After all of the additions the Texans made this offseason both through free agency and the draft, all of the offensive lineman that were supposed to establish Houston’s ground game in earnest after years of sloppiness, after trading for David Montgomery and WR Kayshon Boutte – the Texans still find themselves in the same hole they began the 2025 season with, a record of 0-3.
Although, instead of a purely putrid offense that plagued Houston last year, it’s been a menagerie of issues that has stricken
the team in 2026. The first loss against the Buffalo Bills was highlighted by great offense and lowlighted by shockingly poor pass-defense; the second game was a return to form for Houston’s defense, but showcased extreme regression for Houston’s offensive line. Now, in Houston’s heartbreaking 19-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Texans failed to overcome the mistakes they made in the first half and in the fourth quarter.
Houston’s offense was as ugly as ugly could be for much of those first two quarters, getting a total of 15 yards on three of their four drives, turning the ball over on 4th & 1 after DE Will Anderson Jr. forced a fumble from Colts QB Daniel Jones, and giving up three sacks. Colts DTs Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner ripped Texans linemen Wyatt Teller and Evan Brown apart, and offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s aggressive plan on offense led to multiple punts. On defense, Houston’s coverage looked to be back to their old Week 1 ways, with Colts QB Daniel Jones consistently finding WR Josh Downs for big gains. He picked on Calen Bullock, Reed Blankenship, and rookie LB Wade Woodazz to start the game, which led to Indy’s first touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter.
But, on the Texans following drive, they finally got into a consistent blocking rhythm, allowing RB David Montgomery to get downfield, forcing a few penalties out of the Colts’ defense – including a pass interference call as he targeted WR Jared Wayne in the end zone – which resulted in a CJ Stroud touchdown pass to TE Foster Moreau. That score would make it a 10-7 ballgame, and even thought the Texans defense would give up a field goal drive to make it 13-7 at the half, the Texans had finally shown some life on offense and established hope that they might be emerging from their offensive rut that reminded fans all too much of their early 2025 woes. 0-3 looked inevitable in the first quarter, but by halftime, the Texans looked like they might have life….against the NFL’s worst defense…
In the second half, the Texans offense returned to the doldrums they began the game with, but now the defense was starting to improve. Bullock’s reaction time and coverage seemed to improve, and S Reed Blankenship would cut off a promising third-quarter Colts drive with an interception at the Houston one-yard line!
It would unfortunately result in a three-and-out by the Texans’ offense (go figure), but the Texans defense would once again come up big time, sacking Daniel Jones on the subsequent drive and giving the ball back to their offense. The Texans would…go three-and-out again, and then in the fourth quarter, the Colts would score a field goal to take a 16-7 lead with 12:43 left in the game. Now, the Texans offense HAD to build off of that promising second quarter drive.
This is where a familiar refrain to the 2026 season began to be heard, again: CJ Stroud made some incredible plays to backup receivers Xavier Hutchinson and Jared Wayne, but the Texans offense failed to punch it in the end-zone. They would finish this fourth-quarter drive in a field goal, making it a 16-10 ballgame. However, the defensive-line was now banging on all cylinders and back in their 2025 form, and on the following Colts drive, Will Anderson Jr. would force Daniel Jones to fumble AGAIN, resulting in a Texans recovery thanks to DT Tommy Togiai. Anderson would finish the game with 7 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles, both coming at crucial times for the team. Now, the Texans would have to show they had improved from the first quarter, and actually score off of this turnover.
And they did!!! They did it! CJ Stroud would throw two of his best passes of the day: one 15-yard completion to Hutchinson to the Indy 44-yard line, then a 15-yard completion to Kayshon Boutte to the Indy 27. Stroud and the offensive line were in their bag on this drive, and they would finish it with a Woody Marks one-yard touchdown run to make it 17-16 Texans with 1:48 left in the game:
Finally, the Texans had started to take the appearance of their November/December 2025 squad rather than the lowly September/October version. An actual complimentary team in Houston? In this economy? Well, unfortunately for the Texans, 1:48 would be too much time on the clock, and when Daniel Jones would throw in the direction of Calen Bullock one last time, it would result in a backbreaking 20-yard completion to WR Laquon Treadwell. Another quick pass to WR Keenan Allen, and the Colts would score the game-winning 53-yard field goal with 16 seconds left. That would be enough time for Stroud to get his offense in position for a Hail Mary, but not enough time to steal the win away from Indianapolis.
If there’s any positive takeaways from this game, it’s that Stroud seems to be back to his old self for the most part, despite all of the dysfunction surrounding him. Ultimately, however, scoring only 17 points against the league’s worst defense is a profound disappointment, even if Stroud wasn’t to blame. Offensive coordinator Nick Caley will have a lot of questions to answer following this games ugly result, and general manager Nick Caserio will have to do some serious soul-searching as he continues to hit a brick wall with this offensive line problem.
The Texans are starting to get their groove back on defenses and the offense appears to be making strides from last week, but, just like the result of this game, it could end up being too little too late for the Texans as a whole. 0-3 is a near-impossible hole to climb out of, with only one of 24 teams to start 0-3 since 2020 finishing their season in the playoffs. Fortunately for Houston, that one team happened to be the 2025 Texans! So, if there’s a team that can repeat history, it’s this one!
What do you think of this game? Were the Texans as bad as they’ve ever been, or do you think they’re starting to turn a corner? Is this 0-3 start just as bad as last year’s, or is it even worse? Do you have any confidence that this team will be able to right the ship like they did last year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
