This Season is a New Low, Even for Lovie Smith and the Houston Texans

I know Texans fans, it’s been a rough season so far. You guys have been here before many times unfortunately. Lovie Smith and the Houston Texans have started the season 1-8-1 after a somewhat promising tie to a then perceived playoff team in the Indianapolis Colts, and this most recent loss to the red hot Washington Commanders was even worse then the final score would lead you to believe (and the final score was pretty bad).

The Lovie Smith led Texans looked completely lifeless all afternoon, I mean the second play of the game for the Texans offense was a Davis Mills pick-6 on a late outside throw to Brandin Cooks that either shouldn’t have been thrown or should’ve been thrown way sooner than it was.

The worst part of it all was that the Commanders got the ball first, and the Houston Texans defense did something we don’t see very often; They forced Washington to go 3-and-out. But it ultimately wouldn’t matter, as the Texans would start the game down 7-0 anyways.

That sequence of plays set the tone for the rest of the game. If there was ever any “wind in the sails”, so to speak, before the game, they were long gone after only 1:44 was gone on the clock. The Texans defense would play okay for the rest of the 1st quarter, but the 2nd quarter rolls around and after a 9 play, 80 yard drive by the Commanders that resulted in a walk in touchdown for WR Curtis Samuel and a 14-0 Commanders lead, the game felt over before it had really even started. I don’t think anyone who was actively watching the game, including myself, thought that the Texans would be able to score 14 points, as crazy as that sounds. The Texans would end the half down 20-0, and at that point the game felt like it was 49-0 and we were all just ready for it to be over.

Beyond the final score, I think the thing that was the most discouraging was the seemingly lack of effort from this Texans squad. Many players have said on record that it can be difficult to get up and play hard for a losing team when they know that they have no chance for the playoffs and also may be playing somewhere else next year, since there is always dramatic turnover with the roster when your team is horrifically bad. Regardless, I would think that the players would play hard despite the bad record just to show other teams how good they can be and that they will always play hard no matter what. Personally, I feel that poor effort is a direct effect of poor coaching.

Lovie Smith’s 3rd stint as a head coach in the NFL has been a complete disaster. I don’t think anyone seriously considered this Texans team to be a playoff contender, but I also think that nobody thought the Texans would be this pathetic. I hate to use such a harsh word, but it’s the only one that can perfectly encapsulate this Houston Texans season. Lovie Smith looks in over his head despite having experience as a head coach and it has shown big time. He has even started to take out his frustration on the Texans media members, who were asking him all of the tough questions after the embarrassing loss to the Commanders. 

The Houston Texans look like the worst coached team in the NFL by a mile, and I don’t think it is going to change until this season concludes and a new head coach walks through the door next year. As i previously stated, it’s less about X’s and O’s and more about the effort and the very poor optics that this situation has.

Texans fans, I promise it will get better and the Texans will be a good team in due time. But that time isn’t this year, and it may not even be next year. Just stick with it, and lets hope the Texans start to turn this ship around.