They're one of the premier offenses in regards to placing themselves in scoring position. But, the Texans are middle of the pack once they've reached their opponents 20-yard line. Jordan Godwin (who?) of The Chronic explains how new OC Rick Dennison plans to change all that.
I think Dom...er Rick is right. Lack of execution hurt the Texans in the red zone last season. It also hindered the play calling, as the Texans made some horrendous mistakes when passing in red zone situations. Dennison is a veteran o-line coach, and an ex-NFL ILB. He understands trench warfare and his hiring is one of the major reasons I'm more confident in the Texans offense than ever before."Scoring in the red zone is predominantly a matter of execution," Dennison said. "It has nothing to do with bad luck, as some people might like to think."
Based on his résumé, Dennison could be considered a red-zone guru. When he was the offensive coordinator in Denver from 2006-08, the Broncos consistently ranked near the top in red-zone scoring. They finished second in the league in red-zone rushing in 2008, but after he was moved to offensive line coach last season, Denver dropped to 21st in that category.
When the Texans hired Dennison in January, he immediately set out to determine why they had trouble scoring in the red zone.
"It's really a matter of a lot of little things coming together to work against you," Dennison said. "One of the first things I noticed was that there were times when the (offensive) line and the (running) backs weren't working together as well as they should."