It’s hard to pin a loss on any one thing, but Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik thinks he knows exactly what went wrong in the team’s Week 14 defeat.
Slowik pointed to the Texans’ inability to convert on third as to why the team failed to score more than six points in the loss. Houston moved the chains just once on 12 third-down attempts in the game and also went 0-3 on fourth down. Those inefficiencies killed drives for the Texans and ultimately opened the door for the Jets to put up 30 second-half points.
“The whole game for us came down to third downs,” he said Thursday. “Multiple factors in that, but it all kind of boils down to that we didn’t play good.”
“The whole game came down to third downs,” said Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik when I asked about the inefficiency of the offense. “Multiple factors in that, but it boils down to we didn’t play good. #Texans #Sarge @TheTexansWire pic.twitter.com/k0IgVeV0yi
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) December 14, 2023
The Jets more than tripled the Texans’ offensive yards in the game and also had 20 first downs to Houston’s 10. That matters in close games – which this one was until New York score 14 points in the third quarter.
The Texans drew within one score at the end of the third, but the offense couldn’t consistently drive down the field in the fourth quarter before Houston lost rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud to a concussion with 6:43 left in the game and a 24-6 deficit.
Houston will need to course correct in Week 15 if it wants to snag one of the three AFC wildcard spots – or even the AFC South crown if things break right for them. That’ll begin this weekend in a tough divisional matchup with the Tennessee Titans.
The Texans may not have Stroud, though, who is still in the NFL’s concussion protocol.