Houston Texans: The tale of two halves

The Houston Texans have taken too long to insert themselves in a position to win in games and that has led them to a 0-3 start to the beginning of the regular season.

The Houston Texans are heading into Week 4 and they have yet played a competitive first half nearly a quarter of the way through the season, plus they’ve haven’t led once at the end of the first half in their three games played this season.

Over the three first halves the Texans have played, they’ve scored a total of 19 points which includes one touchdown and four field goals. The Texans scored their sole touchdown in the waning seconds of the second quarter versus the Tennessee Titans in Week 2.

More from Houston Texans News

• Houston Texans: Can Sean Payton really be the next head coach?
• Houston Texans Draft: Michael Mayer should be a no doubter at pick 12
• Houston Texans already telling fans the Davis Mills era is over
• Houston Texans have hand forced, waste no time in firing Lovie Smith
• Houston Texans: Pros and Cons of keeping Head Coach Lovie Smith

Besides that, they’ve managed to make two successful fields per game versus the the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Through the first three games, the Texans’ offense is averaging a disappointing 6.0 points per first half.

The Texans defense hasn’t done the team any favors in the first half either. Opposing offenses have hung 48 points in those three games. The defense is allowing 16 points per first half. However, it’s important to point out that this is a team game and the offense has also put the defense in tough spots when their drives stall and end prematurely.

At the end of the first half the Texans are being outscored by 10 points, two scoring possessions, and they’ve been outscored by a total margin of 29 points in the first two quarters. The Texans keep shooting themselves in the foot and it’s costing them games.

However, the second half is a different story. The Texans defense has held their three opponents to an average of six points and a total of 19 points. They kept the New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans to six points and Giants to a touchdown the entire second half.

The huge margin and mistakes that have occurred in the first half have been too much to overcome. The Texans offense has scored a total of 40 points in the second half and averaged 13 second-half points per game. They’ve outscored teams by seven points per second half and a total margin of 21 points.

Yet they fell to the Patriots by seven, the Titans by three and the Giants by five points in the three losses. The last two of the three games were winnable, but they were squandered by the Texans slow start to games.

They’ll need to turn it around before they travel to Lucas Oil Stadium to face AFC South rival, the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4. The Texans are 0-2 as the away team this season, but they need to get their first win and start building momentum or more of the same could occur.