Week one is finally here! It's time to lock horns with one of the best teams in the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams. Let's dive into my By the Numbers right here.
- 1 - This is the first time that the Texans will play a regular season game in SoFi Stadium. These two teams did meet at SoFi in a preseason game in 2022.
- 2 - The Texans have only played the Rams in a regular season game one other time in Los Angeles, having lost to Sean McVay's Rams 33-7 in 2017 in the LA Coliseum.
- 4 - The Texans have played the Rams five times in their existence but have won just once, losing four times to the Rams over the past 22 years.
- 1 - California native QB C.J. Stroud will play his first NFL game back in his home state. The only time that Stroud played a game in California after graduating from Rancho Cucamonga HS was in the 2022 Rose Bowl against Utah. He set DOZENS of Rose Bowl records that day, completing 37 of 46 for 573 yards and six touchdowns. Here's hoping for a repeat of that day on Sunday.
- ½ - When Texans DE Danielle Hunter sacks the quarterback for the first time in 2025, he'll reach 100 career sacks. At that moment, Hunter will have reached 100 sacks the 15th fastest in NFL history.
- 5 - The Texans selected five captains this week - Stroud, Nico Collins, Dare Ogunbowale, Azeez Al-Shaair and Will Anderson Jr.
- 3 - Three of the last four Defensive/Offensive Rookie of the Year award winners will be on the field in this matchup. The 2023 winners were Stroud and Anderson, while the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year was Rams DE Jared Verse. (the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year was Washington's Jayden Daniels)
- 117 - Texans RB Nick Chubb is just over a hundred yards short of 7,000 in his career.
- 83.8 - Last year, Texans WR Nico Collins was fourth in yards per game in the NFL.
- 90.0 - Only three receivers topped Collins in 2024 in yards per game - the great former LSU WR duo of Vikings Justin Jefferson and Bengals Ja'Marr Chase, plus the receiver the Texans will face on Sunday Rams WR Puka Nacua.
- 1 - As it sits at this moment, the Texans will start just one OL in the exact spot as on the starting OL in week one last year. Tytus Howard is scheduled to start at RT, the only OL to start in the same spot as week one last year.
- 2 - In fact, the Texans have just two players on this roster from last year's week one starting OL - Howard and Juice Scruggs. Take it a step further, the Texans will have four new starting OL from the last time they played a non-preseason game. Tytus is the lone holdover and he's slated to start at tackle, instead of guard where he started against KC last January.
- 2 - The Texans have never won a Super Bowl ring, but they did add a couple of players this offseason that have won a few. S C.J. Gardner-Johnson played in two, won one in Philadelphia, while WR Justin Watson played in four and won three while in Tampa Bay and Kansas City. DE Derek Barnett won a ring with the Eagles in 2017, but he's been with the Texans for three seasons.
- 5 - The Texans have five rookies that'll make their on-field debut against the Rams on Sunday.
- 2 - Two of those rookies will do it in the city in which they played their final season of college football - Jaylin Smith and Woody Marks, both USC Trojans.
Alright, that'll do it for this week. Can't wait for this matchup - see y'all on Sunday!! GO TEXANS!
