'Where Texans Problem Starts': 3 Observations From Houston Loss to Commanders
The Houston Texans are now the NFL's only remaining single-win team after dropping to 1-8-1 with a 23-10 loss to the Washington Commanders.
A poor start led to a 20-0 halftime deficit and ultimately proved too great for the Texans to overcome in the second half. The Commanders were contained to just three points after the break, but Houston's offense was nowhere close to being capable of getting the job done.
Here is what led Houston to its loss to the Commanders and what potentially lies ahead ...
Historically Bad First Half
Facing a 20-0 deficit at halftime, the Texans didn't have much going right for themselves, which is putting it lightly. They gained a total of five yards of offense within this stretch and were out-gained by the Commanders by 241 yards. Houston gained the fewest yards in any first half in franchise history.
"There's not a whole lot that we're doing well," Texans coach Lovie Smith said. "We're building. We're not quite there yet. We're not a good football team right now."
It's difficult to find comporable performances for how poorly the Texans' offense performed in the opening half. They recorded the fewest yards in a single-half since the Raiders had totaled negative yardage (-12) in 2015, but they still managed to win.
Possible Quarterback Change?
There wasn't much achieved in the passing game for the Texans. Davis Mills completed 19-of-33 pass attempts, totaled 169 passing yards without a touchdown and racked up two interceptions. However, he did record a rushing touchdown. Could there be a quarterback change?
The sentiment from Texans coach Lovie Smith is that a quarterback change is not necessary at this time. Instead, the offensive line has to do a better job of establishing favorable conditions for Mills to operate.
"Are you asking me if I'm going to change the quarterback position right after the game?" Smith said. "Like I said, we consider all different things throughout the course of the game whether making a move at any position would give us a better chance to win the game. You say it starts with the quarterback. No, it starts up front. Today with that kind of pressure I don't know how many quarterbacks would have success."
It remains to be seen how long Mills will remain the starting quarterback of the Texans. For now, it will remain as is, but regardless, it'll be something to monitor throughout the remainder of the season.
Dameon Pierce Neutralized
It has been a strong season for rookie Dameon Pierce. He entered Sunday's game with 772 rushing yards, which ranked fifth in the NFL. He was contained to just a season-low eight yards on 10 carries.
It was just an outright deflating performance from the Texans' offense. It was easily his worst performance in his NFL career. For a player capable of such explosive plays, it was a true testament to the state of the offense as a whole.
The lack of results from the passing game undoubtedly made it more challenging for Pierce in the running game, but overall, neither managed to get much going altogether. Houston has a lot to clean up before Week 12.
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