Inconsistent play by the offense is on O’Brien, Osweiler

Before we tune in to the latest installment of the Texans dying or thriving on national TV, let’s get three rather important things out of the way. 1.) Bill O’Brien has to be better than this. 2.) Brock Osweiler should be better than this.

3.) The coach and his quarterback have created the least believable* four-win team in the NFL.

* — Buffalo, Washington, Detroit and the New York Giants aren’t exactly inspiring early Super Bowl belief, either, so the Texans are in relative good company with their hollow 4-2 beginning.

O’Brien was first on the list, so the blame-me coach receives the initial crack.

If these Texans do their standard DOA-thing on “Monday Night Football,” it’s 100 percent on O’Brien.

If just-out-of-the-hospital Gary Kubiak fleeces the man who replaced him — just like Andy Reid, Bill Belichick, Mike Zimmer and three-plus quarters of Chuck Pagano dressed down O’Brien — it’s obviously on the Texans’ thirdyear coach.

Consistency lacking

And if it takes Osweiler another 15 or so game minutes just to complete a pass and the Texans’ utterly inept offense sleepwalks through John Elway-land, it’s also on O’Brien.

After 31-13 Vikings, we all knew the blowouts had to finally stop in Year Three. With 26-23 Texans in overtime in the recent rearview, O’Brien received a one-week reprieve, thanks to the $72 million man coming to life at the last second.

But as O’Brien’s said all season, when it’s been bad — and, man, has it already been bad too many times — it’s all on him.

I can’t speak for good ol’ Bob McNair. But our patience has run out for the invisible 2016 Texans.

Show up at Sports Authority Field while Jon Gruden screams into millions of screens, and we can change the conversation about these still being the same ol’ Texans.

Humiliation and embarrassment again on national TV with Wade Phillips, Texans North and Kubiak on the other side?

Tom Herman won’t be the only local coach with some explaining to do.

“Can everybody play better? Can everybody coach better? No question,” said O’Brien, who thankfully hasn’t been in denial about the Texans’ big-picture problems this season. “When we’ve played well, it’s looked pretty good. But it just hasn’t been enough. … We’re on the right track, but it has to become more consistent.”

‘Shown flashes’

The C word — consistency — was all the rage last week at NRG Stadium.

“We’ve shown flashes of what we can be,” guard Jeff Allen said. “We haven’t quite put it together for an entire 60 minutes.”

How about two supersharp drives against Tennessee in Week 4 and the on-death’s-door rally versus Indianapolis that only one-fifth of NRG Stadium stuck around to see?

Those are the only times all year the Texans’ offense has looked real. And it’s too late to be striving for consistency in Year Three.

This team trailed in the fourth quarter at home to the bad Bears, nearly gave away a Week 2 home victory against Kansas City, needed a Will Fuller punt return to erase Tennessee at NRG and was torched by a combined 58-13 in its previous two road games.

Colts owner Jim Irsay foolishly said his franchise could have been 6-0 entering Sunday if a cruel, mean ball just bounced Indy’s way.

Strip away good luck, and these Texans could be 2-4 heading into their biggest road test of the season.

So what has separated the randomly highly encouraging Texans from the NFL’s third-worst scoring offense?

The same issue that’s plagued O’Brien’s team all season: Starting games (and drives) like true contenders do.

“It’s first down,” he said. “If you look back … those drives started with a positive play. … Once we get off to a good start, everybody is into a rhythm. The playcaller, the quarterback, the line, everybody. That’s a big part of it.”

Numbers are horrible

Yet there’s been so little rhythm in 2016 and only a few times when the Texans’ offense has ever felt dangerous.

Which brings us to Osweiler.

The Answer entered the weekend 29th out of 31 QBs in passer rating (74.1), 27th in completion percentage (59), 26th in yards per game (234) and tied for second in interceptions (eight).

The numbers are clearly horrible. Osweiler’s acumen under pressure has been even worse.

Complicating the picture: Osweiler insisted last week the Texans’ highly complex offense isn’t too complex. Then, in the same interview, he said that “a lot goes into” O’Brien’s attack and more time is required for the unit to “really click.”

No wonder it takes Osweiler so long to record a first-quarter completion.

“As far as Brock is concerned, the guy does everything,” O’Brien said. “He’s prepared. He’s in here early, stays late. I’m not really sure there’s much more he can do off the field.”

The third-year coach reaching his well-paid QB on the field is all that matters right now.

We don’t believe in these Texans because we’ve so rarely seen an offense with a pulse.

We know O’Brien’s been at his coaching best when his back’s been against the wall. But now he has weapons and an arm, and his team has done so little with the additions and dug so many inexplicable holes.

Start to change these things in Denver — heck, just show up for four full quarters — and we’ll begin to see these Texans in a different light.