Now the Houston Texans have a really big problem. Their game against the Indianapolis Colts was a chance to get back in the win column and they wereless than two minutes away from pulling off the comeback win.
However, their defense was unable to stop the Colts on the final drive of the game and Indianapolis won 19-17.
For the second season in a row, the Texans are starting the season 0-3 and with how good the Jacksonville Jaguars have looked in their wins so far this season, Houston could be putting themselves in a major hole if they have aspirations of winning the AFC South for the first time since 2024.
Despite the clear offensive problems, this loss is not entirely on quarterback C.J. Stroud. Stroud can only do so much when the run game is not working
and the Texans only averaged 3.3 yards per carry in their loss to Indianapolis.
Stroud also had his second straight game without a turnover which is positive after he had two lost fumbles in the season opener versus the Buffalo Bills.
"Maturity is the word that jumps up. It sticks out to me. He is maturing as a quarterback, as a leader," Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said. "He's doing a good job of making plays for us despite whoever is around him, he finds a way to make plays and he's growing. He's showing some toughness to tuck the ball and go get us a tough third down there on third and eight. I'm seeing the toughness. I'm seeing the grit. I'm seeing the maturity. I'm seeing the leadership from C.J. He just has to continue to keep growing. All of us as a team, each year you find out who you are as a team. It's never the same. As much as you may want it to be, each year is never the same. We're still building who will the 2026 Texans become. It's a little adversity that we're going through, but adversity is going to build that character. It builds that strength that you need, the resolve that you need to continue to push through the season. This is where we are right now, but that's not who we're becoming. We are becoming a good team. We just have to go out and show it. We have to go out and finish and we have the right guys to do it."
Houston has to find a way to get something going offensively in their next game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. If they lose this game, it will be the first time since 2020 that they started the year with a 0-4 record.
Houston finished that season with only four wins and head coach Bill O’Brien was fired following the loss in early October.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans HC DeMeco Ryans says CJ Stroud is maturing as a QB in the NFL
