It seemed there was basically one given in the Houston Texans' offense heading into Week 1: Nico Collins would get the ball a ton.
The Texans were without Christian Kirk due to injury. They have a mystery, layered backfield, too. But Collins? He's a star wide receiver and was slated for a big workload.
And then he ended with three catches for 25 yards.
There were a couple of problems.
First, the Texans couldn't protect quarterback C.J. Stroud. Especially when Collins is running routes down the field, that spells quick doom.
"Quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked three times, pressured on 41% of his dropbacks and hit seven times," wrote ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime. "There were multiple holding calls, false starts and illegal shifts. Sounds familiar?"
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The other dilemma was clear in contrast to the Los Angeles Rams' usage of there star, Puka Nacua.
Nacua moves around the formation and does all sorts of things. The Texans don't mix it up in the same way with Collins.
"When you have the luxury of a Pro Bowl wide receiver, you find ways to get him the ball," wrote Bien-Aime. "The Rams featured Nacua in various ways; whether on the run, over the middle or in the slot, there was an intentionality to get him the ball. Meanwhile, for Houston, there was little creativity to get Collins involved."
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There will almost certainly be better days ahead for the Texans and Collins.
But that's not how anyone in Houston wanted to start the season, and with limited Collins involvement, it almost felt like the Texans didn't even take their best swing at getting a Week 1 victory.
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