No-wins situation
NFL’s best 0-4 quarterback can’t survive his own team
The Texans were loudly booed several times by their socially distanced fans inside a sparsely filled stadium.
They trailed a winless team 31-16 late in the fourth quarter.
They couldn’t score a touchdown in the red zone and twice required fourthdown desperation just to discover a heartbeat.
And Deshaun Watson still had a shot at victory Sunday against Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook and the Minnesota Vikings inside NRG Stadium.
What is worse: The Texans starting a season 0-4 for
the first time since 2008 orWatson watching a potential gamechanging touchdown erased from the scoreboard after a lengthy review with 1minute and 12 seconds left?
Because D4 is the franchise quarterback for Houston’s NFL team in 2020, he was able to experience both on another painful day in franchise history.
“We’ve just got to figure out how to win a game,” Bill O’Brien said.
The Texans deserve to be 0-4. They were blown out by the much better Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, pounded by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and ultimately knocked down 31-23 by the Vikings.
O’Brien (head coach, general manager, offensive play-caller — again) is the most powerful person in the NFL without a victory in 2020. Ninety-nine percent of owners would have fired O’Brien already.
The Texans’ run defense was pitiful (Cook rushed 27 times for 130 yards and two TDs), the offense was often horrible (the Vikings possessed the ball for 13 more minutes) and a third-down call on the Texans’ final offensive possession was a fumble in waiting the moment it was called.
“We weren’t very consistent,” O’Brien said. “We started out in the first quarter offensively, really can’t do anything. And then, like I said, in the red area we drive the ball, but we get in the red area and we don’t — the plays didn’t work. … Stopping the run — we’re too inconsistent stopping the run. At times we do it really well, and other times we don’t. It’s just something we’ve got to keep working on. There’s nothing else we can do. We’ve got to keep working.”
On a day Cousins spent threeplus quarters outplayingWatson, the Texans ended up 5 yards away from pulling within 31-29, with a potential game-tying, two-point conversion to follow.
A fool would find hope in the Texans’ late rally.
Maybe that’s why O’Brien keeps being granted more and more power despite being 52-48 since 2014 and still winless a quarter of the way into this season. Sunday he was allowed to take over play-calling for the third time in seven years.
A realist — or simply someone paying attention — would realize the obvious. The Texans are screwing it up withWatson.
He ended up with two TDs
and a 110.7 rating on 20-of-33 passing. But he struggled throughout the first half and misfired on several throws he normally makes. In the end, he was again unable to overcome all of the Texans’ mistakes.
Offense. Defense. Special teams. Coaching.
Heck, just being a part of a team that allowed a once-winless opponent to grab a 15-point lead on the road.
Post-defeat, Watson maintained his normal optimistic outlook.
“We’re 0-4. We’ve just got to keep fighting, keep pushing forward, and that’s it,” Watson said. “But for me personally, I’m not going to let it take my joy. I’m going to continue to live life, continue to work my (butt) off, continue to come in here every
day and play football. It is what it is. But at the end of the day, my joy, my spirit, my smile, my energy, the love of the game is still going to continue to be there. That’s how I see it.”
During the loss, there were moments on the field when it was clear that a misfiring offense was frustrating the 25-year-old franchise QB.
Patrick Mahomes was the better QB inWeek 1. Lamar Jackson tookWeek 2. Ben Roethlisberger wonWeek 3.
Watson reached 300 yards Sunday. But Cousins was more efficient for 60 minutes, and Minnesota’s run-pass combo won the day.
Normally, I’d say that ifWatson falls to Gardner Minshew and Jacksonville next week, the 2020 Texans really have problems.
But you’ve known that last part since this backward start began.
The Texans traded away DeAndre Hopkins, Watson’s always reliable All-Pro target, when they didn’t have to. Brandin Cooks, touted by the organization as the new No. 1wide receiver, didn’t have a catch Sunday. The Texans are now 0-4 for the first time in 12 years. Go figure.
The team O’Brien built was completely outclassed by the Chiefs and Ravens, then easily pushed away by the Steelers when a potential victory was in sight. Sunday, Watson finally showed a glimpse of the magic that brilliantly sparkled in his game from 2017-19. But there was no way the Texans’ QB was overcoming everything against the
Vikings. And just when it started to feel like the magic was going to reappear, Will Fuller’s TD was taken away, and the Texans were left to explain how they almost could have maybe tied the 1-3 Vikings.
WhileWatson spoke with the media, there were only two 0-4 teams in pro football: the horrible New York Jets and the Texans. The New York Giants joined the club later Sunday.
We all knowWatson is better than an 0-4 QB. But O’Brien’s Texans are exactly what their record says they are.
Four games into the 2020 season, Watson is being dragged down by the franchise he plays for.