The Houston Texans (0-2) face a make-or-break matchup against their divisional rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1), in Week 3.
The Texans are coming off a second straight loss in which they were in the game until the end, but could not pull out a victory. The Jaguars are coming off a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, who lost Joe Burrow in the middle of the contest.
The Texans have won three of the four matchups against the Jags since the C.J. Stroud era began, and they have to win on Sunday in their first divisional matchup to avoid an 0-3 start.
Houston will have to put together a complete game, something they have not done yet this season, to pull off the win against Jacksonville.
Texans Offense Needs an Identity
The offense, yet again, has to put together a better game plan to come out on top.
C.J. Stroud had a better game against the Bucs in Week 2 than in Week 1, throwing for 207 yards and a touchdown, but the offense still suffered.
Nick Caley’s unit was vulnerable and inconsistent. As a whole, it’s still showing to be Nico Collins or bust. Collins recorded three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Rookies Woody Marks and Jayden Higgins each had a catch for 37 and 28 yards, respectively, but were not featured in the passing game more. The run game was still dead on arrival, with Stroud being the leading rusher (27 yards) until Nick Chubb had his 25-yard touchdown run. Chubb ended the game with 43 yards.
The rookies need to be involved in Week 3. The run game has to get more creative than just plowing Nick Chubb up the middle and hoping it works. Dameon Pierce was a healthy scratch, and rookie Woody Marks had three carries for 14 yards. Marks also had a reception for 37 yards. He provided a small spark, but the team leaned away from him.
Defense Needs to Remain Stalwart
The defense has been the bright spot for the Texans thus far, but there are still improvements to be made.
They didn’t get torched by a single receiver against the Bucs, but they could not stop the run. Missing tackles killed their momentum and allowed the Bucs to run freely on them, all the way up until the final play of the game, when Rachaad White pounded the game-winning touchdown in.
Buttoning up the tackling against Jacksonville will be necessary to prevent Travis Etienne, Brian Thomas Jr., and Travis Hunter from picking the team apart.
Don’t Overthink the Small Stuff
The Texans left three points on the field when they went for a fourth down conversion at the goal line and didn’t convert. They should have kicked the field goal and taken the points.
Decision making in that regard needs to be more on-point, as that would have been the points to swing a win. For an offense that couldn’t put up points all night, taking three sure ones in that spot was always the right call.
DeMeco Ryans needs to make sure the team isn’t overthinking things and to just have them play their brand of football. The Texans can’t let the 0-2 start weigh them down come Sunday.
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