Despite what happened this past Sunday at Reliant Stadium, in a 36-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills in which Josh Allen (334 yards passing, four touchdowns) went haywire, the Houston Texans are still considered one of the top defenses in the sport. One game, against game against the top MVP candidate on the odds board, doesn’t undo two years of elite defensive play.
Coming into this season, though, one aspect of 2025 that I continually brought up as something to consider, when handicapping the Texans, was just how lucky the Texans were with injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Among their core seven players — Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, Jalen Pitre, Calen Bullock, Kamari Lassiter, and Derek Stingley — there were only five total games missed due to injury.
Five games missed TOTAL among your seven best players is uncanny injury luck, a dynamic that tends to regress to the mean from year to year. While it seems as though the seven players listed above came out unscathed medically — they were far from unscathed on the scoreboard — the Texans did take an injury hit on defense that they will undoubtedly feel. Linebacker Henry To’o To’o left the game on Sunday with a shoulder injury that will reportedly keep him out for a few months, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC Channel 2:
Wilson says that the Texans are expected to place To’o To’o on injured reserve (and they may already have, by the time you’re reading this). This is a much bigger problem than To’o To’o’s status on the Texans’ mythical “talent power rankings” would indicate. Let’s explain why:
Linebacker is not a position where they can afford to lose guys
While To’o To’o is maybe the ninth or tenth best player, from purely a talent standpoint, on the Texans’ roster, he is perhaps top three in terms of importance, because of the lack of depth behind him and Azeez Al-Shaair at linebacker. The injury to third linebacker E.J. Speed in the spring is now being felt acutely. Just to put a NICKEL defense out on the field (five defensive backs, two linebacker), it means the Texans now MUST play one of Jake Hansen, rookie Wade Woodaz, or rookie Aiden Fisher for signifcant snaps. If they want to play a base 4-3 defense (three linebackers), then two of those guys must play. This is a major issue, as To’o To’o’s experience is a major reason he is such an asset.
Azeez Al-Shaair is the most indispensable player on the Texans
Taking this same concept a step further, Al-Shaair, the only linebacker on the team in whom fans should have any sort of confidence, now becomes the most indispensable player on the roster. Al-Shaair is the captain of the defense And has the “green dot” on his helmet, meaning he’s the one getting the defensive formation calls from coordinator Matt Burke. There isn’t anyone in the same universe with Al-Shaair on this team from an organizational standpoint on defense, and few rival his leadership and energy vibes. Al-Shaair is more crucial than any player on this roster, perhaps including C.J. Stroud, considering Stroud at least has a capable backup in Davis Mills.
This is just one more thing to fix, for a team that rarely has to fix things (on defense, that is)
It would be one thing if the Texans had to adapt to life without To’o To’o in a week following a resounding win, or a win of any type, but they’re having to do it in a week following their worst defensive performance in DeMeco Ryans’ three-plus seasons as head coach. They’re having to figure it out in a week after the Buffalo Bills may have given the league, and certainly your next opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, the answers to the test, when it comes to attacking the Texans’ defense. For a defense that had very little injury angst thrust upon it last season, the list of glitches to be addressed has already begun.
