Texans' offense sputters again in 17-10 loss to Jaguars to fall to 0-3

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HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans have played well enough defensively to win this season.

The offense? Not even close.

The Texans fell to 0-3 Sunday with a 17-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars where their offense continued to sputter. Houston has scored just three touchdowns combined this season and has only been in the red zone four times.

They rank last in the NFL in scoring with 12.7 points per game and the 267.3 yards their offense is averaging ranks 29th. So far new offensive coordinator Nick Caley and a retooled offensive line have done nothing to improve the team.

In fact, quarterback C.J. Stroud and company seem to have taken a step back this year. Stroud, the 2023 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, has thrown for 599 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions this season. As a rookie, he had a quarterback rating of 100.8. It fell to 87 last year and as the Texans have limped out to their terrible start this year it’s just 76.9 as he’s dealt with near-constant pressure.

Despite this, the strong play of their defense gave the Texans chances to win late Sunday before key mistakes sealed their fate.

The Texans tied it at 10-10 on Stroud’s 50-yard TD pass to Nico Collins early in the fourth quarter. Houston stopped the Jaguars on fourth-and-2 to get the ball back and was driving when Collins fumbled and Jacksonville recovered.

Travis Etienne put the Jaguars on top with a 10-yard run with just under two minutes to go. The Texans were driving after that when Stroud’s pass was tipped by Josh Hines-Allen and intercepted by Antonio Johnson to end it.

Stroud has taken responsibility for the team’s poor start and believes he can do more to turn things around.

“We can play a lot better,” he said. “I can play a lot better. Our defense has been holding up. We’ve got to be able to help them. It’s not easy but we’ve just got to do better.”

Coach DeMeco Ryans doesn’t care that the Texans have had chances to win each of their games late and says they must find a way to close games out.

“It’s not encouraging to be ... close,” he said. “We want to win games. It’s not about being close. That’s just stating the facts or stating the obvious of how the three games have played out, how those games have happened for us. But, we’re not here to just be close, we’re here to win the football game.”

Entering Monday, the Texans are tied for sixth in the NFL by allowing 17 points a game. Their run defense bounced back after allowing 169 rushing in Monday’s loss to Tampa Bay by holding the Jaguars to 86 yards rushing, including just 11 in the first half. Houston had two sacks Sunday to give the team nine this season, which is the third most through three games in franchise history.

There’s a lot to choose from here, but the biggest issue is the struggles of the offensive line, which has four new starters this season. Stroud has been sacked eight times, which is the seventh most in the NFL and when he’s not being hit, he’s under near-constant pressure with no time to operate the offense.

“We’ve got to find a way to protect better,” Ryans said.

The group hasn’t been any better in run blocking and the Texans are averaging just 95 yards rushing a game.

S Jalen Pitre had three tackles, three passes defensed and an interception Sunday. The fourth-year player’s 23 career passes defensed are the most by a safety in franchise history and his seven interceptions are tied with Quintin Demps and Justin Reid for second most by a safety in team history.

LT Aireontae Ersery had a tough time dealing with Hines-Allen on Sunday. The rookie second-round pick got beat on the play where Hines-Allen tipped the ball that led to Stroud’s last interception and allowed a sack earlier in the game. In addition, Ersery was called for two holding penalties and a facemask as he struggled to contain Hines-Allen.

All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley sustained an oblique injury against the Jaguars and Ryans said he’ll be day to day with the injury this week.

The Texans are the 81st team since 1995 to score 38 points or fewer combined in their first three games of the season. Of those teams, only the 2003 Eagles made the playoffs.

The Texans look to clean up their play on Sunday when they host the Tennessee Titans, who are also winless, where they’ll need a victory to avoid their first 0-4 start since 2020.

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