Houston Texans Fall to 0-3 After 17-10 Loss to Jaguars

Well, here we are. We are the biggest Houston Texans crisis point of the DeMeco Ryans Era, after a 17-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon. It was a game that felt like neither team wanted to win. The Jaguars continually muffed easy catches on Trevor Lawrence passes, while the Texans continued to, well, just play offense the way they’ve been playing all season. The offense was an abject disaster. Again.

We will dole out the blame momentarily, but know this — one team has started 0-3 and made the playoffs this century. It happens to be the 2018 Houston Texans, coached by Bill O’Brien. This team is now at a crossroads. They can man up, and play competent football, or proceed to slide into the abyss, and author one of the most disappointing seasons in Texans history.

If indeed this season goes sideways, it will be fascinating to see how the team, form ownership down, handles it. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. On to winners and losers:

WINNERS

4. Liam Coen
Make no mistake, and don’t let the win on Sunday or their 2-1 record fool you — the Jacksonville Jaguars are still a bad football team. Trevor Lawrence has accuracy issues, his receivers had the yips all afternoon, and they get exactly zero bonus points defensively for shutting down the Texans. However, the vibes with Coen seem to be good, and for a guy installing a new system with new players, his offense at least looks like it belongs in the NFL, unlike Casey’s offense, which belongs in a dumpster.

3. Nico Collins fantasy owners
I’d like to make Collins himself a winner in this game, because he was the only bright spot offensively, but that fumble late in the fourth quarter, in Jags territory, was a massive swing in this game. Instead, I will acknowledge Collins’ eight catches for 104 yards, and his 50 yard touchdown, by making fantasy owners of Collins (like myself) a winner in this game.

2. People looking for cheap NFL tickets
I don’t know how to put lipstick on the pig that is Week 4’s matchup between the 0-3 Texans and the 0-3 Tennessee Titans. The vitriol between ownership of the two franchises is legendary, but when both teams are 0-3, it’s like watching the two fattest kids in gym class fighting with each other. Nobody wins so I’ll say this — if you’ve ever wanted to go to an NFL regular season game, tickets can be had.

1. Kevin Durant
The Houston Astros are on the cusp of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Houston Texans look closer to a team getting a top five pick in the draft, than someone defending a division crown. The Houston Rockets begin their training camp in a week. Who knew that the hero that Houston sports fans needed so much is Kevin Durant.

LOSERS

4. Lovers of streaks
Two of my favorite streaks in the history of the Houston Texans died on Sunday afternoon. The first one is a seven game road winning streak against the Jaguars. Believe it or not, the last time the Jags beat the Texans at home was in 2017, the same season the Jags made a run to the AFC title game. The other streak that is now over is the Texans’ eleven game wining streak on the road, inside the division. I loved that streak, because it included the only three wins of Lovie Smith’s Texans coaching career. Oh well, it’s over now.

3. DeMeco Ryans press conference viewers
DeMeco Ryans’ press conference after the game was quite the display. Ryans reiterated that same song and dance that he performed throughout the week leading up to the game, in which he insisted that the Texans are “close” to breaking out, and playing good offensive football. My counterpoint to this utterly absurd assertion is that they’ve been IN the Red Zone FOUR TIMES ALL SEASON. The red zone is the part of the field closest to the end zone, which is where touchdowns are scored. I mean, they literally have not been close to the end zone for virtually the whole season. Oh, and they’ve scored ZERO times when getting into the red zone.

2. C.J. Stroud’s hat choice
Several weeks ago, Stroud wore a Seattle Mariners ball cap to the stadium, when the Texans played the Panthers in the preseason. That got Houston fans upset. On Sunday, for some reason, Stroud went next level with his hat choice, sporting a New York Yankees lid, which he also wore to the postgame press conference:

CJ Stroud on the offense:

“Thought we ran the ball well. Somewhat threw it well.. the sun will rise up tomorrow. We’ll be able to go back to work, so that’s a positive.. everybody’s gonna talk crazy like they’ve been doing & have these analysis & rightfully so.” pic.twitter.com/Sbf9sON6qa

— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) September 21, 2025

One indicator of how awful the Texans have been offensively is that I got exactly ZERO calls on the Texans postgame show about that Yankees hat. Everyone was too pissed about the offense to care.

1. Nick Caley
Three games in, this offense looks worse than Bobby Slowik’s offense last season. Firing Slowik to hire Caley now feels like breaking up with a meth head to date a crack addict, metaphorically speaking, of course. Caley’s offense is poorly designed, has very few answers for Stroud, and left rookie left tackle Aireontae Ersery on an island all day long blocking Josh Hines-Allen, which ultimately cost the Texans a chance to tie the game, when Hines-Allen tipped the ball that turned into the game clinching interception. They could fire Caley this week, and I’d be totally cool with it.

Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.