previously mentioned finesse elements of his game. 

Teams will be sore the next day after playing the Texans.

Nico Collins is WR1

NFL teams do a great job generally of signaling who they are and who they want to be. That is evident often in personnel decisions but nowhere is it more clear than when plays happen on the football field.

On Sunday, Houston showed the world that Nico Collins is their most talented and their most trusted receiver. Collins finished with six receptions for 117 yards on eight targets, leading the team in all three categories and his catches came in the most important moments.

When Slowik was searching for a spark on offense early in the game, he isolated Collins on one side of the field with trips on the other side and let him go to work. The speed, size, and contested catch ability that makes Collins one of the game’s best was on full display during his 55-yard reception.

Later in the half, with Houston looking to add points before the two-minute mark, they went right back to their star. They isolated Collins on the outside and let him feast on an in-breaking route. He has consistently dominated Indianapolis with this type of route.

Finally, the game was on the line. Houston needed a third down conversion to put the Colts away and seal their first victory of the season without giving Anthony Richardson another chance to score. No surprise - it was Collins again. He was isolated on the outside and allowed to beat his defensive back 1-on-1 with an outbreaking route.

There’s a conversation to be had if Collins is a top wide receiver in the NFL today. There is, however, no conversation to be had if Collins is the top pass catcher in Houston, he showed that on Sunday.

Best Way to keep Stefon Diggs Happy? Let him score

New wideout Stefon Diggs had an interesting performance in his debut. The headlines will all point to six receptions of which two were touchdowns, Stroud’s only passing scores of the day. However, a look at the film shows a more nuanced story than the box score.

Diggs was allowed to eat on underneath routes against the Colts, as evidenced by his notably low average depth of target. He was the beneficiary of the extreme vertical stress that Collins and Tank Dell place on the defense and he was also notably the beneficiary of one other factor - Slowik’s goodwill.

For any complaints or worries about Diggs’ history and his potential for malcontent in an absolutely loaded receiver room, Houston’s offensive design ensured that wouldn’t happen in the season opener.

Both of his touchdowns came on plays where the receiver running his route would have likely scored no matter what. In the first quarter it was from the slot on a simple crossing route where the middle of the defense opened up.

On the second play, it was after a quick release once again from the slot while Collins ran a dummy route on the outside. 

There’s nothing wrong with this and the odds are this is intentional. It was a great way to get Houston’s newest captain involved in the passing game and his usage in the slot was expected to help optimize a talented but aging player. Diggs will never have anything to complain about as long as he continues to see some of Slowik’s better designs come his way.

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