Time doesn’t cure these ills as evaluation in week off only reaffirms problems
The Texans used their open date to relax and reflect, and when they returned to NRG Stadium on Monday, they started preparing for the NFL’s worst game this weekend.
The Texans and Jaguars are both 1-6 going into their game at Jacksonville. At a time when playoff races are heating up for the second half of the season, Sunday’s game features two teams going nowhere fast.
Usually, the Texans-Jaguars game wouldn’t command much interest outside Houston and Jacksonville, but in this unusual circumstance, the Jets and Dolphins are going to watch it closely.
The winless Jets have the first pick in the draft — the Trevor Lawrence pick, as
it’s known. Miami owns the Texans’ first- and second-round draft choices to complete the trade for left tackle Laremy Tunsil and receiver Kenny Stills. The Dolphins want the Texans to lose as many games as possible.
The Jaguars are hopeless, and they will be starting rookie quarterback Jake Luton, a sixthround pick from Oregon State. He hasn’t thrown a pass this season.
Jacksonville has a six-game losing streak in which every opponent has scored at least 30 points. The Jaguars are allowing 33.3 points during the losing streak.
The Texans’ only victory was over the Jaguars on Oct. 11 when they defeated Jacksonville 30-14 in the first game after Bill O’Brien was fired and Romeo Crennel was promoted to interim coach.
The Texans reached their open date after playing a treacherous schedule that included teams like Kansas City, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Green Bay, who have combined for a 29-7 record. All but the Ravens are in first place in their division.
When Crennel, the coaches and players look back on the first seven games, they’ll see they’ve become the most disappointing team in the NFL. They went into the season with hopes of winning the AFC South for the fifth time in six years, and if they don’t make a dramatic turnaround over the last nine games, they could be in danger of challenging the worst record in franchise history — 2-14 in 2005 and 2013.
From owner Cal McNair to interim general manager Jack Easterby and Crennel, the goal is to win as many games as possible. The trade deadline is Tuesday at 3 p.m., and the Texans could swing a couple of deals for draft choices, but the plan is to finish as strong as possible before the franchise undergoes another metamorphosis with a new general manager and head coach.
Winning better start Sunday with a second victory over Jacksonville. The Jaguars are the first team in a four-game stretch of winnable games that includes a trip to Cleveland, New England at NRG Stadium and a Thanksgiving game at Detroit.
Unless Crennel found a magic wand last week and cast a spell over his coaches and players, they’ll have the same problems to solve they had before their open date.
The Texans’ problems start at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The offense can’t run the ball successfully. The Texans are last in rushing, averaging 84.9 yards a game.
The defense can’t stop the run. The Texans are 31st with an average of 165.9 yards allowed.
Before the open week, Crennel said the coaches would use the time to “self-scout” while the players were off. He was asked on a Zoom conference call Monday if he learned anything about this team last week.
“I don’t think we found out anything we didn’t already know,” he said. “When you don’t play good, you know you aren’t playing good, so what you try to do is discover why you’re not playing good — why the players are doing some of the things they’re doing. Now, isolate those things and then try to improve (them).”
Crennel and his coaches have watched so much tape it’s amazing they don’t get migraines. They know what they want the players to do, and they’re trying to coach it as best they can. But in most instances, it hasn’t been working.
“I know we always talk about the running game and stopping the run,” Crennel said. “Why did this guy run for 94 yards? Now you can see who didn’t fit what gap, what might help him fit that gap correctly the next time so that maybe you can make the tackle for a 4-yard gain instead of a 94-yard gain.
“Same thing in the passing game. Why didn’t a guy stay on top of this route? What did he see? What was he looking at? He let the guy run past him, and then it becomes a big play.”
The defense, which is Crennel’s specialty, has allowed too many big plays against the run and pass. The last two quarterbacks to beat the Texans — Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers — threw four touchdown passes apiece.
“We’re going to try to eliminate those big plays and then solidify the running game,” Crennel said. “I’ve been saying that all season about solidifying the running game. Well, we either do it or we don’t. If we don’t, then we’re going to lose. If we do, then we’re going to be competitive, and we’ll be in games.”
And if they don’t, they’ll continue to make the surprising Dolphins and their fans very happy.