Score Early and Often

On Saturday against the Chargers, the Texans' offense shocked the NFL world by jumping out to a 14-0 lead after only about 5:43 of game clock had passed. This was done via two gargantuan deep shots that happened on the first two Houston drives of the game. 

One was a 75-yard bomb to wide receiver Jayden Higgins, while the other was a 43-yarder to fellow wide receiver Jaylin Noel. 

Showing the ability to score quickly is another dimension that we had yet to see consistently throughout the course of the season. Normally, it's been a lot of ball control and the ability to utilize methodical drives to dictate the flow of the games played (the Texans are top three in time of possession per game with 32:02).

If they can tap into the ability again against the Colts, it could provide a way for Houston to both secure a win early on offense and then only play their starters for a half at most. 

Convert in the Red Zone

Currently, the Texans are the third-worst team in the NFL in red zone touchdown % with a 45.10% mark through 17 weeks (better than only the New York Jets and the New Orleans Saints). A week 18 matchup against a suspect, and now injury-riddled, Colts defense with your starters in should yield you multiple opportunities to score from within their 20-yard line. 

This is the time for Caley to try some creative approaches to goal-line scoring. A Jet Sweep would be nice, or maybe even a running back toss if they really want to be fancy. A tight end screen, a running back reverse and/or some quarterback zone reads would all be welcome additions to the goal line playbook. 

While I express these ideas somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the reality is that Houston definitely needs all the real-time situational reps they can get before the AFC Playoffs begin next week. 

They've lost at least three games due to being anemic at the goal line (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos). It would be a terribly missed opportunity to not even attempt to address that issue in their last meaningful game of the regular season. 

Feature the Rookies

As mentioned in the first key, preferably, players like Higgins, Noel and running back Woody Marks should be featured prominently in the game planning come this Sunday afternoon. 

It's not that they haven't been given opportunities throughout the regular season, but that there haven't been a series of games where they, as a unit, have been the focal point of the offensive plan of attack.  

Caley has his vision for how the offense should look, but a week 18 game devoted to rookie development wouldn't be the worst of ideas. Of course, as long as it would aid in the endeavor to guarantee a victory and possibly swipe the AFC South from the Jacksonville Jaguars with a win (and them losing to the Titans). 

Bonus: Stay Healthy

The Texans currently rank 16th in the NFL in salary spent on injured/unavailable players with $44,887,104 being lost in 2025. Relatively speaking, being middle of the pack in this category is not the worst thing. 

However, the NFL is a war of attrition, and fortunes can change in an instant. On Saturday, Houston saw a number of key players affected by injuries, including cornerbacks Derek Stingley and Kamari Lassiter, offensive lineman Ed Ingram and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. All except for Ingram were able to return to the game.

Coming into the game, the Texans were already without offensive linemen Trent Brown and Aireontae Ersery due to injuries.  Beyond that, the team has already been dealing with pre-existing injuries to players like running back Joe Mixon and wide receiver Tank Dell that have kept them out for the entire season. 

The Texans are sending a message by playing their starters in this game, but they need to be proactive about selecting the proper amount of time to leave their starters in the game. They don't want to create a catastrophic circumstance that sees a major player go down with a season-ending injury right before the Playoffs begin (and possibly lose them for next season too). 

One bad juke could spell disaster for the team, so they should treat lightly.