While the Texans (6-3) have been 5-2 in one-score games, their six wins have come by a total of 38 points (19th), and their differential of 6.3 points per win places them in the 25th place. Simply put, the Texans are not fighting to win, but they are fighting to keep their teams away in the second half and win comfortably.
“I think the feeling around our team is that we’re a good football team,” Ryans said. “We just have to go out and finish football games the right way.”
After a 21-13 loss to the New York Jets on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 9, quarterback CJ Stroud called it a wake-up call. The Texans led 7-0 at halftime, but things got away from them in the second half.
“Honestly, we have to play better football, execute better, stop pointing fingers and realize that at the end of the day, this is not winning football,” Stroud said.
The pauses in the second half are due to several factors. In the red zone, the Texans average 9.1 points (25th) compared to 13.2 points (11th) in the first half. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik doesn’t believe there’s a “secret sauce” in what teams are doing to slow them down and attributes it to “situational football.”
“There’s nothing a defense does in the second half that’s different than what it does in the first half,” Slowik said. “We’re not doing our job right. That’s been an emphasis for us.”
The Texans’ effectiveness in the red zone between halves ranges from the top 10 to the bottom two from one half to the next. Stroud has just four touchdowns (19th) and 902 passing yards (16th) even though he is sixth in attempts (140) in the second half. The absence of receiver Nico Collins in the last four games due to an injury (hamstring) has not helped either, in addition to Stefon Diggs being ruled out for the season two days before the game against the Jets with a torn ACL in his right knee .
The defensive side of the ball has had a similar trajectory. The unit went from allowing 8.7 points (seventh) in the first half to 13.6 (27th) in the second.
“I think one thing I’ve learned is that the other team makes plays too,” Stroud said. “We not only have to respond, but also resist the surge, especially when we are in an away game. In an away game, I feel like we are a little bit dead in the second half because we don’t have the crowd with us. We think that , honestly, we have to keep the style, keep the juice out. We have to be more animated. Everybody has to stand up and. [root for] each other and celebrate.”
Stroud pointed to the Jets’ bench after Garrett Wilson’s jaw dropped on his one-handed touchdown catch. He believes that’s the kind of energy that makes a team tick.
“I think one thing we can do better is have better celebrations,” Stroud said.
“Squeezing every game” is what Stroud wants to avoid, especially with the NFC-leading Detroit Lions (7-1) next on Sunday Night Football, their second of three straight prime-time games. The Lions have the second-best record in the NFL and are the league’s highest-scoring team at 32.3 points per game.
In Ryans’ words: “For us, we just have to get out there and you just have to finish.”
A fast start and a strong finish might be necessary if the Texans want to keep up with the visiting Lions.
