First things first: scoring sooner

What happened to the Texans against the Broncos wasn’t an unusual development.

Their extremely slow start followed a seasonlong trend, especially in the first quarter.

The Texans have been outscored 65-30 in the first quarter and rank 31st in the NFL in first-quarter scoring. Washington has 23 points in the first quarter, ranking last in the league.

During a 38-24 loss to the Broncos on Sunday at NRG Stadium, the Texans fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter. They were down 31-3 at halftime.

Penalties, including a false start on the Texans’ opening drive by left tackle Laremy Tunsil, have stalled multiple drives this season.

“We just have to commit to better habits, coaching and playing,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said.

“We drive the ball, we’re moving the ball on the first drive, get a penalty. Give up a long pass play on their first drive. These things, we talk about starting fast, but talk is cheap. We’ve got to go out there and actually do it.”

The Texans’ problems aren’t contained to the offense. The defense allowed three first-half touchdown passes by Broncos rookie quarterback Drew Lock. He only had three incompletions in the first half and passed for 235 of his 309 yards before halftime.

“If you come into a game and you get down 14-0 and then you can’t stop them, you can’t get things going on offense, you’re driving the ball but something bogs you down and you can’t score, you’re going to be in for a long day, and that’s what happened,” O’Brien said. “I thought our guys came out the second half and tried to fight, but we gave up too many points in the first half.”

The Texans’ offense struggled to get into gear. It was a perfect storm of mistakes.

“Before you knew it, it was 7-0, 14-0, and then it was a roller coaster that we couldn’t stop.

“I mean, not a roller coaster, it was an avalanche that we couldn’t stop, and we’ve got to figure out what went wrong, and we’ve got to try to fix it.”

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson rushed for two touchdowns and threw one TD pass, but he was also intercepted twice.

“Didn’t really play well, didn’t play well enough,” Watson said. “They got up, and it was hard for us to come back. We tried to, just got to get back to the drawing board.”

No Fuller was ‘best decision’

Texans receiver Will Fuller missed his fourth game of the season Sunday

because of a lingering hamstring injury.

When Fuller is in the lineup, the offense is much more explosive.

Originally hurt against the Colts on Oct. 20 and out for the following three games, Fuller returned against Indianapolis and caught seven passes for 140 yards. Then, he was out against Denver.

For the season, Fuller has 42 receptions for 598 yards and three touchdowns on 62 targets.

“You’re always trying to make decisions in the best interest of the team and we felt like for our team,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “And, for him, that was the decision that was going to be the best decision for the team for that day.”

O’Brien was noncommittal on Fuller’s status for a key AFC South game against the Titans this week.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll have to see.”