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Factoid

Houston Texans

Houston wins the AFC South without an offense

I will have an eye on the Houston Texans this week. I want to see if Tom Savage can help pump some life into that offense. And I also want to see if that franchise can complete an unusual feat that will probably never be repeated.

Houston has clinched the AFC South title. Yet the offense has scored a league-low 21 touchdowns. That’s 2 fewer than the Rams, and 4 fewer than every other NFL team – Browns, Jets, all of them.

That’s weird. Normally when you’re not scoring touchdowns, that means you’re also not winning games. You can’t win without scoring points.

I pulled up the numbers since 1978. Only two other teams have ranked last in offensive touchdowns (rushing and passing) and finished with .500 records. The Cardinals in 1994 and the Chargers in 1999. The Bills have twice managed to go 7-9 while finishing last in touchdowns.

But typically a lack of touchdowns means you’re losing a bunch of games.

Houston has been able to turn logic on its head and win games without touchdowns.

OFFENSES RANKING LAST IN TOUCHDOWNS
YearTeamRunPassTotRecord
1978San Francisco149232-14-0
1979Buffalo1114257-9-0
1979Detroit 1114252-14-0
1980Cincinnati 917266-10-0
1981New Orleans 168244-12-0
1982Balt. Colts46100-8-1
1983N.Y. Giants912213-12-1
1984Cleveland 1014245-11-0
1985Buffalo139222-14-0
1986St.L. Cardinals817254-11-1
1986Tampa Bay 1213252-14-0
1987Atlanta517223-12-0
1988Detroit 713204-12-0
1989Dallas 714211-15-0
1990New England 414181-15-0
1991Indianapolis310131-15-0
1992Seattle 49132-14-0
1993Indianapolis410144-12-0
1993Cincinnati 311143-13-0
1994Arizona1211238-8-0
1994Hou. Oilers1013232-14-0
1995Arizona317204-12-0
1996N.Y. Giants414186-10-0
1997San Diego 512174-12-0
1998Philadelphia 107173-13-0
1999San Diego1012228-8-0
2000Cleveland 79163-13-0
2001Carolina912211-15-0
2002Hou. Texans611174-12-0
2003Detroit 517225-11-0
2003N.Y. Giants616224-12-0
2004Chicago 109195-11-0
2005San Francisco98174-12-0
2006Oakland 57122-14-0
2007Buffalo812207-9-0
2008Cincinnati 611174-11-1
2008Cleveland 611174-12-0
2009St.L. Rams412161-15-0
2010Carolina79162-14-0
2011St.L. Rams79162-14-0
2012Kansas City 98172-14-0
2013Jacksonville 716234-12-0
2014Jacksonville 915243-13-0
2015San Francisco716235-11-0
2016Hou. Texans714219-6-0

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index