Texans could have their worst season since 2013

The Houston Texans have their quarterback of the future with Deshaun Watson, but injuries and the lack of realistic options at quarterback could result in head coach Bill O’Brien’s worst win-loss record with the Texans.

The Houston Texans have ended the regular season with a 9-7 record last three seasons, since the arrival of head coach Bill O’Brien.

This Texans are halfway through the 2017 season and they’re currently 3-5 at the midway point.

The only possible consolation for Texans’ fans is that they have never had a losing season under O’Brien.

However, the Houston seems to be falling apart faster than a house of cards.

This year’s Texans’ defense doesn’t resemble the number one ranked unit from a year ago.

The Texans’ defense has had growing pains and they have been in disarray with the promotion of Mike Vrabel as defensive coordinator. The injuries mounting on defense haven’t made Vrabel’s job any easier.

The Texans lost two of their elite pass rushers in J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus against the Kansas City Chiefs in week five.

Houston has also lost defensive end Christian Covington for the season with a torn biceps muscle and have had various players go down that star in the secondary

Cornerback Kevin Johnson is still shaking off the rust after spraining his MCL in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals and unfortunately hasn’t looked very good.

The strong safety spot has been a revolving door with Corey Moore and Marcus Gilchrist being unable to play at a high level.

The Texans’ defense is in shambles and their pass rushing woes continue with opposing teams finding out that the only threat on the defense right now is outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney.

Throughout the first eight games, their defense has ranked 16th in sacks with 20 and they are 10th in the league with 8 interceptions.

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Those stats aren’t bad until we dive deeper. The Texans are ranked 30th in points allowed with 26. Only the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts are allowing more points per game than the Texans.

Four of the five losses the Texans have had this season were within one possession. The only game out of reach was the 29-7 defeat against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the season opener.

If the Texans want to qualify for the playoffs for a third consecutive season and avoid their first losing season in under O’Brien, they’re going to have to run the table in the AFC South.

Houston has already lost to the Jaguars and the Colts at NRG Stadium, so they’re going to have to go on the road and defeat them if they want to become the AFC South division champions for a third consecutive season.

That hasn’t been done since future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning led the Colts to five straight AFC South titles from 2003-2007.

I’m not counting out the Texans and neither should you, but they’re going to need to look themselves in the mirror and think, are we presenting  the most competitive team on the field any given Sunday?

The answer is no quite frankly, but that doesn’t mean they should stop trying.

The Texans’ season doesn’t deserve to end after sixteen games, but they have to go out there and prove that they are still a playoff contender.