The Houston Texans are staring at another 0-3 hole, but quarterback C.J. Stroud and coach DeMeco Ryans insist the season is not beyond repair as they prepare for Sunday’s home-state matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.
Key takeaways
- Houston has lost on late-game situations in two of its first three contests, including a Week 3 field goal by Indianapolis with 16 seconds left.
- Stroud has taken 10 sacks, tied for the second-highest total in the NFL, while the Texans are scoring 18 points per game.
- Wide receiver Nico Collins has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury after producing seven catches, 75 yards and a touchdown in the opener.
- The Texans’ defense ranks near the top of the league in several disruption categories, including nine sacks and a 33% success rate.
- Houston’s running backs are gaining minus-0.3 yards before contact per attempt, the league’s worst figure.
- The Cowboys visit Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS, with Houston seeking to avoid an 0-4 start.
Another familiar early-season deficit
Houston also opened last season 0-3, with each of those losses decided on the final possession. This year’s start has carried a similar feel. In the Week 1 defeat to Buffalo, Stroud lost a fumble after being sacked in the red zone during Houston’s final drive. The Colts then kicked the winning field goal late in Week 3.
“We have been in this spot before,” Stroud said after the Indianapolis loss. “We can correct it, and we will.”
The Texans have averaged 326 yards per game, good for 14th in the league, but their 18 points per game are tied for 23rd. The problems have grown more pronounced without Collins. Houston gained 381 yards in the opener, then averaged 298.5 yards over the following two games, a mark that ranks 23rd. Its 11.5 points per game in those contests are tied for 30th.
Stroud said the club will not offer explanations for the poor start, recognizing that wins and losses will drive the outside conversation.
“Nobody in this league is concerned with what happened before,” Stroud said. “People want to know whether you won. We know what we have in our locker room, and we know there will be plenty of noise this week. But it comes down to the people in that room.”
Houston began 3-5 last year before closing with nine consecutive victories. Slow starts have otherwise been a recurring theme under Ryans and Stroud: the Texans started 0-2 in 2023, opened 2-0 in 2024, and are now winless through three games again. Even so, Houston has reached the divisional round in each of the past three seasons.
Ryans is not putting much stock in those previous recoveries.
“If we are 0-3, then I have not coached well enough,” Ryans said. “I have to be better. If I coach better, we will end up on the winning side.”
Run-game concerns meet a stout defense
Houston’s ground attack has become its most pressing offensive issue. Running backs David Montgomery and Woody Marks have been met at the line of scrimmage on 66.7% of their carries, the highest rate in the NFL and eight percentage points worse than any other team. The Texans have allowed stuffs on 33% of rushing attempts, also the league’s worst rate.
Right guard Ed Ingram has missed the past two weeks because of a groin injury, but the production problems extend beyond one absence. Montgomery and Marks are averaging minus-0.3 yards before contact, and Houston’s running backs are generating only 33 rushing yards per game, the lowest total in the league.
Ryans said the staff is reviewing both personnel execution and schematic options in an effort to create room on the ground.
“We are examining everything about the running game,” Ryans said. “What can we change so we can produce yards? The players have to keep working, and we have to keep exploring different things schematically. We will keep moving forward, but there are details we need to clean up.”
The defense has offered encouragement despite allowing 36 points in the opening loss to Buffalo. Over three weeks, Houston has surrendered 19.5 points per game, tied for 11th, and 283 yards per game, eighth fewest in the NFL. The unit is fourth in defensive success rate at 33%, second with nine sacks, third in tackle-for-loss rate at 11.5%, sixth in yards allowed per play at 4.4 and fifth in quarterback pressure rate at 22.1%.
All-Pro edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., who recorded 2.5 sacks Sunday, sees signs that the Texans can turn their season around.
“The NFL is all about adversity,” Anderson said. “It is tough to begin this way again, but this team is built to handle it. We have to keep chopping wood.”
Houston’s postseason odds remain at 22.4%, the strongest probability among the NFL’s five remaining winless teams. History, however, leaves little margin for another loss. Since 2020, 25 teams have started 0-3 under the current playoff format, and last year’s Texans were the only one to make the postseason. Houston is one of seven Super Bowl-era teams to reach the playoffs after an 0-3 start; the previous Texans team to do it was the 2018 club. Since 1990, only the 1992 Seattle Seahawks have reached the playoffs after beginning 0-4.
