Putting setback in past the goal
In need of a rebound, Texans know they cannot afford Jet lag
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Inside the Texans’ locker room, there is zero tolerance for anything inauthentic or a lack of accountability about mistakes.
The AFC South leaders’ chemistry has been defined by introspection and honesty.
“I don’t think anybody is a bigger critic (than we are),” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “We always point the finger at each other. We’re going to hold each other accountable. At the end of the day, nobody’s expectations are higher than ours.”
When the Texans couldn’t win a game during the first three weeks of the season, they were convinced they weren’t nearly as bad as the results suggested. During their franchise-record ninegame winning streak, they learned a lot about their resiliency. That unprecedented run of success was abruptly halted Sunday by the Indianapolis Colts when some older, recurring problems cropped up.
That included breakdowns in pass protection and pass coverage. As disappointing as it was to lose for the first time since September, the Texans are ultra confident they’ll close out the regular season strongly and position themselves for a serious playoff run.
The 9-4 Texans — a 4-12, lastplace squad a year ago — can clinch the AFC South Division title Saturday with a victory over the New York Jets combined with
losses or ties by the Colts and Tennessee Titans on Sunday, or by virtue of a tie and then losses by both division rivals.
As important it is to earn an automatic playoff berth and try to improve postseason seeding against other AFC powerhouses, including the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, the Texans have a simpler goal: They just want to get back to playing winning football.
“I don’t look anywhere else,” said J.J. Watt, a threetime NFL Defensive Player of the Year. “I look at us and what we did and what we have to do. My whole philosophy and something I’ve learned throughout my career and throughout the last two injuries, obviously, is control what you can control. That’s become something that I live by.
“You control what you can control, and don’t worry about what you can’t because you can’t do anything about it anyway. All we can do is control our attitude, control the way we work, control the way you practice and meet, make sure that we go out there and put our best foot forward.”
Focused on task at hand
Quarterback Deshaun Watson, emerging as one of the top dual-threat passers in the game, disagreed with the notion that losing to the Colts could take some pressure off the team.
“For us, we don’t really put pressure on ourselves,” he said. “We don’t really focus on that.
“Of course we didn’t want to lose. We always want to win and try to continue to stack those, but it just kind of goes that way sometimes. It’s the National Football League. We just try to focus on the next opponent, the next game, and try to get back in the win column.”
There’s a strong chance that could happen Saturday at MetLife Stadium against the 4-9 Jets, who halted a six-game losing streak last weekend with a victory over the Buffalo Bills engineered by rookie quarterback Sam Darnold.
But the Texans remain primarily concerned about their own issues.
“You don’t have to worry about last week. That’s the only thing good about it,” said Pro Bowl outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, whose late offsides penalty helped the Colts seal the game. “Hurry up and put last week behind us, get ready to go to the Jets, and try to get a win.
“Trying to get back on that winning streak, this is a big week for us. Coming off a loss, we have to bounce back. We need this game for the division, for everything. All these games are important, so we have to go up there and take care of business.”
The Texans have built a hard-nosed mentality throughout their dramatic turnaround this season.
“Same mindset we’ve had this whole season — it’s keep fighting,” All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “We’ve been down before, we’ve been up, so just keep fighting.”
The Texans hope to start a new winning steak with three games remaining in the regular season, including a road game against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles followed by a home finale against the imploding Jacksonville Jaguars.
Any more missteps could be costly.
“I think we’ve got to double down on our focus this week,” tight end Ryan Griffin said. “It’s very important in terms of getting into the playoffs and then, once we do that, seeding. So three weeks of the season where anything can happen.”
Erasing ‘bad taste’
The Texans were glad to have a short week and an opportunity to get back on the field one day sooner after some embarrassing moments against the Colts, including the offensive line’s being roughed up and the secondary’s being torched by wide receiver T.Y. Hilton.
“You have no choice,” cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. “Nine-game winning streak, that’s a long time. That’s two months of football in the NFL. A lot of ball been played, a lot of things happened, so it’s a lot of chatter throughout that whole point in time.
“With three games left throughout the regular season, I think you home in and focus in, especially on one game at a time, 12 quarters of football, however it has to be.”
Five years into the tenure of coach Bill O’Brien, the Texans have yet to win 10 games during the regular season despite winning two AFC South titles during that span.
“It’s more about the Jets than it is about win number 10, but I think 10 wins is important,” O’Brien said. “Let’s not worry about anything else other than the New York Jets. That’s the big thing.
“I’m not into milestones. I’m into let’s see if we can just do as good of a job as we can to try to beat the New York Jets.”
Weather conditions are expected to be gloomy, with forecasts of heavy rain. The Texans are accustomed to playing indoors at NRG Stadium and practicing in relatively balmy weather.
“You’ve just got to go out there and try to grip the ball as best you can,” said Watson, who grew up in Georgia. “You focus on your footwork a little bit more, be cautious with that.”
Bad weather or not, the Texans are projected to get back to their winning ways. They’re installed as a 6½point favorite.
“We’ll bounce back,” Mathieu said. “We’ve got a bad taste in our mouth.”